A/HRC/17/39 I. Introduction1 1. In its resolution 14/3, the Human Rights Council requested its Advisory Committee, in consultation with Member States, civil society, academia and all relevant stakeholders, to prepare a draft declaration on the right of peoples to peace and to report on the progress thereon to the Council at its seventeenth session. 2. In its recommendation 5/2, the Advisory Committee designated Chinsung Chung, Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, Wolfgang Stefan Heinz (Rapporteur) and Mona Zulficar (Chairperson) as members of the drafting group.2 The drafting group, later expanded to include Shigeki Sakamoto and Latif Hüseynoy, submitted a draft progress report to the Advisory Committee for consideration at its sixth session. The present report will be submitted to the Council for its consideration at its seventeenth session. II. Right to peace in international law and practice 3. The Charter of the United Nations begins by proclaiming international peace and security as a common purpose, in Article 1; as a principle, in Article 2; and as the basis for dispute settlement in Chapter VI (Arts. 33-38). In Article 55, the Charter refers to the promotion of human rights as a necessary condition for peaceful and friendly relations between States. The right to peace is inherent in the Charter. 4. The United Nations plenary principal organ, the General Assembly, has recognized the right to peace in numerous resolutions, with a minority of Member States abstaining. Most notably, in the annex to its resolution 34/11, the Assembly proclaimed that “the peoples of our planet have a sacred right to peace”. This was reaffirmed in subsequent Assembly resolutions, in particular in resolutions 53/243, 57/216, 60/163 and 63/189. The right was also affirmed by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolutions 5 (XXXII) 76, 2000/66 and 2002/71, and by the Human Rights Council in its resolutions 8/9, 11/4 and 14/3. A number of countries have consistently abstained or voted against these resolutions. 5. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination states in its preamble that discrimination between human beings on the grounds of race, colour or ethnic origin is an obstacle to friendly and peaceful relations among nations and is capable of disturbing peace and security among peoples.3 6. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights notes in its preamble that human rights are the foundation of peace in the world.4 In its general comment No. 6, the Human Rights Committee emphasizes the relationship between the right to life, prevention of war and the prohibition of propaganda for war, including the proliferation of nuclear weapons; in its general comment No. 14 on nuclear weapons and the right to life, it draws a clear link between the prohibition of war and the right to life. 7. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women states that the full and complete development of a country, the welfare of the world and the 1 2 3 4 The Rapporteur thanks Lena Ebe M.A., intern at the German Institute for Human Rights, for her excellent support in the preparation of the first version of the present paper. Advisory Committee recommendation 5/2. United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 660, 195. Ibid., vol. 999, 171. 3