It is a great honour
for me to address the Assembly at the commencement of its forty-seventh
session and in so doing to mark my country's first full year of membership of
the United Nations. For a people that has been ruled by others, the privilege
of at last having an equal voice in the community of nations is uniquely
fulfilling. With that voice I now express our gratitude for the openness and
generosity that we encountered among the members and within the Secretariat as
we undertook our initial participation in the work of this great body.
We join other members in extending heartiest congratulations to
Mr. Stoyan Ganev of Bulgaria on his election to the presidency of the General
Assembly at its forty-seventh session. We wish also to thank his predecessor,
Mr. Shihabi, for his truly outstanding service as President of the General
Assembly at its forty-sixth session. It is indeed fortunate for us and for
future generations that in the most challenging of times this body has
available the leadership of individuals possessing the highest skills, energy,
dedication and integrity.

In speaking of leadership, I must also, of course, mention with respect
and appreciation our Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali. He has
already shown himself to be more than equal to the tremendous tasks associated
with his high office. He is assured of our prayers and our continuing support.
Last year, the Federated States of Micronesia was privileged to be one of
the seven nations admitted to membership in the early days of the forty-sixth
General Assembly. Subsequently, within the forty-sixth General Assembly,
history of a special kind was written when 13 other nations were admitted to
membership, and so I gladly extend the warm congratulations of my Government
and people to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Moldova, San Marino, Slovenia,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on their admission to the United
Nations. We are confident that in sharing with them this unique moment in
history we will maintain a common bond that transcends geographic differences
and gives added meaning to the concept of the brotherhood of man and nations.
The extensive and comprehensive agenda to be addressed by this session of
the Assembly is testimony to the ever-increasing interconnectedness of the
world's nations and their peoples. While we were a non-self-governing people,
we of the Federated States of Micronesia strived long and hard to achieve
independence, only to find that once we had it, full self-sufficiency is
neither possible nor desirable in today's world.
I had the honour, recently, to accompany my President,
His Excellency Mr. Bailey Olter, to the Earth Summit in Rio. That historic
meeting served, among other things, to deepen our understanding of the
possibilities for global international cooperation on a basis of common, but
differentiated responsibilities.

Among the many statements made at Rio by Heads of State, I was struck by
a most appropriate quotation from Sir Francis Bacon offered by the President
of Iceland Her Excellency Madame Finnbogadottir. He said,
"No one makes a greater mistake than he who decides to do nothing because
he can do so little."
The President's suggestion of that thought in the context of the Earth Summit
was truly inspired, but if I may be permitted, it also gives guidance to my
country over the entire spectrum of international cooperation.
We now realize that the Charter was meant to challenge every Member,
large and small, developed and developing, to play its part in the
implementation of collective decisions to approach the question, "What can I
do?" not as a basis for inaction, but rather as a springboard for action
within our means, however modest. Only by doing our rightful part do we earn
the right to hope that the world community will deal effectively with such
universal problems as the environment, poverty and war. Only by doing our
rightful part do we earn the right to expect the direct assistance of the
world community in dealing with those problems of social and economic
development at home that are beyond our means to solve.
Thus, my Government wishes once again to thank all those in this body and
throughout the United Nations community for our kind reception here, and to
renew, now with broader understanding, our commitment to the Charter and our
obligations thereunder.
To the modest extent that the Federated States of Micronesia has made its
presence known within the past year, it has been mostly in the context of the
environment, and particularly in the intergovernmental negotiating committee

for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Since we are a
country whose land is comprised of low-lying, small islands, our entire nation
finds itself in the front line, along with others similarly situated, who will
be the first to suffer the devastating consequences of unchecked global
warming. Rising sea levels would ultimately cover our islands, but long
before that our protective coral reefs would bleach and fall victim to
increasing storm surges, our agricultural crops would be ruined and our
freshwater sources rendered unfit for human consumption. We are facing
nothing less than the end of island civilizations that have endured for
thousands of years.
We participated actively throughout all the sessions of the
intergovernmental negotiating committee, and we had no hesitation in signing
the Framework Convention in Rio because the final text of the Convention goes
far to recognize the particular vulnerability of the low-lying island States
to the consequences of human-induced climate change. The real effectiveness
of the Convention, however, will be measured by its protocols yet to be
negotiated and in the operation of its conference of the parties and other
mechanisms.
That statement is particularly applicable in the case of the Framework
Convention because, as we stressed to the intergovernmental negotiating
committee, the scientific evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change shows a need for significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Even the modest emissions cuts to which the industrialized countries found
themselves unwilling to commit themselves at Rio must immediately be replaced
by more stringent goals set by the dictates of science rather than of politics.

It is ironic that the peoples of small island countries, in seemingly
idyllic settings, distanced from the stresses of industrial societies, should
be the peoples with the greatest sense of urgency to get on with the business
of protecting the planet. It is, nevertheless, island people who are
beginning to suffer the effects of global warming; island people who are
witnessing the swift and disastrous alteration of ancient weather patterns; it
is island people whose homelands will be the first victims of rising sea
levels.
But this sad reality does not mean that the rest of the world can afford
to wait, for by the time the world witnesses the effects of global warming on
the islands it will be too late for the rest of the world then to take the
necessary steps to save itself.
Thus, we are encouraged by the adoption of the Framework Convention on
Climate Change, but we look anxiously towards its prompt implementation and
pray that its operation will quickly lead to actions and restraints by the
industrial countries on the scale necessary in order to reach the Convention's
objective. That objective is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in
the atmosphere at levels which do not adversely affect the climate.
Stabilization at such levels cannot be achieved by half-hearted efforts.
As United States Senator Gore recently wrote in his book "Earth in the
Balance",
"The tide of this battle will turn only when the majority of people in
the world become sufficiently aroused by a shared sense of urgent danger
to join an all-out effort."

Let us earnestly hope that the signing of the Framework Convention by
155 countries at the Earth Summit was evidence of such a shared sense, and
signalled the beginning of an all-out effort.
The President of the Federated States of Micronesia also joined most of
the other Heads of State at Rio in signing the Convention on Biological
Diversity. We accept our State responsibility for conserving the biodiversity
of our islands and waters, and for using those resources in a sustainable
manner.
We welcome the reference in the Convention to the precautionary principle
with regard to applying measures to avoid or minimize threats to
biodiversity. We are reassured by the specific recognition in the Convention
that small island States will need new and additional financial resources and
appropriate access to relevant technologies in meeting their obligations. We
look forward to an early convening of the conference of the parties.

Agenda 21, in both letter and spirit, at last brings into focus the
concerns of the developed and the developing world for securing an
environmentally sustainable future. I believe that in a world no longer
preoccupied with the super-Power conflict. Agenda 21 will come to be seen as
the single most important social instrument ever negotiated. Of course, in
legal effect it is only a guide, and despite its length it is only a
framework. But its future impact on the domestic and foreign policies of
every nation is certain to be pervasive.
The establishment of the commission on sustainable development is a
landmark achievement of the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, and with it we see realistic hopes for turning Agenda 21 into
actions. We strongly urge that the commission be situated in New York.
Developing countries must participate significantly in the work of the
commission, and in our case, being a small Government with limited financial
resources, we are far better able to attend activities at United Nations
Headquarters than anywhere else.
As a Pacific island country, we ascribe particular importance to
chapter 17 of Agenda 21, which addresses the protection of the oceans. This
is a subject many would have put aside, feeling that the oceans are so vast
and our knowledge of them so limited that we are better off concentrating on
perfecting land sciences. But it appears mankind is slowly realizing that
human activities on the planet can significantly affect our oceans and bring
about disastrous consequences for our food supplies and even our weather.

Thus, we strongly support the call in Agenda 21 for conferences to exchange
experience on coastal-zone management and on the sustainable development of
small island States, and we hope that they will take place on schedule.
Chapter 17 also addresses constructively the need for intergovernmental
cooperation to control indiscriminate and harmful practices in harvesting sea
resources. While we welcome the approaching total ban on drift nets, which
have been accurately called "curtains of death", much needs to be done with
reference to the high seas, and straddling fish stocks and highly migratory
species of fish, in order to reverse already notable trends towards the
disappearance of species that were once thought inexhaustible. We support the
call for a conference on those topics.
Chapter 18 of Agenda 21 recognizes the pressing need for improved climate
forecasting, in the context of freshwater resources for human survival. The
Federated States of Micronesia, along with many other island States in the
middle of great oceans, has suffered repeatedly in recent years from droughts
brought on by little-understood climate mechanisms. In addition. Pacific
island States are already suffering widespread damage caused by tropical
storms of increasing frequency, range and intensity, which we have little or
no capacity to predict. This fact was stressed by the South Pacific Forum
countries at the forty-sixth session of the General Assembly, which responded
by adopting resolution 46/234, calling for relief measures that include
improved forecasting capabilities. We should like to reiterate our deep
gratitude to the many sponsors of the resolution and to the Assembly as a
whole for adopting it.

Our deep concern for the oceans and their resources also causes us to
focus very closely on the provisions of chapters 19 through 22 of Agenda 21,
which deal with the management of toxic chemicals, hazardous wastes, solid
wastes and sewage and radioactive wastes. In his address to the Rio
Conference, President Olter of the Federated States of Micronesia expressed
the hope of overcoming the attitude of developed countries "that the Pacific
Island region is a great, unpopulated void" offering opportunities
"for convenient disposal of toxic, radioactive or otherwise harmful
wastes, and for the conduct of any dangerous or obnoxious activity that
cannot for reasons of public safety be carried out on home territory".
We maintain high expectations that what President Olter called the "world's
emerging sense of environmental ethics" will prevail over past attitudes.
There are already some good signs, notable among which is the decision by
France to suspend nuclear-weapon testing in the South Pacific. We applaud
France for taking that initiative and pray that the ugly history of nuclear
experimentation in the Pacific region has reached a permanent end. But
realistically, that cannot be assured so long as nations continue to
manufacture, stockpile and threaten to use weapons of mass destruction. Thus,
even our small islands have a large stake in the continued progress of
nuclear, chemical and biological disarmament, and we look forward to
supporting the implementation and extension of comprehensive treaties on these
subjects.
The Federated States of Micronesia especially welcomes the recent
conclusion of negotiations on a chemical-weapon convention and is pleased to

be one of the original sponsors of the draft resolution to be considered at
the forty-seventh session of the General Assembly endorsing the convention.
My Government wants to express its gratitude and congratulations to those
esteemed nations that have successfully negotiated that long-awaited
convention and calls on the Assembly to adopt the draft resolution. I wish to
recognize with appreciation the active role that Australia, from our region,
took in negotiating the chemical-weapon convention and for its outstanding
contribution to the global movement towards arms control and disarmament.
Unfortunately, the forsaking of nuclear, chemical and biological weaponry
serves to intensify the already serious problems associated with the movement
and disposal of wastes. Large stocks of chemical weapons must be eliminated,
but uncertainties surrounding the technology for their disposal result in
pressures on less powerful and more remote peoples, such as Pacific islanders,
to bear the associated risks. Frightening quantities of weapon-grade
Plutonium must either be safely stored or utilized in questionable enterprises
that involve hazardous and secretive shipments through the waters of maritime
nations.
Up to this point the efforts of the world's nations to deal with these
problems have produced a patchwork of conventions some implemented, some
not most of which are of limited effectiveness because of technicalities and
political self-interest. Worthwhile instruments such as the London Dumping
Convention need to be strengthened on an accelerated basis. Vital
arrangements such as the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal need to be implemented. The
role of the International Atomic Energy Agency with regard to safeguards must
be brought up to the pace of current events.

But even if all these things are done, dangers and risks will continue to
be imposed upon the poorer, less powerful and more remote peoples of the world
unless the following principle is universally respected: the nation from
which the material originates bears the complete responsibility for the cost
and safety of its storage, shipment and disposal; that nation should
adequately inform other nations potentially affected and should not utilize
the global commons in any action related thereto over their objection.
I am aware of the implications of that statement, both politically and in
terms of international law, but unless the spirit it expresses can enter our
international conscience and influence the behavior of nations, I fear that
the passing threat of wartime holocaust will be replaced by an even less
restrained and in some ways equally horrifying danger.

The roads towards so many of the worthy goals to be sought by the
Assembly, whether related to economics, the environment, development, human
rights or international security, are haunted by the spectre of poverty.
Poverty causes much environmental degradation. Poverty makes human rights
irrelevant to many people of our planet, and tempts others to exploitation.
Poverty contributes to destabilization of political institutions and endangers
the world.
No matter how dedicated are the efforts made by governments towards
sustainable development and lasting international peace, and no matter how
massively those efforts might be funded, I fear that a single factor fuelling
the engine of poverty could render all the expenditures of resources
ineffective. I am referring to exploding and uncontrolled population growth.
Members are familiar with the statistics, past, present and projected. They
are particularly disturbing in that the greatest rate of growth occurs in the
most poverty-stricken segments of the population. Clearly, this is one of the
most sensitive and difficult problems to deal with in a multilateral setting,
and I respect the diversity of views on the subject. For that reason, I
respect its treatment in Agenda 21, knowing that many preferred stronger and
direct statements. Nevertheless, we hope that the mechanisms of Agenda 21
will help to influence the developed countries to increase funding for
population-related activities. We also look forward to the International
Conference on Population and Development to be held in Cairo in 1994.
With regard to the protection of human rights, the Federated States of
Micronesia is pleased to associate itself with the exemplary efforts made by
the United States of America and other like-minded nations for the

implementation of the standards for the protection of human rights as set
forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In so doing, the
Federated States of Micronesia joins in the condemnation of abuses of human
rights by members of the international community. They insult our sense of
common decency and the values we attach to human life - the very values
governments are established to protect.
Hardly a speaker in this debate has failed to voice support for the
historic efforts being made by the United Nations to reorganize and reorient
itself so as to cope with its emerging roles in advancing the cause of
mankind. We are no exception, and in our judgement the Secretary-General has
so far provided wise leadership along a most difficult path.
One of the most challenging current problems is to determine the fairest
and most effective means of meeting the costs associated with the
Organization's expanded role in the maintenance of international peace and
security. We are all aware that these costs have virtually skyrocketed over
the past years, and the question of their proper allocation, we would suggest,
is more complex than the simple formulas that served the purpose in former
times. It is a question, naturally, involving the limits of the resources of
small islands, but in our case it also involves predictability. We are
determined to meet all our obligations under the Charter, financial and
otherwise, but the need for us to budget strictly for developmental and other
immediate requirements leaves us little flexibility to meet unforeseen demands
of substantial proportions.

We look forward, during this session, to participating in the exploration
of ways and means to devise the fairest and most effective system for
financing the role of this body in the new world order. We also look forward
with confidence to the enhancement of this role as the age of multilateral
cooperation truly dawns and the interdependence of all peoples of the world is
seen to be the overshadowing practical reality of the future.


It gives me great pleasure, Sir, to
congratulate you on your election to the high office of President of the
General Assembly. We are happy to have a distinguished leader from a
neighbouring country at the helm of the Assembly for the next 12 months. Our
relations with Bulgaria are excellent, and we are very glad to have supported
your candidacy.
The forty-sixth session of the General Assembly was remarkable and
eventful in a number of ways. Ambassador Samir Shihabi, the President at the
last session, deserves a special tribute for his distinctive contribution to
the efforts to enhance the stature of this universal forum. The competence
and wisdom he displayed in guiding our work have justified the confidence we
placed in him.

We are fortunate that, in the person of Mr. Boutros-Ghali, the United
Nations has found the experience and wisdom to which it can entrust itself for
guidance to success. My Government is confident that this distinguished
statesman from Africa, who is the product of the ancient and glorious
civilization of Egypt, will provide the right mix of continuity and change in
the renewal and restructuring of this world body. We wish our new
Secretary-General success, and pledge him our support.

My delegation welcomes and salutes the 13 new Members of our
Organization. We take special pride in the fact that Turkey enjoys ties of
kinship, language and culture with some of them. They will surely enrich and
strengthen our global family.
In the past few years we have witnessed one of the great turning-points
of history. The cold war has come to an end. The international landscape,
characterized for so long by ideological confrontation and nuclear stalemate,
has undergone a fundamental change. The bitter East-West rivalries that
dominated every aspect of international affairs are finally behind us. These
momentous developments have made it possible to settle a number of conflicts
which were a direct result of the cold war. From Africa to Asia to Latin
America, people have been able to lay aside ideological disputes and get on
with the business of reconciliation and peacemaking. The United Nations may
rightly take pride for having played an important part in bringing together
former ideological adversaries and brokering agreements. It has demonstrated
how effective it can be by playing a leading role in the liberation of Kuwait,
showing that it can function as its founders intended nearly half a century
ago.
We were at last able to look forward to a world liberated from the awful
threat of nuclear destruction, with nations enjoying the fruits of commerce
and industry in peace, security, freedom and democracy. However, it now
appears that we were all perhaps carried too far by the new wave of optimism.
From the Balkans and the Black Sea basin to the Transcaucasus, and from
Afghanistan to Somalia, there have emerged new conflicts pitting nations and
ethnic communities against one another. Now peace and security are threatened
by destruction and economic ruin, compounded by the horrors of "ethnic
cleansing" and mass starvation.

The most severe challenge to the new order has been posed by the series
of crises engulfing the former Yugoslavia. The international reaction to the
sinister designs of the former Yugoslav army in Croatia last year was not
forceful enough to deter the aggressors at that time.
Today the bitter consequences of our inadequate response are being
harvested throughout the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose
sovereignty and territorial integrity have been violated in defiance of
international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
While the international community has condemned Serbian aggression and
the abhorrent practice of "ethnic cleansing" and demanded an immediate end to
all violations of international humanitarian law, the suffering in Bosnia and
Herzegovina goes on. People are still getting killed. Mandatory resolutions
of the Security Council are yet to be fully implemented. Hundreds of
thousands of Bosnian refugees face an uncertain future away from their homes.
Those surviving in the ruins of once-flourishing cities and towns are
threatened by starvation and disease. As winter approaches, the need to
provide security and shelter to the population becomes ever more pressing. I
have myself had a chance to glimpse the suffering in Sarajevo.
In addition to our international responsibility and obligations as a
member of the world community, the historical and cultural bonds which my
country shares with the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the presence in
Turkey of a large number of citizens of Bosnian descent place us in a special
relationship to the fate of this country.
At a time when Bosnia and Herzegovina are being carved up by the
aggressors, priority has been given to the provision of humanitarian
assistance. Therefore, while supporting other efforts to reach a peaceful

settlement, we have also put forward an action plan that consists of a set of
concrete and effective measures designed to stop the fighting in that
country. We fear that further continuation of the Bosnian conflict could lead
to greater dangers. We remain prepared to assist any concerted international
action to bring about an end to the Bosnian tragedy.
On Iraq, we remain concerned two years after the Gulf crisis. Baghdad
has yet to demonstrate that it truly wishes to take its rightful place in the
international community. The Iraqi Government should comply fully with the
relevant Security Council resolutions. My Government will be the first to
welcome a return to normality and the restoration of normal relations between
Iraq and its neighbours.
From this rostrum Turkey has on many occasions expressed its consistent
stand on the question of Palestine. Today, I wish to reaffirm our support for
the negotiating process on the Middle East conflict launched in Madrid in
October 1991. This is a very important opportunity for peace, and we call on
all the parties to seize it to arrive at a comprehensive and lasting
settlement on the basis of Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and
338 (1973).
As a neighbouring country, Turkey follows very closely the developments
in the Caucasus. In this region, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan
is a source of deep concern for us because of its implications for peace and
security in the whole area. Turkey holds the view that in this region there
can be no place for adventurism and reckless behaviour. Armenia should
disengage from Nagorno-Karabakh and withdraw its forces from Azerbaijani
territories. We urge the parties to achieve a negotiated political solution
on the basis of respect for the inviolability of international borders, for

minority rights and for the principles of the United Nations Charter and
relevant Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) obligations
and commitments. We shall continue to work for peace in this region.
In the same spirit, we look forward to further progress in establishing
democracy and restoring peaceful conditions in our neighbour and friend,
Georgia.
In Afghanistan, we had hoped that all would put aside their differences
and start the process of reconciliation. However, we have been greatly
dismayed by the recent eruption of fighting in Kabul. Turkey calls on all
sides in Afghanistan to put an end to this fratricide and to start working for
peace, so that the reconstruction and rehabilitation of this devastated
country may begin and millions of Afghan refugees may finally return to their
homes.
In South Africa, we fully support the democratization process, which
should lead to a complete dismantling of apartheid and to the creation of a
new non-racial society in that country, based on due respect for the human
rights of all South Africans.
The search for a negotiated settlement of the Cyprus question continues.
The proximity talks which started on 18 June within the framework of the
Secretary-General's good offices mission have registered some progress and
resulted in the beginning of face-to-face talks between the leaders of the two
communities.

This positive turn in the negotiating process has been achieved in great
part owing to the constructive contribution of President Denktas. However,
much remains to be done before we can reach our objective.
It is our sincere hope that prior to the resumption of the direct talks
on 26 October between the leaders of the two communities, sufficient ground
will be covered so that an early completion of the work on the set of ideas
will be possible. Once that stage is reached, Turkey stands ready to
participate in the four-party conference to conclude an overall framework
agreement.
We are gratified to note that in our day democratic pluralism, the rule
of law, free and fair elections and respect for human rights have finally
become the universally accepted attributes of a modern State. The best
guarantee of respect for human rights is the existence of a democratic form of
government. In other words, democracy and human rights are inseparable.
We welcome the progress of democracy in all regions of the world. We
expect the United Nations to play a more active role in the strengthening of
democratic institutions. We regard the ever-growing number of requests being
received at the United Nations to assist in the holding of elections as a very
encouraging development.
In the field of human rights, no country can claim to have attained
perfection. All countries experience violations of human rights, and all
must, whatever their records may be, strive to improve their performance in
this area.
In Turkey our human-rights legislation and practices are kept under
constant review in order to eliminate abuses and rectify shortcomings. As a
party to all of the European instruments and control mechanisms aimed at

protecting human rights, as well as to the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, our objective is to
guarantee everyone the fullest enjoyment of human rights and to prevent any
violations or malpractices. We have made important strides in Turkey, and we
are resolved to maintain this course.
On a broader plane, we are concerned with the growing incidence of
xenophobia and new forms of racism that increasingly threaten the very
existence of migrant communities in Europe. Turkey is directly affected by
this negation of human values, since there are more than 2 million Turkish
citizens living in European countries, either as migrant workers or as their
dependents. Like all individuals, these people too are entitled to enjoy
security of person and protection by the State against random violence,
threats or intimidation. We urge the host countries to ensure the protection
of these individuals, to see to it that their human rights are duly respected,
and effectively to prevent and punish violence and racist crimes against
them. All manifestations of xenophobia and discrimination must be curbed if
tolerance and mutual understanding are to put down deep and lasting roots.
Non-governmental organizations should spend more time and energy in monitoring
violations of the human rights of migrant communities.
My delegation would like to draw the attention of the General Assembly to
the widespread phenomenon of subversive violence carried out by terrorist
groups. Such violence constitutes a most serious infringement of human rights
and fundamental freedoms, including the basic right to life. It aims at
nothing less than the destruction of democracy. This is a crucial fact which
we must never forget. We think the time has come for the relevant United
Nations bodies, the Rapporteurs of the Commission on Human Rights, and the

non-governmental organizations to address this question of terrorist violence
as a matter of priority.
Having experienced rapid social change and urbanization, Turkey today
seeks to improve the quality of life of its population, to ensure equal
advancement opportunities for all and to promote both individual initiative
and community solidarity. We are focusing on protecting vulnerable groups so
that they can play a productive role in society. In other words, Turkey
strives to achieve economic growth with a human and social dimension.
My Government believes that social problems affecting the international
community will be increasingly difficult and costly to overcome if concerted
action is not taken promptly. Turkey attaches great importance to
international efforts directed at easing social problems and tensions and
supports the convening of a world summit for social development. The
Government of Chile should be commended for its imaginative initiative in this
direction.
I should now like to turn to international economic issues. The
political developments in Eastern Europe and in the former Soviet Union, the
aftermath of the Gulf crisis and the protracted recession in the
industrialized countries have had negative effects on the world economy. The
World Economic Survey reports that for the first time since the First World
War the global economy has lot grown. The events of the past year have
continued to obstruct and render fruitless the efforts of the developing
countries to restructure their economies.
With the economic policies of all countries converging as never before,
the time has come to launch a concerted effort to create an international
economic environment more congenial to growth and sustained development.

Countries with economies in transition are continuing their efforts to ensure
integration into the world economy. The major difficulties of the developing
countries are well known.
We regret that the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations has not yet been
concluded. This raises fears of protectionism. Since trade is a major
vehicle for developing countries to break free of the burden of foreign debt
and pursue their development efforts, the necessary political will must be
displayed for these negotiations to be concluded successfully.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was a major
step towards broadening the scope of economic development in a sustainable
manner. The Conference accelerated the universal push towards global
sustainable development. Turkey believes that this momentum is now
irreversible. We must look beyond the Conference and devise policies that
would help to perpetuate and strengthen this momentum.
Turkey holds the view that a good way to work towards the objectives of
peace, political and social stability as well as economic development is
through regional cooperation. The political changes of the past few years
have broadened the opportunities for such cooperation. In full awareness of
this promising trend, Turkey has taken the initiative of launching a
comprehensive scheme for expanded cooperation between the countries of the
Black Sea region. The aim of this regional cooperation is to ensure that the
Black Sea becomes an area of peace, stability and prosperity in which regional
cooperation can be used as a tool to accelerate the integration of the
participating States into the global economy.

At the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council last
July, there was a focused discussion on restructuring the economic system
of the United Nations. The economic and social structure of the United
Nations needs to be developed in a way that will enable it better to
respond to the growing challenges of our changing world.
With the addition of new Members, the question of the distribution of
seats in United Nations bodies to geographical regions comes up for
consideration. It would be desirable also to consider whether the current
geographical groupings conform to our present-day needs. We know that the
artificial division of Europe between East and West in the United Nations
is the result of ideological differences which have ceased to exist. The
question of merging the Group of Western European and Other States with
the Eastern European Group should be given active consideration.
The challenges before the United Nations are as great as ever.
Despite the ending of the cold war, conflicts rage on in many parts of the
world and threaten to proliferate. Economic problems persist, made worse
by a recession which will not go away. The humanitarian problems
confronting the international community have never been more daunting.
There continue to be massive violations of human rights in many parts of
the world, while the environment raises problems which we must solve if we
are to survive on this planet.
Great as these challenges are, we have in the United Nations a
comprehensive framework within which we can operate and address mankind's
problems. The end of ideological conflicts makes this possible. The
restructuring carried out in the Secretariat under the leadership of our
newly elected Secretary-General is a good beginning in strengthening our

newly elected Secretary-General is a good beginning in strengthening our
Organization. There is a new spirit in the Security Council and in the
Economic and Social Council. The General Assembly has never been more
representative. The report of the Secretary-General entitled "An Agenda for
Peace" (A/47/277) provides, in a timely manner, the intellectual foundation
for our future activities. The United Nations must not only set the tone and
provide political guidance to regional organizations in their efforts to
secure peace, but must also be prepared to assume its leadership role. It
must not fail to live up to its responsibilities under the Charter. The
conditions are right for the great challenges to be met successfully. For the
United Nations to pass the test, everything depends on the Members who must
act in concert and with courage. My delegation undertakes to work with other
delegations in a spirit of cooperation and compromise so that our Organization
may live up to its high promise and serve mankind at this crucial time.


On
behalf of the delegation of Viet Nam, permit me at the outset to extend my
warmest congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Stoyan Ganev, Minister for
Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, on his election to the presidency
of the General Assembly at its forty-seventh session. I am sure Mr. Ganev's
guidance of this session of the General Assembly will make it a success. We
also wish to express our appreciation for the outstanding contribution of His
Excellency Mr. Samir S. Shihabi, President of the General Assembly at its
forty-sixth session. We should also like to express our great appreciation of
the untiring and dynamic efforts of by His Excellency
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in the
noble cause of peace, security and cooperation among nations.
On this occasion I cannot fail to convey warm greetings to the new
Members of our great family, the United Nations.
Since the last session of the General Assembly, we have continued to
witness profound and far-reaching changes on a global scale. Those changes
have led to the disintegration of the international order that came into being
after the Second World War and that had existed for nearly half a century.
The new world situation opens up new opportunities for but at the same time
presents acute challenges to the peace, security and prosperity of each
nation, as well as that of the international community as a whole. With the
threat of annihilation by nuclear war receding and no longer hanging over the
peoples of the world like the sword of Damocles, all nations might expect to
live in a world of peace, security, justice and prosperity, with egalitarian,
mutually beneficial cooperation and the joint application of the miraculous
achievements of the modern scientific and technological revolution to the
benefit of each country's and the whole world's development and well-being.

Regrettably, the overall picture of today's world is far from being
promising. We fully share the view expressed by the leaders of the
non-aligned countries in the Jakarta Message of 6 September 1992:
"The world today is still far from being a peaceful, just and secure
place. Simmering disputes, violent conflicts, aggression and foreign
occupation, interference in the internal affairs of States, policies of
hegemony and domination, ethnic strife, religious intolerance, new forms
of racism and narrowly conceived nationalism are major and dangerous
obstacles to harmonious coexistence among States."
Concurrently with the settlement of some regional conflicts, we have
witnessed the outbreak of a series of new conflicts on several continents,
even in the heart of Europe, a continent that should have enjoyed peace and
stability thanks to the Helsinki mechanism of cooperation and security. In
practice, policies of embargo, coercion and diktat are still being pursued by
some countries or groups of countries against others, thus hindering the
latter's development.
The global economic environment also contains elements of uncertainty.
The rate of economic growth has fallen to its lowest level in many years. The
symptoms of a new financial crisis, which could shake the international
monetary system, can be perceived. Tendencies towards greater protectionism
and the deadlock in the Uruguay Round are only worsening the economic
situation of many countries, especially the developing countries.
Even more worrisome is the inexorably widening gap between the developed
industrial countries and the developing countries. We cannot remain
indifferent to the poverty and hunger suffered daily by millions of men and

women across the continents. The famine in many countries, most severe in
some African countries like Somalia and the Sudan, is deeply moving and calls
for vast emergency assistance from other countries and from international
organizations.
In view of the above-mentioned opportunities and challenges, it is
imperative for States and nations to step up cooperation to promote their own
development and at the same time to join forces in solving global problems and
in contributing to the building of a new, sounder and better world order based
on truly democratic and egalitarian international relations, mutual respect
and reciprocal benefit for the sake of the overall objectives of peace and
development.
In this regard, we welcome the initial results of the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development at Rio, especially Agenda 21, aiming
at the goal of sustainable development. The immediate question, however, is
that of securing the financial and technological resources needed to implement
Agenda 21.
The social dimension, including the concern for children, assumes the
same long-term significance as regards both sustainable development and the
environment. As is shown in the report of the Secretary-General, in the
follow-up to the Plan of Action adopted by the World Summit for Children, much
has been done in the past two years, but our commitment and our action need to
be imbued with even greater universality. For its part, Viet Nam was the
first country in Asia to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We
have finalized our national programme of action and have just submitted,
within the specified time-frame, our first national report on the
implementation of the Convention.

Against the backdrop of the evolving international situation, Asia and
the Pacific reflect fairly clearly the characteristics of today's world.
While several nations have seized opportunities to achieve rapid development,
not a small number of others remain mired in a state of underdevelopment,
deprivation and poverty. Alongside the trend towards cooperation, some seeds
of potential conflicts are being sown.
We are pleased to note that South-East Asia is now entering a new stage
with fine prospects for peace and prosperity. The erstwhile complicated
bilateral relations have been and are being normalized and the trend towards
regional cooperation and integration, in order to achieve stability and
development, is gaining great momentum. Relations of good-neighbourliness,
mutual trust and understanding are gradually being established in the region.
These are indeed historic developments in the international relations of
South-East Asia, which had been a constant hotbed of war and tension for the
past half century. However, as in many other areas in the world, there remain
latent factors of destabilization, factors that are a legacy of the past or
arise from recent events, especially those relating to territorial borders
either on the land or on the sea, between the countries of South-East Asia and
those near to them. This is a cause of concern for countries within and
outside the region because of the danger of destabilization in that important
part of the world.
It is our view that global security is indivisible. This is true at the
global as well as the regional level. Security can be achieved in South-East
Asia only when security is assured for each country in the region, it being

understood that such security is multifaceted: military, political and
economic. To that end, various positive initiatives and proposals have been
put forward by countries in the region, such as the Zone of Peace, Freedom and
Neutrality in South-East Asia (ZOPFAN), the Free Trade Area (AFTA) of the
Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the ASEAN Manila Declaration
of 22 July 1992, Malaysia's East Asian Economic Grouping (EAEG), Indonesia's
Forum on Cooperation in the Eastern (South China) Sea, and the seven
principles governing relations among the countries of South-East Asia set
forth by the Lao People's Democratic Republic. These proposals and
initiatives have contributed, and are still contributing, to a large extent to
the strengthening of mutual trust and understanding among nations in the
region, thus fostering further regional cooperation.
With regard to the problems that emerged recently over the Eastern Sea,
it is our view that they should be solved appropriately through peaceful
negotiations, without resort to force or the threat of force that is, on the
basis of fundamental principles acceptable to all the parties concerned;
otherwise, the situation may take a negative and complex turn.
For Viet Nam's part, while firmly resolved to defend our sovereignty and
territorial integrity, we advocate the settlement of all disputes through
dialogue between the parties concerned, so as to achieve an appropriate
solution together. Pending such a solution, Viet Nam will exercise the utmost
restraint and refrain from any action that might adversely affect efforts
towards confidence-building and the relaxation of tension in the relations
among countries of the region, and hopes that other parties concerned will do
the same. We are convinced that with good will on the part of all parties

concerned, an appropriate solution can be found to any dispute, no matter how
complex it may be. In this spirit, we reiterate our full support for the four
principles put forward in the ASEAN Declaration of 22 July 1992 to serve as a
basis for the settlement of disputes and to ensure security in the Eastern
Sea. These principles are as follows: First, all sovereignty and
jurisdictional issues pertaining to the Eastern (South China) Sea shall be
resolved by peaceful means, without resort to force; secondly, all parties
concerned shall exercise restraint with a view to creating a positive climate
for the eventual resolution of all disputes; thirdly, the possibilities of
cooperation in the Eastern Sea shall be explored without prejudicing the
sovereignty and jurisdiction of countries having direct interests in the area;
and, fourthly, the principles contained in the Treaty of Friendship and
Cooperation in South-East Asia shall be applied as the basis for establishing
a code of international conduct over the Eastern Sea.
Fruitful discussions in a spirit of constructive cooperation, based on
equality and mutual respect between Viet Nam and, respectively, Malaysia,
Indonesia and Thailand, on questions relating to the Eastern Sea, have proved
to be the best way to settle problems in relations among countries of the
region.
The countries of the region and the international community support the
implementation of the Paris Agreements on Cambodia, with a view to building a
peaceful, independent and neutral Cambodia, living in national harmony,
enjoying friendly relations with all countries and contributing to regional
peace and stability. However, we share the international community's concern
that the implementation of the Paris Agreements is being impeded and we call

upon all the parties concerned to cooperate in order to ensure the strict
and full implementation of these Agreements. For its part, as a signatory
to the Paris Agreements, Viet Nam reaffirms its strict observance and full
implementation of the provisions concerning Viet Nam, as stipulated by the
Agreements. At the same time, Viet Nam denounces the acts of ostracism
and persecution against Vietnamese residents in Cambodia and categorically
rejects the slanderous allegations against Viet Nam by those whose only
aim is to cover up their activities which undermine the Paris Agreements.

The internationalization of the world economy and the trend towards
economic restructuring require reform and resolute participation of national
economies, including that of Viet Nam, in the international division of
labour, economic cooperation and world trade. Over the last 5 years, thanks
to the judicious policy pursued and the exceptional efforts exerted by the
Vietnamese people, the cause of reform and renewal in Vietnam has effectively
become part of everyday life and brought about initial but very significant
achievements in all spheres of social life. The energies of all economic
sectors in our country have been released and multiplied. Together with the
expansion of cooperation with the outside world, such developments have
brought about visible changes in the economic and social make-up of the
country which is thus poised to forge ahead.
Life however always poses new demands. While carrying out the task of
economic reform as the centrepiece of our efforts we are at the same time
stepping up political reform and renewal. These are the two facets of one
single process which interact and stimulate each other. The political reform
is aimed at extending the democratic freedoms of our citizens in all respects,
restructuring the political system and building a State governed by the rule
of law, truly of the people, by the people and for the people. Our new
Constitution, promulgated in April this year, is not only a concrete
embodiment but also the institutionalization of this reform process. One of
the essential elements of this new Constitution is to ensure strict respect
for the fundamental rights of the citizen. Proceeding from the great
principles enshrined in Viet Nam's 1945 Declaration of Independence, whereby
"all peoples of the world are born equal; every nation is entitled to the

same rights to life, happiness and freedom", we hold the view that each State
and each nation strives for the ideal of democracy and freedom in its own way,
creatively rather than through a stereotyped or dogmatic approach, and still
less through the adoption of models imposed from outside. Each nation is
entitled to the sacred right freely to choose its own socio-political system,
to chart its own path of development and to tackle its own problems in
accordance with its historical, cultural and social traditions. It is
unacceptable for one nation to impose standards of democracy and human rights
upon another nation, and it is all the more unacceptable for one nation to
stand as judge over another nation.
Carrying out its foreign policy of broad openness, diversification and
greater multilateral emphasis in its international relations, during recent
times Viet Nam has strengthened and expanded its relations with many countries
in the world on the bases of mutual respect for each other's independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity, of non-interference in each other's
internal affairs, and of equality and mutual benefit. We attach special
importance to improving and strengthening relations of friendship and
cooperation with countries in our region and to making a positive contribution
towards a South-East Asia of peace, stability, cooperation and development.
Relations between Viet Nam and the countries of the Association of South-East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) have entered a completely new phase. Our country's
accession to the Treaty on Amity and Cooperation in South-East Asia, signed at
Bali in 1976, and its becoming an observer in ASEAN constitute the foundation
for a qualitatively new development of the relations of friendship and
cooperation between Viet Nam and the ASEAN countries. Relations between Viet
Nam and China have been normalized on the basis of the five principles of

peaceful coexistence, in keeping with the aspiration and interests of the two
peoples and with the trend towards peace, stability and development in the
region. We believe that these fundamental interests will help the two
countries settle in a satisfactory manner and through peaceful negotiations
outstanding as well as newly emerging problems in their relations on the basis
of respect for each other's independence, sovereignty and legitimate interests.
Our foreign policy is geared to combining continuity and dynamism in our
relations with all countries, large and small. We are doing our utmost to
consolidate and renew traditional relations with friendly countries and with
countries members of the Non-Aligned Movement, and we continue to extend
solidarity and support to the cause of the Palestinian and South African
peoples and to all other peoples struggling for peace, national independence,
democracy and social progress. We continue to strengthen existing relations
with countries in various continents and at the same time enter into relations
with countries in regions with which we have had only rare contacts in the
past, such as recently with countries in the South Pacific, the Gulf and Latin
America.
The normalization of relations between Viet Nam and the United States
will benefit not only the Vietnamese and the American peoples but also peace
and stability in South East Asia. We have turned the page on past history and
look forward to the future. Proceeding from this spirit and from our
humanitarian policy, we have done whatever possible in cooperating effectively
with the United States to settle the question of Americans missing in action
during the Viet Nam war. Our constructive efforts and goodwill have been
welcomed by the American public and acknowledged by the United States
Administration.

We are of the view that today multilateralism, especially as embodied by
the United Nations, occupies an increasingly significant position. However,
we should define the appropriate degree of separation and correlation between
the multilateral dimension and the national dimension. It should be
emphasized that isolationism is outmoded but national sovereignty forever
remains a sacred value, which all countries, large and small, are determined
to defend.
World developments over the past year have rendered ever more imperative
the demand for the democratization of international life and inter-State
relations, including the democratization of multilateral forums, especially
the United Nations. In the new context, the composition of the Security
Council and the balance between the Council, the General Assembly and the
Secretary-General of the United Nations must reflect the realities of a world
which has radically changed as compared with the time when the United Nations
was born, and even with only a few years ago.

We endorse the idea of re-examining and enlarging the composition of the
Security Council, with due attention to developing countries, with a view to
fully implementing the principle of equality between all Member States and
ensuring that the voice of the majority is duly heard in the process of making
decisions on issues of critical importance to the international community.
Our world body must be revitalized so that it can really be an effective
multilateral tool for keeping and safeguarding peace, contributing to the
solution of global issues and especially for building a sounder and more
equitable new world order that will be the fruit of our truly common endeavour.
Within its foreign policy of sovereign independence, peace, cooperation
and openness, Vietnam will do its best to participate actively in the work of
multilateral institutions and forums, thereby to promote further its
integration into the international community and the world economy and to
contribute to shaping a sound and equitable new world order that really meets
the legitimate expectations of the community of nations.


I bring to the General Assembly the
greetings of the people and Government of Mauritius. I assure you. Sir, of
our unstinted cooperation and support in the discharge of the important task
that you have assumed upon your election to the high office of President of
the General Assembly at its forty-seventh session. I join those who have
already congratulated you on this singular honour, which is also a tribute to
your country.

I should like also to offer my felicitations to all the other officers of
the Assembly and to wish them success as they take the reins for the current
session.
In addition, I want to put on record our appreciation of the masterly
manner in which your distinguished predecessor conducted the affairs of the
General Assembly at its forty-sixth session, which was held at a time when the
most crucial transformation on which the Organization has embarked was taking
place. He can take pride in the commendable achievements of the Organization
under his wise guidance.
It is an equally pleasant duty to welcome the 13 States of Eastern Europe
that have joined our ranks as members of this comity of free nations. Their
membership in the United Nations can only reinforce the foundations of the
Organization and make a positive contribution to the new agenda that it has
assumed.
The beginning of the current session of the General Assembly follows a
year which was very eventful on the international scene but, more important,
within the Organization itself. Indeed, during the past year the United
Nations has witnessed, and in some cases has triggered, major developments.

When I addressed the Assembly during the general debate last year, I referred
to the selection of a new man to take the helm of the Organization. I said
that we were in a new era and that the new Secretary-General would have to
tackle a different agenda and face new challenges as we approached the
twenty-first century. I also said that it would be appropriate to have a
Secretary-General from the South and, indeed, from Africa. In that respect we
have been served well.

It is therefore with pride that I record as one of the important
developments in our system the brilliant choice of Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali
as Secretary-General, which has kindled in many a Member nation fresh hope
that its just aspirations will be addressed and fulfilled.
Mr. Boutros-Ghali's election to lead this world body has been welcomed with
elation by the international community, and with great expectation by those of
us who are from Africa. We take pride in the fact that this wise man of
proven distinguished leadership and excellence is an Egyptian son of Africa.

Mauritius would like to associate itself with all those who have
commended the Secretary-General on the laudable actions he has undertaken so
far in his bid to initiate the much-needed reform of the Organization. It is
conceded that reform of an organization like the United Nations is not an easy
task, but it is more than overdue, especially at a time when the cold war has
definitely been laid to rest. The drop of the curtain on the cold-war era has
brought the reform and restructuring of the United Nations within the realm of
possibility. The task is mammoth for sure, but it is one that is imperative,
given the new priorities on the international agenda.
The Secretary-General deserves all the encouragement possible in his
endeavours along this difficult path. His task becomes even more exacting
when it is placed in the perspective of the forthcoming fiftieth anniversary
of the Organization in 1995, which, incidentally, is also the year when the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons will come up for renewal.
The years leading up to 1995 are, to our mind, absolutely crucial for the
United Nations. Now, more than ever before, it is of paramount importance
that the United Nations address, with renewed vigour but within the parameters
of the Charter, the various and complex issues that preoccupy the
international community.
It is with those preoccupations in mind that we in Mauritius have
welcomed the Secretary-General's "Agenda for Peace" submitted under the
mandate issued at the end of the historic and first-of-its-kind summit meeting
of the Security Council held on 31 January last. We share the
Secretary-General's optimism when he states:
"A conviction has grown, among nations large and small, that an
opportunity has been regained to achieve the great objectives of the

Charter a United Nations capable of maintaining international peace and
security, of securing justice and human rights and of promoting, in the
words of the Charter, 'social progress and better standards of life in
larger freedom.'" (A/47/277, para. 3)
Yes, we agree that this opportunity must not be allowed to pass, must not
be squandered. It is for us Member States to ensure that the Charter is
strengthened to create the appropriate conditions for the Organization to
assume the role to which we want it to aspire. Our faith in the United
Nations should be reinforced, and we should match our words with action to
give the innovative structures proposed by the Secretary-General a chance to
work, and thus move the Organization out of the paralysis that characterized
it during the cold-war era. The first steps out of this paralysis have been
taken, but there are still miles to go. In our endeavours to achieve the
redefined objectives meant to ensure international peace and security we must
be wary that no attempt is made, deliberate or otherwise, to overstretch the
interpretation of the Charter to suit any hidden political or even economic
agendas.
The universal membership of the United Nations should make it possible
for the international community to discuss with equity, fairness and justice
any issue that is likely to jeopardize or bring into question the atmosphere
of international peace and security in which we aspire to live. In that
perspective, I should like to commit the support of Mauritius to the proposals
of the Secretary-General with respect to preventive diplomacy, peacemaking,
peace-keeping and confidence-building measures envisaged for the United
Nations and its executing organs. But, as the Secretary-General has said in
his annual report, the demands on the United Nations are not matched by an

equivalent provision of resources, expecially by those who can well afford
such resources. The Secretary-General's report informs us that since 1988
13 new peace-keeping operations have been organized and that the Organization
is at present administering 12 peace-keeping operations in various regions of
the world, operations that are estimated to cost close to $3 billion in the
current 12-month period.
If we expect the United Nations to fulfil the new role that we are
designing for it we must collectively ensure that we provide as well the
financial support that it requires. It is only with secure financial
foundations that the United Nations will be able to respond adequately and
satisfactorily to our aspirations. I should therefore like to appeal to
fellow Member States to honour their financial obligations within a reasonable
time and thus remove the current pecuniary constraints faced by the
Organization. I must also add that my country, which is among those Member
States that religiously pay up their annual assessed contributions, will give
favourable consideration to the Secretary-General's proposals to deal with the
cash-flow problems, as outlined in his report.
I should not like to leave the issue of reform of the Organization
without joining my voice with those that have called for a review of the
responsibilities of the Security Council in this changed environment of ours.
We must be cautious lest we fall easy prey to the dangers that a unipolar
world can trigger. It is evident that a new world order is emerging. Let us
commit ourselves not to take a limited view of this new world order or,
indeed, give it a limited concept. We welcome the ever-increasing activities
of the Security Council to the extent that, as the Secretary-General informs
us in his report, during the first 7 months of this year, 46 resolutions were

adopted by the Council compared to 14 in all in 1987. We should, however,
beware of allowing ambiguities to crop up in those resolutions, ambiguities
that may make it dangerously possible for various interpretations to be given
to those resolutions, the implementation of which may perpetuate the situation
of conflicts that unfortunately pervades our globe. Indeed, criticism has
been levelled at the Council for its seemingly ad hoc approach to matters
relating to international security. There is therefore a need to define set
considerations, which, in turn, would determine what situations constitute
threats to international peace and security requiring action by the Security
Council.
Furthermore, it has been rightly and forcefully argued that while a more
vigorous and dynamic role is being envisaged for the Security Council, this
magnified mandate of the Council should be matched by enhanced transparency
and democracy. We fully concur with the Secretary-General, who, in the
introduction to his report, while arguing that the current international
situation rquires an Organization capable of dealing comprehensively with the
economic, social, environmental and political dimensions of human development,
underlines that:
"This requires the full application of the principles of democracy within
the family of nations and within our Organization." (A/47/1, para. 9)
In this context, we await with keen interest the results of the
deliberations of the high-level Working Group for the Restructuring of the
United Nations set up by the recent summit meeting of the Movement of
Non-Aligned Countries.
Earlier on I said that while 1995 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of
the Organization, it will also be the year when the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons will come up for review and renewal.
Last year in my address to the Assembly, I dwelt at length on the issue of
disarmament, principally because it constitutes especially to us smaller
States of the world the only path to lasting security. I expressed the hope
then that in the wake of the dramatic announcements made by
President Gorbachev, the leader of the then-Soviet Union, President Bush and
President Mitterrand the disarmament race would be confirmed. It is with deep
satisfaction that my country notes the tremendous progress achieved over the
past year in that race. We welcome the vote by the United States Senate two
months ago for a nine-month moratorium on United States nuclear testing and an
end to all such tests by September 1996, which came in the wake of the French
and Russian moratoriums. Those developments lead us to assert that the time
has now come for all of us seriously to consider a comprehensive
nuclear-test-ban treaty, the more so in that the international community
hailed the agreement by Presidents Bush and Yeltsin in Washington D.C. in June
of this year to cut the number of long-range nuclear-missile warheads on the
United States and Russian sides by about two thirds.
Another encouraging event in the field of disarmament has been the
promise kept by China and France, which have deposited their instruments of
accession to the non-proliferation Treaty. Speaking of that Treaty brings me
to reiterate the dire need for an informal dialogue to be undertaken between
now and 1995 between States Parties to the Treaty and non-party States, with a
view to addressing in the best possible way those provisions of the Treaty
that have so far prevented it from acquiring a universal dimension.

We also look forward to the establishment in 1993 of the Preparatory
Committee for the 1995 nuclear non-proliferation Treaty renewal Conference and
are confident that it will have fruitful and conclusive deliberations.
We applaud the progress that has been achieved in the formulation of a
chemical weapons convention and congratulate the negotiators in Geneva who
have put in arduous hours to ensure that the target date of 1992 for the
completion of such a convention be met. I am pleased to inform the Assembly
that Mauritius will co-sponsor with others the resolution on that convention
and will be among its original signatories when it comes up for ratification.
We believe that, with the end of the cold war and in this new era,
complete nuclear disarmament and the elimination of weapons of mass
destruction are no longer a dream but are now very much in the realm of
reality. On the way towards that ideal objective, Mauritius will support all
plausible initiatives, including the elaboration of a convention providing for
a "cut off" in the production of fissile nuclear material for weapons
purposes, as well as an international convention on negative nuclear security
assurances.
While we welcome the positive elements in the field of disarmament, some
of which I have just mentioned, we deplore the continued movement of highly
dangerous nuclear material on land and on the high seas. We have also taken
cognizance with grave concern of the movement of plutonium and other toxic
waste across the world. We exhort the countries involved in such trade to
refrain from such actions and pay heed to the genuine concerns that have been
expressed and continue to be voiced by the international community.
Mauritius deplores the fact that some private companies based in Europe
are shamefully exploiting the situations of disarray and complete chaos

prevailing in Somalia to dump toxic waste on its territory, thereby adding to
the calamities that are already claiming a heavy toll of human lives. The
international community should, with o single voice, condemn such abominable
actions. It is indeed regrettable that while we, within the context of the
new role of the United Nations and other regional organizations, are trying to
resolve the conflicts that beset the world, others, with no qualms whatsoever,
are exploiting those conflicts for their own material benefit.
As regards the situation of conflicts throughout the world, a sad sight
unfolds before our eyes. In certain areas, especially after the historic
collapse of one ideological bloc, new dangers loom heavily over entire
populations enmeshed in ethnic and nationalist bickering. Their release from
long years of repression seems to have given way to an unfortunate lust for
self-destruction.
We are particularly concerned at the utter lack of consideration for the
value of human life and property that has become an everyday occurrence in
certain parts of Eastern Europe. It is very difficult for us to accept that
ethnic, religious, and nationalist feelings could be so strong as to render
entire populations expendable, or that political leaders should encourage such
murderous and genocidal sprees when it ought to have been possible for them to
thrash out their differences peacefully through civilized negotiations. The
sadness of the matter is that, while the various political groups often
motivated by a misguided and exaggerated sense of territorial expansion, turn
whole areas into wargrounds of desolation and lay to ruin entire cities and
towns, it is the innocent civilian population that has to hold the thorny end
of the stick. I do not need to retell the countless stories of atrocities
being perpetrated daily in many parts of our world to convince anybody of the

kind of manmade calamity that afflicts us. Every God-given day is turned into
a nightmare by the needless killings perpetrated in the name of supremacy.
On the one hand, we do everything in our power to rid ourselves
collectively of oppressive regimes and superficial ideologies; but on the
other, once that goal is achieved we turn the guns on one another. Entire
nations have crumbled over the past few months, principally in Europe and
Africa. Entire populations have been decimated. Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Somalia are indeed sad and disgraceful examples of the kind of cruelty and
brutality of which man is capable. On both counts, the international
community has been shamefully slow in addressing the issues with a view to
bringing an end to the senseless killings that have characterized the daily
evolution of the situation in those countries, whose victims have been the
innocent and helpless populations.
What a sad reflection this is on humanity. For months we have remained
impassive to the images of desolation and despair, of emaciated fellow beings
too sick and too weak to move, of mutilated people degenerating into
apparitions of skin and bones - images brought to us in the comfort of our
living rooms on the small screen. The Somali human rights disaster for
indeed that is what it is has been left to simmer for months unheeded. This
brings me to address another area of priority on the international agenda
the issue of human rights.
It has been known since time immemorial that man as an individual has a
capacity to go to extremes. As capable as he is of displaying a depthless
sense of compassion and love, he is just as able to manifest a diametrically
opposed and excruciating sense of cruelty and oppression towards his fellow
being. But when such harassment and privation of man's basic rights become

institutionalized, it is a matter of distress that should be the concern of
the international community.
One cannot talk of economic development and progress on the one hand
without on the other hand ensuring that man who remains at the centre of
development and therefore of progress is not prevented from enjoying his
dignity, nor divested of his basic freedoms and rights. The promotion and
upholding of human rights should remain high on the international community's
list of priorities. In fact, as the Secretary-General reminds us in his
report, the Charter of the United Nations makes the promotion of human rights
one of our priority objectives. Constant dialogue with a view to defusing any
situation in which human rights have been breached should be encouraged and
welcomed at all levels.
Human rights are indivisible. Political, social, civil and economic
rights are fundamental to humanity in its quest for progress and its
endeavours towards the economic and social improvement of its environment.
That is why we in Mauritius staunchly support those who believe that concern
for human rights and the promotion and defence thereof cannot be considered as
interference in the internal affairs of a State where that State displays an
arrogant disregard for the basic rights and freedoms of its people. We
believe that violations and gross abuse of human rights should be decried
forcefully. In the same manner that the international community has with one
voice condemned,apartheid as a human rights abuse, it should be free and
honest enough to point the finger at those who continue to thwart the efforts
of man to assert his dignity. If we can without restraint declare ourselves
against such scourges as apartheid, racism and xenophobia, we should equally
be at full liberty to denounce those who for archaic or obscure reasons but

often out of self-interest deny their fellow beings the freedom to exercise
their basic rights.
We therefore condemn without reserve those who, for political expediency
and/or survival, find it necessary in the normal course of events to deprive
their people of civil and political rights to the extent of imprisoning and
even exterminating those who militate for such rights. We also view with
grave concern those cases in which human rights monitors, local or
international, have been arrested, jailed, or even killed while trying to come
to the assistance of populations that are victims of human rights deprivation.
However, we should like to appeal to the donor community to ensure that,
while withholding or cutting off aid and assistance to any country or region
as a punitive measure against regimes guilty of gross violations and abuse of
human rights, nothing be done to exacerbate the plight of innocent people
whose lives are already miserable as a result of their being deprived of their
basic rights. After all, human feelings and therefore humanitarian compassion
should transcend political considerations. A people afflicted by severe human
rights abuse should not be made to endure further suffering by being deprived
of much-needed assistance.

With a view to addressing serious human-rights-abuse situations in
certain territories in a positive and constructive manner, we are fully
supportive of the idea that the General Assembly or the Security Council
should be able to entrust the Secretary-General with mounting fact-finding
missions to those territories, either at the request of the Government thereof
or at the behest of the appropriate organ of the United Nations itself
subject, of course, to prior arrangements having been made with the States
concerned.
We must here commend the work done by the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights and Human Rights Committee, the Centre for Human Rights in Geneva
and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as the
various non-governmental organizations which have been playing a crucial role
in the protection and enhancement of human rights. We must also place on
record our appreciation for those States that have legislated appropriately to
give human rights the protection of the law and make their enjoyment a matter
of course.
In the context of the international concern for human rights, we hope
that the opportunity provided by the second World Conference on Human Rights,
to be held in Vienna in June 1993, will be seized by all concerned to pledge
themselves to the universal upholding and promotion of human rights. Respect
for human rights must become a cardinal characteristic of all Governments. A
passionate debate is currently on regarding the relationship between
democracy, development and human rights, as indeed on the issue of human
rights and sovereignty. We believe that the 1993 Conference will be the
perfect platform to debate these issues sufficiently for universal norms
thereon to emerge. I should like to seize this opportunity to wish the
Preparatory Committee in Geneva success in the work it has started.

The upsurge of racism and xenophobia in certain countries of the West is
also a matter of great concern to us, and we consider the discrimination in
the treatment of migrant workers and foreign students in those countries a
human-rights violation. It is a matter of deep regret that some countries
that have come to the fore as champions of human rights should themselves be
found wanting on that level. Let them put their human-rights house in order
first before decrying and acting on violations beyond their frontiers.
Similarly, some countries that are quick to denounce human-rights abuse
do not always abide by the consistency that is required in such matters. We
firmly believe that the same approach should be applied in all cases of
alleged human-rights abuse, whenever they may occur. No political or economic
interest should interfere with that approach. Picking and choosing between
countries will only make a farce of the human-rights issue.
I now wish to touch briefly on a few issues that are of specific
importance to us in Mauritius. The unfortunate turn of events in South
Africa, in particular the Boipatong massacre and the Bisho killings, has
dampened the ardour with which we were anticipating the accession of the
Republic of South Africa to the fold of free and democratic countries of the
world. We call on all the parties concerned in the South African arena, and
especially those currently in power, to recast their bearings in as positive a
way as possible to ensure that the objective we dream of for that country is
achieved in the not-too-distant future, so that every citizen of the nation
that will emerge can start working towards its reconstruction based on
freedom, peace, equality and justice. We are hopeful that the wisdom of the
leaders involved and the encouragement of the international community will
make it possible for the stalled negotiations to be resumed, for the benefit
of all South African citizens.

In neighbouring Mozambigue, a breakthrough had appeared at hand as all
parties concerned declared their readiness to work for the progress of that
country in the wake of the recent negotiations aimed at ending years of civil
strife. We hope that last-minute snags will be overcome in a spirit of
compromise so that peace can at last prevail in the better interests of the
population.*
Similarly, we are encouraged by the ongoing Middle East peace talks. We
must, however, constantly remind ourselves that the crux of the matter remains
an equitable and just solution to the Palestinian issue.
The scourge of famine and drought that continues to take its toll of
lives on the African continent, especially in its southern part and in the
Horn of Africa, is a matter of deep concern. We would like to see the
international community act more urgently to stop the dreadful loss of life
that has become a daily occurrence in many countries of that region.
Mauritius is ready to contribute within the possibility of its means to any
action aimed at alleviating the plight of those unfortunate and often
forgotten souls.
Another issue that is of great importance to us in Mauritius is the need
to respect the territorial integrity of nations. I should here like to place
once more on record the appreciation of my country to all those countries that
have consistently expressed their support of our sovereignty over the Chagos
Archipelago, including Diego Garcia. We should like to inform the Assembly
that we have resumed exchanges with the United Kingdom on this issue.

In my address to the Assembly last year, I expressed the hope that the
leaders of Fiji would redress the situation that prevails there by amending
its present Constitution to the satisfaction of all the citizens of that
sister island nation. Mauritius draws comfort from recent assertions by the
Prime Minister of that country that he is morally committed to reviewing the
Constitution of the land. We are confident that the Fijian Government will
now act on the basis of those assertions and make it once more possible for
the Fijian citizens, irrespective of the community to which they belong, to
work hand in hand for the progress of their nation.
Similarly, we commend the authorities of that other neighbourly sister
island of Sri Lanka for the efforts being deployed to put an end to the
unfortunate strife that has ravaged their country and taken such a heavy toll
of human lives. We are confident that with a reasonable degree of compromise
on all sides, peace and harmony will prevail anew there.
Finally, allow me to reiterate the continued faith of my country in the
collective wisdom of our Organization and pledge anew our unstinting support
for its laudable efforts, under the skilled and enlightened leadership of
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, to address the political, social and economic
obstacles that remain strewn on the path to harmonious coexistence and global
progress.