REGIONAL SECURITY COOPERATION, TRAFFIC IN SMALL ARMS, CONFLICT DIAMONDS AMONG ISSUES ADDRESSED, AS GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONTINUES GENERAL DEBATE

Press Release
GA/9770

REGIONAL SECURITY COOPERATION, TRAFFIC IN SMALL ARMS, CONFLICT DIAMONDS AMONG ISSUES ADDRESSED, AS GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONTINUES GENERAL DEBATE

Hears from Eight Foreign Ministers

The traffic in small arms had already resulted in more deaths than the two world wars combined, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Angola, Joao Bernardo de Miranda, told the fifty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly this afternoon, as it continued its general debate.

The circulation and transfer of small arms into areas of conflict by way of rebel groups, with the connivance of certain governments and organized crime, also affected international security, he said. In addition, Africa’s security was affected by the illicit trade in diamonds. In Angola, in particular, “diamonds of conflict” and the proliferation of small arms had assumed a special importance. Through the sale of such diamonds, the rebels had reconstituted their war machine. The resulting death and destruction was the principal reason for Angola’s economic instability. The scenario was repeating itself in other regions of Africa.

The Minister of State and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Francophonie of Gabon, Jean Ping, said in many cases threats to peace did not come from the outside, but from the inside. The United Nations Charter should be adapted to take that into account, in particular, by amending the Security Council terms of reference with regard to internal crises. Peacekeeping operations were insufficient. Conflicts had to be “nipped in the bud”. An important step would be the creation of regional security mechanism. At the subregional level, Gabon, together with other States, had set up a High Council for Peace and Security in Africa (COPAX). The Council provided a multinational force for Central Africa and an early warning mechanism for the region.

Also addressing the issue of security through regional cooperation, Maria Eugenia Brizuela de Avila, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, said Central America had welcomed the pacification of the region and the end of many armed conflicts. The region now had mechanisms for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and democratically elected governments. It was important to create a region of peace, democracy and development and to foster a Central American Union, which would foster cooperation in facing future challenges.

Concerned about the challenges the new generation had to face, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Somsavat Lengsavad, said many children lacked the opportunity for

General Assembly Plenary - 1a - Press Release GA/9770 19th Meeting (PM) 16 September 2000

education and were subject to exploitation for the purpose of pornography, prostitution and drug addiction. Drug abuse continued to be an issue of major concern for the international community. People in the area of poppy cultivation continued to remain poor. Thus, it was essential to carry out development projects and ensure that people earned more through cultivating alternative crops than in cultivating poppies.

The Assembly was also addressed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Albania, Paskal Milo; the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Brunei Darussalam, Mohamed Bolkiah; the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Communities of Cape Verde, Rui Alberto de Figueiredo Soares; and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yerodia Abdoulaye Ndombasi. The representative of Luxembourg also spoke.

The General Assembly will continue its debate at 10 a.m. Monday, 18 September.

General Assembly Plenary - 3 - Press Release GA/9770 19th Meeting (PM) 16 September 2000

Assembly Work Programme

The fifty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly reconvened this afternoon to continue its general debate.

It was expected to hear from representatives of Luxembourg, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Albania, Brunei Darussalam, Angola, El Salvador, Gabon, Cape Verde and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Statements

HUBERT WURTH (Luxembourg) said that the past year his country had reached the objective of 0.7 per cent of its gross national product (GNP) for official development assistance (ODA), a year in which globalization had become a concern to all Member States. Globalization must be geared towards equitable development, and the use of violence must not compromise the path towards development. A passive attitude did not do justice to the realities of the world. On the bright side, the number of conflicts had decreased and the number of democratic governments had increased. The situations in East Timor, Djibouti and the Korean peninsula were good examples of the positive outcomes of dialogue, he said.

It was time to go beyond academic deliberations, he continued. The international community must take concrete action to avoid situations that resulted in refugees, displaced people and victims of war calling for the help of the United Nations. Further, the spread of information under way must be based on international law. The decision to try those responsible for war crimes in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia showed that the era of impunity was part of the past. The state of law was the most viable way to development, he said.

The United Nations must play a more important role in such areas as Angola, Sierra Leone, East Timor, Eritrea and Ethiopia, and South Lebanon, he said. The United Nations lacked financial resources, but the commitment to peace-building must be unwavering. Any measure to reduce poverty was a step to reduce conflict. That was a responsibility incumbent on all Member States. The future actions of the United Nations must be based on the broad experiences of its past. There must be greater cohesion. In addition to the new administrative and financial structure, the United Nations bodies needed to adapt to today’s realities. Also, Security Council reform was needed to stimulate the role and the credibility of the United Nations.

SOMSAVAT LENGSAVAD, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, said that although a number of international conferences had been held to prepare for the new millennium, the objectives set forth had not lived up to his country’s expectations. Globalization presented complex challenges. The South Summit of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, which had been held in Havana earlier this year, had rightly identified the positive and negative effects of globalization and put forward collective guidelines for future action. Unsolved problems included growing debt and unfavourable world trade measures imposed on goods from developing countries. North and South should deal together with those issues, which would lead to North-South cooperation as expressed in the Havana Declaration.

He said he was concerned over the challenges the new generation had to face. Many children lacked the opportunity for education and were subject to exploitation for the purpose of pornography, prostitution and drug addiction. The gender issue was also of great importance, and poverty and violence continued to be the major obstacles that affected women’s lives. Drug abuse continued to be an issue of major concern for the international community. His Government had implemented a number of projects in order to remedy the effects of drug abuse. People in the area of poppy cultivation continued to remain poor. Thus, it was essential to carry out development projects and ensure that those people earned more through cultivating alternative crops than through poppy and traditional cultivation.

Many regional conflicts remained unsolved and continued to cause pain and suffering, he said. In the Middle East, durable peace had not been ensured and the inalienable national and fundamental rights of the Palestinian people had not yet been exercised. He looked forward to seeing the establishment of an independent Palestinian State and the respect for an existence of all States in the region. The economic, commercial and financial embargo applied to Cuba continued to cause enormous difficulties and was counter to the principles of the United Nations Charter. He urged that it be ended. His country was also following the situation in the Korean peninsula and welcomed the outcome of the Korean Summit between Chairman Kim Jong II and President Kim Dae Jung.

On 2 December 2000, he said, his country would commemorate its twenty-fifth anniversary. The Lao people had made tremendous advances in national construction. The most outstanding achievement was that they had reached self- sufficiency in rice production and even had a surplus for export. The socio- economic infrastructure had been continuously expanded, the State was governed by the rule of law, and freedom and democracy were respected and promoted. Concerning the impact of globalization, he said it had been uneven. A large number of developing countries continued to be marginalized and were not in a position to benefit from the process. Most developing countries faced problems of access to markets, capital and technology, and were obliged to undertake painful structural reforms. Developing countries must be able to complete in the world trading system and fully benefit from globalization. The United Nations had a crucial role to play in ensuring that happened.

PASKAL MILO, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Albania, expressed the hope that the Balkans could be transformed into a developed and stabilized region, aimed at European integration. The Albanian Government has proceeded in the consequent line of creating stable and mutual cooperation relations with the Balkan countries. It has endeavoured to make inter-Balkan relations follow those existing among European Union member countries, in which there was free movement of people, goods and capital.

He stated that the situation in Kosova had improved significantly, pointing to the implementation of Security Council resolution 1244, as well as the deployment of the Kosova Force and the United Nations administration. Hundreds of thousands of refugees had returned home, and houses destroyed by the war had been reconstructed. Albania took note of the preparations for local elections in Kosova, asserting its belief that the pre-electoral campaign would be conducted in accordance with democratic principles and values and without acts of political violence. As previously stated, he supported a multi-ethnic and multicultural Kosova. Also, he appealed to the international community to apply more pressure against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic, in particular, to release 7,000 Albanian political prisoners. He looked forward to seeing genuine democratic forces come to power in Serbia. Further, he condemned Milosevic’s attempts to destabilize Montenegro.

Stability in the Balkans was not only in the interest of its countries, he said, but also in the interest of the European Union itself. “Before being integrated into the European Union, all the countries of our region should firstly be integrated among themselves”, he added. Extreme nationalistic concepts, mentalities and policies must be overcome. The end of the conflict in Kosova marked a turning point, while the Stability Pact for South-eastern Europe should be considered an instrument and a bridge to integrating South-eastern Europe into European structures. In the year 2000, his Government had one goal -– further integration into Euro-Atlantic structures.

He closed by observing that the world has entered the era of globalization. But despite its positive sides, globalization was unavoidably accompanied by effects that could bring negative consequences to small and poor countries. To avoid those consequences, the United Nations must compile and implement global strategies. His Government hailed the results of the Millennium Summit and expressed its conviction that all Member States unite their forces for the fulfilment of the engagements embodied in the final declaration.

MOHAMED BOLKIAH, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Brunei Darussalam, thanked the Secretary-General for his report to the Millennium Summit, describing it as "comprehensive, ethical and most impressive". The report gave deep meaning to the expression “the international community”, which was spelled out in the Final Declaration.

He said the precise targets of the report helped distinguish clearly between immediate issues and long-term ones. That fact was important, because many of the things on which so much time and resources were spent were not today's issues. They were sad legacies passed on by the twentieth century. The more they dominated the affairs of the Organization, the more they kept the international community from concentrating on the deep-seated problems of the developing countries. Those were truly today’s issues and they had been given a new name –- “transnational issues” -- because they were far too big for individual governments -- or even regional organizations -- to deal with. They would not be solved in the marketplace; in fact, the global market economy had lengthened the list and had created its own set of special problems.

But the Millennium Summit Declaration invited the Member States of the United Nations to accept joint international responsibility to find solutions, he continued. He believed that the work done by such agencies as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the World Health Organization (WHO) was vital and needed to proceed urgently.

Today, the vital tasks of the United Nations should not be held hostage by the twentieth century, he said, because there was urgent new work to undertake for developing nations. It must ensure that the phrase "developing nations" actually meant that nations were developing, rather than expressing the very opposite. The Summit Declaration offered all countries the opportunity to do just that, in friendship and cooperation.

JOAO BERNARDO DE MIRANDA, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Angola, said the persistence of a climate of insecurity and instability in a number of regions of the world could not be attributed solely to internal causes. It also stemmed from a weakness in the international security system. The peacekeeping operations mechanisms had not always corresponded to the desired objectives, either because missions were not sent in a timely manner, or they were not provided with adequate human, material and financial resources. At times, it was due to the ambiguity in the mission mandate itself.

In the African continent, the illicit trade in diamonds had been the primary source of support for wars incited by some rebel groups, he continued. His Government supported initiatives to reduce the access to the international market of “diamonds of conflict” and would provide whatever cooperation necessary for their implementation. Another issue affecting international security was the circulation and transfer of small arms to areas of conflict, with the connivance of certain governments and networks of transnational organized crime. Those arms had a shocking impact on civilian populations. They had already resulted in more deaths than the two world wars combined.

The issue of “diamonds of conflict” and the proliferation of small arms had assumed a special importance for Angola, he said. Through the sale of illegally mined diamonds, the rebels led by Jonas Savimbi had reconstituted their war machine, with which they then had undertaken a large-scale military campaign. That campaign had led to death and destruction and was the principal reason for the economic instability in his country. The scenario was repeating itself in other regions of Africa, and a solution was urgently required.

The conflict was moving progressively towards an end, because the ability of the rebels to wage war had been reduced. The total implementation of the Lusaka Protocol continued to be a valid basis for the resolution of the Angolan problem. The mechanism to monitor the application of sanctions against the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), in accordance with Security Council resolution 1295 (2000), would deny support to the armed rebellion. He hoped that all Members of the United Nations would extend their cooperation. He also hoped that the international community would invest substantially in the Angolan economy during the country’s recovery phase.

MARIA EUGENIA BRIZUELA DE AVILA, Minister for Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, said that the process of implementing peace in her country had been an arduous task, but had been possible thanks to the political will of the Government and the people. It was a new stage in their history, with economic and political freedom prevailing. The new era required the participation of all sectors of society. All sectors would benefit from peace and democracy. Poverty in El Salvador had been a structural problem and current governmental strategies focused on the improvement of the quality of life. The future of the nation was in its own hands. International cooperation could contribute to a positive international environment, but could not solve the problems of El Salvador.

Central America had welcomed the pacification of the region and the end of many armed conflicts, she continued. The region now had mechanisms for human rights and fundamental freedoms and democratically elected governments. It was important to create a region of peace, democracy and development and to foster a Central American Union, which could foster cooperation in facing future challenges. In a globalized world, the viability of the region would depend on joint action and cooperation.

The strengthening of the United Nations required special attention, as the last 10 years had created a crisis of confidence, capacity and credibility, she said. Substantive changes were required to reflect today’s reality. The international situation today was more complex and multifaceted and included new threats and dangers, which was even more justification for the existence of the United Nations -- but a stronger United Nations. The Economic and Social Council must be revitalized, as one of its main functions was the promotion of economic and social development. It would be appropriate to reconsider the establishment of an economic council. The General Assembly must also be strengthened and broadened in its capacity and competence. Furthermore, the General Assembly should have a greater responsibility in the decision-making process.

She said that even though the Conference of the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) had not achieved what her Government had hoped for, it had still taken steps in the direction of eliminating the threat of nuclear war. Having suffered from a long drawn-out war, El Salvador was particularly concerned by the illicit traffic of small arms and light weapons. Such traffic had prolonged the war in El Salvador. The traffic of small arms and light weapons not only prolonged conflicts, but also threatened international stability. Trafficking of small arms and light weapons went hand in hand with terrorism, money laundering, drug trafficking and international crime. International cooperation was required to immediately address the problem.

JEAN PING, Minister of State, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Francophonie of Gabon, said that while there was promise in the world following the end of the cold war, because of the decline in armed conflicts, Africa found itself torn apart by war. The Security Council had demonstrated its limitations in the face of various crises, notably in Africa. The vast majority of peoples lived in desperate poverty, which was aggravated by the rapid spread of AIDS. In some African countries, AIDS had even become the major cause of death. The United Nations and the multilateral system, however, did not, at present, have sufficient resources to face those major challenges.

In many cases, threats to peace did not come from the outside, but from the inside, he continued. The United Nations Charter should be adapted to take that into account, in particular, by amending the Security Council terms of reference with regard to internal crises. He welcomed the Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations –- the Brahimi Report -- and hoped that it would provide a new approach to peacekeeping operations.

Peacekeeping operations, however, were insufficient, he said. Conflicts had to be “nipped in the bud”. An important step would be the creation of regional security mechanism. At the subregional level, Gabon, together with other States, had set up a High Council for Peace and Security in Africa (COPAX). The Council provided a multinational force for Central Africa and an early warning mechanism for that region. Yet, that instrument could only play its role fully with the support of the United Nations and other partners. It was clear that most conflicts in Africa were fed by those trafficking in arms, diamonds and drugs. He supported the creation of an International Criminal Court.

His country devoted nearly half its annual national budget to debt servicing, he said, seriously affecting its resources for development. The appeal to the international community for a fair treatment of the national debt was not simply begging. The problem of debt should not simply be analysed by socio- economic indicators. Measures taken by governments to combat poverty should also be taken into account. His country was carrying out the “20/20 initiative”, which meant that 20 per cent of its national budget was dedicated to social services, while 20 per cent of ODA was earmarked by donor countries for such services, but had been affected by the decline in that assistance.

RUI ALBERTO DE FIGUEIREDO SOARES, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Communities of Cape Verde, said that North-South dialogue continued to be affected by reciprocal accusations between worlds separated by gross disparities in the levels of well-being. The world needed to be governed well and cooperatively, if the international community really wanted to achieve development, justice and peace. Yet, on the international level, the privileged continued to deny others open participation and a fair share. Those in whose interest it was to maintain the status quo used the deficiencies of others to justify their own inaction.

What was lacking, he said, was the political will to achieve progress for all. In the blend of competition and cooperation that characterized international relations, the scale was still weighed in favour of a framework of inequalities, asymmetries and egotism that increasingly impaired the capacity to achieve general progress. A vital question was, to what extent would the international community see a growing belief in the existence of true independence and in the need for coordination and cooperation commensurate with such global interdependence? At the same time, globalization must not be viewed as it was today -– exclusive, fragmented and offering opportunities to a select few -- but as a process that would increasingly reveal and establish the world as a single body.

In the short term, he said, a consistent set of measures was needed in order to create an environment in which poverty eradication could be sustainably achieved. In the areas of greatest poverty, such as Africa, it was essential to reverse the decline in public health and to devote the necessary resources to improving the quality of public education. The capacity of States to make real, continued progress would be significantly limited if they faced restricted access to international markets and if tariff and non-tariff barriers were imposed on them. Those constraints could make it impossible for them to integrate into the global economy.

He expressed his concern at the conflicts that continued to affect the daily lives of various countries and their people. His country viewed the current situation in Sierra Leone with apprehension and hoped that recently developed measures by the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) would help restore Sierra Leone to peace and stability. Cape Verde had also followed the situation in Angola. Owing to the refusal of UNITA to respect Security Council resolutions and comply with the provisions of the Lusaka Protocol, the humanitarian drama affecting Angola had reached intolerable levels. The international community should give the highest priority to providing humanitarian assistance to Angola.

YERODIA ABDOULAYE NDOMBASI, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that there had been many repetitions of his appeal. Invaders from Uganda and Rwanda were still present in his country. Uganda had the audacity to claim that they were helping to solve the problems of the Congolese people. They had cut people’s throats and buried people alive, leaving their arms sticking out of the ground. They even said they were going to harvest those arms. They enclosed people in huts and set fire to them, he said. That could hardly be described as helping the Congolese people. The aggressive forces from Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda must leave the country immediately.

He urged the General Assembly to investigate his statement. It was the truth, he said, as opposed to the falsehoods in other statements on the issue. Truth would prevail. There was no sign that the aggressors might leave. Why were they in his country? he asked. It was clearly not tourism. They claimed to be defending their borders, but why were they doing so 2,000 kilometres beyond their borders? Another great lie told to explain their presence was that they were searching for the perpetrators of the genocide in Rwanda. They had occupied three provinces, yet had found no perpetrators, probably because they were busy pillaging and plundering the country of its gold, diamonds and copper.

Today, he said, if you wanted to phone Kivu, a town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, you had to phone via Rwanda. In their speeches, they had spoken about territorial integrity -– even as they were changing the names of the streets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They had questioned his freedom to circulate, and had attempted to remove him as Minister for Foreign Affairs. He had been accused of crimes. Who were they to become judges? he asked. Those people did not rely on the law. They were hunters pursuing game in the forest. Those so-called universal judges did not hesitate to pursue him, but they had never pursued the inhuman murderers of President Lumumba, who had been put in sulfuric acid -– and they kept one of his teeth. When people accused the Democratic Republic of the Congo for not cooperating with the United Nations, they forgot there were historical reasons for such a lack of cooperation.

He said the Lusaka Accord had been signed on 10 July, but the fires were still burning, even though the aggressors had signed the agreement. It was impossible to talk of a peace until the aggressors had left his country. The only way the United Nations could be strengthened and credible was if the Organization decided to implement its own resolutions.

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