I take great pleasure in congratulating, on behalf of my delegation,
the President on his election to preside over this thirty-seventh
session of the General Assembly. We are convinced that his qualities
as an experienced diplomat and his deep faith in the principles and
purposes of the Charter will enable him to direct the work of the
Assembly successfully. I should also like to pay tribute to the
President's predecessor, Mr. Kittani, of the fraternal country of
Iraq, for the outstanding way in which he led the work of the last
regular session as well as of the special sessions. I also take great
pleasure in paying a particular tribute to the Secretary-General for
his constant efforts to promote international peace and security. My
delegation is pleased to express to him its appreciation of his
struggle to preserve the principles of the Charter and to strengthen
international solidarity for the progress and development of mankind.
229. The thirty-seventh session of the general Assembly is being
held at a time when the international situation is steadily
deteriorating. The harmful world conditions that we are experiencing
encourage the super-Powers to acquire zones of influence and make
their rivalries ever sharper. The super-Powers are using their
economic, scientific and technological advances to achieve their
objectives and designs.
230. In this atmosphere of constant tension we remain concerned
and alarmed at the escalation of tension which is creating several
flashpoints in many parts of the world, especially in the third world.
231. In spite of the constant efforts of the international
community in the quest for peace, we are every day confronted with
increasingly sophisticated wars, wars of attrition and of the
annihilation of nations. Never before in history have there been so
many wars in third world countries, with such great human, financial
and material losses. It is as if by some master plan they are
intended to exchange the natural resources of developing countries
and prevent them achieving their economic take-off.
232. It is an act of treason towards that part of mankind living
in wretched circumstances to tolerate the useless waste of incredible
quantities of financial, scientific, technological and human
resources, when two thirds of the world's population are doomed to
live in dire poverty, suffering grave economic difficulties and
social imbalance. Moreover, there are a large number of refugees on
all the continents, half of them in Africa. Those refugees often come
to an environment where they still have to struggle to satisfy their
most basic needs-food, medical care and shelter.
233. What human wisdom can allow for such waste, whose only
purpose is the destruction of all the best that world civilization
has been producing for the good of mankind? We cannot separate acts
leading to the waste of such immense human and material wealth from
those which are delaying the establishment of a new international
economic order.
234. International economic relations are experiencing in our time
a grave crisis, which is becoming an obstacle in negotiations between
the rich and poor countries, a number of which-the least developed
countries-are living in precarious conditions. It is up to us to
exchange new ideas and co-ordinate our efforts with a view to
striving together towards a better life.
235. After eight years of hard work the Third United Nations
Conference on the Law of the Sea achieved its objective. The adoption
of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea constitutes a
land-mark in the history of mankind. The success of the Conference
has enhanced the prestige and credibility of the United Nations,
which can be an effective framework for dealing with all questions of
vital importance to all States and the international community.
236. The political climate and security in the Indian Ocean area
has gravely deteriorated recently. The littoral and hinterland States
are worried about the increase in tension in the area, as a result of
the rivalries of the great Powers. There is an extremely urgent need
to implement the Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace,
pursuant to resolution 2832 (XXVI) of 12 December 1971. The situation
of insecurity and instability prevailing in the Indian Ocean requires
the speedy holding of the relevant conference in Colombo.
237. Since its independence the Republic of Djibouti has expressed
its devotion to international peace and security. The objectives that
it has set itself are national unity, equality and peace.
238. In accordance with our foreign policy, based on dialogue and
co-operation, we have chosen to live in peace with our neighbours,
with absolutely no interference or intervention. Our neutrality is
reflected by a policy of non-alignment, good-neighbourliness and
peaceful coexistence. We urge our neighbours to settle any disputes
peacefully, for we remain convinced that peace and stability alone
can guarantee the emancipation of peoples. Moreover, we urge all
leaders in the Horn of Africa to struggle for the creation of the
right circumstances to foster tolerance, understanding and confidence
among the peoples of the region.
239. We attach great importance to regional and interregional
economic co-operation, and we are prepared to take an effective part
in those efforts, in accordance with the Lagos Plan of Action for the
Implementation of the Monrovia Strategy for the Development of
Africa' and the Charter of National Economic Action, adopted at Amman.
240. In spite of its economic difficulties and its meagre
resources, the Republic of Djibouti takes in a considerable number of
refugees. The situation has worsened because of the devastating
consequences of a prolonged drought, which has displaced a third of
our population who have lost all means of subsistence.
241. The Republic of Djibouti has embarked on comprehensive
programmes of revitalization and modernization of existing sectors of
the service economy as well as on the creation of a sound basis for a
productive, diversified economy through the development of new
sectors in industry, agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries.
242. My Government, which has decided to use every means available
to extricate itself from its socioeconomic difficulties, appreciates
the assistance and aid of friendly countries to help in achieving
those objectives.
243. After 34 years of bloody wars, 34 years of sacrifices, 34
years of tireless and uninterrupted efforts, the international
community has just reaffirmed its support for the Palestinian cause,
by declaring that no just and lasting solution can be achieved
without recognition of the legitimate, inalienable rights of the
Palestinian people. It is with that in view that concrete proposals
for an overall peaceful solution have been formulated.
244. Unfortunately these peace efforts are still pitted against
the political ambitions of the Zionists, who wish to relegate the
Palestinian cause to historical oblivion so as to promote their
expansionist policy. The Zionists do not wish to accept or tolerate
any talk of national rights for Palestinians; they wished to bury the
natural aspirations of an entire people under the ruins of Beirut. In
order to do that the Zionist war-lords unleashed the most devastating
and the most bloody aggression against Lebanon, using the most
sophisticated weaponry, with the avowed intention of annihilating the
Palestinian people, of liquidating the PLO and destroying its
organizational structure.
245. For more than two months Lebanon has been subjected to the
most merciless destruction. Beirut, besieged, deprived of water,
food, electricity and medicines, constantly bombarded from land, air
and sea, has undergone an ordeal which no city has experienced since
the Second World War.
246. During the first half of this century the Nazis, in their
wanton campaign for racial superiority, arrogated to themselves the
right to determine who should live and who should be deprived of
life. They institutionalized terror and mass killing as means of
achieving that goall.
247. In the second half of this century the Zionist neo-Nazis have
espoused a similar concept, although more limited in scope. They wish
to eliminate the Palestinian people from the land where they have
always lived. For the Zionists, Palestine was a land without any
people awaiting the arrival of Jewish settlers to colonize it.
History has been falsified; the physical characteristics, the
demographic composition and the institutional structures of the
occupied territories are being altered so as finally to leave no
trace of the Palestinian heritage.
248. In spite of that and in defiance of the aims of the Zionist
plan, the Palestinian reality asserts itself more each day, because
the Palestinian people, under the aegis of the PLO, its sole,
legitimate representative, has shown its unshakable determination to
struggle for the life of its cause.
249. Strengthened by that determination, Arab Kings, Sovereigns
and heads of State were at one in making it crystal clear to the
world that just and lasting peace has always been their objective, an
objective that Israel has rejected and continues to reject, wishing
to deprive an entire people of its existence and of its identity.
250. In Fez, the Arab leaders agreed on concrete and realistic
proposals aimed at restoring a just and lasting peace in the region.
These proposals, contained in what is now called the Fez Charter ,
have created a legal framework which, without the slightest doubt,
has aroused hoper in the international community, which is determined
to find a solution to this painful problem.
251. As usual, Begins response was to order the massacre of
children, women and old people. Once again, in defiance of
international public opinion, Israel has revealed its true face. Once
again Begin dashed the hopes of all peace-loving countries and
peoples by organizing the genocide at Shatila and Sabra. These
Zionists have unfortunately made us relive a tragedy which history
wished to bury at Nuremburg and which we thought had been removed
from our memories for ever.
252. In the face of this situation which threatens international
peace and security, in the face of this genocide which definitely
could not have been carried out without the assent and support of a
great Power, in the face of this holocaust of which the Palestinian
and Lebanese peoples are that victims, we reaffirm that a just peace
cannot be established without the recognition of the legitimate and
inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, without the withdrawal
of Israeli forces from the borders of Lebanon as well as from the
occupied Arab territories, including the Holy City of Jerusalem.
253. Lebanon, whose only crime was to grant asylum to the
Palestinians who, because of Zionist terrorism, had had to flee from
their national land, must never again be the scene of these wars and
massacres. The international community must help Lebanon to regain
its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and in its
reconstruction.
254. We note with deep concern the continuation of the Iraq-Iran
war, in spite of the efforts made by the Organization of the Islamic
Conference, by the non-aligned movement and by the United Nations.
255. We hail the positive initiative taken by the Iraqi Government
in withdrawing its forces to the internationally recognized borders
as a sign of a desire for peace and we appeal to these two countries
to settle their dispute peacefully. '
256. The situation in South Africa and in Namibia remains of
concern. Tensions and confrontations will not be eliminated nor will
peace be established in that region so long as apartheid is not
dismantled and the black majority in South Africa is not liberated.
Apartheid must be condemned without hesitation, and all political,
diplomatic, moral and material means must be provided to the
liberation fronts. The peoples of South Africa and of Namibia are
entitled to use all means-including armed struggle-against the
practices of segregation, racism and racial discrimination, genocide
and exploitation.
257. We strongly denounce the policy of baniustanization being
carried out by the Pretoria regime. We condemn also the criminal acts
of terrorism and the acts of armed aggression against independent
neighbouring countries. We state that the front-line countries have
the legitimate right to protection against the repeated acts of
intimidation and aggression perpetrated by the South African regime,
whose sole purpose is to destabilize those States so as to weaken
their moral and material efforts to assist the peoples of South
Africa and Namibia and their national liberation movements.
258. The Pretoria regime has clearly demonstrated its belligerence
by accumulating arrangements and other means of oppression, by
acquiring a nuclear capability and by continuing political, military,
economic and cultural Collaboration with Israel.
259. It is regrettable that South Africa, despite repeated appeals
by the international community, continues to practise apartheid in
defiance and flagrant violation of the Charter and of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
260. The question of Namibia remains unsolved because of the
illegal occupation by the South African regime, which is denying the
Namibian people the exercise of its inalienable rights to
self-determination and independence, in spite of United Nations
resolutions. This gravely threatens international peace and security.
261. Through its political, economic and military activities the
racist Pretoria regime is trying to delay Namibia's accession to
independence. The policy of collaboration with the apartheid regime
of South Africa can only harm and betray the legitimate struggle of
the Namibian people to obtain its freedom.
262. It is up to the United Nations to ensure that its decisions
are respected by South Africa. The United Nations must alert the
international community to South African manoeuvres designed to upset
the peaceful initiatives under way for Namibian independence.
263. We applaud the initiatives taken by SWAPO, the sole
representative of the Namibian people, to facilitate the negotiations
under way, as well as its constant readiness to take part in free and
fair elections in Namibia in accordance with the relevant resolutions
of the United Nations.
264. The Republic of Djibouti believes Security Council resolution
435 (1978) to be the only acceptable basis for negotiations on
Namibia's peaceful transition to freedom and independence. We,
sincerely hope that all the parties concerned will make a concerted^
co-operative effort to ensure implementation of that resolution.
265. As regards the issue of Western Sahara, my Government
supports the efforts of the OAU to promote a just and lasting
solution and also welcomes the measures taken to organize a
referendum to enable the population of Western Sahara to express
itself freely and democratically in the exercise of its right to
self-determination.
266. Although we support the principle of self-determination for
the Sahraoui people, we assert that the decision of the heads of
State and Government of the OAU taken in Nairobi is the only
authentic one.
267. Without unity, Africa beset as it is by economic difficulties
and social instability-will remain a prey to foreign influences,
political blackmail and economic exploitation. Lack of un ty will
lessen the ability of the independent countries of Africa to assist
those which are still under the sway of colonization.
268. For a long time now Chad has continued to be the scene of
fratricidal wars that have destroyed its human and material resources
and endangered its unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity. We
therefore urge all the forces concerned to enter into a constructive
dialogue and to make a common endeavour. We believe that to be the
only way that hostilities can be halted and order, peace and security
restored. We hope that the United Nations and the OAU will work
together to achieve that goal and will help in the reconstruction of
Chad.
269. As regards Afghanistan, my Government expresses its great
concern over the military occupation of that country despite the
repeated appeals of the international community for an immediate and
unconditional withdrawal of foreign forces. We reiterate our appeal
for an immediate and total withdrawal of all foreign troops from
Afghanistan so as to enable its people to exercise its right to elect
a government of its choice. We advocate an overall political solution
based on full respect for the independence, sovereignty, territorial
integrity and non-aligned status of Afghanistan.
270. The situation in Kampuchea is a problem of concern to my
Government, which is firmly opposed to foreign armed intervention and
to the presence of foreign forces in Kampuchea. The presence of
foreign troops makes it impossible for the Kampuchean people to
express its will through free elections. We therefore reaffirm the
imperative need for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from
Kampuchea. '
271. With reference to the question of Korea, my Government firmly
believes that inter-Korean negotiations constitute the only political
means of solving all the problems that have arisen out of the
political division of that country. The earliest possible resumption
of the dialogue is essential to deal with the urgent need to reduce
the climate of tension, renew mutual confidence and establish lasting
peace in the Korean peninsula, which might finally lead to a solution
acceptable to the Korean people.
272. We are convinced that the United Nations remains the most
appropriate forum for voicing our ideas, because all of us here share
the same concern and undertake the same efforts to preserve the noble
ideals of the Charter, indeed, to defend the Charter of the United
Nations is to defend the cause for which millions of people have
perished; it is to defend the cultural and political expression of
human dignity.
273. Unfortunately, at the present time the world is beset by
grave crises which, if not solved, could threaten peace and security.
The crises are especially dangerous because they seriously diminish
the United Nations system's ability to act; moreover, they challenge
the ideals on which the Charter was based.
274. We have in mind here the Shatila and Sabra massacres; which
has been made into a political alternative; and the occupation of
countries by force. Is not threatening and shooting innocent people
in camps and treating people as subhuman the sort of thing that
prompted the creation of the Organization on the morrow of the last
world war?
275. In conclusion, I wish the Assembly every success at the
thirty-seventh session. Members may be assured of my delegation's
positive contribution. For my part, I remain convinced that all the
nations represented here will fulfil their responsibility by
responding to the hopes of the millions of people who are looking to
us.