The United Nations General Assembly Must Meet
in Special Session Without Delay
March 6, 2003

Whereas:

I. The government of the United States stands by its decision to initiate war against Iraq in the near future with or without the backing of the United Nations Security Council and regardless of the concessions Saddam Hussein may make to the demands of Security Council inspectors.

II. President Bush has stated he will not be satisfied with the destruction of missiles in Iraq's possession said to have a slightly greater capacity than is authorized. The Prime Minister of Great Britain and the President of Spain continue their servile support to war despite opposition from the vast majority of their respective nations.

III. Under these conditions, the Security Council cannot carry out its peacekeeping and international security functions set forth in the UN Charter.

IV. In this situation, in order to maintain international legality and to avoid repetition of the situation that affected the Society of Nations, torpedoed by the Nazi-Japanese-Fascist axis 1935 to 1939, a special session of the General Assembly (Article 20 of the United Nations Charter) is urgently needed for the purpose of recommending measures for preserving peace and international security (article 18 of the Charter). Various factors authorize General Assembly intervention:

1) The Security Council is not in condition to carry out its functions set forth in the Charter, due to the posture of the United States;

2) Intervention by the General Assembly under such circumstances is justified by its general faculties set forth in article 10 of the Charter;

3) The General Assembly may "discuss all issues related to preservation of peace and international security brought before it by any member of the United Nations." (Article 11, paragraph 2; and articles 34 and 35 of the Charter.);

4) "The General Assembly may recommend measures for the peaceful resolution of any situation." (Article 14);

5) On November 3, 1950 the General Assembly adopted resolution 377 (V) "Unity for preservation of peace." Better known as the "Dean Acheson resolution," it indicates that under certain circumstances (such as Security Council powerlessness or a decision to convene the General Assembly) the General Assembly "SHALL IMMEDIATELY STUDY THE ISSUE IN ORDER TO MAKE APPROPRIATE RECOMMENDATIONS TO MEMBERS ON ADOPTION OF COLLECTIVE MEASURES." The General Assembly has employed the "Acheson procedure" on various opportunities and during various moments in history such as: Egypt (1956), in Hungary (1956), Lebanon (1958), Indo-Pakistani conflict (1971), Jordan (1980), Afghanistan (1980), Namibia (1981), Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992), etc.

Therefore, the non-governmental organization Association of American Jurists with consultative status with the UN, calls on the United Nations Secretary General and on the governments of all member States to demand a special session of the General Assembly. The General Assembly must recommend that Member States abstain from rupturing world peace or from collaborating with Member States that rupture peace, as well as boycott measures against States that undertake aggression, and adoption of measures to prevent war.

Only in this way will it be possible to avoid definitively undercutting legitimacy of the United Nations system and the destruction of the international legal order.

Beinusz Szmukler, President
Vanessa Ramos, Secretary General
Alejandro Teitelbaum, Permanent Representative before the UNU in Geneva