It is with real pleasure and great interest that I stand before
the Assembly to convey the warm greetings of the people
of Guinea and of its President, General Lansana Conte. I
join with the many preceding speakers in warmly
congratulating Ambassador Razali on his election to the
presidency of the fifty-first session of the General
Assembly. His election is testimony to the international
community’s high regard for Malaysia, his country, with
which the Republic of Guinea is honoured to have special
ties of friendship and cooperation. I am convinced that
under his skilful guidance our work will enjoy every
success. I assure him of the support and cooperation of the
delegation of Guinea in this task.
My congratulations also go to his predecessor,
Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral of Portugal who, with skill
and clearsightedness, enabled the Assembly to address the
concerns of the international community during the
fiftieth session.
My country, the Republic of Guinea, takes this
opportunity to greet and stress our tribute to the
Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, whose
courage, intelligence and tireless efforts have contributed
significantly to the attainment of the Organization’s noble
purposes of peace, justice and progress. This is why my
delegation reiterates its support for his candidacy for a
second term of office, in accordance with the decision of
the most recent Summit Meeting of the Organization of
African Unity, held at Yaounde from 8 to 10 July 1996.
A host of challenges are now threatening to upset
the balance of the United Nations as we approach the end
of the millennium. Despite encouraging results in terms
of maintaining international peace and security, many
conflicts incompatible with people’s aspirations of
economic and social progress persist.
In addition to the tensions and conflicts which are
tearing peoples apart, of equal concern are the poverty,
unemployment, malnutrition and environmental
degradation that continue to threaten the existence and
future of many populations of the world. Today more
than ever there is an urgent need radically to restructure
our common institution, the United Nations, so that it can
adapt better to current changes, respond appropriately to
the expectations of our populations on the major questions
which challenge humankind and make the outlook for the
future one filled with hope.
The need to prevent and settle conflicts, to support
the efforts of States to ensure sustainable development, to
provide easier access to suitable housing and to guarantee
sufficient food for all are now becoming elements of the
promotion of human rights. The same holds true for how
we deal with the implications of the globalization of the
international economy through reliable mechanisms.
The Republic of Guinea welcomes and strongly
encourages the initiative of Japan, our great friend, to
design and implement, with our countries, a new
development strategy. In this respect, it supports the
organization in 1997 in Tokyo of the second International
Conference on African Development in which it
undertakes to play an active role from the preparatory
phase to the end of its work. We are convinced that there
18

is an urgent need and obligation to support firmly a new
form of world partnership involving all nations, large and
small.
The Republic of Guinea, aware of the fresh challenges
facing developing countries on the eve of the third
millennium, has decided that its diplomacy should be based
on development. This role of diplomatic linchpin in the area
of economic advancement will not only strengthen our
commitment to subregional and regional integration, but
will also increase significantly our participation in
international trade.
Questions of international peace and security must
remain at the forefront of our concerns. In this respect, my
delegation considers that the main role of the United
Nations is to continue and intensify the search for ways and
means to increase the effectiveness of its action in the areas
of the maintenance of peace and of preventive diplomacy.
My delegation welcomes the adoption of the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which I have just
signed on behalf of the Government of Guinea. We see this
as an important step towards total disarmament. If the
Treaty is to attain all of its objectives, the main one being
to spare humanity from chaos, it must be signed and
respected by all States of the world. To do this, we must
calmly and jointly seek to give the assurances of the
international community to countries that hesitate to take
the decisive step towards the salvation of humanity, so that
in the near future the accession of all Member States of the
United Nations will enshrine the universality of this
important Treaty.
Along the same lines, my delegation calls on the
international community to implement global measures to
prohibit the illegal traffic of fissile materials, the
transborder trafficking in conventional small arms and the
production, stockpiling and use of anti-personnel landmines.
More than 110 million mines are now scattered around the
world, ready to explode at any time, indiscriminately
striking down innocent civilian populations.
The Republic of Guinea welcomes the adoption of the
text of Protocol II to the Convention on Prohibitions or
Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons
Which May be Deemed to Be excessively Injurious or to
Have Indiscriminate Effects, on Mines, Booby-Traps and
Other Such Devices during the Review Conference on the
implementation of that Convention.
Other threats weigh heavily on international peace
and security. Our Organization must react vigorously to
the threats of terrorism, organized crime and drug
trafficking.
Apart from their many disastrous consequences,
these threats, because they are transborder threats, must
be considered as real dangers to the health, security and
stability both of our populations and of our States.
My delegation, while welcoming the decisions of the
Group of Seven and Russia on combatting terrorism and
transnational threats, believes that a more complete use of
the potential of the United Nations as an instrument for
developing joint international strategies and cooperation
among all States in the area of fighting crime would
allow for more effective coordination of the actions of the
international community.
We greatly appreciate the United Nations efforts in
other areas as dangerous as terrorism: money-laundering,
trafficking in children and all related crimes. Fighting
these scourges of our time is everyone’s business.
In Africa, tangible progress has been made in the
area of peace and democracy. The Republic of Guinea,
however, remains concerned by the conflicts which
continue to rage on the continent. In the West African
subregion, the situations in Liberia and Sierra Leone have
tangibly improved, despite some obstacles, which we are
striving to overcome within the context of the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its
peace force, the ECOWAS Monitoring Group
(ECOMOG).
The conflict in Liberia has lasted for seven long
years. It has caused the death of tens of thousands of
people and has led to a mass exodus of hundreds of
thousands of refugees to neighbouring States, including
my country, the Republic of Guinea, on whose territory
are hundreds of thousands of refugees, to whom it offers
assistance and protection while at the same time
espousing total neutrality in relation to other States
members of ECOWAS in the search for a political
solution to end this conflict.
The joint efforts of that subregional organization
with such major forums as the Organization of African
Unity (OAU) and the United Nations led to the signing of
the most recent peace agreements at Abuja, Nigeria. The
Republic of Guinea, true to its policy of good-
neighbourliness and neutrality, firmly supports these
19

agreements, which provide for free and transparent elections
in May 1997, and will ensure their strict implementation.
An end to this conflict is of interest to the Republic of
Guinea, my country, mainly because of the presence on our
territory of more than 650,000 refugees compared with a
population of 7 million Guineans: one refugee for every 10
inhabitants. This is a situation with rare precedents.
Similarly, our participation in the peace effort places a
heavy burden on our economy and compromises many of
our development projects.
I would like to make an urgent appeal to all the parties
concerned with this conflict to implement the Abuja
Agreement in full, and in a timely manner, to the benefit of
stability in the subregion. The promises of assistance from
friendly countries and by the international community
could, if kept within the timetable, effectively lead the final
settlement plan to success. The initiatives under way in this
regard are very encouraging. We welcome the action of the
United States of America to assist ECOWAS peace efforts
and thank the United States warmly for its latest
contribution to the financing of the activities of ECOMOG.
The deterioration of the socio-political climate in
Burundi stirs fears today of a repetition of the threats
experienced in neighbouring Rwanda, a country with which
it shares many social, historical and cultural similarities.
The continuation of this crisis also poses a serious threat to
stability in the region and to peace. This is why the United
Nations, together with neighbouring countries, must be
further involved in the search for a final solution to this
crisis. We lend our full support to the recent decision taken
by the OAU and by the conference of Heads of State of the
Great Lakes region, held at Arusha, against the Government
stemming from the coup d’état. We urge all the sons of
Burundi and all those of good-will worldwide to support
OAU efforts towards the peaceful settlement of the crises
in Burundi and in Rwanda through dialogue, tolerance and
reconciliation among the various communities.
As regards Western Sahara, my Government supports
the international community’s efforts for a peaceful solution
to this question, in accordance with the United Nations
settlement plan.
With respect to Angola, my delegation strongly
encourages the Angolan Government and União Nacional
para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA) to
persevere along the path to peace and national
reconciliation on the basis of the implementation of and
respect for the Lusaka Protocol.
Regarding the situation in Somalia, we must say that
leaving Somalians to their fate would be contrary to the
United Nations ideal of solidarity. Despite the difficulties,
the United Nations must continue to be involved actively
in the process of restoring peace to that country, through
a continuous search for mechanisms to promote national
reconciliation, peace, security and stability in Somalia.
On the Middle East, my Government remains greatly
concerned by the latest developments in Jerusalem, in
Gaza and in the West Bank. The seriousness of these
events could jeopardize the peace process. We are
convinced that rapid approach of Palestinian autonomy in
the Gaza Strip, in Jericho and in the West Bank, and the
necessary continuation of the peace process are the
responsibility of the entire international community. This
is why my delegation solemnly calls upon all the parties
involved with the Middle East conflict, especially Israel
and its Arab neighbours, to continue courageously on the
path of peace, through the pursuit of negotiations, in
accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions
and the Peace Agreements.
The Republic of Guinea, convinced that dialogue,
the creation of a climate of mutual trust and a greater
mutual understanding constitute the only path towards a
lasting solution on the Korean peninsula, will continue to
encourage the two Korean States to persevere in their
efforts towards independent and peaceful reunification.
The signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995
has opened up fresh prospects for the restoration and
consolidation of peace in the Balkans. With the recent
elections in Bosnia, developments in the situation
strengthen the aspirations to peace, stability and security
of the region’s peoples. We must however remain
vigilant. In this respect, my delegation welcomes and
supports the efforts of the United Nations, of the
Implementation Force (IFOR) and of the international
criminal tribunal, aimed at consolidating peace and
prosecuting those responsible for crimes against humanity.
We invite the international community to display firmness
in dealing with this question, in order to extinguish any
re-emergence of the practices of “ethnic cleansing”. The
Organization of the Islamic Conference must be involved
more closely in the process begun in this country.
The situation in Jammu and Kashmir continues to
deteriorate. At its various summits and ministerial
conferences, the Organization of the Islamic Conference
has appealed to the international community to urge the
protagonists to abide by the relevant Security Council
20

resolutions and thus enable the Kashmiri people to exercise
freely its right to self-determination. We repeat this appeal,
and invite them to begin a constructive dialogue.
The Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference, which is chaired by
the Republic of Guinea, requests the United Nations and the
Security Council to shoulder all their responsibilities by
becoming decisively involved in the search for peace in the
Indian sub-continent. Security Council resolutions 47
(1948), 91 (1951) and 122 (1957) on Jammu and Kashmir,
which remain unimplemented after five decades, should not
remain among the forgotten resolutions of our system. The
Republic of Guinea therefore gives its full support to efforts
by the Government of Pakistan aimed at finding a peaceful
solution to the problem of Jammu and Kashmir through the
opening of talks with India.
My country follows the development of the situation
in Afghanistan with the greatest attention. It urges all the
parties concerned to work fraternally for the restoration of
peace and for national reconciliation.
In the context of its actions within the Organization of
the Islamic Conference, of which it is a founding member
and current Chairman of its Council of Ministers for
Foreign Affairs, the Republic of Guinea — a secular
country with a strong Muslim majority — is dedicated to
promoting understanding and tolerance among civilizations,
cultures and religions and to contributing to the rise of the
forces of progress, justice and democracy in Muslim
regions and in the world beyond.
At a time when the world is experiencing profound
changes of unequalled complexity and scope, it is essential
to promote and consolidate an international environment
that will foster peace, growth and development. It is
regrettable that Africa does not play a greater role in major
international negotiations. We must not continue to be
spectators while the rest of the world carries out
negotiations which involve us directly or indirectly. We are
convinced that Africa has a role to play in this area.
In the new configuration of today’s world, a country
such as the Republic of Guinea — through its policy of
peace and because its interests do not diverge from those of
other regions of the world; through the nature of its
sometimes exceptional relations with the parties in latent or
overt conflicts in various regions; through its membership
in several geo-political groups, several cultural zones and
several continental and non-African organizations — could,
where desirable, play a useful role in international
negotiations.
The permanence and fairness of development will be
illusory so long as modalities that preserve and perpetuate
present inequalities continue to govern international
relations. Economic and social development, whose
correlation with international peace and security is clear,
requires of States and of the international institutions that
are our development partners a pragmatic and coherent
approach which takes into account the specific socio-
economic needs and realities of our States.
My delegation is pleased with the efforts that have
already been made in the area of debt relief for
developing countries and appeals to the solidarity of the
international community for a real increase in
development assistance, whose current tendency to
decrease is a real source of concern for us in the face of
our pressing development needs. In this regard, we
welcome the decisions of the last summit of the Group of
Seven, held at Lyon.
Although the conclusion of the Uruguay Round
opens up new prospects for the stimulation of
international trade, it is essential to introduce new,
energetic measures to save Africa from marginalization
and impoverishment. It is a human, social, political and
economic imperative for the international community and
for all the actors and partners in development, in their
own specific actions, to work responsibly for a more just
and equitable framework for international trade, favouring
a free and democratic economic partnership.
We therefore congratulate the Secretary-General,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali for his praiseworthy efforts
which have made it possible to develop the United
Nations System-wide Special Initiative for Africa. My
country would like to express the hope that this will not
suffer from the same lethargy which the United Nations
Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery
and Development suffered from. Such a failure would be
highly prejudicial and damaging to the credibility of the
United Nations. In this regard, my delegation seeks the
urgent implementation of this ambitious Initiative, for it
is undeniable that it is one of the best ways of giving
development a chance and new hope for future
generations.
We would also like to express our satisfaction at the
convening of the second United Nations Conference on
Human Settlements and to support the important
21

resolutions arising from that Conference promoting access
to suitable housing for all.
Along these lines, my delegation would like to take
this opportunity to welcome the holding of the World Food
Summit, which will take place from 13 to 17 November
1996 at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations.
My Government believes that the enhancement of our
Organization’s effectiveness lies above all in the
redefinition of some of its objectives, especially in adapting
the functioning of its organs to reflect better the new face
of international relations. With regard to the Security
Council, my Government fully supports the review and
expansion of its current composition on the basis of
equitable geographical representation so that the southern
hemisphere — which since 1945 has been the theatre of
many conflicts — can participate in its activities which are
fundamental to the maintenance of international peace and
security.
My wish, therefore, is for the United Nations to carry
out its restructuring. Whether with regard to revitalizing the
General Assembly and its organs, to expanding or
strengthening the Security Council, to rationalizing
activities and procedures, to redefining programmes and
mandates or to consolidating the financial and material
bases of the Organization, all Member States must work
with courage, clarity and a high sense of responsibility for
the proper implementation of these reforms in order to give
the United Nations reliable and effective institutions worthy
of the vision and aspirations of our peoples.
That is why my delegation, while expressing its
satisfaction at the evident willingness and efforts of our
Organization to adapt to the world’s changes, is in favour
of strengthening its potential and improving the interaction
among the various organizations of the United Nations
system and other development partners.
In conclusion, the Republic of Guinea would like to
express the hope that courageous and realistic decisions will
come out of the work of this session, and it remains
convinced that — apart from divergences and differences
in approach in the search for ways and means to achieve
solutions to the problems facing our States — the United
Nations community which we constitute will continue to
work successfully for peace, security and the well-being of
all, in the spirit of active solidarity, as the founding fathers
of this Organization dreamed.


Allow me, at the outset, to warmly congratulate
His Excellency Mr. Razali Ismail, on behalf of the
Cambodian delegation, on his election to the post of
President of this Assembly. His election is a tribute to his
professionalism, as well as to his country, Malaysia, with
which Cambodia has traditionally entertained close and
cordial relations. My delegation is convinced that with his
competence and experience, Ambassador Ismail will guide
our session with wisdom and perspicacity to a successful
conclusion.
My delegation would also like to congratulate and
thank His Excellency Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral of
Portugal for his successful presidency of the General
Assembly’s fiftieth session.
I wish also to take this opportunity to express our deep
appreciation to an individual to whom the Royal Kingdom
of Cambodia owes profound gratitude for the role he has
played in the peace process in our country — the Secretary-
General of the United Nations, Mr. Boutros Boutros-
Ghali — for his performance and sincere dedication in
accomplishing this lofty mission.
(spoke in English)
The forthcoming 23 October will be the fifth
anniversary of the signing of the Agreement on a
Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia
Conflict. The Royal Government and people of Cambodia
will mark this historic event with a nationwide celebration.
The Agreement was forged
“to maintain, preserve and defend the sovereignty,
independence, territorial integrity and inviolability,
neutrality and national unity of Cambodia” (Agreement
on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the
Cambodia Conflict, DPI/1180-92077, p. 8, para. 3)
through the restoration of peace and the promotion of
national reconciliation in the country. The Cambodian
people will always remember the sacrifices made by the
international community on their behalf, especially those
eminent persons who dedicated themselves to the cause of
peace and democracy in our country. We are indeed
indebted to them all and remain deeply grateful for their
continued contribution to the reconstruction and
development of Cambodia, allowing it once more to take
its proper place in the concert of nations.
The Royal Government of Cambodia, presided over
by His Royal Highness Samdech Krom Preah Norodom
Ranariddh and His Excellency Samdech Hun Sen, was
born of a free and fair election organized and supervised
by the United Nations in May 1993. It is now barely three
years old, but thanks to the determination of the
Cambodian people and the invaluable assistance and
support given by this world body and its agencies, other
international organizations and friendly countries, the
rebuilding of Cambodia has proceeded apace.
In “An Agenda for Peace”, His Excellency the
Secretary-General Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali spoke of the
need for the United Nations to give careful consideration
to the requirements of post-conflict peace-building. As
can be seen from the Cambodian experience, this is a
complex and multifaceted process. The Secretary-
General’s Representative in Cambodia The Honourable
Benny Widyono commented in a recent article that
“post-conflict peace-building is not just a collection
of disjointed activities. It requires a holistic concept
encompassing political, institutional, legal, economic
and social objectives.”
This holistic approach has also been very rapidly
recognized by the Royal Government. Nine months after
the general elections, it launched the National Programme
for the Rehabilitation and the Development of Cambodia,
in February 1994. At the same time, it was able to ensure
political stability, improve security and engineer a rapid
economic recovery, as reflected by a strong gross
domestic product growth of 7.6 per cent, an inflation rate
kept at 3.5 per cent and a stable exchange rate of the
national currency throughout 1995. These figures,
combined with a liberal investment law and a low gross
domestic product of $287 per capita, are providing strong
incentives for foreign direct investment, in particular now
13

that Cambodia enjoys most-favoured-nation status with the
United States, the European Union and other important
countries in the world. Soon Cambodia hopes to obtain
Generalized System of Preferences status.
In pursuing its aims of structural reforms and
development while seeking to improve the quality of life of
its citizens, the Royal Government is conscious of the need
for environmental protection. Cambodia has become a
signatory of the United Nations Convention on Biological
Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification in
Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or
Desertification. The Government is ever mindful of its
responsibility to protect Cambodia’s rich natural heritage,
in the interests both of its people and of the world at large.
Therefore, as stated by the First Prime Minister at the First
Consultative Group Meeting, held last July in Tokyo, the
Royal Government is committed to implementing a
sustainable and transparent forest policy in line with the
recommendations put forward in a joint study made by the
World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO).
Being profoundly conscious that development requires
security, problems linked with the Khmer Rouge have to be
addressed through their reintegration into the national fold,
and through the long-term policy of development of rural
areas. Military operations near the northwestern border are
designed to gradually reduce the nuisance they pose and to
convince them to join the national community. National
unity remains the target of the Cambodian Government.
The recent massive breakaway of the core groups of the
Khmer Rouge testifies to the correctness of the Royal
Government’s approach.
Recognizing that Cambodia’s tragic recent history
requires special measures to assure the protection of human
rights and the non-return to the policies and practices of the
past, the Royal Government has pursued an active policy to
ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms
for all in Cambodia without discrimination as to race, sex
or religion. In these efforts, it has received the technical
assistance of the United Nations Centre for Human Rights,
for which the Royal Government is greatly appreciative. In
particular, Cambodia acknowledges the valued contribution
of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for
Human Rights, Ambassador Thomas Hammarberg.
Mindful that human rights encompass political rights,
the Kingdom of Cambodia adopted a policy of liberal
democracy and pluralism, as stated in article 51 of the
Constitution of the Kingdom, in 1993. This includes the
free exercise of political choice. In respect of its solemn
commitment to the Constitution, the Royal Government
is making preparations for the holding of local elections
in 1997 and national elections in 1998. To this end, it
welcomes international technical and financial assistance,
as well as international observers.
The achievements of the Royal Government in a
short period of time have given it the confidence to
pursue efforts towards the declared aims of building a
State governed by the rule of law, a market system that
secures social benefits and ensuring the long term and
sustainable development of the national economy within
the framework of regional integration. Hence, last April,
Cambodia submitted its official request for full
membership in the Association of South-East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) by July 1997, in the recognition that
ASEAN is the vehicle for peace, security, stability, shared
opportunities and common prosperity in the region of
South-East Asia and the Asia-Pacific region at large.
Cambodia also takes note that the ASEAN Regional
Forum is an invaluable setting to discuss in a frank and
friendly manner security issues of common concern and
interest to all participants in the Forum, whether large or
small countries around the world. The ASEAN Regional
Forum has in fact already provided a sense of mutual
confidence, as reflected in the comfort felt by all the
senior officials and high representatives of the
participating countries. It can be viewed as a first step in
preventive, quiet diplomacy, thereby paving the way for
agreements on substantive issues in the coming years
based on the traditional consensus principle, which
characterizes ASEAN.
Cambodia is particularly proud to be able to
associate itself with all the countries in the region and to
substantially contribute to regional and world peace
through the signing of the South-East Asia Nuclear-
Weapon-Free Zone Treaty on 15 December 1995. This
marks real progress towards the creation of a zone of
peace, freedom and neutrality in South-East Asia.
Through the review of the Protocol to the Treaty, it is our
earnest hope that all nuclear-weapon States will accede to
the Treaty, in line with the aspirations of the peoples of
South-East Asia for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in this
part of the world.
Cambodia’s position on the question of nuclear
weapons has been and remains that a complete prohibition
of nuclear weapons and their destruction are basic to
14

world peace. Thus, a complete test ban will lead towards
the ultimate objective of complete nuclear disarmament.
The Kingdom of Cambodia is proud to have been able to
co-sponsor and sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty, considered a significant step towards promoting
nuclear disarmament. This will be the greatest service that
our generation can perform to free future generations from
the terrible prospect of a world holocaust.
While we are addressing the issue of the CTBT and
the ban on weapons of mass destruction, we should not
overlook the issue of landmines in various parts of the
world. Cambodia is the hardest hit nation in the world. The
Royal Government and the people of Cambodia pay great
tribute to all the generous donor countries that have assisted
us in our efforts to rid the country of the scourge of
landmines. But how many millions of these cold, cruel and
silent enemies still await our unsuspecting and innocent
civilian population in remote areas of the country near the
western border? Banning them is an easy job. We need
international support to fully eradicate them.
In his message to the Review Conference of the States
Parties to the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional
Weapons last April, His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah
Norodom Sihanouk Varman, King of Cambodia, appealed
to all countries and peoples, international organizations,
States and Governments to take, in a universal consensus,
concrete measures towards definitively outlawing, as soon
as possible, the production, export, utilization and sale of
mines.
The Kingdom of Cambodia is therefore gratified by
the recent Chairman’s statement for the Third ASEAN
Regional Forum held last July in Jakarta. On the issue of
the global elimination of anti-personnel mines, the Forum
welcomed the decisions of several States to impose
moratoria and bans on the production, export and
operational use of these weapons. It recognized the need,
following conflict, for reinforcing international support for
efforts to detect and remove landmines and to assist
victims. Cambodia welcomes the initiatives of the Federal
Republic of Germany and of Canada in this General
Assembly and gives its full support to the proposed
resolutions.
Permit me to inform you, Sir, and all distinguished
delegates that my country is presently facing severe floods
affecting 1.3 million people, or one tenth of our population.
On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia and on
my own behalf, I would like to sincerely and deeply thank
the friendly Governments that have immediately given
generous humanitarian assistance to our afflicted people.
I would also like to take this opportunity to appeal to our
other friends to help relieve this blight.
The Kingdom of Cambodia recognizes the need to
focus attention on such issues as the trafficking in
narcotics and other criminal behaviour, which transcend
national borders and which can so intimately affect the
lives of each one of our citizens and undermine our social
structures. Such transnational issues do not appear
amenable to resolution other than by immediate ongoing
management through shared information and coordination.
Of particularly urgent concern is the issue of drug
trafficking.
The Kingdom of Cambodia is a victim of a rapid
escalation in the traffic of drugs transiting through its
territory. Unfortunately, Cambodia at present lacks the
appropriate legal, technical and financial means to deal
effectively with this problem. It nevertheless affirms its
strong commitment to drug control through effective
international cooperation. The Royal Government wishes
sincerely to thank the United States of America for its
strong support under the United States-Cambodia
Agreement to Counter Narcotics.
Cambodia is pleased with the decision taken by the
Third ASEAN Regional Forum to consider at the next
meeting the question of drug trafficking and other related
transnational issues such as economic crimes, including
money laundering, which could constitute threats to the
security of the countries of the region.
Through the good offices of the United Nations,
multilateral approaches to problems have provided useful
sources of information and highlighted issues close to the
hearts of many of our citizens. The past summit
conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing and Istanbul
have contributed to the promotion of gender equality, and
have given recognition to the role of women and children,
the improvement of the quality of life through health care
and adequate housing, respect for human rights, and
protection of the environment.
A further vital, and perhaps fundamental, issue for
the attention of every member of the international
community must be that of the widening gap between rich
and poor nations. This gap and its effects on the quality
of life of the citizens of the developing world is directly
related to the nature, organization and health of the world
economy. Vital decisions determining the shape and
nature of the world economy are, however, well outside
15

the control of a vast majority of nations, particularly those
in the third world.
Since the Non-Aligned Summit in Jakarta in 1992, no
indications have been observed of a rapid and solid
recovery in the world economy. Instabilities spread more
quickly from one country to another, particularly to
developing countries, which are now more vulnerable and
sensitive to external factors. The continuing trend towards
a global economy, with the increasingly free flow of capital
throughout the world without reference to national borders,
means that the ebbs and flows of the world economy have
an almost immediate effect around the world. For many
poorer nations, this has resulted in an increased national
debt burden with the consequence of greater instability in
the daily lives of their citizens.
Notions of competition are not realistic for countries
that from the outset have a mammoth burden of debt,
limited access to technology, and populations ill-equipped
to meet the challenges of the global economy. It is
Cambodia’s strong hope that through the United Nations we
can go a long way towards ameliorating this situation,
which is already at a crisis point for many nations in the
world community.
Therefore, the democratization of international
economic relations is essential to ensure that the
development interests of developing countries will be taken
fully into account. In this regard, it is also essential to place
development cooperation at the centre of the United Nations
mandate, role and functions. To do this, the United Nations
itself needs to begin the process of reform so that it is
better able to deal with the conditions of the new global
economy. The United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization should play a key role as focal
points of the United Nations system in the areas of trade
and development of developing countries. UNCTAD, in
particular, needs to study trends and issues in the world
economy, especially those that have an impact on
developing countries, and propose policies and measures
that can address projected problems. For instance,
Generalized Special Preference (GSP) donors should
simplify and harmonize the rules of origin. By the same
token, all political conditions attached to international trade,
development assistance and investment should cease. They
represent, in fact, a new wave of protectionism.
(spoke in French)
The delegation of Cambodia is deeply concerned at
the financial crisis in the United Nations today. With its
modest resources, Cambodia intends to meet its
responsibilities to do what it can to ease the financial
crisis. But if this Organization is to continue to exist true
to the spirit of its Charter, an equitable and fair solution
must be found, taking into account the need for sweeping
reform in United Nations structures which must reflect the
rapid changes in various parts of the world that have
taken place since the end of the cold war.
The broad reforms and restructuring of the United
Nations must also extend to the Security Council to
ensure that its work is both democratic and more
effective. In particular, Cambodia supports closer relations
between the Security Council and the General Assembly
through greater accountability of the Council to the
Assembly. Priority must be given to reform in economic,
social and other areas so as better to meet the challenges
and take account of the economic priorities of developing
countries against the backdrop of globalization.
As one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned
Movement in 1956 in Brioni, Yugoslavia, Cambodia has
consistently worked to promote solidarity among
Members and cooperate in the search for lasting peace in
the world and economic development that goes hand in
hand with social justice for all humankind.
As His Majesty the King emphasized in his message
on the thirty-fifth anniversary of its creation, the Non-
Aligned Movement is currently meeting challenges unlike
those that existed when it was established. Many lofty
aspirations for national independence and freedom have
become fact, but as His Majesty said:
“The majority of our members still have to deal with
huge problems caused by unemployment, poverty,
famine, drought, landmines, illiteracy, deforestation,
racial discrimination and terrorism. We must
therefore try to reduce military expenditure and the
production of landmines in order to devote our
national resources to the economic and social
development of our peoples.”
In recent years, the world has seen several
developments regarding the strengthening of regional
security and political stability. First of all, the Kingdom
of Cambodia wishes sincerely to welcome the
establishment of the Southern Philippines Council for
Peace and Development and the peace process in
Mindanao. It fully supports the peace agreements
16

concluded between the Government of the Philippines and
the Moro National Liberation Front on 2 September 1996.
These agreements will undoubtedly contribute to an end to
the conflict in the southern Philippines, bringing both
lasting peace to Mindanao and prosperity and national
harmony to the fraternal people of the Philippines.
Cambodia welcomes the Dayton Peace Agreement and
the signing on 14 December 1995 in Paris of the General
Framework for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (the
Framework Agreement) between the Republic of Bosnia
and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia, the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia and other concerned parties.
Cambodia welcomes the announcement of the end of
the war in Chechnya, thereby ending the suffering of the
warring parties, and particularly the innocent civilian
population.
Cambodia welcomes progress made since August 1995
in the Middle East peace process, particularly the
implementation of the Declaration of Principles on Interim
Self-Government Arrangements between the Palestine
Liberation Organization and Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian
Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip of
28 September 1995, the first Palestinian elections on 20
January 1996, as well as the beginning of negotiations on
the final status between the Palestinians and Israelis in Taba
in May 1996. Cambodia calls for the continuation of the
peace talks, bearing in mind the inalienable right of the
Palestinian people to self-determination and to an
independent State on its national territory with the support
of the international community.
My country is deeply concerned at the recent situation
in Afghanistan where war continues to bring death and
devastation. We hope that our Afghan brothers will be able
to overcome their differences and will soon find the path to
dialogue.
With regard to the situation on the Korean peninsula,
Cambodia supports the reunification efforts of the Korean
peoples on the basis of the principles set forth in the Joint
Declaration on Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula of
4 July 1972 and the accord of February 1992. We also
welcome initiatives to formulate a definitive peace
agreement promoting solid peace and security on the
peninsula.
In respect of Africa, the Royal Government of
Cambodia welcomes the adoption by the General Assembly
of resolution 49/142. We are aware of the tremendous
difficulties facing African States in bringing development
and prosperity to their respective peoples. Cambodia calls
for the speedy implementation of the United Nations New
Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s and
the consolidation of efforts to diversify the African
economy. We hope that with the helping hand of the
international community, particularly the donor countries,
this great continent will profit from the opportunities
available to it and join in the efforts to achieve
sustainable development, a major challenge facing all the
countries of the world.


At the outset, allow me, Sir,
to say how gratified we are to see you presiding over this
Assembly. Your election to that high office is a well-
deserved recognition of your personal qualities and
experience, and also of Malaysia’s important role in this
Organization and in the international arena. I have no
doubt that you will lead the work of this Assembly to a
fruitful conclusion.
It is also my privilege to pay tribute to your
predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral
of Portugal, for the exemplary manner in which he
discharged his onerous responsibilities.
I would also like to take this opportunity to pay
tribute to the Secretary-General, His Excellency
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his untiring efforts in the
cause of peace and development. While we realize the
difficulties and the complexity of the challenges that lie
ahead in the years to come, we remain confident in his
wisdom and competence in steering this universal
Organization towards the fulfilment of its responsibilities
in accordance with the principles of the Charter. My
delegation sincerely wishes him every success in his
endeavours.
Last year, we proudly celebrated 50 years of
achievements. As we slowly begin the countdown to the
centenary celebration of the United Nations, on behalf of
the generations to come, we see ourselves coincidentally
on the threshold of a new century as well. My delegation
feels that this is a unique opportunity for all of us to
rededicate ourselves to the purposes and principles of the
Charter with greater determination and commitment to
strengthening the United Nations so that the menacing
trends in human relations which caused so much misery
and destruction in the past can be halted and reversed,
and that existing inequalities among nations and peoples
can be eliminated, creating a new atmosphere of tolerance
and mutual respect, and a new sense of shared
responsibility for development and progress.
6

Over the past 50 years, the Organization has grown
fourfold and has become the most representative —
certainly the only universal — institution serving the
purpose of maintaining international peace and security.
This truly global Organization has an immense capability to
mobilize international efforts to deal with global problems
relating to economic, social and environmental issues. It
also possesses the potency to promote universal standards
of human rights despite differences in the historical, cultural
and religious backgrounds of nations and communities.
Admittedly, the Organization has experienced rough times
and has suffered several setbacks during the course of its
existence. However, with the demise of the cold war that
haunted the Organization for nearly four decades, a more
favourable environment has emerged, enabling us to
respond collectively to the challenges of the future.
My country is among the smallest and the least
developed countries of this Organization. For us, the United
Nations is extremely important in safeguarding our
sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. For us,
it is the protector of freedom and justice, particularly for
the weak and the vulnerable. It is also the beacon of hope
for hundreds of millions of people in the developing world
for a better future free from hunger and disease. Therefore,
we feel the need to steadily strengthen, revitalize and
reform the Organization in order to make it more effective,
more democratic, and ready to react and respond without
bias to situations that threaten international peace and
security.
It was with this in mind that we joined in the
initiative, way back in 1979, to include on the agenda an
item on the question of equitable representation on and
increase in the membership of the Security Council. My
delegation welcomes the reform and adjustment process that
is now under way and sincerely hopes that the process will
not compromise the principles of the Charter, which
emphasize multilateralism, mutual respect and shared
interests, including the interests of small States. In this
context, my delegation feels that the proposal made by Italy
in the Working Group on the reform and restructuring of
the Security Council deserves our attention and careful
consideration. There is no doubt that the more
representative the United Nations is, the more democratic
it will be; and that the more accountable the United Nations
is, the more effective it will be, thus benefitting us all,
small or large, weak or powerful, rich or poor.
Reforming the Organization alone will not serve the
desired purposes unless the commitment of Member
States to uphold and abide by the principles of the
Charter and their obligations is fulfilled. We are
concerned that the Organization is undergoing the worst
financial crisis in its history. We are reminded that the
main cause of the financial predicament is the failure of
Member States to meet their financial obligations on time
and in full. While my delegation has every sympathy
towards those countries which have genuine difficulties,
we note that by far the greater number of cases in arrears
are those which have the capability to pay. We note with
disappointment that the richest Member of this
Organization is among those who fail or refuse to pay
their dues. It is ironic that the effects of this severe
financial crisis have to be borne most adversely by the
smaller and the poorer States of the Organization, which
in many cases are obligated under the current scale of
assessments to pay more than their fair share. In spite of
its limited resources and the frequent economic
difficulties it faces, I am pleased to say that my country
continues to pay its share of contribution in full, as we
are convinced that only resources and efforts can produce
results.
Meanwhile my delegation believes that the efforts of
the international community to reform the administrative
and budgetary functioning of the United Nations should
aim at utilizing the scarce resources of the Organization
more efficiently. In this regard, the efforts of the
Secretary-General to achieve a more lean and effective
Secretariat geared to take on the challenging tasks
entrusted to it warrant recognition. We also welcome the
recent measures towards eliminating redundancy,
duplication and waste, for only a sound organization can
ensure the success of its mission.
The world has never offered a greater opportunity
than today to address critical developmental problems and
challenges. The international community has emphasized
the importance of a revitalized and enhanced system of
international cooperation for development. The sheer
number of major international conferences held during the
past few years and the collective resolve documented
offer adequate testimony to this strong desire. The
outcome of these conferences fostered a common concept
of sustainable economic development for the betterment
of mankind as a whole. However, despite all these
positive developments on the international economic and
social scene, my delegation is convinced that unless these
ambitious programmes are backed by the necessary
resources and political will, no change can be achieved.
7

We also feel that all activities of international economic and
development cooperation, including those undertaken by the
Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade
Organization, must be coordinated and closely linked with
the development strategies and programmes of the United
Nations system. After all, this Organization remains the
most representative institution.
While the globalization and liberalization of the world
economy gave some developing countries the opportunity
to assume a more prominent status in the world economy,
the least-developed countries — a category to which my
country unfortunately belongs — continued to be
marginalized. The standard of living in least-developed
countries has in effect declined over the years, and the
poverty level has intensified in many of these countries due
to indolent economic growth, which in turn was subject to
outside factors. The overall decline in official development
assistance over the years has further aggravated the
conditions of the least-developed countries at a time when
aid is most needed.
This unfavourable situation, if allowed to drag on,
could be calamitous for countries, such as the Maldives,
with severe resource constraints and fragile infrastructures.
For this reason, my delegation can only appeal for priority
action on various international development commitments,
such as the Paris Declaration and Programme of Action for
Least Developed Countries for the 1990s. These have been
endorsed at various recent global conferences. Admittedly,
liberalization of trade has resulted in greater trade.
However, liberalization has also meant the loss of the only
advantage that the least-developed countries had — their
privileged status — and the consequent loss of their
markets. Liberalization has therefore, in effect, contributed
to the marginalization of many developing countries.
The inherent obstacles facing small States, particularly
small island States, and their vulnerability, deserve special
attention. Small island States like my own require favoured
treatment to prevent them from slipping back from their
well-earned achievements.
In this context, I also wish to express the need for an
incisive examination of the criteria for least-developed-
country status and related issues, including the graduation
process, in order to do justice to the poorest among the
poor countries when the criteria come up for review next
year. The per capita index used to classify countries for
assistance purposes is no longer adequate, particularly in
the case of small States. It fails to capture the special
problems faced by these countries and their vulnerability to
external shocks. In this context, the development and use
of a vulnerability index, along with other criteria, may be
feasible in order to minimize these inadequacies.
On the other hand, many of the poorest countries are
still entangled in a web of external debt from which they
are unlikely ever to be able to free themselves. My
delegation believes that more steps should be taken to lift
the debt burden from the poorest and most indebted
countries by increasing the debt relief measures of
bilateral creditors and by greater involvement of
multilateral agencies in this responsibility. The developed
countries can also help in eliminating the situation by
demolishing the barriers they still maintain against
imports from the less developed countries, in particular
those which are suffering from the burdens of external
debt.
Poverty cannot be eliminated through charity, but
only through cooperation. In this context, we welcome the
proposal of the countries of the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development to cut the
number of people living in absolute poverty by half in the
next two decades.
We are fully committed to the efforts of the
international community to safeguard the global
environment, especially by building the capacity of the
United Nations to promote sustainable development for
all. We welcome the work carried out by the Commission
on Sustainable Development in this regard, and are
looking forward to the forthcoming United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development review
conference in 1997. My delegation is confident that this
review process will give the international community the
opportunity to rededicate itself once again to the
preservation of the global environment. Only concerted
efforts on all fronts can produce encouraging results in
this daunting challenge. For the Maldives, the
environment is an important issue. We are conscious of
the fragility of our islands and we hope to be able to
protect them from the potential dangers arising from
global warming and sea-level rise. We are also
determined to keep our country environment-friendly,
clean and unpolluted. Though the land area we have is so
limited, I am happy to mention that in the Maldives we
initiated a programme in January this year for planting
one million trees in three years; I presume that if all
countries represented here would initiate similar
programmes at a rate of four trees per capita, the world
would be greener and cleaner in 10 years.
8

The importance of disarmament for the preservation
and maintenance of world peace and security cannot be
overemphasized. We believe that, with the treaties and
bilateral agreements concluded, and the ongoing
negotiations among the nuclear-weapon States, and also
with the indefinite extension of the Treaty on the Non-
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons last year, the international
community is now reaffirming its commitment to global
disarmament and renewing the hopes for the eventual
elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass
destruction. My delegation is pleased about the positive
approaches taken by the nuclear-weapon States towards the
adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty,
despite the lack of consensus. We are particularly happy
that the Treaty has now been opened for signature.
We also would like to praise the role played by the
United Nations in demining and mine clearance, and to
congratulate those involved in this dangerous activity for
their bravery and dedication. Anti-personnel landmines have
caused enormous human suffering and continue to maim
and incapacitate countless innocent men, women and
children. We look forward to a worldwide ban on this
horrible and inhuman instrument of killing.
My delegation is firmly committed to the concept of
the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones and zones
of peace and would like to take this opportunity to call
upon all regions, especially the countries in the region of
South Asia, to which we belong, to make every effort to
bring about the proposed nuclear-weapon-free zone in South
Asia without any further delay.
Internal strife generated and fanned by ethnic,
religious and other factors is a recent trend, which is
causing large conflagrations in some parts of the world.
While our Organization gropes for effective mechanisms to
respond to such exigencies, we should not ignore the
serious threats posed by drug traffickers, terrorists and
mercenaries, particularly to small States. Terrorist incidents
have increased alarmingly over the last few years. My
delegation is fully convinced that the international
community should intensify its efforts to combat terrorism.
The early entry into force of the Convention against the
Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries
will be a step forward in addressing these threats. We urge
all States which have not yet done so to ratify the
Convention as early as possible. Similarly, my delegation
would like to call for the strongest possible international
action against drug traffickers, who are not only poisoning
the fabric of human life but also draining the potential for
productivity and prosperity of nations by exploiting the
vulnerable elements in our societies.
Though deeply concerned over the recent violence in
Palestine and in the occupied lands, which resulted in the
death or injury of hundreds of men, women and children,
my delegation is happy to observe that despite the
numerous difficulties that exist, the Middle East peace
process is continuing to move forward. We fervently hope
that the agreements reached so far will be implemented
fully and without further delay.
The important and critical role played by the
proponents of the peace process, especially the United
States, deserves the appreciation and praise of the
international community and should not be forgotten. My
delegation is convinced that their positive role will
continue to be instrumental to the success of the peace
process. At the same time, we also feel that the United
Nations should continue to play its important role in
providing means to the Palestinian people in their just
struggle for the restoration of their inalienable rights,
including the right to self-determination and to the
establishment of a sovereign State which could coexist
with its neighbours in peace and harmony.
The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is
encouraging, but we need to remain alert. The Dayton
Agreement has finally paved the way to creating a lasting
peace in Bosnia. The fulfilment of the commitments of
the international community is, however, critical to the
achievement and consolidation of full peace. We also
believe that it is important and necessary to bring those
responsible for the atrocities and the crimes of genocide
to justice and to punish them.
My delegation remains convinced that the United
Nations is the most viable and dependable universal
institution today. It is the responsibility of all of us to
allow this universal Organization to play a more central
and active role in shaping and harnessing international
cooperation for economic growth and development. It is
also our conviction that the dedication and collective
endeavours of the international community, which have
enabled the United Nations to survive the past 50 years,
will inspire us all to greater heights of unity and
cooperation so as to preserve and maintain the principles
of the Charter, promote its objectives, and strengthen the
Organization, thereby enabling it to better serve and
enhance the well-being of the peoples of the world.
9


A year ago, from this same rostrum, I began my
statement by reading some 10 hair-raising news items of
the moment from the international press, on bellicose
conflicts, violence and death in the cities and deadly
epidemics claiming new victims. Intending to do this again
today, I found that the situation remains the same, or is
perhaps even worse. Unfortunately, the world wasted
another 12 months without doing anything to stop such
catastrophic events.
As if it were necessary to illustrate this with specific
facts, even as we gathered here we once again witnessed
the bloodshed of the heroic Palestinian people. First and
foremost, I denounce the new Israeli aggression and the
policy of hegemony that defends these acts, and I express
support for our Palestinian brothers in their struggle for
their legitimate right to finally have an independent state,
with Jerusalem its capital.
Also about a year ago, the Prime Minister of
Malaysia, the country of the President of the General
Assembly, very rightly stated that the United Nations
should support the collective needs of peoples and nations
in order to serve humanity as a whole, and that it was
therefore necessary to correct the trend of making them an
instrument of the wealthy and the powerful. Today it must
be recognized that we are meeting again without having
removed that danger.
Hence, in expressing my Government’s satisfaction at
having President Razali lead us in our work, I cannot but
express confidence that his diplomatic professionalism, his
personal achievements and his long and proven experience
in the work of this Organization will give him strength in
leading us in a remarkably difficult and complex session of
the General Assembly.
Far from being more democratic and universal, the
Organization in which we come together today is tending
to tighten more and more the exclusive circle of those who
govern it. The just demands heard from this rostrum are
now sounding the alarm at the march of ideas being
promoted mainly in our host country.
Just a few weeks ago, the Chairman of the United
States Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued an
ultimatum for the United Nations to carry out reforms in
accordance with the prescriptions of that country or else
face the consequences. His articles in renowned
publications question precisely the principles on which this
institution is founded, particularly the principle of
sovereign equality of States.
For this influential United States politician and those
who identify themselves with his primitive views, there is
only one argument: some States deserve more privileges
than others. In this way they try to make a dead letter of
the principle of sovereign equality of States, the
cornerstone of the Charter adopted over 50 years ago in
San Francisco.
But there is more: the Government of the United
States of America, which owes the United Nations the
shameful amount of over $1.5 billion, assumes, with no
embarrassment whatsoever, the right to determine
unilaterally who can or cannot be the Secretary-General
of the United Nations and to declare how an Organization
deliberately deprived of the resources required for the
fulfilment of its functions should or should not be
managed.
Eighty per cent of the work of the United Nations
system is devoted to assisting the developing countries
and to strengthening their ability to help themselves. This
endeavour includes the aspiration to receive fair treatment
in international economic relations; to try to save children
from starvation and disease; to promote emergency
assistance to refugees and disaster victims; to attempt to
combat crime, drug addiction and disease; to promote
education and the development of human resources; and
to tackle the enormous task of halting or slowing the
progressive ecological deterioration of our planet.
These are precisely the functions that the notorious
United States Senator is trying to abolish, and it is
because of the existence of those programmes that the
managerial approach of the Secretary-General is so
fiercely attacked.
That position of the planet’s most powerful country
is not aimed against one person; rather, using the question
of the Organization’s efficiency as a pretext, it stands
against the United Nations mandate to attend to the needs
of the great majority of mankind. It is a new and gross
attempt to impose on the community of nations the will
of a single State in the management of the multilateral
forum of cooperation that should be the most
representative and democratic one in the world.
We should ask ourselves if we, the members of this
Assembly, can passively accept the threat posed by this
unilateral imposition. It is fitting to recall what Harry
24

Truman said of the Charter of the United Nations at the
San Francisco Conference in 1945:
“If we fail to use it, we shall betray all those
who have died in order that we might meet here in
freedom and safety to create it.
“If we seek to use it selfishly — for the
advantage of any one nation or any small group of
nations — we shall be equally guilty of that betrayal.”
(Documents of the United Nations Conference on
International Organization, San Francisco, 1945,
vol. 1, p. 687)
Further comment is unnecessary; subsequent history
has been quite eloquent enough. But the most dangerous
thing, as has often been said, is that the United Nations is
merely the reflection of the world in which we live. This
domineering unilateralism shows up even more crudely in
the daily conduct of international relations. In a world in
which relations of respect, good-neighbourliness and
cooperation among the peoples and Governments should be
fostered every day, the fact is that one Power, resting on its
unquestionable economic, military and technological might,
seeks to impose rules and norms of conduct on the rest of
the world, thus undermining the sovereign rights of each
and every one of our nations.
What political, legal or moral reason underlies and
legitimizes the missile attack against the Republic of Iraq
by the United States Armed Forces just a few days ago?
What principles or claims can be used to cover up the
unilateral and unjustified use of force? The Security
Council did not yield to that unilateral aggression, but it has
not been able to formulate a clear position on the matter
because of its well-known structural and procedural
deficiencies and also because of the tolerance and impunity
with which the international community has recently
accepted the haughty arrogance of a Government that
assumes the right to punish sovereign nations at its whim
under spurious pretexts.
There is no justification for trampling the territorial
integrity of a full-fledged Member of this Organization, and
even less for that action to be taken by a single
Government, nor for threatening the peace and security of
a region inhabited by tens of millions of persons. And all
this has taken place while the political experts of the
aggressor country could not agree on which was its
strongest motivation: the wretched oil interests or the frenzy
of the ongoing carnival-like electoral campaign in the
United States.
It is incredible that world politics can be paralysed,
that foreign ministries postpone decisions and that
Governments advance or delay responses to national or
international dilemmas, thinking only of their
repercussions in that North American simulacrum of
democracy. Anything can happen, and no country, legal
precept or moral principle seems to be safe. Fortunately,
the super-elections are held only every four years,
because if they took place annually, like the sessions of
the General Assembly, living on this planet would be true
madness.
The Helms-Burton Act, aimed against everyone’s
sovereignty and against Cuba, a sovereign State, was
conceived as an additional effort to subdue our people
through hunger and poverty. It is an eloquent example of
the absurd will to impose imperial designs on sovereign
and independent countries in the conduct of their own
international and trade relations. For that reason, it has
been unanimously rejected by the international
community. That law, ignoring the General Assembly
resolutions on the issue, is intended to strengthen further
the blockade against our country.
For a century — and especially during the last 37
years — the Cuban people have had to face the
hegemonic vocation of successive United States
Governments. The extraterritorial ambitions of our
neighbour, its attempts to question the sovereign decisions
of another State and its violation of the universally
recognized principles of international trade are realities
with which Cuba has been familiar for a long time.
When we denounced the crime that was about to
take place, it was neither to frighten nor to play with
anyone. The Helms-Burton Act, the most sophisticated
bungle of the economic war against Cuba, attacks many
countries and compels them to experience in their own
sovereignty what we Cubans have been facing for a long
time. The world can now better understand what so many
years of continuous offences and extraterritorial acts have
meant for my homeland.
Another instance of unipolarity and of the attempt to
dictate the conduct of sovereign States is the law known
as D’Amato-Kennedy, which has also received universal
repudiation. It repeats the philosophy of imposition and
ratifies the tendency to apply United States law beyond its
borders. The argument for this is the alleged war against
terrorism, when, in fact, the United States was the main
promoter of terrorism in its dirty wars in Nicaragua, El
Salvador, Angola and South Africa, against the
25

Palestinian patriots and in many other countries — the
United States has always supported the bloodiest regimes
that have ever existed in this world.
There are just causes and unjust causes. No one will
ever have the right to kill innocent people, regardless of the
objectives being pursued. This does not negate any people’s
right to use weapons against its oppressors: to fight cleanly,
yes; to kill innocents, never. A State cannot be allowed to
arrogate to itself the right to accuse, condemn and sanction
other nations and to impose by force an illegitimate crusade
that often serves to disguise the real terrorists.
Cuba — which has been the victim of many terrorist
actions and has for many years faced repeated attempts on
the lives of its political leaders, as well as sabotage,
biological warfare, the destruction of a passenger plane in
flight and the hijacking of aircraft, and which suffers even
today from armed infiltrations and which has been, above
all, the victim of brutal economic terrorism — expects a
joint and conscious effort from the international community
to address the terrorism that has its origins in Langley,
Virginia — that is to say, at the Central Intelligence
Agency — and later spreads to many countries of the
world.
Drug trafficking, in our opinion, should be dealt with
in the same manner. The drug issue should not be
transformed into an instrument of pressure against
underdeveloped countries, many of which do not have
sufficient resources to tackle this scourge. This problem has
taken on global dimensions and can be confronted only by
sharing responsibilities and using the mechanisms offered
by the United Nations.
The policy of conferring arbitrary certifications is
unacceptable, and even more so is its use as a pretext to
interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign nations. The
country whose enormous rates of consumption have become
the main market for and driving force behind this criminal
industry, the country in whose territory the greatest profits
of this business are generated, does not have the moral
authority to assign responsibility to or demand it from
others. What would happen if the world, truly concerned by
the scourge of drugs, were to decertify unanimously the
greatest drug consumer? To put it another way, people who
live in glass houses should not throw stones, and he who
has a beam in his eye should not be so concerned about the
mote in another’s.
No one can disregard the immense influence of the
United States in the so-called post-cold-war period, but
mankind would be making a mistake if it were to look
with indifference upon the currents of thought within that
country that entertain the possibility of governing the rest
of the world or of acting with utter disregard for the
rights and interests of other peoples. We are facing a
King Kong escaped from his cage, destroying and
crushing everything around him, aimlessly and out of
control.
We are not trying to convince this forum that the
United States is the source of all the evils of the planet,
but it would be a mistake to ignore reality and not to take
timely preventive actions — preferably collective ones —
to admonish to sanity the persons charged with guiding
that country politically, to do so with a minimum of
responsibility and to understand that the power of any
nation, important as it might be, has its limits.
The world is more plagued by uncertainty today than
when the new world order was demagogically proclaimed.
On the threshold of the new millennium, the numbers of
armed conflicts between States, ethnic groups and
religions have increased. What we see everywhere is not
a new order but, rather, a disquieting world in perfect
disorder. The social and economic consequences of these
conflicts have no parallel in contemporary history, but we
cannot simply pretend that military imposition, coercion
and sanctions are a universal panacea that can solve the
numerous humanitarian problems of the world.
Inequalities, rampant underdevelopment,
globalization and the interdependence that is increasingly
turning into the worst form of dependency should
disappear so that these new conflicts may, in turn, be
eradicated for ever from this world, which, based on
injustice, is becoming increasingly ungovernable.
Economic models based on neoliberal philosophy
have spread throughout much of the third world with the
support of the international financial institutions. Although
these models have generated deceptive, apparently
attractive macroeconomic indicators, in practice they go
hand in hand with an increase in poverty, marginalization,
environmental degradation, disease, ignorance, social
conflict, a loss of national resources and sovereignty —
in short, with the most brutal and increasingly irreversible
underdevelopment.
This neoliberal school of thought is based on
artificial paradigms that should be unmasked. It is false
that the market, with its magical invisible hand, is the
definitive solution for the immense disruptions affecting
the international economy and that it is the miraculous
26

remedy that would liberate many countries, home to the
vast majority of the earth’s population, from
underdevelopment and poverty.
It is false that absolute privatization, which can benefit
only the few, brings well-being to the legions of the poor
and the wretched living in the third world.
It is false that geography determines the economic
power of peoples.
It is false that genetics determines which human
beings are born to be poor and wretched and which are
born under the shining star of wealth and extravagance.
It is false that the State or Government is the main
source of corruption and inefficiency and should renounce
responsibility for welfare, health and education, leaving
these obligations mainly in private hands whose motivations
will always be limited and discriminatory and are frequently
based on greed.
It is false that the poor, the oppressed and the
exploited should have a lesser role in ultra-modern
societies.
It is false that social justice and equity always have to
be sacrificed for the sake of commercial efficiency.
It is false that the total removal of protection for
national industries in the developing countries will yield
higher productivity, wealth, employment and well-being for
their peoples.
It is false that the sovereignty of nations is an
outmoded principle of international coexistence and that
Governments and countries are ready to abandon it because
of the strength of transnational capital and the social-
political models exported by the North.
Finally, it is false that the neoliberal models that have
been sold to us will raise the indicators or levels of human
development set as objectives by the United Nations.
One should check the statistics and compare annual
reports, not just between one country and another, but also
between indicators for the third world from one year to the
next in areas such as infant mortality, poverty, education,
life expectancy, access to drinking water, human
settlements, schooling for children, and doctors per number
of inhabitants.
All these falsities, many of them recorded in United
Nations documents, hide the bankruptcy of development
prospects for most of the poor countries, which is already
threatening world stability and aggravating the ecological
deterioration we all recognized several years ago at the
historic Rio Conference. The poor are already falling into
the immense and ever wider chasm separating them from
the rich, who continue to grow disproportionately and
irresponsibly without realizing that sooner or later their
own weight will also drag them down into the same pit.
And, in this aberrant context, what are we to say
about the arms race? The rivalry between the big Powers
and the arms race have supposedly disappeared. Why,
then, in spite of the adoption of international instruments
supposedly to that end, is there such resistance to real
nuclear disarmament that will free humanity for ever from
that scourge? Who is responsible for the fact that the
recently adopted Treaty to ban all nuclear tests does not
cover simulated laboratory tests in which new lethal
weapons will be perfected by those who monopolize
them, or any commitment to the destruction of arsenals?
Unless we discover life in other galaxies, where will the
enemies endangering the big Powers come from?
Fifty-one years after the creation of the United
Nations, instead of seeing wealth and development extend
from the North to the South, we see the growing threat of
underdevelopment moving inexorably from the South to
the North.
It is said that hunger and poverty are on the rise. In
fact, what has also happened is that wealth is more and
more concentrated, increasingly exclusive and limited,
while walls higher than the one that fell in Berlin are
being built.
Let us be frank: the North is not as rich as it seems,
nor is the South as poor as they want to make it. Almost
all the wealth of the North comes from the wealth and
resources of the South. And all the hunger and poverty of
the South is nothing other than the legacy of over 500
years of exploitation and disregard for our human rights.
If we cannot reverse this situation collectively, by
sharing the burden and improving living conditions in the
developing countries, no one will be able to stop the
waves of migrants attracted by the siren’s song of wealthy
and opulent societies.
The United Nations has a vast arsenal of documents,
resolutions and initiatives conceived for those purposes
27

but never implemented. Soon it will be too late. Today we
can still act.
While all this is happening, the blockade of Cuba
continues. With the Helms-Burton Act, it has become even
clearer that it is not just an embargo, because in the last
few months, the United States, through its words and deeds,
has sent the world sure signals that what is really being
waged against my country is a long and dirty economic war
for total control over our sovereignty and our markets.
The criminal blockade, as part of its frightening
network of measures created over 35 years, has now a
Draconian law that publicly calls for a world crusade to
change forcibly the Cuban constitutional order and undo a
revolution defended by our people at the cost of their lives.
What have we come to when United States diplomats,
on the ugliest mission since the Viet Nam war, tell the
world that they are granting it a few months’ sovereignty
before trampling upon it if the world does not join their
war on Cuba?
I am fulfilling the mandate bestowed on me by the
free people of Cuba to proclaim in front of the
international community of nations that we will persevere
in our efforts to defend our social, political and economic
actions aimed at ensuring equality, justice and well-being
for all Cubans.
Our own experience is the best contribution we can
make as a nation towards meeting the enormous
challenges facing humanity, as has been shown by Cuba’s
economic, political and social achievements in the last
year. A country that has overcome a serious economic
crisis, that maintains its governability, that grows and
develops with the solidarity of many, that expands its
relations throughout the world and that grows stronger —
this is a country with a future.
The socialism we have chosen for our homeland is
our only emancipatory, moral and ethical alternative, with
roots firmly planted in the history of our nation. It is a
path that we chose in freedom and sovereignty, a path
that we shall not renounce and that no one imposed on us.
We wish to live in harmony with all the countries of
the world, including the United States. Cuba wants and
needs peace. But let us be clear: Cuba is not and never
will be willing to sacrifice, under pressure from anyone
or in exchange for anything, the independence,
sovereignty and self-determination that it has achieved
and defended at such a high price.
Today, in that blue Caribbean that shelters us, we
Cubans will continue with our heads held high, with our
feet on the ground and with our eyes on the future. Thus
do we defend our choice: to live in the free and sovereign
homeland dreamed of by our founding fathers and
achieved by our fathers and grandfathers.
Let there be no doubt. We shall overcome.


Allow me first to congratulate
you, Sir, on your election as President of the General
Assembly at its fifty-first session. I wish also to pay tribute
to your predecessor, Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral of
Portugal, who presided over the fiftieth regular session of
the General Assembly.
The Assembly will agree with me that present-day
international relations are characterized by two
contradictory trends. On the one hand, there is an
overriding desire and wilful movement to enhance
international cooperation through the expansion of trade and
investment. This trend is inextricably linked to the pursuit
and maintenance of peace and stability. However, parallel
with and contradicting this positive trend, we see a
proliferation of high- and low-intensity conflicts in various
corners of the world triggered by different causes. The
pursuit of viable mechanisms to reduce and seek a
permanent solution to these conflicts in order to promote
international cooperation for the welfare of mankind
remains, therefore, the key challenge that the United
Nations will continue to face in the coming years.
The Horn of Africa region remains, likewise, in the
grips of this dichotomy. On the positive side, the
countries of the region are committed to promoting
regional cooperation, and continue to make strenuous
efforts to this end. This is indeed manifested by the
substantial progress achieved to date to revitalize the
Inter-Governmental Authority on Drought and
Development (IGADD), the regional instrument for
achieving this objective. At the same time, the region
continues to bleed due to grave internal conflicts within
some member States. The painful bloodletting that has
destroyed the social fabric in Somalia continues unabated;
the internal conflict in the Sudan and the climate of
regional tension created by the activities of the National
Islamic Front (NIF) regime continues to deteriorate.
The pursuit of peace and stability, with the attendant
opportunities that this provides for economic and social
development, have special significance for peoples that
have suffered the physical and psychological traumas of
war. In this connection, as the Assembly is aware, my
country has borne the brunt of a long war which has
exacted enormous human sacrifices, leaving its economic
and social infrastructure a shambles. Accordingly, peace
is crucial to the young State of Eritrea to heal the scars of
war, to recoup lost opportunity and to reconstruct what
has been devastated.
But my Government’s profound aspirations and
commitment to the maintenance of peace continue to be
threatened by the hostile and unprovoked acts of the NIF
regime in the Sudan, whose antagonism and subversion

against Eritrea began soon after it took power in 1989. I
hardly need emphasize here that the acts of subversion and
State-sponsored terrorism are not directed against Eritrea
alone, but have in fact been adopted as an instrument of
policy by the NIF in its attempts to destabilize its
neighbours and export its expansionist designs through
subversion and violence.
In pursuit of these aims, the NIF regime has propped
up and provided safe haven to assorted terrorists from
various countries and facilitated their acts of sabotage and
terror. Khartoum’s barely veiled hand is discernible from
the litany of border incursions by mercenary groups in a
number of countries in the region and acts of naked terror
in the international arena.
I must stress here that my Government has left no
stone unturned in its efforts to reduce and stave off the
climate of tension provoked by the acts of the NIF regime.
As a matter of fact, for five long years my Government
pursued a policy of constructive engagement, patiently and
tirelessly, hoping against hope that the authorities in
Khartoum would turn back from the dangerous alley that
they are heading for.
Unfortunately, the language of moderation and peace
only whetted the NIF’s appetite to spread its subversive
tentacles deeper and wider. In the event, Khartoum not only
refused to heed these continuous appeals, but escalated its
overt acts of terror and subversion beyond limits.
Another grave matter I wish to bring to the attention
of this Assembly is the maltreatment of Eritrean refugees
at the hands of Sudanese authorities. The NIF regime not
only is doing whatever it can to obstruct the organized
repatriation of the refugees to their home country, but is
engaged in reckless and deplorable acts to drive a wedge
between the refugees and the people of the Sudan, who
have offered commendable hospitality during the long years
of war. And when this policy did not work, the NIF regime
began subjecting the refugees to arbitrary imprisonment,
torture, and banishment after confiscation of their property
by its security authorities. Moreover, young refugees were
forcibly conscripted and given military training to be
deployed in subversive activities across the border.
Organized repatriation of these refugees, the pilot phase of
which has been successfully achieved, is impeded by the
lame excuses the NIF fabricates. All these pressures have
caused the refugees to return home spontaneously at high
risk.
All these acts of hostility perpetrated by the NIF
regime to implement its designs of destabilizing
neighbours should surely be of grave concern to this
Assembly and the international community at large, given
their wider regional security ramifications.
Allow me further to recall the incident that erupted
between Eritrea and the Republic of Yemen in December
1995, following the latter’s occupation of the Eritrean
archipelago of Hanish-Zuqar, at the southern entrance to
the Red Sea. Perhaps due to its sensitivity, the incident
aroused immediate international concern and mediation
endeavours.
The Government of Eritrea, which all along had
sought international arbitration to the dispute, promptly
accepted, with full appreciation, the mediation initiatives
of the Ethiopian and Egyptian Governments, and later that
of the United Nations Secretary-General, which greatly
helped to defuse tensions and paved the way for the
peaceful handling of the dispute. When facilitation by the
French Government was proposed, the Eritrean
Government accepted it wholeheartedly.
These decisions were taken by the Eritrean
Government against a background of mendacious
accusations and irresponsible campaigns by the Yemeni
authorities to escalate the situation. The incident was also
fanned by those in certain quarters who sought to serve
their vested interests in the troubled waters. However,
genuine desires and a sincere political will prevailed.
Ultimately, restraint and careful handling of the
issue, in addition to positive and constructive regional and
international intervention, culminated in the Agreement on
Principles, signed by both parties on 21 May 1996 in
Paris.
In this Agreement, both the State of Eritrea and the
Republic of Yemen unequivocally expressed their desire
to settle their dispute over the Hanish-Zuqar archipelago
by the verdict of a court of arbitration. Developments
since the signing of the document could be considered
generally positive and encouraging. However, allegations
were made by the Republic of Yemen that Eritrean forces
occupied the island of Lesser Hanish on 10 August 1996,
and the matter was hastily referred to the Security
Council. The fact of the matter was that units of the
Eritrean forces were on that island both before and after
the signing of the Agreement on Principles on 21 May
1996. Despite this truth, the Eritrean Government
withdrew its forces as a gesture of goodwill and in the
2

interest of the smooth progress of the arbitration process
and to preserve and promote the peace of the region.
The Eritrean Government has time and again affirmed
its adherence to the Agreement on Principles of 21 May
1996, and expressed its commitment to abide by the
decisions of the court of arbitration. I am pleased to
underline that the subsidiary agreement reached between the
two sides in Paris last week, on 3 October, will now allow
for the proceedings of the court of arbitration to start early
next year.
The agonizing and intractable reality in Somalia
cannot but impel the international community to search for
ways and means of expediting an end to this long, drawn-
out tragedy. The complexity of the situation is too apparent
to require more elaboration here. But it is clear that no
amount of well-meaning external support will succeed in
restoring normalcy to Somalia unless the Somalis
themselves take stock of the senseless bloodshed that has
torn the country apart and produce what it takes to forge
peace and national reconciliation. Admittedly, the countries
of the region could have played a more catalytic part in this
multi-pronged effort. The lack of a consistent and
coordinated regional and international initiative, however,
may entail more preoccupying negative developments.
Indeed, there are indications these days of a growing
involvement of various external actors that seem bent on
exploiting the vacuum to promote their hidden agendas.
Somalia is in fact drifting towards becoming fertile ground
for extremist groups. For the sake of the Somalis, and in
the interest of regional peace and stability, it is vital that
these trends be checked before it is too late and that the
regional initiative be resuscitated.
The recent developments in the Middle East which
appear to have cast some shadows on the Oslo agreement
are naturally a matter of preoccupation to all those who
wish to see an enduring settlement to the conflict between
the Israelis and the Palestinians. Whatever the shortcomings
of the agreement, there can be no alternative to the peace
process. My Government therefore appeals to both sides to
persevere in the process of dialogue and negotiations so that
a lasting peace that ensures the well-being of all the peoples
of the region will be assured.
In conclusion, we share the views of many Member
States on the imperative of restructuring the decision-
making bodies of the United Nations, particularly the
Security Council. The Security Council continues to play a
vitally important role in the maintenance of international
peace and security. It is my delegation’s belief that now
is the opportune moment to revitalize it, make it more
democratic and improve its value, effectiveness and
legitimacy so as to make it reflect the universal character
of the Organization. Powerful and convincing arguments
have been made by many speakers to the effect that, at
present, the Security Council is neither equitable nor
representative. The circumstances of international politics
have altered so fundamentally that there are compelling
reasons for change.
In spite of the broadly shared wish for reform,
discussions so far have not really come close to the
general agreement needed. It is our firm belief that
flexibility and compromise will be necessary. There are
a number of interesting elements in the proposals, to
which thorough attention should be given so that we can
try to bring about the necessary change.