Charter committee drafts declaration on UN fact-finding activities.

Fact-finding missions to troubled areas may soon become another powerful tool in the UN arsenal to maintain international peace and security. A declaration that defines and institutionalizes the use of such missions--not only to gather information but also to signal concern over a potentially explosive situation and thus help defuse it--is expected to be adopted by the General Assembly later in 1991.

The draft declaration was adopted without a vote by the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization at the end of its three-week sessions (4-22 February, New York).

Fact-finding missions have been sent by the UN to a number of trouble-spots over the past 45 years, on a pragmatic, occasional, case-by-case basis. The declaration sets clear, legal and political parameters for fact-finding, stresses its value and opens the door for more comprehensive, ongoing use of this tool, particularly by the Secretary-General.

Fact-finding should be "comprehensive, objective and impartial", the declaration states. It should be used at the earliest possible stage to prevent disputes. Fact-finding missions may be undertaken by the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Secretary-General, with the consent of the "receiving State". Nations, however, are asked to receive and cooperate with these missions. Refusals to do so should be explained.

The Secretary-General should monitor conflicts which may threaten international peace and security, and bring relevant information to the attention of the Council. He should be able to mount an emergency mission in case of need. The Secretariat's early warning capability should be enhanced.

To help settle disputes

A 180-page handbook on the settlement of disputes was also approved by the 47-member Committee. A compilation of international legal expertise, the subjects covered range from the conduct of negotiations to launching good offices procedure, to functions of conciliation and costs of arbitration. The text, prepared by the Secretariat and a consultative group over the past six years, was reviewed by the Assembly's Sixth Committee. Committee members asked that it be distributed widely, in connection with the UN Decade of International Law (1990-1999).

The Committee also considered a USSR working paper or enhancing cooperation between the UN and regional organizations. It calls for expanding the role of regional groups to include contributing to political, economic and humanitarian aspects of security, and specifies the need for Security Council authorization should regional groups seek to take enforcement action in case of conflicts.

A Libyan working paper, also before the Committee, proposed to end the veto power available to all five permanent members of the Council by changing the Charter's unanimity provision.