Gambia

Thanks be to the almighty Allah for giving me another opportunity to address this global body at a time when human civilization is teetering on the brink of a major catastrophe. Before going further, let me convey our warm felicitations to you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. While wishing you success, I would like to assure you of the support and cooperation of the Gambia during your tenure as President of the Assembly. I would also like to commend your predecessor, Mr. John William Ashe, for his able stewardship as President of the General Assembly. It is a well-known fact that injustice, iniquities, exclusion and greed all contribute to the creation of international tensions that can lead to catastrophic consequences, conflicts, wars, death and destruction. Today we witness lamentable inertia on the part of the United Nations, as powerful Member States take undue advantage of weaker Members; unjust economic and financial sanctions are imposed on other Member States; others are bullied and their natural resources looted; or wars are waged against still others, simply in the name of democracy, freedom and regime change. All of those actions are based on false pretences. That is not the scenario that the noble and distinguished gentlemen, the founders of the United Nations and its Charter, envisaged. What those great founding fathers of the United Nations intended over half a century ago was a world body committed to promoting the principles and ideals of peace and security and advancing the causes of justice and equality; freedom for all; and respect for the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of States, rich or poor, black or white, big or small; and respect for the social, spiritual, religious and cultural values of all peoples. Therefore, in order to uphold the founding principles of the Charter of the United Nations, Member States must avoid the promotion of all forms of aggression, confrontation and dangerous tension by exercising maximal restraint in the pursuit of their individual or collective national interests at the expense of others. In fact, the pursuit of one’s interest at the expense of the legitimate interests and security of others is criminal. Invariably, when major tensions erupt into conflicts or wars, the world economy as a whole suffers, with major disruptions or reversals in the developing countries. That has been evident in the wake of past regional or international conflicts, when oil prices, for example, surged, with the developing countries bearing the brunt of the debilitating consequences. In short, the United Nations must be seen not as a prejudicial but rather as an all-embracing global body that stands for the interests of not only the few and the powerful but all its Member States. The Gambia acknowledges with satisfaction the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled “The future we want” (resolution 66/288, annex), and the resulting establishment of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals and associated consultative forums, including the African regional consultations on the sustainable development goals. While the Gambia appreciates the proposals of the Open Working Group on the post-2015 development framework, it is hoped that the goals and targets outlined thus far will reflect an integrated and transformative agenda that would ultimately build upon the gains made from the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in order to fully address the many difficult challenges that we face today. It is in that connection that we welcome the choice of the theme for this session, namely, “Delivering on and implementing a transformative post-2015 development agenda”. That theme is indeed pertinent and timely, as it gives fresh impetus to our ardent desire to identify a set of global priorities to steer the international development agenda, once the MDGs expire at the end of 2015. However, in launching that new initiative for transformative change, we must not allow novelty to mask any shortcomings of the MDGs experiment. There is a need to take stock of the achievements and failures of those Goals and indeed to renew support to those developing countries, particularly the least developed, landlocked and island developing countries, that may still have difficulties in meeting their critical MDG targets before the end of 2015. At a time when the world is facing multiple and complex challenges, there is a need to pay attention to the commanding role that the United Nations should be playing in advancing international peace and security, justice and the fundamental rights and freedoms of all peoples. The attainment of the post-2015 sustainable development goals will be elusive, unless the United Nations begins to execute its core mandate in earnest and exercises its commanding role in dealing with the host of local and international crises that are disruptive to development. A few current issues stand out on which the United Nations has yet to be seen to be playing a leading role. First, there is Ebola, a deadly haemorrhagic fever that has claimed more than 2,000 lives in West Africa, mostly in the severely affected countries of the Republics of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The World Health Organization has warned that, if no major efforts are made immediately, more lives will be lost and the economies of those countries will come under serious strain. Already, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have projected that, owing to disruptions in the labour force and productive sectors of the economies of those countries, declines in their respective economic growths could range from 1.5 to 3.5 percentage points, if current conditions remain unchecked. For those affected countries, all development efforts are now on hold as they grapple with that contagious and deadly disease. It is encouraging that the United States Government has committed, rather belatedly, some funds and military assets to curb the spread of that disease. That gesture is more than just humanitarian aid. It is also, as President Obama said, in the national security interest of the United States. That is true because in a globalized, interconnected world, infectious diseases can easily spread to any part of the world. It is for that reason that the United Nations should take the lead in mobilizing international support to fight Ebola, which is an evident danger not only to West Africa but to the world at large. On that note, we want to thank the Russian Federation for being one of the first major Powers to respond to the outbreak of deadly Ebola by providing scientific and medical teams to some of those countries as soon as the outbreak was announced. Secondly, for some time now, the world has been witnessing the bloodiest and most heinous form of terrorism, unleashed by satanic and sadistic human vermin disguised as Islamic militants, who are acting ostensibly in the name of Islamic purity. In reality, those sons of infamy and their shameless and deceitful claims of devotion to the peaceful and noble religion of Islam are, in fact, an insult not only to all true Muslims, but to our Prophet and humankind in general. Before the emergence of the mujahideen in Iran and later in Afghanistan in the 1980s, which was a movement subsequently associated with Islamic terrorism by the Western mainstream media in total disregard for its creation and sponsorship by the Western Powers to fight proxy wars against the Islamic revolution in Iran and the Soviets in Afghanistan, there existed no Islamic terrorism. Islam in its entire history has never been associated with violence or terrorism, as those activities are haram, or forbidden, for a Muslim. Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance and has nothing to do with the activities of those anti-Islamic bands of dangerous criminals, who spread nothing but deep- seated hatred for human life and whose sole intention is to desecrate and defame Islam. Consequently, those various treacherous hate groups cannot be associated with Islam, as our Islamic religion is pure and unique and cannot therefore be classified into varying degrees such as moderate Islam, democratic Islam, extreme Islam or violent Islam. Simply put, Islam is a pure religion that encourages the best of human behaviour and interpersonal relationships, among other virtues, as prescribed by Allah, the almighty creator. In other words, the adherents of those lunatic fringe groups of bandits and gangsters, such as Boko Haram, the Islamic State in Syria and Al-Qaida, are dangerous criminals and enemies of human civilization and development and should therefore be wiped off the face of the Earth, because we do not need them. Thirdly, the situation in the Middle East remains highly volatile, and the United Nations has been watching the cycle of violence in the region rather helplessly. In the most recent conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis, approximately 2,000 people from Gaza, mostly women and children, died at the hands of the Israeli army, and approximately 70 Israelis, all of them soldiers except for three children, lost their lives. The continuing expansion of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, despite repeated calls for restraint by the international community, is unacceptable, as it undermines any prospects for a two-State solution. The United States Government has played a very strategic and useful mediating role in the past, but the United Nations must now take up its commanding role in seeking a peaceful settlement that is just, durable and acceptable to all the Members of the United Nations. Fourthly, as part of its core mandate in promoting global peace and security and greater understanding among peoples of different backgrounds and cultures, the United Nations must do more to advocate a culture of peace, tolerance and understanding, not only among the world’s great religions but also among Member States themselves. That is important, as we continue to witness a growing propagation of disinformation and misrepresentation, especially by the Western media, about Islam in general and the application of sharia law, particularly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, and sharia is the legal system in Islam and the only divine Constitution for not only the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but all Islamic States. Therefore, the incessant criticisms and misrepresentations of the application of sharia law in Saudi Arabia or anywhere else are disrespectful and abhorrent. It is an insult to all true Muslims to describe sharia law as barbaric. As a matter of fact, the most barbaric laws are those that are not based on any divine teachings. Sharia is the legal system that the almighty Allah has prescribed for all Muslims, and we will apply it to the letter. In the same vein, the General Assembly should be commended for the designation, two years ago, of World Interfaith Harmony Week. It urged Member States to designate the first week of February each year as World Interfaith Harmony Week, when messages of goodwill and tolerance are spread through mosques, churches and other places of worship. While that was a good beginning for promoting peace and harmony among religions and peoples of different belief systems, the United Nations must do more to counter the continuing attacks on Islam, in particular by people who do not even believe in the existence of a supreme creator called Allah. Those infidels have no moral high ground to describe any religion — because they do not believe in God, and religion belongs to God — much less say anything about a religion as pure, authentic and noble as Islam. Finally, the United Nations must play its central role in addressing the injustices associated with the unilateral or bilateral application of economic and financial sanctions by one Member State against another as a coercive tool of foreign policy, because that contravenes the fundamental principles of international law, international humanitarian law and the principles and norms governing peaceful coexistence among sovereign States. In that regard, the Gambia calls on the United States Government to unconditionally end the long-standing United States embargo on Cuba, which has brought about untold hardship for the Cuban people. Is it not ironic that the Power talking today about respecting Ukrainian sovereignty and freedom to choose their own way of life is the same Power that has maintained a system of unjustifiable collective punishment against the Cuban people for almost five decades, thereby devastating their economy, simply because, just as the Ukrainians today, Cubans decades ago opted for a system of governance of their choice? That brings me to the subject of climate change. Climate change and development are inextricably linked. The impact of climate change is felt in all countries, particularly developing countries, as it undermines their ability to achieve sustainable development. While Africa is not responsible for the pollution and the other factors causing climate change, it stands to suffer the most. With 96 per cent of Africa’s agriculture being dependent on rainfall and 50 per cent of the fisheries- related jobs estimated to be lost by 2050, climate change poses dire consequences for livelihoods in Africa. The Gambia firmly believes that mitigating the adverse effects of climate change requires a timely and decisive global response. It is a challenge that should unite us, not divide us. In that regard, the Gambia joins other countries affected by climate change and like-minded groups in urging the developed countries that are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to fully implement their commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. In 1974, the Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order (resolution 3201 (S-VI)), which was designed to address some legitimate concerns of developing countries, such as improving their terms of trade and other issues relating to the promotion of a more equitable international economic system. Many of the political, economic and social issues that inspired the new international economic order still remain unresolved, four decades after that historic declaration. As the post-2015 agenda attracts our attention today, we must not relegate those old concerns of developing countries to the dustbin of history. In a nutshell, their old concerns, as well as their new aspirations, must no longer be set aside. To that end, the foundation of any transformative agenda should logically begin with genuine reform of the global governance institutions, particularly the United Nations system. Given the current membership of the Security Council, the reform of that important organ of the world body is long overdue. We African leaders have for a very long time been calling attention to the need to restore the effectiveness and legitimacy of the United Nations by allocating two permanent Seats with full veto powers, as well as two non-permanent seats on the Security Council to reflect current geopolitical realities. If the demands for the reform of the Security Council in the interest of equity and justice cannot be accommodated, then concrete action must be taken for the General Assembly to assume all the powers of the Security Council and its responsibilities, including the power to impose sanctions. Under such an arrangement, all decisions of the General Assembly would have to be voted for by all Members and endorsed by the majority of its membership, thus ensuring a more democratic and transparent global body called the United Nations. On a final note, I want to call the attention of the General Assembly and the Security Council to the very frequent and mysterious sinking and capsizing of boats carrying mostly black African migrants looking for greener pastures in the West, only to end up in body bags on European shores. Strangely enough, those countries, which pretend to love Africans so much that they are always preaching to African leaders about good governance, the rule of law and respect for human life and rights, have been eerily quiet about the very dangerous, racist and inhuman behaviour of deliberately causing boats carrying black Africans to sink, selecting only a few lucky ones to be rescued and sent to concentration camps, called asylum-seeker camps. Those camps are as bad as Nazi concentration camps, and nobody, no country or human rights institution in the West has ever raised the alarm to that sort of genocide in the twenty-first century. If earlier Africans who received the European explorers before colonialism had treated them the same way, Africa would not have been colonized for 400 years. The European explorers were nothing short of people seeking greener pastures for their fellow Europeans, as Europe had, at the time, turned into brown pastures. After 400 years of colonial looting and misrule in Africa, Africa today is reduced from green to brown pastures, owing to overgrazing. Now African explorers are not only unwelcome, but are greeted with instant death on European soil. That is unacceptable. The United Nations must therefore conduct a full and impartial investigation into that man-made catastrophe, namely, the sinking or capsizing of boats carrying young Africans to Europe. If those boats are able to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, only to sink on European coasts, we must find out what deadly mysterious force exists on the European Mediterranean coasts that causes boats carrying young Africans to disintegrate and sink upon arrival. Racism, greed and hatred can only breed hatred, violence and disastrous confrontation between races. We African leaders should stand up together, I hope, to protect those young Africans from mass murder on European coasts. I hereby call on the United Nations to commission such an investigation as a matter of priority and urgency in order to avert a major racial confrontation. We have the right as Africans to defend our black people, wherever they are. As we welcomed all races to Africa, we will not accept that Africans should be treated like dogs, with impunity. That is unacceptable. If the United Nations fails to take action, we will take action. And the action we take will be determined by us. In the Gambia we do not attack people because they are white or black, or because of their religion. No foreigner in the Gambia would say, “I was attacked because I am a foreigner”. If a foreigner comes into contact with the police, it is because he has committed an offence for which even a Gambian would be arrested. If we cannot tolerate each other, the world will never see peace, because nobody can stop migration. The Almighty Allah created this world for us to move around, the same way Europeans moved around when Europe was bankrupt. Europeans came to Africa for 400 years. We never killed them. They overstayed, and some of us had to fight to get them out. Now they have overgrazed our land. We also want greener pastures, but Europeans cannot accept us. Let them send Africans back, but do not kill them. Europeans have no right to kill them. Out of the hundreds of European explorers who came to the Gambia in those days, only one European died on the River Gambia over a span of 400 years. Today, over a span of five years, more than 500 Gambians have lost their lives on European coasts. That is unacceptable. Enough is enough, and the United Nations must intervene, and intervene quickly, or else we will all live to regret our failure to take appropriate action at the right time. Geopolitical realities have changed. Let the West accept that, and with us endeavour to change along with those realities, as we move together towards the peaceful, brighter future we want. The so-called military super-Powers must know that humankind would be sent back to a pre-Stone Age should they be reckless enough to unleash World War III. We cannot have our cake, eat it as we please, and at the same time dictate to others how, when and where they should eat theirs. In the twenty-first century, humankind has a need only for super-Powers of peace and development, not for mediaeval European-style warmongers. Why can we not accept the diversity of the human race and its attendant diversity in cultures, religions and ways of life as each of its diverse groups deems fit?