PLACE DU PETIT-SACONNEX
1211 GENEVA 19 SWITZERLAND
| INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION PLACE DU PETIT-SACONNEX 1211 GENEVA 19 SWITZERLAND |
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Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
In their reports to the 100th Conference, the special Committees noted an alarming lack of headway in Cyprus, progress on international humanitarian law and the banning of anti-personel mines, and concern at the Israeli settlements in Jerusalem and Palestine. "The Committee is dismayed to note that no progress has been made concerning either political and military issues or cultural questions, the issue of missing persons or indeed any other matter", noted Mr Hanu Kemppainen, leader of the delegation of Finland and President of the Committee to Monitor the Situation in Cyprus. "Similarly, no progress has been made with regard to involvement of the Turkish-Cypriot side in the negotiations for Cyprus's accession to the European Union which were initiated on 31 March 1998 and are scheduled to continue until the summer of 1999", stated the report of the XVth session of the Committee. The Committee reported no progress regarding the resumption of direct negociations between the two Cypriot Leaders at the UN. As the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Council, Mr Martínez pointed out, the Inter-Parliamentary Union is the only international forum where the two parties meet regularly. The Committee also expressed great concern that the progressive withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Cyprus, still a priority demand of the international community, is at a standstill. It also remains very worried that the delivery of the S-300 anti-aircraft system has not been cancelled. It nonetheless notes that "the proposals formulated by President Clerides and the Russian Federation are encouraging", even though another series of incidents involving violations of Cyprus's airspace by Turkish military forces and air and naval manoeuvres by both countries are maintaining the political and military tension in Cyprus.
The Committee's mandate is coming to an end, but the House of
Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus and the representatives
of the Turkish-Cypriots are invited by the IPU to come together
at the 101st IPU Conference in Brussels (10 to 16 April 1999)
to hold discussions with the assistance of a facilitator. The
facilitator mechanism, which is entirely new at the IPU, consists
of three parliamentarians: Mrs Yousriya Loza (Egypt), Mr Jonathan
Hunt (New Zealand) and Mr Henning Gjellerod (Denmark).
At its 157th session in October 1995 at Bucarest, the Inter-Parliamentary Council instructed the Committee to Promote Respect for IHL to conduct an enquiry among IPU member parliaments on compliance with the rules of IHL and parliamentary action on anti-personnel mines. The enquiry is being carried out in co-operation with the International Committee of the Red Cross. In the space of three years, only 67 of the 137 IPU member parliaments have responded to the Committee's requests for information. The Committee is of the view that "it is important to pursue the inquiry in order to obtain a broader and more accurate view". The Committee recommended "a more thorough and lengthy analysis to encourage parliaments to play their role in ensuring respect for the rules of IHL and to obtain the elimination of anti-personnel mines". It went on to note with satisfaction that "since 4 December 1997, when the Ottawa Convention was adopted, 37 out of 137 States have ratified it".
The Inter-Parliamentary Council approved a proposal by the Committee
for the preparation of a handbook, in consultation with ICRC and
the United Nations, to assist parliaments and their members with
action in the area of IHL and anti-personnel mines. It also approved
a suggestion for the development of a database on these questions.
For the first time since September 1996, the representatives of the Arab Group (Jordan and Palestine) and the Israeli Group agreed to be heard together by the Committee on Middle East Questions held on 9 and 10 September 1998. The representatives acknowledged that the Middle East Peace Process was at a standstill. The representatives of Israel nonetheless sounded a note of relative optimism. The Committee was chaired by Mr Jacques Baumel (France) then by Mrs O. Ausdal Starrfelt (Norway) and its other members were Mr M.A. Abdellah (Egypt), Mr C.E. Ndebele (Zimbabwe) and Mr. A. Philippou (Cyprus).
The Committee members noted that, whatever its pronouncements
to the contrary, the Israeli Government was creating a de facto
situation which impeded the peace process by continuing to pursue
a policy of new settlements and confiscation of land and the destruction
of houses in the occupied territories and Jerusalem.
At its last sitting, the Council examined Palestine's observer status at the Union, and expressed the opinion that the Palestine delegation should be given specific rights. At the conference, the delegation of observers from Palestine will be entitled to the same number of participants as the delegations of member parliaments of the Union and will be able to take part in the debates in conditions drawn on a similar decision taken this summer by the United Nations General Assembly. The Council decided in particular that the Palestine delegation may have a right of reply and raise points of order and that it may be granted the right to take the floor at the Inter-Parliamentary Council on questions concerning Palestine and the Middle East.
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