UN General Assembly
2012

in particular the commitment to respect and uphold the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of States. During Azerbaijan’s presidency of the Security Council this past May, we organized an Arria-formula meeting of the Council to encourage a frank exchange of views, within a flexible procedural framework, on the role of mediation, judicial settlement and justice in promoting durable peace and reconciliation based on international law. We look forward to further initiatives on the topic in the General Assembly and the Security Council with a view to contributing to the development and implementation of comprehensive peace strategies within specific frameworks that provide that dispute settlement and conflict resolution must be based on respect for the rule of law and for justice. The world continues to face persistent, grave and systematic violations of the fundamental norms and principles of international law. There are still instances where archaic patterns of the use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of States are used to achieve territorial gains. Hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world continue