PRESIDENT OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY, IN EARTH DAY MESSAGE, SAYS CELEBRATION OF LIFE NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT FREEDOM FROM NUCLEAR DOMINATION
Press Release
GA/9227
PRESIDENT OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY, IN EARTH DAY MESSAGE, SAYS CELEBRATION OF LIFE NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT FREEDOM FROM NUCLEAR DOMINATION
19970320 Following are the remarks of the President of the General Assembly, Razali Ismail (Malaysia), delivered at the ringing of the Peace Bell heralding the spring equinox on Thursday, 20 March 1997:It is a beautiful thing to begin the day with the rings of a bell and a choir of voices. This is not a mere ceremony -- certainly not one of the many occasions on the United Nations circuit when we observe days and commemorate events with lofty words, but precious few significant impacts on the world and the pressing needs of millions who live outside of the walls of the United Nations. The ringing of the Peace Bell on Earth Day, at the appointed time to herald the spring equinox, continues to be imbued with special significance. I am reminded of the prayer wheels that resonate mantras or the prayer flags that flutter on sides of lonely hills and cliffs in the Himalayas. The human person has long sought to place his or her actions in step with, and as part of, the larger purpose and pattern of our surroundings and the gods we relate to. No one stands alone and no experience, however devastating, should break the ties between us and all that surrounds us.
Our thoughts, words and actions, if they are to be more than rhetoric or part of intellectual sophistry, must impact on what the United Nations, its purposes and principles, really means to the world outside. The United Nations cannot and should not deal with hollow symbols, especially those that are politicized. I see one in the United Nations garden, in the shape of St. George slaying a dragon made from a heap of metal from a rocket. It makes a strong point, but those responsible for its construction, as well as other important countries, remain the ones that seek military and nuclear superiority. Each and every one of us should make global nuclear disarmament a major focus and priority at the United Nations, even if the opposition to such a movement is formidable. As the United Nations is undergoing various aspects of change and reform in terms of functions and substance, the reform process must enhance the legitimacy of the intergovernmental process of the United Nations in defence and pursuit of universal values. A world that breeches the divisions of societies to celebrate all living things and the life on this planet will not be possible without a dedicated quest for a world free of nuclear domination and nuclear weapons.
- 2 - Press Release GA/9227 20 March 1997
In November 1995 a group of countries, including Malaysia, came before the International Court of Justice in The Hague to make a case for themselves and for the aspirations of many about the legality of the threat and use of nuclear weapons. In July 1996, the International Court of Justice rendered its advisory opinion that the threat and use of nuclear weapons is illegal in almost every conceivable circumstance. This historic watershed decision opens the opportunity for a campaign in the United Nations for the entire stockpile of those deadly weapons of mass destruction to be destroyed within a specific time-frame, by using the moral authority of international law as a basis.
How can we promote global economic and social development and social justice if we continue to prioritize weapons of war and death over poverty eradication, global health needs, education and economic growth? A quarter of the world's population go to bed hungry every night and over a billion people continue to live in abject poverty. Should we not look for ways to help, instead of spending billions of dollars on tools that kill and cause tremendous suffering? One of the distressing characteristics of our times is our unique ability and penchant for killing and devising more "effective" ways to kill. What drives this skill to manufacture such horrific weapons and systems of death? And what accounts for the conspiratorial silence in the midst of such horror, exacerbated by the widespread availability of weapons, such as we have in eastern Zaire today? The five permanent members of the Security Council are the nuclear-weapon States, and remain the biggest manufacturers and merchants of the arms trade.
Collective security, the concept underpinning the role of the United Nations in matters of international peace and security, can be achieved without nuclear weapons and a global arms race. We can establish a new world order that thrives on justice and equity, sustainable development and the upholding of universal values which binds all of us. It takes vision, perseverance and the courage of one's convictions that the interdependence within the natural world of all living things now and for future generations requires all of us, as individuals, diplomats, members of the press, governments, businesses, and members of civil society, to think and act with responsibility.
I wish you all a happy Earth Day and good health for the spring and the rest of the year.
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