Rwanda

Allow me at the outset to convey to the President my Government's congratulations on his election to preside over the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly. We have no doubt that his wisdom and experience will be of great service to the Organization at a time when it must make important decisions, in particular concerning the reform of the Security Council. He will surely do honour to all Africa. I also take this occasion to express our gratitude and congratulations to Mr. Julian Hunte for the excellent quality of his presidency at the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly. In April this year, the whole world joined Rwanda in our observance of the tenth anniversary of 44 the 1994 genocide, in which more than a million of our citizens - men, women and children - were massacred by the former Government, which institutionalized hatred, discrimination and sectarianism. We thank in particular the General Assembly and the Security Council for joining us in this Hall last 7 April to pay tribute to the memory of the victims in Rwanda and to renew our commitment to ensuring that the horrors of genocide do not occur again, in any part of the world. That tragedy of genocide and its many consequences obliged us in Rwanda to undertake the national and collective duty of examining our conscience. We believe we have learned so much in sorrow from that task that we have undertaken concrete measures in that respect. In the process, we created the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, which has led the national dialogue over the last five years. We have also undertaken vast reforms at all levels and in many areas of national life, which, among other things, enable people to develop initiatives and to participate in decisions affecting their own development. We have thus adopted a new constitution, which, for the first time in the history of our country, was conceived by the people of Rwanda themselves and drafted according to the ideas, concerns, aspirations and priorities of the people and not according to those of so-called legal experts from other continents. This new constitution guarantees the freedoms and fundamental rights of the people, brings together universal principles and national realities, but also, and above all, offers measures to exclude once and for all from our society the poor governance that led to the genocide in 1994. We have carried out important legal reforms that have indeed restored our judicial system. In the search for justice that will restore and reconcile our people, we have introduced traditional participatory jurisdiction - known as Gacaca - to judge the thousands of those presumed to be implicated in the crimes committed during the genocide. We are also now transforming our economy by emphasizing innovation, competitiveness, the role of new information and communication technology and the improvement of public services as the appropriate way to achieve economic growth and lasting national development. We have carried out other reforms in the areas of education, health, security and the advancement of women in public administration to such an extent that today Rwanda leads the countries having the largest number of women elected to national decision-making posts. Rwanda is contributing, albeit modestly, to all the peace processes underway in our region and other areas of Africa. In this context, my Government did not hesitate to respond to the appeal of the African Union regarding Darfur and sent a military mission to contribute to the efforts of the international community and the Sudanese Government to restore peace to this sorely tested region of our dear continent. We feel that the international community also needs to engage in some soul-searching in order to reflect on the lessons to be learned from the failures of the past and to re-examine its responses to crisis situations such as the genocide of 1994 in Rwanda. We should therefore ask ourselves if we really do have a system of early warning in place to detect emerging crises. Can we say that today, more than yesterday, we have the political will necessary to respond decisively and appropriately around the world to these emerging crises? Is the world's division into major Powers' zones of influence not continuing today ó just as it did in 1994 in Rwanda - to prevent the United Nations from formulating just and effective responses to crisis situations? Every Member of this Assembly is certainly aware of the magnitude and the frightening scope of terrorism as well as the challenge it poses to international peace and security. Indeed, from the Russian Federation, through Spain, Indonesia, Kenya and to the United States, terrorists are causing devastation, even using innocent women and children to achieve their unspeakable goals. The Great Lakes region in Africa is certainly acquainted with terrorism. Indeed, the forces that committed genocide in Rwanda, namely Rwandaís former Forces armees rwandaises (ex-FAR) and the INTERAHAMWE continue to bring death and devastation with unsurpassed cruelty to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Rwanda. You all certainly know of their most recent and sinister deed, carried out barely two months ago, when this same group, together with the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) rebels of Burundi, attacked a refugee camp in 45 Banyamulenge in Gatumba, Burundi, and massacred 160 innocent people ó men, women and children ó because of their ethnic origin. The most incomprehensible and unacceptable thing for us is the well-known fact that the bases of all these groups are located in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and that their leaders are well- known, but that no serious international action has been undertaken, to date, to destroy these bases and to arrest their leaders. And yet, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, almost in the very same location as these genocidal forces, there is a well- armed United Nations force, which is costing the international community a mere $700 million per year. We need to seriously ask ourselves whether the international community has learned any lessons from the tragedy of Rwanda. In our humble view, the United Nations should assume its responsibilities and take the necessary measures to disarm, demobilize and repatriate the terrorist and genocidal groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which continue to destroy with impunity entire communities in our region and which have been the source of two wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, directly involving up to eight African countries. My Government feels that, just as the international community has the responsibility or obligation to guarantee the protection of individuals in serious danger, it is also responsible for protecting and supporting those who have escaped from those situations. It is in this context that, since 1994, the Government of Rwanda has reserved 5 per cent of its annual budget for priority contributions to the health care and education needs of those who escaped the genocide. In the same spirit, and during the current session of the Assembly, a draft resolution will be submitted, requesting the Secretary-General of the United Nations to mobilize the entire United Nations system to give financial support to our domestic efforts, which remain, despite everything, insufficient with regard to the real - if not vital - needs particularly of the orphans, widows and victims of sexual abuse. We hope that it will receive your support. My Government has followed with great interest the current discussions regarding reform in the Security Council. Rwanda, which has been the subject of debate almost continuously in the Council for 14 years, is more sensitive than many other nations to the need to make this powerful body of our Organization more representative and democratic. We feel, in particular, that it is high time to end the marginalization of the continents of Africa and Latin America by granting them permanent seats in the Security Council. While emphasis is quite rightly being given to the expansion of the Council and regional representation, we firmly believe that equal attention should be devoted to improving the Council's methods of work and that emphasis should be placed on their transparency. We hope that this aspect will be taken into account by all the parties concerned; otherwise, this reform will be cut short and will not have any real impact. In particular, we are deeply concerned that an unwritten rule, nowhere to be found in print, seems to have reserved the initiative for making proposals only to the permanent members of the Security Council. Even more worrying is the apparent division of the world into spheres of influence, with each permanent member having the almost absolute and exclusive right to propose draft resolutions and presidential statements relating to its own zone of influence. This situation does no credit to the Organization and seriously undermines the credibility of the Security Council and its decisions. My Government has taken note of the improvements which have been made towards greater efficiency in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and encourages the Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry to pursue their efforts to end the waste and corruption which have characterized the Tribunal. And it is from that standpoint that we guarantee our full support for the Tribunal in the implementation of its completion strategy. We are awaiting the upcoming conclusion of agreements regarding the transfer of certain accused to be tried, as well as some who have already been convicted and who will serve their sentences in Rwanda, which we feel is a token of trust and of restored cooperation. In conclusion, for us, support for economic development remains one of the greatest raisons díÍtre of the Organization. As I speak, as members know, hundreds of thousands of people in Africa are facing hunger, poverty and disease and are living in great despair. The United Nations, therefore, needs to mobilize, concentrate and guide all our collective efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals and to pull the African continent out of its current political and economic difficulties. Here, the New 46 Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is a kind of reassuring road map and framework, that is helping us to bring about the rebirth and prosperity of Africa. Thus, this universal family of nations should reject the current situation with half of us living in affluence, prosperity and good health, while the other half is dying of hunger and disease, which all of us together can prevent and eradicate. Let us, therefore, work all together to change this situation.