YASSER ARAFAT URGES PRESSURE ON ISR"L TO CARRY OUT EXISTING AGREEMENTS AS HE MAKES FIRST ADDRESS IN ASSEMBLY'S GENERAL DEBATE
Press Release
GA/9456
YASSER ARAFAT URGES PRESSURE ON ISRAEL TO CARRY OUT EXISTING AGREEMENTS AS HE MAKES FIRST ADDRESS IN ASSEMBLY'S GENERAL DEBATE
19980928 Other Speakers Cite Refugee Problems, Dangers on Korean Peninsula, Ill Effects of GlobalizationThe Government of Israel had intensified actions to escalate the seige against the Palestinian people and caused a stalemate of the peace process on the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese tracks, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and President of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, said as he addressed the General Assembly, during its general debate, for the first time.
Notwithstanding, the Palestinian people had not lost hope in the peace process, and would continue to implement their obligations in accordance with existing agreements, he said. The international community should exert pressure on the Israeli side to realize peace by implementing international agreements and resolutions. Eight million Palestinians, including the oldest and largest refugee question in the contemporary world, were being deprived of their right to exercise sovereignty over their land. Despite this, they had survived, preserved their national identity and would not give up their inalienable rights.
Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania, called upon the international community to exert great effort to deal with the cause of the refugee problem. While that community had frequently committed itself to helping refugee-producing countries address the cause of displacements, it "has remained an unfulfilled intention". Today, there was reluctance to engage those countries in sustained political dialogue which would require them to take responsibility for their refugee-generating policies.
Danger loomed on the Korean peninsula because Korea had not yet been reunified, Choe Su Hon, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, said. The "danger that either the twentieth century may close or the twenty-first century open with another Korean war is getting ever more imminent", he said. The menace of a military confrontation
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grew more aggravated between the United States, Japan and "South Korea" on one hand, and his country on the other. That danger should be removed by all possible means. To that end, the reunification of the country should be achieved without fail.
Mate Granic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Croatia, said although relations among States that came from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had improved, the issue of succession still undermined prospects for normalization in the region. Despite the conclusions of the United Nations/European Union Conference on the former Republic, and relevant United Nations resolutions, negotiations were deadlocked. The responsibility lay with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and its refusal to accept that no single State that had arisen out of the dissolution of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia could be considered its sole successor.
Patrick Albert Lewis, Chairman of the Delegation of Antigua and Barbuda, said the banana industry provided an excellent example of the ill effects of globalization on developing countries. Small, banana-exporting countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, had found themselves yoked by certain rulings of the World Trade Organization that eliminated market protection. Without some form of protection, the banana industry in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) would collapse, leading to severe social dislocation and perhaps, political catastrophe.
In other matters this afternoon, the President of the Assembly, Didier Opertti (Uruguay), said that after the general debate tomorrow, the sub-item on the election of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees would be taken up.
Statements were also made by the Vice-President of the Seychelles, and the Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan, Algeria, the Gambia, Kyrgyzstan and Croatia.
The Assembly will meet again tomorrow at 10 a.m. to continue its general debate.
Assembly Work Programme
The General Assembly met this afternoon to continue its general debate. Scheduled speakers were: James Michel, Vice-President of Seychelles; Mate Granic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Croatia; Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority; the Foreign Ministers of the United Republic of Tanzania, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Gambia, Kyrgyzstan; the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; and the Chairman of the delegation of Antigua and Barbuda.
JAMES MICHEL, Vice-President of Seychelles, said that development ought to be central to the renewed United Nations agenda. In making optimal use of its resources, the Organization should distribute a larger proportion of its budget to development, particularly to meet the growing and serious needs of the developing countries. It was only in doing so that the objective of attaining a "dividend for development" could be attained.
Reform of the Organization, he said, could not be complete without reform of the Security Council. The international community agreed on that, but differed on how to go about it. Both the Organization's universal character and present-day realities should be reflected in a more democratic and representative organ. Overcoming obstacles on its composition required reckoning with the fact that the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America were, and would be, major stake-holders in the international power structure of the twenty-first century. Equally important to the reform process was the enhancement of the Assembly as the supreme policy-making organ of the United Nations. Reinforcement of its role and mandate would be necessary to tackle successfully some of the pressing issues facing humanity, not least the process of globalization. The greatest challenge facing the Organization, he stated, was the eradication of the slums of the global village. No one should have to live and die in poverty; therefore, the international community needed to redress the present imbalances, to ensure that all countries benefited from globalization. His Government firmly believed that the small developing economies' share in the global economy should be increased, be it through trade or the mobilization of direct foreign investment. It was no small challenge for those countries to build their export and institutional capacities to assume a place in the fiercely competitive global environment. To attract investments, improve product quality, meet standards and thus take advantage of opportunities presented by the agreements of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the international community needed to grant small developing countries adequate transitional support. It was in that context that he appealed to the European Union to accept the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) group of States' request for an extension of trade preferences, under a WTO waiver, for a protracted period of time, at the on-going negotiations for a successor agreement to the Lomé IV Convention. Those countries needed time to allow for a transitional period of preparation and adjustment.
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Conscience of his country's responsibility to the environment, he noted, that Seychelles bore the brunt of it as well. While others, infinitely more powerful and developed than his country, polluted and spoiled, his Government protected and preserved the "last sanctuary on earth", as Seychelles called itself. He expected the industrialized nations to pay less lip service to environmental protection, to be accountable and to meet their Kyoto commitments.
Seychelles' degree of success, he added, was forged through racial harmony, the prudent, often painstaking, management of its natural resources and judicious use of overseas development assistance (ODA). Unfortunately, he said, his country had become the victim of that very prudent use of aid. Seychelles had worked its way off the list of nations that qualified for such help.
Noting also that his country was sentimentally bound to another small island state, he said that the division of Cyprus had persisted for too long. Cyprus' intercommunal problems could only be solved on the basis of Security Council resolutions. Differences in Greek-Turkish relations could be resolved within mechanisms available in international law, particularly through the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. He urged Turkey to accept the Court's jurisdiction.
JAKAYA MRISHO KIKWETE, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania, said the effectiveness of the United Nations depended to a considerable extent on it being financially stable. Unfortunately, the financial situation of the Organization had become increasingly precarious. "We are well aware of the fact that this difficult situation has been brought about, and is being exacerbated by the non-payment of outstanding assessed contributions on the part of some Member States of the Organization, especially the major contributor, for reasons of political expediency."
He said the recent bombings in his country and Kenya had brought home a number of realities -- terrorism was a global problem and no country was safe from its menace. It was also reminder that, just as terrorism had a global reach, the fight against it must be global. The world must make it clear that terrorism would be answered with swift and decisive action to bring those responsible to justice. In that regard, the international legal regimes against terrorism should be strengthened. Turning to the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he noted that it was a fitting occasion to look critically at the record of protecting and promoting those rights.
He said his country had hosted thousands of refugees and it seemed it would continue to do so because of the deterioration of the political situation in some countries of that Great Lakes region. The exercise to repatriate refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo had begun in
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October last year and was proceeding well. However, with the outbreak of civil strife in that country, the exercise had stalled and new refugees were once again streaming into his country. While his Government would continue to meet its international obligations by hosting those refugees -- and about 200,000 more from Burundi -- "We must confess that, for various circumstances, our perseverance is wearing out and our hospitality should not be considered open-ended."
He said Africa was faced with a number of devastating conflicts and accepted primary responsibility for ending them and elaborating mechanisms for enduring peace on the continent. It was in fulfilment of that responsibility that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had taken the leading role in searching for solutions. He applauded the Secretary-General for his report, "The Cause of the Conflict and the Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa" and agreed with his observation that, "It is the persistence of poverty that is impeding the full promise of peace for all of Africa's peoples. The alleviation of poverty must be the first aim of our efforts."
He said the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda had been working under challenging circumstances. Regrettably, however, what had attracted more attention were the difficulties it had confronted, rather than what it had achieved. Also, the question of sustainable development in African countries continued to be seriously affected by their heavy debt burden. His country believed that the establishment by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative was a step in the right direction. However, as had been stated in the past, there was concern with the conditions associated with the initiative. The criteria had to be made more objective, so that as many least developed countries as possible could benefit from the otherwise important initiative.
PATRICK ALBERT LEWIS (Antigua and Barbuda) said that since the establishment of the WTO, trends had emerged that pointed in the direction of exclusion rather than inclusion and marginalization rather than integration. Globalization hurt most of the developing world including small island developing nations, such as his own. Moreover, he added, multilateral financial institutions continued to use gross national product as a basis for judging economic strength, despite questions of its efficacy. The high ranking Antigua and Barbuda received in the 1998 Human Development Report was based on the absurd analogy that the country was more developed than Mexico and Brazil and was perceived to be middle income. As a result, it was being penalized for its economic advances, while it should be on the priority list for development loans and assistance.
The banana industry provided an excellent example of the ill effects of globalization on developing countries, he continued. Small, banana-exporting countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), of which
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Antigua and Barbuda was a member, had found themselves yoked by certain rulings of the WTO that eliminated market protection. Without some form of protection, the banana industry in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) would collapse, leading to severe social dislocation and perhaps, political catastrophe.
In the Caribbean, the Non-Self-Governing Territories had the same problems with regard to narcotics as the independent countries, he said. It was no secret that Caribbean States had inadequate defenses against the vast resources of the drug traffickers and the attendant traffic in small arms and ammunition. He hoped that the International Criminal Court (ICC) would aid in the elimination of the narcotic scourge by using its investigative and deliberative powers to prosecute those involved with the transhipment of narcotics, terrorism and marine abuses. A Court genocide and crimes against humanity -- for which, he agreed, the Court should have responsibility, showed that the concerns of small island States were peripheral.
He said that Antigua and Barbuda, and other Caribbean countries that had introduced an off-shore financial services sector had done so to diversify their economies in the face of globalization and trade liberalization. Now, those countries were being labelled as havens for money laundering and corruption and being subject to actions designed to remove their competitive advantage. Collaboration, information exchange and technical support would be more constructive in helping assure that the financial services sector of the Caribbean Community was not abused by dubious sources, while allowing that sector to provide CARICOM with much needed economic resources.
YASSER ARAFAT, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and President of the Palestinian Authority, said that Palestine was for the first time participating in the Assembly's general debate, thus manifesting the General Assembly resolution which had upgraded its representation -- an essential step towards full membership. Great changes were being experienced worldwide, which required collective efforts. The challenges of today -- including economic and social development, solving the debt crisis and addressing poverty, famine, disease and migration -- required the attainment of equitable relations that were rational and just. Many problems of a global nature, such as terrorism and drugs, required the enhancement of international law, and the establishment of international bodies and mechanisms.
In addition to these new challenges, the international community must also remember that many of its basic tasks had not yet been accomplished, he said. There were peoples who remained under foreign occupation, including the Palestinian people. They had not committed any crime or aggression against anyone. They had not occupied the land of another people. Yet they were victims of aggression. Their land was occupied. They were dispersed and forced by a military power to a life in diaspora and exile. There were still four million Palestinian refugees living in camps, awaiting the realization of
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justice to end the tragedy of life in exile as refugees for more than half a century.
More efforts were needed to resolve regional conflicts, including those in the Middle East, the Balkan region and Afghanistan, he said. Additional efforts and resources must be directed towards Africa, so it could move forward on the path of development and progress. The issue of sanctions must be considered, in light of their terrible and destructive impact on peoples and neighbouring States. As he called for solutions and the lifting of sanctions on the basis of implementation of Security Council resolutions, he said he could not but express the feeling of many concerning the use of double standards in implementation. He welcomed the progress that had been achieved, particularly with regard to Libya.
Turning then to the question of nuclear disarmament and weapons of mass destruction and non-proliferation, he said an immense problem existed in his region: Israel possessed those weapons and refused to accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and place its nuclear installations under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Recent events in South Asia should encourage cooperation and commitment to one standard.
To respond to those challenges, the United Nations must become more effective, he continued. The goal must go beyond reducing expenditures, downsizing the Secretariat, streamlining the General Assembly and expanding the Security Council. The goal must be to achieve the complete democratization of the global organization. The role of the General Assembly must be enhanced and a solution found for the question of the veto in the Council. Transparency and clear rules of procedure must prevail in that body. Since 1973, the Palestinian question had been subjected to 21 vetoes by one permanent member.
Last May, the Palestinian people had commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of Al-Nakba, which marked their dispossession and suffering, he said. Despite those bitter years, the oldest and largest refugee question in the contemporary world remained without solution. The Palestinian people's natural resources were being exploited and the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif was being subjected to judaization, land confiscation, demolition, the imposition of demographic composition and artificial administrative measures. Eight million Palestinians were being deprived of their right to exercise sovereignty over their land. Despite this, however, the Palestinian people had survived and preserved their national identity. They chose peace and accepted the will of the international community in this regard. With their Arab brothers, they had decided to participate in the peace process, which began in Madrid in 1991.
The peace process had been progressing until the assassination of Yitzak Rabin and other events dealt it severe blows, he said. The Government
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of Benjamin Netanyahu had tried to undermine the principles of the peace process, and had ceased implementing the agreements, except redeployment in Al-Khalil, which was achieved only after intensive United States efforts. The Israeli Government's obligations during the transitional period, which were of great importance to the Palestinian people, had not been implemented. The stages of redeployment had not been realized. Policies of closure and oppression led to the loss of about $10 million per day, constituting an economic catastrophe.
The Netanyahu Government had intensified actions to escalate the seige against the Palestinian people and caused a stalemate of the peace process on the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese tracks, he said. The entire world had called upon the Israeli side to comply with the peace process and implement existing agreements. The international community, in adherence with international law and in the interest of peace, should exert pressure on the Israeli side to realize peace, security and stability by implementing the agreements -- which had been signed at the White House by the Russian Federation, United States, European Union, Norway, Egypt, Jordan, and in the presence of Japan -- and to implement international resolutions and the principle of land for peace.
The Palestinian side had intensified efforts to stop the situation from deteriorating, in cooperation with many parties concerned; this had resulted in a United States initiative, he said. The Palestinian side had accepted the initiative, but the Israeli side had rejected and tried to undermine it. The United States should move effectively, in a manner that was consistent with its responsibilities towards the peace process and its interests and credibility in the Middle East. This morning, President Clinton had taken an important step to save the peace process by convening a meeting at the White House between the Palestinian and Israeli delegations.
Other parties should intensify their efforts, particularly the Russian Federation, China and Japan. The European Union, with its economic and political interests and capabilities, should move quickly to safeguard the peace process. He called for support for the French-Egyptian initiative to convene an conference of all States determined to save the peace process. The Palestinian people had not lost hope in the peace process, and would continue to implement their obligations in accordance with existing agreements, he said. They would not give up on the need for Israel to comply with those agreements and implement pending obligations. They would not give up their national or inalienable rights. Israel's participation in the Assembly's fifty-third session should be in conformity with international law: that would thus ensure that Israeli credentials did not cover the territories deemed by the Security Council and the General Assembly as occupied Palestinian and Arab territories since 1967, including occupied East Jerusalem.
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He called on the United Nations to stand by the Palestinian people, especially as the five-year transitional period provided for in the Palestinian-Israeli agreements was to end on 4 May 1999. The Palestinian people awaited the establishment of their independent State, which must be established as an embodiment of the right to self-determination. His people would continue to pursue and protect "the peace of the brave" in the Middle East. If the Israeli Government wanted reciprocity, he demanded mutual compliance with the signed agreements, especially in the fields of security and the protection of Palestinians and Israelis from violence and terrorism. He invited the Israeli Government to engage in common, serious work with the Palestinians.
In the year 2000, the past and future would meet in Palestine, joined by a global vision of peace for all peoples, he said. The world would celebrate the second millennium of the birth of Jesus Christ and the beginning of a new millennium. Inviting the international community to participate in the forthcoming celebrations, he expressed appreciation that a new agenda item entitled "Bethlehem 2000" had been included in the Assembly's work. He said he looked forward to addressing the Assembly when Palestine took its natural place in the community of nations as an independent State.
KASSYMJOMART TOKAEV, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, said that his country was taking tangible steps to intensify its political reforms and embarking on a comprehensive programme of democratization. It was also developing its national financial institutions, which had enabled it to bear with lower costs the consequences of the crisis affecting Asia and the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
His country's voluntary renunciation of its nuclear heritage and firm adherence to the non-proliferation regime constituted an important prerequisite for the development of friendly relations with other countries, he continued. Several days ago, the second international conference on problems of non-proliferation had been held in Kazakhstan, at which time the last strategic missile launch silo at the former nuclear testing ground of Semipalatinsk was shut down.
Speaking of efforts to strengthen regional security, he said that his country's initiative to convene a conference on interaction and confidence-building measures in Asia was taking shape, and last July a meeting on cooperation and confidence-building in the region had taken place in Almaty between leaders of Kazakhstan, China, Russian Federation, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. His country would also continue to work for the creation of a nuclear-weapons-free zone in Central Asia. On another regional issue, his country was working to expand and develop transportation networks in central Asia and beyond.
Continuing, he said that no military solution was possible in Afghanistan. The task of the world community was to convince all the parties
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to the conflict to cease military action and sit down at the negotiating table in order to establish a Government of national reconciliation. A peace process was possible only if interference from outside was halted and if the Secretary-General's efforts received full support.
Drugs from Afghanistan could be found in virtually all countries of the world, he added. As drug production was becoming a leading component of some national economies, Kazakhstan supported the decisions of the twentieth special session of the General Assembly on international drug control and would participate in its implementation.
Kazakhstan did not accept ethnic separatism, he continued. The right of nations to self-determination could not, under present historical circumstances, play the role that it had played at the beginning of the century.
Speaking about the legal status of the Caspian Sea, he said that an agreement recently signed between Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea, created the foundation for a complete settlement of the problem which was of strategic importance for his country. Kazakhstan was interested in ensuring the export of its mineral resources through multiple option oil-gas pipelines.
AHMED ATTAF, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria, said reform of the United Nations was on course and met the collective expectations of the international community. It was occurring at just the moment when new problems were arising, which called upon the international community to respond with fresh policies. An unprecedented rapid change in international situations and norms was occurring due to the advent of globalization, interdependence, development, peace and collective security. The conjecture of yesterday was the reality of today -- that was what had occurred with globalization.
Globalization had long been presented as a borderless conduit for universal prosperity, he continued. However, without proper regulation and coordination, globalization raised more doubt than convictions. Rather than promoting integration, globalization had shown itself to be a factor for exclusion. The current reality "compelled us to think of how globalization could be reimbued with its original purpose", which was unification with separate progress. The erosion of international cooperation for development and the failure of world economic development were still impediments to the success of the world economic system.
Peace and collective security were now faced with new challenges, which went beyond the problems of the past, he said. Terrorism was a new issue in that respect -- it had no respect for human life, was capable of the worst crimes against mankind and sought to weaken the very foundations of all civilized society. It called for a global response and the international
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community was now beginning to realize that unilateral action must yield to collective action. The eradication of terrorism was not only a moral obligation, but a political imperative. A global convention on eliminating all aspects of terrorism was needed. That could serve as the basis for an international framework, based on joint and sustainable action by the international community.
He said Algeria, due to its geographic location, had constructed a foreign policy based on good neighbourliness. It also believed that only a united Maghreb community could serve the cause of peace, development and security in its region. His country appealed to the United Nations and the Security Council to reaffirm their responsibility, and ensure that the people of Western Sahara could exercise their inalienable right to self-determination. Turning to the Middle East, he said that the Madrid peace talks had been a sure step towards developing a zone of prosperity and peace in the Mediterranean. However, the process had now become an issue of great concern. The Israelis had reneged on the agreements made in Olso and Washington, D.C., had not halted their settlement policies and threatened to return the region to a logic of confrontation.
Continuing, he said he hoped the sanctions against Libya and Iraq would be lifted soon. In Africa, he called for a settlement of conflicts by using African mechanisms that would respect sovereignty, territorial integrity and legal boundaries. Africa had also been making economic, social and democratic reforms, which the international community must support. The expansion of democratic spaces had made an important contribution to human rights, but it was also true that democracy could not find a lasting home in places of deprivation and want. In light of the issues confronting the international community, the one question to be asked was how could the international community create a just and more secure world order, while addressing the aspirations of each and every person?
MOMODOU LAMIN SEDAT JOBE, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the Gambia, said cultivating democracy in the midst of poverty was not an easy task. The Gambia was making every effort to consolidate the democratic process and ensure that the basic needs of its people were met. While globalization was yielding ample benefits for developed countries, it had further widened the gap between developed and developing countries, and the inequality between rich and poor. Globalization and liberalization must be managed through concerted international effort to avoid the further marginalization of developing countries.
He said the overwhelming burden of external debts posed one of the most challenging and daunting problems for developing countries, and that there was need for new financial flows and debt relief measures to developing countries. Poverty, deprivation and environmental degradation were the greatest evils facing developing countries today. Ethnic violence and human rights abuses, a common feature of present-day conflicts, could not be countenanced with
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impunity. The Gambia supported the establishment of the International Criminal Court because it would ensure that the response to crimes against humanity would be swift and just.
The Gambia commended the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) and its military observer group, Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG) for their efforts to ensure peace and security in the subregion, he said. The Gambia was also thankful to ECOWAS for having helped restore the Government of Sierra Leone, and urged the international community to help Sierra Leone restore control of all its territory.
He said the Gambia was concerned over the intensity and interrelationship of conflicts in Africa, especially regarding human rights abuses and refugee outflows. The international community must address those issues, the root causes of conflict, children in armed conflict and the flow of small arms. Other causes for concern included "the dangerous links between terrorist groups, drug traffickers and their paramilitary gangs, which undermine democratic institutions and violate human rights", he added. The Gambia believed that everybody had a stake in curbing those problems. It welcomed the coming into force of the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel landmines and joined those calling for a negotiated and phased programme for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. No reform of the United Nations would be complete without the reform of the Security Council. The Gambia urged United Nations Member States to reach an agreeable compromise on the issue.
MURATBEK IMANALIEV, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan, said that the previous session of the General Assembly had demonstrated that the reforms of the United Nations required more time and effort than expected. The reforms would be incomplete if they did not include all the United Nations bodies, including the Security Council, which should deal with the economic and social issues just as energetically as with political issues. It was necessary not only to improve the methods of work of the Security Council, but also to expand its membership in both categories, taking into account equitable geographical representation. New permanent members of the Council must enjoy all the privileges attached to their status.
As a land without access to the sea, Kyrgyzstan was searching for new transportation routes to facilitate access of goods, capital and services to the region. It was also introducing new information technologies and mastering electronic means of communications. As Kyrgyzstan was interested in developing regional cooperation, as well as cooperation with other regions, it had introduced an initiative aimed at the revival of the Great Silk Road. This development of transportation networks would help to create a zone of stability and security in the region.
Sustainable development was the basis for the development of his country, he said. Economics, ecology and social development remained three main priorities for the development of Kyrgyzstan. Mountains covered
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95 per cent of its territory, and in that connection, his country had proposed to proclaim the year 2002, International Year of the Mountains. He urged all Member States to support that initiative.
Speaking about nuclear disarmament and the regime of nuclear non-proliferation, he said that following the adoption of the General Assembly resolution on the establishment of a nuclear-weapons-free zone in Central Asia at the fifty-second session, a consultative meeting was held last July in Bishkek where experts from Central Asian countries, representatives of nuclear States and of the United Nations, established a foundation for a legal framework for that initiative.
Kyrgyzstan supported the peace-building efforts of the United Nations, but believed that more attention should be given to preventive diplomacy, he continued. Regarding the proliferation of armed conflicts, he noted that they were accompanied by violence, mass exodus of refugees, illegal trafficking of arms and flagrant violations of human rights. Terrorism had long ago crossed national borders. As new phenomena of bomb and nuclear terrorism had emerged and he called for speedy conclusion of work on the draft convention for combatting acts of nuclear terrorism.
CHOE SU HON, Vice-Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, said that independence was needed to build a world free from all forms of domination and subordination. Only when States firmly maintained independence in all fields of State activities could international peace and security be ensured.
The election of General Kim Jong II as the Chairman of the National Defence Commission had been the most significant event in strengthening and developing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, he said. It had been a vivid expression of the people's absolute trust and boundless loyalty in their leader. For the last 50 years, the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea had been able to safeguard its sovereignty. In the near future, the world would see an independent and peace-loving Democratic People's Republic of Korea develop into a prosperous Power.
In light of human sufferings and regional peace and security, the division of the Korean peninsula should not last any longer, he said. Due to the fact that Korea had not yet been reunified, danger loomed because of the present military manoeuvres against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on and around the peninsula. The "danger that either the twentieth century may close or the twenty-first century open with another Korean war is getting ever more imminent", he said. The tension and growing danger of a military confrontation was growing more aggravated between the United States, Japan and South Korea on one hand and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the other. That danger should be removed by all possible means. To that end, the reunification of the country should be achieved without fail.
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Three principles of national reunification had been agreed upon between the North and the South, he stated. Those were independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity. The Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea consistently maintained that Korea should be reunified by means of a confederacy on the basis of those three principles. In April of this year, Kim Jong II had advanced a five-point policy for the unity of the entire nation as part of his continued efforts for national reunification.
He said the Korean people needed to solve the questions of their national unity and reunification by themselves. Concerned countries such as the United States and Japan should refrain from hindering such efforts. The United States military entity constituted the major obstacle in the way of the independent and peaceful reunification of Korea, he added. The United States should withdraw its troops from South Korea and put an end to the long- standing belligerent relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
He said Japan must also discharge its responsibility for the Korean question by sincerely apologizing and compensating for its past crimes against his country's people. The Japanese authorities had behaved unreasonably in forcibly questioning the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's satellite launch. The country's first artificial satellite launch had been a historic event. The technology for the multi-stage rocket carrier had been entirely developed by the people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and it would make a great contribution to safeguarding world peace.
The recent development witnessed in South-East Asia should remind the international community that disarmament, especially nuclear disarmament, should remain a priority in the United Nations agenda, he said. Nuclear stockpiles in the world had become more sophisticated rather than being reduced. The proliferation of nuclear weapons could not be prevented as long as nuclear-weapon States pursued a monopoly of nuclear weapons. The policy of the nuclear umbrella provision pursued by the nuclear-weapon States, and double standards in dealing with nuclear issues represented one of the stumbling blocks in making nuclear disarmament a reality, he added. The United Nations should decisively strengthen its role in the field of disarmament. In that regard, he suggested that the Organization convene the Fourth Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Disarmament.
MATE GRANIC, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Croatia, said the free and sovereign Croatia of today harboured a vibrant marketplace of ideas, innovative economic and rich social and cultural practices. Although still burdened by the multiple tasks of transition, reconstruction, return of refugees and displaced persons, and reconciliation, Croatia stood firmly rooted in a maturing central-European polity and economy. It looked with ambition and sharpened senses towards reclaiming its place in the old Europe and contributing to the new Europe and global community. Croatia was presiding over the Central European Initiative and hoped to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) soon. The transition from war to peace was complex and demanding. In June, the national Programme for the Return and
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Accommodation of Displaced Persons, Refugees and Exiled Persons had been adopted and was being successfully implemented. So far, more than 45,000 Croatian Serbs had returned, and Croatian authorities were taking steps to encourage the process of reconciliation. Croatia was increasingly focusing on post-war reconstruction, economic growth and development, and overall normalization of relations with neighbours to the east and south.
Croatia had not only been the first country to recognize Bosnia and Herzegovina as an independent and sovereign country, but had also helped it, more than any other party, in its struggle to survive within its internationally recognized borders, he said. His country could not support any solution for Bosnia and Herzegovina that did not fully incorporate the basic principles of the Dayton Peace Agreement. The recent elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina would further contribute to lasting stability and security. Croatia supported the efforts by the Office of the High Representative, the United Nations representatives and the peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and would spare no effort in doing what was in its power to help them fulfil their mandates. Since the end of hostilities, 10 bilateral agreements had been signed with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Croatia stood ready to open the border crossings with them, to continue with demilitarization on its side of the border, and to follow up with the present security regime currently administered by the United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP), he said. Whether through successful bilateral negotiations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, through the Security Council or even unilateral action consistent with the rights and duties of Croatia under international law, the UNMOP mandate should terminate by 15 January 1999, since in the present circumstances another prolongation could be misused to stall negotiations indefinitely. Termination of United Nations missions would be a new landmark in the life of Croatia, and confirm again its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Although relations among States arisen from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had improved considerably, the unresolved issue of succession continued to undermine the prospects of lasting normalization in the region, he said. Despite the clear conclusions of the United Nations/European Union Conference on the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, negotiations were deadlocked. The responsibility lay squarely with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, its adamant refusal to accept the generally recognized fact that no single State that had arisen from the dissolution of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia could be considered its sole successor.
While it had lent its full support and cooperation to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Croatia was not satisfied with its results so far, he said. Indictments issued so far did not adequately reflect the scope of war crimes committed by different sides to the conflict, nor the level of involvement. Croatia had helped persuade 11 Bosnian Croats to voluntarily surrender to The Hague Tribunal. Three of them had been
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acquitted while the rest had been awaiting trial for over 18 months -- much longer than usual in any individual State. Also, not a single person had been charged for crimes committed against Bosnian Croats. Only one Serb had been brought to The Hague for crimes committed during aggression against Croatia, but he had never been sentenced since he had died in prison.
The most notorious perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity still remained at large, and, in many cases, in full view of the international community, he said. Croatia shared the concerns of the international community on the rapidly worsening situation in Kosovo and the impending threat to international peace and security. As a neighbouring country of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia was vitally interested in a speedy resolution of the crisis. He joined the international community in condemning human rights violations in Kosovo and denounced all forms of terrorism, regardless of whether they were committed by a State, group or individual. Croatia supported a peaceful and negotiated solution that would respect both the territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the rights of Kosovo Albanians to autonomy.
Like all organizations, the United Nations had aged and its structure and mechanisms had become anywhere from slightly to grossly obsolete, he said. To meet the challenges and needs of the emerging global society at the turn of the century, the Organization had to evolve quickly, or risk being overtaken by other institutions or initiatives that might or might not be universal in scope. United Nations reform should take many forms and focus not only on fulfilment of its legislative mandates, but also on increasing its effectiveness on the global stage. Security Council reform remained imperative. The structure and operation of the Council had to be harmonized with the new realities in international affairs, while the founding principles of sovereign equality of States had to be strictly maintained. Interdependence, liberalization of politics and markets and the profoundly widened access to instantaneous communication, all called for readjusting the functioning and use of the veto power and for a more transparent, representative and otherwise democratic structure and operation of that body. Croatia supported the enlargement of the Council in both the permanent and non-permanent categories.
Croatia was particularly concerned about the problem of landmines, since it still suffered from the consequences of more than 2 million mines scattered all over the country during the imposed war, he said. The situation adversely affected the process of return of displaced peoples and refugees, and slowed down economic reconstruction and development. Croatia had ratified the Ottawa Convention in May and strongly supported the efforts in the Conference on Disarmament to start negotiations on a global ban by building on the achievements of the Ottawa process.
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