text: (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1982/18) and expressed appreciation for the valuable information contained therein. 202. With regard to the title of the item, the view was expressed that it might have been more topical to examine the effects of threats to international peace and security on human rights. In this regard it was said that the existing tensions in the world, the arms race and the nuclear menace are seriously limiting social and economic progress and endangering the right to life. 203. Other speakers also referred to the arms race, and the idea of an international "Marshall Plan" for development financed by funds set free by disarmament was mentioned. 204. A number of speakers stressed that the non-observance of collective rights could lead to situations affecting international peace and security. Mention was made of the denial of the right to self-determination through foreign domination, colonial rule, apartheid and racism, which were said to be among the main causes of armed struggle, conflict escalation, foreign intervention and even worldwide conflagrations. In this connection, the situations in South Africa and in the Middle East were mentioned as striking contemporary examples of the non-observance of collective rights. Questions concerning the exercise of sovereignty over natural resources were mentioned by some members as frequent sources of conflict. 205. Among civil and political rights, the suppression of the rights to free expression and association, free press and free elections were mentioned as examples of gross violations which could endanger international peace and security. Some members pointed to the need for effective control of citizens over their Governments as an essential means of avoiding abuses of power and referred in this connection to the developments leading to the Second World War. Others referred to serious forms of ethnic and religious discrimination.
analysis: The text primarily focuses on the relationship between human rights and international peace and security, discussing the impact of threats to peace on human rights and the role of human rights violations in causing conflict. It also touches on the idea of an international "Marshall Plan" for development financed by disarmament, which suggests a connection to economic development.