I bring to the General Assembly and to the United
Nations the greetings of the people of Mauritius
and of their newly elected Government. I wish to
convey to the President my warmest
congratulations on his election to preside over
our deliberations. I am confident that under his
wise and able leadership the Assembly will, in
the superior interests of mankind, give concrete
shape to the aspirations of the peoples of the
world. I seize this opportunity to express to his
predecessor, Mr. Kittani, our warmest
appreciation for the highly impressive manner in
which he presided over the deliberations of the
previous session of the Assembly.
53.	It is indeed a moment of intense emotion
for me to address the Assembly for the first time
in my capacity as the head of a new Government
overwhelmingly mandated by the people of
Mauritius to take the destiny of the country
firmly in hand, to make it play the role it
should play in mankind's search for enduring
peace in the world and to make it contribute its
share, however modest, to the eradication of all
forms of injustice at home and abroad.
54.	I wish here to record our appreciation of
the work done by the Secretary-General. It takes
great courage, Mr. Secretary-General, to
undertake on behalf of humanity the difficult
tasks that your office carries with it. The
international community has seen you at work in
the past year in some of the most trying
situations, where your tact, your moderation and
your perseverance have inspired universal
admiration. The year ahead, unfortunately, does
not promise to be any easier for you than the
year that has elapsed. In your first report on
the work of the Organization you have focused on
the need for an urgent review of the United
Nations and, in particular, of mechanisms set up
for collective action for international peace and
security. You have argued for a more forthright
role for your office of Secretary-General and you
envisage for the Security Council a kind of
diplomatic system. Finally, you say you would
like to see more concrete follow-up action to
debate in the Assembly. Many of the proposals you
have made could be put into effect immediately if
the political will of Member States was
galvanized for the purpose. You can therefore
rest assured that my delegation will co-operate
fully with your office and with the other Member
States for an early implementation of any
resolution arrived at in respect of the
reorganization envisaged.
55.	It is a matter of deep regret that the
principle of the universality of United Nations
membership does not yet actually prevail.
Unilateral action and exclusive alliances have in
fact not been disowned. Spheres of influence and
considerations of balance of power, regrettably,
continue to actuate the policies of many nations,
despite the fact that they fail to produce the
desired results. Added to this is a considerable
and formidable interference in the internal
affairs of many countries, the powerful making
their presence felt in many ways, relentless in
their endeavour to enlarge their spheres of
influence. Countries like Mauritius, which have
only recently acquired freedom, have a strong
attachment to the United Nations and inevitably a
special stake in its functioning. I have come
here to reiterate my country's deep commitment to
the principles and purposes of the Charter.
56.	I believe that we come here not to save
face but to save and protect life. We come here
not to deliver speeches only and then make our
exit but to make action follow our words. We come
here not as a matter of mere formality and to pay
lip service to the ideals of peace and justice
but  to show how serious we are in our intentions
to work for the superior interests of the whole
of mankind. We come here not out of selfish
motives but to show how willing and prepared we
are to forgo a little bit of our own ego for
international good in a spirit of compromise, so
that the world may live and the human race
survive. We come here not to add to problems but
to find solutions satisfactory to all parties. We
come here because we believe in man and in all
the inherent good there is in him which, if it
prevails, will be the safety valve of the human
race.
57.	What is urgently needed is a unified view
of the world's resources and the world's
experience and of man's power of invention. The
change we desire, the change which must come, is
one not of pace, quantity or manner but of the
basic quality of what man is and can be. We all
need to make earnest and well-considered efforts
to subdue and check national ambitions and
rivalries in the superior and wider interest of
the preservation of civilization and the survival
of humanity.
58.	It is in the context of what I have just
said that I invite representatives present here
to bear in mind the human dimensions of the
issues we shall be deliberating upon. The average
man does not ask for much; he is not interested
in leading a life of frivolous affluence and
frenetic consumption. We are gathered here to
give substance to the yearnings of the average
man, to give voice to the wishes of the
voiceless, for that is the primary responsibility
of those who govern. The great tragedy of the
present situation is that the world order as it
now exists has been unable to satisfy the basic
universal aspirations of man —dignity, peace and
security.
59.	In June the people of Mauritius gave an
overwhelming mandate to those whom they perceived
to be the champions of the dignity of man. We
have given a solemn undertaking to our people to
defend the oppressed and the weak and we will be
true to that undertaking. It is equally in this
spirit that we want to add our voice to that of
this concert of nations in our denunciation of
all forms of injustice and to work to better the
lot of suffering mankind.
60.	The major and continuing threat to the
dignity of man comes from the prevailing economic
order, characterized by built-in
self-perpetuating inequality which results in an
unjust distribution of the world's limited
resources. Year by year the inequality grows, the
injustice of the system becomes ethically more
revolting and at the receiving end deprivation
and misery become more unbearable. It is patent
that this system cannot be allowed to continue.
Change may be too gradual in the developing
countries for our liking but we realize that it
can come only out of patient dialogue. We are
today faced with the Herculean task of
restructuring an economic order which has been
shaped by four centuries of colonialism. This
cannot be done quickly, it cannot be done
painlessly, but it has to be done and it will be
done. The real question before us is whether we
want to continue frittering away our energies in
useless disagreements and quarrels or whether we
want to look seriously into the future of mankind
and act to make people really prosperous.
61.	Both the rich and the poor nations have
pressing  and paralleled problems which cannot be
solved independently. The present crisis is a
crisis of international structures. The present
system needs fundamental institutional reforms,
based upon the recognition of a common interest
and upon mutual concern in an increasingly
interdependent world. New vitality and urgency
have to be imparted to the North-South dialogue.
The very survival of both developing and
developed countries depends on the success of
this dialogue. We have to moderate the shrillness
of the demands made, as well as the obdurate
arrogance with which those demands have so far
been rejected. I believe that we have in the Lome
Convention given the world a small but
significant example of what cooperative
North-South could be like.
62.	My Government also calls upon the members
of the international community to direct its
efforts to the equally important transformation
of the international order relating to the
oceans. The traditional legal order in that Held
has been eroded by technological and political
developments and must be replaced by a new legal
order which would permit the exploitation of the
ocean space—the largest and most valuable region
of our planet—in the interests of all mankind.
After many years of intense and very complex
negotiations, in which over 150 States have
regularly participated, the Third United Nations
Conference on the Law of the Sea has produced a
Convention which ought to be hailed as a triumph
for mankind in laying the foundation for
international co-operation in the use of the
oceans.
63.	All the major industrialized Powers
played a very active role in the shaping of the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
which largely reflects their interests, concerns
and preoccupations. It is on account of this that
we fail to appreciate the attempt being made by
certain major Powers to scuttle the Convention by
their decision to opt for a mini-treaty among
like-minded States, a mini-treaty which
inevitably will create new areas of tension in
international relations likely to lead to a
situation which endangers international peace and
security.
64.	We call upon all States to sign the
Convention in order to make the concept of the
common heritage of mankind a reality. The
Convention on the Law of the Sea should be
treated as a special convention and we urge the
major industrialized States to forgo their fears
about the precedent setting nature of this
Convention. All States should embark on this
enterprise in a spirit of trust and good will.
65.	Quite apart from its determination to
work with other countries of the third world for
the elimination of the poverty curtain that
divides our planet into a world of the affluent
and a world of the poor, Mauritius militates
against the equally pernicious division of the
world into two hostile camps dominated by the
so-called super-Powers, which, in their pursuit
of world domination, threaten the security of
States the only concern of which is the social
and economic development of their people, free
from external interference. Mauritius is
committed to a policy of active and determined
non-alignment. We intend jealously to protect and
guard our hard-won independence; we intend to
condemn unequivocally all aggression, all forms
of imperialism and all hegemonistic ambitions. We
aspire to a world of true interdependence of
genuinely free and equal States, whose relations
are based on co-operation rather than on
confrontation.
66.	The Government of Mauritius, in pursuit
of its policy of strict non-alignment and in
conformity with General Assembly resolution 2832
(XXVI), the Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a
Zone of Peace, will work with other peace-loving
members of the international community for the
demilitarization of the Indian Ocean. During the
years which have elapsed since the adoption of
the resolution, we have witnessed the expansion
of the Ocean's geopolitical dimensions and the
conversion of this intended zone of peace into a
zone of war and mobilization for war, with all
the attendant dangers for the countries of the
regime. The Ocean has gradually expanded beyond
its own waters; it is now linked to the States of
South-East Asia and to developments in West Asia
and the Middle East. The so-called modest
communications facility in Diego Garcia has been
converted into the formidable and horrendous
nuclear base which threatens the security of all
Indian Ocean States, and there has been a
scramble to secure port facilities along the
so-called arc of crisis, that is, the Horn of
Africa, the Arabian peninsula and the vital
Persian Gulf area.
67.	With the alarming increase in a foreign
military presence in the Indian Ocean, the
fervent hope of the States of the region for the
holding of the Conference on the Indian Ocean has
receded. Mauritius and the other States of the
region are not hoodwinked by the tactics and
ploys adopted by some States, which are designed
primarily to cause confusion, postpone
indefinitely the holding of that Conference and
create a smoke-screen to hide their warlike
designs. We solemnly appeal to all the members of
the international community to give their full
support to the United Nations so that the
Conference on the Indian Ocean can take place in
the very near future. We also call upon the
foreign military Powers present in the Indian
Ocean to exercise mutual restraint and to
initiate a gradual and balanced withdrawal of
their forces from the region, which would then be
open exclusively to commercial navigation. It is
our conviction that the security of the sea lanes
in the Ocean can best be protected by the States
of the region.
68.	At this juncture I should like to dwell
on an issue which affects the vital interests of
Mauritius; I mean the Mauritian claim of
sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, which
was excised by the then colonial Power from the
territory of Mauritius in contravention of
General Assembly resolutions 1514 (XV) and 2066
(XX). This dismemberment of Mauritian territory,
the violation of our territorial integrity, has
been made all the more unacceptable by the fact
that one of the islands of that very Archipelago,
Diego Garcia, is now a full-fledged nuclear base,
which poses a constant threat to the security of
Mauritius and to that of all the littoral and
hinterland States of the Indian Ocean, the very
Ocean declared to be a zone of peace by this
Assembly in 1971.
69.	I solemnly appeal to the peace-loving
Members of the Organization to extend all their
support to the legitimate Mauritian claim of
sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago. In
helping Mauritius to regain its national
heritage, the United Nations will be living up to
its own principles and proclaiming loud and clear
that it expects its resolutions to be implemented
by its Members. As the Diego Garcia issue
involves two fundamental principles of the United
Nations, namely respect by the administering
Power for the territorial integrity of its
colony, and the right of peoples to live in peace
and security, I venture to say that the return of
the archipelago to Mauritius will bring the
Organization the respect that is so indispensable
to its continued existence.
70.	Times are bad, very bad. The world
economy in fact teeters on the brink of a
depression that could be wider and deeper than
that of the 1930s. For the weakest national
economies, and therefore for hundreds of millions
of people, little short of catastrophe looms.
Such a situation, wherein the world is perilously
poised on the brink of an economic precipice, is
not conducive to peace. An extended recession,
excessive interest rates, highly unstable
exchange rates, widespread protectionism—all
these constitute threats to peace in a world of
inescapable interdependence. Our political and
economic systems should provide conceptual space
for the reality of an interdependent world
economy. Regrettably, the search for the world
economy recovery that is so desperately needed
remains derailed and we drill towards the abyss
of economic disaster.
71.	As far as Mauritius if concerned, we
shall participate fully in the North-South
dialogue and, indeed, have great expectations of
progress resulting from that dialogue, but we
believe that much can be achieved through
South-South co-operation. The Island States of
the south-west Indian Ocean are actively engaged
in promoting co-operation at the regional level.
We hope in the near future to set up an Indian
Ocean commission which will provide the
institutional framework for co-operation among
the States of the region. It Is no mean measure
of our firm belief in the concept of an
interdependent world economy that we are already
looking beyond the immediate present to the day
when the grouping of the south-west Indian Ocean
States can be associated with other regional
groupings.
72.	Violations of human rights constitute
another serious threat to the dignity of man. In
too many countries do people live under constant
threat of arbitrary arrest, torture, appearance
and execution after trials that are away from
civilized norms of justice. We unequivocally
condemn all violations of human rights wherever
they occur, under whatever social or political
system that occur.
73.	We have a special abhorrence for a system
so inhuman, so immoral, would be unimaginable but
for the shameful fact that it exists. This odious
system of institutionalized racism will eternally
tarnish the claim of our epoch to a place of
honour in the history of civilization. We have a
duty to our brothers in South Africa. We also owe
it to ourselves to eliminate all vestiges of this
iniquitous system; otherwise the judgement which
posterity will pass on our times will be indeed
very harsh, and deservedly so.
74.	We believe that freedom is indivisible,
that peace is indivisible. One of the first
foreign policy decisions of my Government was
formally to recognize ANC. Mauritius will stand
by ANC in its hard struggle to secure the
emancipation of the people of South Africa; ANC
can depend on the unflinching support of the
people and Government of Mauritius.
75.	We shall give the same unconditional
support to SWAPO in its struggle for the
decolonization of Namibia. It is unacceptable
that the Republic of South Africa should continue
in its illegal occupation of Namibia in defiance
of the basic tenets of international law and of
international opinion. This defiance has to be
opposed by united and determined action. We
should not permit economic considerations to
hinder our action when the basic norms of
universal morality are being trampled upon, and
we should vigorously condemn the tactics adopted
by the South African regime, tactics designed to
modify the terms of Security Council resolution
435 (1978). Mauritius, moreover, sees no linkage
between the presence of Cuban troops in Angola
and the withdrawal of South African troops from
Namibia and demands that the South African regime
should no longer be allowed to invoke such a
linkage to delay the accession of the Namibian
people to independence.
76.	We in Africa will, we hope, soon be rid
of the last vestiges of colonialism, and the
emancipation of the South African people will
inevitably be accomplished in the near future.
Racist domination in southern Africa is the
major, immediate problem we face, but it is by no
means our only problem.
77.	I should like to impress upon the
Assembly that the African peoples want to dispel
the image that the African continent is only a
rich source of raw materials and nothing more;
nor is it fertile ground for the manoeuvres of
outside Powers and it is now determined not to
tolerate such manoeuvres. Africa calls open all
outside Powers to keep out and to let Africans
get on with solving their problems and be of help
for countries in the solution of these problems
is not to be ignored, provided there no sinister
ulterior motives, We in Africa are in urgent need
of technology, of capital, of know-how. Our
problems, both economic and social, call for the
joined, sustained effort of all of Africa. 0ur
greatest challenge is the maintenance of African
unity and the consolidation of our independence.
78.	I come now to an area distant from
Mauritius. The issue at stake, however, is close
to the heart of every Mauritian. Tre PLO as the
sole representative of the Palestinian people has
our unreserved support; our identification with
the Palestinian cause is total. We believe that
the people of the Middle East will remain
supportive towards Palestine until Palestinian
aspirations are fulfilled. Mauritius has studied
the various peace proposals with great attention
and we are ready to give our backing to any peace
plan put forward that is acceptable to the PLO.
79.	We call upon all those who can do so to
bring pressure to bear on Israel to stop
forthwith its aggression against the Lebanese and
Palestinian peoples. Prospects of peace in the
area suffered a severe setback with the Israeli
invasion of Lebanon and the unspeakable,
cold-blooded carnage of innocent civilians in
Beirut.
80.	The fratricidal war between Iraq and the
Islamic Republic of Iran drags on, to the
satisfaction of those who would wish to see the
third world in a perpetual state of turmoil and
underdevelopment. We call upon both parties to
the conflict to cease hostilities and to stop the
death and destruction this war is inflicting on
the peoples of Iran and Iraq.
81.	This war has led to the postponement of
the Seventh Conference of Heads of State or
Government of Non-Aligned Countries. This
postponement comes at a time when our movement is
faced with problems requiring immediate
solutions. Afghanistan, a member of the movement
finds itself under foreign occupation for the
third year. It is imperative that foreign forces
withdraw from Afghanistan, that all foreign
interference in its internal affairs cease and
that its non-aligned status be restored.
82.	The conflicts, the inequalities and the
injustices of the world scene could easily lead
us to be disheartened at the precarious state of
the world. But we cannot allow ourselves to be
disheartened, for that would be an abdication of
our responsibilities towards our children and
towards posterity. An important aspect of my
Government's socialist creed is faith in the
innate goodness of man. Man fights the forces of
evil and darkness, conscious that, however long
and arduous the way may be, the victory of good
over evil is assured.
83.	I believe that the Charter is the
concrete embodiment of one of the instances where
good has triumphed against tremendous divisive
odds. The Charter is our yardstick by which are
judged the acts of nations. I can assure the
Assembly that my Government's actions find their
inspiration in the Charter.
84.	The world has always faced one crisis or
another, but today's crisis is deeper and more
far-reaching. No thinking, sensitive and
right-minded nation can remain silent. But it is
not enough merely to speak out: we should peak
out when the occasion for action comes, but,
above all, we should act, because the occasion
for action is here and now.
85.	On behalf of the people of Mauritius and
on behalf of their newly elected Government, I
pledge our continuing and unflinching support for
the United Nations and our respect for its
Charter.


First I should like to congratulate the President
of the thirty-seventh session of the General
Assembly on his election. I am quite sure that he
will carry out his functions as President with
great success. I should also like to pay a
tribute to his predecessor, Mr. Kittani of Iraq,
who presided over the last session with
distinction and leadership. I wish, too, to join
in congratulating the Secretary- General.
Although he has not yet been one year in office,
he has already established a justly deserved
reputation for integrity and for his efforts to
make the United Nations a more effective
instrument for peace.
2.	I want also to associate myself with the
views already expressed by my colleague the
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Mr.
Elle- mann-Jensen, on behalf of the 10 member
States of the European Community, to which
Ireland belongs.
3.	As we begin this annual session of the
General Assembly the international outlook is
gloomy, even more gloomy than it was one year
ago. Over the past year relations between the
major Powers have deteriorated and this has had
an adverse effect on many other aspects of
international life. Furthermore there are at this
moment several wars and conflicts taking
place—between Iran and Iraq, between Ethiopia and
Somalia, in Afghanistan and in Central America.
In recent months the world has also seen a war
that should not have happened over the Falkland
Islands and an invasion of Lebanon by Israeli
forces which has led to tremendous loss of life
and brought great tragedy in its wake.
4.	At the world level the arms race
continues, and the level of nuclear armaments is
greater than ever before. Conventional armaments,
too, are a major item in world trade. They now
occupy second place after oil. And these are
weapons which are actually being used in conflict
in many parts of the world.
177
5.	In economic matters, too, the world
outlook is exceedingly gloomy, more gloomy
perhaps than it has been for many years. The
major industrialized coun¬tries are suffering
through a serious recession, with high
unemployment, inflation and high interest rates.
The less developed countries are poorer than ever
before, and many relatively prosperous countries
which appeared to have good economic prospects
have now run into major difficulties. These
trends, if left unchecked, could threaten the
stability of the whole international monetary
system.
6.	It is clear that the problems facing the
world community in this month of September 1982
are indeed formidable. In many areas of
international life it would be no exaggeration to
speak of the present situation as one of serious
crisis.
7.	What of the means available to the world
com¬munity to deal with these serious and
critical problems? How effective are the
Organization and the procedures which have
evolved since the Second World War in promoting a
sense of community and a common response to
international problems?
8.	Here too, I believe, we can speak of a
crisis. The events of the past year, and of the
past six months in particular, seem to many
people around the world to have called most
seriously into question the effective¬ness and
relevance of the whole United Nations system as
an instrument for the maintenance of
international peace and security and for the
development of inter¬national co-operation.
9.	We have available to us at the beginning
of this session a most important document: the
report of the Secretary-General on the work of
the Organization. It is, I venture to say, one of
the most important documents of recent years.
Ireland is extremely grateful to the
Secretary-General for his analysis, his insight
and his courage.
10.	I know that many important problems are
already on the agenda or will be raised in the
course of the session. But I strongly believe
that in a deeper sense the real question before
us at this the 1982 session of the General
Assembly is how we respond, individually and
collectively, to the very basic issues raised by
the Secretary-General in his report.
11.	The report itself is short, and all of it is of interest, but the
core of the report is a serious warning that the
world is now embarked on an exceedingly dangerous
course and that we are perilously near to a new
international anarchy. The present crisis in the
multilateral approach in international affairs
and the crisis of confidence in the United
Nations as an instrument for the maintenance of
peace and security are evidence of this. I
believe the Secretary-General was right in his
warning that the most urgent goal at present is
to re-establish the fundamental concept of the
Charter of the United Nations: that of collective
action for peace and security.
12.	We all need to remember that the United
Nations in its origins was not simply an
idealistic concept. It was a serious organization
of States with a very serious purpose. It grew
cut of one major war—the most disastrous in human
history—and it was designed to prevent another.
It began as an organization of limited
membership, but it has now become an almost
universal world body, and it must be strengthened
and made more effective if it is to deal
adequately with world problems.
13.	I have little doubt that most, or perhaps
all, of us who come here to this rostrum to speak
during the next few weeks of general debate win
speak highly of the Secretary-General's report.
This is what it merits. He has clearly identified
for us the problems, and he has gone farther by
pointing «ut and proposing a whole series of
measures which, if implemented, would do much to
improve the capacity of the United Nations to
keep the peace and to serve as a forum for
negotiations. On behalf of my Government, I
warmly endorse his ideas and proposals. in
par¬ticular, I agree with him when he urges a
more sys¬tematic use of the Security Council; a
more active approach to conflicts so that it is
not left to the judgment of the conflicting
parties whether or not the matter should be
raised in the Council; a greater use of
fact-finding missions and missions of good
offices; and a greater use by the
Secretary-General himself of his power under
Article 99 of the Charter to bring issues to the
attention of the Security Council. These, and the
many other useful ideas in the Secretary-
General's report, should in our view be
considered at a meeting of the Security Council
held at high political level, as the
Secretary-General has also proposed. From such a
meeting could emerge an improvement in procedures
and, far more important, a new sense of
commitment.
14.	Those are only some among the many wise
ideas which the Secretary-General has put
forward. It is most important that he has invited
us to debate, and to think out seriously with him
what needs to be done. I think that we owe it to
him not simply to speak warmly of his report or
of some of his ideas and then leave it stand as
just another document. Rather, we must each
contribute what we can to the debate, and we must
then together ensure that the end result of all
this debate over the coming weeks will not be
words only but actions which each of us will
take, in so far as it is open to us to do so.
13. In contributing to this debate on what is
needed to strengthen the United Nations, I want
to emphasize three points which Ireland considers
particularly important at the present time of
crisis.
16.	First, as I have already said, we need a
new and continuing commitment from every Member
State to strengthen and improve the United
Nations system and make it increasingly relevant
and effective. A particular commitment will be
needed from the great Powers which are permanent
members of the Security Council and which have a
very special role in the ' system. Ireland, for
its part, though it is a small country, willingly
makes such a commitment. We will do everything we
can to sustain and support the United Nations. We
will work with others in every way open to us to
make it more effective.
17.	Secondly, there is a need to carry
through this commitment in practice. That means
that wherever there is a situation of conflict
between Member States all those involved must be
ready not only to invoke
the Charter, as they now do, to justify their
actions but to use the procedures of the United
Nations to the full before resorting in the first
instance to their own strength to vindicate their
rights.
18.	Thirdly, there is a special need for the
Security Council and its permanent members in
particular, to be willing to follow through on
the decisions which the Council takes in order to
ensure that they are implemented. Nothing
contributes more to an impres¬sion of
ineffectiveness and irrelevance than an inability
or failure of the Council to do so. This has been
particularly evident over recent months.
19.	Because of its importance, I should like
to spell out this third point in more detail.
Under the Charter, the Security Council has
power, through a whole range of measures, to
impose its decisions and to exercise authority.
Many of us would like to see a greater measure of
agreement within the Council, and among the
permanent members, on the use of that authority
to resolve international conflicts. We have come
to accept, however, that there are many issues
con¬cerning which the Council cannot agree in the
first instance on what should be done. But, when
the Coun¬cil does agree and does adopt a
resolution in relation to a conflict, it must
also be ready later, if necessary, to consider
the measures which may be needed to ensure that
the decision is implemented. If the Coun¬cil
repeatedly fails in this, it will soon lose all
authority. The case is even more obvious when, as
has happened several times in recent months in
regard to Lebanon, the initial Council decision
was unanimous.
20.	These are three points which Ireland, as
a small country which has always tried to uphold
and support the United Nations and contribute to
its effectiveness as best it can, would think to
be fundamental.
21.	But what specifically should now be done,
and by whom? I repeat that it is not enough to
commend the Secretary-General's report: we must
act on it. I would hope therefore that when this
general debate is finished, and when all
delegations that wish to do so have stated their
views, there can be serious con¬sideration of how
best to proceed.
22- In particular, I believe that it would be
important ^hat the Security Council—to the
effectiveness of which much of the document is
directed—should consider necessary action. For
its part, Ireland, as a member of the Security
Council until the end of 1982, would be willing
to support and work for such con¬sideration among
members of the Council with a view to finding the
best way to translate ideas into action. There is
no more important task before us at the present
time.
23.	The need to restore respect for the
Charter and for the authority and status of the
United Nations is mcst forcefully demonstrated by
recent events in the Middle East. The situation
there, already complex and seemingly intractable,
has been greatly aggravated by Israel's invasion
of Lebanon and its continuing presence there.
Many resolutions of the Security Council, despite
the authority which they carry under the Charter,
have been defied or ignored, and have remained
unimplemented for over four months.
24.	Israel's invasion of Lebanon, carried out
in the name of its security, has brought with it
death and destruction. Israel has continued its
occupation, an occupation which, I must say in
all candor, shows no sign of ending despite the
repeated calls of the Security Council; despite
the stated wishes of the Government of Lebanon
and, not least, despite Israel's own claim that
it does not covet even one inch of Lebanese
territory. In the past few weeks, the situation
has deteriorated even further. The occupation of
west Beirut, with the declared objective of
main¬taining law and order, has brought in its
train deeds that have shocked the world.
25.	The Irish Government and people are
horrified at the wanton murder of Palestinian
civilians in the Shatila and Sabra camps, and we
join in condemna¬tion of those who perpetrated
those dreadful crimes. The murder of the
Palestinian civilians, whoever carried them out,
took place when Israeli forceshad assumed control
of the area, and Israel must accord¬ingly carry
considerable responsibility.
26.	The people of Lebanon have suffered much
in recent years. They must be enabled to
re-establish the authority of their central
Government. The full sovereignty, independence
and territorial integrity of Lebanon must be
restored. To this end, the Israeli forces must
withdraw immediately from Beirut as a first step
to their complete withdrawal from all Lebanese
territory. Withdrawal by Israel from Lebanon was
unanimously demanded by the Security Council
nearly four months ago. We believe that all
foreign forces whose presence has not been
authorized by the Government of Lebanon should
now leave Lebanon.
27.	Lebanon has been a casualty of the wider
conflict of the Middle East, and that conflict
remains un¬resolved. What is now needed is real
progress towards negotiation aimed at
reconciliation of two basic rights: that of all
States, including Israel, to exist within secure
and recognized boundaries; and that of the
Palestinians to self-determination and statehood,
if they so wish.
28.	Such reconciliation cannot be achieved
through efforts to suppress or abridge the rights
of other parties. The bloody events of recent
months testify to that reality. The parties
should now accept that those basic rights must be
reconciled within the framework of a
comprehensive and negotiated settlement, with the
direct participation of all concerned, including
the Palestine Liberation Organization [FLO],
whose role in representing the Palestinian people
we recognize.
29.	Despite the events of recent weeks, there
is also encouraging evidence of a new willingness
to break the deadlock which has prevented
progress towards a comprehensive and just
solution of the Middle East problem. The
initiative announced by President Reagan on I
September provides a significant oppor¬tunity to
make progress in the direction I have out¬lined.
The declaration adopted at the Twelfth Arab
Summit Conference at Fez  must also be regarded
as an important and substantive contri¬bution to
a search for an equitable settlement. And because
both these developments together offer hope for
the future, they deserve the most serious
considera¬tion by all the parties concerned.
30.	The United Nations has over the years
played an important and at times crucial role in
the search for a peace settlement in the Middle
East. It has served to set forth proposals and
principles for a settlement; it has been a forum
for negotiations; and it has actively helped to
maintain peace through its peace-keeping and
observation missions. I believe that the United
Nations can and should play a role of similar
im¬portance in the future. Security Council
resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) have set
down fundamental —even if now
incomplete—principles for a settlement. These
principles must be augmented and completed. The
recent joint initiative by France and Egypt in
the Security Council provides an opportunity for
dis¬cussion at the appropriate time on how these
prin¬ciples might be completed. But this
elaboration of, so to speak, a juridical
foundation alone will not be enough.
31.	As the Secretary-General stated in his
report, "It is absolutely essential that serious
negotiations on the various aspects of that
problem involve all the parties concerned at the
earliest possible time." I urge that careful
consideration be given to two points made by the
Secretary-General concerning a possible role for
the Security Council in this regard. First, the
Security Council is the only place in the world
where all the parties concerned, and particularly
Israel and the PLO, at present sit at the same
table. Second, given a will by the parties to
negotiate seriously, it should be possible within
the Security Council to work out procedures and
rules, new if necessary, to govern substantive
negotiations.
32.	Recent events in the Middle East, in
particular in Lebanon, have focused attention on
the peace¬keeping role of the United Nations. The
development of peace-keeping is, I believe, one
of the most im¬portant achievements of the
Organization, and it gives effect in a practical
and tangible way to the commit¬ment of Member
States to the Charter. Peace-keeping activities
have increased in scope and significance over the
years and have evolved in response to the needs
of particular situations. Precisely because the
concept of peace-keeping is still evolving, I
believe it is necessary to keep it under review.
In the light of events in Lebanon in particular,
we should determine where weaknesses exist and
decide how they can be remedied.
33.	Ireland's experience in United Nations
peace¬keeping over the years leads us to draw
certain con¬clusions about the circumstances in
which it can make a useful contribution and about
the political and prac¬tical conditions necessary
for peace-keeping to function effectively. First,
peace-keeping operations are intended to assist
in the control of conflict and in the search for
a peaceful solution. It follows that they are
essentially a temporary measure and only one part
of a peace-making process. Efforts to resolve the
causes of the conflict must continue. Secondly,
peace¬keeping missions must have the consent of
the coun¬tries in whose territories they are
stationed and the co-operation of all the parties
concerned. This dis¬tinguishes peace-keeping from
peace-enforcement. Thirdly, the peace-keeping
force must have a clear and unambiguous mandate.
Fourthly, the force must have freedom of movement
throughout the area assigned to it and must have
conditions of adequate security for its
personnel. Fifthly, United Nations peace-keeping
operations must at all times have firm support
and backing of the Organization—in particular of
the Security Council and its members— and a,
strong and assured financial basis.
34. The events in Lebanon demonstrate the
im¬portance of these five conditions. It is clear
that, in the case of UNIFIL, these conditions
were not fulfilled. Despite this, UNIFIL played
an indis¬pensable part in controlling conflict up
to the Israeli invasion last June. Even now
UNIFIL, in its reduced and limited role,
maintains stable conditions in its area of
operations. But this is quite inadequate. If
UNIFIL or other United Nations forces are to play
an effective role in assisting the Government of
Lebanon to restore full Lebanese sovereignty,
independence and terri¬torial integrity, the
Security Council and the interna¬tional community
must ensure that the conditions I have listed
already are fully observed.
33. I should like to pay a tribute to the courage
and devotion to duty shown by all those involved
in United Nations peace-keeping operations,
particularly in UNIFIL and UNTSO. Several Member
States, including my own, have suffered through
the death and injury of their soldiers serving
under the United Nations Hag in the cause of
peace. I extend my sympathy to the relatives and
the comrades of Com¬mandant Nestor and the other
observers killed by mine explosions in Beirut in
the past few days. United Nations peace-keeping
forces have shown resilience and constant courage
in the face of very difficult circumstances. It
is for us to show respect for that courage by
acting to bring about effective conditions in
which they can discharge their vital task.
36.	In the 1960s and 1970s, after years of
confronta¬tion and cold war, East and West seemed
to be edging towards recognition of their common
interest in avoiding war and in promoting
mutually beneficial co-operation.
37.	The situation today is very different.
Mutual suspicion and growing confrontation have
replaced the cautious confidence of the 1960s and
early 1970s and the limited co-operation that had
been achieved. The decline in the political
relations between East and West, particularly
between the super-Powers and the alliances, has
also affected arms control and disarma¬ment
negotiations. There will now be a further
escalation in the arms race unless urgent and
sustained efforts are made to reach agreement in
current nego¬tiations.
38.	We believe it is necessary to build upon
common interests and to enlarge the areas whereconflicting
interests can be reconciled or accommodated.
Dialogue between East and West must therefore
continue through bilateral and multilateral
channels. And if such a dialogue is to lead to
substantive results, all sides must be willing to
act with restraint and realism.
39.	On the political level, the crisis of
authority in Poland and the sustained repression
of elementary social and civil rights contrary to
the Helsinki Final Act^ undermine the credibility
of detente. As long as those conditions remain,
they will hinder progress on a wide range of
East-West negotiations including, in particular,
the discussions at the Conference on Security and
Co-operation in Europe. Likewise, the Soviet
invasion and continuing military occupation of
Afghanistan must inevitably have a similar
adverse effect.
40.	None the less, it must be emphasized that
sus¬tained efforts at arms control and
disarmament are valid for their own sake. It is
indispensable to try to contain, reduce and
ultimately eliminate the threat posed by the arms
race, particularly in nuclear weapons. It is also
necessary in the meantime to ensure that new
weapons and technologies do not undermine or
destabilize the already fragile strategic
relationship. It follows that while the adverse
political climate is bound to complicate existing
negotiations, arms control and disarmament
efforts—bilateral, regional and
multilateral—should nevertheless not be
subordinated to the solution of wider political
problems.
41.	My Government was very disappointed at
the outcome of the recent twelfth special
session, the second special session on
disarmament. But we cannot abandon efforts to
achieve realistic goals aimed at putting an end
to the arms race and reducing arma¬ments—both
nuclear and conventional. World opinion,
increasingly concerned about the threat posed by
nuclear weapons, demands that we redouble our
efforts. My Government will always support
genuine and realistic arms control and
disarmament proposals.
42.	The highest priority must be given to
nuclear disarmament in order to halt and reverse
the ceaseless build-up of nuclear arms. It is our
earnest hope that the negotiations between the
Soviet Union and the United States on
intermediate and strategic weapons will reach an
early and successful conclusion.
43.	I should like to reiterate the proposal
for an agreement on a moratorium on the
introduction of any further strategic nuclear
weapons or delivery vehicles, proposed by the
Prime Minister of Ireland, Mr. Haughey, during
the twelfth special session. The moratorium would
be for an initial period of two years but would
be renewable by mutual consent. An agreement
along these lines would, I believe, be a
significant step towards the restora¬tion of
confidence.
44.	A comprehensive test-ban treaty, or at
the very least a moratorium on all nuclear tests,
remains an urgent necessity. An end to testing
would slow down the rate of qualitative
improvement of nuclear weapons and would be a
valuable contribution by nuclear States to
stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.
43. There are, of course, many other areas in
which progress must be made. I would highlight in
particular the need for a chemical weapons
convention, the banning of all weapons from outer
space and progress on conventional disarmament.
46. If the outlook elsewhere is more sombre and
troubling than it was a year ago, the prospect
for Namibia seems more hopeful. The Israel
Government is concerned that the momentum of the
negotiations to implement the United Nations plan
for Namibian independence should not be lost.
Ireland has fully supported the efforts of the
Secretary-General, the contact group of five
Western States, the front-line States and the
South West Africa People's Organiza-tion [SWAPO]
to secure implementation now. In our view, any
further delay will endanger the prospects for a
peaceful settlement. It is vital that the
Assembly at this session focus its efforts on
assisting the Secre¬tary-General to bring about a
settlement.
47.	Throughout the long history of the effort to help the people of Namibia
win freedom and live in peace, it has been clear
that a settlement through negotiation is possible
only if there is a sincere desire on the part of
all concerned to achieve this. The implementation
of the United Nations plan based on Security
Council resolutions 385 (1976) and 435 (1978)
would enable the international community to
discharge its unique responsibility for Namibia
and to demonstrate that the machinery of the
United Nations can be used effectively to resolve
a major international issue.
48.	The United Nations plan does not and,
indeed, cannot contain a blueprint for the future
relations of all the States of southern Africa
and it will not resolve all the issues in the
region. But its implementation would be an
important step in that direction. If South Africa
now obstructs its implementation, thereby
preventing a peaceful conclusion to the
decolonization process in southern Africa, it
will bear a heavy responsibility for the conflict
and suffering which may follow.
49.	At the root of the dangerous and tragic
situation in southern Africa today is the policy
of pursued by South Africa. This system of
institu¬tionalized racial discrimination is
unique and is rightly the object of universal
condemnation.
50.	Ireland condemns South Africa's apartheid
system unreservedly and we are committed to
opposing it strongly and actively, working in
concert with the international community, The
pass laws, banning and detention regulations all
continue to result in intense human suffering.
This year, when Nelson Mandela will have spent 20
years in goal, we are particularly concerned at
the plight of political prisoners, including
those members of the African National Congress
who are currently under sentence of death. We
urge the South African Government to commute
those sentences.
51.	There is some evidence of increased
debate among the white community in South
Africa—for example, in the search for new
constitutional struc¬tures. Unfortunately, this
does not address the core of the problem or the
basic framework of the apartheid system. The
crisis that South Africa faces is now so deep
that only a radical new approach can avert a
further descent into violence.
52.	In seeking to divert attention from its
internal problems, it seems that South Africa may
be endeavoring to destabilize neighbouring
States. We view with the utmost concern any
actions having that objective. We will continue
to support the efforts of the front-line States
to consolidate their hard-won independence.
53.	Over the past year, conflicts in Latin
America were also a matter of concern to the
international community. In the view of my
Government, the armed conflict over the Falkland
Islands (Malvinas) earlier this year was an
unnecessary conflict. We very much deplore the
use of force contrary to the principles of the
Charter, the failure to comply with Security
Council resolution 502 (1982) and the fact that a
peace¬ful solution offered through the United
Nations did not prove possible. It is our hope
that the parties will be able actively to pursue
a peaceful settlement of their continuing dispute.
54.	The Irish Government and people are also
con¬cerned at the instability, the violence and
the viola¬tions of human rights in Central
America. We are convinced that it is necessary to
remedy the under¬lying economic and social causes
of tension in the area, to end all foreign
interference and to seek political solutions to
conflicts in the area through dialogue and
negotiations.
55.	There is a growing acceptance that the
interna¬tional community has a responsibility for
the remedy of serious human rights abuses. I
welcome the personal commitment repeatedly
expressed by the new Secretary-General to the
human rights program of the United Nations and
his efforts to strengthen the Secre¬tariat in
that field.
56.	It is necessary for continued progress
that inves¬tigations of human rights abuses
should be seen to be fair. It is also important
that States concerned in investigations should
co-operate with the Secretary- general  or other
appointed personsin the implementa¬tion of our
decisions, bearing in mind the primary
responsibility of States to ensure that human
rights are respected within their own areas of
jurisdiction.
57.	The Declaration on the Elimination of All
Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based
on Religion or Belief, adopted last year by the
General assembly is an important addition to the
several human rights instruments adopted since
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in
1948. Ireland believes that further steps should
be taken to draw the attention of the peoples of
the world to this Declaration.
58.	In the historical perspective, we have
indeed seen considerable progress in the area of
human rights. But serious violations of human
rights in many parts of the world continue to
affront our sense of the value of the human
person. Massacres of large numbers of innocent
civilians have taken place recently in Lebanon,
Guatemala and E! Salvador.
59.	There are other countries where we have
less certain knowledge of such appalling
violations of the right to life but where there
is reason to believe that such violations do
indeed take place. There are still other areas
where civil and political rights are suppressed
sporadically or even on a systematic basis.
Abuses of human rights, such as disappearances,
are a most troubling recent feature.
60.	A general report by the Secretary-Genera!
on the international human rights situation to
the As¬sembly at regular intervals could help the
international community to recognize at an early
stage the emer¬gence of a pattern of such abuses
and thus to take effective action against them;
61.	The world at present has major problems
in the economic field. Of particular importance
is the problem of development, which is at once a
political and an economic issue. Because of this
and because of its universal nature the United
Nations has a vital role to play in the
North-South dialogue. There is an urgent need to
promote the changes necessary to redress the
structural imbalances in the world economy and to
accelerate the rate of growth in developing
countries.
62.	The economic difficulties facing all
countries remain serious and are likely to
continue for some time. Large fiscal deficits,
concern about inflation and tight monetary
policies have raised real interest rates in the
industrialized countries to unprecedented levels.
These measures have far-reaching conse¬quences,
depressing the export earnings of hard- pressed
developing nations and curtailing their already
low growth rates. Low-income countries have been
particularly hard hit by the recession in the
indus¬trialized countries. Poverty, malnutrition,
disease and illiteracy remain daily realities for
the vast majority of the world's population.
63.	Ireland fully supports the central role
that the United Nations system has to play in any
realistic program for global recovery. In
particular, we urge that the challenge of
furthering and deepening the relationship between
developed and developing nations be met by the
early launching of global negotiations. We
believe that the industrialized nations must now
do everything possible to ensure that a new and
effective dialogue with the developing countries
gets under way.
64.	In the longer term we look to the sixth
session of UNCTAD in June of next year to improve
under¬standing of the real problems of developed
and devel¬oping countries, to promote the revival
of the interna¬tional economy and to give a new
impetus to the progress of developing countries.
65.	I am pleased that the lengthy work of the
Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the
Sea has been concluded with the adoption by the
overwhelming majority of the States represented
here of the text of the Convention on the law of
the sea.^ It is indeed an achievement of which
the United Nations can be justly proud. Our task,
however, is not finished. The adoption of the
Convention is only the first step in the process
of giving to the provisions of the Con¬vention so
painstakingly negotiated the status of generally
accepted guiding rules for theorderly use of the
seas and their resources. In the course of the
negotiations it was constantly stressed by all
the parties involved that the Convention is a
carefully balanced package which should not be
the subject of piecemeal acceptance by States.
66.	We must now ensure that the integrity of
this comprehensive Convention is maintained. We
must also ensure that the new international body
which it established, the International Sea-Bed
Authority, can begin to function at an early
stage. It is the hope of my Government that such
will be the support for the ' Convention that the
Preparatory Commission for the International
Sea-Bed Authority and for the Interna¬tional
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea can be convened
quickly to facilitate the smooth functioning of
the Convention and the effective operation of the
bodies which it establishes.
67.	I therefore urge all Member States to
support the Convention and endorse its provisions
by signing it at the earliest possible time. It
is the intention of the Irish Government to do so.
68.	I would like now to turn to a particular
difficulty which we face in Ireland and in
relation to which I ask for your sympathy and
your understanding. I refer to the Northern
Ireland situation.
69.	I do not need to dwell on the tragic
effects of the continuing unrest in Northern
Ireland. Since the out- break some 12 years ago
of the present cycle of violence, up to 2,400
people have been killed and over 25,000 people
have suffered serious injury. The destruction of
property has amounted to hundreds of millions of
pounds.
70.	The economy of Northern Ireland has
suffered heavily and remains in decline. Among
the worst effects, however, has been the damage
to the social fabric of society. A new generate t
is now growing up in Northern Ireland in
conditions in which violence and confrontation,
hatred and division, form part of the pattern of
everyday life.
71.	Nor has the burden of the unrest been
confined to the six countries of Northern Ireland
alone. Death and destruction have taken place in
Britain, and in financial terms the cost to
Britain has been a heavy one. We in the rest of
Ireland have also suffered death and destruction,
and the Northern Ireland situa¬tion has involved
for us an additional expenditure of over 100
million pounds each year on maintaining security.
72.	Common sense should compel us all, if
only on the ground of our mutual interests, to
seek a just and lasting settlements of this
intolerable situation, a settlement which, if it
is to be effective, must take into account the
fundamental nature of the problem. The Irish
Government, for its part, has declared this task
to be its first political priority.
73.	The roots of the problem lie in a complex
of historical circumstances in which social,
religious, economic and political factors have
all played their part. We believe, however, that
in any objective analysis of the problem one
factor emerges clearly and inescapably: the
constitutional arrangements made in the 1920s
have failed to provide a just and workable basis
for peace and stability in Northern Ireland.
74.	The experiment of partitioning Ireland
has obviously failed. The consequences of that
failure include the tension in Northern Ireland
which has erupted into violence in almost every
decade since the island of Ireland was divided.
The development of the full economic, political
and social potential of the island as a whole has
been slowed down as a result of partition.
Barriers have been erected where none should
exist; the small island of Ireland has an
artificial political division, and within
Northern Ireland itself a community of one and a
half million people is split by dissension that
is irrelevant to the demands of today.
75.	The Irish Government, on whose behalf I
address you today, seeks to remove all barriers
and divisions within Ireland. We seek to do so
only through peaceful means. We condemn utterly
and reject totally violence and terrorist
activity no matter what its source. The
atrocities committed by men and women of violence
on all sides are inherently evil. They are also
ultimately futile and counterproductive as a
means of promoting political change. They serve
only to increase bitterness, to deepen
intransigent attitudes and above all to post¬pone
the day of settlement. The road to peace lies
only in the removal of barriers and in the coming
together of all the Irish traditions.
76.	We believe that the way forward is for
the two Governments—the Government of Ireland and
the British Government—to work together to this
end. Two years ago we moved in that direction
when both our Governments accepted, in the
context of the Northern Ireland situation, the
need to bring forward policies to achieve peace,
reconciliation and stability and to improve
relations between our two countries. This
development and the subsequent progress in
identifying concrete areas of co-operation were
widely welcomed as holding out the hope of a new
and positive relationship between our two
countries, breaking down barriers and creating a
dialogue of understanding and good will in which
the Northern Ireland problem could be effectively
tackled.
77.	We shall persist in our efforts to win
widespread support for our policy which we are
convinced offers the only prospect of an
effective long-term solution. Our objective is to
bring about the emergence in Ireland of agreed
political structures which will accommodate the
different but complementary Irish traditions.
78.	We ask Britain to join with us in working
towards the achievement of that objective and, in
doing so, remove the last barrier to the
development of normal relations between the
peoples of the two islands. And we ask all
Governments represented here today to assist us
on the difficult road towards reconciliation,
peace and stability.


I should like to convey sincere congratulations
to Mr. Hollai on his election to the presidency
of the General Assembly at its thirty-seventh
session and to express our best wishes to him and
to the officers of the Assembly for success in
directing the work of the Assembly towards the
achievement of our goals. I should like to take
this opportunity to express our deep appreciation
of the great efforts made by the former
President, Mr. Kittani, during the thirty-sixth
session and of the skilful manner in which he
conducted its work and that of the General
Assembly throughout its successive sessions and
meetings this year.

151.	The election of the new Secretary-General
has been a source of pleasure to us, considering
his outstanding position and wide experience in
the work of the Organization as well as the
respect and appreciation he has enjoyed for the
tasks he has performed. While expressing our
congratulations to Mr. Perez de Cuellar on his
election by acclamation to his post, we should
like to express our conviction that he is worthy
of this universal trust and to wish him success
in his important work and in realizing the hope
that he may achieve the important tasks entrusted
to him.

152.	In reviewing the international situation
and events since the previous sessions, we must
unfortunately conclude that the picture is
gloomy. Most of the problems which we discussed
are becoming increasingly complicated. The views
and hopes which we expressed have to a great
extent not been realized. Many resolutions have
been neither respected nor implemented. Our hopes
for establishing good international relations
based on the principles of the Charter and
international law are still far from being
achieved, and the United Nations—as the
Secretary-General indicated in his report on the
work of the Organization—has not been able to
play its effective and decisive role as envisaged
in the Charter, thus frustrating the hope that
the Organization would be capable of maintaining
peace and security and serving as a forum for
negotiations. We must endeavour to put an end to
this deviation from the Charter, to adhere ,to it
and to its principles, and to revive the concepts
contained in it, which requires making a
collective effort towards establishing peace,
thereby strengthening the ability of the United
Nations to perform its basic, function.

153.	The list of problems before the Assembly
at this session is, as usual, diverse,
complicated and long,, but we believe that such a
list should not lead us to despair or make us
give up endeavours towards the achievement of
what we believe is right and fair. We have ho
alternative but to continue our efforts and
co-operation towards achieving the objectives
that we set ourselves, including in particular
the establishment of peace based on justice.

154.	As at previous sessions, the Middle East
problem, whose central issue is the Palestinian
question, is the most urgent problem before us.
We all know that the main obstacle to the
solution of this problem is not the lack of
efforts exerted within and outside the United
Nations to solve it, but, first and foremost, the
continued Israeli defiance of the will of the
international community, Israel's flouting of the
very principles governing the Organization.

155.	This defiance of international public
opinion and flouting of the Charter and
resolutions is a serious matter, and the time has
come to deal with it. Otherwise, the law of the
jungle will prevail in international relations,
and the remnant of confidence and hope of finding
a peaceful solution to this problem, based on the
principles of international law and justice, will
collapse. This will also weaken the
Organization's ability to find peaceful and just
solutions to the disputes brought before it, as
the Secretary-General stressed in his report.

156.	The Sultanate of Oman is an advocate of
peace, and the people of our region, who have
suffered war and instability for a long time,
look forward to an era of security and stability.
The peace that we seek is a peace based on
justice and on the principles adopted by the
Organization. We seek a just and lasting peace
that would put an end to the tragedy of the
Palestinian people and would realize their
legitimate rights to return to their home and to
self-determination. That is why we have
supported, and continue to support, all the
efforts aimed at establishing peace in the
region. The Twelfth Arab Summit Conference, in
which we participated, laid the basis and
provided the guidelines for a peaceful and just
solution to the Middle East problem. Furthermore,
the eight principles representing the Arab
framework for solving this problem not depart, in
general or in details, from the principles that
have already been approved by the United Nations.

157.	The recent initiative of Mr. Reagan, the
President of the United States of America,
directed to solving the Middle East problem
contains positive points that might contribute to
the efforts being made to settle this problem.

158.	The peace initiative of the Arab States
and President Reagan's initiative create together
a climate conducive to finding a permanent and
just settlement to the problem. We should take
advantage of it and develop it, and the negative
attitude of Israel should not be allowed to
undermine our efforts. However, the Israeli
persistence in frustrating all international
efforts and rejecting all proposals for forward
for solving the problem have led States to
believe in the inevitability of the use of force
in solving political problems involving Member
States. This is a very serious matter.

139. The Israeli aggression against the Arab
sister State of Lebanon, resulting in the
occupation of Lebanese territories and violation
of Lebanon's sovereignty, demonstrates to the
whole world that Israel believes only in the use
of force, and not in peacel Therefore, the
international community must once again censure
these brutall actions and demand that Israel
withdraw its forces from Lebanon immediately,
and, further, that it assist the Lebanese people
to realize their hopes of stability and security.

160.	On 20 September 1982 the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in Oman issued the following
statement about the events in Lebanon:

  The Sultanate strongly denounces the barbaric
massacres which have been committed and are being
committed by Israel against unarmed Palestinian
refugees, men, women and children, in the Sabra
and Shatila camps in west Beirut.

  These genocidal massacres are a flagrant
violation of international law and the Charter of
the United Nations. They are a dangerous
development, since they have contravened the
spirit of peace and escalated tension and
instability in the area. They recall the mass
slaughter of Palestinians committed at Deir
Yassin and Kafr Qasem by the Israeli authorities
in 1948.

  Israel's invasion of west Beirut and its
massacre of defenceless Palestinian refugees, old
men, women and children, were part of a policy of
aggression and expansion which the Israeli
occupation authorities were implementing, with
civilians as their victims. Their actions have
defied all human values and international mores.

  Oman calls on the leaders of the world and the
States which were responsible for the evacuation
of the Palestinian fighters from west Beirut, as
well as the international pubic and international
and humanitarian organizations, to shoulder their
responsibilities fully at this crucial stage so
as to stop the inhuman slaughter of Palestinian
refugees.

161.	The withdrawal of Israel from the whole
of Lebanon should be carried out immediately in
accordance with the relevant Security Council
resolutions. We express our hope that the return
of the multinational peace-keeping force to
Lebanon after supervising the departure of the
Palestinian fighters will help the Lebanese
Government exercise sovereignty over the whole of
Lebanon.

162.	The continuance of military conflict
between the two neighbouring States of Iraq and
the Islamic Republic of Iran is a source of
concern and instability for the entire Gulf
region and represents a threat to all the peoples
there, and indeed to world peace and security,
since it involves innumerable dangers and is
exhausting the greater part of the natural and
human resources of those two States, resources
which could be channelled into economic and
social development.

163.	We cannot but associate ourselves with
those who have called for an immediate end to
such human and economic waste and urge that a
peaceful settlement between the two sister States
be brought about as quickly as possible.
164.	We welcomed the declaration by Iraq,
within the framework of the League of Arab
States, that it would withdraw its forces from
Iranian territory to the international boundaries
and was; ready to enter into negotiations to end
the war. On the same principle and in the
interest of peace and stability in the Gulf
region, we urge the sister State of Iran to stop
the war and move towards a peace which will take
account of the legitimate rights of all the
people.

165.	Despite the numerous United Nations
resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Soviet
troops from Afghanistan, the reiteration of the
same demand by the Islamic Conference and the
Conference of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of
Non-Aligned Countries, which was held at New
Delhi, and the insistence on respect for the
independence, sovereignty and non-aligned status
of Afghanistan, Soviet troops continue to occupy
Moslem non-aligned Afghanistan in complete
disregard of the resolutions of the United
Nations and other international and regional
organizations concerned with this matter.

166.	We call once again from this rostrum for
a cessation of the Soviet aggression and the
immediate withdrawal of the Soviet troops so as
to enable the sister State of Afghanistan to
regain control over its destiny and to choose its
own political, economic and social system without
any foreign interference or coercion.

167.	In the context of the problem of western
Asia we cannot ignore the deteriorating situation
in the adjacent region of South-East Asia,
namely, the continued occupation of Kampuchea by
Vietnamese troops. In this connection, we hope
that at this session the Assembly will stress the
need to respect the Charter and the principles
embodied in it and the need to find a speedy and
peaceful political solution based on the
principles of non-interference in the internal
affairs of sovereign States and the non-use of
force, as well as the necessity for the immediate
withdrawal of foreign troops, so that the
Kampuchean people may determine their own destiny
free from foreign interference and this region
may enjoy peace.

168.	Oman has a historical relationship with
many of the countries and peoples of the African
continent. We therefore share the aspirations of
the peoples of the continent and their hope for a
solution to the grave problems in southern
Africa, particularly that of Namibia. We join the
Africans in denouncing racial discrimination and
we call for further efforts within and outside
the United Nations to ensure that the aspirations
of the African people to freedom and stability
are fulfilled.

169.	Because of its geographical position the
Sultanate of Oman is directly concerned with
events in the Horn of Africa. It regrets the
continued attempts to interfere in the internal
affairs of the region. It condemns the acts of
aggression against the Somali sister State and
demands an end to foreign intervention in the
internal affairs of that region lest it should
fall victim to foreign expansionism and attempts
to propagate social systems imported from abroad;
foisting them upon the people of the area with a
view to exploiting their resources.

170.	Our concern with events in the Horn of
Africa is closely associated with the security
and safety of the coastal States of the Indian
Ocean. The Sultanate of Oman, as one of those
countries, is concerned for the security of this
area and is therefore in favour of declaring it a
zone of peace, It calls for an end to the
competition between the super-Powers to establish
spheres of influence in the region. As a member
of the Ad Hoc Not Committee on the Indian Ocean,
Oman is anxious to promote the efforts to arrange
for the convening of the Conference on the Indian
Ocean, which is scheduled to be held in Colombo
in 1983, so that the goal of making the Indian
Ocean region a demilitarized zone of peace may be
achieved without further delay.

171.	My delegation would like to express its
satisfaction at the adoption by the General
Assembly at its thirty-sixth session of the
Declaration on the Inadmissibility of
Intervention and Interference in the Internal
Affairs of States. It hopes that this
Declaration, which emphasizes respect for this
important principle, will be complied with, thus
guaranteeing the right of all peoples to shape
their own destinies and choose their systems of
government without any outside intervention,
pressure or threat.

172.	Oman, like other peaceful States,
attached great hopes and importance to the second
special session devoted to disarmament. We had
entertained the hope that the negotiations and
deliberations conducted during that session would
be successful; but, as we all know, failure to
reconcile the different points of view made it
impossible to reach consensus on the major items
on the agenda of that session, in spite of the
preparatory meetings. We entertained the hope
that the second special session would put into
effect the Final Act of the Tenth Special Session
of the general Assembly, which was adopted by
consensus in 1978. In paragraph 126 of the
document the Members of the Organization
reaffirmed:
  their determination to work for general  and
complete disarmament and to make farther
collective efforts aimed at strengthening peace
and international security; eliminating the
threat of war, particularly nuclear war;
implementing practical measures aimed at halting
and reversing the arms race; strengthening the
procedures for the peaceful settlement of
disputes; and reducing military expenses and
utilizing the resources thus released in a manner
which will help to promote the well-being of all
peoples and to improve the economic conditions of
the developing countries/'

173.	The failure of the negotiations at the
second special session and the subsequent
disappointment to many parties are deplorable and
regrettable. Nevertheless, we have to bear in
mind that the responsibility of the United
Nations in the field of disarmament is a basic
one which emanates^ as we indicated earlier, from
its purposes and principles: to establish , the
bases of peace and to save succeeding generations
from the scourge of war. The United Nations must
urgently continue to assume this responsibility
fully, without hesitation or despair. It is also
imperative to mobilize the collective will to
replace doubt with confidence, so that we can
achieve positive results in this domain.

174.	In this connection I should like to
reiterate what the President of the second
special session of the
Assembly said. We should be ignoring reality if
we failed to observe that this session is being
convened at a turning point of the greatest
concern in the field of international relations.
Doubt, conflict, an increasing sense of
insecurity and a tendency to resort to force
still prevail.

173. It is imperative that the international
community now look seriously into the fabric of
relations among States in order to restore the
role of the principles of international law and
respect for the Charter of the United Nations,
for it will be impossible to achieve progress in
the field of disarmament without the fundamental
elements of confidence and respect.

176.	Like many other countries of the world,
my country is aware of the increasing importance
of establishing a new international economic
order based on a fair balance between the prices
of raw materials and manufactured products,
taking into account the needs of developing
countries and the need to accelerate their
development. That is why my country continues to
support the decisions taken by the Group of 77
and the efforts made by the Group in this
connection ever since the beginning of global
negotiations on international economic
co-operation for development, endorsed by the
general  Assembly at its thirty-fourth session we
should like to emphasize that it is not possible
to find any solution to such problems except on
the basis of a common, universally accepted
approach to the current global economic problems
involving all States, and through agreed
solutions regarded as permanent and fair by all.

177.	Since then, to our regret, my delegation
has not seen any positive development in the
global economic negotiations. On the contrary, it
has witnessed a clear general deterioration in
the economic situation in many countries of the
world, and particularly in the developing
countries. The obvious decline in the developing
countries' terms of trade, the large increase in
the cost of capital, inadequate demand for those
countries' exports, frequent resort to the policy
of protectionism, continued application of
stringent and unfavourable terms for the transfer
of technology to those countries—all this has
weighed heavily on the economies of developing
countries, disrupted their economic growth and
led to a sharp increase in their balance-of
payments deficit and foreign indebtedness.

178.	Like any other developing country, the
Sultanate of Oman feels the need for such
international economic co-operation and considers
it imperative that the developed countries
increase their aid to the developing countries in
order to raise the level of development in those
countries, relieve their foreign indebtedness,
and demonstrate increased flexibility and
seriousness in the negotiations on the subject.
The Sultanate of Oman feels that the
international community is more than ever in duty
bound to find a solution to the present economic
crisis by devoting every effort to achieving the
objectives and goals set forth in the
International Development Strategy for the Third
United Nations Development Decade. We hope that
we shall soon witness positive results in this
direction in response to the efforts of the
Secretary-General.

179.	Oman participated in the adoption of the
final text of the United Nations Convention on
the Law of the Sea, in New York on 30 April, in
spite of the fact that the final text did not
include proposals and views put forward by Oman
during the deliberations of the United' Nations
Conference on the Law of the Sea during the past
few years. We did so out of our belief that the
Convention, in general, is fair to all and would
put an end to the chaotic situation with respect
to the seas—particularly as to exploration and
exploitation of the resources of the sea-bed—in a
way that would serve the interests of humanity at
large without prejudice to the basic rights of
the coastal States.

180.	We hope that the States which could not,
for one reason or another, vote in favour of the
Convention will reconsider their positions,
because that Convention is the outcome of long
and continuous efforts exerted over the last 10
years, and it would be a waste of these efforts
not to adopt it. Otherwise, States will resort to
their former practices without any binding legal
restraint defining their rights and obligations
under the law of the sea.

181.	Finally, I should like, with reference to
the report of the Secretary-General on the work
of the Organization to express my appreciation of
his account of the situation in the world in
general, and at the United Nations in particular.
It merits attention far beyond that given to
previous reports. It clearly and realistically
reflects our feelings, especially with respect to
the developing countries which, more than all the
others need to see that the United Nations
receives the necessary support to enable it to
fulfil the effective and decisive role clearly
envisaged for it in the Charter. We hope this
report will receive the attention it deserves and
that at the current session the Assembly will
explore effective means of eliminating the points
of weakness in the work of the Organization,
particularly during the last years, so that it
may regain the importance accorded it by the
peoples of the world at its inception.

182.	We renew the pledge we made in the Preamble
to the Charter for a serious endeavour to save
succeeding generations from the scourge of war,
reaffirm our belief in fundamental human rights,
in the equality of the rights of men and women,
as well as of nations, large and small, and we
renew our commitment to the principles and
objectives enshrined in the Charter of the United
Nations.