Pakistan

SPEECHES DELIVERED
by

ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO
Foreign Minister of Pakistan before the UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND ITS COMMITTEES 1957 –1965 Reproduced in PDF Form By: Sani H. Panhwar Member Sindh Council, PPP

Address to the Sixth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly on October 25, 1957
Mr. Chairman, My delegation has heard most attentively the statements made thus for. The task of defining the concept or motion of aggression is indeed a gargantuan one. We have to face this delicate issue in a spirit of fallability and caution. Sir Francis Bacon began his essay “Of Truth” by saying, “What is truth? Said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer”. If Pontius Pilate were confronted with the task facing this Committee, I seriously doubt if the Roman governor would even ask the question. At its 368th plenary meeting on January 31, 1952, the General Assembly adopted resolution 599 (VI), which states, inter alia, “Considering that, although the existence of the crime of aggression may be inferred from the circumstances peculiar to each particular case it is nevertheless possible and desirable, with a view to ensuring international peace and security and to developing International Criminal Law to define aggression by reference to the elements which constitute it.” This resolution establishes three conclusions: (a) that aggression is a crime: (b) that the existence of this crime can be inferred from the circumstances peculiar to each particular case without specifically defining the crime of aggression; (c) that, notwithstanding this, it is possible and desirable to and to develop international criminal law. And with this end in view, the question of defining aggression was considered thoroughly at various levels all known to this Committee. However, it is pertinent to observe that the first wave of enthusiasm envisaged in the passage of resolution 599 (VI) was considerably mellowed and dented on a fuller analysis; so that the General...