One of my life-long aspirations is peace: peace in the family, peace in the country and peace in the world. It is my good fortune to have been asked to make peace in all three domains.
Peace in the Family
Many years ago, the patriarch of a very wealthy family passed away. He left his wealth to his three children. Two of his children lived in Singapore. The third lived in Malaysia. There was a difference of opinion between the children about the future of the father’s company. The child in Malaysia wanted to dissolve the company. The two in Singapore wanted to keep the company. The family asked me to be the mediator.
I flew to Kuala Lumpur to see the child who lived there. He was adamant that his father’s company be dissolved and for the proceeds to be equally divided among the three siblings. I asked him whether he would consider selling his share to his siblings, he said no. I was therefore not successful in my mediation. The lesson learnt is that when trust has been lost and goodwill has been replaced by ill will, no compromise is possible.
Peace in the Country
Singapore has an excellent Mediation Centre. I am on the panel of mediators. One day, the centre informed me that my services were required. A civil servant had been dismissed by one of our Ministries. She felt that she had been wrongfully dismissed. She had sued the government in the High Court. The judge advised her to try the mediation option first. She told the Mediation Centre that she would agree to refer her case to mediation provided that I agree to be the mediator. I did not know her. As a civil servant, I had to get the permission of the Head of the Civil Service to serve as mediator because the defendant was the government. Permission was granted.
I had to study several bags of documents which the complainant had submitted. One of the documents contained a legal opinion given to her by one of our Ministers, when he was in the private sector. He had advised her that she had a good case. I then conducted an oral proceeding to hear both sides. The government was represented by a very able lawyer from the Attorney-General’s Chambers. I drew her attention to the legal opinion. As a compromise, I suggested that, without admitting liability, the government should pay the complainant X number of months of salary. The suggestion was accepted by the complainant and, surprisingly, rejected by the government.
Peaceful Settlement of Trade Disputes
In 1996, the World Trade Organization (WTO) held its first Ministerial Meeting in Singapore. I was a member of the Singapore delegation, led by our then Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr Yeo Cheow Tong. My job was to help the Minister in chairing the meetings and negotiations. As a result, I got to know the WTO Director-General, Dr Renato Ruggiero, and his senior colleagues. In the following four years, I was asked to serve on three dispute panels, twice as Chairman.
In 1998, the WTO informed me that New Zealand and the United States had brought a complaint against Canada. The three countries had requested that I chair the dispute panel consisting of three members. The Singapore Government advised me to accept because of our strong support for the WTO and because we believe in the peaceful settlement of disputes.
The complaint by New Zealand and the US was that, contrary to WTO law, Canada was providing subsidies on dairy products through its national and provincial pricing mechanisms for milk and other diary products. The Dispute Panel unanimously found in favour of New Zealand and the US and we were upheld on appeal.
In the year 2000, I was again informed by the WTO that Australia, New Zealand and the US had nominated me to chair a Dispute Panel, to consider a dispute brought by Australia and New Zealand against the US. The issue was whether the US law on safeguards was consistent with the WTO law. The panel unanimously found that the US law was not consistent with the WTO law and we were upheld on appeal.
The compulsory dispute settlement system of the WTO is a precious achievement. It should be protected against those who are trying to undermine it.
Making Peace Between Russia And Its Baltic Neighbours
In 1993, the then UN Secretary-General, Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali, appointed me as his Special Envoy to make peace between Russia on the one hand, and Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, on the other. During the Cold War, the three countries had been incorporated, against their will, into the Soviet Union. With the end of the Cold War, all three countries became independent.
In 1993, there were between 5,000 to 6,000 Russian troops in Estonia. There were also about 50,000 Russian veterans and retirees living in Estonia. In 1993, there were about 18,000 Russian troops in Latvia. There were about 20,000 Russian veterans and retirees living in Latvia. In addition, there were a Russian naval base, an anti-ballistic missile early warning system and another facility of disputed function, in Latvia.
Diplomats from Russia and the three Baltic countries were unable to agree on a time-table for the withdrawal of the Russian troops and the closing of the Russian facilities. The UN Secretary-General was asked by a UN General Assembly resolution to use his good offices. He, in turn, appointed me to do the job.
I accepted the job with great reluctance as I had never been to the four countries. I went first to the UN to be briefed. I then proceeded to Moscow to meet the Russian Vice Foreign Minister and his three negotiators. I then went to visit Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. I then went back to Moscow. As a result of the help by then-US Ambassador in Moscow, Tom Pickering, I was able to meet with a member of the personal staff of President Boris Yeltsin in the Kremlin. Neither the UN nor the Singapore Embassy was able to get me such an appointment. This was an important meeting as it gave me an opportunity to seek the support of President Yeltsin directly for my mission.
I then returned to New York to write my report to the Secretary-General. In my report, I proposed a time-table for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Estonia and Latvia. I also proposed a time-table for closing down the Russian facilities in Latvia. I was very gratified that my proposals were accepted by the four countries. In Estonia and Latvia, I had advised the two governments to treat their Russian minorities with kindness. I warned them that if they did not do so, they would be loyal to Russia and not to their adopted countries.
Conclusion
Peace is precious. It is one of the most fervent wishes of people everywhere and throughout history. I am grateful that I have been able to make a very small contribution to peace in the world.
Professor Tommy Koh is Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Special Adviser to the Institute of Policy Studies. At the National University of Singapore (NUS), he is Professor of Law and Chairman of the Governing Board of the Centre for International Law. In his diplomatic career, he was Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in New York, Ambassador to the United States, High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Mexico, as well as President of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea.
Top photo from Pexels.