A/HRC/37/63 (m) States shall negotiate in good faith for the early conclusion of a universal treaty on general and complete disarmament under effective international control (A/HRC/27/51, paras. 6, 16, 18 and 44); (n) States may not organize or encourage the organization of irregular forces or armed bands, including mercenaries, for incursion into the territory of another State; (o) States must refrain from intervening in matters within the national jurisdiction of another State; (p) No State may use or encourage the use of economic, political or any other type of measures to coerce another State in order to obtain from it the subordination of the exercise of its sovereign rights and to secure from it advantages of any kind; (q) No State may organize, assist, foment, finance, incite or tolerate subversive, terrorist or armed activities directed towards the violent overthrow of the regime of another State, or interfere in civil strife in another State;13 (r) The use of force to deprive peoples of their national identity constitutes a violation of their inalienable rights and of the principle of non-intervention; (s) The ontology of States is to legislate in the public interest. The ontology of business and investment is to take risks to generate profit. A treaty that stipulates one-way protection for investors and establishes arbitration commissions that encroach on the regulatory space of States is by nature contra bonos mores. Hence, the investor-State dispute settlement mechanism cannot be reformed; it must be abolished (see A/HRC/30/44, paras. 8, 12, 17 and 53, and A/70/285, paras. 54 and 65); (t) States must respect not only the letter of the law, but also the spirit of the law, as well as general principles of law (Statute of the International Court of Justice, Article 38), such as good faith, the impartiality of judges, non-selectivity, uniformity of application of law, the principle of non-intervention, estoppel (ex injuria non oritur jus), the prohibition of the abuse of rights (sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas) and the prohibition of contracts or treaties that are contra bonos mores. It is not only the written law that stands, but the broader principles of natural justice as already recognized in Sophocles’ Antigone, affirming the unwritten laws of humanity, and the concept of a higher moral law prohibiting unconscionably taking advantage of a weaker party, which could well be considered a form of economic neocolonialism or neo-imperialism (see annex II below); (u) States have the duty to cooperate with one another, irrespective of the differences in their political, economic and social systems, in order to maintain international peace and security and to promote international economic stability and progress. To this end, States are obliged to conduct their international relations in the economic, social, cultural, technical and trade fields in accordance with the principles of sovereign equality and non-intervention. States should promote a culture of dialogue and mediation; (v) The right to access reliable information is indispensable for the national and international democratic order. The right of freedom of opinion and expression necessarily includes the right to be wrong. “Memory laws”,14 which pretend to crystalize history into a politically correct narrative, and penal laws enacted to suppress dissent are anti-democratic, offend academic freedom and endanger not only domestic but also international democracy (see A/HRC/24/38, para. 37); (w) States have a duty to protect and preserve nature and the common heritage of humankind for future generations. 13 14 Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America), Merits, Judgment. I.C.J. Reports 1986, p. 14. Available at www.icj-cij.org/files/caserelated/70/070-19860627-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 34 (2011) on the freedoms of opinion and expression, para. 49. 7