AD HOC MEETINGS OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS


The Ad Hoc Meetings of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, established by the General Assembly under resolution AG/RES. 1080 (XXI-O/91), are convened by the Permanent Council should events occur that abnormally and abruptly disrupt the exercise of democracy. The purpose of these meetings is to collectively examine the events and adopt such decisions as may be deemed appropriate in accordance with the Charter and international law.

The Ad hoc Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Haiti) met in Belém do Pará, June 6, 1994, with Mr. Antonio Araníbar Quiroga, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship of Bolivia, presiding. The Meeting approved resolution MRE/RES. 6 "Call for the Return to Democracy in Haiti." In that resolution, the Meeting reaffirmed the resolutions adopted previously by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, denounced the disruption of the democratic system and asserted that the actions of the de facto regime were utterly lacking in authority. It condemned the systematic human rights violations committed in Haiti and demanded respect for the Governors Island Agreement. The Ad hoc Meeting also congratulated the Civilian Mission and recommended measures to strengthen it and enhance its performance.

The resolution urged the Committee for Humanitarian Aid to redouble its efforts to increase the assistance targeted at the neediest sectors of the population. It congratulated the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the work it had done to defend human rights in Haiti and asked it to continue those efforts. The Meeting recommended strict observance of the embargo and other related measures. It asked that the international community cooperate with the Haitian Government in several areas, among them training for members of the judiciary and for the new Haitian police force.

While the embargo was in effect, the Permanent Council monitored its enforcement through the Special Committee in charge of observing enforcement of the Haitian trade embargo.

On October 11, the President of the Ad hoc Meeting told the Secretary General that after conferring with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs he was recommending that the suspension of commercial flights and international financial transactions with Haiti be lifted. On October 13, he asked that the Secretary General take steps to lift all measures imposed against Haiti under the resolutions passed by the Ad hoc Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs on Haiti, as soon as Haiti's constitutionally elected president, the Honorable Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was again performing his functions. As requested, the General Secretariat lifted those measures..


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