Respectation for international law - the foundation of peace and security
3/10/14
The 69th
General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) ended on September 30 in New York but all the speeches there aimed at a more
peaceful and stable world, in which Vietnam also had a notable speech
in this occcasion. On behalf of the Government of Vietnam, Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh shared concerns about
the emerging international issues, highlighting the message and Vietnam's
contributions to solve global problems that the international community was
worrying.
Regarding
the situation in the world today, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh shared
common assessment was that even though there were some positive developments
but peace and international security are still facing huge challenges from the
dark side of the competition. Deputy Prime Minister stressed that war, conflict
came from outdated theories of political abuse of power, dominance and ambition
from imposing, the threat of using force to settle international disputes, including disputes concerning territorial
sovereignty. Deputy Prime Minister called upon the UN and member states to need
more efforts in strengthening peace and international security, preventing the
risk of potential conflicts and find solutions to terminate the current
conflicts, he also stated that respectation for international law was the
foundation to ensure peace, security and stability for development. Deputy
Prime Minister stressed that the Member States with no respecter of position
must respect and take seriously the principles, norms, rules of international
law, the UN Charter at the same time
renouncing the use of force in international relations and to promote
the settlement of disputes by peaceful means.
To
strengthen the role of the UN in the future, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh
Minh stressed that the UN should accelerate the reform process, and it should
be conducted in a comprehensive, balanced, transparent way to meet the
interests of all UN member states. The Security Council should urgently be
reformed in both expanding and renewing members working methods in order to
deal with the global challenges of peace and international security. Besides,
the UN should strengthen policies and resources to help resolve situations of
injustice, social inequality, stronger support for sub-regional programs, about
connectivity, eliminating hunger and reducing poverty, narrowing the
development gap and promoting green economy to create w long-term, sustainable basis
for peace, security and development.
As a
responsible member of the international community, Deputy Prime Minister Pham
Binh Minh affirmed that Vietnam
always attaches importance to the role and voice of the institutions, multilateral
fora, including the UN on issues of regional and the world security and
development. To share this international effort, Vietnam is actively involving
in the process of building Development Agenda after 2015; promoting the role of
the UN Human Rights Council for the period 2014-2016 and Vietnam for the first
time has sent forces participating in peacekeeping Mission of the UN in South
Sudan. Vietnam
is currently running for Social and Economic Council for the 2016-2018 tenure
and Security Council from 2020 to 2021.
Regarding
the world economy, Deputy Prime Minister stated that Vietnam supports strengthening the
multilateral trading system, making a new impetus to the world economy to
regain growth momentum and stable development. At the same time, Vietnam
is ready to contribute to joint efforts to promote economic integration, reforming
economic governance oriented global trade fair, democratic, transparent and
efficient method.
Regarding
the regional situation, the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed that Vietnam
upholds the principle of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity
of the country, resolving disagreements and disputes in international relations
including South China Sea issue by peaceful means on the basis of international
law, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, seriously implementing the
Declaration on the Conduct of parties in the East Sea (DOC) and striving to
early achieve a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
All comments [ 10 ]
History has taught us that the paths leading to wars and conflicts lie in obsolete doctrines of power politics, of ambitions of domination and imposition, and of the threat of force in settling international disputes, including territorial and sovereignty disputes.
Respect for international law is the foundation of peace, security and stability for sustainable development.
it is important to mention that the main objective of the conference was the peace; therefore, the instruments adopted were promoting actions in favor of it, especially the Convention for the peaceful adjustment of international differences, in which the states established it’s firmly will to cooperate for a general peace, to make all the efforts to always have a peaceful adjustment of international differences and to strengthen the international justice.
The main organs of the League of Nations were the Assembly, the Council and the International Permanent Court of Justice. The functions of these organs were mainly to maintain peace and security.
International law must establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained.
Must achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.
During the last two decades, the promotion and the protection of Human Rights –as recognized in the International Human Rights Law- has been a tool to promote the peace and security, but has been limited to sanction of crimes and to take actions against impunity.
It is a shame that important countries and leader countries at the international level as United States of America and China has not supported these initiatives.
As a part of the strategies, the United Nations has established is the Peace Building Commission which purpose is “to advise and propose integrated strategies for post-conflict recovery, focusing attention on reconstruction, institution-building and sustainable development.
In my opinion, the United Nations has reduced the conflicts, but the Members of the United Nations are not fulfilling the purposes of the Charter.
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