Urges States to take all necessary measures to prevent crimes against UN and associated personnel from occurring and to ensure that crimes do not go unpunished and that perpetrators of such crimes are brought to justice; calls upon States to consider becoming parties to relevant international instruments, in particular the Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel; recommends that the Secretary-General continue to seek the inclusion of, and that host countries include, key provisions of the Convention, among others, those regarding the prevention of attacks against members of the operation, the establishment of such attacks as crimes punishable by law and the prosecution or extradition of offenders, in future as well as, if necessary, in existing status-of-forces, status-of-mission and host country agreements negotiated between UN and those countries, mindful of the importance of the timely conclusion of such agreements; recommends also that, consistent with his existing authority, the Secretary-General advise the Security Council or the General Assembly, as appropriate, where in his assessment circumstances would support a declaration of exceptional risk for the purposes of article 1(c)(ii) of the Convention; decides that the Ad Hoc Committee established under resolution 56/89 shall reconvene for one week 12-16 Apr. 2004, with a mandate to expand the scope of legal protection under the Convention, including, inter alia, by means of a legal instrument, and that the work shall continue during the 59th session of the General Assembly within the framework of a working group of the 6th Committee.

Adopted without vote, 72nd plenary meeting

3 p.

Issued in GAOR, 58th sess., Suppl. no. 49.