Gabon

It is an honour for me to convey to Mr. Hollai on behalf of the Gabonese delegation and on my own behalf, our warmest congratulations on his election to the presidency of the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly. Aware as we are of his wealth of diplomatic experience and his brilliant qualities, to which all previous speakers have paid a tribute, I am convinced that under his enlightened, fair and balanced guidance, our work will be conducted in an atmosphere of calm and dignity and will yield useful results, thus living up to our expectations. I should therefore like to assure him at that the Gabonese delegation will always be ready to co-operate with him in any way he wishes, to assist in achieving his goals. To Mr. Kittani, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iraq, President of the thirty-sixth session of the General Assembly, I wish to say how highly we esteem his judiciousness, effectiveness and sense of moderation which he demonstrated throughout a tenure of office during which he had to deal with many difficult and delicate questions within the framework of a seriously declining international situation. The Government of Gabon has already had occasion to convey its official congratulations to Mr. Perez de Cuellar, the new Secretary-General, on his election to the chief office of the Organization. r wish here to repeat our profound satisfaction at his appointment, which is an honour not only to Peru but also to the whole third world, and to assure him once again that he can always count on the Gabonese Government for the necessary understanding and support in the accomplishment of his difficult and delicate task. 130. There is now a well-established tradition that we, the representatives of Member States, should meet here each year to review the international situation. By evaluating the accomplishments since the last session and exchanging views on future prospects, we attempt to define together the objectives to be attained and the tasks to be performed for the coming period. 131. The thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly has opened in a very dramatic climate, marked by the tragic events in Lebanon, the fratricidal war between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the aggression against Angola by South Africa, the presence of foreign occupation troops in Afghanistan and in Kampuchea not to mention other sources of tension which imperil security and peace in other parts of the world. 132. The peaceful settlement of conflicts through negotiation, the very basis of detente and inter-national co-operation, is increasingly giving way to the use of naked and blind force, a phenomenon that is becoming more and more frequent and indeed seems now to be the rule in diplomatic practice. 133. The right of peoples to decide on their own destiny, although universally recognized, is far from being accepted and applied by those Powers which hold sway over them. 134. New forms of political and economic domination are emerging and developing, aggravating injustice and imbalances, a source of tension and conflict which imperil international peace and security. 135. There is no denying that international relations are now going through a difficult period and the persistence of these tensions and conflicts is subjecting the Organization to a considerable ordeal and exposing the international community to new perils. 136. In the Middle East the recent invasion of Lebanon by Israel with all its disastrous consequences has even further complicated a situation that was already explosive in that region. The recent massacres committed in the Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut have filled us all with shock and horror. The international community has unanimously condemned that odious crime, which sounds the death knell of a certain morality which hitherto had compelled respect for non-combatants' right to life. Let us hope that that criminal act will not open the way to a new cycle of blind and murderous violence, whose first victims are liable to be more innocent people. 137. The situation in the Middle East has now become so serious that the United Nations, with the total support of the great Powers permanent members of the Security Council, must more than ever before do everything in its power to halt war and to look for a comprehensive, just and durable solution that will restore peace to that sorely troubled region. Such a solution can never be based on force and must there-fore be accepted by all, because it has become clear that there can be no solution to the Middle East crisis if it fails to take account of the interests of all parties. This entails the restoration by Israel of the Arab territories occupied in 1967, the participation by Palestinians in the peace negotiations, and, of course, all necessary international commitments guaranteeing to all the right to existence within secure and recognized borders. 138. Furthermore, Gabon is profoundly concerned over the bloody and prolonged conflict between Iraq and Iran which is jeopardizing peace and security in that so sensitive and vital part of the world. 139. On the strength of its close and friendly relations with the two States in question, Gabon once again appeals to the sense of responsibility and real-ism of their leaders to put an end to that fratricidal war so that dialogue and negotiation may commence, in accordance with the spirit of the Charter and the principles of non-alignment to which both countries have subscribed. 140. The situation has become even more explosive in that part of the world through the existence on the borders of Iran of another source of tension: Afghanistan, a country rent by a terrible internal war. 141. The United Nations must continue its past actions and its efforts to secure the withdrawal of foreign troops fighting in that country. It is only after that withdrawal that the peoples concerned will be able freely to express themselves and to determine the regime of their choice, which alone can guarantee the sovereignty of Afghanistan and safeguard its non-alignment. 142. The same applies to Kampuchea, where the legal, internationally recognized regime is not able to exercise its authority throughout the territory because of the presence of foreign troops. We wish to encourage the initiatives aimed at restoring legitimacy and democracy to Kampuchea taken by the free political forces of that country as well as by the independent States of the region. 143. With regard to the Korean peninsula, the division of the country into two distinct antagonistic States because of differences in the political options of the present regimes is a sequel of the cold war of a bygone era, a time of confrontation of the rival ambitions of East and West. Faithful to its motto-dialogue, tolerance, peace-Gabon has always recommended that the two parties should sit down at a negotiating table and together, without foreign interference, seek ways and means of permitting the reunification of the country. This position was recently once again reaffirmed by the Gabonese head of State, El Hadj Omar Bongo, who stated: "It is through dialogue and dialogue alone, in the spirit of the joint communique issued on 4 July 1972 whereby the two Koreas announced to the world their wish to work peacefully for unification, that the peninsula will achieve this end in the interest of peace and security, rot only in Korea but also in the world at large. 144. The violence of the conflicts which we have just described b s its consequence, it would appear, that of polarizing and attracting the concern of the international community, which gives the impression of being less attentive to what happens in Africa. Are we to believe that the problems of Africa arouse only secondary interest and that compassion and fraternal solidarity are aroused only by what happens outside the black continent? 145. Nevertheless, in Africa people are dying by the thousands and continuing to die in the south of the continent-in Namibia, Angola and elsewhere-because of the aggressive acts of the South African racists dictated by their inhuman policy of apartheid. In spite of the unanimous censure of the inter-national community, in spite of the appeals and condemnations of the United Nations, the racist Government of Pretoria continues imperturbably and I with impunity its disgraceful policy of segregation and continues to subject the black community to terror and violence. Expeditious methods of physical elimination have now become common practice. The arsenal of unjust laws is constantly being strengthened and ever more sophisticated in order better to neutralize and subjugate the black people, whose sons, within the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress, are being imprisoned, tortured, martyred and murdered every day in their heroic resistance struggle. 146. This heinous policy, which everyone has utterly censured and condemned, can be carried on only thanks to the massive support of major international capital and the proved complicity of the Governments of countries which possess in South Africa powerful and varied interests. Once again we call upon those Governments to cease all co-operation with the racist Government of Pretoria, in accordance with United Nations resolutions, and to exert on that Government all appropriate pressure to prevail upon it to abandon its apartheid policy and to permit the black majority finally to occupy in dignity and equality of rights and duties its proper place in national life. 147. With regard to Namibia, the South African government does not appear to wish to give way and to comply with the will of the international com-munity. The independence of Namibia, which should have been achieved long ago, is constantly being postponed from year to year because of the refusal by Pretoria to put an end to its illegal occupation of that country. The South African army, which is meeting with heroic resistance from the valiant people of Namibia, is not only sowing terror and desolation among the innocent civilian population but also attacking, now openly, neighbouring countries, particularly Angola. It is inadmissible that the great Powers, which bear responsibility for peace in the world, should countenance this arrogant policy of aggression, which is a violation of international law and flouts international morality. The Governments of the five Western States of the contact group must impose on the Pretoria Government the settlement plan contained in Security Council resolution 435 (1978), which is the only valid basis for negotiation. 148. The manoeuvres of Pretoria to justify its illegal occupation of Namibia by the presence of its forces on the territory of Angola cannot possibly deceive anyone, and blackmail aimed at establishing a link between the withdrawal of its troops from Namibia and the presence of Cuban troops in Angola is inadmissible and must be rejected. Indeed we are all aware that South Africa is illegally occupying Namibia, an international Territory under the sovereignty of the United Nations, while the Cuban troops are in Angola on entirely legal grounds, by virtue of agreements negotiated and concluded in full independence and liberty by two sovereign States. Consequently, there can be no question of linking the two facts, and the Governments of the five States of the contact groups must make the South African government see this. Africa-indeed the whole international com-munity-demands that South Africa withdraw from Namibia so that the people of that country, fighting so heroically, can exercise freely its right to self-determination and accede to national sovereignty with territorial integrity. 149. The United Nations will thus have succeeded in putting an end to an anachronistic colonial situation that is unacceptable in the world today, where all men, all peoples, all countries must be free, equal and sovereign. 150. The violence, conflict and war which trouble peace and security in the world are all part of the absurd logic of man's self-destruction, to which the folly of the arms race is inexorably leading-an arms race which is assuming a pace and proportions that are more and more alarming. The continuance of the manufacture and accumulation of increasingly sophisticated nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction and the development of biological and chemical weapons with terrifying effects are leading inexorably to a wholesale conflagration. 151. This real danger of a planetary catastrophe, although everyone is aware of it, is. Unfortunately, not sufficient to halt the arms race in which the great Powers are engaged. It has become commonplace to describe the vast sums spent on armaments, just as it has become commonplace to denounce the wastage of all the resources spent in that way-resources which could have been devoted to development needs-but, such is man's nature that, blind to the obvious, he pursues his course imperturbably, even if it is a path that leads to the abyss. 152. The failure of the second special session of the General Assembly on disarmament, held here last June, is a sad example of that blindness. At that session representatives of the non-nuclear-weapon States as at the first special session on disarmament, vigorously denounced the mad arms race and the wastage of resources and urged the great Powers to put an end to the policy of over-armament, to abolish weapons of mass destruction and to embark on a process leading to general and complete disarmament. We must recognize, unfortunately. that that appeal fell on deaf ears and at that session the Assembly was unable to come up with any positive measure. 153. Nevertheless. Gabon believes that we should not lose hope and that the efforts already begun should be continued, to prevail upon the great Powers to adopt a more co-operative attitude towards the United Nations which must be in a position to play its full and proper role in disarmament negotiations. 154. General and complete disarmament is a vital necessity. not only because it will put an end once and for all to the ever-growing risk of a planetary conflict but also because it will free the huge sums of money now being swallowed up in the arms race and enable them to be used for reviving the world economy which. as we can see is today in a state of general collapse. 155. Indeed many studies undertaken recently both by the World Bank and by UNCTAD present a very gloomy picture of the economic situation in the world. The slowing down of economic expansion has spared no region no group of countries whatever the level of development or economic structure. This slowing down has been particularly clear in the' developing countries where we have witnessed a sizeable increase in unemployment and a significant and constant decline in national income. 156. It is unlikely that the international economic situation will make possible any revival of growth in the developing countries in the next few years. The export of these countries will continue to decline until there is a clear revival of the economies of the industrialized countries. Similarly. the decline in the terms of trade, which is reflected in the increase• in the prices of capital goods and the decline in the prices of commodities, the malfunctioning of the inter-national monetary system engendered by the abandonment of fixed parities and the increase in interest rates, which has now placed an intolerable burden on debt servicing, do not give grounds for optimism; they are all reasons for the general economic recession we can see in the developing countries. 157. The industrialized countries do not seem to be concerned about this situation. On the contrary, they are multiplying protectionist measures in the name of their national interests, in flagrant violation of the international norms, which are in any case unfavourable to the developing countries. 158. It is to deal with this situation, pending a restructuring of the world economy, that we have found it necessary to call for an increase in bilateral aid, particularly official development aid. Similarly, multilateral institutions should adopt more flexible methods in this regard. It would, for example. be desirable that the share of the resources of the Inter-national Monetary Fund [IMF] allocated for co-operation for developing countries be granted on more favourable terms and for the World Bank to increase Hs loans to those countries, which of course presupposes a strengthening of its means of intervention. 159. In my statement to the General Assembly at its thirty-sixth session [27th meeting]. I said that I placed great hopes in the International Meeting" on . Co-operation and Development at Cancun, which was supposed to launch the process of global negotiations. Unfortunately. those negotiations have not yet got under way. and millions of people who are calling for the establishment of a new international economic order fail to understand how this year again 'We have been unable to reach an agreement that would make it possible for the negotiations to begin. . 160. It is in order to mitigate the effects of this momentary failure in the North-South dialogue. a failure we all deplore, that the developing countries have been trying to organize regionally and sub-regionally. In our own sub-region, for example, on the initiative of El Hadj Omar Bongo, President of the Gabonese Republic, 11 heads of State and Government met this year in Libreville, Gabon, and, in keeping with the spirit of the Lagos Plan of Action;5 laid the foundations of an economic community -of Central African States, an organization that should provide us with structures to expand and promote trade and economic development among member States and stimulate and. consolidate regional solidarity and co-operation. 161. This need for solidarity and co-operation, noted in the economic plan. has also been felt on the cultural• level with just as much force. It is clearly a vital imperative in the fight for development, fulfilment and assertion of the identities of the peoples of these States. which have a profound awareness of their common identity. That is why in the cultural field -again on the initiative of President Bongo-the representatives of the States of the Bantu world, which embrace some ISO million persons,' met in Gabon to attempt more closely to identify the cultural dimension of development and to examine the possibility of creating an international centre for Bantu civilizations, a project agreed upon by the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies, known as MONDIACULT, held last July in Mexico City. 162. In the face of all these problems, all these difficulties both economic and political, one question naturally arises: how to create a more favourable climate for international relations and hence how to propose solutions likely to satisfy the aspirations of States and peoples. 163. In the view of the Gabonese delegation, the United Nations must enjoy increased effective support from its Members if it is to become an effective instrument in the service of the community of nations in the consolidation of the independence and sovereignty of all States, the safeguarding of international security and the strengthening of world peace.