97. The twenty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly has opened and is pursuing its work at an especially difficult moment in the development of relationships among peoples and nations. The international climate has been made threatening for the maintenance of peace by the hotbeds of war which imperialism is stubbornly fuelling in South-East Asia, the Middle East and southern Africa. Further attacks on the freedom of nations, on their right to self-determination, on respect for territorial integrity and on non-intervention in the domestic affairs of States are being launched in various regions of our planet in defiance of the fundamental principles of the Charter. Added to that situation, fraught with alarming consequences, is the quickening social and economic deterioration of the greater part of mankind.
98. That picture indicates how important the Mauritanian delegation considers the mission of the President of this Assembly and how heavy his responsibilities. Nevertheless, we are confident of his outstanding diplomatic qualities, and warmly welcome his unanimous election to the presidency of the General Assembly. What we know of his country, and the merited respect and admiration we cherish for the sister countries of Latin America, encourage us to believe that under his enlightened leadership the labours of this General Assembly session will succeed. Together with our most sincere congratulations we assure the President of our complete and faithful co-operation.
99. We would also express our deep gratitude to his predecessor, Mr. Manescu, who presided over the work of the twenty-second session of the General Assembly with authority, tact and a keen sense of justice. My delegation sees in President Manescu a great statesman distinguished for his pre-eminence as a diplomat and his effectiveness as a man of action.
100. Once again my delegation wishes to emphasize how much the Mauritanian people and its leaders appreciate the admirable way in which the Secretary-General, U Thant, is fulfilling his noble and difficult mission and thereby compelling the admiration of all peoples. Once more we should like to renew to him the assurance that he will always have the active support of the Mauritanian Government in the struggle that is being waged with courage and perseverance for respect for the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, for the maintenance of peace and for harmony among nations.
101. One of my delegation’s reasons for feeling gratified at the outset of the work of the twenty-third General Assembly session has been the admission of a new African State, Swaziland, to membership in the great United Nations family. It is our pleasant task to extend the warmest congratulations of the people and Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to the people and leaders of that sister State. We are convinced that the people and Government of Swaziland will overcome every difficulty and obstacle to make a valuable contribution to the struggle that is being resolutely waged by our African
brothers for liberation from Portuguese colonialism, apartheid and the illegal and racist Salisbury régime.
102. My delegation enthusiastically welcomes Equatorial Guinea’s impending accession to independence. We are pleased at the sincere co-operation the United Nations has received from Spain, the administering Power, throughout the peaceful process that will in a few weeks raise Equatorial Guinea to the rank of a sovereign State. The Spanish Government and people have set a fine example of respect for the right of peoples to self-determination, one that we are sure will be followed by other countries in the near future.
103. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a meeting-point where all African races and philosophies fertilize and enrich one another, aspires to be a unifying force for agreement and understanding in Africa, thereby helping to draw men together and to maintain peace. That ambition was emphasized by the Mauritanian Head of State in January 1968 when he addressed the third Congress of the Mauritanian People’s Party in these words:
“Mauritania may be said to have the vocation of a labourer in the cause of African unity. Being both African and Arab, it is‘a link between white and black Africa. Mauritania has never regarded its adherence to that dual historical and cultural tradition as a choice, but rather as a fulfilment.”
104. The Mauritanian people’s deep devotion to the fundamental principles of our Organization’s Charter arises out of its acute sense of justice and dignity, one of the most characteristic values of Mauritanian society. In other words, racial or religious prejudice is completely foreign to our attitude towards the serious problems that trouble the world in which we live.
105. As a small country, a non-aligned country and an active member of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Islamic Republic of Mauritania is determined to stand firmly alongside peoples struggling against the forces that imperialism is hurling, with brutality or cunning, against those who are resisting the domination and enslavement of mankind. Once again we declare from this rostrum that we unhesitatingly and actively support peoples struggling in defence of their dignity and freedom, their territorial integrity and their independence. That position is in keeping with the deepest hopes of the Mauritanian people. At the same time it is in complete accord with the principles enshrined in the Charter of the Organization of African Unity.
106. Even more recently the African Heads of State, faithful to their decision made a year ago at Kinshasa, convinced of the common destiny of the developing nations, and guided by the fundamental principle of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, condemned for the same reasons at Algiers, during the fifth OAU summit Conference, the odious aggression perpetrated by the Israeli forces against the United Arab Republic, the military occupation resulting from it, and the insane undertaking of the secessionists whose actions, counter to African interests, are plunging a part of the Nigerian people into a tragic situation.
107. In the face of the tragic situation in Nigeria, Africa is not silent, inactive or indifferent. No African can remain unmoved by these events. When African blood is shed, every African must react.
108. We do not believe that the best way to find a solution to that serious and tragic conflict is to take a stand in favour of one or the other party. We understand humane motives and we support that international morality which is aroused by the war victims. However, we unhesitatingly condemn the organizations and the press whose intention is to side with eastern Nigeria against the Federal Government, using those noble humane motives as a pretext, and thereby delaying the solution of that serious and painful problem. Africa is already balkanized; it cannot be further split up without the risk of perishing for ever. It is hard for us to accept the theses of those who justify secession by ethnic origin, religion or, where need be, tribalism. After all, do the citizens of any nation iii the world all belong to the same race or profess the same religion? Furthermore, as both past and recent history have shown, it is extremely dangerous to state problems in terms of race or religion.
109. We are aware that the concept of nationality is not yet as firmly fixed as we might wish in most African countries. How could it be, when the African continent is barely emerging from a long colonial darkness and has scarcely begun to be aware of its opportunities and responsibilities? The Organization is in duty bound to assist and support those young and still fragile nations, not to help to sunder them. The developed countries, in their own long-term interest, should want to have real partners in Africa rather than to add to instability and to political and economic deterioration. In other words, my Government expresses the hope of seeing the developed countries take a
solid and sane view of their own interests and refrain from further complicating the painful problem created for the Government of Nigeria by the insane attempts of the secessionists, the problem to which the Federal Government and the Organization of African Unity are trying to work out a solution.
110. Now that the forces of violence are being increasingly unleashed against the freedom, independence and progress of nations, the common destiny shared by the countries of the third world is taking on a deep significance.
111. Serious violations of the principles of sovereignty, the territorial integrity of every State and the right of peoples to self-determination are being committed in Africa, in the Middle East and in South-East Asia.
112. With regard to the Middle East, the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania has already had the opportunity during this Assembly’s fifth emergency special session [1531st meeting] and during its twenty-second session [1582nd meeting] of stressing the serious concern caused to the Mauritanian people and Government by the Israeli aggression and its aftermath. That unequivocal position remains unchanged. And now that all peace-loving peoples in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe are stupefied by their growing awareness of the vastness of the shameful conspiracy woven by international Zionism and its supporters against the freedom and territorial integrity of the United Arab Republic, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic, in flagrant contempt of United Nations Charter principles, we wonder with amazement how much longer the United Nations will allow itself to be kept impotent. Everyone is aware that the extortions of all sorts and the depredations that the Zionist leaders of Tel Aviv have been practising with impunity for more than fifteen months in the occupied territories are creating an intolerable situation in the region, full of threat to world peace and security.
113. In face of the arrogance and contempt with which the Zionist authorities are responding to the decisions of the General Assembly and the Security Council, it behoves the Organization to take all the specific measures needed to compel respect for its decisions.
114. During the twenty-second session the head of the Mauritanian delegation said from this very rostrum:
“The friends of Israel ought to remind the Israeli authorities that the human and material resources of the Arab nation will enable it, though today deeply wounded in its flesh and dignity, to rise again in power after many defeats.
“Our analysis of the serious situation in the Middle East leads us to state that the essential prerequisite for some chance for success in examination of the complex problems of that region remains the unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Arab territories occupied since the aggression of 5 June.” [1582nd meeting, paras. 52 and 53]
115. The serious crisis created in the Middle East by the Israeli aggression of 5 June does not cause us to forget the serious situation in the Far East.
116. The Mauritanian delegation hails with admiration the heroic and successful resistance opposed by the courageous people of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and the National Liberation Front to the immense resources that the world’s largest Power is committing against a whole people’s legitimate aspirations to freedom, independence and sovereignty. The Viet-Nam war is one of the most savage examples of violation of the principle of non-intervention in the domestic affairs of States. The American aggression in Viet-Nam, in my delegation’s view, is one of the most serious threats to the maintenance of world peace.
117. We join the many delegations that have already spoken in thinking that immediate and unconditional cessation of the bombing of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam is the first indispensable step towards the re-establishment of peace in that region. In any event, we are convinced that the just cause of the Vietnamese people will triumph.
118. The delegation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania now wishes to reaffirm its conviction of the necessity of proceeding without delay to restore the legitimate rights of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations. In fact the great Chinese nation, one and indivisible, grown to a nuclear Power, has earned for itself a place of prime importance and growing support on the international scene. We reject the two-Chinas theory that some speakers are attempting to establish within our Organization.
119. As for the Korean question, the Mauritanian delegation shares the opinion that foreign troops must be withdrawn without delay. and the Korean people enabled to exercise its rights and to choose its own future.
120. Faithful to the principle of non-alignment, and holding respect for the principle of non-intervention in the domestic affairs of States to be essential, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania is bound to deplore the intervention and maintenance of foreign troops in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. In the interests of peace my Government expresses the hope of seeing that serious crisis resolved speedily and in conformity with the desires and higher interests of the Czechoslovak people.
121. My delegation desires to remind this Assembly that colonialism and its results continue to present problems that concern Africa.
122. The unholy alliance of Portugal, the apartheid régime and the illegal minority and racist Salisbury régime continues to commit desperate and criminal acts against the legitimate desires of the African peoples of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea (Bissau) and Rhodesia. An urgent appeal should be made to all countries — in particular the NATO Powers — to refrain from providing Portugal with the financial and military assistance that enables it to massacre African patriots.
123. In the Rhodesian affair the heaviest responsibility falls on the United Kingdom. My delegation considers that the United Nations ought to ensure that the United Kingdom fulfils its obligations to the Zimbabwe people, who are kept in inhuman and degrading conditions by the illegal racist régime of Ian Smith. The brother people of Zimbabwe, aware that they must first of all rely on themselves, have already begun to free themselves. The Mauritanian Government and people intend to lend them their active and unreserved support within the African Liberation Committee, an organ of the Organization of African Unity.
124. South Africa still disdainfully ignores United Nations resolutions. Every Member of this Assembly is aware of its illegal attitude towards Namibia.
125. In all those areas of the world where peace is being threatened, whether in the Middle East or in southern Africa, our Organization must in order to restore security be able to compel respect for the principles of the Charter and to ensure that its decisions are carried out.
126. Moreover, the Mauritanian delegation is greatly concerned at the serious economic and social problems with which the developing countries are tragically being threatened.
127. In that area, which is vital to the maintenance of peace and harmony among nations, the necessary co-operation of the developed countries is sorely lacking. The achievements of the second session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development are disappointing in many respects. The Secretary-General states as much in the introduction to his annual report on the Organization’s activities:
“The concerted effort necessary for any effective attack on the problems of under-development did not prove possible at New Delhi. Hence, the achievements of the second session of the Conference were very limited. Its proceedings and decisions suggest that the political will to work towards concerted action, which constitutes the mainspring of international economic co-operation, was lacking.” [A/7201/Add.1, para. 84]
128. The Mauritanian delegation is obliged once again to point out that in social and economic development the gaps that exist between the “haves” and the “have-nots” and are already a disgrace are continuing to widen. It is to be hoped that the competition among the great Powers may extend to the peaceful and ennobling area of scientific research for improving man’s lot, whoever and wherever he may be. Our century should no longer tolerate the gigantic disparity that exists between the astronomical sums devoted to murderous weaponry, for immediate use or stockpiling, and those spent on better conditions for the unjustly deprived. As we know, nearly $200,000 million is spent each year on weapons, while the transfer of capital from rich to poor countries does not even amount to $10,000 million.
129. The delegation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ventures to hope that all Member countries will act together to establish a real dialogue and true co-operation in social and economic development, which is the essential condition for maintaining peace and harmony among nations.
130. With regard to our continent we Mauritanians feel that, in order to respond to that need for economic development, action should be taken along three principle lines on the understanding that any action, to be successful, must be based on a very clear political determination to give first priority to Africa’s benefit.
131. First and foremost, subregional or interregional economic groups must be set up. We of Mauritania have joined with our brothers of Guinea, Mali and Senegal to form the Union of Riverain States of the Senegal River. The Union’s aim is to act jointly for navigation on the Senegal River, for control of the major endemic diseases, and for science and culture. It will co-ordinate the national planning of our four States to achieve as much industrial specialization as possible in accordance with essential economic criteria. Moreover, the flow of subregional trade will be increased.
132. In January 1969 Mauritania, with its sister States of Algeria, Mali and Niger, will also initiate the Organization of the Senegal Riparian States. Moreover, with its sisters Mali, Senegal and Guinea and all the West African States, it has helped to establish the West African Regional Group. We feel that that action, first subregional and then regional, is a positive contribution towards co-operation and the economic liberation of the continent.
133. Secondly, on the principle that Africa’s economic liberation must be continent-wide, we are recommending that contacts be established among the continent’s various sub-groups and regional groups. That is our second proposal. For our part, it seems to us evident that ever closer and more frequent contacts should be established among the continent’s various regional groups within the Organization of African Unity. We therefore consider it essential that fruitful contacts should be established at the outset among those groups, both the Maghreb group and those of West and East Africa. Those contacts must be created to co-ordinate the action of the groups so that they may share their experiences, and especially so that they may plan continent-wide action towards our ultimate goal: African economic unification and consolidation.
134. Thirdly, we recommend the conclusion of trade agreements among African States as a method, additional to the two already mentioned, of freeing Africa’s economy.
135. Lastly, it is necessary to co-ordinate the attitudes of Africa with those of Asia and Latin America. Mauritania is therefore pleased at the establishment of the Group of Seventy-Seven, and has great hopes that it will do much to settle the great questions with which the third world is rightfully concerned.
136. In this International Year for Human Rights, the twentieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the Government and people of Mauritania fervently hope that the labours of the twenty-third session of the General Assembly will reduce tension and lead to peace and a better life for mankind.