A/HRC/29/45
IV. First and second readings of the revised text prepared by the
Chairperson-Rapporteur of the working group
31.
At its 2nd meeting, on 20 April 2015, its 3rd and 4th meetings, on 21 April 2015,
and its 5th and 6th meeting on 22 April 2015, the working group proceeded, paragraph by
paragraph, with the first and second readings of the revised text prepared by the
Chairperson-Rapporteur of the working group, on the understanding that nothing would be
agreed upon until everything had been agreed upon. The text was subject to two readings
during the session, with the exception of article 1, which was considered only during the
first reading.
32.
At the outset, the Chairperson-Rapporteur stated that the revised text encompassed
the different views expressed at the second session of the working group and in the
informal and bilateral consultations held during the intersessional period. He explained that
the revised text incorporated those elements included in the compilation of proposals made
by States during the second session of the working group, around which it was hoped that
consensus could be reached. He stressed that, in the light of the foregoing, the revised text
was not the “Chairperson’s text”, and that his role was merely to facilitate the process. The
Chairperson-Rapporteur reiterated his determination to seek consensus on the draft
declaration, which he viewed as a first step towards building and codifying the right to
peace.
33.
Before beginning the reading, the Chairperson-Rapporteur also outlined the structure
of the revised text. The first part of the preamble contained references to international
instruments relevant to the context of the right to peace, followed by a number of
paragraphs relating to each of the three pillars of the United Nations (namely, peace and
security, human rights, and development), a section on peace education and the culture of
peace, and concluded with the purposes of the declaration. Four articles formed the core of
the revised text, building on, inter alia, article 23 of the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights and article 38 of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. Articles 3 and 4
dealt with the implementation and interpretation of the draft declaration.
A.
Preamble
34.
In the course of the reading, a number of proposals were made by delegations and
other stakeholders to modify the Chairperson’s revised text. The proposals were recorded in
successive compilations subsequently made available in the room.
35.
Comments of a general nature were made in which some States again reaffirmed
their full support for the mandate of the working group and to reflect clearly the concept of
the right to peace in the draft declaration, while others restated their view that there was no
consensus on the right to peace as such, and that they wished to focus rather on the
interlinkage between the three pillars of the United Nations. Those making statements
pledged, in the spirit of reaching compromise, to work towards consensus, to show
flexibility and to refrain from introducing controversial or complex issues.
36.
Some delegations made proposals to insert specific provisions from the Charter of
the United Nations throughout the preamble, while others raised a general concern over
selectively adding elements from agreed texts, and notably from the Charter. The latter
delegations were of the view that a general reference to the Charter at the beginning of the
preamble was sufficient and all-encompassing, and that there was no need to add further
extracts from it in subsequent sections of the preamble.
8
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