E/CN.4/Sub.2/SR.835 page 2
The meeting was called to order at 11 a.r.
THE NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER AND THE PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (agenda item 13) (continued) (B/CH.4/1334; A/AC.196/L.2; UIESCO document SS. 70/CONT.630/12)
1. The CHAIRMAN invited the Sub-Commission to resume consideration of agenda item 13, "The New International Economic Order and the promotion of human rights".
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Mr. HEINEMANN (Observer for the Netherlands) said that in the course of the discussions at the previous meetings several references had been made to the position of his Government and it had been suggested that the reaction of his Government to Mr. Khalifa's report on the adverse consequences for the enjoyment of human rights of political, military, economic and other forms of assistance given to the colonial and racist régimes in southern Africa was not compatible with its position on co-operation for development. His Government wished to state that, in its opinion co-operation for development could not be placed on the same footing as foreign trade.
3.
Development assistance by his country was in most cases decided on or provided by the Government, which was, in consequence, in a position to apply certain criteria referred to in the report he had mentioned. Foreign trade was a completely different matter. Trade relations were not regulated by official bodies but were generally a matter for private companies, which were free to make their own decisions. There was one important exception, however: in cases where a decision had been taken by the Security Council, it was the responsibility of the Government to ensure compliance with that decision by enacting the necessary legislation. Consequently, it could happen, and indeed did happen, that the Netherlands authorities might decide to discontinue development assistance to a certain country while at the same time trade relations with that country were maintained. His Government did not regard such a situation as abnormal, since it considered that the existence of diplomatic, political, economic or trade relations with a particular country did not ipso facto constitute assistance to the ruling régime of that country.
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4. Mrs. LEVIN (World Federation of United Nations Associations) said that the Federation had a membership of 63 national organizations throughout the world. objective was to promote tolerance, understanding, solidarity and co-operation between peoples; development as a means of promoting respect for human rights was naturally one of its main concerns.
5. Since 1973, the Federation had on several occasions requested the Economic and Social Council to incorporate in the development strategy for the second Development Decade, which had opened in 1970, the substance of the various international instruments and General Assembly resolutions which expressly linked the advancement of human rights to economic development.
6. The Federation was also making a practical contribution to the attainment of United Nations objectives relating to the new international economic order and was taking part in an international survey of the views of decision-makers and experts on that question. The survey, which was being carried out by the Federation in