115. Mr. President, the General Assembly in
having unanimously decided to entrust you with
the task of guiding its work has thereby paid a
resounding tribute to you personally and to your
country. It is Tunisia's agreeable duty to join
in this tribute from this rostrum. At the same
time, the General Assembly has conferred upon you
a particularly heavy and delicate responsibility.
Fully cognizant of the very exceptional gravity
of the questions to be debated at this session,
Tunisia is convinced that you will
whole-heartedly guide our work with all the
competence and devotion and all the effectiveness
and objectivity of which we know you are capable.
In expressing its warm con¬gratulations to you,
my delegation would like to assure you of its
complete co-operation.
116. I should also like to take this
opportunity to pay to your predecessor, Mr. Is
mat Kittani, the tribute he deserves for the
skill, objectivity and courtesy which he
displayed with admirable consistency throughout
the past year. His presidency will remain a
matter of pride for his country, as well as all
the other Arab, Moslem and non-aligned countries.
117. The year that has just elapsed has shown
us once again that developments in the
international situation since the previous
session have not registered any appreciable
progress. What is more, the conditions under
which the present session is being held are
marked by an even greater and more disturbing
gravity.
118. One need only observe the current
pervasive disorder in international relations to
realize the risks the world is running. Whether
it be the persistence of hotbeds of tension which
we have not managed to put out or the emergence
of new conflicts which we have not been able to
prevent, whether it be the growing imbalance in
international economic relations and their
disastrous consequences for the third-world
countries, whether it be, finally, the problems
of security and the all-out arms race, inevitably
we are faced with a turn of events extremely
difficult to control.
119. When the elementary principles of
international law are daily trampled underfoot
throughout the world, when clear-cut acts of
aggression are committed with impunity and in
defiance of unanimously admitted standards, when
genocide is premeditated and con¬fessed openly
without the guilty party being ener¬getically and
immediately thwarted in its dark designs and when
international peace and security are so sorely
undermined without the Security Council
shouldering its primary responsibility in timely
and appropriate fashion, we are entitled to feel
doubts, indeed anguish, about the effectiveness
and viability of the international order we have
today.
120. Given that international relations are
based more and more on the principle of
interdependence and that the conflicts and crises
which affect one group of parties automatically
have an impact on the interests of other parties,
we are forced to the conclusion that we stand
together. We are at one concerning how we wish to
build the world for ourselves and for future
generations. We are at one concerning the
conse¬quences of any serious decision which
various parties may take unilaterally. It is here
in this Hall, and nowhere else, it is within the
Organization that this solidarity must be
expressed and made real, and it is on the basis
of the principles of the Charter that the unity
of our goals and the unity of our action can be
shown.
121. This is to assume that the Organization
is strong and respected, that it can be the
conscience of the world and at the same time a
recourse for those among us who are victims of
any violation whatsoever of the principles to
which we adhere. In a word, it is to assume that
the Organization is able to say what is right and
to see that right is respected.
122. But what in fact do we see? Each time
there is a flagrant violation of the Charter, the
Security Council, to which the Member States have
entrusted the main responsibility for maintaining
international peace and security, can only
discuss the question. However, we must note that
the veto, which has been used and abused more and
more in recent times, all too often puts a stop
to all discussion and thus to any action by the
Council. When it is not the veto which obstructs
the Council, it is the party complained of,
which, with disturbing calmness and awareness of
impunity, immediately rejects the resolution
which has been adopted and declares null and void
any initiative by the Council. In the words of
the Secretary- General, we are perilously near to
a new international anarchy.
123. In this situation, which is more and more
dangerous for international relations, Tunisia
has never missed an opportunity, especially of
late during its term as a member of the Security
Council, as Well as in the General Assembly—of
showing its concern and calling for widespread
awareness of that danger. My country, which has
always given its full and unreserved support to
all United Nations efforts to carry out its
mission for international peace and security and
to establish a better balance in economic
relations, recog¬nizes that the United Nations
has played an extremely important role,
particularly in facilitating the irreversible
process of decolonization and in clearly stating
the relationship between the process of
decolo¬nization and the process of development.
My country considers, indeed, that the
Organization is the unique and irreplaceable
international forum for negotiation and, when
necessary, for decision. This explains our fear
and concern when we see the state of semi
paralysis in which the United Nations finds
itself. It also explains our great satisfaction
5n seeing our own concerns reflected in the
report on the work of the Organization submitted
by the Secretary-General.
124. It is happy and comforting to know that
less than a year after taking office the
Secretary-General has officially pointed out,
with remarkable clarity and authority, the
dangers which threaten the United Nations, and at
the same time the world. It is equally comforting
that the Secretary-General has taken care to put
forward specific suggestions and proposals for
retrieving, before it is too late, a situation
which if left alone would inevitably lead to the
decline of the Organization.
125. Aware of the consistent position taken by
Tunisia in this connection, a position which we
had the opportunity of stating again during his
recent visit to us, the Secretary-General will
not be surprised to hear Tunisia confirm to him
from this rostrum its total confidence, as well
as its support for any action to strengthen the
Organization and defend its high and noble goals,
because in my country legality is a watchword,
and international legality is conceived of as an
intangible principle which must necessarily
underlie the conduct of international relations.
126. It is to international legality that
Tunisia and its President have appealed each time
some conflict in the world has had to be
resolved. Recent events in the crucible of the
Middle East have brought to the forefront the
constant concern of President Bourguiba to endow
his thinking and his actions with the neces¬sary
legitimacy, on the basis of the sacrosanct
principle of legality.
127. What has been called the Bourguiba Plan
for a just solution to the Palestinian problem is
based in fact on a return to and use of the
international legal principles defined as early
as 1947 which, regardless of their imperfections,
could not be rejected by anyone, least of all by
those whose birth and very existence depend on
them—but those are the very people who today show
the most complete scorn for international law,
the principles of the Charter and the entire
Orga¬nization, adopting an attitude of defiance
and arrogance and ignoring the decisions and
recommendations of the international community.
128. The General Assembly is beginning its
work at a time when the entire world has just
witnessed a frightful massacre carried out in
cold blood in Pal¬estinian refugee camps by armed
bands trained and financed by Tel Aviv, in the
presence and with the complicity of the Israeli
occupation forces which had encircled the Sabra
and Shatila camps. The wave of Shock at this
hateful crime has led to consternation, horror
and outrage throughout the world. There is not
the slightest doubt that by moving into west
Beirut, in violation of the agreements reached
through the intermediary of the Habib mission,
the Israeli leaders bear the whole responsibility
for this crime against humanity. Under the
pretext of protecting the civilian population of
Beirut, they in fact allowed their legion of
mercenaries to do the dirty work. This tragedy,
unprecedented in the recent history of mankind,
is the logical consequence of the paranoia
characteristic of those in power in Israel, who
consider each Pal¬estinian a potential terrorist
and, as such, an absolute evil which must be
rooted out and exterminated. Is not a former
Prime Minister of Israel alleged to have admitted
to that sense of fear at the birth of each
Palestinian child?
129. What can only be called the hasty retreat
of the multinational forces of separation in
leaving the refugee camps without protection,
despite the fears expressed in the first place by
the Palestinian leaders, was evidence of that
criminal design. This appalling slaughter, among
the victims of which were thousands of women,
children and the elderly, is the result of this
diabolical war launched by the Israeli Government
on 6 June. In fact since that time, the Israeli
Army, with considerable manpower and material of
a very sophisticated kind, has invaded more than
half of Lebanon, causing immense destruction and
partic¬ularly heavy human losses among the
Lebanese and Palestinian populations, estimated
by UNICEF to be 30,000 dead and wounded in Beirut
alone.
130. Under the false pretext of ensuring the
security of its northern frontiers, where a
ceasefire has been in force since July 1981,
Israel has put into operation the final phase —in
accordance with its strategy—of its plan to
annihilate the Palestinian resistance centered on
the PLO, leading to the elimina¬tion of the
Palestinian presence in Lebanon, by terrorization
and the destruction of their shelters.
131. In the past, the Tel Aviv authorities
tried in vain to establish a tame new
administration to carry out in Israeli-style
autonomy in the occupied terri¬tories on the West
Bank and in Gaza, once the democratically elected
municipal councils had been dissolved and
replaced by village leagues which are armed
groups that bring about Israeli order in the
expectation that a quisling will emerge to serve
as a likely negotiator.
13z. Neither the systematic repression of the
occupied territories, nor the use of
sophisticated military arsenals, including
phosphorous and frag¬mentation bombs as well as
implosion bombs, or the terrible bombardment of
west Beirut, has succeeded in overcoming the
determination of the Palestinians to fight to
defend their legitimate cause, as President
Reagan himself recognized in his statement on 1
September.
133. For 60 years, the Palestinian people, faced
with Zionist designs on their country, have never
ceased to fight. In spite of the ups and downs of
an unequal struggle and the fact that on three
occasions since 1948 the Palestinians have been
dispersed, Palestinian nationalism has emerged
strengthened from each test, because never in the
long history of colonialism Las brute force
succeeded in overcoming the determina¬tion of
peoples who fight for liberation. The
Pal¬estinian people, driven from their homeland
and pursued with hatred and tenacity in exile,
have paid heavily for their recognition of their
inalienable right to self-determination and the
establishment of their own State.
134. By subjecting an entire country to fire
and bloodshed, by massacring savagely and
indiscrimi¬nately thousands and thousands of
innocent people, by depriving blockaded
populations of any sanitary or humanitarian aid,
by creating finally even more victims, including
victims among their own ranks, which has never
happened before in the confronta¬tions in that
region, was Israel really, in those con¬ditions,
responding to its need for security, or did it
use its military power to ensure its supremacy?
135. If we are to believe Time magazine of 20
Sep¬tember 1982, Israel is the fourth largest
military power in the world. In those conditions,
how can they use vulnerability and insecurity as
pretexts when what is involved is the appeasement
of dominating and expansionist instincts? What is
involved is an attempt to establish its own order
in Lebanon, which is an independent and sovereign
country. It is a question of stripping an entire
people, the Palestinians, of its rights to
self-determination and to a State, and of
discrediting its unique and sole representative,
the PLO.
136. That is what really lies behind the
notion of security invoked each time by Israel;
it is nothing but a code name to camouflage dark
designs. Do we have to emphasize that security is
the constant concern of all peoples in the
region? It is also a condition neces¬sary to
their development. Security cannot be con¬ceived
of as being the supremacy of one State over
others, implying a right to intervene in the
internal affairs of other countries, nor could
security be con¬sidered as a means of
legitimizing the subjugation of- peoples.
137. One reality emerges clearly from all
those events: that of an imperative need to end
the tragedy of the Middle East. Any further delay
would risk jeopardizing forever peace and
security in that region and in the world. To that
end, the Palestinian people and the other Arab
peoples, with a single voice —through their
leaders who met at the Twelfth Arab Summit
Conference at Fez—have shown their deter¬mination
to achieve a just, overall and lasting solution
of the problems.
138. Two basic principles were clearly
defined: first, the withdrawal by the Israelis
from all Arab terri¬tories, including Jerusalem,
and then the recognition of the absolute right of
the Palestinians to self- determination and to
the establishment of their own State under the
leadership of the PLO. It also involves the right
of all the peoples of the region to live in peace
under the guarantee of the Security Council;
which has that role in accordance with the
Charter.
139. That plan, which has the merit of
international legality and takes into account all
the recent public peace initiatives—in particular
that by President Reagan in which we noted with
satisfaction a more correct appreciation of the
realities of our region—for the first time
presents a specific means of implementing a
lasting world solution.
140. However, whereas the peace efforts of the
Arab countries arouse interest and even support
among many countries, the Tel Aviv authorities,
by the use of arrogance and defiance as an
overriding weapon, remain hidebound in their
complete and total refusal: no to the Fez Arab
peace plans; no to the self-determination of
the Pal¬estinian people and the creation of their
State; no to the existence of the PLO, although
it is recognized by 117 States; no to the
Venice Declaration; no to the Franco-Egyptian
plan; no to the Brezhnev plan; and no to the
Reagan plan of September. The entire world is in
the wrong; Israel alone is in the right.
141. At the Fez Summit Conference an historic
turning point was reached by Arab countries,
opening up new prospects towards a lasting peace.
It is the duty of the Organization and of the
Security Council in the first instance to assume
their responsibilities, to end this infernal
cycle of brute force which can only exacerbate
passions, feed the extremists, creates radical
attitudes and deals a fatal blow to the hopes for
peace of the peoples of that region.
142. It is comforting to see the action taken
by the advocates of peace in the Middle East,
including Israel itself, growing continuously.
Everything must be done to ensure that the Fez
message of peace does not become one more lost
opportunity.
143. If we are appealing today more than ever
for respect for international legality, it is
because in this period of disturbance and
disorder in which we live legality is the only
way for us to speak a common language. It
constitutes for us all the law which each must
respect.
144. It is this legality which we wish to see
respected in Namibia and elsewhere. It is the
illegal occupation of Namibia that we have always
denounced with all our strength. It is
recognition of the legitimate rights of the
fraternal Namibian people, represented by SWAPO
that we demand. It is the rapid and definitive
solution of the anachronistic problem of Namibia
in application of the relevant United Nations
resolutions that is our deepest aspiration. It is
our desire to see with us as soon as possible
here in the United Nations a free and independent
Namibia that we are expressing today, at a time
when hope of a solution is dawning.
145. It is in that same spirit that we
denounce most forcefully once again today the
inhuman practice of apartheid, which the
segregationist and racist Pretoria regime has
made into a system.
146. We appeal to the conscience of the
international community so that without further
delay that aberra¬tion of our time may be ended,
as mankind approaches the end of the twentieth
century. It is a political, economic and social
problem, but it is also and above all as we see
it a problem of civilization. To the people of
South Africa, to its leaders, represented by the
African National Congress, who are steadfastly
struggling for the sake of civilization, we
reaffirm our esteem and our active solidarity.
147. Other equally grave hotbeds of tension
continue to disturb the African continent. The
conflict in Western Sahara that still disturbs
the northern part of the continent, the conflict
in the horn of Africa, the problems of refugees,
and displaced persons, the problems of drought
and hunger, make it necessary for the Africans
themselves to redouble their efforts and draw on
their traditional wisdom to find settlement
procedures that are acceptable to all and thus to
strengthen the ranks of the Organization of
African Unity, which has throughout its history
played a particularly positive and indeed
irreplaceable role.
148. The OAU, to which nearly one third of the
Mem¬bers of the United Nations belong and which
is pursuing at the regional level the same
objectives as the United Nations has demonstrated
that it is able to contribute substantially to
the work of the Organization, which is universal
in its calling.
149. As regards the situation in Asia, in
Afghanistan and in Kampuchea, no notable progress
has been recorded in the past year towards the
solutions advocated by the General Assembly.
Foreign forces are still occupying the
territories of those two coun¬tries. The Afghan
and Kampuchean peoples are still being prevented
from exercising their right freely to decide on
their own system of government. Interna¬tional
legality and the principles of the Charter
con¬tinue to be disregarded. It is time that the
peoples of those two countries, like other
peoples, at last had the right to speak.
150. The particularly sensitive Gulf region,
because of the unjustified persistence of the war
between Iraq and Iran, two fraternal neighbouring
countries which should enjoy understanding and
co-operation, con¬tinues to constitute a source
of major concern to us and to all who desire
stability and equilibrium in that region. We have
noted with great interest the con¬structive
attitude taken by one of the parties and we ask
that international legality be respected, here as
elsewhere, and that Security Council resolutions
479 (1980) and 514 (1982) be fully implemented.
151. The use of force, regardless of its
immediate results, can never bring about peace
and security. It is through the peaceful
settlement of disputes that the objective of
genuine peace can be achieved. It is through
dialogue and negotiation that just and lasting
solutions can be found. This will always be our
preferred course of action. We support this same
course of action for the settlement of disputes
that have lasted some time now, as well as for
those that have emerged more recently, such as
the conflict that broke out in the South Atlantic
over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) and which,
because it grew out of all proportion, seriously
disturbed the world.
152. We appeal to the United Kingdom and the
Republic of Argentina, two friends of Tunisia, to
resume, on the basis of the relevant resolutions
of the General Assembly, the dialogue which was
interrupted, using once again the good offices of
the Secretary- General, whose commendable efforts
in that matter, had they not been hindered, would
have spared many lives and thus enhanced the role
of the United Nations. ,
153. In this general context of disorder, tension
and confrontation the second special session of
the General Assembly devoted to disarmament was
held from 7 June to 10 July last. My country had
hoped that that session would bring about a
general awareness of the danger of widespread
conflagration which haunts the world. It had
hoped that the international com¬munity would
take appropriate measures to prevent war and to
arrive at an agreement which would prohibit for
ever the use or the threat of use of nuclear
weapons, an agreement on which the fate of all
mankind depends.
154. Our disappointment and our frustration
were great when our efforts failed. The necessary
political will for such an agreement was lacking,
particularly on the part of those with the
largest arsenals of weapons of destruction. Could
it have been otherwise, when the biggest Powers
seek only to ensure their own security without
much concern for international peace and security?
155. We venture to hope that at this session
those who in the past were not ready will have
decided to make the necessary efforts to join
their will to that of the great majority
expressed here, especially through the
non-aligned countries, and thus make it possible
to prevent a nuclear disaster, achieve general
and complete disarmament and focus exclusively on
economic and social development in peace and
security.
156. The international economic situation
continues to stagnate in crisis and is cause for
the most serious concern. Year after year we
witness a worsening of the already very
precarious conditions of two thirds of mankind.
The facts are there, shameful, distressing.
157. In 1980 nearly 800 million human beings
had an annual per capita income of less than $150
and they continue to live in miserable conditions
of absolute poverty. If nothing is done to remedy
this situation their numbers will increase in
absolute figures by approximately 30 per cent and
will reach the figure of 1 billion by the year
2000.
158. In a world economy characterized by
uncer¬tainty and instability and affected by
destabilizing and disturbing phenomena which
seriously obstruct its growth rate in the short
and medium term, the prospects for the developing
world are grim indeed.
159. The sacrifices and efforts made by the
devel¬oping countries, moreover, no longer
receive the back¬up and support that are needed
from a developed world which is becoming
increasingly egocentric. In fact, official
development assistance from member countries of
the Organization for Economic Co¬operation and
Development decreased by 6 per cent in 1981.
Furthermore, the excessive indebtedness of the
majority of developing countries has passed the
critical threshold, and may at any time plunge
many of these countries into bankruptcy. In
addition, the proliferation and strengthening of
protectionist measures in the developed countries
may stifle, if they have not already done so, the
emerging industries of the developing countries.
160. In brief, in their economic and social
develop¬ment efforts the developing countries are
facing serious obstacles: a deficit in the
balance of payments, deterioration in the terms
of trade, a decrease in the volume of their
exports, higher debt-servicing costs,
over-indebtedness and galloping imported
inflation. The steady deterioration of the
economic conditions of the developing countries
does not seem to be of much concern to the
industrialized countries, which, claiming
domestic economic difficulties, obstruct change
and oppose reform.
161. Urgent change is none the less greatly needed in order to restructure international
economic relations on the basis of justice,
equity and sovereign equality, in accordance with
the objectives of the new interna¬tional economic
order. To that end the members of the Group of 77
have proposed a new approach in a suitable
framework. They are prepared to undertake,
through global negotiations, an egalitarian,
universal and dynamic dialogue, in order to study
in a democratic forum, that of the General
Assembly, the major problems in the way of
international economic co¬operation. Instead of
seizing the opportunity to engage in genuine,
constructive and comprehensive negotia¬tions, our
partners from the developed countries seem more
concerned to safeguard and protect the excessive
advantages inherited from an unjust economic
order.
162. We are very disturbed at the lack of the
sincere political will to launch the global
negotiations on international economic
co-operation for develop¬ment. We believe it is
high time for the international community to
reach agreement in this respect.
163. It is encouraging to see in the
communique issued after the Versailles Economic
Summit in June that the growth of the developing
countries and the strengthening of constructive
relations with them are vital to the political
and economic prosperity of the world.
Paradoxically, however, we are witnessing an
erosion of the spirit of international
co-operation. In recent years the developing
countries have faced the rejection of dialogue by
their industrialized partners from the north.
164. Our disappointment and our frustrations
are increasing. Never before has international
co-operation met so many obstacles, so often been
deadlocked. We are even witnessing a calling into
question of mutually accepted commitments to
increase con¬siderably the financial resources of
UNDP. The deterioration of the financial
situation of UNDP is a source of concern and
anxiety for all the developing countries. Such
deterioration may not only hinder the
implementation of those countries^ projects and
pro¬grammes but even endanger the very principle
of multilateral co-operation, which is urgently
necessary for the international community, and in
particular for developing countries.
165. It is essential, bearing in mind how far
we are from attaining the objectives that we have
set through our agreements, to redouble our
efforts to give UNDP the financial means that it
needs to enable it to sup¬port and aid the
developing countries on a foreseeable, secure and
continuing basis in their economic and social
development efforts.
166. This attitude of rejection and
obstruction on the part of certain developed
countries is undeniably harmful to both the
credibility and the ideals of the United Nations.
It could destroy the rare achievements of
multilateral co-operation, the results of so many
years of effort.
167. We for our part will continue to believe
in the virtues of dialogue and agreement, a
democratic, com¬prehensive, global dialogue for
the consideration of questions and for
decision-making. In this respect, we are pleased
that the Third United Nations Conference on the
Law of the Sea has arrived at a convention which,
despite the dissatisfaction that it may have
provoked in certain quarters, none the less
constitutes the embodiment of the law. We
strongly hope that the results of 10 years of
painstaking efforts and intense negotiations will
soon be formally adopted by the entire
international community.
168. The agenda of the thirty-seventh session,
on only a few items of which I have touched,
clearly demonstrates the seriousness of our
responsibilities and the importance of the task
before us, an enormous and most exhilarating task
if we are truly to find solu¬tions to the
problems of our day and prepare a better future
for ourselves and our children. We must, first
and foremost, rid ourselves of the specter of war
and the threat of a nuclear holocaust, for which
some with thoughtless equanimity are preparing.
169. It is urgently necessary to put an end to
so-called localized wars and other regional
conflicts which, like the one in the Middle East,
spread and grow sharper day by day, bearing the
constant danger of an overall conflagration.
170. We must take fully into account our
com¬plementarity and our interdependence in order
to prepare at last a new international order
suited to our time. We must ensure strict respect
for the principles embodied in the Charter and
make this forum the primary place for agreement
and negotiation, which alone can enable us to
find comprehensive and generally acceptable
solutions to our problems.
171. By adopting that course of action we
defend the aims and objectives of the
Organization and disprove the forecasts of its
critics by strengthening its effectiveness, its
prestige and its credibility. This is the course
that Tunisia intends resolutely to pursue.