Yemen

I am pleased to convey to you, Sir, the assurances of my greatest esteem on your election as President of the General Assembly at this session. On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Yemen, I congratulate you on your assumption of this high office. We are certain that under your distinguished and capable 21 leadership the work of the General Assembly will be crowned with success. The democratic process in our world today is undergoing real expansion and is receiving the attention of all nations, whatever their creeds, races or regimes. It is further consolidated by being increasingly linked to human rights, in particular the rights to sustainable development, global knowledge, equality, justice, peace and stability. The Republic of Yemen has linked itself in complete unity to the democratic process and has made it a continuous process towards comprehensive development. Both State and society are tirelessly struggling to make democracy in our country a firm and established system, evolving daily in order to ultimately form an integral system for the conduct of political, social and economic life. On 23 September 1999, the Republic of Yemen, for the first time in its history, held free and direct elections for the presidency of the Republic, reflecting the credibility of the country’s political regime and its constitutional commitments requiring the holding of direct elections for the presidency for five-year terms. This is proof that democracy in Yemen has become established as a firmly rooted principle and a unique and unrestricted option for achieving a peaceful change of government respect for human rights, and for enhancing people’s role and participation in sustainable development and cultural progress. Democracy in Yemen appeared in its highest form in the direct presidential elections, which reflected the free will of the people and the need for development and stability. The results of the direct secret ballot showed participation in all parts of the country by 66 per cent of all registered voters. The President-elect of the Republic of Yemen for the forthcoming term, Ali Abdullah Saleh, obtained 96 per cent of the votes. A new term and a new era will begin on 3 October this year, when the directly elected President will take the constitutional oath before the Yemeni Chamber of Deputies. The wish of the people to achieve democratic progress reflects their need for stability and for an end to states of emergency in their lives. This goes hand in hand with their desire for a future that embodies radical change in the economic, social and cultural fields. It also requires serious practical action on the part of Governments and international and regional organizations to support development in emerging democracies, and to supply them with means of growth and the transfer of know-how. Sustainable development would then accompany and safeguard democracy, and the linkage between development and democracy would be a condition for progress and a motivating force for cooperation and human integration among all nations of the world. Sixteen States convened the Forum on Emerging Democracies in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, and issued an important instrument called the Sana’a Declaration, with a view to intensifying the concepts, framework and applications of the democratic process in real life, and to achieving broad popular participation and the affirmation of human rights in those countries. I wish to reaffirm here the announcement of President Ali Abdullah Saleh that the Republic of Yemen would like to host the International Conference of New or Restored Democracies to be held in Asia in 2003. Our world today is witnessing profound changes that essentially represent the remnants of the cold war and that are, at the same time, new harbingers of hope that forthcoming changes will be in the interest of peace, economic progress and development, and that the people, political leaders and intellectuals have absorbed the lessons to be derived from ideological and racial conflicts, power politics and their tragic clashes. The only way to prepare the way for peace and stability is through the language of dialogue, the rule of law, stable relationships and the absence of fear, doubt and uncertainty. Dialogue will for ever remain the only way to extinguish fires, spread the spirit of tolerance and coexistence and promote the values of cooperation, solidarity and integration among all active forces and actors in the cause of peace. The position of the Republic of Yemen regarding world events consists of our commitment to the principles of peaceful coexistence, non-interference in the internal affairs of other States, non-use or threat of force in the settlement of disputes and peaceful negotiations and dialogue in the settlement of all issues, including border issues between States on a no-fault basis. As a member of the international family and an active participant in regional organizations, Yemen unequivocally affirms its sincere desire to contribute to the maintenance of security and stability in the Arabian 22 Peninsula, the Gulf, the Red Sea, the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean. The Republic of Yemen calls upon all States and peoples to continue their sincere and diligent efforts to achieve tangible progress in the ongoing dialogue between all parties concerned in these regions. The desired goal is to arrive at mutual understanding, balanced relationships and firm bases for the achievement of coexistence and harmony among States and peoples, the consolidation of peace and the securing of the necessary conditions for development and cooperation. The Republic of Yemen demonstrated in practice the credibility of its positions of principle, its respect for international law, its wholehearted desire for stability and peace in the region and its awareness of the importance of such peace for international economic, commercial and maritime relations. Yemen proved that when it accepted unconditionally the decision of the arbitration tribunal regarding the sovereignty dispute over the Yemeni island of Greater Hanish, which lies in the Red Sea between Yemen and the neighbouring State of Eritrea, thereby furnishing a prime example of how peaceful solutions to differences and disputes between States can be achieved by international arbitration. We hope that the island-related dispute between the United Arab Emirates and the Islamic Republic of Iran will be settled peacefully in accordance with internationally recognized principles and rules relating to the settlement of such disputes, and in keeping with the desire to achieve peace, stability, development and cooperation in our region. In accordance with these firm premises and guidelines, the Republic of Yemen will remain faithful to the principle of the rejection of violence and the combating of terrorism in all its forms, whatever its motives and sources, and regardless of whether it involves individuals, groups or States. Our country is combating this phenomenon with all its might. It believes that terrorism has become a worldwide phenomenon meriting investigation at the international level and the creation of integrated mechanisms and rules to contain it and to counter its effects, with a view to ultimately eliminating it. The Assembly might agree with me that there is now an urgent need to review the policy of imposing international embargoes and sanctions. Experience has demonstrated their ineffectiveness in achieving the goals and purposes for which they were adopted and the tremendous harm they have visited upon people, not political regimes, especially the middle and lower strata of the population and vulnerable social sectors such as children, women and the elderly. The situation in Iraq attests to this. The need for a total and final lifting of the sanctions imposed on the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has also become self-evident, after recent developments and the Libyan leadership’s compliance with the Security Council resolutions concerning the Lockerbie affair. We also call for the lifting of the sanctions imposed on the Sudan, which is currently holding an internal democratic dialogue for the achievement of unity and national concord. Wars and clashes result only in human tragedies, in the form of displacement, imprisonment, forcible detention and flight from war zones in search of refuge and safe havens. In this context, my country emphasizes the need to deal in a humane and civilized manner with the question of prisoners, the missing and those who are forced into hiding as a result of wars, conflicts and clashes of all kinds. In this regard, we have great hope that the issue of Kuwaiti and other prisoners will meet with a humane and objective solution that will help to create an atmosphere conducive to reconciliation and to the achievement of harmony, peace and stability in the region. It is known that societies that host refugees fleeing from areas of war and oppression bear heavy burdens and sustain tragic consequences, and that their peoples face serious environmental and health hazards. Those societies also face considerable economic and financial hardships as a result of hosting refugees. It is indeed regrettable that the humanitarian work done for refugees by certain countries should have disastrous, tragic results for those countries. This is what is happening today in the Republic of Yemen as a result of the steadily increasing daily influx of refugees from the Horn of Africa, which is ablaze with regional and civil wars and local dissension. The Republic of Yemen calls upon the international community to assume its responsibility with regard to this humanitarian issue, which weighs heavily on the Yemeni State and society, by increased efforts on the part of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and a more concerted international alliance among all donor countries able to provide emergency and long-term assistance. Allowing the persistence of such inhumane phenomena and conditions reflects a tragic deterioration in human rights and an alarming regression in the values of civilized nations. We undoubtedly need 23 to develop mechanisms and devise the necessary means for coping with such situations. This is the very essence and substance of the work of the United Nations. At the same time, we wish to emphasize that the time has come for renewed solidarity and efforts on the part of the United Nations, the international community and all parties concerned with a view to finding practical solutions to the situation in Somalia that will help restore the unity and territorial integrity of Somalia and bring security and stability to the region. The peoples of the world seek a peace that is based on justice, equality, respect for human rights and the absence of tyranny, abuse and double standards. Accordingly, the Republic of Yemen, which has supported and given its blessing to the efforts towards a peaceful settlement in the Middle East, believes that a comprehensive, just and lasting peace must be based on the restoration of all legitimate rights to the Palestinian people, first and foremost of which is its right to establish its independent State on its national soil, with Jerusalem as its capital, and likewise the restoration of Israeli-occupied territories to the Syrian and the Lebanese peoples. At a time when we are positively and with renewed optimism discussing the peace process in the region, Israel must realize that a just, comprehensive and lasting peace is a genuine goal for the people of the area. Furthermore, it is a regional, international humanitarian goal that will help open a new page in the life and relations between peoples and help end the tragedies of the past. It will hopefully assist in overcoming all rancour and grudges and in providing opportunities for tolerance between creeds, cultures and races. All this would constitute a genuine starting point for stability, trust and mutual understanding among the States and peoples of the region. As we approach the end of the second millennium, we are confronted with a reality exemplified in the increased speed and movement of political, economic and social variables, whose ramifications and relationship with other contrasting factors are becoming increasingly more complex, in terms of time and space. We are all therefore called upon to cooperate and to respond responsibly for the creation of a healthy climate for the building of a new world order based on justice, freedom of choice, tolerance and genuine partnership in all governmental and non-governmental activities at the regional and international levels. The ultimate goal is to permanently ensure a balance of interests and a sense of involvement in all that is humane and noble and, in concrete terms, in a productive and useful life for all mankind. Since one of our primary goals is the reform of the United Nations and, in particular, the Security Council and the international institutions, we are giving this goal our full attention and support. At the same time, we commend the Secretary-General for the initiatives and measures he has taken towards the goal of reforming the United Nations, its mechanisms and its methods of work, which would broaden democratic practices and achieve transparency of work and effectiveness of participation. In this context, we reaffirm our welcome and support for the Open-ended Working Group established for this purpose. We call for the continuation and early completion of its work, taking into full account the importance of a full understanding of the essential variables in international relations in recent years. I reiterate my esteem for the President of the Assembly, and I thank all those participating in the current session. May peace and God’s mercy and blessing be upon you.