VZCZCXYZ0006
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0288/01 0912117
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 312117Z MAR 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 4024

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000288 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNGA PREL
SUBJECT: 63RD UNGA/C-6: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON STATUS 
OF THE PROTOCOLS ADDITIONAL TO THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 
1949 
 
 
¶1.    The Secretary-General has written a diplomatic note to 
USUN (para 3), referring to the request in General Assembly 
resolution 61/30 of 4 December 2006 (&Status of the 
Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and 
relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts8) 
for the SYG to submit a report to the General Assembly at its 
sixty-third session on the status of the Additional Protocols 
relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts, as 
well as on measures taken to strengthen the existing body of 
international humanitarian law.  The SYG,s diplomatic note 
invites the United States and other Member States to submit 
information, by June 1, 2008, which the SYG can use in his 
report to the General Assembly.  (The text of resolution 
61/30 is available in the UN documents section of the UN,s 
website (www.un.org).) 
 
¶2.    BEGIN COMMENT:  The General Assembly Sixth (Legal) 
Committee considers the agenda item entitled &Status of the 
Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and 
relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts8 
every other year, and the SYG submits a report to the General 
Assembly in connection with that agenda item.  When the Sixth 
Committee last considered that agenda item in 2006, the 
United States did not submit information for the SYG,s 
report.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶3.    BEGIN TEXT: 
 
The Secretary-General of the United Nations presents his 
compliments to the Permanent Representative of the United 
States of America to the United Nations and has the honour to 
refer to General Assembly resolution 61/30 of 4 December 2006 
entitled &Status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva 
Conventions of 1949 and relating to the protection of victims 
of armed conflicts8.  The text of the resolution is attached. 
 
It may be recalled that the operative part of the resolution 
reads as follows: 
 
The General Assembly, 
 
( 
 
¶1.    Welcomes the universal acceptance of the Geneva 
Conventions of 1949, and notes the trend towards a similarly 
wide acceptance of the two Additional Protocols of 1977; 
 
¶2.    Calls upon all States parties to the Geneva Conventions 
that have not yet done so to consider becoming parties to the 
Additional Protocols at the earliest possible date; 
 
¶3.    Calls upon all States that are already parties to 
Protocol I, or those States not parties, on becoming parties 
to Protocol I, to make the declaration provided for under 
article 90 of that Protocol and to consider making use, where 
appropriate, of the services of the International 
Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission in accordance with the 
provisions of article 90 of Protocol I; 
 
¶4.    Calls upon all States that have not yet done so to 
consider becoming parties to the Convention for the 
Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed 
Conflict and the two Protocols thereto, and to other relevant 
treaties on international humanitarian law relating to the 
protection of victims of armed conflict; 
 
¶5.    Calls upon all States parties to the Protocols 
Additional to the Geneva Conventions to ensure their wide 
dissemination and full implementation; 
 
¶6.    Notes with appreciation the Declaration and Agenda for 
Humanitarian Action adopted by the Twenty-eighth 
International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, 
which noted that all States must take national measures to 
implement international humanitarian law, including training 
of the armed forces and making this law known among the 
general public, as well as the adoption of legislation to 
punish war crimes in accordance with their international 
obligations; 
 
¶7.    Affirms the necessity of making the implementation of 
international humanitarian law more effective; 
 
¶8.    Welcomes the advisory service activities of the 
International Committee of the Red Cross in supporting 
efforts made by Member States to take legislative and 
administrative action to implement international humanitarian 
law and in promoting the exchange of information on those 
efforts between Governments; 
 
¶9.    Also welcomes the increasing number of national 
commissions or committees for the implementation of 
 
 
 
international humanitarian law and for promoting the 
incorporation of treaties on international humanitarian law 
into national law and disseminating the rules of 
international humanitarian law; 
 
¶10.   Calls upon States to consider becoming parties to the 
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict; 
 
¶11.   Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General 
Assembly at its sixty-third session a report on the status of 
the Additional Protocols relating to the protection of 
victims of armed conflicts, as well as on measures taken to 
strengthen the existing body of international humanitarian 
law, inter alia, with respect to its dissemination and full 
implementation at the national level, based on information 
received from Member States and the International Committee 
of the Red Cross; 
 
¶12.   Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its 
sixty-third session the item entitled "Status of the 
Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949" and 
relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts. 
 
The Secretary-General would appreciate receiving, by 1 June 
2008, any information which His/Her Excellency,s government 
might deem relevant for inclusion in the report of the 
Secretary-General, requested in paragraph 11 of resolution 
 
SIPDIS 
61/30. 
 
END TEXT. 
KHALILZAD