30/01 2004 18:02 FAX 31703617959 EMBAJAlE
Courinternationalede Justice
Enregistréau Greffe:le
InternationalCourt of Justice
Filedinthe Registry:on
l
ElEmbajador deEspafia
S.E.Shi Jiuyong
Président.
Cour InternationaledeJustice. LaHaye, !3 0anvier2004,
MonsieurlePrésident:
J' a1'honneur devousavancerla copied'unelemeaddressée à VotreExcelencepar S.E.
le MinistredesAffaireÉtrangbes,Mme. AnaPalacio,afi ne présent 1'rxposl écrici-joint
sur I'affaire des ConséquencesJuridiques de Iëdfication,d'unmur dans le Tenitoire
palestino iecupé.Ultérieurementj,vous feraiporvenirl'origidelladitelettre.
Veuillezagréer,MonsieurlePrésident, lsssurancesdematrè sauteconsidération. Madrid,30January2004
H.E.MT- ShiJiuyong
President
InternationCaurtof Iustice
PeacePaiace I
The Hague
1have thehonour,on behaiof the SpanishG~YJ
to~spond to iheinvitatiby
the InternationCoutt ofJustice,contained of 19 December 2003and
transmittebythe letter ofthe Regisirar&e date, tMembeas Stateof the
UnitedNations tofiunishsomation onasp therequestofthe General
AssembIy off e Unite Nations of an advis ule Legal Consequemes of
the Comction of a Wall In the Oc ian Territory.'Xhi lstter
complamests thewrittastatementofbel theEuropcm Union_
The Spanishpositionrcgardintbi s arteiscons itattitudatthe moment
of the adoptionof Resolutïon A/RES/ES-10/1 the Gend Assembly
decidedto requestthsaid advisoryopinion th therestof the
member StataoftheEuropean Union,decidedto on theResolution,
which was adoptedby90 votes to with74ab resentatveofIhiyon
behalfof the EuropeanUnion, as weii as ssociateCountries
cxplainedthiabstention,ithefollowingmmmer:
"The EU belleuesthat the proposed requesr laralvisoopinio fnom the
Internationalourtof Justicewfllnohelpthe theIWO partiestore-launcha
political dialogandistherefore 1.2reasonihattheEurapean
Unionwillabstan'onthe to the consideratoifon
thisEmergency Special
The EUalsoaddressed theZegitimatconcernaof with regardtothe continued
tmorist violence, espaciallagaùlstinnoceni as well as the adverse
comequencessufferedbythePalestiniapeople,
"m7hil~ecogmkîngIsrael' rght toprotectirs from rerrorist attacks, the
Ewopean Unionurges theGovemment of this righto fully
respect inZematwnalm, in particulm hanitarian
lm, includingthe Fourth Geneva
chrilsancarualtandrake no
plight othePalesfinianps op2e"-30101 2004 18:03FAX 31703617959 EMBAJADA ESPANALA HAYA -.--q~y-u.uu3
30.ENE2.00417:34
Spa toget.hm*th ils parhtrsoftheEU, hm consi takenthe position that the
unilatemibuildinof a barria(osec* fence, or byTsraelin the
Palestinianoccupied territor~e circumsi5ances eotio x-taking
plam,is causing unnecessahardshiptotlie opuIations anhas posed an
added obstaclfor the reoumptiof pe under internationalanspices
with aview to apermanentmd just settl Isrado-Palest conanct,as
calledfoby SecUntyCounci and Ge3lera.l soiutio Its.sais0expressed
the view thatthe route markedout
consequencasfor the local populationslunin tion aswell es thenegative
ugadon are in contraàictionto
rdevant isternational obligaüonsyinpartinilar derivinfrom the Armistice
Agreement of 194and the Fourt&nom
T~U, atthe meeîingofthe EuropeanCouncil en, on12-13 Decembor
2002,thEHeadsof StateandGovernmemo t fthe on state"TheEuropean
Counci urgestIi aovernmentof Xsraetorev
foran md toMer land confiscationfor
fence".Aga.at Thessalonikion 19-20
lsraal 90 reversethe sattiement policy onfiscation and the
constructo iftnheso-caiiesdty fence, aii of
Statesolutionphysicallyimpossibleto
on 12 December2003, the Eznopean
togek with the departiof theso-oaiIedsenin ein theo~cupiedWest Bank
andEastJemalem hm the GreenLine,couldpr hture negotiati annsmake
the two-Statsolutim physicallyimp .Inthis context, EUe is
alarmeby thecreationoaclosedzonebehvean ce'aad theGTeenLine."
Tlùs consistcenncem explainstheprincipl enby theEU intheOend
Assembly oftheUnitedNationsattheres
NewYork duringtheautumnof2003, BTStatestogethcr witthe
acceding couohiecosponsored (documentAES- 10/L15)of
whatwould becomeResolutionAIRES bet.2003e,aed 'glegal
IsracactionsinOccupicdEast Jeruç the OccupiedPdestinian
T-tory"'.Inthz etolutionthe Gm reaffirma'Ybeprinciple
of the imchissibilofthe acquisiti @rcamblep, aragrap31,
reiterat"itcal1uponIsraelth0oc deffhely k8spectrhe
GenevaConventionrelativeto tPe inTime ofW~of 12
%t Içraeslopaudrevers he
August1949" (preamble,paragra11)and
construceiofthewall in thO cludiininandammd
EastJenisalem,which is ind sticeLine of 1949 and is in
contradkt iornlevaritpxovisi '(werative paragraph1).
Mîer the UnitadNations Secretary-Oeneslubmjed tothe General Assmbly bis
report prqared pursuantoResolutionABeS-1011 (~OCWWII A~IES-10/248,of24
November 2003) he 'EUagainexpresseditconce s about the continuedbuilding of
the barrieby Israeand elaborated on its positinthe statement made bythe
f ofthemember Stateof theEU
RepresentativofItalan 8Decornber2003cmbch
aswell asthaAccedina gndAssocialeCounhies: id othtBumpean Stattç?lieEU SUB .RA L,NUU
"ne European Unionù.parricularlconcert temarked ourfor the
Barrierinthe OccupiedWestBankThe snvis the Ba~rifkom the
'Greenttne' couIdprefudgj%htrenegotiations e huo-Sta telutton
pbsicallyimpossibtuimplemenr.rwodd
hardshiprorhePdestinianThousds ofPale
cutofl'orn essenlralservicesinthe WestBank
accessto land and water resmces.Xn this f:the EU is almed by rhe
desîgnationoflandberweentBmier andthe Zùte'asa closemiIftuzone.
Thisisa &-factochangeinthe igaIsta inthis area which
makeslifforthemevenharder"
Canseqmntly,.tEU statementnptted "thefacttIsmi, accordingto thereofrt
the Secïew-General pursuato General ksem y ResolutîoES-10/1 s,notin
cornplianc*th theAssemblfs demandthaitstos andreversethecanstruçtiof
the dl inthe Ocqied Pdestinian Territory".
4
lnconclusioqSpainbaconsistenttaketheposi n thati
+
1. Israelhastrigbttoprotectisitizefi terroristattacks.
9
2. . Howevm, inexexcisithi sightthQov ofIsraelshouconduçt itself
icornpliancewithrelevantprovisionsof
3. The co~dion ofthebarrïe(or orseparation dlinsidthc
ocnipiePalman territones,includin. Jerusalemis ideparture
ofthe ArmisticLiae of 1949and is releva ntovisio ofs
internationallaw.
Furthmure, theconstructiofthebarri iscausing fbrtherhumsrniandan
4..
economi bardshitothPalestinians.
5- The envisagdepartrnof theban& the Line" couldprejudge
future negotiationsbmenthe partiesand the two-Statsolutiophysicdy
impossibltoimplement.
6. Finallthe requast forAdvisoiyOp- 'onfiomthe Intexnd5onalCouof
Jzlstiis inappropriate.
i'
Spain
Letter dated 30 January 2004 from the Ambassador of Spain to the Netherlands, together with the Written Statement of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Spain