Panama

On behalf of my country, and on my own behalf, I would like to congratulate Mr. Kerim on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at the sixty-second session. I should also like to commend Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon for his encouraging message this morning. The Charter of the United Nations has been the subject of revisions almost from the moment it entered into force. Some of those changes were successful and timely. However, today we are acting too slowly in adapting United Nations structures to the realities of the twenty-first century, despite the fact that the Millennium Development Goals have given it new vigour and almost a new raison d’être. Although there seems to be broad agreement to strengthen the General Assembly and to make the Security Council more representative and transparent, we are spending too much time trying to decide how to do it. Panama has been very clear in its support for the aspirations of Brazil, Japan and Germany to become permanent members of the Security Council. But we have also deemed it appropriate to offer Member States alternatives that would enable us to make progress in this debate. We urge an open mind so that we can complete this debate and come up with the relevant changes quickly. Panama became a Security Council member with a great feeling of regional solidarity and fiduciary responsibility vis-à-vis the international community on all matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security. We are grateful for the confidence that the General Assembly placed in my country, and we are always ready to seek agreement between parties to a conflict and to help remove obstacles that stand in the way of peace and agreements. To that end, we have encouraged and supported efforts to advance democratic institutions and the rule of law, the promotion and protection of human rights and humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced persons. No conflict in the world has been given greater attention by the international community than that in the Middle East region. Although agreements have been arrived at that have eased tensions, the path towards peace has always been elusive, and new obstacles arise all the time. The conflict between Israel and Palestine is at the very core of the problems in the region. Panama therefore encourages and promotes negotiations between the parties, geared towards creating a Palestinian State that can live in peace with the State of Israel, with secure borders for both. This will require a cessation of attacks on Israel from Gaza, withdrawal from all the occupied territories in the West Bank and the achievement of an agreement about the status of Jerusalem that would satisfy the parties directly involved and the entire international community. On the situation in Lebanon, it is important for the international community to realize that a lasting peace in the region requires the establishment of a government of unity which can end the current political deadlock. If it is not resolved, this could lead to a return to civil war, which is something that we all thought was now over and done with. From this rostrum, we join in the call for an immediate reduction in tension and peaceful solutions in all parts of the world where international peace and security are threatened. It is much less costly to invest our efforts in avoiding confrontation than to stop it once it has begun. Accordingly, we appeal to this Organization to reconsider its actions vis-à-vis the conflict in the Middle East which, far from being resolved, seems to be intensifying. Turning to the dispute between Serbia and the Kosovar Albanians, today we can be cautiously optimistic that, after several months of Security Council debate, which included a visit to the region, the parties have agreed to resume dialogue. Only an agreement between them can ensure peace and economic development in the region. Panama strongly supports the renewal and extension of the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. We recognize the progress made by the Haitian Government with support from that mission. However, there are many matters that still require more efforts, and it is essential that the mandate not end before that country’s institutions have been strengthened. We welcome the progress made, but we must condemn the violation of human rights in Myanmar and the continued detention of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Although every conflict has its own particular causes, we can say that violations of the human rights of certain groups, a culture of impunity or the absence of strong institutions able to guarantee the human rights of all are the common denominator of most conflicts. In Africa, there are examples of how institutional weakness and abuses of human rights become the main causes of conflict. On the initiative of the President of France, the Security Council is meeting this very afternoon to analyse all the problems that afflict that continent (see S/PV.5749). It is only by strengthening institutional capacity and building a culture of justice that it will be possible to restore to those peoples the rights that this Organization enshrined for all inhabitants of the Earth. Responsibility for solving disputes and preventing conflict lies primarily with the States parties to a dispute. However, achieving peace depends to a large extent on our commitment to the collective security architecture that we have built here in the United Nations. Since the end of the cold war, the United Nations has responded to the major challenges to international peace and security by increasing the number and the quality of peacekeeping operations in cases where diplomacy has failed. To avoid a return to conflict situations, peacekeeping operations cannot be confined to simply separating rival forces. It is essential to strengthen the concept of integrated missions to include new responsibilities that cover a broader range of activities. Achieving a lasting peace means more than simply laying down one’s weapons. One must set off on the path towards development; legal and political institutions must be rebuilt and human rights must be respected. We cannot talk about lasting peace while we live under the threat of terrorism, whose definitive defeat is an ongoing challenge for the international community. Panama supports United Nations efforts to combat this scourge in an integrated manner, such as the adoption of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (see resolution 60/288). And, because we attach high priority to the adoption of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism, we have shouldered the responsibility of chairing the Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee. The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (see resolution 61/106) was a major milestone on the path towards a world without exclusionism and reaffirmed the universality of human rights. Specific measures have been defined to guarantee full participation. Above all, we have categorically said that discrimination against any person on the basis of disability is a violation of the inherent dignity and worth of the human person. I would like to say that Panama has made significant progress in this area; inclusive education is a State priority. We have signed the Convention, and we are committed to implementing it. Of particular importance to Panama is the recent adoption of a declaration on indigenous peoples for the Latin American region. It strengthens respect for cultural diversity, with emphasis on preserving cultural assets. A year ago, I told the General Assembly (see A/61/PV.12) that my country would hold a referendum to decide whether to undertake the work of widening the Panama Canal so that larger ships could transit between the two great oceans. As I believe is generally known, the people of Panama approved the project, and barely three weeks ago the work began. It will be completed by the year 2014. Panama, which has always contributed to the development of international trade and to understanding among nations, is especially pleased to reaffirm that unifying mission today, as well as its commitment to peace, development and full respect for human rights. I should like to conclude my statement by referring to some words spoken from this same rostrum by a Panamanian more than 50 years ago and that are still just as true today. He said that to attempt to preserve peace without at the same time improving peoples’ living conditions is to leave the task unfinished and inconclusive. We should not tire of repeating that the most serious threats to peace and freedom are rooted in human poverty, social injustice, ignorance and economic backwardness; and that the only peace worth keeping and defending, and which can be lasting, is peace with honour, justice and freedom.