Jordan

It gives me great pleasure to begin my statement by congratulating you, Sir, and on the Government and people of your country, Portugal, on your election as President of the fiftieth session of the General Assembly, which coincides with the Golden Jubilee of the United Nations. I am confident that, with your skill and expertise in diplomacy and international affairs, you will be able to steer the deliberations of this session most efficiently and competently. I should like also to extend deep appreciation to His Excellency Mr. Amara Essy, Foreign Minister of Côte d’Ivoire, for successfully conducting the affairs of the forty- ninth session of the General Assembly. Allow me also to pay tribute to the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his sincere, incessant and dedicated efforts in the service of the international community through this Organization. Over the past few years, the world order has witnessed radical changes in its structure that have entailed developments some of which have been positive while others have been negative. On the positive side, wide- ranging developments have been seen in many States with regard to the emergence of democracy, political plurality, respect for human rights and basic freedoms. Such developments have been accompanied by a natural yearning for the achievement of development in both its economic and social domains, while developments on the negative side have generated a wider cycle of racial, national and religious disputes in some regions of the world that have led to a noticeable retreat from respect for human rights and basic freedoms of the human individual, as well as regression of development both in the economic and social spheres. The primary task of this Organization at this point in time is, perhaps, to focus on strengthening the first tendency and to limit, as much as possible, the second. In the face of such a challenge, the task of reforming the United Nations should be met with a view to strengthening its role, making it more effective and achieving a qualitative transformation of the work of its organs. The Security Council stands in need of restructuring with a view to increasing its membership in such a way as to reflect balanced representation of developed and developing countries. The present composition of the Council, as it took shape in the wake of World War II, no longer reflects the present balance of power in its broader sense. Any expansion of the permanent membership of the Council should take into account the inclusion of countries from the developing world which have significant political, economic and demographic weight. On the other hand, the veto prerogative of the five permanent Member States should be reviewed and certain Council mechanisms must be substantively reformed as in the case of the mechanism relating to economic sanctions. Reform of that mechanism should ensure: firstly, limiting as much as possible the impact of sanctions on the civilian population of the country on which the sanctions are imposed, and secondly, compensating third States that are affected by the sanctions in proportion to the damage sustained by them. It is also necessary to achieve the universality of the United Nations in conformity with Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Charter, which stipulates that membership in the United Nations is open to all peace-loving nations which accept the obligations contained in the Charter. Membership should not be denied on the basis of any political or other considerations. Peace-keeping operations have become the corner- stone of the overall work and activities of the United Nations. While my country, Jordan, prides itself on its wide-ranging participation in the operations, it deems it 9 necessary to continue the process of comprehensively reviewing peace-keeping operations in the light of the widening scope and number of such operations, as well as the diverse nature of the tasks undertaken by the peace- keepers and the dangers they are exposed to. At the same time, we emphasize the need to strengthen the efforts made to consolidate the foundations and bases of preventive diplomacy which aims to avert the break-out or escalation of conflicts, in addition to developing the machinery for post-conflict peacemaking and peace-building. As for the financial crisis which has impacted on peace-keeping operations, that crisis not only affects proper implementation and the level of performance, but affects also the participation of many developing countries in those operations. Those countries have now become reluctant to participate because they have not been reimbursed on time. If such a situation persists, it may impact adversely on the desired comprehensive international character of the structure of peace-keeping troops and lead to the exclusion of developing countries therefrom, thus restricting participation to the developed countries that are financially able to bear the cost of their participation. The only solution to this problem is for all countries to meet their financial obligations on time, particularly those countries that contribute the bulk of the United Nations budget. Jordan has supported the establishment of a special fund to help start new operations whenever needed. Part of the capital of this fund should be earmarked for the reimbursement of the developing countries that participate in such operations. In this regard, we feel that amendments need to be made to the reimbursement mechanism, so that the developing countries contributing troops to peace-keeping operations may be reimbursed on a priority basis. The end of the East-West bipolarity that plagued the world during the cold war and the disappearance of the ideological demarcation line that divided the world into two camps should prompt us to seize this historic opportunity afforded us by the current transitional period to lay down new foundations for North-South cooperation and to narrow the economic gap between them. The first step in that direction may well be to find substantive and meaningful solutions to the problem of the accumulated debts of the developing countries. While my country welcomed the establishment of the World Trade Organization and has applied for membership, we call for an in-depth study of the foundations and controls upon which freedom of trade is built. We also call for a review of the strategies of economic development at the international level, with a view to improving them in conformity with the principles of sustainable development and to achieve the cherished goal of environmental conservation. While world peace and stability are among the most important prerequisites for economic development and of the social development it entails, the development cycle, however, will not be complete without consolidating the underpinnings of democracy and social justice which lead to further development and thereby promote peace and stability. Proceeding from His Majesty King Hussein’s belief in the close relationship between peace, democracy and development, Jordan’s earnest participation in the peace process went hand in hand with the strengthening of democracy and the consolidation of political plurality in Jordan. As is known, the peace process which started in Madrid four years ago has resulted, inter alia, in the conclusion of the Jordanian-Israeli Peace Treaty, which restored to Jordan all its territorial and water rights and laid the foundation for a balanced relationship based on mutual and equal interests between Israel and Jordan. This, of course, reflects positively on the peace, stability and welfare of the peoples of the region. Efforts are now under way to bring about a huge qualitative jump in regional economic development in the Middle East. The States of the region are showing great interest in the Amman Economic Summit, which is scheduled to be held at the end of this month, October 1995, within the framework of regional cooperation, as a product of the multilateral track of the peace process. Jordan looks forward with optimism to the forthcoming Barcelona Conference with the aim of establishing a partnership that joins together the Mediterranean States. This would contribute to the consolidation of the comprehensive peace process in the Middle East. In this respect, I should like to express deep gratitude and appreciation for the role played by Europe, Japan and other States involved in the multilateral track of the peace process which, together with the United States of America, support the development efforts in Jordan and of peace-building in the region. Jordan’s participation in the multilateral track of the peace process stems from its conviction that it is 10 necessary to find effective solutions to the problems that have accumulated over the many years of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Foremost among those problems is the question of refugees. In this regard, we commend the outstanding role played by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), stress the importance of that role and of the essential services the Agency provides for the refugees. Accordingly, my country, as host to the largest number of refugees, feels that it is necessary for UNRWA’s work to continue and indeed for the services it provides to be expanded. This, in turn, necessitates the strengthening of UNRWA’s budget, until a final solution to the refugee problem is reached through return and compensation, as provided for in the United Nations resolutions and principles of international law. Therefore, while we acknowledge the donor States’ contributions, we call upon them, from this rostrum, to continue to contribute to UNRWA’s budget, so that this noble goal may be achieved. On the other hand, my country supports all efforts to advance the negotiations on other bilateral tracks in order to realize the principle of “the return of land for peace” on the basis of Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 425 (1978), which constitute the essential terms of reference for the peace process. On this occasion, I should like to commend the very important development on the Palestinian-Israeli track with the conclusion of the Taba Agreement on the expansion of self-government in the West Bank and the subsequent signing of that agreement in Washington, D.C., on 28 September 1995. I should like also to take this opportunity to express Jordan’s full support for the Palestinian National Authority in its sincere efforts to achieve the goals of a just and durable peace in the region. We believe that those efforts will lead to the establishment of the independent State of Palestine, with the holy city of Al-Quds as its capital, in realization of the hopes and aspirations of the brotherly Palestinian people. My delegation did not spare any effort during the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in order for the Conference to produce positive results that would buttress this treaty which is a major cornerstone of the international non-proliferation regime, and may bring about its universality by the accession thereto of all States, including Israel, and the placement of its nuclear facilities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as the provision of adequate security guarantees for non-nuclear- weapon States. In addition to the decision to extend the treaty indefinitely and to strengthen the review process, the Conference also adopted a resolution on the Middle East which called, inter alia, for taking the necessary measures to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region. Jordan has participated actively and in good faith in all the regional talks concerning arms control and regional security within the multilateral track of the peace process. We hope that these talks will achieve their goals, namely, the prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and an end to the regional arms race in the area of conventional weapons. These efforts have started to bear fruit recently with the decision to establish three regional security centres in Amman, Doha and Tunis. We must emphasize here that the activation of these centres does not at all mean acceptance of the status quo with all its inherent imbalances, particularly with regard to nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. The main objective that inspired the establishment of those centres was to promote confidence-building amongst the States of the region and to redress the present imbalances in order to achieve a more secure and stable Middle East, as provided for in the Jordanian-Israeli Peace Treaty. At the international level, we hope that the ongoing negotiations within the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva will lead to concluding a comprehensive test-ban treaty before the end of next year. We also hope that the Conference on Disarmament will begin negotiations aimed at concluding a treaty on prohibition of the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons, and another convention to provide non-nuclear-weapon States with security assurances. As for the situation in the Gulf, Jordan reaffirms its interest in the security of that vital region and its earnest desire to establish strong relations of cooperation based on mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of any State. In this regard, Jordan firmly supports and upholds the right of the United Arab Emirates to sovereignty over the three islands occupied by Iran. Jordan also supports all efforts aiming at bringing about an end to the Iranian occupation so that good neighbourly relations among the States of the region may be established and consolidated. 11 While we appreciate the positive step taken by Iraq in recognizing the sovereignty of Kuwait and its international boundaries, we emphasize the need to work for lifting the sanctions imposed on the brotherly people of Iraq, with a view to putting an end to their suffering, preserving the unity and the integrity of the people and the territory of Iraq and preventing its fragmentation which would endanger the security and safety of the region. Jordan also stresses the need to resolve the issue of the missing and detained Kuwaitis. We consider this a matter of utmost importance because of its legal and humanitarian dimensions. We call for Iraq’s full compliance with all relevant Security Council resolutions in order to discharge the commitment to properly implement Council resolutions in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Having said this, Jordan affirms its solidarity with and sympathy for the Iraqi people in their plight and underscores the need to respect their legitimate rights and aspirations to freedom and democracy and to safeguard their unity. Jordan states this with a clear conscience, in consonance with the Declaration of Human Rights and the Charter of the United Nations. Jordan has consistently made clear its stand on the tragic situation in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It supports the sovereignty and independence of this young republic and affirms the need to put an end to the Serbian aggression against it. Jordan also supported the position of the Contact Group established by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which called for the lifting of the arms embargo imposed on Bosnia, in conformity with its inherent right to self-defence. Now, following the latest positive developments, represented by the Declaration of Principles agreed upon by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the States parties to the conflict under the auspices of the Western Contact Group and following the cease-fire decision, Jordan supports the position of the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina and commends its flexibility in trying to reach agreement. We attach great importance to the continuation of diplomacy supported by force, which has led to the withdrawal by the Serbs of their heavy weapons from the areas surrounding the capital city of Sarajevo, with all that that entailed in terms of putting an end to the shelling of civilians, and of leading to the aforementioned Declaration of Principles. While we are to work in earnest for the establishment of a safer and more secure world order that would be founded on the values of freedom, tolerance and equality, we must recall the early calls made by Jordan during the 1980s, when His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hassan called for the establishment of a new humanitarian world order. Those calls were echoed in the proceedings of the United Nations General Assembly and translated into resolutions which called for and encouraged the establishment and consolidation of such a world order. Perhaps this new humanitarian world order, because of its aims which would make the human being the main focus of international action in such areas as the eradication of poverty and unemployment and the bridging of the gap between the rich and the poor, on both the individual and societal levels, may well furnish the solid foundation upon which we can build the desired new world order whose parameters have not crystallized as yet. In the same context, we should encourage interfaith dialogue. Such a dialogue would bridge the gaps between the beliefs and concepts of millions of human beings and, also, would make great strides towards advancing human development. If achieved, this would limit religious, sectoral and ethnic conflicts, both internally and amongst various communities at the international level. Perhaps there is a window of opportunity now afforded by the end of the cold war and of ideological and political conflicts. This could be a rare and historic opportunity to activate an interfaith dialogue, thus adding a new and valuable forum to the existing forums of dialogue. We in Jordan have always advocated interfaith dialogue as a safe way to combat blind bigotry and stereotyping. In order to achieve this, and in the midst of the painful labour that the process of establishing the new world order is undergoing, we must not marginalize one billion Muslims, exclude them or eventually drive them to radicalism. Muslims must be partners in the building of this new world order and must be actively involved in its development. Islam’s bright image is being distorted, which is a matter of grave concern for us. The pervasive anti-Islamic phenomenon, based on unjustified generalizations, aims at tarnishing the good name of Muslims and stigmatizing them as terrorists and blind extremists, with a view to totally distorting Islam’s image. This matter must receive greater attention from this international Organization. One should not ignore the fact that Islam is an adaptable civilization, comprising all shades of political opinion and all kinds of different religious thought, in addition to a vast, multifaceted human experience. Jordan urges the Member States of this international Organization to try to reach a better understanding of Islam as a religion, as a 12 culture and as a civilization, and to reject the phenomenon of antagonism to Islam in all its forms and manifestations. In conclusion, the road to a world of peace, security and stability inhabited by democratic societies, a world whose main goal is to attain the highest level of economic and social development, is a long and arduous road indeed. But the achievement of these lofty and noble aims of the Charter of the United Nations is worthy of our sacrifices, and requires more serious and sincere action at the international level.