On December 10th 1982, at Montego Bay, Jamaica,
117 self-styled Sovereign States signed the Convention
on the Law of the Sea, while 23 states signed only
the final report of the Conference.
The creation of an international maritime zone for the
exploitation of the sea bed by the "Enterprise"
acting under an international Authority was,
indeed, the chief novelty of this prodigious treaty,
offering tempting benefits to the poor nations but
regarded by the maritime powers and the large
multinationals with a mixture of anxiety and
suspicion.
On March 10th 1983 the President of the United States
(a non-signatory) declared an economic exclusion zone
over the coastal waters of the entire Union up to a limit
of 200 miles. That Reagan declaration asserts a resolve
to make the exclusion zone effective and, in addition,
explicitly reserves the right to exploit unilaterally the
resources of the sea bed outside that limit.
On March 15th 1983 the preliminary commission created
under the Law of the Sea Convention, began its
inaugural session in Kingston, Jamaica. Its brief, one
unprecedented in the history of international treaties,
is to plan the detailed working, before coming into
force, of the Authority which will be charged with
assuring that the resources of the international zone
shall be managed as a part of the Common Heritage of
Mankind.
On May 23rd 1970, president Nixon had already affirmed
that the sea must be counted as parto of this common
heritage, inviting all States to forego their claims to
any sea bottom more than 200 meters below the
surface.
Will the present Administration go into its second
term having ignored the chance of signing the Jamaica
document, now at the U.N. in New-York and open to
signature until December 9th 1984 ?
It seems not out of place to recall the World
Declaration of September 24th 1973 issued by the Peoples
Congress and unfortunately still relevant.
As delegates of the
Peoples Congress, elected directly and democratically by
a trans-national electorate from 110 countries
We state
That the seas of the
world
- Represent a vital, essential
element in climates stability and the distribution of
water on the planet
- Contains enormous but not
inexhaustible wealth - food ,energy and raw
materials
We state
- That the seas of the world,
missing an own legal status are the object of the
Nations states frantic desire
- There is a great risk to see
the Nations States cut up seas and oceans for their
own profit
- There is a great risk to see
the level of pollution increase until all this wealth
is destroyed
We declare that the seas
of the world
- are a common asset belonging
to all the inhabitants of the Planet
- must be sheltered from
unrestrained greed
We ask
For the creation of
specialised world institutions with limited but real
power, able to impose their regulations to Nations States
that are vital for the survival of the seas of the world
and for its exploitation for the benefit of all the
species
