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June 15, 1999

The Honorable Jesse Helms
Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Helms:

Re: Nomination of Richard Holbrooke as U.S. Permanent Representative at the United Nations

I am writing to draw to your attention to certain concerns about the nomination of Mr. Richard Holbrooke as U.S. Permanent Representative at the United Nations. I urge you and your colleagues to address these at Mr. Holbrooke's hearing. If his answers are unsatisfactory, I hope you will consider rejecting the nomination.

1. Does Mr. Holbrooke uphold the rule of law in international relations?
2. Does Mr. Holbrooke uphold the Eisenhower Doctrine in international relations enunciated in October 1956 when President Eisenhower stated:

"There can be no peace without law. And there can be no law if we were to invoke one code of conduct for those who oppose us and another for our friends."

1. In approaching the Cyprus problem, does Mr. Holbrooke recognize that the fundamental issue is aggression and occupation by Turkey in violation of international law and therefore that the only way to achieve a just and durable solution is for the U.S. to take action to cause Turkey to remove its occupation forces and colonists and to comply with the requirements of international law?
2. Further on the Cyprus question, does Mr. Holbrooke believe that there are any lessons from Kosovo with regard to standing up to Turkey's aggression against Cyprus?
3. In approaching the territorial issue in the Aegean, does Mr. Holbrooke acknowledge that the territorial disposition there has been long settled by a series of international treaties and that, specifically, the islets of Imia are sovereign Greek territory under international law?
4. Further on the Aegean territorial issue, does Mr. Holbrooke acknowledge that the proper redress for any party that asserts claims against this territorial status quo is to take its case to the International Court of Justice, but that Turkey has refused to do so?
5. In applying U.S. values to international relations, does Mr. Holbrooke give a high priority to democracy and will he call for the removal of the Turkish military's special prerogatives under the Turkish constitution and for all Turkish citizens to enjoy full democratic rights?
6. In applying the provisions of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, does Mr. Holbrooke believe that Turkey should be held responsible for its 15-year war against its Kurdish minority in which 2.5 million Kurds have been forced from their homes, over 2,500 villages razed and over 25,000 innocent civilians killed by the Turkish military?

These issues involve key current questions before the UN Security Council and will thus be central to Mr. Holbrooke's responsibilities in New York. If Mr. Holbrooke offers negative or temporizing answers on these questions, this would suggest that he is not committed to the rule of law, opposition to aggression and the safeguarding of human rights. Given that these are the essential principles underlying American foreign policy, any weakness on these should disqualify him from representing our country at the United Nations.

I am copying this letter to your colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMSincerely,

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEugene T. Rossides

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