On behalf of the people of Rwanda and on my own behalf,
allow me to convey sincere and heartfelt congratulations to
you on your outstanding election as President of the
General Assembly at its fifty-third session. This election
reflects the unanimous recognition by States of our
Organization of your country, Uruguay. A well-deserved
tribute is likewise extended to your distinguished
predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko,
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, who demonstrated
dedication, skill and open-mindedness at the last session.
Heartfelt fraternal thanks go to the Secretary-General,
Mr. Kofi Annan, for his skill, performance and far-
sightedness. This fifty-third session of the General
Assembly is the second in his term of office. The
Government and the people of Rwanda are grateful to the
Secretary-General for the working visit he made to Rwanda
in May 1998. That historic visit made it possible for him to
take stock of the results of the genocide committed in
Rwanda in 1994, and we thank him for his words of
encouragement to the Government and the people of
Rwanda for efforts made in the process of rebuilding the
country.
Each time we have had an opportunity to do so, the
Government of Rwanda has supported the proposals of the
Secretary-General with regard to the essential reforms of
our Organization and deemed that the same proposals for
reform were likewise valid for the reform of the Security
Council. We are prepared to continue our contribution to
and support for the collective efforts to bring about more
democratization in the Security Council at the dawn of the
third millennium.
The existence of the specialized agencies within the
United Nations has made this institution an instrument of
development, particularly in the economic, social, political
and cultural fields, and in many other areas. The
Government of Rwanda supports the existence of the
specialized agencies of the United Nations. The United
Nations reform under way should take them into account in
order to better structure them to be more operational.
Since the 1960s, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo has constantly been a source of concern to the
United Nations and the international community. One
United Nations Secretary-General even lost his life there in
the search for a solution to the problems of that country.
Today, more than in the past, this country, Congo —
which has since become the Democratic Republic of the
Congo — is experiencing the darkest times in its history,
because genocide is being committed there on the orders
of the highest authorities of that country.
Since 2 August 1998, Rwanda, like everyone, has
been witnessing a rebellion in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo against the Government and President Kabila.
Since then, the Government of Rwanda has consistently
pointed out that that crisis is purely internal and that Mr.
Kabila had definitely been facing a highly structured
rebellion. The commission of the Ministers for Foreign
Affairs of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC), composed of the four member countries
Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Namibia and Zambia, acknowledged
in its report to SADC, following its fact-finding mission,
that a rebellion exists against Mr. Kabila in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. President Kabila
himself implicitly recognized the existence of this
rebellion when he published a long list of Congolese
authorities that he banished by withdrawing their
Congolese passports and issuing international arrest
warrants against them. These Congolese were banished by
President Kabila because they are leading the Congolese
rebellion against him. Mr. Kabila’s implicit recognition of
this rebellion was also shown when he arrested and
imprisoned six journalists from the Kinshasa news agency
“La Voix du Peuple” because he suspected them of
supporting the Congolese rebellion.
The position of Rwanda is to join its mediation
efforts with those of the international community to find
a solution to the Congolese crisis through negotiations
between the Congolese rebels and the Government of
President Kabila. Unfortunately, these efforts of the
Government of Rwanda have collided with the obstinacy
of President Kabila, who believes that the solution to this
inter-Congolese conflict is to persecute and massacre the
Banyamulenge, the Tutsi and the Rwandese living in
Congo, as well as Congolese who refuse to support his
grim designs.
In this respect, Rwanda, like other observers near
and far, is concerned at the increase in human rights
violations committed by the Government of President
Kabila, which is inciting the people to genocide,
massacres and racial and ethnic hatred. The Government
of Rwanda believes that the United Nations must
condemn the genocide as well as human rights violations
being committed in the Democratic Republic of the
4

Congo and take the necessary steps against the Government
of President Kabila.
This genocide and these human rights violations are
characterized by summary executions, incitement to hatred
by President Kabila and members of his Government,
massive arrests, arbitrary detentions and forced
disappearances. With regard to summary executions and
incitement to hatred taking place in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, the following facts are illustrative.
The present genocide and the massacres in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo are similar to those that occurred in
Rwanda in 1994 when the Radio Télévision Libre de Mille
Collines (RTLM) was inciting people to hunt down Tutsis
and their Hutu accomplices, as they were called by the
radio station at the time.
During the Victoria Falls Summit, which took place on
7 and 8 August 1998, President Kabila declared that those
who committed genocide in Rwanda were right and were
worthy of support then and now. This is tangible evidence
of recruitment by President Kabila of Interahamwe militias
and former members of the armed forces of Rwanda who
committed genocide in Rwanda and took refuge in Congo
Brazzaville, a fact recently denounced by the High
Commissioner for Refugees.
At that same Victoria Falls Summit, President Kabila
implied that Rwanda was seeking to establish a Hima
empire in the Great Lakes region. In that regard, my
Government believes that that statement by President Kabila
shows his racist leanings and theories, similar to those
spread during the 1980s by the late President Habyarimana
and his ilk, who invented this pseudo-empire to stifle the
claims of Rwandese refugees who had been in exile for
more than 30 years and who were beginning to vociferously
reclaim their inalienable rights to unconditional return to
their motherland.
These, then, are the racist theories cunningly invented
and orchestrated by the former President of Rwanda,
Mr. Habyarimana, and his regime in order to demonize the
Tutsi. Now, unfortunately, Mr. Kabila is making use of
them once more to demonize not only the Tutsi but the
whole of Rwanda and all its people. In that context, the
Government of Rwanda requests the international
community to put an end to these groundless racist theories
and this campaign to demonize Rwanda and its people.
President Kabila and his close collaborators are
inciting the Congolese people to acts of mindless violence
against any person suspected of being a rebel, any person
of Tutsi origin and any person who, according to them, is
in league, directly or indirectly, with the rebellion.
The governmental authorities of Kinshasa are calling
upon the people, through the official media, “to treat the
enemy like a virus, a mosquito, a piece of garbage that
must be crushed with determination and without mercy”.
The Congolese Minister of Justice, who after all is
supposed to be safeguarding everyone’s human rights, has
said, “These Rwandans, these Tutsis, they are insects,
microbes that must be methodically eradicated.”
In support of the words of President Kabila, who
said he would export war to Rwanda, the Congolese
Minister of Health, Dr. Jean-Baptiste Nsonji, stated, “The
Rwandans will become like snakes whose head and tail
have been cut off, unable to move, unable to escape.”
In response to these incitements to hatred and
violence spread by President Kabila and the Congolese
Minister of Information, Mr. Didier Mumengi, the
Minister of Health, Dr. Jean-Baptiste Nsonji, and the
Director of President Kabila’s cabinet, Mr. Yerodia
Abdoulaye, the population has begun to attack persons
suspected of being in league with the rebels. People have
been burnt alive because they were caught with red mud
on their shoes — red being the colour of the mud in the
region of the lower part of the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, at that time occupied by rebels.
The Government’s soldiers have fired point blank at
other suspects whose bodies were abandoned in the
streets. Several mentally ill people were summarily
executed because of a rumour, spread by Kabila’s
Government, that the rebels had disguised themselves as
madmen in order to pass unnoticed. On 27 August 1998,
a mentally ill person living at the corner of Kasai and
Usoke streets in the town of Barumbu was riddled with
bullets in the central market of Kinshasa. An unidentified
person was summarily shot down because he was caught
speaking on a cellular phone. Another person was
executed purely and simply because he was speaking
English.
President Kabila’s governmental troops are using all
possible means to wipe out the evidence of the atrocities
they commit. Several witnesses, including some
fishermen, agree that they saw human bodies carried on
the waters of the Congo river. Other persons suspected of
being rebels have been buried alive in Kitambo and
Masina.
5

The mass arrests, arbitrary detentions and forced
disappearances in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
have been denounced in particular by an African human
rights association (ASADHO) that works in Kinshasa. The
association denounced these arrests and disappearances on
10 August and 3 September 1998, and the following facts
were stated by this Congolese human rights association:
“Several individuals of Tutsi origin were arrested and
arbitrarily detained in the Kokola and Tshatshi camps
and in various jails belonging to the information
service and in the Kin-Mazière jail in Kinshasa-
Gombe; more than 500 soldiers from the former
Zairian armed forces were arrested, and some are still
missing to this day.
“Other Congolese who are married to Tutsis, friends
of Tutsis or who look like Tutsis have been arrested
in connection with this inter-Congolese conflict. Some
persons have been removed from their homes, their
hotel rooms and even from the premises of the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in
Kinshasa, as a result of curfews and various manhunt
operations decreed by the Kabila Government.”
All these facts are cited from that Congolese human rights
association.
The Rwandan Government believes, once again, that
the solution to this inter-Congolese conflict lies in political
negotiations between the Kabila Government and the rebels,
for the following reasons.
First, the Congolese must resolve among themselves,
once and for all, the question of nationality and citizenship,
though this is not negotiable. Normally, a question of
nationality or citizenship is not up for negotiation, but we
believe that this problem has to be resolved among the
Congolese. Indeed, we wonder why President Kabila’s
former ministers, such as the Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Mr. Karaha, and the Minister of State to the Presidency of
the Republic, Mr. Bugera, and many other Congolese
citizens from the eastern part of the country have been
banished from their homes and from Congolese territory. It
is Rwanda’s view that we cannot eternally have stateless
people on our borders, especially the eastern border of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Secondly, this inter-Congolese conflict has
repercussions for the security of the neighbouring countries,
particularly Rwanda, given that Kabila’s forces are a
combination of all the criminal elements of the countries of
the region. Security in the north of Rwanda is constantly
menaced by elements of the former Rwandan Armed
Forces and the Interahamwe soldiers who committed the
genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and who still use Congolese
territory as a rear base in order to reprise their gruesome
crimes. The security of neighbouring countries must be a
constant source of concern to the Government and the
people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The
Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
must be constantly mindful of the fact that each time the
forces of evil seek to sow insecurity in a neighbouring
country, the country of origin of these destabilizing forces
forfeits its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Thirdly, the Congolese army should be national, not
a Katangese militia composed of followers of President
Kabila; the Congolese of the eastern part of the country,
the Banyamulengue, the Congolese of Masisi, those of
Jomba and those of Rutshuru and other eastern locales, as
well as other regions of the country, should also be part
of it.
Fourthly, the inter-Congolese conflict will be
resolved by good governance and good leadership that
does not incite people to commit genocide and massacre
of part of the population that it is supposed to protect.
The political negotiations between the Kabila Government
and the rebels must encourage the emergence of this kind
of leadership, which the Democratic Republic of the
Congo so urgently needs.
Fifthly, the philosophy of genocide and the culture
of murder that President Kabila is cultivating in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the assistance of
former elements of the Rwandan Armed Forces and the
Interahamwe soldiers that committed the genocide in
Rwanda, as well as terrorists in the pay of either country,
must be quickly eradicated from the Congolese population
by a new, enlightened leadership devoted to the national
cause, the cause of all Congolese without exception.
We have spoken at some length on the problems of
the Great Lakes region, and particularly those of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo; this is necessary in
view of my Government’s great esteem, respect and
consideration for the fraternal people of the Congo. That
is why my Government shouldered its responsibility and
did its neighbourly duty to the Congolese people, inter
alia by demonstrating solidarity with the fraternal people
of Congo in helping it rid itself of the 32-year
dictatorship of the former President Mobutu, who had
bankrupted the country.
6

In its efforts to find a solution to the present crisis in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Government of
Rwanda supports political negotiations leading to the
emergence of a leadership worthy to guide the Democratic
Republic of the Congo to a future other than that of
genocide — which, unfortunately, is the situation under the
regime of President Kabila.
But although President Kabila and his cronies have
brought disappointment and despair to the Congolese people
by sowing ethnic hatred in their country, Rwanda — which
had the misfortune to be the victim of the 1994
genocide — has the right to denounce the crime against
humanity that is now being perpetrated in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, in order to prevent it from being
exported to Rwanda, as appears to be on President Kabila’s
political and military agenda.
We hope that the United Nations will speedily
condemn the genocide being perpetrated in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and will take the necessary steps to
halt it before it is too late. Copies of the Dallaire fax on the
genocide in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are
without question to be found here in New York, at the
United Nations Office at Geneva, at the European Union
headquarters in Brussels and in every Western capital. In
the light of the existence of the Dallaire fax, no one can
claim not to have been informed in time to condemn
President Kabila’s acts of genocide and those of the
Interahamwe militia and the elements of the former
Rwandan Armed Forces, who planned and carried out the
genocide in Rwanda more than four years ago.
At the very beginning of the crisis, the Congolese
Minister of the Interior, Mr. Gaëtan Kakudji, quietly
approached the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the High
Commissioner for Human Rights and told them that unless
they quickly organized the evacuation of all those who had
been arrested, those people would be killed. We wonder
what the United Nations did in response to that alarm
sounded by a Congolese official, none other than the
Minister of the Interior, who has now dissociated himself
from President Kabila’s acts of genocide by abandoning his
ministerial post and fleeing his country for Europe,
according to information in the media. The defection of the
Congolese Minister of the Interior, who is a cousin of
President Kabila, may be food for thought, and perhaps for
inspiration, for President Kabila’s new allies. Will they
continue to support a genocidal regime that has come to be
abhorred by its own people?
The Governor of Shaba-Katanga province also made
a discreet appeal to the United Nations and, thus, to the
international community; he revealed that he had official
orders to massacre all Congolese Tutsis, anyone of
Rwandese origin, and any Congolese who resisted this
grim plan. How did the United Nations respond to that
appeal from the Governor of Shaba-Katanga province?
Many people are wondering whether or not Rwanda
has a presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
They have, indeed, made this an overriding issue. The
problem of the situation in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo and of attempts to resolve it is not to find out
who is and who is not in the Congo; it is to try to
understand why. Why is a given actor present in the
Congo? What are the real reasons for such a presence
there, and why is another actor not present or even trying
to be there? Why is genocide being committed in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo on the orders of the
highest authorities, including President Kabila himself?
What is the meaning of the presence in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo of the combined genocidal forces
that came from Rwanda in 1994 — the Interahamwe
militia, elements of the former Rwandan Armed Forces,
elements of the ex-forces of the former Ugandan dictator
Idi Amin Dada, terrorists in the pay of one country or
another, and other trouble-makers? Around whom and
against whom are these fascist forces uniting in the
territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Will the United Nations and the entire international
community wait for genocide to be committed in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo before they dispatch
a commission of enquiry after the event? Could not the
International Criminal Court — whose recent
establishment through the adoption of a suitable statute
we welcome — quickly take up this matter and arrest the
leader and his henchmen who are now engaged in murder
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Those are the real questions that in our humble view
should be asked about the present crisis in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo — a crisis to which a purely
political solution has to be found through political
negotiations between the Government of President Kabila
and the Congolese rebels.


I should like to
extend my most sincere compliments to you, Sir, Foreign
Minister of Uruguay, on your assumption of office as
President of the fifty-third session of the General Assembly.
I should also like to express my respects to Mr. Hennadiy
Udovenko, Deputy of the Supreme Rada of Ukraine, for all
his efforts during his tenure as President of the fifty-second
session of the General Assembly.
How should we build the framework for a new
international order in the twenty-first century? This is the
question that our international community is facing amidst
new situations that were created in the aftermath of the
collapse of the cold war, almost a decade ago. That
collapse provided an opportunity to establish a harmonious
order based upon the cooperation of the entire international
community, rather than the maintenance of peace by a
military balance between two super-Powers. However, our
international community today is troubled with frequent
regional conflicts and challenged by the inseparably
connected problem of poverty. Creating a new system to
cope effectively with such challenges is the greatest agenda
for our international community today. To achieve this
objective, we must simultaneously promote three issues:
peace and development, which are two sides of the same
coin, plus United Nations reforms, which are indispensable
in our efforts to achieve the first two.
Today, the possibility of a world-wide conflict has
decreased in comparison to the cold-war era, but conflicts
arising from such causes as ethnic and religious
confrontation are increasing. In dealing with these
conflicts, it is more important to focus on how to prevent
them rather than on how to solve them once they break
out. In this regard, we must first consider the essential
issues of arms control and disarmament. The recent
nuclear tests of India and Pakistan constitute enormous
challenges to the non-proliferation regime. We urgently
need to find a way to prevent the proliferation of nuclear
weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, and to
strengthen the non-proliferation regime. Furthermore, it is
necessary to deal not only with the weapons of mass
destruction, such as nuclear, biological and chemical
weapons, but also with such conventional weapons as
small arms and anti-personnel landmines.
Social instabilities lie at the root of conflicts. This
makes it extremely important to deal with development
issues. There are also growing global threats, such as
environmental destruction and terrorism. The cruel
destructive power of terrorism especially threatens the
lives and safety of citizens. It is different by nature from
conventional armed conflict between nations, but in the
post-cold-war world it poses increasingly grave concerns
to our security. Our international community should
seriously consider ways to effectively cope with these
problems and threats.
Today, based on such thinking, I should like to
discuss these issues from the perspectives of peace and
development and of reform, which is indispensable in
promoting the first two. In so doing, I want to elaborate
on our thinking and express our determination to play a
leading role in fulfilling our responsibilities.
I should first like to talk about nuclear non-
proliferation, arms control and disarmament, which are
essential to maintaining peace. In May this year, India
and Pakistan conducted, to our deepest regret, a series of
nuclear tests, which are formidable challenges to the
nuclear non-proliferation regime. In seeking a world free
of nuclear weapons, it is indispensable that we allow no
further proliferation and secure a solid basis for the
nuclear non-proliferation regime. The existing format
certainly is not perfect, but there is no feasible, realistic
alternative if we are to ensure stability in our international
community. No country should be allowed to attempt to
set back international efforts towards strengthening the
non-proliferation regime. At the same time, to improve
the effectiveness of this regime, it is important, together
with the efforts by all nations to maintain non-
proliferation, to see sincere implementation of nuclear
16

disarmament by nuclear-weapon States. Based on this
thinking, we regard the following five points as important.
First, the nuclear non-proliferation regime should
become more universal. The Treaty on the Non-
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) sets the structure
for international control of nuclear weapons, with no
alternative, and we strongly urge non-parties to accede to
this Treaty promptly and without condition. In this context,
we highly appreciate Brazilâs accession to the NPT in
August this year.
Secondly, in order to complement the NPT and ensure
nuclear non-proliferation, I should like to underline the
need to place strict export controls on equipment, materials
and technologies that relate to nuclear weapons and
missiles. We urge every nation to engage in serious efforts
to prevent any transfer of such materials and technologies.
Thirdly, we must prevent any further nuclear testing.
Without universal support for the Comprehensive Nuclear-
Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), the effectiveness of the nuclear
non-proliferation system cannot be maintained. I should like
to call on nations that have not yet done so to promptly
become parties to this Treaty so as to realize its early
effectuation. In the meantime, we should take necessary
steps to assure the cessation of nuclear testing.
Fourthly, further advancement of nuclear disarmament
by nuclear-weapon States is more important than ever in
maintaining and strengthening various efforts for nuclear
non-proliferation. We hope to see early effectuation of
START II and an early launching of negotiations on
START III. Also, we welcome such actions as the decision
by the British Government in July this year for a significant
reduction of their nuclear arsenals, as well as Franceâs
decision to dismantle its ground-to-ground missiles. We
urge all the nuclear-weapon States to implement sincerely
their obligations under article 6 of the NPT, thereby
promoting nuclear disarmament even further.
Fifthly, to put a cap on nuclear-weapons capability,
each nation must positively participate in and reach an early
conclusion of negotiations on a fissile material cut-off
treaty.
During this session of the General Assembly, Japan
will take initiatives to promote these five objectives.
Needless to say, the promotion of arms control and
disarmament should not be limited to the area of nuclear
weapons. Dealing with other weapons of mass destruction,
such as biological and chemical weapons, as well as
delivery vehicles, such as missiles, is of high importance.
The recent missile launch by North Korea, even if it was
an attempt to launch a satellite into orbit, poses a serious
problem which directly concerns both Japanâs national
security and peace and stability in North-East Asia. It also
constitutes a challenge to our efforts to prevent the
proliferation of delivery vehicles of weapons of mass
destruction. I renew my call for North Korea to consider
seriously the 15 September statement by the President of
the Security Council as a message reflecting the views of
the entire international community, and to never repeat
such an act.
Furthermore, to prevent the outbreak and escalation
of conflicts, we also need to address the problems of anti-
personnel landmines and small arms, including automatic
rifles, regarding which we have yet to make sufficient
efforts. We intend to continue to play a leading role on
these issues. In particular, in the area of anti-personnel
landmines we will endeavour to strengthen international
cooperation towards early realization of the â€œzero victimâ€
objective, by supporting assistance for victims and the
elimination of landmines. We are pleased that 40
countries have now ratified the Convention banning anti-
personnel landmines and that it will enter into force on 1
March next year. We are now making efforts for Japanâs
earliest possible ratification of this Convention. We ask
other nations yet to ratify it to do so promptly, so that it
may become a universal framework to ban anti-personnel
landmines totally.
Conflicts give rise to intolerable crimes against
humanity, such as genocide. To deter such crimes, it is
necessary to establish a permanent international court that
punishes such acts as international crimes. Adoption of
the agreement in July this year in Rome to establish such
a court was an act of historic significance. Japan believes
that the blessing and cooperation of the entire
international community is indispensable if the court is to
produce effective results. That is why we took important
initiatives at the Diplomatic Conference. It is our hope
that the International Criminal Court will continue to
grow and become a universal framework.
In our efforts towards peace, with civilian staff
assuming an increasing role in United Nations activities,
including peacekeeping, we observe with regret an
increasing number of cases where non-combatants become
the targets of violence by belligerents. In July this year,
a staff member from Japan, together with staff members
from Poland, Tajikistan and Uruguay, fell victim to a
17

despicable criminal act directed at the United Nations
Mission of Observers in Tajikistan. The countries concerned
and the United Nations need to seriously examine ways to
ensure the security of United Nations personnel and of
relevant humanitarian-assistance organizations. In this
regard, we reiterate our call upon nations that have not yet
done so to join the Convention on the Safety of United
Nations and Associated Personnel, adopted in December
1994, so that it may come into force as soon as possible. At
the same time, Japan will also make contributions of about
$1 million to the United Nations to support security
measures for United Nations personnel. We hope many
other countries will also make contributions to support
United Nations efforts in this field.
Some of the basic causes of conflicts are problems of
economic and social development. We must pay close
attention to them. During the Tokyo International
Conference on Preventive Strategy, which Japan hosted this
January, participants underlined the importance of a
comprehensive approach in dealing with such problems by
coming to grips with various causes of them, including
poverty.
The development issue is the greatest challenge the
world will face in the twenty-first century. In addressing
this issue, we have to deal not only with the economic-
development problems of the developing countries, but also
with the social sides of development, such as human rights
and good governance.
Japan has been advocating a new development strategy
that contains such ideas. We are pleased that the concept
was endorsed in 1996 at the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development and has been gaining support
in the United Nations. This strategy is based on the
philosophy that the international community should make
no distinction between donor countries and recipient
countries and should tackle the problems of development as
a common issue for all. In this regard, this strategy attaches
great importance to developing countriesâ playing an active
and responsible role in their own development. It also
emphasizes positive cooperation based on partnership
without distinction between developing and developed
countries. These are the guiding principles of the new
development strategy.
On the basis of these principles, the Second Tokyo
International Conference on African Development
(TICAD II) will be held in Japan this October as a follow-
up to the first Conference, held in 1993. Its objective is to
seek a path to promote the new development strategy in
Africa so as to support African countriesâ own nation-
building efforts. In this regard, we aim to draw up an
agenda for action.
Japan also has been making the greatest
contributions possible to the stable development of Asia.
In the present financial and economic crisis we have
taken initiatives to implement measures of support
totalling about $43 billion to Asian countries, which is the
largest single contribution by any nation in the world.
Simultaneously, Japan is making every possible effort,
through such measures as stabilizing our financial system,
to put our own economy on a recovery track within the
next year or two. We believe that the early recovery of
our own economy is the best contribution we can make to
the economies of Asia and of the world. We hope
strongly that the coming conference, TICAD II, will
benefit from such Asian experiences and provide a good
opportunity to use the wisdom and power of the entire
international community to assist the development of the
African continent.
In the post-cold-war transformation of international
relations, Japan is actively promoting what we call
Eurasian diplomacy. This means redefining relations with
countries of the Eurasian continent, including the Russian
Federation, the Peopleâs Republic of China, the Republic
of Korea and countries in the Silk Road regions of
Central Asia and the Caucasus range. This is another
example of Japanâs policy of promoting peace and
development in tandem.
In todayâs world, problems that directly threaten
peopleâs daily lives across national borders are becoming
increasingly serious. These include environmental
destruction, overpopulation, human rights violations, the
exodus of refugees, terrorism, drug-trafficking,
international organized crime and global diseases such as
AIDS. To cope with these problems, our international
community must be united under the concept of
protecting the security and dignity of mankind from
global threats. Furthermore, citizens, along with
Governments, must get together to engage in common
undertakings, such as making common rules. In particular,
as we mark the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I should like to
point out that efforts against large-scale human rights
violations and efforts to ease refugee problems arising
from conflicts are also indispensable for preventing
conflicts.
18

In addressing issues of peace and development, there
is an urgent need to reform the United Nations and to
strengthen its functions. Peace and development are two
sides of the same coin. At the same time, if the United
Nations is to respond effectively to various problems that
our international community shoulders, we urgently need to
do our best to assure a healthy financial basis. This includes
each Member Stateâs sincere implementation of its
obligation to pay its assessed contribution. Japanâs
assessment will be over 20 per cent, exceeding the sum of
that of four permanent members of the Security Council,
not including the United States. In this situation, reform in
the financial area requires serious attention. In reforming
the United Nations to strengthen its functioning, we must
promote reforms in three interrelated areas in a balanced
manner: reform in the political area, the development area,
and the financial area, which supports political and
development activities.
It is regrettable that even though the chances of
materializing reforms increased during last yearâs General
Assembly session, discussions on the reform of the Security
Council have not developed since then. Under the
circumstances facing the international community I
mentioned earlier, reforming the Security Council to
reinforce its legitimacy and effectiveness is an urgent task.
Japan, with the endorsement of many countries, is prepared
to assume greater responsibilities as a permanent member
of the Security Council. This would be in accordance with
our basic philosophy of non-resort to the use of force
prohibited by our Constitution. We are now in the fifth year
since the concrete discussions on the reform of the Security
Council started. Points of argument have been exhausted.
We are now at a stage where each country should make a
political decision. Japan believes that we are able to agree
on a package that responds to the interests of the entire
international community and to the legitimate concerns of
the majority of countries. If we do not have the will to
decide and act in order to achieve an agreement on such a
package, we will not be able to respond effectively to
challenges the international community will face in the
coming century. Japan strongly urges all countries to make
a bold political decision for the strengthening of the United
Nations so that we may reach an agreement on the
framework of the reform during the present session of the
General Assembly.
The twenty-first century is just around the corner. It is
our duty to preserve and develop the heritage of mankind
in the coming century. The late professor, Mr. Yutaka
Akino, who gave his life during his mission of
peacekeeping in Tajikistan, was one of my close friends.
He had the following motto: do not be pushed around by
events; take action. Along the same lines, the United
Nations should make action a top priority and become a
strong Organization equipped with both effectiveness and
credibility, squarely tackling all problems. We the
Member States should make utmost efforts to achieve it,
so that the United Nations can enter the twenty-first
century as such an Organization. The future of the United
Nations is in the hands of the Member States. My guiding
principle in Japanâs policy management is to be sincere,
to be steady and to be courageously prompt. I therefore
should like to conclude my remarks by emphasizing my
resolution to take leadership in addressing issues of peace,
development and reform in a sincere, steady and
courageously prompt manner.


Allow me first of all to offer my sincere
congratulations to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of
Uruguay, Mr. Didier Opertti, on his election to the post of
President of the General Assembly at its fifty-third session
and to wish him every success in this important task. I am
confident that his long experience and abilities will
contribute to the successful outcome of the current session
of the General Assembly. I should also like to express our
appreciation to the previous President of the General
Assembly, Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, for his energetic and
professional work.
I would like to take this opportunity to draw the
Assembly’s attention to the problems that are of greatest
concern to the States of our region.
The international community fully recognizes the
danger of recent developments in Afghanistan, South Asia
and the Republic of Tajikistan. There is an enormous
potential for conflict in this subregion today. The threat
that the Afghan conflict may explode and spread to
neighbouring States remains a real one. Uzbekistan has
repeatedly appealed to the international community from
this rostrum for assistance in resolving the Afghan
problem.
This goal should be served, inter alia, by our
initiative to impose an arms embargo on Afghanistan. The
appeal to halt deliveries of weaponry and matériel to all
parties to the conflict has been reflected in numerous
Security Council resolutions and awaits the creation of an
effective mechanism within the United Nations so that it
can be implemented. The Six Plus Two group, with the
participation of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries, as
well as the United States and the Russian Federation,
which was established as a result of a proposal by
Uzbekistan, is today, in our opinion, the only effective
international mechanism within the United Nations
capable of launching the peace process. Its task is not to
condemn the warring factions, to criticize them or to
support one of them against the others. We are united by
a common goal, which is to find a path to stability,
security and peace.
A great deal of interest is now focused on energy
projects and transport communications in the region.
However, the implementation of these projects should not
cause confrontation, but should on the contrary promote
stability and the development of mutually beneficial
cooperation between the States of the region. Given the
ongoing hostilities in Afghanistan, the importance of the
Six Plus Two group as a full-fledged negotiating
instrument is growing. Within that framework — and
with the cooperation of the inter-Afghan forces — it is
possible not merely to elaborate the terms of
reconciliation but also the necessary measures to restore
statehood to that country and bring about its economic
revival. In that connection, we fully support the decisions
of the meeting of the Six Plus Two group held at the
level of Ministers for Foreign Affairs, which took place
on 21 September of this year in New York. We also
commend the efforts of the Special Envoy of the
Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Ambassador Lakhdar
Brahimi.
Recent developments in Afghanistan have confirmed
that one of the most important conditions for the
restoration of peace in the Islamic State of Afghanistan is
the achievement of consensus at the regional level and the
elaboration, under the aegis of the United Nations, of a
17

single position to be taken by the countries that have an
influence on events in that country. Cooperation with the
Afghan factions in order to reach a speedy settlement of the
Afghan conflict is the ultimate goal of the proposed on-site
meeting of the Six Plus Two group in Tashkent. We hope
for further support for this proposal from interested States
and the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan.
The problems that affect the vital interests of
Uzbekistan, in particular the establishment of lasting peace
in Tajikistan, the cessation of war in Afghanistan, the
imposition of an arms embargo on the Afghan zone of
conflict, the establishment of a Central Asian nuclear-
weapon-free zone, the construction of transport
communications and the revival of Aral Sea are all part of
global international processes that are under way and could
be implemented under the aegis of the United Nations.
I believe that the events of the last decade have
convinced everyone that no State can, on its own, resolve
transnational security problems such as illicit drug-
trafficking, terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction and of their components.
The Government of Uzbekistan welcomes the efforts
of the United Nations to counter the spread of narcotic
drugs and to implement the Political Declaration adopted at
the twentieth special session of the General Assembly, held
in New York in June 1998. Today, in some European
countries, up to 90 per cent of the narcotic drugs consumed
originate in Afghanistan. The international community is
aware of the need to take coordinated action to counter
illegal trafficking in narcotic substances and to implement
the principles of international cooperation in this area on
the basis of mutual assistance and solidarity. However, we
believe that these principles should also reflect specific
regional aspects. In particular, once again we call for the
elaboration of special programmes to plan for concrete,
joint action by the States of Central Asia and the European
Union.
Unfortunately, terrorist acts have become a common
occurrence in many countries. Existing international
mechanisms to fight terrorism, including political isolation,
economic sanctions and direct military intervention, are not
achieving results. We should have no illusions about this
phenomenon. Today we need coordinated and targeted
action by the entire international community. In that
connection, we welcome discussion of one of the most
complex issues in international law: the possibility of and
need for a new approach to the problem of terrorism. The
importance of resolving this whole set of problems is
obvious.
In this connection, Uzbekistan has taken the
initiative to establish within the framework of the United
Nations a commission for the prevention of terrorist
activities and for fighting international terrorism. The
main task of such a commission would be to formulate
recommendations on questions relating to the fight against
international terrorism. Making use of legal norms, the
United Nations could prosecute the organizers and
perpetrators of terrorist acts. If Member States support
this initiative, Uzbekistan will take an active part in
bringing it to fruition.
Uzbekistan has consistently taken steps to ensure
peace and strengthen regional security. One of these is
Uzbekistan’s initiative to establish a Central Asian
nuclear-weapon-free zone. Considerable progress has
already been made to implement this idea. Allow me to
cite the closing statement of the President of the General
Assembly at its fifty-second session, Mr. Hennadiy
Udovenko:
“In a decision designed to further promote the
regime of nuclear nonproliferation, the Assembly
adopted a consensus resolution supporting the
initiative to establish one more nuclear-weapon-free
zone, in Central Asia. The significance of that step
became even more apparent in the light of the recent
nuclear tests in southern Asia”. (A/52/PV.92)
Here, let me express our special gratitude to the
Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, and to the Under-
Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Jayantha
Dhanapala, for their well-informed and strong support of
this initiative.
When considering potential threats to national
security, we ought today to give special attention to
problems of ecological security and environmental
protection. It is common knowledge that the drying up of
the Aral Sea has caused many complex ecological, socio-
economic and demographic problems, whose origins and
gravity are international, even global. The Aral crisis is
one of the most serious of the world’s ecological and
humanitarian disasters. It has had a direct impact on more
than 35 million people who live in the Aral Sea basin.
A number of decisions have been adopted at
international and regional meetings on the problem of the
Aral Sea. But these have not been backed up by practical
18

action. We are obliged to say that the idea is gaining
ground in the international community that the Aral crisis
can be contained through humanitarian operations. That is
not the case. This is an extraordinary ecological problem
that requires the establishment within the United Nations
system of a regional commission on the ecology of Aral
Sea. This initiative is justified by the need to formulate and
implement a specific long-term strategy and programme for
resolving the Aral crisis on the basis of the principles of
sustainable development, maintaining the standard of living
of the people of the region, and ensuring a decent life for
future generations.
Modern Uzbekistan is in the process of establishing a
State based on the rule of law, a civil society and an
effective, socially oriented market economy. It has an acute
need for the experience and know-how of international
bodies. At the same time, our republic is devoting great
attention to the question of recruiting Uzbek experts for the
activities of a variety of United Nations bodies. Let me
stress that the level of training and knowledge of Uzbek
specialists is fully in keeping with the requirements for
recruitment to the bodies and specialized agencies of the
United Nations system. I am confident that specialists from
Uzbekistan can and should contribute to the work of
international organizations.
In conclusion, I should like to stress in particular that
our relationship with the United Nations is intended not
only to obtain assistance and support, but primarily to
enable us to play our full part in the successful
implementation of the purposes and principles of the United
Nations and to give fresh content to the activities of the
Organization.


Please accept my sincere congratulations, Sir, on your
election. I am convinced that your solid academic
background and valuable experience as a statesman will
serve your country, Uruguay, well, and will strengthen
Latin America?s image.
I also congratulate the Secretary-General on the
excellent report he submitted to the General Assembly at
this fifty-third session. It is a document rich in profound
analysis and noteworthy proposals for these new times.
I am speaking on behalf of Venezuela before the
General Assembly of the United Nations at a time when my
Government?s term is drawing to a close, in just a few
months. Venezuela?s words are candid and sincere, for we
are ever at the ready to make our modest but solid
contribution to the establishment of stable friendship and an
effective and durable peace among all the peoples of the
world.
The century that is drawing to a close has left a deep
imprint on human history. Two gigantic wars nearly put
an end to our civilization?s impressive progress and,
above all, to the respect for human rights that is
fundamental to all progress. An unparalleled revolution
seemed destined to change decisively the face and destiny
of the world, and the end of that revolution was the most
striking and fortunate surprise the world has ever seen.
The world war that started in 1914 revealed to the
horror-stricken eyes of the world the human capacity for
evil and destruction. But it was followed by two decades
of lavishness and squandering that made people forget the
root causes of the conflagration. The attempt to create a
League of Nations awakened ideals and showed the way,
but it disintegrated when the thunder of cannons
announced the outbreak of the Second World War. The
subsequent post-war era, enriched by the bitter lessons of
experience, encouraged by suffering and inspired by the
ideals of peace and liberty, lived for five decades under
the threat of nuclear war. The terrible catastrophe
predicted as the inevitable result of the so-called cold war
remained at the forefront of the world?s concerns until the
memorable fall of the Berlin Wall, which opened the new
era in which humanity now finds itself.
For half a century peacekeeping has been a difficult
and sometimes agonizing task. Faith in ideals was not
enough to resolve the problems; what was needed was the
will and firm purpose, illuminated by experience.
The United Nations has undoubtedly played a very
important role in this peacekeeping task, despite all the
deficiencies and errors it could be accused of. It has been
the irreplaceable forum where all countries could talk to
each other, where all ideologies, all ethnic groups, all
political systems, could meet, without losing sight of the
goal of encouraging and fostering freedom everywhere
and of practising and promoting, by all legal means
possible, the democratic system, the only system that is
truly compatible with respect for human rights and the
free competition of all to govern. The Organization has
managed to keep its respected position, and today we
hope to be able to strengthen it further so as to work
firmly together to confront the new problems and
realities, something that will require ever greater efforts.
The century that is coming to an end has also been
a time of incredible transformations. Air travel, which had
10

been the dream of a few visionaries, has become an
everyday reality, and each hour thousands of people fly in
and out of airports around the globe. The great adventure
of space exploration has now left progress in air travel
behind, starting with man?s travels to the moon.
The very nature of the planet we live on has been the
object of comparisons that take us across infinite distances
in our thoughts about the basic nature of the universe. The
position of our solar system and the global unity we live in,
in relation to the whole cosmos, is a subject we are trying
more and more to define and penetrate.
Furthermore, in just a few short years, compared with
the span of history, the communications revolution has
made the world more unified, more interdependent, more in
need of standards and systems that cannot be imposed by
the most powerful, but must be the result of consensus,
with respect for each individual?s identity and right to life.
In today?s society we are fully conscious of the
infinite presence of what is large, but we also have a
precise idea of the importance of what is infinitely small.
The technological revolution has not left an iota of
knowledge untouched by its transforming impact. And those
who cultivate thought, pure science and art laboriously
search for new avenues, driven by a zeal that arises from
the progress already achieved in changing mankind?s way
of life.
We strongly favour the Secretary-General?s plans for
reform of the Organization. We are convinced that the
Security Council must be enlarged. The establishment of
the International Criminal Court represents an important
step in the juridical life of the international community. The
fight against drug trafficking and terrorism increasingly
requires that the international community become its centre
of coordination. These are delicate and demanding problems
that cannot be left to the individual actions of States,
however powerful. The international community therefore
faces an arduous task.
The fight against poverty has been one of the most
important aspects of international action in the last few
years. The World Summit for Social Development reflected
one of the priority concerns of the United Nations. The
ongoing activities of specialized agencies and the projects
of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
mark out a clear path in the search for a solution to this
problem, a path that must be extended over the whole
surface of the Earth. We know full well that peace, true
peace, stable and permanent peace, requires justice, and that
justice is most truly expressed in social justice. This was
recognized by the victorious countries in the Treaty of
Versailles at the end of the First World War, and it was
also expressed in the Declaration of Philadelphia of 1944
by the belligerents about to triumph in the Second World
War. The fight against poverty is ever more necessary
and urgent, for the market economy and the current
globalization process cannot on their own respond to the
demands that social problems make on world leaders.
In addition to its positive aspects and the progress it
undeniably entails, the complex phenomenon we have
come to call globalization can also have progressively
negative effects on the emerging developing countries.
Faced with the world?s present imbalance, we must
therefore make a special point of emphasizing the harmful
effects of international financial speculation. The balance
of terror imposed by the cold war has been replaced by
a lack of financial discipline, by ruthless speculation that
is alien to the values of solidarity and ethics that should
prevail even in technology?s most sophisticated advances.
The poorest countries are the traumatized victims of this
reality, but the whole world community may be
threatened by this situation that will affect even the
advanced countries. No one can escape the consequences
of this situation. I therefore believe that today?s
international agenda must concentrate on this critical
point, giving it priority over other objectives that, though
also important, must give way to this indispensable
matter.
My country?s delegation to the United Nations has
set forth, first to the Group of 77 and then to the General
Assembly, the need to call a special meeting to study the
financing of developing countries. If financial assistance
to the developing countries is not addressed on a priority
basis, if the necessary resources are not forthcoming from
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as
well as other agencies dealing with the basic aims of
development, globalization will not be as successful as we
could hope it to be.
The effects of the Asian crisis on Latin America
have resulted in the weakening of some currencies, a
significant downturn in the capital markets, rising internal
interest rates, restrictions to the obtention of external
credits and a rapid increase in the risk factors for many
emerging countries.
The visible effects of the phenomenon of
globalization have demonstrated the imperfections of the
international financial and monetary system, which has
11

recently been characterized by, inter alia, the sharp impact
of the participation of powerful financial groups and the
decisive actions of certain parties, such as the agencies that
assess risk, certain of which have become a worse threat
than the terrible forces of other times. The time is ripe to
encourage a better understanding between developed and
developing countries, all equally affected by financial
instability. Venezuela believes that financial and monetary
issues must have a permanent place on the agenda of the
United Nations system. To that end, the exchange of ideas
between the Organization and the international financial
institutions that make up the Bretton Woods system must be
encouraged and strengthened.
Fundamentally, globalization will depend on the
balance between rich and poor, between the more advanced,
the intermediately advanced and the least developed
nations, and on the application of equitable formulas to
alleviate the external debt burden referred to by the
Secretary-General in his report.
At the end of the twentieth century, there is no more
important objective than to steer the concern of the
international community in this direction. If measures are
not taken to put an end to the abuses of what His Holiness
John Paul II called savage capitalism, which gives rise,
with its excessive desire for profit, to unstable situations
that are transmitted with vertiginous speed to all the world?s
economic centres, we will have replaced the fear of nuclear
war with the threat of an economic and social catastrophe.
It is my view that in today?s globalized world, one of
the primary commitments of the community of nations,
working through and coordinated by the United Nations, is
to strengthen its resolve to prevent and correct unacceptable
imbalances, and to ensure the awareness and capacity of the
international financial mechanisms for facing contingencies.
In a few weeks, the people of Venezuela will go to the
polls to elect their new leaders. For 40 consecutive years,
at each constitutionally determined interval, the transfer of
power stipulated by the Constitution of the Republic has
been carried out. In shifting circumstances, the institution
of democracy has remained stable in an atmosphere of full
and absolute freedom. A difficult economic situation and
the winds of change that are blowing throughout the world
and are becoming stronger on the eve of a new millennium
have focused Venezuela?s political debate on the idea of
change. I am nevertheless convinced that, despite the
change Venezuela envisages, its people?s love for liberty
and democracy as the best system of government and its
commitment to fight for peace and understanding among
all nations will remain unaltered.
May I remind the Assembly that, although our fight
for political independence was perhaps the bloodiest of
the nineteenth century, we have not had a single violent
conflict with any other country since the birth of our
Republic. In international forums, Venezuela has
distinguished itself by its constant support for universal
peace and has always made its modest contribution to any
initiative in favour of justice and peace. That is why I can
assure the Assembly that the next Government of
Venezuela, whatever the electorate may decide, will
continue to follow the same path within the United
Nations. The Organization can rely on Venezuela for
anything relating to service to any and all human beings,
or to friendship, cooperation and peace among nations,
and anything required by the fight against crime, poverty,
drug-trafficking, terrorism, hatred, discrimination — all
the evils that have beset humanity. We trust that the
United Nations will always stand against those evils as a
shield against adversity and a beacon of hope.


I wish to welcome at the
outset the President of the General Assembly at its fifty-
third session. He has assumed a difficult and important
task, and we have full confidence in his ability to give
this body the direction required at a time when many
complex issues are on its agenda.
I would like to pay tribute to Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, who has continued to represent our Organization
in an outstanding manner and to whom we are all
indebted for initiating a comprehensive reform process.
His presentation of the report on the work of the
Organization at the beginning of the general debate has
provided us with a clear picture of where the United
Nations stands today and of the major issues we must
address.
We remain committed to the reform process and
hope that the ongoing changes will bring about the
urgently needed improvement in the financial situation of
the Organization. We share the Secretary-General?s deep
concern at the deterioration of the security situation of
United Nations personnel involved in field operations and
the view that determined action by the General Assembly
is needed to address this problem, which poses a threat to
many core activities of the United Nations. On the
positive side, we share the satisfaction felt at the entry
into force of the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-
personnel Mines next spring and are pleased to announce
that Liechtenstein will deposit its own instrument of
ratification very soon.
After a series of major conferences in the first half
of this decade, we now have to tackle the important task
of addressing the follow-up processes to these major
events, in order to ensure that the relevant final
documents are implemented on the national and
international levels and thus translated into concrete
action for the benefit of people worldwide.
This year, we celebrate both the adoption of the
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action five years
ago and the adoption of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights in 1948, which is usually referred to as the
32

“50 plus 5” anniversary. We hope this event will send a
powerful message to the world that the United Nations and
its Member States are aware of the need for genuine and
effective national policies and international cooperation in
order to achieve the standards established in this area by
the United Nations.
The Universal Declaration constitutes a milestone in
the history of human rights activities of the United Nations
and the basis for the remarkable achievements made over
the following years and decades. Therefore, it is our view
that on 10 December we should reaffirm in strong and clear
terms the contents of this Declaration, as well as our
commitment to fully implement its provisions, in order to
ensure that all individuals worldwide benefit from the
standards set out in the Declaration.
The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
have been a key element in the human rights deliberations
for half a decade now. The value and importance of this
document have become very clear during this period of
time, while the implementation of many of its contents has
been slow and not satisfactory. The Vienna document is
complementary to the previously existing instruments and
standards in the field of human rights.
Our main task is to ensure that these high-quality
standards under international law are made a reality in daily
life for people worldwide, since there continues to be a
very noticeable deep gap between these standards and their
implementation in practice. I am pleased to announce that
the Liechtenstein parliament has approved accession to the
International Covenants on Human Rights, as well as to the
protocols to the second Covenant.
We fully subscribe to the principle that all human
rights are interdependent and mutually reinforcing and have
thus to be treated on the same footing. There is, however,
one area to which we would like to give particular
emphasis, namely, the promotion and protection of the
rights of children, which warrant our special attention. The
scope and number of violations of the rights of the child
are particularly disturbing, and we are grateful to note that
the international community has in the recent past stepped
up its efforts to combat some of the most outrageous forms
of such violations. Another welcome and necessary measure
is the appointment of a Special Representative of the
Secretary-General on children in armed conflicts. We
pledge our full support to the activities undertaken by
Mr. Olara Otunnu and express our hope that his office will
be provided with the necessary human and financial
resources to fulfil its far-reaching and complex tasks. We
are disappointed that it has not yet been possible to adopt
an optional protocol on children in armed conflicts, which
could make a major contribution in this respect.
A very important and timely impetus to the cause of
human rights and international humanitarian law was
provided by the adoption of the Statute of an International
Criminal Court this summer in Rome. While the
International Criminal Court is not a human rights court,
we consider the Rome Statute to be a very important
contribution to Human Rights Year. We welcome the
outcome of the Rome Conference as an achievement of
truly historic dimensions and — like the Ottawa
process — as an example of the fruitful role civil society
can play in an intergovernmental negotiating process of
high complexity. While we would have preferred to give
the International Criminal Court more far-reaching
competence, we are very satisfied and encouraged to note
that what seemed like a dream just a few years ago now
has a chance to become a reality. It is of crucial
importance to realize that the adoption of the statute was
not the end of the process, but, rather, a decisive step
which requires determined follow-up and further hard
work from all of us. Constructive and serious work in the
Preparatory Commission and a speedy process of
signature and ratification are the most important tasks for
the imminent future, and we hope that the General
Assembly will send out a strong message to this end. As
a participant in the Rome Conference and as one of the
first signatories of the Statute, Liechtenstein stands ready
to make its contribution.
One of the most disturbing developments in the past
year took place in the field of nuclear non-proliferation.
Liechtenstein continues to condemn all nuclear tests and
has expressed its concern at the impact of the tests
conducted this year on political stability in the region
concerned. This matter touches on the very existence of
humankind, and thus we have to make every effort to
create a non-proliferation regime which is just, effective
and credible. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT) of 1968 and the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty of 1996 constitute, if fully
implemented, two cornerstones of such a regime. Other
measures will be necessary, and it is of crucial
significance that all countries stand ready to make their
contribution to solving this issue in the interest of all of
us.
Our own region has been affected by the crisis in the
former Yugoslavia for many years now. We all welcomed
the conclusion of the Dayton Agreements, because they
33

brought an end to the terrible suffering of the people in the
former Yugoslavia. We remain concerned, however, at the
slow process of implementation, especially with regard to
the civilian aspects of the Agreements.
The year 1998 has brought about a new crisis of
alarming dimensions: the conflict in Kosovo. Liechtenstein
condemns the numerous and serious violations of
international humanitarian law in this conflict and remains
very concerned about the situation of the civilian population
and the potential impact of the developments in Kosovo on
regional stability. Preventing a further deterioration of the
humanitarian situation and finding a viable political solution
are the two most important issues for a solution to the
Kosovo crisis, which poses a clear threat to international
peace and security and should therefore be dealt with
appropriately by the United Nations. It has become clear
once again that the capacity of our Organization to deal
with such challenges needs to be enhanced and improved.
As with other crises in the recent past, most notably the one
in Rwanda, the outbreak of violence in Kosovo came as a
surprise to nobody, and yet not enough was done to prevent
it.
Further developing the concept of prevention and
translating it into concrete action remains, therefore, in our
view, one of the most important issues on the agenda of the
United Nations, and the increased involvement of women
in preventive diplomacy continues to be of particular
importance to us. We note with gratitude the signs of an
increased political will to support the concept of prevention,
while we believe that more concerted and determined
efforts to this end have to be made. We are ready to make
our contribution, and I would like to recall in this context
once again our initiative on the right of self-determination.
We are more convinced than ever that a more innovative
and flexible application and implementation of this right has
great potential to defuse tensions and prevent conflicts
within States — the type of conflicts with which the
international community is most commonly faced these
days. A genuine political dialogue between central
Governments and communities living within States lies at
the heart of our ideas, the ultimate goal of which is the
prevention of tendencies by such communities to claim
statehood and attempt to achieve this goal through violent
means. The Liechtenstein Research Programme on Self-
determination, conducted at Princeton University, has
continued and increased its activities over the past year, and
we have noted with great satisfaction and gratitude the
interest and contributions from a large number of
permanent missions in New York. We will continue to try
and enhance political support for our ideas, which we hope
can make a contribution to the effectiveness of our
Organization in the future.


Allow me first of all to sincerely congratulate
the President on his unanimous election to the presidency
of the General Assembly at its fifty-third session, and to
express confidence that under his efficient leadership the
Assembly will cope successfully with the complex issues
before it.
I would like to express our special gratitude to
Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, whose vast experience and great
professionalism greatly contributed to the success of the
previous session, and whose work as President during the
fifty-second session epitomized the United Nations
commitment to the process of transformation aimed at
enhancing the effectiveness of the Organization.
All aspects of life in Azerbaijan are covered by the
process of radical reform directed at creating a
democratic, secular society governed by the rule of law
and based on a market economy. In spite of the current
objective difficulties caused by the consequences of
armed conflict and the problems inherent in the
transitional period, Azerbaijan does not see any alternative
to the course of democratic transformation it has taken,
and considers the strengthening of its democratic
institutions a priority of its State policy.
Respect for fundamental political and civil rights and
freedoms, the functioning of the multi-party system, the
protection of the interests of each citizen in our society
irrespective of ethnic origin, independence of the
judiciary, as well as the advancement of other elements of
democratic society, are guaranteed by the Constitution of
the Republic of Azerbaijan, which was adopted on 12
13

November 1995 in a national referendum. A great deal has
been done to bring the legislative system of the country in
line with relevant international standards.
Presidential elections that are to take place in
Azerbaijan on 11 October this year will constitute a
milestone in the process of further strengthening the
democratic foundation of the society. Actions already
undertaken by the leadership of the country have laid the
foundation for genuinely free and just elections. A new law
on presidential elections in the Republic of Azerbaijan was
thoroughly examined by the Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the
Council of Europe and meets the most rigorous
international standards in this field.
The election process will be observed by 300
international monitors from the OSCE, the Council of
Europe and other international organizations, as well as
from institutions of individual countries, such as the
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in
the United States. The widest possible participation of
national monitors has been provided for. The leadership of
the country has declared its commitment to conducting free
and just elections, considering it a significant event in the
history of the Azerbaijan State.
Positive developments resulting from current reforms
can also be observed in the country?s economy. At the
initial stage of its formation the young Azerbaijan State
faced internal instability, lack of a progressive legislative
basis for the market economy, disintegration of traditional
economic and trade relations, economic recession and a
huge budget deficit. These elements have created serious
obstacles to economic development. Armed aggression by
neighbouring Armenia has had the most negative impact on
the situation in Azerbaijan. It has resulted in the occupation
of one fifth of its territory, the emergence of about 1
million refugees and internally displaced persons and the
continuance of the 10-year-old blockade of the Nakhichevan
region of Azerbaijan by Armenia.
The course of building a democratic society based on
a market economy, taken by the leadership of the country,
has created the prerequisites for drastic economic reforms.
Since 1995, the Government of Azerbaijan has been
implementing a comprehensive programme of economic
stabilization. Fiscal, monetary and credit policies have been
streamlined and structural reforms to liberalize the economy
have been completed. We have achieved macroeconomic
stability, as well as stability of the national currency. In
fact, inflation rates have practically been reduced to zero,
and since 1996 steady growth in the gross domestic
product has been restored. Internal stability achieved as a
result of the leadership?s consistent policy, as well as
reforms implemented, have provided a favourable climate
for investments in the country.
Today, Azerbaijan continues with the reform of its
banking system and privatization of State-owned
enterprises. I would like to take this opportunity to thank
the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for
their support to the stabilization programme in Azerbaijan
and for financing the structural transformations in its
economy. I would like to offer our assurances of the
irreversibility of the course of economic reforms taken by
our Government and to express the hope that these
important financial institutions will increase their
assistance to Azerbaijan.
In its economic policy, our country attaches the
highest priority to its integration into the world economy.
Situated at the junction of Eastern and Western
civilization, and having been for centuries a link between
Europe and Asia, Azerbaijan is implementing a systematic
programme aimed at its smooth integration into the world
economy, and attaches great importance to the
development of fruitful and mutually beneficial regional
cooperation based on mutual respect for the sovereignty
and interests of all States, as well as on the principle of
non-interference in internal affairs of other countries.
In this connection, the country?s leadership regards
as strategically important the concept of creating an East-
West corridor, and in particular the development of the
Europe-Caucasus-Asia transportation link. The Transport
Corridor: Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA)
programme, established by the Commission of the
European Union in 1993, is designed to promote the
development of interconnected national and regional
transportation infrastructures to enhance cooperation
between countries in Europe, the Black Sea region, the
Caucasus, the Caspian Sea region and Asia.
Implementation of this programme will provide reliable
access to the trans-European and trans-Asian
transportation systems for the landlocked countries of the
Caucasus and Central Asia. During the last five years
close interaction between the States involved in the
programme and active support by the Commission of the
European Union have contributed to substantial progress
in modernization and construction of communications, the
development of relevant laws and codes and the
14

improvement of the customs and tariff policies of
participant States.
The results of five years of work were reviewed at the
International Conference on the Restoration of the Historic
Silk Route, held at the capital of Azerbaijan, the city of
Baku, on 7-8 September this year. That Conference brought
together delegations from 32 countries, including nine heads
of State, and representatives of 13 international
organizations. The major outcome of the Conference was
the signing of the Principal multilateral agreement on
international transport for development of the corridor
Europe-Caucasus-Asia, which is an important institutional
mechanism for promoting the development and regulation
of international transportation, as well as for coordinating
and harmonizing transportation policies and legal
frameworks in this field of transportation. The Baku
Conference has become a major cornerstone in terms of
strengthening and enhancing cooperation aimed at the
further development of the Europe-Caucasus-Asia
transportation corridor in the interests of the economic
progress of all the participating States.
The delegation of Azerbaijan is counting on the
support of the other Member States for this programme. We
are convinced that the restoration of the historic silk route
and the involvement of other countries and regions in this
project would provide a strong impetus to the process of
rapprochement and reciprocal enrichment of our peoples, a
strengthening of their independence and sovereignty, as
well as the successful implementation in those States of
democratic and market-oriented reforms.
Carrying out plans to deliver carbohydrate resources
produced by Azerbaijan and other countries of the Caspian
basin to world markets by means of multiple pipelines is an
integral part of the East-West concept, which is of
inestimable importance for strengthening the independence
and security of sovereign States, as well as for their
economic and other development. We expect international
financial institutions and other investors to show due
interest in these projects, which can rightly be called a
bridge to the third millennium.
Unfortunately, however, we are obliged to admit that
the model of the progressive development of sovereign
States of the region proposed by Azerbaijan is not accepted
by all. The position taken by Armenia in the region still
remains a serious obstacle to this process.
The question of a settlement of the conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, which has lasted for more than 10
years now, is a key issue in Azerbaijan?s foreign policy.
Relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the
decisions of the OSCE have made it possible to create a
necessary normative legal basis for the settlement of this
conflict. In this context, it is necessary in particular to
stress the codifying role and universality of the principles
contained in the Lisbon statement made by the Chairman-
in-Office of the OSCE. These principles, namely,
recognition of the territorial integrity of Armenia and
Azerbaijan, a high level of autonomy for Nagorny
Karabakh within the Azerbaijan State and the provision of
security and safety for the entire population of Nagorny
Karabakh, are fully in keeping with the principles
enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 and are
comprehensive in nature, which makes possible their
application with an equal degree of effectiveness not only
to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but to all
other regional conflicts as well.
A positive balance has recently been achieved. An
institute of mediation has been created, comprising the
Minsk Group of the OSCE and its Co-Chairmen. The
parameters for the settlement process have been
established, providing for the elimination of the
consequences of the armed conflict and, on this basis, a
resolution of the political problems. As a result of
Azerbaijan?s persistence, it was possible in October 1997
to find points of contiguity with Armenia?s position, and
real opportunities for progress have emerged. The
subsequent internal political events in Armenia, however,
and the resulting drastic revision of its attitudes led to a
decline in the dynamism of the Minsk process.
A just and lasting settlement cannot be achieved by
Armenia?s military pressure on Azerbaijan, by its
continuing occupation of parts of the territory of the
Republic of Azerbaijan and by increasing its military
potential there, by putting forward preconditions for the
resumption of negotiations on the basis of the results of
Armenia?s aggression, or by imposing new procedural
frameworks on the negotiations process, in order to
perpetuate the situation resulting from the conflict.
Illegal transfers of arms from Russia to Armenia,
worth more than $1 billion, and regular joint military
exercises of those countries designed to increase the
offensive potential of the Armenia?s armed forces not
only prevent a facilitation of the settlement, but also have
a direct destabilizing impact on the situation in the region.
Azerbaijan once again states its commitment to a
peaceful resolution of the conflict and the strict
15

implementation of the ceasefire regime, until an agreement
on the settlement of the armed conflict is reached, in the
hopes that the same approach will be taken by the
Armenian side. Azerbaijan calls on Armenia to accept the
proposals of the Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Conference as
a basis for negotiations within the format of the Minsk
Group. Today, as never before, it is important for the
international community to preserve its consistency,
determination and persistence in upholding its declared
position on the settlement of the conflict between Armenia
and Azerbaijan.
Nobody should be in any doubt that progressive
development of the States of the region can only be
achieved through the establishment of just and lasting peace
and stability in the southern Caucasian region on the basis
of respect for sovereignty and the territorial integrity of its
States. Azerbaijan believes that international organizations,
as well as the entire international community, should more
actively utilize their potential to further promote the
peaceful negotiation process and the achievement of a
political settlement to the conflict.
During its last session, in response to the
recommendations of the Secretary-General, the General
Assembly adopted important decisions aimed at reforming
the Organization. Azerbaijan regards the work already done
to this end as a solid basis for further adaptation of the
Organization to the quickly changing needs and imperatives
of today?s world. We stand ready to further contribute to
the implementation of these decisions intended to prepare
the world Organization better to meet the challenges of the
twenty-first century.
Undoubtedly, in this regard, the reform of the Security
Council is of special importance. In our view, it is
expedient to adopt relevant decisions on this extremely
sensitive issue on the basis of the broadest support of
Member States and in accordance Article 108 of the
Charter. Asia, Africa and Latin America should be
represented in both categories of membership of the
Security Council in a manner appropriate to current political
realities. Given the fact that the number of countries in the
Eastern European Group has doubled, we once again point
out the need to allocate to that Group an additional non-
permanent seat on the Security Council.
Addressing the question of the reform of the Security
Council and the enhancement of the efficiency of its work,
we cannot fail to draw attention to the fact that the four
Security Council resolutions on the conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan have still not been implemented.
We have repeatedly stressed that a review of the
personnel policy of the United Nations should be an
integral part of the Organization?s reform. We remain
extremely concerned by the fact that the Republic of
Azerbaijan is still not represented in the Secretariat.
It is unfortunate that emergencies arising from
military conflicts and acts of military aggression are still
a pressing issue today. Millions of people continue to lose
their homes, health and property, and are becoming
internally displaced persons.
The people of my country have experienced the pain
and misfortune of such a loss, having fallen victim to the
Armenian aggression of which I have spoken. Every
seventh citizen of Azerbaijan bears the burdens of the
refugee?s life, deprived of his home in his native land,
suffering from heat in summer and cold in winter in
temporary tent camps. In occupied Azerbaijani territory,
hundreds of towns and villages have been destroyed,
practically all of the houses, schools, hospitals and
industrial facilities have been burned down or plundered
and ancient cultural monuments have been razed. Coping
with the refugee emergency and the restoration of what
has been lost are two of the main concerns of the
Azerbaijan State. These problems cannot be resolved until
the occupying forces are withdrawn from Azerbaijani
territory and all the refugees and displaced persons have
been returned to the places from which they were
expelled by force.
The Azerbaijan Government is doing a great deal to
alleviate the situation. The role of the United Nations and
its agencies in this process can scarcely be overestimated.
In addition to providing direct humanitarian assistance to
refugees and internally displaced persons, at the present
time a project is under way to restore a part of the Fisuli
district, which was freed from the occupying Armenian
units. This project is being carried out by the Government
of Azerbaijan, the World Bank, the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and
other agencies and organizations. However, the emerging
trend of reduction in the volume of humanitarian
assistance to Azerbaijan cannot fail to disturb us. While
expressing our most sincere gratitude to the United
Nations, its specialized agencies and donor countries for
their support and concrete assistance, we call on them not
to decrease in the future the volume of their humanitarian
aid to the people in Azerbaijan who are suffering from
aggression and who live in the most unbearable
conditions.
16

I should like to advantage of this opportunity to briefly
refer to our cooperation with UNDP, which is playing a
very positive role in the social, political and economic
development of our country. Assistance from UNDP, the
major source of subsidies necessary for carrying out
development activities, is vital to resolve a number of
serious problems in Azerbaijan that were mentioned earlier.
We welcome the system of Resident Coordinators and
highly commend the activity of the Resident Coordinator in
Azerbaijan, designated by the Secretary-General, who is
acting as the leader of the United Nations team in the
country. At the same time, given the difficult financial
constraints facing UNDP, I should like to call upon all
Member States to increase their voluntary contributions to
the budget of the Programme so that the recipient countries,
including Azerbaijan, can more effectively use its potential
to their advantage.
The consolidation of efforts of Member States with a
view to launching a decisive attack against crime, drugs and
terrorism continues to be a priority. Combating these
phenomena can be successful only if all countries truly join
forces. Azerbaijan, which has had to confront these real
threats to its sovereignty and territorial integrity, in
particular from Armenian terrorism, considers itself an
active participant in the fight against these evils.
Azerbaijan welcomes the results of the Rome
Diplomatic Conference to establish an International
Criminal Court. We are convinced that an efficient, capable,
independent and authoritative court will contribute to
strengthening international cooperation for the effective
prosecution and suppression of aggression, genocide and
military crimes, which are the most heinous crimes
constituting a threat to international peace and security. As
a State that is experiencing all the sufferings and tragedy of
aggression by Armenia, Azerbaijan is deeply interested in
the establishment and effective functioning of international
legal mechanisms for the prosecution of those responsible
for the aforementioned crimes.
There are fewer than 500 days remaining until the end
of this century, and we have no time to relax, no right to
rest on our laurels. Approaching the end of the historic
nineties, the United Nations, bringing together both the
prosperous States and those who have overcome numerous
calamities but have gained their independence and stability,
must take all necessary measures to justify the efforts
already made and to achieve the objectives that have been
set. Fulfilment of the tasks at hand and finding solutions to
the problems we face constitute the baggage that this
respected Organization and its Member States will take
with them into the twenty-first century.