Mr. President, like my colleagues who preceded me
on this rostrum, 1 should like, on behalf of my
Government and of myself, to convey to you our
most warm congratulations on your election to the
presidency of the present session of the General
Assembly. Your dedication to the multilateral
ap¬proach to international relations, to the
authority and prestige of global and regional
intergovernmental institutions and to the unique
role of the United Nations constitutes the best
guarantee that this session will take place in a
most propitious atmosphere. May I convey to you
my good wishes for the success of your endeavors
and assure you of the full co-operation of my
Government and myself.
232. The efficiency of your actions may be
much enhanced by the fact that they take place
within an exceptional framework: that of the
report sub¬mitted to us by the Secretary-General
to guide us in our work. Mr. Secretary-General,
the Belgian Govern¬ment has in the past conveyed
to you the importance it attaches to the fact
that you have been called upon to assume these
high functions. It told you that Belgium was
ready to assist you to the best of its ability in
the difficult but vital task that you were
assuming. Today, the Belgian Government is
familiar with your report on the work of the
Organization, which I would not hesitate to term
a milestone for the Organization. It has come at
the right moment. It reflects the uneasiness
created by the growing tendency to seek solutions
to crises outside the framework of the United
Nations and the inability of the Organization to
have its decisions implemented. We must thank you
for having put on the agenda the central problem
of the Organization, that is, its "capacity to
keep the peace and to serve as a forum for
negotiations.... its evident difficulties in
doing so, difficulties related to conflicts
between national aims and Charter goals and to
the current tendency to resort to confrontation,
violence and even war in pursuit of what are
perceived as vital interests, claims or
aspirations". I can tell you, Sir, that from the
outset my country can sub¬scribe to every
statement contained in your report.
233. Belonging to the generation which spent
its youth during the tragedy of the Second World
War, I am among those who, 37 years ago,
enthusiastically greeted the birth of the
Organization. At the end of the nightmare during
which humanity suffered every possible anguish to
an extent previously unequalled, States—from the
largest to the smallest, from the strongest to
the weakest, from the wealthiest to the most
deprived, belonging to different systems— pledged
to work together to free mankind from all the
horrors it had just experienced, to free it from
war and genocide, to free it from torture and
hunger, to free it from discrimination, to free
it even from the fear of all those horrors.
234. However, at a time when the shortcomings
of the Organizations are being denounced, it
seems important to me to recall its positive
aspects. The work that it has accomplished is
considerable. One could recall the part that the
United Nations has played in decolonization. But
I could also refer to its action on behalf of
economic development of the so-called "new
countries", the efforts it has made in the field
of control, limitation and reduction of armaments
as well as in nuclear non-proliferation and its
initiatives to assure better understanding among
nations or between groups of States from East to
West and from North to South. Under its flag, the
"blue helmets" have tried to come between hostile
forces and to prevent the escalation of
conflicts. Despite the dif¬ficulties they have
encountered, their importance and the unique
character of their role have not changed.
235. None the less, the essential goal that
the sig¬natory States set for themselves at San
Francisco and to which those that joined later
adhered has still not been attained. I ask myself
why it is that, despite its important partial
successes, the United Nations has not fulfilled
the hope its founders placed in it. For my
compatriots, for the Government 1 represent and
for me personally, this Organization is and
remains the most courageous and generous attempt,
and the only adequate one that has been launched
since the dis¬appearance of the League of
Nations, to assure the world of a modicum of
order, understanding and co¬operation, without
which it would not be able to survive.
236. Moreover, I share the hope expressed by
the Secretary-General when he states that "we now
have potentially better means to solve many of
the major problems facing humanity than ever
before". Nevertheless, we find that not enough
use is being made of these means. The fundamental
problem does not lie in the functioning of the
institutions of the Organization, nor does it lie
in the application of one or another Article of
the Charter or in the work methods of its organs
or the actions of the Secretary- General. No—the
fundamental problem rests with us, the Member
States. We have too often let ourselves be
swamped by immediate problems and taken advantage
of by interests which are often purely national
in character.
237. We have forgotten that the Organization
was not created by us in order to perpetuate in a
new institution the habits and practices which
had led to the failure of the former one. We nave
forgotten the fact that we did not create it in
order to have it serve as a forum for our
diplomatic games, for the defense of our own
interests, or for the confrontation of our
rivalries.
238. What is worse, we have forgotten that we
created the Organization for mankind, not for
those of the East or the West, not for those of
the North or the South, but regardless of
frontiers, for all mankind.
239. Mankind is today the victim of three
types of scourges, which unfortunately are often
combined. The first is war, or the threat of war,
including civil war, which has become
increasingly cruel and deadly through the
ever-greater sophistication, multiplication and
wider commercial distribution of armaments. Then
there are poverty and hunger, which are, to be
sure, characteristics of underdevelopment, but
which—let us not delude ourselves—are not the
exclusive domain of those countries which we call
the poor countries. Finally, there is oppression
and the violation of the most elementary human
rights.
240. The existence of these three types of
scourges seems to me to call for the
establishment of three orders of priority, which
incidentally are interde¬pendent. The first order
of priority seems to me to include essentially
the following: first, the solution of so-called
"local" conflicts, which are so numerous and on
such a scale that they are turning our planet
into a planet at war, together with an effort to
end the civil strife which is tearing so many of
our countries apart; secondly, an increased
effort in the limitation, control and reduction
of all kinds of arms and of the arms trade;
thirdly, the prevention of international
confrontations.
241. The second order of priority is aimed at
developing between our States the mutual aid and
co-operation which alone can provide a stable
basis for international understanding and peace.
We must act vigorously to reopen the North-South
dialogue in order to establish among ourselves
efficient interna¬tional co-operation which will
ensure for all the fruits of economic
development. We must improve and adapt our
programmes of action and of economic development
in the light of the critical evolution of the
world economic situation. We must also fight
poverty, wherever it is rampant. We must concern
our Iives not only with those who are the poorest
in the poorest countries but also with those who,
in each of our Spates, do not have access to the
benefits of society, to schooling, to
participation in the production process, health
benefits and housing, who have been described as
the "fourth world".
242. The third order of priority has the
following aims: first of all, scrupulous respect
by each of our States for the Universal
Declaration of Human Right; then, the acceptance
and the implementation by the same States of all
of the rights generally accepted as indispensable
for the political, moral, cultural, social and
economic fulfillment of human beings—I have in
mind here, inter alia, the freedoms and rights of
trade unions—and lastly, there must be resolute
co-operation among all countries against
terrorism, whose blind violence threatens all
people.
243. The definition and the implementation of
these tasks have to take place in the context of
a determined effort to ensure respect for the
Charter and to allow the machinery of the
Organization to function as it should. Only this
type of effort will allow us to achieve that the
Secretary-General has assigned to us as the most
urgent aim: the return to the principle of
collective action for peace and security which is
enshrined in the Charter, so as to make the
United Nations better equipped to carry out its
essential task. I wish to state this forcefully,
because I, too, believe that without an efficient
collective security system, the small and the
weak will have no secure means of defense or
protection.
244. In the light of these considerations
should like to deal with a few aspects of the
international situa-tion. In view of the
remarkable statement made at the 8th meeting by
our colleague, Mr. Elleman-Jensen, the Danish
Minister for Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the 10
member States of the European Community, I need
deal only briefly with four questions. The first
one, based on the specific proposals advanced by
the Secretary-General, concerns the functioning
of the Organization. The three others relate to
the essential aim of combining our efforts to
defend man and his dignity. I shall address
myself to questions of disarma¬ment, the
promotion of the North-South dialogue and the
global negotiations, and the monitoring of
respect for human rights.
245. With respect first of all to the
universal task of the United Nations and the
active role it must play in the Held of peaceful
settlement of disputes, it seems to me highly
desirable that the simultaneous admission of the
two Koreas to the United Nations be con¬sidered.
That decision would be likely to promote a
dialogue directed to a peaceful reunification of
the Korean peninsula. There was, moreover, a
proposal made to that effect in January 1982 by
the President of the Republic of Korea, which
could constitute an adequate and equitable basis
for discussion.
246. The question of the functioning of the
Security Council deserves our full attention
also. You, Mr. Secretary-General, in your sombre
but accurate analysis of the present evolution of
the international situation particularly
emphasized the main obstacles to the activities
of the Organization anxious to redress this
situation, you informed us of the steps you
intend to take and of the remedies you would like
to see applied. I support those proposals. I
should like to take this opportunity to
congratulate you on the constructive role you
wish to play, which is fully in accordance With
the Charter. Indeed, Article 99 of the Charter
provides that the Secretary-General "may bring to
the attention of the Security Council any matter
which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance
of international peace and security".
247. I also believe that reactivation of the
preventive role entrusted to the Security Council
by the Charter, together with the prerogatives of
the Secretary- General, constitute the most
appropriate measure to ensure that increase in
tension in certain parts of die world does not
lead to confrontation, violence, or even war. The
initiative that the Security Council should take,
by virtue of its preventive role under the
Charter, presupposes, however that it would be
informed in time about the development of the
interna¬tional situation and that, in particular,
its attention would be drawn to the real dangers
that the existence of certain sources of tension
in the world might lead to.
248. The Independent Commission on Disarmament
and Security Issues, under the chairmanship of
Olaf Palme, has produced a report which is
excellent. This report proposes that you, Mr.
Secretary- General, be entrusted with the task of
presenting periodically a concise report on the
evolution of the international situation with the
precise aim of indicating what action should be
taken to ensure that dissension among nations
does not lead to violent confrontations. I
subscribe to this proposal which moreover, meets
the purposes of the Organization without
requiring any amendment of the Charter.
249. I should like to stress in that respect
the essential role which is vested in the
regional organizations. They are in a better
position to appraise and to judge the level of
tension or possible discord which exists in their
regions. If such be the case, they can help you
in preparing your informational report and advise
you on the nature of the actions that may be
con¬sidered and of the measures that may be
proposed to the Security Council.
250. Thus it becomes clear that the right to
take preventive action should be considered as a
duty the better to serve the objectives of the
Organization.
251. The problems that confront human society
today are numerous. Several are of such a scope
that solutions can only be found on a global
scale. Thus a heavy responsibility rests on the
shoulders of all of the Members of the
Organization, and particularly on the great
Powers which have special authority in the
Security Council. From their consensus and their
sincere understanding with other nations there
should emerge a better functioning of the
Organization and a better guarantee of the
establishment of an ultimate climate of lasting
peace.
252. This joint action, supported by the
political will and commitment of all the Members
of the United Nations, should allow a
transformation of the present situation of
uncertainty and crisis into a climate of mutual
confidence, a necessary prelude to the
estab¬lishment of an era of peace and universal
justice.
253. With the holding of the second special
session of the Assembly devoted to disarmament,
the year 1982 seems to mark a new phase in this
particular area, which is at the centre of our
endeavors and affects the universal conscience to
an ever greater extent. If the essentials of the
disarmament effort could have been preserved,
particularly the achieve¬ments of the first
special session, in 1978, whose Final Document
remains the solid basis on which to build our
future efforts, it would be vain to try to hide
the fact that the results of the special session
of 1982 fall far short of our expectations.
254. We have tried to check and even reduce
the increase in arms at a time when the sense of
insecurity was increasing in the world. We have
attributed that insecurity to the enormous
over-capacity for mutual destruction, whereas in
fact its roots lie in the increase in tension, of
which the arms race is but a symptom. Our first
priority, to ensure the security of States, is
therefore the establishment of a more favorable
political climate based on confidence, a sense of
reality and good faith. Tension must be reduced
before nations are disarmed. That is essentially
a political undertaking, which is within the
purview of the General Assembly at the
thirty-seventh session; I urge it to succeed
where the special session on disarmament has
failed.
255. Economic progress is also one of the main
objectives of the United Nations. The picture of
the international economic situation today does
not give rise to an optimistic outlook;
everywhere one hears only of stagnation,
unemployment, interest rates, fluctuations in the
exchange rates, and deficits in the balance of
payments. Peace and international security are
the primary goals of the United Nations, but we
should never forget that millions of unemployed
people throughout the world follow our debates
and wonder what the Organization is doing for
them.
256. The economic crisis makes it incumbent
upon the Organization and the specialized
agencies to take all possible measures to
mitigate the havoc caused by this depression,
which is both cyclical and struc-tural, and to
use every means at their disposal to alleviate
the present situation as quickly as possible. One
cannot sufficiently underline that absolute
neces¬sity. My country is profoundly convinced
that the United Nations, and more specifically
the Economic and Social Council, could and should
undertake this task by making recommendations to
the General Assembly, to Member States and to the
specialized agencies concerned, in accordance
with the principles of the Charter.
257. May I recall in this connection the
support that Belgium is giving to the action
undertaken by the Director-General for
development and international Economic
Co-operation, Mr. Ripert, to strengthen and
deepen the general economic debates in the
Economic and Social Council. Those debates, by
improving the co-ordination of economic policies,
could provide a new impetus to international
eco¬nomic activity.
258. Underdevelopment was already one of the
scourges of our world; the financial crisis of
today makes its elimination even more difficult.
As far as the dialogue with the developing
countries and the global negotiations are
concerned, it should be noted that economic
interdependence in the world has steadily
increased. However, the slowing down of economic
activity and the disruption of the international
monetary system have seriously affected the
volume of transfer of financial resources from
the wealthy countries to the poor countries. That
has resulted in a further deterioration of the
economies of the least-developed nations, already
strongly affected by the rise in oil prices.
259. That interdependence should lead each
group of countries to view the revival of the
world economy as a vital objective based on
mutual interest. That is why Belgium, together
with its partners in the European Community, is
wholly in favor of beginning the global
negotiations. A new North-South dialogue can
succeed only if it results in a satisfactory
outcome for all groups. Without such a dialogue,
that inter¬dependence in the future will be
accompanied by growing insecurity and antagonism
between nations.
260. Belgium, for its part, would like to see
new forms of co-operation substituted for those
risks, allowing us to overcome the crisis and
bring about a common responsibility for world
interdependence.
261. The establishment and the general
recognition of rights designed to protect the
fulfillment of the indi¬vidual and his
integration within the community are undoubtedly
a great victory for civilization over despotism.
Therefore, beyond doubt, the initial
responsibility for ensuring respect for these
human rights is primarily the duty of each State
within its own territory. Nevertheless, the
international com¬munity should not only endorse
those fundamental rights; it should also be able
to guarantee their observance.
262. It is not enough for States to endow
themselves with the means to implement human
rights. They need also the political will to
employ these means and to allow a procedure of
recourse in cases of omission or shortcomings, or
what could be described as "errors" of
interpretation of international norms, by the
respon¬sible national authorities. The
international community has already established
different forms of monitoring with respect to
human rights. However, we must admit that in most
of the cases these safeguards produce only meager
results, either because they are not binding, or
because of the small number of those who have
adhered to them. The causes of that deficiency
are numerous, but I believe that they can be
narrowed down essen¬tially to two.
263. In the first place, if it is true that
human dignity is universal and that each human
being has the right to enjoy his fundamental
rights without discrimination, it is also true
that the positive expression of this human
dignity may vary, depending on time and place.
Our sense of reality requires us to take these
dif-ferences into account and to achieve a more
effective protection of certain rights, a better
result based on concepts which are less vague. On
the whole, would it not be preferable to have a
well-defined number of rights accepted in the
different regions of the world that are
effectively and fully respected, rather than to
have a long list of theoretical rights?
264. In the same context, one may wish to give
more extensive thought to the organic links which
should be established between on the one hand the
regional monitoring machinery over human
rights—and I am happy to see that they are
expanding not only in Europe but also in other
parts of the world—and on the other hand the
international monitoring devices, whose role
could be reviewed in relation to their new link
with regional mechanisms.
265. Secondly, more effective protection of
human rights should, it seems to me, take into
account the diversity of the international
machinery. In a Utopia an independent body of
magistrates would be estab¬lished to ensure the
harmonious implementation of human rights all
over the world while taking local circumstances
into account. This body of magistrates would hold
itself aloof from the partisan interests that are
so dear to States, with their present egoistic
outlook.
266. The way that co-operation between States
has evolved within the Organization makes this
vision still rather remote. I should like to
suggest, however, that a number of practical
measures could be taken progressively to bring us
nearer to that goal. I think it would be
desirable first of all for States to make an
effort to designate, within existing organs or
institu¬tions, internationally recognized
personalities in the field of human rights and to
give them a status that would, like that of the
magistrates I mentioned earlier, ensure their
total independence. Such personalities already
exist in those bodies, but their independence is
not always safeguarded. Furthermore, I think it
would be useful if some of those personalities
could participate in the work of more than one
monitoring body, in order to establish among them
a personal link of co-operation prior to the
establishment of institutional Sinks. Lastly,
could we not envisage the simultaneous
participation of such personalities in the
institutions of the regions from which they come
and in international institutions, or is this
Utopian?
267. The Organization was created in the
aftermath of a ghastly war that was the result of
the dissemination of ideologies whose principal
characteristics were contempt for and enslavement
of humanity. Those ideologies plunged our
universe into a nightmare which lasted for 15
years. When it ended the world found itself rent
apart, bloodless and lifeless, and mankind was
for a long time traumatized by the horrors it had
perpetrated and suffered. It is not surprising,
there¬fore, that the primary concern of the
founders of the United Nations at its birth were
the protection, the dignity and the fulfillment
of man, and that in drafting the Charter and
establishing its institutions they made man the
centre of their concerns. We must remain faithful
to that original, basic concern, and we must give
priority to the accomplishment of this task that
has been bequeathed to us. Let us remember that
all of us here are the servants of mankind and of
its dignity, and that mankind must constitute for
all of us in our joint action the measure of all
things.