RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UN AND BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA SHOULD BECOME CONCRETE JOINT VENTURE, FOREIGN MINISTER TELLS ASSEMBLY

1 October 1998

Press Release
GA/9462

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UN AND BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA SHOULD BECOME CONCRETE JOINT VENTURE, FOREIGN MINISTER TELLS ASSEMBLY

19981001 Central African Republic Calls for Continued Presence Of MINURCA, Speakers Address Human Rights, Climate Change

While the United Nations and its specialized agencies were providing valuable assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the time had come to change the relationship into a concrete joint venture, giving local companies and infrastructure a more substantial role, Jadranko Prlic, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina told the General Assembly as it continued its general debate this afternoon. That would help his country to achieve a level of self-sustainable growth and to reach the ultimate goal of handing over the running of the country to its citizens.

In order to share its own experience with other countries in crisis and to supplement the existing documents on that issue, Bosnia and Herzegovina intended to propose to the Assembly a set of basic tenets of humanitarian action in emergency situations, he continued. It also called for a continued international presence in his country.

Also in favour of the continued presence in his country of the Organization, Antonio Deinde Fernandez, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Central African Republic, said that the withdrawal of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA) would not be in the interests of his country or the Central African subregion, which was already in great turmoil. He also noted that while the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had demonstrated a commitment to take the lead in the resolution of continental conflicts, its Mechanism for the Prevention Management and Resolution of Conflicts would require resources not immediately available to Africa.

Other speakers spoke on the acute need to address the real goals of human rights. Mapopa Chipeta, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Malawi, speaking on behalf of that country's President, Bakili Muluzi, said "we should not only preach the promotion and protection of human rights, but also put into practice what we preach and deepen our understanding of the subject". Since the concept of human rights might not be clearly understood by many, the success of building a culture based on those rights would depend on the

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ability of governments and civil society to provide civic education to people, he added.

Edmund Andresen, Minister for Justice and Legal Affairs of Solomon Islands, said climate change remained an issue that demanded concrete global collective action. The Kyoto Protocol to the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change, a positive step within the climate protection process, was only one of several such steps. Crucial actions, besides the early ratification of the Protocol by all parties, included the strengthening of emission reduction targets and commitment to agreed time-frames by industrialized countries and the development and transfer of appropriate, affordable and environmentally-sound technologies. International commitments to energy efficiency and the development of renewable energy resources were still key objectives, he added.

In other business this afternoon, the Vice-President of the Assembly, M. Ahmed Snoussi (Morocco) informed delegations that Dominica had made the necessary payments to reduce its arrears to the level specified in the Charter.

Statements were also made by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Maldives, Ethiopia, Guatemala and the Chairman of the Delegation of Grenada.

The Assembly also heard statements in exercise of the right of reply by the representatives of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

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. It was expected to hear statements from the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Ethiopia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Guatemala and Malawi. It was also expected to hear statements from the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs of Solomon Islands, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Central African Republic and the representative of Grenada.

Statements

EDMUND ANDRESEN, Minister for Justice and Legal Affairs of Solomon Islands, said the Government of his country had launched a reform programme which incorporated sound banking and financial practices conducive to economic growth and stability. The public sector was being restructured to create a more efficient, responsive and accountable governmental administration. That programme could not succeed, however, without significant bilateral and multilateral assistance. The experience of other economies that had undertaken similar programmes showed that reforms could be accelerated by assured markets for traditional products, as well as by access to new markets and capital. Moreover, multilateral agencies such as the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) could assist significantly in enhancing competitiveness and capacity building.

Sustainable development and the scientific management of the forests and marine resources remained high priorities for his Government, he said. Fisheries were also essential to his country's economy. Last April, the Parliament had enacted legislation to control the exploitation of fish resources and maximize the benefits for the people of Solomon Islands. Protecting the fragile marine ecosystem from pollution was also a major concern. With the assistance of UNDP, a study would soon be undertaken to assess the potential danger to the marine environment posed by the large quantity of submerged ordnance from the Second World War. Projects to encourage ecotourism, and the processing of forest products within Solomon Islands were also being considered.

Natural disaster remained the greatest environmental threat to the peoples of many small island nations, he said. During the past year, shortages of water and food caused by the El Niño phenomenon had severely affected Solomon Islands and several other countries in the region, especially where cyclones had struck earlier. Intensified international cooperation in early warning systems, disaster mitigation and management strategies were needed. His country strongly supported the renewal of the United Nations International Decade for Disaster Reduction and related initiatives.

Climate change also remained an issue that demanded urgent and concrete global collective action, he said. The Kyoto Protocol to the 1992 Framework

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Convention on Climate Change, while a positive step within the climate protection process, must be understood to be only one of several. Crucial actions, besides the early ratification of the Protocol by all parties, must include the strengthening of emission reduction targets and commitment to agreed time-frames by industrialized countries, as well as the development and transfer of appropriate, affordable and environmentally-sound technologies. International commitments to energy efficiency and the development of renewable energy resources remained key objectives.

ANTONIO DEINDE FERNANDEZ, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Central African Republic, underscored the role of the Security Council in dealing with African conflicts. While the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had demonstrated a commitment to take the lead in the resolution of conflicts on the continent, its new mechanism for the prevention and resolution of conflicts would take time and would require sources not immediately available to Africa. In the meantime, the efforts of subregional organizations needed to be adequately supported by the international community.

The Central African Republic was a beneficiary of a regional initiative -- the Inter-African Mission to Monitor the Implementation of the Bangui Agreement -- when three successive army mutinies had erupted there in 1996. That Mission had received strong logistical support from the French Government. This year, the Security Council replaced the African force with the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA), which was now making a major contribution to the restoration of peace and security.

The MINURCA had played an important part in the restoration of State institutions in his country, he continued, and assisted in the preparations for the legislative elections. It also had helped in the restructuring and retraining of the country's police and the armed forces. His Government hoped that the Security Council would avoid a premature exit of MINURCA. A withdrawal being presently contemplated would not be in the interest of his country or of the subregion. Quoting the words of the Secretary-General, he said "the deployment of a multi-disciplinary peacekeeping operation may well be the best chance to establish peace and build a chance to establish peace and build a foundation for lasting development, based on respect for human rights and the rehabilitation of civil institutions".

FATHULLA JAMEEL, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, said that although his country had no rivers to flood, volcanoes to erupt or large forests to burn, it was still vulnerable to natural disasters. In the past decade, it had lived in fear of being slowly engulfed by the rising waters of the Indian Ocean that surrounded it. Dealing with the threat of global warming and climate change required the unwavering commitment and cooperation of the entire international community. The full and unconditional implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States would be essential for the continued development of those countries. Although Maldives was happy with

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some of the agreements reached at the Kyoto Conference last year, it was not fully satisfied with its achievements. His country accepted the Kyoto Protocol because it felt it contained some important elements that deserved recognition and implementation and it was the best negotiated agreement available at the time.

In small island States, the environment and the economy were intertwined very closely, he said. Tourism and fishing were the two dominant economic sectors in Maldives and a number of other small island States. For his country, the tourism sector had been the main source of foreign exchange earnings and had accounted for more than 40 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP). Effects of global warming such as sea level rise, beach erosion, coral bleaching, increasing stress on coastal ecosystems, salinization of freshwater aquifers and damage to infrastructure from tropical storms were, however, threatening to jeopardize the viability and the long- term sustainability of its tourist industry. Given the limited availability of resources, many small island developing States, including Maldives, were not in a position to carry the burden of providing the high cost of environmental protection on their own. He was convinced that without adequate, new and additional financial resources, transfer of environmentally- sound technology on concessional and preferential terms, and the provision for human resources development, even the mere survival of those countries would be impossible.

The vulnerability to external factors of the economies of small island developing States, especially the least developed countries (LDC), was a well- known fact, he continued. Globalization, coupled with ecological fragility of the small island developing States, had marginalized those countries from the present multilateral trading system. LDC exports had grown far more slowly than world trade over the past two decades, resulting in continued decline in their share of world trade. Market access for LDCs was becoming narrower. Poverty remained a stumbling block in their quest for achieving sustainable social and economic development. Major players in the world economy and development partners should pay special attention to assisting small island States and other LDCs in their efforts to become integrated into the world economy.

When determining the development status of a country by using its GDP as an indicator, the small island developing States might appear more prosperous than they really were, he said. Maldives believed that the criteria now used by the Committee for Development Policy in identifying LDCs did not take into consideration the special circumstances of the small island States and their vulnerability. The Committee had already recommended the graduation of four small island developing States from the LDC list, including his own. The irony of that was that the economies of those countries were heavily dependent on one or two industries, which might be extremely vulnerable to global economic and environmental changes and other external factors. Furthermore, while the Committee had identified the obstacles to integration into the

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global economy and called for continued official development assistance (ODA) for LDCs for at least another ten years, some of the countries most in need of such assistance had been earmarked for graduation by the year 2000. Maldives believed that it would be unfair to graduate countries from LDC status unless they would be able to sustain the momentum of growth they had been able to achieve.

Maldives had signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) last year, and this morning had signed the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty, he said. His country stressed the importance of establishing the proposed nuclear- weapons-free zone in South Asia and called on all South Asian countries to exercise maximum restraint and to contribute to the realization of that objective. Urgent and immediate action was absolutely necessary to alleviate the difficulties faced by small island developing States due to environmental degradation. If the present-day predictions for climate change were to come true, Maldives and many other such States would have to face the frightful reality of extinction.

SEYOUM MESFIN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, said that the findings of the report of the Secretary-General on Africa coincided with his own belief that there was indeed an urgent need for political will to ensure sustainable growth and development in Africa. There was hardly any country in Africa which had not acknowledged that the economic future lay in market-based and private sector driven economic transformation. Limitations faced in international economic cooperation, in trade, and in connection with shouldering the debt burden, constituted major impediments to Africa's economic regeneration. The work of individual African nations and the OAU's Mechanism for Prevention, Management and Resolution of Conflicts in Africa had been major steps towards peace and the prevention of and containment of conflicts.

He said Ethiopia had continued working towards achieving peace in the Sudan. It had also worked to provide assistance to the people of Somalia to achieve national reconciliation and to establish a broad-based Government.

He condemned what he called Eritrea's aggressive actions of 12 May against Ethiopia, stating that such aggression continued to portend the outbreak of full-scale war between the two countries. He pointed out that the aggression had been quite unexpected, in that Ethiopia had been a true friend of Eritrea until the unprovoked aggression had been carried out. Ethiopia's preoccupation with development and its fight against poverty might have been misconstrued by Eritrea's leaders as threatening. Eritrea's failure to make their good offices available, as facilitators of dialogue or brokers of peace in the conflict, showed that Eritrea had never been willing to give peace a chance. Ethiopia, he added, refused to reward Eritrea's aggression through appeasement, and called upon the international community to take the same resolute stand.

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Turning to the situation in Angola, he said that the behaviour of National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) constituted a dangerous trend which could lead to the derailment of the peace process, and called upon the United Nations to exert maximum effort to save the fragile situation in Angola. He added that he hoped a referendum could be held as soon as possible on the future of Western Sahara. The greatest danger for peace, he noted, was not so much the violations of the law, per se, but the lack of response from the international community to violations of international law.

JADRANKO PRLIC, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that the outcome of the general elections in his country, conducted under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), had just been made public. There had been practically no incidents and disruptions, and international and local monitors deemed the elections to have been free and fair. The new Government and Parliament would have to address the peculiar domestic situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina -- the one internationally-recognized State, consisting of three constitutive peoples and two entities.

Only through scrupulous respect of equal rights and adequate participation in power by the parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina could that country achieve its goals, he said. That would also open the door for integration into European and transatlantic institutions. The most encouraging sign in that regard had been a recent declaration of support by the European Union, as well as the establishment between the European Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina of a joint task force.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was obliged to implement the provisions of the Dayton Agreement fully and unconditionally, he said. The continued presence of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina was certainly needed. The United Nations and its specialized agencies were providing valuable assistance to the country, but the time had come to change the relationship into a concrete joint venture, giving local companies and infrastructure a more substantial role. That would help the country to achieve the level of self-sustainable growth and to reach the ultimate goal of handing over the running of the country to its citizens.

Bosnia and Herzegovina had ratified the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (CAP), he said. It now needed to continue demining on the ground -- and the assistance of the international community in that endeavour was also essential. Bosnia and Herzegovina was convinced that those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law should be brought to justice, regardless of the ethnicity of the victims or perpetrators. In that connection, he said that it was critically important that the International Criminal Court should take into consideration the experiences of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

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Turning to the situation in Kosovo, he said that lessons must be learned from the international treatment that Bosnia and Herzegovina had received during its crisis. The rights of all the parties must be taken into consideration, as well as the territorial integrity of all States in the region. In order to share its own experience with other countries in crisis and to supplement the existing documents on that issue, Bosnia and Herzegovina intended to propose to the Assembly a set of basic tenets of humanitarian action in emergency situations.

EDUARDO STEIN BARILLAS, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, said the United Nations Human Rights Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) had helped the country implement its peace accords. Support from the international community would make the reconstruction of Guatemalan society possible. He supported the Secretary-General's recommendation to the Council that it extend the MINUGUA mandate until 31 December 1999. Guatemala was participating in regional cooperation initiatives to integrate Central America, he said. His Government was convinced that a more united Central America could better face globalization's challenges. Guatemala was also working with the twenty-five members of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), who, with the Caribbean Sea as common heritage, were working to improve the region's living conditions. Multilateral negotiation of today required renewed and flexible institutions, which was why his country had followed the modernization of the United Nations. His Government had participated in a pilot project concerning the implementation of administrative reforms. He called for a reform of the Security Council, adding that the democratic will of the Organization should prevail. The Organization must create, codify and apply the norms of international law, eliminating legal ambiguities which might enable international law to be permissive with the norms of national legislatures.

To promote development and eliminate poverty, there must be clear rules and equal trade opportunities between all regions and States. The international community should strive for a more equitable distribution of resources and burdens. Effective controls to eliminate speculative practices were needed. Fair market access for Central American products should be assured. Discrimination in world markets for their products hurt the area's competitiveness and distracted potential investors.

His Government was satisfied with international disarmament efforts, he said. Broadening its scope to include small arms and illegal trafficking was welcomed. He said that terrorism should be dealt with by the International Criminal Court, as it constituted a crime of serious concern to the international community. During the cold war, his country had been home to transnational networks which carried out war inside and outside of his country. He hoped that never again would his country be used to prepare aggression against other countries.

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ROBERT E. MILLETTE, (Grenada), speaking on behalf of Raphael Flecher, Grenada's Minister for Foreign Affairs, said that in the course of this century, the world had focused much of its attention on the avoidance of war, and regrettably not on the concept of peace. The Assembly should now reflect on the reasons why the world had failed to examine relevant history to acquire the appropriate political prudence. Could it be that there still existed a predominant subscription to the notion that "might is right"? he wondered. Was there an overriding precept governing the operation of the United Nations, to the effect that wealth necessarily merited the enjoyment of special privileges, to the disadvantage of the poor? He further wondered if such a precept informed the composition of the Security Council and the veto concept.

Peace among nations could only be realized when human rights were truly respected and universally honoured, he said. Major causes of the erosion of human dignity included poverty, deprivation and physical disablement. Grenada supported the eradication of poverty from the world and was concerned about United Nations sanctions that placed embargoes on basic food and medicine. Narcotics, also, constituted an extremely powerful potential for the erosion of human dignity. Accordingly, Grenada urged unrelenting United Nations efforts against narcotics, through the establishment of national programmes.

He said physical disasters, which occurred in various forms, also constituted a significant threat to human dignity, as well as to life itself. It seemed that the consequences of such disasters were being accepted as inevitable, which could explain inadequacies in respect of disaster preparedness. The world must guard against such resignation. Human dignity was also assaulted by economic disasters. The United Nations should review the concept of globalization, especially in relation to trade of all kinds.

World attention should focus on potential threats to human rights, he said. The right to self determination embraced the rights of all peoples to determine their economic future. That right might be frustrated or denied by foreign investors operating without social responsibility. It was also important to note that the pursuit of non-discrimination in trade and investment could work against government policy that catered to vulnerable groups.

Considering the question of environmental protection and preservation, he said every country had a right to develop the resources of its territory, but not to the detriment of the people of other nations. The disposal of nuclear and toxic wastes in the territory of other nations constituted a violation of their human rights.

He said, "The People of the Republic of China on Taiwan -- and they number more that 22 million -- have exercised the right to participate in international organizations including the United Nations". To deny them the right to choose to work in such a context, towards the advancement of developing countries, would be to violate their human right to choose.

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Grenada was against terrorism and condemned it, whoever the perpetrator was, he added. It considered any action calculated to strike terror into the hearts and minds of people anywhere an act of terrorism.

MAPOPA CHIPETA, Member of Parliament and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Malawi, on behalf of Malawi's President, Bakili Muluzi, said, "We should not only preach the promotion and protection of human rights, but also put into practice what we preach and deepen our understanding of the subject". Since the concept of human rights might not be clearly understood by many sectors across societies, the success of building a culture based on those rights would depend on the ability of governments and civil society to provide civic education to people. In Malawi, necessary institutions such as the Human Rights Commission, the Law Reform Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, together with various non-governmental organizations (NGOs), were playing a critical role in enhancing a deeper understanding of human rights and related issues of governance.

He said his country had a long history of peace as well as of social and political stability. In 1994, Malawians had opted for a democratic multi- party system of government, which guaranteed fundamental freedoms to every citizen. In the last four years, "we have established democratic institutions that stand for the rule of law and good governance as well as respect for fundamental freedoms, transparency and accountability". Malawi had managed to achieve that because of its peace and stability. The right to peace was a right that all should enjoy. "The development that we seek for the world cannot be realized without security and peace", he said.

He said that within its region, his country attached considerable importance to cooperation on conflict prevention and resolution. The commendable work undertaken through OAU's mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution deserved special mention. Given the magnitude and complexity of the problem to be resolved, however, that organ needed increased support from the international community to accomplish its goals. The best way to resolve disputes or conflicts in order to guarantee durable peace, security and stability was through amicable negotiation, and not force. Conflicts and factional wars continued in various parts of the world, causing death, massive displacements of populations, loss of property and floods of refugees. Angola, Kosovo and Afghanistan and other parts of the globe continued to furnish tragic examples of the problems that beset the international community.

He said Malawi would hold its next general election next year. That followed the multi-party elections which had been held in 1994, the first in 30 years. During that election, the United Democratic Front had taken the reigns of power after a free, fair and credible electoral process. The change that Malawi had decided upon was irreversible, and all necessary measures were being taken to consolidate the new dispensation. "We are committed to facilitating the exercise, by all of our people, of their civil and political

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rights", he said. The Government was committed to holding free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections. His country invited the international community to witness the elections and also appealed for help with logistical, financial and human resource support. Free and fair elections could only be realized through the provision of adequate resources, he added.

He said the persistence of poverty in the world required the elaboration, within various bodies, of coherent policies to confront the major problems that impeded development. External debt, deteriorating terms of trade, lack of access to international markets, declining ODA, and the negative effects of structural adjustment programmes, all formed myriad issues that required urgent attention. All of those had to be addressed within the context of the need for the rational utilization of the world's natural resources and the need to protect the environment. The world could not remain aloof as poverty and despair wreaked havoc on many of its people. The many gains that "we will have made in civil and political rights will have no meaning at all if the socio-economic ills that people confront are not addressed", he said. What was needed was action to fully realize economic, social and cultural rights.

Statements in Right of Reply

ANDRE MWAMBA KAPANGA (Democratic Republic of the Congo), speaking in exercise of the right of reply, said that he wanted to make clarification regarding this morning's statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uganda who had denied any aggression against the Democratic Republic. The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo denounced the aggression of Uganda on its territory. Today the international community had heard the news that the Ugandan army had occupied a number of towns in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic. The aggression had been going on for a month. The Minister from Uganda had recalled an agreement on security of the border between the countries. Did that agreement give Uganda the right to attack the third largest city in the Democratic Republic, which was away from the border? he asked.

He went on to call for the withdrawal of foreign troops from his country's territory. There had been cases of rape, murder, and forced involvement of minors in the armed conflicts. Those acts were not conducive to the promotion of the stability and security in the region. The Democratic Republic of the Congo believed that such acts should cease, and that others should exercise their influence in that matter. The settlement of the issue presupposed unconditional withdrawal of Ugandan troops from the territory of the Democratic Republic. Armies must be persuaded that ethnic supremacy could not succeed, he added. Also, there must be transparency as well as fair and free elections.

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HAROLD ACEMAH (Uganda), also exercising his right of reply, said that contrary to the allegations made by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda had never invaded that country. Nor had it attacked the towns mentioned and committed aggression against its neighbour. The conflict was a purely internal affair of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Uganda's position had been clearly stated that morning. The countries were supposed to jointly cooperate in the eastern part of the country to remove bandits who had been destabilizing the situation in Uganda. Uganda had maintained a military presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in accordance with a bilateral agreement with that country. Since the 1960s, Uganda had provided support to all progressive forces in the Democratic Republic. It was hosting refugees from that country. Uganda's record spoke for itself.

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