United Nations Security Council resolution 1502, adopted unanimously on 26 August 2003, after recalling resolutions
1265
Year 1265 ( MCCLXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By topic
War and politics
* January 20 – In Westminster, the first elected English parliament (called Mon ...
(1999),
1296 (2000) and
1460 (2003), the council condemned
violence against humanitarian workers and called upon all states to ensure that such incidents did not remain unpunished.
The vote on the resolution, proposed by
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, was delayed due to opposition from the United States concerning the inclusion of language relating to the
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...
, which the latter did not recognise; references to the court were later removed.
Resolution
Observations
The Security Council reiterated its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and to ensure respect for
international humanitarian law
International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war ('' jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by pro ...
.
It welcomed
General Assembly resolutions concerning the protection of United Nations and humanitarian personnel. At the same time, United Nations and humanitarian personnel were asked to respect the laws of the country in which they were operating.
The preamble of the resolution also emphasised the existence of restrictions against attacks directed at United Nations
peacekeeping personnel or humanitarian personnel, which constituted
war crimes. There was concern at attacks worldwide against United Nations, associate and humanitarian personnel, including the
bombing outside the headquarters of the
United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq on 19 August 2003.
Acts
The resolution expressed strong condemnation of all violence to which those in humanitarian operations were exposed, including attacks on convoys and
looting of their property. It urged all states to ensure that such crimes did not remain unpunished, reaffirming the obligations of parties involved in armed conflict to comply with
international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
. The parties were urged to guarantee unimpeded access by humanitarian personnel to people in need of assistance, ensure their safety and
freedom of movement, and provide facilitates for their use. The council was determined to ensure such measures were upheld, by:
:(a) requesting the
Secretary-General
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
to seek the inclusion of and ensure that countries include key provisions of the
:(b) encouraging the Secretary-General to bring instances regarding the denial of
humanitarian assistance to the Security Council's attention
:(c) issuing declarations of exceptional risk under the convention
Finally, the Secretary-General
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...
was instructed to address the issue of the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and its associated personnel in his reports to the council, including recommendations on how to prevent future incidents and holding those accountable who perpetrated instances of violence.
See also
*
Attacks on humanitarian workers
*
Humanitarian principles
There are a number of meanings for the term humanitarian. Here, humanitarian pertains to the practice of saving lives and alleviating suffering. It is usually related to emergency response (also called humanitarian response) whether in the case o ...
*
(2003–2005)
References
External links
*
Text of the Resolution at undocs.org
{{UNSCR 2003
1502
Humanitarian aid
August 2003 events