I am honoured to congratulate Mr. Ganev and
his country, Bulgaria, on his election to the high office of President of the
General Assembly at its forty-seventh session. We are aware that he possesses
the qualities and experience required for assuming the responsibility of
presiding over the Assembly, and we are therefore confident that he will serve
in that capacity with authority, dignity and honour. I assure him of the full
cooperation of the delegation of the Commonwealth of Dominica in the discharge
of his duties.
It is with great pleasure also that I congratulate and welcome
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali on his election as the sixth Secretary-General of
the United Nations.
Mr. Boutros-Ghali's election is a contribution by Egypt, Africa and the third
world in general to the maintenance of world peace, justice and fundamental
human rights. His intellect, integrity, sense of commitment and wide
experience in international affairs are qualities which, I have no doubt, will
ensure excellence in the performance of his duties. I assure
Mr. Boutros-Ghali of the strong support of the Government and people of the
Commonwealth of Dominica throughout his term as Secretary-General.
Permit me to formally bid farewell to the former Secretary-General of the
United Nations, Javier Perez de Cuellar, who gave 10 remarkable years of
service to this international body. He will be well remembered for his keen
interest in the welfare of humankind and more specifically for his efforts at
maintaining world peace. It is my firm belief that his successor will pursue
the issues that Mr. Perez de Cuellar hopes will be the main concern of the
United Nations in the coming years: maintenance of international peace and
security, justice, universalization of human rights, and lessening of the gap
between rich and poor nations of the world community.
We believe the United Nations should be a truly international body, with
universal membership. However, we do not accept the practice of automatic
succession. We insist that all new States seeking admission must qualify for
membership. Countries seeking admission to this world community must be
committed to peace and must accept the obligations of the United Nations
Charter: countries which, in the judgement of the Organization, are able and
willing to carry out their obligations.
It is in this context that we wholeheartedly support the decision to
exclude for the time being Serbia and Montenegro from membership of the United
Nations, and we welcome other new members from the former Yugoslavia and
former Soviet Union. Serbia and Montenegro, on the other hand, by their
barbaric acts and flagrant violation of human rights through the practice of
"ethnic cleansing", have demonstrated a lack of respect for the obligations
and principles of this world body.
The Commonwealth of Dominica joins the world community in condemning
Serbia's acts of violence and aggression against the peoples of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and calls for concerted and effective action in defence of the
defenceless in those States.
While we support unstintingly the resolutions adopted by the Security
Council authorizing the use of force to provide humanitarian assistance to the
refugees and displaced persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and applaud the
efforts of different United Nations agencies in that respect, there is need
for greater effort to stop Serbian aggression and end the civil war under way
in the former Yugoslav Republic. "Ethnic cleansing" and violations of
international humanitarian law must not be tolerated. Our community of
nations cannot be indifferent to the slaughtering of innocent people.
Recent trends have demonstrated a weakening, and even a disruption, of
the democratic process, as well as widespread violations of human rights not
only in Eastern Europe but also in Africa and the Americas.
Civil war coupled with the severity of the drought problem has led to
famine and death for too many Somalians, and we exhort the United Nations to
spare no effort in alleviating the plight of the starving millions of that
country.
The Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica was deeply gratified by
the positive outcome of the referendum on reform in South Africa. It seemed
to confirm the will of the people of South Africa to move forward rapidly
towards an equitable society where all citizens would be offered their
God-given dignity and their full right to participate in the affairs of that
country. As a sign of support, and in response to the positive vote on the
referendum, the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica joined other
nations of the Commonwealth in an easing of people-to-people contacts
generally.
We are however deeply concerned at the persistence of violence and the
failure of the South African Government to control it, which undermines and
obstructs progress towards democracy and majority rule. We call for a
concerted thrust to bring an end to violence, and for a constructive and open
dialogue between the Pretoria regime and the African National Congress in an
effort to arrive at an early agreement on majority rule.
The international community must keep the situation under constant review
and should ease economic sanctions against the minority regime in South Africa
only in response to firm, significant and irreversible progress towards a
democratically elected government based on principles of equality and
justice. We hope for an end to all violence and look forward to peaceful
progress towards a truly just and democratic system.
The situation in Haiti is of particular concern to us in the Americas.
The violence and illegal interruption of the democratic process in our sister
island has led to continual violations of human rights, increased poverty and
suffering of the Haitian people, economic degradation and the fleeing of
thousands from their homeland. The subsequent refugee crisis is cause for
9rave concern.
The Organization of American States (OAS) has made significant efforts to
restore the democratic system in Haiti, but despite resolutions passed by the
OAS General Assembly and a number of missions to Haiti, along with other
initiatives, the situation has not been resolved. We urge all States Members
of the United Nations to support the decision contained in the OAS resolutions
on the restoration of democracy in Haiti and to participate in their effective
implementation. The leaks that have enabled the illegal government to survive
and even consolidate its position in the face of the embargo must be closed
off.
In his statement before the United Nations General Assembly in
December 1991, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali stated:
"If there is no development without democracy, there can also be no
democracy without development." (A/46/PV.59. p. 16)
The economic situation in Haiti is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Labelled the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, Haiti continues to
suffer economic deterioration. The Members of the United Nations cannot turn
a blind eye to the urgent and basic development needs of Haiti. Our concerted
efforts at restoring democracy must be accompanied by plans for immediate
improvements in the social and economic conditions of the people of this
Caribbean nation.
Within this context, Dominica issues a warning that the collapse of the
banana industry in Dominica and the Windward Islands, which may be the
inevitable consequence of imposing a tariff on bananas under the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, would immediately and dramatically adversely
affect the economic and social conditions of those small island developing
States. We would find ourselves dealing, not with one Haiti, but with three
or four in the Caribbean. Such an upheaval could very easily be avoided at no
appreciable cost to the basic principles of world trade. What we need is
continuing flexibility based on a recognition of the already proclaimed
special needs of small island developing countries.
Allow me, in the context of the discussion of violations of human rights,
to refer to Iraq's flagrant violation of United Nations Security Council
resolution 688 (1991), which requires Baghdad to end the repression of its
citizens and allow access by international humanitarian organizations. It is
the responsibility of Iraq as a Member of the United Nations to comply fully
with United Nations Security Council resolutions. Iraq's continued violation
of these resolutions and continued repression of its civilian population must
be condemned.
One of the fundamental principles of the United Nations is respect for
the sovereignty of each Member State. It is with this in mind that we
consider intolerable the assumption that one sovereign State can with impunity
commit criminal offences in another sovereign State on the pretext of
promoting law enforcement. National sovereignty is not of varying value
depending on the size or wealth of the nations. The rule of law must be
upheld between States as well as within States.
The quest for the protection of the environment continues to be pursued
vigorously, and the efforts of international organizations must be applauded.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio last
June, is proof, according to Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali, that nations
understand the very fragile nature of the Earth and how very important it is
to save our planet. The question to be addressed, then, is how to approach
the problem of environmental degradation in a manner which will protect the
interests of both developing and industrialized countries.
Out of the Earth Summit emerged the Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development, consisting of a set of principles aimed at governing the economic
and environmental behaviour of individuals and nations in the quest for global
sustainability. Agenda 21 covers all areas affecting the relationship between
the environment and the economy and deals with the protection of the
atmosphere and of the oceans; combating deforestation, desertification and
drought; the role of indigenous peoples and women in implementing sustainable
development; the meeting of basic human needs; and, very importantly, the
transitional patterns of production and consumption in the industrialized
countries which would significantly reduce their disproportionate contribution
to the deterioration of the Earth's environment.
We must be cognizant of the difficulties to be encountered in our
attempts to accomplish some of the goals of Agenda 21.
The industrialized countries have gained economic prosperity in disregard
of the resultant destruction of the environment. The developing countries,
for their part, are seeking, belatedly, to raise the standard of living of
their populations, primarily through a process of industrialization patterned
on the model of the developed countries. That quest will no doubt take its
toll on the environment.
The responsibility of the industrialized countries to contribute to the
progress of the developing countries in a compensatory manner must be
recognized. They must compensate for damage to the environment and for
injustice to the developing countries.
The sovereign right of a country to use its natural resources for its
economic development, while respecting the environment and bearing in mind the
needs of future generations, must be recognized. Small countries, no less
than large ones, have the right to pursue their national interests free from
the bullying threats of special-interest groups.
Finally, I should like to recall that Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali, in
his induction speech on 3 December 1991, promised to streamline the operations
of the United Nations, "eliminating what is wasteful and obsolete
(A/46/PV.59. p. 16). If our objective of achieving progress towards world
peace is to be realized, we must strengthen, not weaken, the ability of the
United Nations to provide technical and material assistance to developing
countries "in order to narrow the gap between the rich North and the poor
South" (A/46/PV.59. p. 13). It will also help us to achieve the "agenda of
justice" which the outgoing Secretary-General, the distinguished diplomat
Javier Perez de Cuellar, identified as the dominant concern of the United
Nations in the years ahead.
The restructuring of the United Nations is a very urgent need. We are
living in a dynamic world where, every day, events make heavy demands on the
Organization. The United Nations has had to deal with those demands in a
rather ad hoc manner, and if it is to become more responsive to the needs of
Member States and to function more effectively within the parameters of the
Charter, a comprehensive analysis needs to be undertaken immediately and new
machinery put in place to make the tasks of preserving world peace and
promoting fundamental human rights achievable.
During the forty-sixth session of the General Assembly, there was much
discussion on reforming the Organization. Emphasis was placed on streamlining
the Secretariat and increasing the authority of the Secretary-General. There
is need at this point to do more in-depth study of the plan worked out by the
22 industrialized and developing countries and of the final report prepared by
the Nordic United Nations Project. The important thing is that whatever is
done must render the Organization more effective in promoting peace and
development throughout the world. Anything less would merely perpetuate the
waste of limited resources. It must be made clear that the world cannot long
continue on its present path.