TIME FOR RECONCILIATION HAS COME, BUT WAR CRIMINALS REMAIN FREE, PRESIDENT OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA TELLS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Press Release
GA/9100

TIME FOR RECONCILIATION HAS COME, BUT WAR CRIMINALS REMAIN FREE, PRESIDENT OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA TELLS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Statements Made by Prime Ministers of Slovenia, Trinidad-Tobago; Foreign Ministers of Luxembourg, Austria, South Africa, Micronesia

"Our country and people went through hell", but the time for reconciliation had come, the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegovic, told the General Assembly this afternoon as it continued its general debate.

However, the President said, for the people to be absolved and for reconciliation to proceed, criminals must be punished. Despite the activities of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and despite elementary demands for justice, the main war criminals, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, remained free. Some people in Europe and the United States had questioned whether, after all that had happened, the existence of Bosnia and Herzegovina was possible. To those who asked, the President said, "if genocide without punishment is possible, then Bosnia and Herzegovina is not possible".

The Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Drnovsek, hailed the recent presidential and parliamentarian elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina as substantial contributions to the peace and stability of that country. Now, within the framework of post-conflict management, economic reconstruction and adequate economic aid must be ensured.

While the elections in Bosnia represented a vital step forward, implementation of the civilian aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement was lagging, noted the Foreign Minister of Austria, Wolfgang Schussel. The establishment of common institutions, as foreseen by the Dayton Agreement, was now the number one task. It was essential that the international community not abandon the country when the mandate of the multinational Implementation Force (IFOR) expired at the end of the year.

During today's general debate, statements were also made by the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the Secretary for External Affairs of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg and the Foreign Minister of South Africa.

A statement in exercise of the right of reply was made by the representative of Iraq.

The Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. Thursday, 26 September, to continue its general debate.

Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly met this afternoon to hear an address by the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the continuation of its general debate, the Assembly was scheduled to hear statements by the Prime Ministers of Slovenia and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as by the Foreign Ministers of the Federated States of Micronesia, Austria, Luxembourg and South Africa.

Statements

ALIJA IZETBEGOVIC, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that he had just read an article about the provision of arms to the Bosnian Army during the war in his country. The author of the article implied that everything that was Muslim "smells of terrorism". Today there were more than a billion Muslims worldwide. Such articles push Muslims into the embrace of the extremists.

"Our country and people went through hell", he said. The world had deemed that it had the right to impose the arms embargo, while his country believed it had the right to self-defence. In a competition of those two rights, "we believed and we still believe that our right was greater". He would not apologize to anyone for "our doing everything possible to provide arms in order to survive". But that page of history was now over and a new page of peace was being turned over. He thanked the United States for starting the initiative for peace and, together with other countries, for making efforts to strengthen the fragile and complex peace.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was possible as a democratic state of three equal nations and of free citizens. "We accept this fundamental provision of the Dayton Peace Agreement with all its consequences", he said. That was a well known formula -- one state, two entities, three nations. The Dayton Agreement was often considered as "not good enough". It was good enough because it had stopped the killing in his country and because a better plan did not exist. The main deficiency was not the plan itself, but in its implementation, which was generally speaking selective and partial.

For example, he continued, according to the Agreement, "Herceg-Bosna" established as a parallel state during the war, should cease to exist. But it still existed and impeded the building of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Serbs liked the paragraph of the Agreement which mentioned the Republika Srpska, but did not like the part which demanded the return of the expelled. They accept the first provision and reject the second one. They should be told that the Dayton accord is a whole. If there was no return of the expelled, there was no Republika Srpska.

The provisions of the Dayton Agreement stipulated respect for human rights, yet, human rights were being violated more or less on the entire

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territory, he continued. During the election and the election campaign especially bad conditions existed in the Republika Srpska. For the people of the Federation, there was little or no freedom of movement and only Serbian political parties could act. Access by opposition parties to free media was severely limited. He stressed that his brief analysis of the implementation of the Agreement must conclude with the statement that the main war criminals, Karadzic and Mladic, were still free -- in spite of Dayton, the orders of The Hague Tribunal and the elementary demands of justice.

He went on to proclaim the principle of reconciliation of the people and the nations. No one advocated the view of collective guilt of a nation. Guilt was always individual, regardless of the number of perpetrators. But for the people to be absolved and for the road towards reconciliation to be open, the criminals must be punished. That was why the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague had been established. When the issue of war crimes comes into question, every compromise was a shameful betrayal of justice.

Some people in Europe and the United States had asked whether Bosnia and Herzegovina, after everything, was possible, he said. Those people either did not know the facts or were morally corrupt. They did not know that on the territory of the Serb entity, over half a million people were either killed or expelled -- 40 per cent of the indigenous pre-war population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. "If genocide without punishment is possible, then Bosnia and Herzegovina is not possible", he said.

The future government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he said, should be constituted as a maximally representative government composed of all the relevant political factors in conformity with the results of the elections. It should thereafter request from all signatories of the Dayton Agreement, its full and consistent implementation. The government should hold all the domestic and international parties to their words of support for the Agreement. The government should proclaim the reconciliation of the peoples and the nations on the condition of vigorous prosecution of war criminals and it should ensure freedom of media as a way to heal the country. Such a programme would need the support of the international community for implementation and long-term economic assistance and the presence of international military forces for a certain and limited period of time.

ASTERIO TAKESY, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Federated States of Micronesia, praised United Nations Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali's tireless dedication and said that "there may be no other single individual who has been as instrumental or effective in leading the world community in recent years to find difficult common ground, in particular on issues relating to environmentally sustainable development".

The Foreign Minister said that island States had long regarded their remoteness as their best protection. The twentieth century, however, had

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taught them how the land on which they lived, and the resources of the sea on which they depended, could de destroyed as a consequence of events that took place far from their shores. Citing the Stockholm Declaration of 1972, he said that national sovereignty could no longer be asserted to justify actions that caused damage to the environment of other States. Such a responsibility was not recognized as a doctrine of generally accepted international law.

Yet, during the last year, "only mixed progress was made" in discontinuing or regulating activities harmful to the environment of others, he continued. Particularly in the case of the Pacific Islands, "our broad expanses and helpless populations continue to attract the interest of those who have dirty, dangerous business to conduct". Climate change, rising sea levels and strengthening storm activity were an ominous warning of a global situation "that will engulf us" if decisive action was not taken now by the global community.

Micronesia was greatly relieved at the abatement, for now, of the threat of nuclear war and the cessation, finally, of nuclear weapons testing. His country hailed the overwhelming majority of United Nations Member States who have supported the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). However, another problem associated with the technology of mass destruction was the disposal of nuclear waste, and the very real risks of mass calamity. Experience had shown that good intentions, such as the opposition of the United States Government to plan to establish a nuclear waste storage on Palmyra Atoll, were not always sufficient protection.

Micronesia supported the Framework Convention on Climate Change, but it appeared that intensive negotiations were leading to compromises that fell far short of the Convention's objective, and "one begins to fear that we lack the capacity to save ourselves from ourselves", he said. There was too little time remaining before the next Conference of the Parties in Kyoto, and the outlook was not encouraging. It was already too late to prevent significant loss of land areas and habitability during the upcoming century, according to the Second Assessment Report of the Interdepartmental Panel on Climate Change.

Island countries, to implement effective measures, required the financial and technological support of the industrialized world, he said. Without it, tens of millions of people on islands and in low-lying coastal areas throughout the world were certain to become homeless. "No longer can the world afford to leave the development of adaptation measures on the back burner", he said. "We must begin to act now."

He expressed Micronesia's satisfaction with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the opening for signature of the Agreement on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks and the elections of the judges to the Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. In closing, he said that it would be a tragedy of historic proportions if the pursuit of the goals

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of the United Nations Charter were substantially hindered by Member States feeling "they can rightfully tailor their contributions to their degree of satisfaction as to how their particular demands are met". The United Nations, even without reform "is well worth its cost", especially when one considered the amounts spent by nations on activities that did not contribute to international peace and development.

WOLFGANG SCHUSSEL, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Austria, said the following four goals should guide United Nations reform: fulfilment of financial obligations in accordance with the Charter; establishment of clear mandates backed by adequate resources; ensuring the competitiveness of the United Nations system; and eliminating duplication and mismanagement.

The growing economic strength of drug traffickers threatened the stability of many countries, he continued. Drug control must remain a top priority for the United Nations. Preparations should begin for the 1998 General Assembly special session which would address the problem. Drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and money laundering could only be fought through intensified international cooperation. Also, sexual exploitation of children was closely linked to organized crime. He called for reiteration of international agreements to defend the rights of children and women. Only a global partnership could bring an end to the trafficking and exploitation of children and women for sexual purposes.

Regarding peace-keeping, he said Austria supported the improvement of the rapid deployment capability of the United Nations. Austria planned to join the United Nations system of stand-by arrangements and would continue to participate in training for peace-keeping personnel. Austria encouraged the Secretary-General to make more use of preventive diplomacy. His country supported the establishment of clear budgetary procedures that would ensure sound and predictable financing for such missions. The ability of the United Nations to act in an integrated manner when undertaking peace-building represented a test of its ability to reform and modernize. The Secretary- General must develop comprehensive criteria and operational guidelines for peace-building operations and he should intensify his cooperation with the international financial institutions working in that area.

Addressing the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he said that the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement lagged behind Austria's expectations, especially in the civilian areas. The recent election was a vital step forward. The setting up of common institutions as foreseen by the Dayton Agreement was now the number one task. It was indispensable for the international community not to abandon the country after the expiration of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Implementation Force's (IFOR) mandate.

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While efforts to eliminate weapons of mass destruction continued, serious attention should be given to conventional disarmament, such as strengthening the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms and development of universal regimes of transparency. Austria welcomed the adoption of the CTBT. Nuclear-weapon States must honour their obligations to disarm their nuclear arsenals, while non-proliferation efforts continued. The United Nations should continue to play a leadership role in the progressive development of international law. The elaboration of a statute for an international criminal court was of the utmost importance.

JANEZ DRNOVSEK, Prime Minister of Slovenia, said the essence of the principal task before the United Nations today could be captured in two words -- adjustment and modernization. However, the experience of the reform efforts of the United Nations in the past year was not entirely satisfactory. The present session of the Assembly should provide fresh incentive and energize the process of reform, which should proceed in a coherent and balanced manner. The process of downsizing the Secretariat should become part of wider change characterized by a clear definition of priorities and an adequate allocation of human and material resources.

Greater discipline must be achieved in the financing of the United Nations through a new, more balanced scale of assessments, he said. Furthermore, innovative forms of financing should be devised, in particular in such domains as protection of the environment. Also, in several parts of the Organization there was a need for structural change -- the expansion and reform of the Security Council was a case in point.

Reform should go hand in hand with the implementation of the basic tasks of the United Nations, he stated. Preservation of international peace and security was the principal objective of the United Nations. One important area in the common effort for world peace was cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations. In different parts of the world, there were possibilities for creation of durable security arrangements based on regional organizations and their cooperation with the United Nations. In Europe, for example, the role of the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was constantly growing.

Disarmament continued to be among the most important areas in which the role of the Organization was fundamental, he said. The United Nations had solidified its leading and coordinating role in that area. His country had taken an active approach in the negotiations for the CTBT from the very beginning. Only strict implementation of the Treaty could contribute to a safer world. Further improvement was needed in the disarmament machinery. It was regrettable that the expansion of the membership of the Conference on Disarmament remained incomplete. All States that were willing and capable of contributing to international disarmament efforts should be able to

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participate in the Conference as full members. Slovenia was capable and wished to be among the members of the Conference.

He welcomed the holding of the presidential and parliamentary elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a substantial contribution to the peace and stability of that country. Within the framework of post-conflict management, there was growing need to ensure economic reconstruction and adequate economic aid. His country was actively participating in the efforts for economic reconstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was still host to many Bosnian refugees, he concluded.

JACQUES F. POOS, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg, told the Assembly that Luxembourg was very satisfied by the overwhelming majority in the General Assembly that had opened the CTBT for signatures, which represented "substantial progress" towards non-proliferation and the creation of a more secure and more humane world. Luxembourg had signed the text and also fully supported the United Nations efforts on the elimination of anti-personnel land-mines.

Luxembourg condemned the recent attacks by Saddam Hussein's Government against the Kurdish population in northern Iraq, and demanded a complete withdrawal of Iraqi troops. However, he also expressed concern for the respect of Iraq's territorial integrity and expressed the wish that the "food- for-oil" resolution be implemented speedily, to alleviate the suffering of the people of Iraq.

He expressed concern about cuts in United Nations peace-keeping operations over the last year and said that the reduction should not be allowed to weaken United Nations efforts in that field. Also, it would be unjust to criticize the United Nations each time a peace-keeping operation ran into difficulties. Many of the problems attributed to the United Nations could be solved if Member States would commit themselves to put needed contributions and resources into the Organization. Luxembourg supported efforts to establish a United Nations rapid-reaction intervention force. Also, further responsibility should be given to regional organizations and sub-regional organizations, which already played an important role and were supported by the United Nations.

Luxembourg supported the early creation of an international criminal court, which would further the respect of the principles of international law, he said. Also, his country which proposed to the United Nations in 1995 an effort similar to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, welcomed the Stockholm World Conference against the Sexual Exploitation of Children for Commercial Purposes. He was resolved to encourage international cooperation on that issue and urged special protection for children.

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The disparity between rich and poor nations, between North and South, needed to be addressed, he continued. Luxembourg proposed a new strategy based on four main points: ensuring the follow-up to the conclusion of the world conferences in Rio, Vienna, Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing and Istanbul; putting a stop to the diminishment of funds for development due to "donor fatigue" by launching campaigns of solidarity in favour of the poorest and least developed nations; reinforce the United Nations capacity to act in the economic and social fields, which would mean a "courageous" reform of its structures; and developing cooperation with non-governmental organizations.

In closing, the Minster expressed his support for the European Union's proposal on a new scale of assessments for contributions to the United Nations and also its support for an expanded and more representative Security Council, which -- if it was to preserve its credibility -- should be more resolute in the implementation of their decisions. The United Nations, the world's only universal institution, had new and important responsibilities, but it required the political will of Member States to make it a useful instrument.

ALFRED B. NZO, Minister for Foreign Affairs of South Africa, said that his country remained committed to achieving a world free of all weapons of mass destruction and addressing the issue of the proliferation of conventional weapons. He welcomed the adoption of the CTBT, which was an integral part of a process which would lead to the full implementation of the nuclear disarmament obligations set out in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

Continuing, he noted the adoption of the Pelindaba Treaty -- the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty -- which would contribute greatly to measures aimed at achieving a world free from nuclear weapons. The next step was for African States to cooperate with similar zones in the Pacific and Latin American regions to promote a southern hemisphere nuclear-weapon-free zone. South Africa was heartened that four nuclear-weapons States had signed the relevant protocols of the Pelindaba Treaty along with African States last April, while the fifth had indicated it would sign shortly. South Africa would also work for the commencement next year, of negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons. It would also work towards an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament in the Conference on Disarmament, to identify and negotiate steps towards the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons.

South Africa was also concerned about the build-up of conventional weapons beyond a level which could be considered legitimate for the purposes of self-defence, he continued. It would like to encourage Member States to support and participate in the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms and lend support to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 50/70 (B) on Small Arms and its panel of governmental experts assisting the Secretary General in preparing a report on small arms. He called for support to secure the elimination of anti-personnel land-mines.

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South Africa's experience under apartheid had imposed a duty that it place a high premium on the promotion of human rights, he continued, and its Constitution contained an entrenched Bill of Rights. There were plans to establish an office on the status of women, and the Government regarded it as a priority to contribute to the efforts of the international community to combat violations of human rights. Their vision of southern Africa was one of the highest possible degree of economic cooperation, mutual assistance and joint planning of regional development initiatives, leading to full economic integration.

On civil conflicts in Africa, the Minister welcomed the positive developments in Rwanda and Sierra Leone, but noted the continuing problems in Liberia, Burundi and Somalia. President Nelson Mandela had appointed a special representative for Burundi, charged with seeking a viable solution, in collaboration with other special representatives and countries in the region. The country was happy about the progress, albeit tentative, in Angola. In support of the Organization of African Unity's (OAU) mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, the Southern African Development Community had created an organ on Politics, Defence and Security.

Mr. Nzo welcomed the spirit of dialogue and realism that had begun to characterize the relations between Israel and Palestine, but was concerned that recent developments in the Middle East were likely to reverse and put the peace process in jeopardy. He urged all the players in the region to rise to the occasion and move steadfastly towards a durable and lasting peace.

He expressed concern about marginalization from the process of globalization and liberalization, particularly among the least developed countries in Africa. He called for closer attention to be given to the debt burden of those countries. Welcoming the mid-term review of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa, he recognized the importance of the United Nations Special Initiative on Africa, as well as the need to underpin its success through appropriate and adequate resources. He hoped that through the designation of 1997 as the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty, the international community would realize that objective in clear recognition of the challenges facing it.

Saying that it was an honour for South Africa to host the Ninth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) last April, he stressed that sustained political commitment through global partnership remained essential for its continuing international cooperation efforts. For that reason, he hoped that the 1997 special session of the General Assembly would provide an excellent opportunity to reaffirm the principles and objectives of the Rio Declaration's Agenda 21. He was gratified about progress in establishing the international criminal court, what was now needed was to hold a diplomatic conference where the statute of the proposed court could be finalized.

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He was disappointed at the slow pace of advancement, with no end in sight, in the deliberations of the working group on the equitable representation and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters relating to the Council. He supported the recommendation in the report of the working group that it should continue its work. He urged Member States to demonstrate flexibility and accommodation in their deliberations and display the necessary political will in order to reach a common understanding. Also, he urged all Member States to pay what was legally due as soon as possible, in order that they might direct their energies to the real problems facing the world.

BASDEO PANDAY, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, told the Assembly that in today's evolving global society, the choices were clear. Would the world drift towards dangerous anarchy of spheres of influence and unchecked confrontation, or "would we commit ourselves to greater cooperation inherent in the call to 'global neighbourhood action'"? Would the world allow ethnic conflicts and ethnic cleansing to continue, or would it devise mechanisms to avoid repetition of those phenomena? Would it grasp the opportunity for global prosperity? Would it help alleviate the crisis in multilateralism and give the world of the twenty-first century a reformed United Nations, true to the ideals of the founders?

He said Trinidad and Tobago, as a small island developing State, "with all the concomitant vulnerabilities and fragilities", had embarked on an aggressive, outward-oriented strategy of development. The government sought to mobilize all the country's human resources in the task of building a sustaining democracy.

Trinidad and Tobago was fortunate to enjoy political stability, he continued, and constantly strove to enhance democratic traditions and democratic participation at all levels. Regional integration had always been a fundamental component of its development strategy, and it had built various strategic alliances. Trinidad and Tobago was working towards a single free trade area in the Western Hemisphere. For small States like his, he continued, regional integration and cooperation were imperative, to minimize the negative and pervasive effects of globalization.

He said Trinidad and Tobago attached the highest priority to the fight against drug abuse and drug trafficking; and coordination and cooperation were essential. His country supported the call for an international conference on the subject in 1997. It commended the United Nations International Drug Control Programme for its contribution to the campaign being waged in Trinidad and Tobago, and in the Caribbean and Latin American region.

He said the continued shipments of irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high-level radioactive wastes through their archipelagic and territorial waters, as well as their Exclusive Economic Zones, remained a priority concern

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of the Caribbean Community and all small island nations. Those shipments continued to take place despite the potentially catastrophic effects on such States, whose fragile and vulnerable economies were overwhelmingly dependent on their marine and coastal resources. Those countries possessed neither the resources nor the capability to deal with possible accidents. Trinidad and Tobago urged that shipment countries should respect the wishes of those States, and end such shipments.

Right of Reply

SAEED H. HASAN (Iraq) said that the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg had made incorrect references to the situation in Iraq. The Foreign Minister had condemned what he called the latest assault of the Iraqi Government on the Kurdish population. He must not have been aware that an armed group, supported by a neighbouring country, had attempted to establish a stronghold in Iraq. That effort had been resisted by a group of Kurds in northern Iraq with the assistance of Iraq's Government. Now, after five years of conflict, peace had been restored to northern Iraq.

The Foreign Minister had also requested the full withdrawal of Iraqi troops and respect for the territorial integrity of Iraq. How could a country be asked to withdraw from its own territory and respect the sovereignty of itself? he asked. If Luxembourg was truly interested in the sovereignty of Iraq and the protection of its territorial integrity, it would oppose the invasion of Iraq's sovereignty and the imposition of the "no-fly" zone by the United States. Also, the Foreign Minister had expressed hope for the speedy implementation of the "oil-for-food" agreement. That hope should be relayed to those that were delaying the implementation of the agreement, solely for domestic political reasons -- namely the United States.

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