Gulf war (General policy of the Council of Europe)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- See Doc. 5830, report of the Political Affairs Committee Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 23 March 1988.
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Recalling its Resolutions 849 (1985) and 873 (1987), with its appended appeal, on the war between Iraq and Iran ;
3. Stressing once again its conviction that the Gulf war, now in its eighth year, is a tragedy unacceptable in the late twentieth century ;
4. Welcoming the unanimous adoption, on 20 July 1987, of United Nations Security Council
Resolution 598, and paying tribute to the untiring efforts of the United Nations Secretary General to seek, with the belligerent countries, the implementation of this latest call for an immediate cease-fire, as a first step towards a comprehensive, just, honourable and durable settlement of the conflict ;
5. Regretting that eight months later such a cease-fire seems no nearer, while recalling that the Security Council decided ‘‘to meet again as necessary to consider further steps to ensure compliance with this resolution'' ;
6. Noting that, at the Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) (Bangkok, 16 October 1987), parliamentarians from all over the world, including the representatives of Iraq and Iran, adopted a resolution giving support to United Nations Security Council
Resolution 598 as the most suitable instrument for bringing the Gulf war to an end ;
7. Reaffirming once again its belief that the superpowers share with all other countries not only a common interest but a common responsibility to work for the settlement of a conflict in one of the world's most strategically sensitive areas, while regretting that the Washington Summit (8-10 December 1987) failed to reflect common acceptance of this responsibility ;
8. Noting that the vitally concerned Islamic, Arab and European organisations have similarly all taken a long time to achieve a coherent position, consistent with the increasing gravity of the situation ;
9. Welcoming, however, the progress made towards achieving a European position on the aspects of security and freedom of navigation in the Gulf, within the seven-member Western European Union, and welcoming equally the progress achieved in unifying positions at the Extraordinary Summit Conference of the Arab League (Amman, 8-11 November 1987) ;
10. Underlining the fact that the essential duty of the Council of Europe to pursue peace, based on spiritual and moral values, is further enhanced by the membership of Turkey, which the belligerent countries have accepted to represent their interests following the breach of diplomatic relations ;
11. Concerned about the consequences of this conflict for Turkey, where there is a constant influx of refugees whose presence represents a worrying economic and social burden for this member state ;
12. Considering that full compliance with the international conventions on refugees and the right of asylum is the only means of guaranteeing the humanitarian assistance these people require, while the international community should contemplate appropriate measures in respect of signatory countries which fail to comply with the provisions of these conventions ;
13. Recalling once again the Council of Europe's special commitment to upholding human rights and to the fight against international terrorism, which violates the most elementary human rights, while undermining the indispensable solidarity among democracies ;
14. Regretting, however, the tendency of public opinion in some member states to confuse and even equate ‘‘international terrorism'' and ‘‘Iranian refugees'',
15. Calls upon the belligerent parties to put an end to this unacceptable tragedy, aggravated by the latest development in the war, which is indiscriminately striking cities and causing many deaths among civilians, especially women and children ;
16. Expresses the wish that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe include the Gulf war and its repercussions on the agenda of its next meeting, including the question of Iranian refugees seeking transit through Turkey ;
17. Calls upon the governments and parliaments of member states to support all mediation efforts, particularly those of the United Nations Secretary General ;
18. Calls upon the members of the United Nations Security Council urgently to envisage the further steps provided for in
Resolution 598 to ensure compliance ;
19. Decides to hold an early debate in order to publicise the urgent need to respect the total embargo on arms supplies to the belligerents, repeated calls for which by the Assembly and by the international community at large have gone unheeded up to now.
