Special Committee on Non-use of Force.

The Special Committee on Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Principle of Non-Use of Force in International Relations concluded its seventh by adopting a report to the General Assembly in which it "generally recognized the desirability of further consideration of the question before it". The session was held in New York from 21 February to 16 March.

In addition, the Committee earlier adopted the report of its Working Group, which summarized a discussion on the principle of the non-use of force contained in an informal paper presented by the Chairman of the Special Committee's 1982 session, Nabil El-Araby (Egypt). According to that paper, States would settle disputes in conformity with the Charter and pledge themselves to carry out the decisions of the Security Council.

During its seesion, the 35-member Committee, as mandated by Assembly resolution 38/133 of 19 December 1983, continued its work with the goal of drafting a world treaty on the non-use of force in international relations as well as the peaceful settlement of disputes or such other recommendations as the Committee deemed appropriate.

Also by that resolution, the Assembly asked the Committee to "continue at its forthcoming session the elaboration of the formulas of the working paper containing the main elements of the principle of non-use of force in international relations, taking duly into account the proposals submitted to it and the efforts undertaken at its session in 1983".

At the session the Committee had before it various proposals submitted at previous sessions, including a draft treaty submitted in 1978 by the Soviet Union, by which States would pledge not to use force or the threat of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations; a working paper submitted at the 1979 session of the Committee by five Western States--Belgium, France, Italy, the Federal Republic of Germany and the United Kingdom--by which States would reaffirm the principle of settling disputes by peaceful means and reaffirm their right to self-defence; and a revised working paper submitted at the 1981 session of the Committee by 10 non-aligned countries--Benin, Cyprus, Egypt, India, Iraq, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Senegal and Uganda--which would define force not only in terms of military force but also in terms of economic coercion, use of prpaganda, terrorism, mercenaries and covert attempts to destabilize Governments. The Committee also had before it the comments and...