UN General Assembly
1999

Organization, the efforts of which we salute, must persevere in the search for solutions for eliminating the major and various problems besetting the world today. Human rights has always been an essential concern of our Organization. Thus, how can we not deplore that, at the threshold of the next millennium, humanity is still witnessing flagrant violations of fundamental rights. It is because of this major concern that I would like to salute here the efforts to establish an international criminal court, which, I am certain, will contribute to greater justice. We hope that this court, once it becomes operational, will enjoy all the necessary independence to carry out its functions fully and effectively and to apply the fundamental principles of humanitarian law. With regard to economic issues, we must agree that economic recovery is not yet in sight for many countries, especially those suffering from armed conflicts. Certainly many agreements emerging from international meetings have highlighted the special attention that must be paid to the problems of developing countries. But we must insist