It is with particular pleasure that I join
previous speakers in congratulating Mr. Hollai
most warmly, on behalf of the Government of
Ghana, on his election to the presidency of the
thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly.
His election is a fitting tribute to his many
fine qualities, which allow him to bring to this
difficult task wide experience and wisdom, from
which we shall no doubt stand to gain. We
therefore have every confidence that, with the
collective support of all delegations, he will
skillfully lead the session to a productive
conclusion. My delegation assures him of its full
co-operation at all times. I should like to take
this opportunity to pay a tribute to his
predecessor, Mr. Kittani, and express to him our
deepest appreciation for his excel¬lent
achievement in steering a difficult thirty-sixth
session to such a successful conclusion. I should
also like to place on record the profound
appreciation of my delegation for the competence
invariably displayed by the Secretary-General and
his able and dedicated staff in promoting the
business of the General Assembly.
108.	Since the thirty-sixth session, the
international political scene has continued to be
worrying and efforts to find durable solutions to
many burning issues have only been met with
frustration. The Palestinian question, the war
between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran,
the escalating arms race, the prob¬lems of
colonialism and racism and the ever-widening
economic gap between the North and the South—all
have increased in complexity. As we meet at this
thirty- seventh session, our skills,
inventiveness and good faith will be fully taxed
in our quest for a better world.
109.	In drawing attention to the explosive
situations around the globe today, I should like
to touch upon the Middle East, because it is one
single issue which has gravely disturbed
international peace and security. In the wake of
some bold steps taken both within and outside the
United Nations system, one would have thought
that a significant improvement would by now be
discernible in the Middle East situation.
Unfor¬tunately, that situation has been further
complicated by the recent tragic devastation of
Lebanon. The callous Israeli invasion has
resulted in the loss of thousands of lives; it
has rendered hundreds of thousands homeless and
without shelter; it has ravaged towns and
villages, wantonly destroyed property and
demolished Palestinian refugee camps—and the
entire world has just looked on as though it was
all to be expected and all too normal.
110.	It is inadmissible that after 35 years of
hostility and warfare no durable solution has
been found to the Palestinian question, which is
undeniably the crux of the Middle East dilemma.
The Palestinian people have suffered for far too
long. The international community and certain
Governments in particular must abandon their fear
of embarking on new policies which alone can
ensure that the Palestinians have a home. The
least that can be done is to implement fully
relevant Security Council and General Assembly
resolutions dealing with the fundamental and
inalien¬able rights of the Palestinians as
defined and elabo¬rated in General Assembly
resolutions 3210 (XXIX) and 3236 (XXIX). Those
two resolutions were again emphasized in Assembly
resolution ES-7/2. Ghana very strongly urges a
final solution of the question in terms of these
resolutions. We stand our ground and reaffirm the
principles underlying them, the most important of
which are: the right of the Palestinian people to
return to their homes and property in Palestine
from which they have been forcibly displaced and
uprooted; the right of the Palestinian people to
self-determination without external interference;
the right of the Palestinian people to establish
their own independent and sovereign State in
Palestine; the right to territorial integrity and
national unity—which must apply to all States in
the area; and the right of the PLO, the
representative of the Palestinian people, to
participate on an equal footing in all efforts,
deliber¬ations and conferences on the question of
Palestine and the situation in the Middle East
within the frame¬work of the United Nations.
HI. We cannot pretend that the legitimate
aspira¬tions of the Palestinians will die with
the arrogant use of force. The yearning of a
people for a home can never die, as the Israelis
must know. We call upon Israel to withdraw from
ail Arab lands it has occupied. Until Israel
heeds the conscience of mankind, it will continue
to create conditions for its isolation.
112. Another source of grave concern is the
ongoing war between Iran and Iraq, two developing
countries which require all the human and
material resources with which they are so richly
blessed to surmount the shackles of
underdevelopment and help their less fortunate
brothers of the third world. There is no point in
continuing this war, and we should like to
counsel our brothers in Iran and Iraq to seek the
road to peace.
113.	My delegation is equally concerned about
the unsettled regional conflicts in Cyprus,
Afghanistan and Kampuchea. The early solution of
these conflicts will help brighten the
international horizon and replace fear with
confidence in the future, thus enhancing the
chances of our winning true peace for all
mankind. My delegation would like to support the
call for the withdrawal of all foreign troops
from those crisis areas and for respect for the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the
States therein. The solution of these conflicts
will not be possible, however, except within the
context of a comprehensive settlement of the
conflicting interests of all the parties involved.
114.	The United Nations has, over its 37-year
history, scored a number of successes in the
areas of decoloni-zation, development assistance
and humanitarian work. The record, however, is
rather dismal in the resolution of conflicts and
the removal of the under¬lying factors that
engender them. The irony of the situation is that
all parties involved in the conflicts are
signatories to the Charter and all are thus
legally and morally enjoined to settle disputes
by peaceful means.
115.	From the record of Ghana's participation
in the deliberations of the Organization, there
can be no doubt that my country has supported the
United Nations initiatives for peace. My country
has con¬sistently made troop contributions to
United Nations peace-keeping forces to serve as a
buffer in the effort to contain latent and
potentially explosive disputes. It is a difficult
and sometimes dangerous task which the United
Nations has performed with courage and
dedication, if not successfully on all occasions.
With all its faults, peace-keeping continues to
be a useful and serious undertaking that all
Member States should support. It is therefore
regrettable that countries which are easily in a
position to make contributions for peace-keeping
operations should be in default or refuse
outright to do so. We therefore appeal to all
those countries to honor their commitments in
this regard and make good their assessed
contributions in the greater interest of world
peace and security.
116.	My Government is also ready and willing
to support any move designed to review the powers
of the Secretary-General with a view to making
him better able to deal with conflict situations
more decisively. This review is necessary if the
United Nations is not to be further harmed by the
crisis in confidence that now envelops it as a
result of the tendency of certain Member States
to play down its importance in finding solutions
to international problems.
117.	A matter of fundamental importance to
world peace is disarmament. The outcome of the
recent second special session of the General
Assembly devoted to disarmament was most
disappointing. The primary responsibility for
controlling the arms race rests with the big
Powers. It is intolerable that they should
continue to endanger the security of all of us in
pursuit of superiority.
118.	It is known that the quality of life in
the devel¬oping countries would take on a new
meaning if a portion of current expenditures on
arms were to be released for development
assistance. However, not only are we being denied
that assistance; we stand in danger of being
annihilated as a result of policies we have no
part in shaping. It is a misfortune that no
change of heart is in sight.
119.	To have the peace and security in which
harmony and human development can survive is the
fervent hope of mankind. The delegation of Ghana
associates itself with those delegations that
have wel¬comed the proposals for a nuclear freeze
and urges the nuclear Powers to seize this
opportunity and to take those steps which must be
taken in order to rid our¬selves and posterity of
the danger of extinction.
120.	It is not an accident of history that the
odious policy of apartheid is practiced with
impunity in South Africa; it derived its
inspiration from the imperialism and the racism
of the industrialized West and it is supported by
certain Governments and transnational
corporations, whatever they may say to the
contrary. The policy of apartheid has been
consciously and systematically nurtured into an
insti¬tutionalized racial bigotry that maintains
that the black man is little more than an object
of labour. He works under unjust and
discriminatory laws, suffers arbitrary
imprisonment and is denied his basic rights and
privi¬leges as a citizen of his own country. The
educational structure for the black population is
organized in such a way as to provide separate
and unequal levels of education appropriate only
to satisfy the labour needs of the white society
and of the transnational corporations.
121.	And if those conditions were not
degrading enough, the South African Government's
policy of creating bantust is or independent
homelands has been initiated in order to
eliminate the inter-ethnic cohesion that is
necessary for collective action on the part of
the black majority in defense of their liberty.
122.	What is happening in South Africa should
be a matter of concern to the entire world. Those
who gloss over the transgressions of South Africa
for whatever reasons and those who pursue profits
at the expense of human dignity are as guilty as
the bigots who hold power in South Africa.
123.	The South African Government's
provocative aggression against Angola and
Mozambique, its inter-vention in Seychelles and
in Lesotho and its threats to other front-line
States show how passivity on the part of the
international community can encourage dangers to
international people and security. South Africa
has seen fit to refuse to comply with United
Nations resolutions and it continues its illegal
occupa¬tion of Namibia. South Africa is a
veritable inter¬national outlaw and it merits the
imposition of punitive measures from the Security
Council now. The longer we wait the greater the
danger that with the develop¬ment of a nuclear
capability in co-operation with other
racist-minded regimes it will be able to hold the
world to ransom.
124.	There is no doubt that an oil embargo is
not only feasible but could be effective.
Virtually all South Africa's petroleum
requirements must be imported from abroad and
refined oil is indispensable to South African
transportation and industry, crucial levers of
its economic and military strength. An oil
embargo against South Africa would not have an
adverse impact on international oil companies.
The total interest of the five oil companies that
dominate the South African oil industry
represents only 1 per cent of their global
transactions. Nor is there any major
oil-producing country whose livelihood depends on
oil exports to South Africa. The sanctions
envisaged can be enforced not by adopting the
expensive method of patrolling the South African
coastline but by having recourse to the cheaper
alternative of the withdrawal of transport
facilities for the shipment of oil to South
Africa. We do not endorse the cynical argument
that the black population stands to suffer most
if mandatory oil sanctions are imposed on South
Africa. I believe I echo the views of the black
majority in stating that their plight under the
yoke of apartheid with all its inhumanity and
degradation will come to aspeedier end if
sanctions are imposed on South Africa.
125.	We are following with interest and some
disap¬pointment the efforts of the Western
contact group to resolve the Namibian problem.
The linkage being made between this problem and
the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola casts
grave suspicions on the sincerity of some of the
parties involved. Meanwhile, our whole-hearted
support will continue to be given to SWAPO for
the successful liquidation of colonialism and
racism in Namibia.
126.	When one looks at the present world
economic situation characterized, on the one
hand, by record levels of unemployment,
recession, budget deficits, high interest rates
and other constraints in the de¬veloped world,
and deteriorating terms of trade, record budget
deficits, huge debt burdens and declining rates
of growth in the developing world on the other,
it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the
crises in the political sphere have their
parallel in the economic realm as well and that
one can hardly be considered without the other.
127.	In this generally dismal landscape the
con¬spicuous plight of the non-oil-producing
African countries, many of whom have long been
among the poorest of the poor, is nothing short
of desperate. I need not remind the Assembly that
many African countries have actually been
experiencing negative rates of growth at the very
time when they are under¬going a population
explosion. For them poverty has become a way of
life.
128.	The fact that the whole world economy is
in a general state of disequilibrium and that
even the most efficient and frugal countries are
faced with serious economic difficulties should,
in our opinion, once more underline the point
many of the developing countries have reiterated
almost nanseam; that the economic, recovery of
the developed countries of the North is
inexorably linked to the economic prosperity and
progress of the developing countries of the
South. The whole world economy, in other words,
is so interlinked and interdependent that the
prosperity and well-being of each country is a
necessary pre-condi¬tion for the prosperity of
all. No one country or group of countries can
today pursue economic policies of a narrow,
self-centered nature without risking economic
disaster for itself in the long run. For that
reason policies of economic blockade outside the
framework of a United Nations sanctions policy
are as outdated and reactionary as the gunboat
diplomacy of times past.
129.	The old order—which is now facing a grave
crisis—in which the developing countries supply
abundant raw materials at cheap prices determined
by the markets in the West and are then forced to
buy manufactured goods at expensive prices
determined by the same markets, must give way to
a more equitable system in which the benefits of
economic activity accrue to all who create the
wealth of the world and not only to a small
minority of nations.
130.	We reaffirm that the realignment of
international economic relations, as envisaged in
the Declaration and the Programme of Action on
the Establishment of a New International Economic
Order, adopted by the General Assembly in 1974 ,
is a necessity if the world economy is to
overcome its present malaise.
131.	It is in this context that my delegation
deeply regrets the failure of the strenuous
efforts made to arrive at a suitable basis for
the launching of global negotiations on
international economic co-operation for
development. We believe that the urgency of the
situation requires that this issue should occupy
a central position on the international
community's agenda for the immediate future.
Without the prospect of general economic recovery
there cannot be genuine political stability and
without political stability there cannot be
peace. As long as millions of people continue to
go to bed hungry, as long as thousands starve to
death while some nations can afford to spend over
$600 billion a year on refining the apparatus of
destruction, there will be no peace. The
responsibility for this will rest squarely with
the industrialized countries, particularlyin the
West.
132.	Ghana stands ready to join in any
meaningful initiatives to resolve outstanding
differences so that the way may be cleared for a
serious attempt to address the economic
imbalances and injustices of the past and present.
133.	While the North-South dialogue has made
disap¬pointing progress, Ghana is pleased to note
that the developing countries have made
substantial efforts to increase co-operation for
development among them¬selves. We are
particularly pleased that a significant number of
sectoral meetings have taken place this year in
connection with the implementation of the Caracas
Programme of Actions for economic co¬operation
among developing countries, and we are determined
to give full support to every move in the
direction of collective self-reliance, not as a
substitute for global economic reform but as a
com¬plementary effort. Ultimately, the third
world must look to itself to reverse the
exploitative economic relationships fostered by
colonialism and imperialism. This calls for a far
greater level of political con¬sciousness than
the leadership of many a third world country
would allow or would be allowed by those who
stand to lose. It is found to be more convenient
to be content with a neo-colonial relationship
that is beneficial to the class to which the
leadership belongs but which is damaging in the
long run to the interest of the masses. The
Government of Ghana does not intend to be found
wanting in the effort, co-operation and sacrifice
that are necessary for the salvation of the
underprivileged nations of the third world.
134.	The adoption on 30 April 1982 of the
Conven¬tion on the Law of the Sea by the Third
United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea
represents a momentous event in the life of the
Organization. It demonstrates the capacity of the
United Nations to forge legally binding
instruments for peace, security and development.
The Convention itself is a unique blend of old
and new concepts in international law: the
concept of freedom of the seas on the one hand
and the modem and novel concepts of exclusive
economic zones and the common heritage of mankind
on the other.
135.	The delegation of Ghana is firmly of the
view that the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea will provide, upon its entry into
force, the only form of legality in regard to the
oceans which is known to the world community. Any
unilateral action intended to preserve the
privileges of the few in the exploitation of the
resources of the seas must be resisted by the
international community.
136.	As we meet at the present session of the
General Assembly, it would be useful for us all
to bear in mind that we represent peoples of a
world in which the clear majority is yearning for
peace, security and development; we must also
remember that we play our respective diplomatic
roles in a world that has become interdependent
to a great degree. The situation calls for
abandoning selfish national interests and making
a moral commitment to the betterment of the
inter¬national community. The delegation of Ghana
hopes that this session will help generate that
moral commitment.


I have the honor of extending to Mr. Hollai, on behalf of the
delegation of Rwanda the warmest congratulation, echoing those
already addressed to him from this rostrum by those speakers who have
preceded me. His election to the presidency of the thirty-seventh
session of the General Assembly is a tribute. Indeed, it duly
recognizes the confidence which is owing to his personal qualities,
particularly his competence, to which solemn homage has thus been
paid. His election, moreover, is a mark of recognition of the
important role that his country plays within the international
community in the promotion of the ideals and principles inscribed in
the Charter. In this context, the Rwandese delegation, whose
readiness and sincere co-operation are assured him, is convinced that
under his presidency the work of the current session will yield the
results which the international community is entitled to expect in
view of the objectives justifying the existence of the United
Nations. May I also pay a tribute to Mr. Hollai's predecessor, Mr.
Kittani of Iraq, who deserved well of the Organization by the wisdom,
devotion, talent and dynamism with which he led the debates, which
were undeniably long and difficult, that took place during the
thirty-sixth session, as well as those of the seventh and ninth
emergency special sessions and those of the special session devoted
to disarmament. I should also like to take this opportunity to
reiterate the congratulations of the Government of Rwanda to Mr.
Perez de Cuellar following his election as Secretary-General. The
Government and people of Rwanda again express their best wishes for
his full success in his noble and difficult mission and commit
themselves to supporting him and assuring him of their full
co-operation, within their means, in giving concrete form to the
ideals for which the United Nations remains the guarantor and trustee.
In accordance with established tradition, the General Assembly is
gathered here to take stock of a year of activities by the United
Nations, primarily for the purpose of preparing for the future in
accordance with the lessons, experiences and results of the past. As
happens every year, a privileged opportunity has again been given to
all Member States publicly and solemnly to express their positions
with regard to problems which are currently of concern to the
international community, as well as their hopes for the future-hopes
whose realization will depend on the mobilization and contribution of
all peoples within the framework of increasingly active solidarity,
above and beyond pious wishes and simple declarations of intent.
$53
The concerns of the Rwandese delegation bear first of all on the
international economic situation, which scarcely prompts optimism,
following a structural crisis which is creating an increasingly wide
gap between the industrialized countries and the developing
countries. World recession, monetary upheavals and increasingly heavy
and crushing indebtedness confront the developing countries with
problems that are at times inextricable and they are threatened in
the end with bankruptcy.
During the year which is drawing to an end, no tangible development
has occurred to modify in any positive or lasting way that tragically
alarming trend, which the international community has been deploring
for several years. The world continues to flounder in this crisis,
which reduces to naught the ambitions and hope of enabling the
majority of three quarters of humanity to escape the suffering of
poverty and wretchedness.
The disorder of the international monetary system thus aggravates the
problems of the third world countries which, while on the path to
development with precarious resources, difficulties which are
characterized notably by the persistence of inflationary pressures,
the increasingly marked deterioration in terms of trade and the
reduction of resources of institutions whose mission is to ensure
financing.
For many such countries, the deterioration of the food situation has
already gone beyond the point at which they are forced to increase
their dependence on imported products to such a degree that they are
no longer in a position to make the adjustments necessary to break
the spiral of a worsening food shortage.
In this context, the countries which can afford to should abandon an
exceedingly comfortable and simple attitude of inward withdrawal and
should devote further efforts to ensuring that their official
development assistance reaches the target of 0.7 per cent of gross
national product set within the framework of the Second United
Nations Development Decade. In that connection, the Republic of
Rwanda would like to hail the decision already taken by a certain
number of industrialized countries, which intend to devote 0.15 per
cent of their gross national product to assistance for the least
developed countries, of which my country is unfortunately a member.
My country at the same time welcomes the fact that the target of 0.15
per cent has been approved in the Substantial New Programme of Action
for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries, a programme which
the General Assembly endorsed in resolution 36/194. My delegation
ventures to hope that donor countries, as well as all potential prime
lenders, will take adequate steps forthwith so as to ensure the
effective implementation of the Substantial New Programme of Action.
My delegation is thinking particularly of immediate steps making it
possible to satisfy the most urgent needs of the least developed
countries. I should like to refer, by way of example, to the
provision of substantial resources to reduce shortages of foodstuffs
and energy resources, immediate financial assistance in the form of
the cancellation or (rescheduling of debts and support for the
balance of payments, and the immediate provision of supplementary
financial support, especially for identification of projects, the
carrying out of feasibility studies and the detailed preparation of
investment projects.
The hardly encouraging picture of the world economy shows that the
establishment of a new international economic order based on justice
and equity is an urgent and imperative need. In that regard, I need
not dwell on the disappointment caused by the impasse regarding the
global negotiations. Since the eleventh special session of the
General Assembly, in August 1980, two years have elapsed without
delegations having succeeded in finding a compromise acceptable to
all parties so as to permit the effective resumption of global
negotiations.
Although the present situation is undoubtedly one of impasse, certain
parties like to praise the therapeutic virtues of the free play of
market forces, which unfortunately benefit only the powerful and the
strong, inasmuch as they do not fall within the framework of a real
strategy of international co-operation and disregard economic
interdependence, thus threatening to exacerbate the disagreements and
disparities among States.
The Government of Rwanda is firmly convinced that the development of
the third world depends on a fundamental restructuring of
international economic relations as a result of reforms designed to
put an end to the present system, which tends to keep the poor
majority subordinated to the wealthy minority. Interdependence is a
crucial element which must constantly be borne in mind: it should
inspire greater solidarity and complementarity in the organization of
the economic relations between the industrialized countries, which
possess the technology, and the developing countries, which possess
raw materials. To disregard that reality would be to close our eyes
deliberately to the facts and risk plunging the international
community inextricably into a crisis.
Interdependence should not, however, be limited to North-South
relations; it should also be an important element in South-South
relations, and should be understood to apply particularly to
co-operation among developing countries-co-operation which the
effective implementation of the Caracas Programme of Action would al
low to develop and strengthen yet further.
In this connection, Rwanda is working unceasingly and with all its
strength to promote and strengthen its co-operation with other
developing countries in general and neighboring countries in
particular. With the latter Rwanda is endeavoring to develop
relations of friendship and co-operation on the bilateral level and
also within the framework of the sub regional communities. The
Rwandese delegation is convinced that such co-operation, which is
fully in keeping with the objectives set forth in the Lagos Plan of
Action for the Implementation of the Monrovia Strategy for the
Economic Development of Africa constitutes, with regard to the
countries concerned, an important contribution to the achievement of
international economic relations which serve the interests of all the
parties. We are also convinced that we must foster exchanges which
could enable the third world countries to confront the difficulties
inherent in the imbalance of the present system, which is reflected
in persistent disorder and profound structural problems.
It is high time all States understood that all hope of peace and
security will be vain as long as the world is ruled by a system which
maintains three quarters of mankind in the worst conditions of
poverty, malnutrition, hunger and even abject, pathetic and revolting
squalor.
The conclusions of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of
the Sea have shown the skeptics that the Organization constitutes an
ideal framework for constructive dialogue on problems and questions
of world interest. Rwanda welcomed the adoption last April by a great
majority of countries of the United Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea. It is not necessary to recall here the entire background of
that Conference; its origins are well known to all delegations at
this session of the General Assembly. My delegation would simply like
to pay a well-deserved tribute to all the delegations that took an
active part in the work of that important Conference, at which there
were lengthy negotiations before arriving, after more than 10 years,
at the drafting and adoption of an effective international instrument
on the law of the sea.
As a representative of a developing country which is, furthermore,
deprived of direct access to the sea, I should like to take this
opportunity to express, on behalf of the Government and people of
Rwanda, our sincere satisfaction with the provisions of the
Convention concerning the right of access to and from the sea and
also the exercise of the rights provided for in the Convention,
especially those pertaining to the freedom of the high seas, the
common heritage of mankind and the enjoyment of freedom of transit
through the territory of transit States by all means of
transportation. The land-locked countries would certainly have liked
to see other provisions included in the Convention, but they
refrained from insisting on that point so as not to jeopardize or
block the consensus which was sought by all parties.
We hope that the Convention will enter into force as soon as possible
and that it will serve as a model for the management and sharing of
the wealth of our planet for the benefit of all mankind in general
and of the poorest in particular. With this in mind, my delegation
hopes that the delegations that so far have not, for various reasons,
been able to support the Convention on the Law of the Sea will
reconsider their position and join the majority, so that the
objectives which in this sphere are common to all Member States may
be achieved.
With the same optimism, we hope to see substantial and noteworthy
progress made in the sphere of international trade, which for several
years has been the object of important negotiations within UNCTAD.
The gradual fall in the prices of raw materials and the inexorable
increase in the prices of finished products make the economic
situation of the developing countries increasingly catastrophic, for
the deficits and the gaps to be filled compel them to contract more
and more crushing debts and thus to become insolvent, which
jeopardizes their future not only socially and economically but also
politically.
I shall not engage in the futile exercise of enumerating all the
problems confronting the developing countries in general and the
least developed and the land-locked countries in particular. I will
simply draw the attention of the Assembly once more to the fact that
all the defects of the world economy are at present affecting even
more seriously this category of countries with weak and vulnerable
economies. Therefore I reiterate that the time has come for
solidarity and co-operation based on sharing, justice, equity and
complementarity, in the framework of the democratization of
international relations, which is an urgent necessity.
The role of the United Nations is to contribute to this and thereby
to achieve its primary objective, that of promoting and ensuring the
maintenance of peace, security and justice, while working for
individual and collective well-being and progress, for the benefit of
all the peoples of the world.
We are bound to note and to deplore the fact that the world does not
seem to be prepared to lead from history and to give concrete form to
the noble ideals to which all the Member States freely and solemnly
subscribed.
Since the policy of detente, which would allow different
socio-economic and political systems to lay the groundwork for
fruitful co-operation, is increasingly losing ground to confrontation
and tension; we face a future fraught with anguish and uncertainty.
The arms race in nuclear, bacteriological and classical weapons is
accelerating at an alarming pace to the detriment of investment that
might help save people in developing countries from dire poverty.
Some references to problems of our times and a rapid overview show
that overt conflicts and areas of tension which bring to bear grave
threats to international peace and security are very much with us.
Some are due to anachronistic colonialism or to the hateful and
cynical policy of apartheid. All are linked to flagrant violations of
the Charter and norms established by international law.
In Africa, above and beyond socio-economic problems, one of the major
concerns remains the situation prevailing in the southern part of
that continent and the sufferings, sacrifices and tragedies imposed
on the Namibian people and on black South Africans struggling for
recognition of their most basic rights.
As regards Namibia, which is still illegally occupied and
administered by the minority racist Pretoria regime, the many actions
undertaken by the United Nations to lead that Territory to
independence-a matter for which the United Nations bears
responsibility-have thus far come up against the intransigence,
hesitation and dilatory maneuvers of South Africa, which arrogantly
defies the international community. How can we fail to deplore the
procrastination and the attempts to torpedo the United Nations plan
for Namibia, when every day the Namibian people thirst for
independence, for which it will continue to pay a heavy price,
through the sufferings of freedom fighters who go as far as making
the supreme sacrifice to emancipate their homeland?
The Government of Rwanda, which has had the privilege and signal
honor of taking part in the delegation sent by the OAU to the Western
countries members of the contact group on Namibia, bitterly regrets
that this year is likely to end without the date on which the
Namibian people is to achieve self- determination and independence
being firmly set. In this connection my delegation would like to
reaffirm the conviction of the Government of Rwanda that the United
Nations plan for Namibia remains the only realistic framework for any
initiative pertaining to the future of the Namibian people. That is
why the five Western countries that make up the contact group cannot
bow out without betraying the hopes and desires that the overwhelming
majority of the international community have for Namibia. That is why
those countries should be encouraged to show greater determination,
willingness and commitment to compel South Africa to agree to strict
implementation of Security Council resolution 435 (1978).
The right of the Namibian people to self-determination and
independence should not, under any circumstance or any pretext, be
sacrificed to the selfish interests of certain States Members of the
United Nations, States which, deaf to the repeated appeals of the
international community, happily continue their collaboration with
the Pretoria regime in economic, military and other matters.
The accession of Namibia to independence is an inevitable process
which goes along with the tide of history. It is thus absolutely
necessary for the Namibian people to be able without further delay to
exercise its right to decide on its future for itself in complete
independence and to choose for itself, free of any external
interference, the political regime and socioeconomic system that
would be in keeping with its legitimate aspirations.
In recalling this position the Rwandese delegation once again hails
the nationalist and anti-colonialist struggle being waged by that
valiant people of heroes and martyrs under the aegis of SWAPO, its
sole legitimate representative, to which Rwanda solemnly reiterates
its unflagging support.
The return to the policy of gunboat diplomacy and the wanton and
exclusive quest for spheres of influence, which sacrifice principles
sacred to the entire international community as well as the
elementary rights of peoples, will in no way affect the justness of
the cause of the Namibian people. It will at the most delay matters;
it will not at all undermine the heroism of that people.
I should also like to express the Rwandese Government's solidarity
with the front-line States of southern Africa and more specifically
the People's Republic of Angola and Mozambique, which are constantly
victims of the bloody, barbarous aggressions and acts of sabotage in
which the racist minority regime of South Africa takes pleasure.
In South Africa itself the proponents of apartheid-the iniquitous,
hateful and inhuman policy they have established as a system of
Government, thus enshrining racism and racial segregation as State
policy-are attempting to maintain domination without regard for
morality and right. So it is-and this is only one of many
examples-that they install the majority of the population in
so-called independent Bantustans and have recourse to ignoble
practices such as assassination, kidnapping, torture and imprisonment
against nationalists.
This regime, which has been abhorred by the great majority of Member
States, furthermore stubbornly defies the international community by
terrorizing all of southern Africa through armed invasions,
assassinations, massacres, infiltration, political de- stabilization
and acts of economic sabotage against neighboring States. Quite
obviously such practices amount to a desperate strategy in the face
of the sacred cause of the liberation of peoples defense of which is
daily mobilizing greater strength and determination within South
Africa itself. That tangible progress compels the South African
Fascists to launch escalated guerrilla warfare and frequently to
resort to the use of bands of mercenaries.
In this context, in this International Year of Mobilization for
Sanctions against South Africa it is important that the diplomatic
world redouble its efforts to isolate completely the minority racist
regime in South Africa, politically, economically and militarily.
The situation in Chad is also a matter of concern to the African
continent. The fratricidal conflict which has ravished that country
has seemed for some months now to have died down to some extent, but
what is temporary threatens to last, jeopardizing the settlement of
the crisis, unless all the protagonists abandon once and for all
their bitterness and resolutely commit themselves in a spirit of
national reconciliation to the quest for a peaceful solution which
will safeguard the higher interests of their country and, especially,
preserve its territorial integrity. Such a development is an
important prerequisite for the reconstruction and development of that
country, tom by internecine strife. That reconstruction and
development will be the taskof all its vital forces, and Member
States will not spare their support in this long-term endeavor,
thereby showing the value they attach to the maintenance of peace and
security, which the people of Chad so badly need.
Still in Africa, the question of Western Sahara is also a topical one
and a major concern for our continent. For my country, the essential
aspect of this issue is the need to apply the universal principle of
the right of peoples to self-determination. It is in that spirit
that, since 1976, it has recognized the Sahraoui Arab Democratic
Republic.
Reference to the principles which inspire and underlie international
ethics and politics requires that the African countries, which have
always shown their support for peoples struggling for recognition of
their right to self-determination, bury their disputes on Western
Sahara in order to preserve their vital unity in the OAU, without
denying the principles they have freely subscribed to or sacrificing
either the interests or the rights of the Sahraoui people.
Other fratricidal conflicts which play their part in the
proliferation of areas of tension continue in Africa, where they
seriously threaten peace, security and stability in the regions and
areas concerned and could encourage outside interference.
With full respect for the sovereignty of other States, the position
of Rwanda with regard to these conflicts and tensions, which
constitute grave obstacles to development, is to put its trust in the
wisdom of the parties involved and hope that the spirit of
conciliation will prevail over hatred and that recourse to compromise
solutions will help to preserve peace, security and stability in
Africa, with strict respect for the principles of the charter of the
OAU and that of the United Nations.
For more than 30 years tension and murderous confusion have persisted
in the Middle East, against the background of the intolerable
martyrdom constantly imposed on the Palestinian people. Today more
than ever this troubled region is characterized by the intransigence
and barbarity of the State of Israel, which scorns the decisions of
the international community and resorts to the policy of an ostrich,
burying its head and refusing to recognize the right of the
Palestinian people to self-determination. In the orgy of fire and
Mood of which Lebanon has recently been the scene, this year has been
marked by an unprecedented increase in acts of violence, launched by
Israel on the pretext of reprisals against the PLO and of
self-defense against the other States in the region.
At the same time, the repression in the occupied Arab territories has
never been so brutal and savage. Armed with its arrogance, which has
been denounced and condemned many times by the Assembly, Israel
arrogates to itself the right to annex the Syrian Golan Heights in
flagrant violation of the Charter and of the established principles
of international law. Its invasion of Lebanon, its provocation and
harassment of all kinds in the occupied territories and the
establishment of new settlements are all elements which clearly
illustrate Israel's contempt for international morality and ethics as
affirmed in many resolutions of the United Nations, to which that
ungrateful State owes its birth.
The many repercussions of the situation in the Middle East
demonstrate the absolute and imperative need for a comprehensive
solution. In this context, Rwanda remains convinced that any just and
lasting solution in this region must necessarily involve the
restoration to the Palestinian people of its fundamental and
legitimate rights, especially its right to self-determination, the
right to its own homeland to establish there, under the aegis of the
PLO, its sole legitimate representative, the governmental structures
of its choice. As long as this key problem is not satisfactorily
solved, as long as the State of Israel refuses to return the Arab
territories it has been occupying by force since 1967, including the
Holy City of Jerusalem, as long as it persists in rejecting full
participation by the PLO in the initiatives designed to promote the
peace process in the Middle East, it will be an illusion to expect
positive and constructive developments in this region so vital to
international peace and security.
The diaspora imposed on the valiant Palestinian people will not give
the slightest legitimacy to acts designed to stifle its legitimate
aspirations, any more than the policy of terror and occupation of the
Israeli Government will deflect the international community from its
duty to promote, everywhere and in all circumstances, peace and
justice, which are the foundations of the Charter.
Above and beyond the Israeli-Arab conflict, the state of war which
persists between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite the
many attempts at mediation, also continues to be a cause of deep
concern in that already explosive region and for the whole of the
international community. That war, in which the victims can be
counted in thousands, is seriously disrupting the economies of the
two parties to the conflict, for which it involves a considerable
loss of business. The Rwandese delegation pays a tribute to all
people of good will who have spared no effort to seek a settlement of
this fratricidal conflict. Rwanda hopes that these two non-aligned
countries which, furthermore, have the some Islamic faith, will not
remain deaf to the urgent appeals of the international community
urging them to find once again the way to concord and co-operation,
instead of following the easy way which leads to hatred and
destruction, and so that they may seek the honor of promoting peace,
understanding and co-operation.
In central Asia, the Afghan crisis persists and clearly shows the
precariousness and fragile nature of East-West detente. The events
which have occurred in Afghanistan have in fact provoked a deep
division in the policy of detente, a division which has increased
following the Polish crisis, exacerbating suspicions which have
become only too commonplace when they involve a struggle for
influence on the international scene.
Rwanda believes in the need to establish and develop a calmer climate
which may allow all nations to make further development efforts.
Rwanda feels at the same time that attempts to promote detente cannot
exclude the third world in general, and Africa in particular, without
running the risk of being ineffective.
In Indo-China, Kampuchea is still torn asunder by a continuing
fratricidal struggle, with outside interference, for the control of
power.
The Rwandese Government believes that respect for the sovereignty of
States, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries
and the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes should allow for
an end to such conflicts, which are obstacles to the security and
peace needed by the international community, for they go hand in hand
with the arms race.
As regards divided nations, Rwanda supports the right of peoples
directly concerned in this problem to seek ways and means to
rediscover their unity. They should exercise this right peacefully,
free from any interference or outside pressure.
It is with this in view that the Rwandese Republic remains firmly
convinced that the Korean nation cannot achieve its reunification
unless all foreign troops withdraw from that area.
The Rwandese Government also considers that current relations between
the two German States are a reflection of the spirit of detente which
underlies their relations. The co-operation established between those
two States should attenuate at least to some degree the effects of
division and gradually create a political climate which will not
exclude the idea of a free and peaceful reunification of the German
nation.
Our concern in the face of an increase of areas of tension and the
persistence of conflicts should not lead us to forget that the
greatest danger to international peace and security is the unbridled
arms race which causes the threat of an unprecedented holocaust to
loom large over the world.
The second special session on disarmament, which was of such great
interest to the General Assembly, showed sufficiently that the
provisions of the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the
General Assembly were not applied in a satisfactory manner.
The dawning of an era of peace, progress and justice for all peoples
is still impeded by the constant increase and spectacular improvement
of massive means of destruction. Research programmes and military
development in this regard are disquieting, for immense financial,
material and human resources are being increasingly mobilized to
refine the techniques of the extermination of the human race, thereby
increasing the risk of conflict and conflagration.
The Rwandese Government solemnly reiterates its appeal that this
formidable scientific and technological potential, as well as the
financial means and human resources which allow for its development,
be further exploited for peaceful purposes, especially to reduce the
gap separating the wealthy from the still developing countries.
Will the international community be able to face the great challenge
of our century, that is, the close relationship between disarmament
and development? This is the outlook which all States Members of the
United Nations-especially the developed countries in general and the
great Powers in particular-should adopt in seeking elements of a
solution to the problems of our times, without any ulterior motive or
evasion, but armed first and foremost with the firm determination and
genuine will to promote concord, solidarity and co-operation among
all peoples.
This is the message of hope which I wish to transmit from this
rostrum on behalf of the Government and people of Rwanda, in the
conviction that the work of this thirty-seventh session of the
General Assembly will lead to results specifically in keeping with
the expectations of the United Nations, the Organization which is
responsible to the whole international community for results which
will consolidate and enhance its prestige.


At the outset, Sir, I wish to congratulate you on
your election as President of the Genera]
Assembly of the thirty-seventh session. My
delegation is pleased to see you direct the
proceedings of the General Assembly, because you
represent a friendly country with which my
country maintains very close relations, and also
because of your wisdom, experience and ability,
which qualify you to shoulder that responsibility
and make it likely that you will achieve the best
of results. I should like also to pay a tribute
and to express my thanks to your predecessor, Mr.
Ismat Kittani, head of the fraternal delegation
of Iraq, for the excellent manner in which he
directed the proceedings of the General Assembly
during the last session, and the great ability he
displayed. It is also my pleasure to commend the
efforts being made by the Secretary-General to
strengthen the role of the Organization and to
increase its efficiency.
1.	Sir, you have assumed the presidency of
the General Assembly at a most difficult time, a
time of increasing dangers and proliferating
hotbeds of tension, and of problems causing
instability in international peace and security.
It is a time when the world's peoples, especially
the smaller ones, are concerned for their
destiny and their freedom. We note that the
clatter of weapons is louder than the voice of
reason, that right has become has become the
prerogative of the strong and that the capability
of the United Nations has sunk to an
unprecedented tow. Disappointment at that was
ctearly expressed by the Secretary-General in his
report on the work of the Organization, in which
he said that
  The United Nations itself has been unable to
play as effective and decisive a role as the
Charter certainty envisaged for it.
  ... The Security Council, the primary organ of
the United Nations for the maintenance of
international peace and security, all too often
finds itself unable to take decisive action to
resolve international conflicts and its
recommendations are increasingly defied or
ignored by those that feel themselves strong
enough to do so
2.	The Socialist People's Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya shares the Secretary-General's views
in this regard. I should like in this context to
recall the letter sent by the Leader of the
Revolution, brother Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, to
the Secretary-General on 20 September 1982 in the
wake of the massacre of Palestinians in Beirut at
the hands of Israel and its agents:
  I regret to have to express to you and to the
world the bitter truth which I perceive in my
country, namely, that the second historic attempt
made by the peoples in 1943 (in San Francisco) to
establish an international organization to
prevent war and keep the peace has failed
utterly, as did the first attempt (i.e., the
League of Nations).
4. We have, however, the right to ask: where does
the responsibility for the inability of the
United Nations lie? Is it the responsibility of
the States Members of the United Nations? Or is
it the responsibility of the developing countries
which are systematical subjected to military
threat, economic blockade and political blackmail?
3. The responsibility, as we see it, lies in the
structure of the main organ of the Organization.
It is the Security Council which has become an
instrument to protect dictatorship for the
benefit of the permanent members of the Security
Council. Responsibility also lies in the abuse of
the right of veto by States members of the
Security Council in a manner that has made the
Council a vehicle for their own security,
encouraging the aggressive policies pursued by
their agents. The unlimited number of times that
the United States Administration has used the
right of veto to prevent the Council from
condemning the Zionist entity's aggressive acts
in the Arab region is clear evidence of the
policy of injustice being practiced under the
umbrella of the United Nations and the Security
Council. The reason for the inability of the
Organization lies also in the fact that the
right of veto that the members of the cub of
victors in the Second World War granted to
themselves was abused for the benefit of those
victors to maintain their balance of interests.
In their irresponsible exercise of the right of
veto, they turn the standard of democracy upside
down and subject the will of more than 130 States
Members of the Organization to the mercy of the
permanent members of the Security Council.
6. The Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,
after consulting a target number of Member
States, put forward a number of proposals to
abolish or amend the veto or to give greater
power to the General Assembly and make binding
its resolutions adopted by a two-thirds majority.
These proposals, however, met with rejection by
the great Powers which exercised pressure on
other, smaller countries to prevent the abolition
or amendment of the right of veto and to oppose
the principles of democracy and collective
responsibility for the maintenance of peace and
against the principle of equal sovereignty among
ail Member States, as provided for by the Charter.
7.	The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya still holds
that view and will continue to bring up the
subject as long as the veto continues to exist
and continues to be used against the struggles of
peoples. It represents dictatorship and
monopoly, and is contrary to the opinion of the
majority in favor of collective responsibility
and equality. We shall continue to hold these
views, regardless of the stand taken by the great
Powers, particularly the United States, which
most abuses its use of the veto, and without
regard to procedural manoeuvres to which they
have recourse.
8.	The time has come to look seriously into
the role of the Special Committee on the Charter
of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of
the Role of the Organization, because the
oppressed peoples of the world have almost lost
faith in the United Nations. We in the Libyan
Arab Jamahiriya realize the dangers that would
result from a loss of faith in our Organization.
That is why the leader of the great September
revolution made an appeal to enable the
Organization to fulfill its role in maintaining
peace and justice, because the dictatorial
practices carried out under its umbrella may
compel us to leave it and to urge other oppressed
peoples to seek their own special platform from
which to express their will and ambitions.
9.	The abolition of the right of veto or its
review, if viewed as a guarantee of democratic
practices, could enable the developing peoples to
regain their faith in the United Nations. My
country believes that, in reviewing the veto, the
following aspects should be taken into
consideration: first, the abolition of the veto
or its amendment which would allow its use by all
members, because if political dictatorship is to
be practiced, then it is only fair that it be
practiced by all; secondly, the Security Council
must be placed under the General Assembly, and
not the other way round, because in the General
Assembly resides the true will of the peoples and
nations of the world; and thirdly, the
maintenance of international peace and security
is the collective responsibility of all.
10.	The agenda of the current session of the
General Assembly is full of political and
economic issues, in addition to those of
liberation and colonialism. 1 shall allude to
those problems.
11.	The recent massacres committed by the
Zionist entity in Palestinian refugee camps in
Lebanon is evidence of the tragedy that has
befallen the cause of the just struggle of the
Palestinian people, and demonstrates the
aggressive, Fascist and racist nature of the
so-called State of Israel. It confirms beyond
doubt that the State of the Zionist entity is not
peace-loving and is a source of threat to
international peace and security.
12.	The continued occupation of the
Palestinian territories since 1948, the
annexation of the Golan Heights and the massacres
committed daily against the Palestinians and
Lebanese, must induce the international
community represented in the United Nations to
take practical measures to eliminate aggression
and occupation and to enable the Palestinian
people to return to its homeland.
13.	The practical measures envisaged by my
country are as follows: first, the expulsion of
the Zionist entity from the General Assembly, on
the grounds that the Israelis and their State are
not peace-loving, and in accordance with the
resolutions adopted by the General Assembly at
its ninth emergency special session, at which it
debated Israel's repeated aggression against the
Arab territories; secondly, the halting of
military, material and political support provided
by the United States Administration, which
exceeds $10 million daily, because we see that
support as encouragement for Israel to continue
its constant aggression against the Arabs and its
challenge to the resolutions of the international
community; thirdly, the economic boycott of the
Zionist entity in implementation of the
resolutions of the General Assembly, on the
grounds that Israel is occupying Arab territories
by force, and because of its disregard of the
resolutions of the international community. If
some were able to impose an economic boycott on
Argentina for demanding territories that belong
to it, one wonders how it is that an economic
boycott is not imposed on a Member of the United
Nations that all have admitted is not
peace-loving and is a threat to international
peace and securityóand by that I mean Israel;
fourthly, the halt of immigration, particularly
that coming to occupied Palestine from Eastern
bloc countries, because the immigrants are
primarily citizens of those countries, and
because their continued influx into occupied
Palestine represents an increase in Israel's
human and military capacity to continue to
exercise a policy of aggression and occupation.
14.	The political solutions proposed for the
Palestine question come at a time when the United
Nations is apparently unable to check Israeli
intransigence. That is in addition to the
inability of the Organization to stand against
support of the American Government for Israel's
aggressive policies. We therefore not see in the
initiatives undertaken by the United States
Administration a valid basis for any just peace.
13. The United States peace initiative ignores
the resolutions of the United Nations, the
Organization of African Unity  and the group of
non-aligned countries, which affirm the right of
the Palestinian people to determine their own
destiny and establish their own independent State
under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation
Organization [PLO], their legitimate and sole
representative. Furthermore, the peace initiative
put forward by the Twelfth Arab Summit
Conference, held at Fez, is too optimistic; it
has much good will but does not recognize the
true nature of the Zionist entity. It runs
counter to the following logical facts.
16.	History has taught us that the occupier,
the aggressor, is the one that puts forward
political initiatives to those under its
occupation. The only initiative that can be put
forward by a colonized people is armed struggle.
On what logic should the Arabs come up with peace
initiatives when the American people, with French
assistance, confronted British colonialism and
Europe confronted Nazi occupation in defense of
peace and freedom?
17.	The Security Council must guarantee the
security of all States in the region and that
assumes two things, namely: that Israel is
threatened by its Arab neighborsówhich is
contrary to the truth, for Israel is the constant
aggressor that threatens Arab security, and,
furthermore, Israel's security and its policy of
aggression are guaranteed by the United States
militarily and financially; and that the Arab
peace plan would have the Security Council
guarantee the security of all States in the
region. That represents recognition of Israel. We
wonder how we can ask for protection and
recognition of a State the established political
schemes of which include the occupation of Arab
territories and the policy of genocide and
displacement pursued by it against the Arab
peoples in Palestine and Lebanon.
18. Any real peace initiative must come through
the United Nations, in spite of its weakness.
Peace initiatives now coming from the Arabs are
taken under the pressure of an Israeli force
supported by the United States and under the
United States threat to and blackmail of the
Arabs.
19.	The present Government of the United
States of America is increasing its acts of
intervention and pressure for the purpose of
achieving political, economic and military
hegemony. It has gone back to the policy of
installing military bases in many parts of the
world. It has used its war fleets to practice
terrorism along the shores of non-aligned
countries, as it did in August 1981 to my
country, thereby violating our sovereignty over
our territorial waters. The last act of
aggression was on 3 September 1982, when a United
States aircraft violated our airspace at 7.59
p.m. It was an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.
Our air defenses downed it in the Benghazi area,
and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya will submit the
documents and facts on this aggression to the
President of the Security Council and to the
Secretary- General.
20.	Also, in August 1981 the American
Government launched a propaganda campaign of
falsehoods and imposed an economic embargo
against Libya. It started to incite other
countries to follow its example on false
pretexts, such as the alleged sending of a death
squad to assassinate President Reaganówhich
proved to be only the product of the imagination
of certain officials in the United States
Administration in collaboration with the Zionist
intelligence service.
21.	The United States Administration's
practice of threatening the Caribbean countries
and its attempts to prevent them from exercising
their free will prove the imperialist nature of
the United States Administration. The aggressive
policies pursued by that Administration against
Cuba, Nicaragua, Grenada and the people of El
Salvador are examples of the United States
policy, the aim of which is to create hotbeds of
tension and instability in the world,
particularly in the Middle East and southern
Africa.
22.	The issues of disarmament and the
strengthening of international security are among
the most serious and complicated matters facing
our world today. They have been at the centre of
attention for the international community for
many years. This attention has been reflected in
the convening of numerous conferences since
1932, in particular the two special sessions of
the General Assembly devoted to disarmament, the
first in 1978 and the second this year, and also
in the resolutions adopted in this regard.
However, we see no signs on the horizon that
progress in this respect is being achieved. On
the contrary, the arms race has continued,
especially between the superpowers in the nuclear
field, with the development of new weapons
systems, such as the neutron bomb, and the
continued promotion of certain dangerous
theories, such as those of nuclear deterrence,
strategic balance and a limited nuclear war that
can be won, as well as the horizontal
proliferation of nuclear weapons, not to mention
the reported and manifest acquisition of nuclear
weapons by the racist regimes of the Zionist
entity and Pretoria.
23.	The issue of disarmament is not just a
military one; it is also an economic, social and
political issue. In the study carried out by the
United Nations entitled the relationship between
disarmament and development it is stated that
1,500 million people do not have access to
effective medical services, nearly 570 million
suffer from severe malnutrition, 800 million are
illiterate and 250 million children do not attend
school. This was at a time, 1981, when the world
expenditure for military purposes exceeded $600
billion.
24.	In addition to these negative
developments in the field of disarmament, in
recent years we have witnessed a deterioration in
international relations as a result of the
violation of the Charter and international
principles, in particular those relating to the
right to sovereignty, independence,
non-intervention and the non-use of force in
international relations and the continued spread
of the areas of war and hotbeds of tension.
25.	In the African continent the policy of
apartheid pursued by the racist regime in South
Africa continues unabated in spite of the
frequent condemnation by the Organization, which
considers it a crime against humanity. However,
because of the assistance given to that regime by
the colonialists, especially the United States,
this abhorrent policy continues to be practiced
against African nationalists.
26.	In Namibia the Pretoria regime continues,
through its illegal administration, to oppress
the black citizens and plunder the resources of
that Territory, in collaboration with
multinational corporations of Western countries
which have impeded the implementation of
Security Council resolution 435 (1978), which
contains a plan for the independence of the
Territory. In this connection, the role of the
Europeans is complementary to that of the
Americans in trying to achieve independence for
Namibia in accordance with Western schemes which
hav6 nothing to do with Security Council
resolutions. One of the latest obstacles created
by the United States Administration was the
linking of the subject of Namibia's independence
to the evacuation of Cuban forces from Angola,
which amounts to interference in the affairs of
an independent sovereign State, which has the
right to protect itself and seek help from any
State as it sees fit.
27.	The aggressive and racist practices of
the Pretoria regime are not directed against the
black citizens of Namibia and South Africa only;
they have been extended to include the
neighbouring countries, namely, the front-line
States. Attacks have been frequent, especially
against the territory of Angola. In this respect,
my country declares its support and backing for
the struggle of the African citizens of Namibia
and South Africa and for the steadfastness of the
front-line States; we commend those States and
are proud of their steadfastness.
28.	Colonialism and its surrogates, as well
as the exploitative companies, continue to pursue
their ambitions with tenacity and are prepared
to intervene in any country that is ruled by a
progressive and non-aligned regime desiring to
free itself politically and economically. This
was clear in the aggression against the
Jamahiriya and also in that against the Republic
of Seychelles, which was subjected to subversive
actions perpetrated by external elements that
wanted to create a state of anarchy and
instability in order to bring down its
progressive regime and replace it by one
subservient to colonialism and under its
political and economic influence. However, the
people of Seychelles were able to overcome and
thwart those acts of aggression. We in the
Jamahiriya, together with the forces of progress
and freedom^ support the people and the
Government of Seychelles against any foreign
maneuvers.
29.	One of the regions that experience
tension as a result of intervention and the
installation of foreign bases is Central America,
where the people of Nicaragua are struggling
against the intervention of the United States of
America, which has been training hostile elements
and sending them to Nicaragua to carry out acts
of terrorism and subversion.
30.	We are witnessing a liberation movement
sweeping through Central America. We see the
United States attempting to stifle that movement,
as is happening now in El Salvador and Guatemala,
in addition to its constant threats and
aggression against Cuba and the usurpation of the
Puerto Rican people's right to independence.
31.	My country supports the struggle of the
peoples of Latin America against United States
imperialism and affirms its unlimited support for
Cuba and Nicaragua in their confrontation with
the American policy of aggression.
32.	My country followed with increasing
concern the war which was forced on Argentina to
recover the Malvinas Islands from British
control. Anyone reflecting on that war and the
way it developed would be shocked by the
following facts. First, the United States claim
that it belongs to the group of American States
is only a covey for the protection of American
interests and the Fascist regimes which are
satellites of the United States Administration.
The United States has revealed its imperialist
nature and supported the British aggression
carried out against the Malvinas Islands.
Secondly, the British presence in the Malvinas
Islands is but a vestige of the old colonialism
which divided the world into spheres of influence
among the strong and used its control to implant
communities that did not belong originally to the
indigenous populations of the occupied
territories. Thirdly, the Malvinas war
emphasizes the inevitable confrontation between
the imperialist Powers and the third world
countries, which have to realize that all that
the super-Powers aim at is to have greater
domination and wider spheres of influence.
33.	Therefore my country supports Argentina's
right to sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands
and calls upon the international community to use
all possible peaceful means to ensure finally the
ending of the British colonization of the
Malvinas Islands.
34.	The United States exploitation of
internal strife in certain countries of Asia
aggravates tension in the region. The Afghan war
and the situation in Kampuchea represent areas
of tension in South-East Asia aggravated by
foreign interference in the affairs of those
countries. Therefore my country affirms the right
of those peoples to exercise their freedom of
choice. My country supports the principle that
Afghanistan should be an independent, non-aligned
country following the path of progressive Islamic
States.
35.	The question of Western Sahara continues
to be one of the primary issues facing the
Organization and there is the threat of American
imperialist interference. We therefore emphasize
that the Organization should assume its
responsibility by affirming the right of the
Sahraoui people to free self-determination,
alongside the African peoples which have
exercised their right to freedom and sovereignty
over their territories.
36.	The question of Cyprus is one that has
been before the United Nations for a long time
without any comprehensive solution being found.
My country supports direct negotiations between
the Turkish and Greek communities of Cyprus with
a view to finding a just solution to this problem
which would guarantee the independence and
neutrality of Cyprus.
37.	The situation in the Mediterranean has
become dangerous as a result of the increasing
pressures of foreign war fleets and military
bases, especially American fleets and bases,
which have become a source of concern and a
subversive element, threatening the security of
Mediterranean countries. Everybody has heard
about the United States Sixth Fleet, which is
deployed constantly off the Libyan shore and
carries out provocative maneuvers, some of which
were in Libyan territorial waters.
38.	It is our desire that that sea become a
lake of peace, free from foreign fleets and bases
and hotbeds of tension. Believing in the
necessity of realizing this objective, the
Jamahiriya has moved to settle the dispute
between itself and its neighbor, the sister State
of Tunisia, over the continental shelf. The
International Court of Justice delivered its
judgment in the case on 24 February 1982. The
dispute with Malta over the delimitation of the
continental shelf has likewise been referred to
the International Court of Justice.
39.	The effects of the acts of confrontation
and war have sometimes extended to societies
which have not participated in such acts and are
not parties to them. This is evidenced by the
tragedies and consequences of the Second World
War which continue to surface in my country,
causing economic, social and environmental
problems. The minefields planted by the warring
forces over vast tracts of territory in my
country have delayed the carrying out of
development projects and raised the cost of such
projects, in particular that of prospecting for
minerals.
40.	This problem has been discussed at
meetings of the non-aligned movement and here in
the Assembly, and several resolutions have been
adopted in this regard, affirming the
responsibility of the countries that planted
those mines to compensate the affected countries
for the material and moral losses caused by this
problem and calling for co-operation in the
provision of information about and maps of those
minefields.
41.	The relevant decisions of international
and regional organizations, conventions and
international laws require the States which
participated in the Second World War and their
allies who planted mines in Libyan territory to
shoulder the responsibility, pay the required
compensation and co-operate in the final solution
of this problem. Accordingly, my country hopes
that such States and the United Nations will take
practical measures to place the responsibility
where it belongs and guarantee the right of the
affected States to compensation for the damage
sustained by them as a result of the effects and
vestiges of war.