S/PV.2349 Security Council

Members of the Council have before them document S/14947. which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United Kingdom. 5 _ . Mr. LOUET (France) (int~~ipl.ct~rtion jbm Fwnc~h): The matter before us is extremely serious and fully justifies the urgent convening of the Security Council. a body to which all States Members of the United Nations have entrusted the major responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Provisional agenda (S/Agenda/2349) I. Adoption of the agenda 2. Letter dated I April I982 from the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/ 14942) 6. It cannot be denied that Argentina used armed force last night in an invasion of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. The representative of Argentina acknowledged that himself before the Council this morning 12346th lnrrtingl. Adoption of the agenda 7. It is clear that this armed attack deserves condemnation and must be condemned. It is a glaring violation of the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 4 of the Charter of the United Nations, which states that: “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force . . .” Letter dated 1 April 1982 from the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern lreland to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/14942) 8. In taking the decision to carry out this totally unjustified armed attack, the Argentine Government has deliberately disregarded the appeals for moderation made yesterday. both by the Secretary-General and by the President of the Council [2345th mcrting, ptrl-tr. 741 in a statement which, I should like to emphasize. the members of the Council had approved unanimously. I . The PRESIDENT (intc,pl.rttrtioll flwn Frcrwh): In accordance with the decision taken at the 2345th meeting. I invite the representative of Argentina to take a place at the Council table.

I should like to inform members of the Council that I have received letters from the representatives of Australia. Canada and New Zealand in which they request to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the agenda. 9, Faced with this breach of international peace and in order to prevent the situation from deteriorating. the Council must act quickly and effectively. It must demand an immediate cessation of hostilities and the immediate withdrawal of all Argentine forces from the Falkland Islands. It must call on the Argentine Government to heed forthwith the appeal made yesterday by the President of the Council that it renounce the USC of force and seek a diplomatic solution. 3 - . In csnformity with the usual practice, I propose. with the consent of the Council, to invite those representatives to participate in the discussion without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provibions of the Charter and rule 37 of the provisional rules of procedure. IO, Mr. DORR (Ireland): The issue before the Council this evening is not that of the Falkland Islands, ot Islas Malvinas, dispute. That particular issue has been discussed in the past in the General Assembly and no doubt different views exist on its merits. Our I 1 I. This, I believe, is at once a narrower and a very much wider issue. It is narrower because it focuses not on the basii: problems between the two Governments, but on a specific armed action taken since last evening. It is. however. very much wider in another sense, because it requires the Council to assert its position on a very basic matter indeed. that is. the effort to establish a rule of law rather than of force in international relations. 12. What was the situation yesterday evening? A long-standing dispute existed between two States Members of the United Nations over those isInnds. The dispute goes back, I believe. at least to the early 1800s. Last night, one of the parties to that dispute brought urgently to the attention of the Council its fear that the other party would use force to settle the dispute in its favour. 13. Earlier yesterday. the. Secretary-General appealed to both sides for restraint. Later yesterday evening. the Council met here. We heard statements from both parties. At the end of the meeting, you, Mr. President. made an agreed statement on behalf of the whole Council [ihi~i, I, In that statement, the Council called on both Governments to exercise the utmost restraint. In particular. we called on both Governments to refrain from the threat or the use of force and we asked them to continue the search for a diplomatic solution. 14. What has happened since? Overnight. within hours of the Council’s meeting, one of the two Governments concerned had recourse to force. in direct disregard of that unanimous call by the Council. The Government of Argentina, by armed action by its military and naval forces, took over the disputed islands, IS. How. then. should the Council react? My delegation is not in doubt. The attempt to create a rule of law among nations is one that has required great effort. It is still imperfect, imperfect in many respects. But what has been achieved is too important to all of us to be cast aside lightly. If we here ignore this flouting, by one of the parties to a dispute, of a unanimous call by the Council to avoid the use of force in settling it. then we have seriously weakened the whole effort to establish law rather than force as the guide in international relations. We will also have weakened even further the authority of the Council. 16. My country, I am glad to say, has good relations with both parties to the dispute. But beyond all else. we have a duty as members of the Council to 18. I repeat, with emphasis. that we are not concerned here with the merits of the basic dispute about the islands, That question has been debated else. where and we want to see it settled by negotiations, vV/hat does concern us here is how to respond ta the use overnight of armed action by one of the two GOVernments involved. since such use is in direct CORtravention of the call made last night by the Council, On that issue we are not in doubt. We deeply deplore this resort to armed action by Argentina. we think it was quite wrong and we believe that the Council must be ready to respond firmly to this challenge to its authority. 19. The PRESIDENT (i,ltcJ/prvflrtion ,fkon~ FwKAJ: The next speaker is the representative of Australia, I invite him to take a place at the Councif table and to make his statement.

Mr. President, on behalf of my delegation I should like to thank YOU for granting us permission to speak before the Council this evening. We have every confidence that. under your presidency, the Council will have wise and judi. cious guidance in considering the important issues on its agenda. 2 I. My delegation has requested permission to speak today because of the very serious situation that has developed in the Falkland Islands. It is now abundantly clear that armed forces of the Argentine Re public have invaded the Falkland Islands. This is 1 development which can only aggravate an already highly tense situation and one which constitutes a threat to international peace and security. 22. We have considered carefully the statements made in the Council yesterday and this morni@ by the representative of Argentina 12345t11 ((/id 2346th 1~7~rting,s]. Nothing contained in those state ments could justify the act of aggression that has been committed by the Argentine armed forces in Clear violation of Article 2. paragraph 3 and paragraph 4, of the Charter of the United Nations. 23. Members will recall that the Secretary-General yesterday issued an appeal for maximum restraint on both sides {2345r/7 meeting, prr~~r. 74) and that last night the President of the Council made a statemeflt 24. Mr. President, my Government fully supports that call for restraint which you issued last night on behalf of all the members of the Council. The fact remains, however, that the occupation of the Falkland Islands by Argentine troops has escalated the tension in the region and will make the task of finding a peacefu1 resolution of this dispute more difficult. My Government condemns the use of force by the Argentine Government and supports the action proposed by the Government of the United Kingdom in the draft resolution now before the Council [S//4Y47]. We urge that the path of peace and negotiation by both sides not be abandoned. As a first step in that direction, we call upon the Argentine Government to heed the appeals made by the Secretary-General and by the President of the Council and accordingly to undertake an immediate withdrawal of its troops from the Falkland Islands. 30. I should like now to express the hope that the Council will exercise its prerogative in approving rapidly a draft resolution along the lines suggested this morning by the representative of the United Kingdom [2346th tmvting, prrtw. 81. In that way, we hope that an increasingly dangerous situation can be averted and stability returned to the region. 3 I. The PRESIDENT (intrrpt.rttrfion .fiotn Fwnch): The next speaker is the representative of New Zealand. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement.

I appreciate the opportunity that has been given my delegation to address the Council this evening. I should like to say, too. how pleased I am to see you, Mr. President, guiding the deliberations of the Council at this very difficult time.

The next speaker is the representative of Canada. 1 invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. 33. New Zealand views with the gravest concern the situation that has arisen as a result of the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentinian armed forces. We deeply regret the Government of Argentina’s decision to break off negotiations with the United Kingdom and to resort to the use of force. That is not the way that this sort of problem should be handled. There had, in fact, been every reason to expect that the matter would be resolved without confrontation, but what has happened is a clear violation of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. It is also an action undertaken despite appeals by the Secretary- General and by the President of the Council for all parties to exercise restraint, to refrain from the use of force and to continue the search for a diplomatic solution to the long-standing differences between the parties. It can only increase tensions in the region and make the search for a peaceful resolution of the dispute more difficult. 26. Mr. PELLETIER (Canada) linlrtprctrrtinn jkun Fwnrh): Mr. President, I should like to express the appreciation of my delegation to you and to the members of the Council for permitting Canada to participate in the debate on this item. I should also like to express my congratulations to you, Sir, as this month’s President of the Council. The first days of your presidency have indeed tried your diplomatic skills and experience. 27. My delegation has asked to be allowed to participate in the debate in order to express its shock and deep concern at the precipitous action of Argentina in resorting to force in its invasion and military occupation of the Falkland Islands. As a country of the Americas, Canada has a particular concern in any action which directly affects the peace and stability of the hemisphere. 28. The Government of Canada, publicly and in private communication with the Argentine authorities, has expressed its deepest regret that the Argentine Repllblic has resorted to the use of force rather than following the path of discussion and negotiation. The Argentine action in this regard is particularly disturbing in the light of the consistent decisions of the General Assembly over the past years endorsing direct negotiations between the United Kingdom and Argentina with a view to reaching a peaceful settlement of the dispute. The unilateral action by Argentina is clearly inconsistent with those decisions. 34. New Zealand has always condemned the use of force to resolve disputes between countries. The rights of all nations and territories. and in particular those which are small and defenceless, can only be assured if the principles of the Charter are observed by all countries. We urge the Government of Argentina to demonstrate respect for those principles by undertaking the immediate withdrawal of its forces from the Falkland Islands. 35. We fully support the call in the draft resolution proposed this morning by the representative of the 34. New Zealand has close and friendly relations with both the Governments concerned. We are confident that with good will on both sides a solution can be found. 37. The PRESIDENT linzcrprc’tlrticlrl ,fhm FwncA): The next speaker is the representative of Argentina, on whom I now call. 38. Mr. ROCA (Argentina) fi,?rc~/,~/‘c’fotir,,~ .fionr Sprrhh): I have listened with attention to the com- 39. We hope that the Council will grant the Argentine Republic an opportunity to speak in the debate and that it will therefore postpone any decision on the matter until the Foreign Minister has been heard, 40. The calm which must inform the Council’s actions justifies the request made by my delegation. especially bearing in mind the fact that in this problem one member of the Council and one non-member are interested parties. I am grateful for the understanding of the members of the Council with regard to the request I have just made. HOW TO OBTAIN UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATIONS United Nations publications ma) be obtained from bookstores and distributors throughout the world. Consult your bookstore or write to: United Nations. Sales Section. New York or Geneva. COMMENT SE PROCURER LES PUBLICATIONS DES NATIONS UNIES Les publications des Nations Unies sont en vente dans les librairies et Its agences depositaires du monde entier. Informez-vous aupres de votre libraire ou adressez-vous h : Nations Unies. Section des ventes. New York ou Genhe. COMO CONSEGUIR PUBLICACIONES DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS Las publicaciones de Ias Naciones Unidas estln en venta cn librerias y casas distribuidoras en todas partes de1 mundo. Consulte a su librcro o dirijase a: Naciones Unidas. Seccih de Vmtas, Nueva York o Ginebra. Litho in United Nation\. NW York 00300 X8-60989-November t989--?.oJD