Spain

The world has changed since the Assembly last met. The twenty-first century began on 11 September 2001, and our great collective challenge is to ensure the primacy of the rule of law in the sphere of international relations. The natural forum for that legal culture and legitimacy is the United Nations. In that context and with that ambition, participating in the great objectives of peace, the rule of law and the preservation of the international order to which the Secretary-General referred during the current session it is an honour for me to address the Assembly on behalf of Spain, also a candidate for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council. Should we be elected, we are determined to devote all the effort and resources necessary to fulfil that great responsibility. A year ago, the entire world became aware of the horror of terrorism that threatens us all. We asked ourselves then what course the international community should take and what role the United Nations should play in shaping international relations in the twenty-first century. Uncertainty remains, but it is now clear that interdependence among countries and regions will be the centre of gravity of a newborn international civil society. States must cooperate with one another to make use of opportunities and to fight against threats, because neither opportunities nor threats have a purely local character. Thus, it is time for the rule of law, and the United Nations, as the seat of the political and normative legitimacy of international society, is called to be the centre of gravity of this new framework. The United Nations is the organization that can and should impose including through the use of force, if it is unavoidable the decisions taken collectively by the community of States. The occasions on which the United Nations has been able to respond to the demands of the international community have also been successes for the Member States. In the same way, the cases in which the United Nations has been unable to find solutions to existing problems have also been our responsibility. All of us make up the United Nations; its failures are our failures, as its successes are our successes. Terrorism is a clear example of this and of the need to react together resolutely. Each terrorist attack is an attack against us all, and we must all react. Terrorists do not respect borders; borders should therefore not constitute an obstacle to the collective fight against this scourge. Are there any today who still think that this problem does not, or will not, affect them? The United Nations is aware of the gravity of the threat that this scourge poses to the principles that underpin the Charter and that are the foundation of our civilization. Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) has put international cooperation against terrorism on a substantially different level. That resolution charts the course for the cooperation that is essential for the international community to be able to deal with those who attack our most essential values: life, freedom and democracy. The growing importance of law has a very direct bearing upon the intense activity of the Organization in favour of human rights. In this context, allow me to focus on a heinous and silent violation of human rights: domestic violence. This scourge primarily affects women, children and older persons the most vulnerable sectors of society in all our cultures, regardless of level of development or social well-being. How can we explain, shamefully ignore and, thus, in indirectly accept, that violence against women should today be the cause of more death and disability than cancer, traffic accidents or even war? Can we tolerate this situation? As a woman and as a human being, I say that the answer is an unambiguous no. In the same vein, the International Criminal Court is an essential legal instrument to ensure that the most serious violations of human rights do not go unpunished. With its subsidiary jurisdiction, the Court represents the most significant advance in the 16 structuring of the international community since the San Francisco Charter. In the framework of this reinvigoration of law, the Organization must pay special attention to challenges stemming from new technologies, in particular those associated with biotechnology. We do not want uncontrolled science with unclear objectives to determine the future shape of our societies, bringing to life the terrifying allegory of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Spain, which along with other countries of the European Union has ratified the Oviedo Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, a protocol to which bans cloning for research purposes, recalls the fact that article 11 of the Universal Declaration on The Human Genome and Human Rights, approved by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1997 and unanimously endorsed by the General Assembly in 1998, already bans human cloning for reproductive purposes. Therefore, it is necessary to go beyond that prohibition in a new convention. In spite of these encouraging results, underdevelopment, poverty, the existence of weapons of mass destruction and regional crises in particular the crisis in the Middle East constitute some of the outstanding tasks before us. Allow me briefly to review these issues in order, in the words of Pablo Neruda, not to fill our hearts with salt, but to walk in knowledge.' In the difficult struggle for development, we should all invest both our efforts and our hopes. In that regard, I would like to reiterate what was said yesterday with regard to the Monterrey and the Johannesburg summits and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), for poverty is fought by recognizing human rights and freedoms and by promoting the rule of law. In mentioning development, I wish to stress once again the importance of women in the world. Their lagging behind, and their explicit or implicit secondary status their role in general are very often patently unfair. This situation is the source of the shortcomings of many societies. Let us recall that the advancement of women is not only an obvious right, it also likely represents the most effective and promising strategy to cope with the persistent nightmare of underdevelopment. In any case, poverty must be eradicated wherever it exists, both in the poorest countries as well as in middle-income countries, which are joining the global economy while undergoing fragile political and economic processes. Middle-income countries frequently have large pockets of poverty and are especially vulnerable to global economic swings. Latin America is a good example of a continent where in the last decade an important and successful effort has been made to put in place democratic regimes, foster economic growth and open up to the world economy. It is crucial to ensure continued international support when this process is threatened by temporary difficulties. Disarmament no doubt poses another challenge for all of us, notwithstanding the progress made in the areas of anti-personnel mines, small arms and chemical weapons. In this context, Spain is following with understandable concern the development of events regarding Iraq. For the sake of international security and stability and for the welfare of the Iraqi people, we hope that the announced immediate and unconditional return of arms inspectors in accordance with Security Council resolutions 687 (1991) and 1284 (1999) will become a reality. The Iraqi regime is currently flagrantly violating those resolutions. Arms inspections must be accompanied by Iraqi guarantees to the international community that it will destroy its weapons of mass destruction. That is the only possible path towards lifting the sanctions and normalizing Iraq's relations with the international community. If necessary, the international community must assume its responsibilities and ensure compliance with the resolutions adopted by the body that embodies international legitimacy. The citizens of our States fail to understand why some regional crisis continue indefinitely, causing despair among the peoples who suffer from them and generating a sense of injustice that fuels hatred and bitterness. Encouraging progress has undoubtedly been made, especially in Africa, and we spoke of that progress yesterday. But the Middle East crisis continues to be in all our minds. Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), and 1397 (2002), the principles of the Madrid Conference and the agreements between the parties have established a framework for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. How many Palestinians and Israelis will still have to die and how many 17 international resolutions will we need before Palestine and Israel can live together as States in peace and mutual respect? It is necessary to complete the peace process; that is the goal of the negotiating efforts of the Quartet, which Spain supports. We must counter these crises with our ability to carry out dialogue and negotiation. Spain has promoted integration mechanisms, particularly in the Mediterranean region through the Barcelona process. In that regard, Spain has always given special attention to its contacts with the Arab world, with which it maintains special relationships. In that context, I would like to make a brief reference to our relations with the Maghreb. Spain is among the Maghreb's foremost commercial partners, in addition to being one of the main investor countries there. Hundreds of thousands of citizens from Maghreb countries live in Spain, making up Spain's largest resident foreign community and contributing to the creation of wealth through their work and dynamism. Spain has therefore for many years made the Maghreb the main focus of its international cooperation policy. All of this means that maintaining strong and fruitful relations with Morocco is a strategic priority of Spanish foreign policy. The clearest expression of that priority is the treaty of friendship, cooperation and good-neighbourliness that exists between our countries. The Government of Spain wishes to promote relations in all areas and once again to place those relations on the level they deserve, given the proximity of our two peoples and the importance of our common interests. I am confident that my Moroccan colleague's next visit to Madrid will be a good opportunity to make progress along that path. In any case, I wish to clearly emphasize here today that the autonomous communities of Ceuta and Melilla are an integral part of Spain, on an equal footing with the rest of Spain's autonomous communities. They are therefore an integral part of the European Union. Their citizens are represented in the Spanish and European Parliaments, with the same standing and in the same manner as the rest of our citizens. The tasks before the Organization require that its mechanisms function adequately. Spain looks forward to the Secretary-General's forthcoming report on the reform of the Organization. We support in-depth reform of the Security Council that addresses all aspects of the matter. Before ending my statement, I cannot fail to mention the question of Gibraltar and the recurrent mandates of the General Assembly urging Spain and the United Kingdom to continue their bilateral negotiations to find a permanent solution to this dispute. I am pleased to inform the Assembly that during the past year the Governments of both countries have deployed intense negotiating efforts in this regard, and that we have made substantial progress. We intend to continue these negotiations in a constructive spirit so that as soon as possible we may reach a satisfactory and comprehensive agreement that takes into account the legitimate interests of the residents of the colony as well as the traditional United Nations doctrine with regard to Gibraltar, a doctrine confirmed year after year by the resolutions of both the General Assembly and the Special Committee of 24. Let us be clear: now, the beginning of the twenty-first century, is the time to resolve this question, in accordance with the relevant resolutions calling for the implementation of the principle of territorial integrity. For all of those reasons, we condemn attempts to interfere with the natural development of such negotiations, actions that openly and flagrantly violate that doctrine. I cannot conclude without giving a very warm welcome, and offering my country's cooperation, to Switzerland, as well as to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, which will soon become a Member of the United Nations. Our meetings within this building give rise to many plans, ideas and, of course, words. But they also give rise to action. The action of the United Nations, as well as that of each of its Member States, must not be confined within these walls; millions of people depend on our ability to implement all that has been discussed here in order to enjoy a better life or simply to protect the life they have. Spain is fully aware of this responsibility and we are ready to work alongside other Members of the Organization so that words may be transformed into deeds, and deeds transformed into results.