At the
outset, let me convey to the United States authorities
our full gratitude for the always warm and fraternal
hospitality they show us at this great annual event in
New York at the United Nations. I also express my
sincere congratulations to the President, and I wish him
every success and an excellent conduct of the work of
the Assembly at its sixty-eighth session on the post-2015
development agenda. Finally, on behalf of my delegation
and myself, I join the other heads of delegations present
in the Hall to express my full gratitude to Secretary-
General Ban Ki-Moon for his willingness to serve our
world with the commitment and self-sacrifice for which
he is known.
At a time when the world is facing the most serious
kinds of crises, blind barbaric terrorist acts, which
we strongly condemn, have just been perpetrated in
Kenya, claiming dozens of innocent victims, including
women and children. At a time when armed conflicts
are challenging our common abilities to build a world
where peace reigns, the crisis that has been evolving
in Syria for two and a half years, with its litany of
distress and human tragedy, should call on us to reach
an early settlement of the conflict and put an end to the
suffering of the Syrian people. We strongly condemn
the use of chemical weapons in Syria against innocent
populations, just as we vigorously condemn the
perpetrators of that horrible act.
Let me formally draw our attention to other crises
and other evils that, while they may appear to us to be
minor or insignificant, are also every bit as serious.
They are serious particularly because they lead to a
heavy loss of human lives and, for those who live with
them daily, they frequently give rise to frustration,
scorn and a sense of abandonment.
At the same time, those other evils actually should
not even exist, because it was together in the United
Nations that our predecessors unanimously, in a spirit
of the equality of peoples, universal justice, fairness and
humanism, decided with an open heart and free spirit to
make humankind more harmonious for the well-being
of our species. Indeed, it was our Organization that
decided to decolonize all territories under the colonial
yoke. It set the rules, laid out a path, and supported the
peoples to be freed.
Let me also pay tribute to the permanent members
of the Security Council and to all States Members of
the United Nations for the responsible attitude they
have demonstrated since the creation of the United
Nations to the present time in supporting national
liberation movements and organizations, particularly in
our continent of Africa. It is, however, regrettable that,
68 years after its inception and after the adoption of the
Charter, the Assembly continues to bear witness today
to a situation in which the territory of a small island
State — in this case my own country, the Comoro
Archipelago — remains under the thumb of another
State, a major Power and a permanent member of the
Security Council — the State of France.
And yet the Organization came out unequivocally
in favour of the independence of the Comoro
Archipelago, in accordance with resolutions 1514 (XV)
of 14 December 1960 on the Declaration on the Granting
of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, and
2621 (XXV) of 12 October 1970, containing the Plan of
Action for the Full Implementation of the Declaration
on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries
and Peoples. Furthermore, resolutions 3161 (XXVIII)
of 14 December 1973 and 3291 (XXIX) of 13 December
1974 reaffirm the unity and territorial and integrity of
the Comorian islands and the inalienable right of its
people to self-determination and independence.
Thus, the Security Council, through its unanimous
adoption of resolution 376 (1975) of 17 October 1975,
recommended to the General Assembly that the
Comoros be admitted to membership in the United
Nations. The Comoros therefore became a Member of
the United Nations, under resolution 3385 (XXX) of
12 November 1975, which reaffirms the need to respect
the unity and integrity of the Comoro Archipelago,
composed of the islands of Anjouan, Grande Comore,
Mayotte and Mohéli. I recall that all Member countries,
including the European countries, voted in favour of
that resolution. France did not oppose it.
Can those who lead our States and Governments,
guarantors of the independence and integrity of their
territory, imagine the frustration and moral torture
of a Head of State who has to deal with such a tragic
situation on a daily basis? In addressing them, I am
letting my heart speak. They may rest assured that
all my fellow citizens do the same daily. What have
we, the Comorian people, done that is so serious that
history does not treat us as it does all other peoples of
the world? Why must we time and time again explain
or justify the united nature of our people, its history, its
geography or its culture? Moreover, when some seek to
persuade us that it is because a part of our population
supposedly expressed a desire to remain colonized, we
sincerely wonder if they are trying to relive the Berlin
Conference of 1885.
If that were indeed the case, are we to understand
that these same people would seek to raise that issue
with all peoples who wish to remain themselves or
change their destiny? Since it is the desire of all people
to strive for freedom, what would happen if one day
the Comorian people of Mayotte called for its freedom
from France? What a historical inconsistency that
would be, and what norms of international law would
the Organization act on?
Since 6 July 1975, the date on which my country,
the Comoros Archipelago, acceded to its sovereignty,
the Comorians have continued to call simply for the
implementation of international law. They have done so
in vain. And yet, in other similar cases, certain major
Powers demand compliance with the same international
law and win their case. Thus, the movement of peoples
among the islands of the Comoros Archipelago, which
is an inalienable right, is impeded by an unfathomable
and unacceptable decision of the French authorities who,
in 1994, imposed a visa on travel between Mayotte and
the three other Comorian islands. That visa system has
to date led to the death of nearly 10,000 of my fellow
citizens, making the strait that separates Mayotte and
the other islands the largest marine cemetery in the
world. Our common conscience requires that we act
quickly.
In all international forums, including the
United Nations, the international community, while
recognizing the right of the Comorians to recover
their territorial integrity, has repeatedly called upon
the two parties involved, the Comoros and France, to
enter into negotiations in order to find a lasting and
equitable solution to this unfortunate territorial dispute
in accordance with international law. Each of my
predecessors in turn undertook negotiations with the
French State, but it is undeniable that we are still at
square one.
Since I was elected President of the Republic, I
have thought a great deal about the issue and consulted
widely. The responsibilities I have assumed require
changing a game that has remained unchanged now
for 38 years. After an initial meeting with my French
counterpart, President François Hollande, in Kinshasa,
on the sidelines of the Summit of La Francophonie, I
understood that the new French authorities were at long
last ready to find a solution to the issue of the Comoros.
I noted and acknowledge that France today is prepared
to play its historic role as a State that is respectful of
international law, regardless of what that law may say
on any particular subject. What France has recently
done for Mali is the most eloquent example of that.
On that note, let me join the Malian authorities and
people and the African continent in general to thank the
French authorities who took the responsible decision to
ensure that the armed forces of the Republic of Chad
and the countries in the West African region join the
French armed forces in helping Mali recover its unity
and territorial integrity. I take this opportunity also to
welcome the presence among us here of His Excellency
Mr. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, President of the Republic
of Mali, and express our joy in sharing with the brother
people of Mali the sense of pride at their having
recovered the integrity of their territory.
Move by the same ideal and the same hope of seeing
my country recover its territorial integrity, I warmly
welcomed the invitation from President François
Hollande to carry out a working visit to France in
order to undertake serious negotiations and give a new
impetus to our relations, particularly on the issue of the
Comorian island of Mayotte. In the wake of that visit,
we signed and issued a political declaration, the so-
called Paris Declaration. Before my visit, I consulted
the Chairperson of the African Union Commission in
order to ensure that our latest effort was in keeping with
the principles upheld by our continental organization
and also to consult her expertise. I take this opportunity
to express all our gratitude to Ms. Dlamini-Zuma,
Chairperson of the African Union Commission, for her
ongoing support to our country.
In thus expressing myself, I call on the entire
international community to bear witness to my request
that the Secretary-General provide his expertise,
support and backing throughout the negotiations for
the new dynamic to which we and the French have
resolutely committed.
I would like to inform the General Assembly that
the issue of Mayotte will henceforth be on our agenda
every year and that we, the Comorian authorities, are
commited to reporting every year on the course of the
negotiations until a lasting settlement is found to the
issue of the sovereignty of my country. My country
calls on the United Nations and other international
organizations with which we are affiliated — including
the African Union, the International Organization
of La Francophonie, the League of Arab States, the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Non-Aligned
Movement and the Indian Ocean Commission — to
provide us with their full support during the negotiations.
A high joint council, the follow-up body to the
Paris Declaration that I mentioned previously, will be
established in the weeks ahead. It will begin its work
this year by considering the problem of the movement
of goods and persons in order to put an irreversible end
to the human tragedies that daily afflict all Comorian
families.
Never has our world has been so close to achieving
the objective for which we, the world’s leaders, meet in
this United Nations temple at least once a year. That goal,
as the United Nations Charter stipulates, is to maintain
international peace and security. It would therefore be
appropriate for me, before I conclude my statement, to
commend the efforts of the international community
that have led to considerable progress in Madagascar,
thereby opening the path to the forthcoming presidential
elections in that great brother country.
In order to ensure that “The post-2015 development
agenda: setting the stage”, which is the theme of the
sixty-eighth session, is not just one more pipe dream,
we need to act quickly to shelter our peoples from fear
and need. Let us dare to fight injustice. Let us dare to
put an end to deadly conflict. Let us dare to make peace
our daily struggle and our sole reason for being, so that
humankind may live in harmony.