The Foreign Affairs Ministers of the member states of ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America) gathered in Caracas on September 9 and condemned the NATO intervention in Libya and the illegal military aggression carried out under a UN Security Council resolution, saying that it opportunistically takes advantage of the internal political conflict in that country. This follows two prior ALBA statements on the issue this year: the Special Declaration of the Political Council of March 4, and the Special Declaration of the Social Ministerial Council of March 19.
They claim NATO has conducted a military operation of regime change in Libya under the doctrine of preventive war, manipulating the UN according to its own geopolitical and economic interests and thus violating Security Council resolution 1973.
They demand the immediate and unconditional cessation of bombing and military intervention by NATO in Libyan territory.
They deplore the fact that NATO has ignored consistent efforts by the African Union to seek a solution for dialogue and peace to the internal conflict in Libya.
They also deplore the role of several major international media outlets, which have acted as accomplices by aligning themselves with those that support aggression and distorting information about what is happening in Libya.
They express urgent alarm over the danger that similar actions could be taken against Syria, taking advantage of political difficulties in that Arab nation.
They reiterate their firm commitment to the right of the peoples of Libya and Syria to self-determination.
They strongly reject any attempt to turn Libya into a protectorate of the NATO or the UN Security Council.
In order to contribute to backing the peace efforts demanded by most of the world’s peoples, the Ministers agreed to take the following actions:
• Promote discussion at the UN General Assembly on the dangerous precedent created regarding Libya and on the protection of the sovereign rights of the Arab nation in Africa and Libya, with a view toward ensuring that Libya does not become a protectorate of NATO and the UN Security Council.
• Promote the establishment of a General Assembly Working Group to investigate and monitor the use of the frozen funds of Libya’s financial reserves and report on its findings and conclusions to the General Assembly.
• Call on the international community to promote an investigation of crimes perpetrated by NATO in Libya to the detriment of the Libyan people, including loss of life and the destruction of infrastructure. Chronicle media manipulation and lies promoted by the empire to justify aggression against the Libyan people.
• Request that the UN Secretary General maintain full transparency and strict accountability to member states with regard to actions on the issue of Libya and Syria, and reaffirm that their role should respond to mandates agreed by the General Assembly, before taking further action to intervene in Libya. Likewise, request a meeting with the Secretary General to discuss the situation in Libya.
• Support a central role for the African Union in peace efforts in Libya.
• Express their objection to the seat corresponding to Libya in the UN being occupied by one faction or transitional authority illegitimately imposed by foreign intervention, and thus promote a substantive discussion in the General Assembly’s Credentials Committee to ensure that the seat remain unoccupied until a government that is a free and sovereign expression of the will of the Libyan people is constituted legitimately and without foreign intervention.
• Propose to the Syrian government in Damascus to send a mission of top representatives or foreign ministers of the ALBA-TCP and, if accepted, report on this situation to the Latin American and Caribbean countries through UNASUR, CARICOM, SICA and the Rio Group-CALC Unified Forum and invite those who wish to join this initiative.
• Promote a debate on the Non-Aligned Movement Coordinating Bureau on the dangers looming over Syria.
• Support, together with the Non-Aligned members of the Security Council, the draft resolution sponsored by Russia and China with regard to Syria.
• Send the UN Secretary General this declaration and request that it be distributed among member states as an official document of the General Assembly.
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