Comoros

At the outset, I should like, on behalf of the delegation of the Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros, to extend to Mr. Essy my warmest congratulations on his election to the presidency of our Assembly. I am convinced that his wealth of experience in international relations will be for us the best guarantee for the success of our work. Through him, the Assembly has also paid resounding tribute to his country, Côte d’Ivoire, and to one of its illustrious departed sons, the late President Houphouët-Boigny, a great statesman and acknowledged visionary whose wisdom and intelligence made a great contribution to the advent of a world of peace and progress. I wish to join previous speakers in expressing profound gratitude to his predecessor for the effectiveness with which he presided over the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session. I also take this opportunity to convey to Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, our Secretary-General, our high esteem and fraternal gratitude for his tireless efforts to reduce pockets of tension and strengthen international peace and security. His devotion and talent reinforce the role of our Organization. These past five years, the world has seen great upheavals that have put an end to the cold war and ideological blocs. Despite the emergence of certain conflicts, the world is on the threshold of a new, more promising era in which dialogue and joint action seem to be prevailing over confrontation. We are one year away from the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations, and in the present circumstances we must think about defining the new missions our Organization has to carry out, in addition to those bestowed on us by history. Even if the goal of a peaceful world society has not yet been reached, it is acknowledged that our Organization has contributed broadly to decolonization and the progressive development of international law. Of the positive results achieved by the United Nations, the definition and promotion of human rights is inarguably the most important. This world forum has made it possible for developing States to make the international community more aware of their difficulties and to express their demands. Thanks to the United Nations, some global problems, such as those of population and environment, have become priority concerns for all nations, small or large, rich or poor. The climate of détente and the easing of tensions in international relations undoubtedly made it possible to resolve the conflict that beset South Africa for so long. The first non-racial, democratic elections held in South Africa, resulting in the election of President Nelson Mandela, are the best evidence of the positive development of law there. My country is particularly 18 pleased to see the Republic of South Africa occupying its seat in our great family. All Africa places its hopes in South Africa, whose leaders have demonstrated wisdom and determination. We earnestly hope South Africa will be able to pass peacefully and harmoniously through its new stage of transition. One of this year’s felicitous events is clearly the concretization of the peace process that started with the Washington agreements between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Their mutual recognition has provided fresh impetus, and it heralds an era of peace in that part of the world, which has for so long been bloodied by war. I take this opportunity to congratulate President Arafat and the Palestinian people on their tireless efforts to give Palestine a sovereign, independent State within internationally recognized boundaries. If peace is to be established in the Middle East, there must be a comprehensive settlement of the differences between the State of Israel and the Arab States of the region. The Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros, an Arabic-speaking and French-speaking African State, will spare no effort in sincerely encouraging all the parties concerned to strive for peace. We therefore welcome the agreement reached between the Kingdom of Jordan and Israel. My country has always respected our Organization’s principles, and therefore has always advocated dialogue and concertation in the settlement of conflicts. In that spirit, it endorsed the General Assembly’s recommendations on the question of the Comorian island of Mayotte. Need I recall that in this regrettable dispute, which started 19 years ago, [between the Comoros and France], in 1975, the Comorian authorities have always expressed a willingness to negotiate with France on the legal and practical modalities for the return of the Comorian island of Mayotte to its natural community. Unfortunately, France has always opposed concertation on this issue. Quite the contrary: that great country, an unchallenged defender of human rights, is prolonging its administrative and military presence in Mayotte. It has also undertaken in this part of our small territory reforms and socio-economic development plans whose clear aim is to separate for all time the four sister islands that geography, history, race, religion, language and economy had joined together with ties that were both identical and complementary. For Comorians, faith and dignity have made this problem a cardinal point of our sovereign existence. While we take note of the tangible results of the rebirth of democracy in Eastern Europe, the opening up of Africa to multiparty politics and the easing of tensions between Powers, we cannot be but concerned at the appearance of conflicts that are undermining world stability and equilibrium. The case of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a constant and striking reminder that we still have a long, long way to go on the road to lasting peace. My country calls on the Serb and Bosnian parties to comply with the relevant Security Council resolutions and to accept the plan for territorial division proposed by the Contact Group. Nothing would be more tragic than allowing passion and pride to prevail over reason and take precedence over the lives of thousands of women, children and old people, who are the daily victims of this incomprehensible conflict. We are equally at a loss when we look at the genocide that has ravaged Rwanda. We still wonder how all the macabre events that have torn Rwanda apart could have taken place. Fortunately, peace has been restored and normalization seems to be gaining ground. I take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to France for "Operation Turquoise," as well as to all the States that supported that operation, for without it Rwanda would have ceased to exist. We express our gratitude to the neighboring States for the very African hospitality they showed in saving the lives of human beings in distress. I urgently appeal to the new Government of Rwanda to spare no effort to bring about national unity, without which the reconstruction of Rwanda cannot be assured. In addition, we salute the courage and determination of the political authorities and the people of Burundi for their avoidance of another tragedy with incalculable consequences. The international community must assist Africa - particularly the Organization of African Unity, which has never remained indifferent to the various conflicts that have embroiled certain Member States - to prevent conflicts and manage them better. It is imperative that we finally wake up to Africa’s economic realities and understand that its instability and destitution are a standing threat to society throughout the world. While we recognize that the world political situation has eased considerably, we must also take note that the international economic situation shows us no glimmer of hope. Political stability will be fragile if there is not a clear improvement in the economic sphere and, in particular, if growth is limited to the wealthy countries. 19 The developing countries are bearing the full brunt of the ill effects of the crisis, in the form of deteriorating terms of trade, rising protectionism, decreasing net flows of external resources and, on top of all that, the debt burden, which nullifies the efforts of the developing countries. The widening gap between wealthy and poor countries reduces the effects of the economic recovery in the industrialized countries in recent years has seemed to be clearly appearing on the horizon. In this context, it is our collective responsibility to combat poverty, famine and destitution in the developing countries. Given the distress of the developing countries and an international economic system in crisis, we must devise a new and constructive vision, one capable of restructuring the world economy while reflecting the interests of both parties within the framework of sincere cooperation. We place our hopes in a renewed United Nations that will take concrete action to establish more balanced international economic relations. In the opinion of my country, the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros, cooperation between North and South is vital to the balance of the world economy. The Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros also believes that cooperation between the countries of the South is imperative; indeed, we have made cooperation with the developing countries an essential element in our relations. For us, the development of South-South cooperation is a bounden duty in order to insure the continuation and strengthening of development assistance. We have chosen a policy of regional solidary and integration as an effective tool for economic and social progress. Our commitment to the Indian Ocean Commission, and our membership in the African Economic Community, as well as our participation in the preferential trade area, ZEP, demonstrate the importance the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros attaches to the General Assembly’s recommendations on the need for the developing countries to cooperate on a regional level in order to better confront their own problems. It is in this spirit that our regional institutions have adopted a strategy aimed, first and foremost, at strengthening trade and industrial cooperation, and at improving transportation, telecommunications and so forth. Since the democratic election of His Excellency Mr. Sáíd Mohamed Djohar to the Supreme Magistrature, the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros has committed itself to working for a democratic, dynamic and open society and to combating corruption, in order to definitively bring about economic and financial recovery. In this effort, the Comorian people adopted a new constitution and, last December, democratically elected a new Parliament composed of all the country’s main political parties. The Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros understands that international cooperation alone cannot eradicate the evils of underdevelopment. Thus it has signed a programme of structural adjustment with the international financial institutions, with the aim of achieving economic recovery and of improving public finance. It is a trial that the Comorian people is enduring with courage and sacrifice. But the recent devaluation of the Comorian franc has exacerbated the crisis by seriously undermining the Comorians’ purchasing power. In such a difficult socio-economic context, how can one convince starving people and demoralized State workers that democracy brings hope? The measures taken as a result of the structural adjustment programmes do not facilitate the role the public authorities of a country must play in the context of social renewal. While it is true that the easing of international political tension and of certain regional conflicts has reinforced hopes for peace, the gravity of the international economic situation is also creating doubt. The victims of the world crisis are still the same: men, women and children of the African, Asian, Latin American and Caribbean regions. Indeed, the same people are always the ones who are confronted with famine, poverty, natural catastrophes and desertification. Other modern scourges such as fundamentalism, terrorism, epidemics and drug-trafficking have been added to an already hostile socio-economic environment. The harsh reality of the poor countries is accentuated by their exclusion from the decision-making process concerning the international economic situation. As the twentieth century draws to a close, the long- cherished hopes of the third-world peoples are giving way to disappointment. The special session of the General Assembly on economic cooperation, the Paris Conference on the least developed countries, the five years of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s and many other programmes and projects that have been drawn up and carried out over the last 20 years have not attained the goals set for them by the General Assembly 20 in the area of development. Specialists in development assistance and economic cooperation are unanimous in finding that the current trend is towards stagnation and even regression. Our General Assembly must now find a solution to the problem created by the failure of international economic relations. We must insist more strongly on our sense of solidarity and shared responsibility. My country has always advocated strengthening the role of the United Nations in all areas of international relations. But it also believes that the structures of the United Nations system must correspond to the new world scene. We are among those who believe that the victors of the Second World War do not have a monopoly on the maintenance of peace and on the socio-economic development of nations. The General Assembly must be the central body where the relevant decisions of our Organization are taken. It is difficult to understand why there is no connection between the political determination expressed here by States, the essential components of the protagonists of international life, and the international financial institutions. On behalf of His Excellency Mr. Sáíd Mohamed Djohar, President of the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros, and on behalf of the Government and the people of the Comoros, I should like from this rostrum to make a solemn appeal to the international community to provide effective support to the Comorian people in its efforts at socio-economic recovery and in its irreversible commitment to democracy. I should like to request that the Security Council reconsider the sanctions adopted against Libya, because, as a result of sanctions condemning inadmissible acts, an entire people is being penalized. It is in this spirit that the relevant resolutions adopted by the League of Arab States, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Organization of African Unity should be taken into consideration, so that this fraternal country may enjoy its sovereignty. We welcome the imminent return of President Aristide to Haiti. May the peace-keeping operation there bring stability and security so that Haitians, in their renewed unity, can work together to rebuild a free and prosperous nation. We also extend these wishes to our brothers in Liberia, Somalia and Angola, so that, as in Mozambique, they may resume dialogue and lay down their weapons. We also wish to encourage the Algerian authorities in their efforts at national reconciliation in the greater interest of the Algerian nation. According to several sources, it seems that there has been a significant movement of Iraqi troops towards the Kuwaiti border. We venture to hope that these manoeuvers are intended for a purpose other than aggression against Kuwait. Indeed, our Organization will never accept a repetition of Iraq’s aggression of 1990. It is difficult for us to believe that Iraq has not learned the lessons of that famous, much-covered Gulf war, from which the Iraqi people, the ultimate victims, are still healing their wounds. The aggression against a sovereign State and the attack on its territorial integrity are a clear violation of international law. It is an act that goes against the fundamental principles of the Charter of this Organization. That is why, on behalf of the Government and people of the Comoros and in the name of the sacred principles of Islam, I appeal to the Government and people of Iraq to halt any attempt to invade Kuwait. It is up to the Security Council to use all peaceful means to spare us a second Persian Gulf war. If it does not, mankind will not be able to understand why each time peace seems to be established another war looms. May I conclude by repeating my delegation’s fraternal congratulations to the President of the General Assembly on his election. We are at his complete disposal to assist him in any way in his discharge of that lofty, noble mission.