47. Mr. President, it is a pleasure and an honour for me, as representative of the Republic of Burundi, to convey to you and to the distinguished representatives at this Assembly a message of peace and sympathy from His Excellency the President of the Republic of Burundi, Colonel Michel Micombero.
48. This is certainly not the first time that you will have heard the Republic of Burundi mentioned. Yet it was only quite recently, a year ago almost to the day, that Burundi was represented at this very rostrum under the traditional label of monarchy.
49. Since the memorable day of 28 November 1966, Burundi has been completely transformed by a salutary and peaceful revolution which freed it from the yoke of feudalism and despotism.
50. Today, this transfigured Burundi has democratic institutions which meet the deepest aspirations of its citizens and which are designed for socialist development. I have therefore come here, not to perform a routine rite of oratory, but rather on pilgrimage to a Sanctuary of peace, in order to reaffirm the fidelity and dedication of the young Republic of Burundi to the sacred precepts of our Charter. For such, indeed, is my country's credo.
51. May I now, Mr. President, offer you my heartiest congratulations on your well-deserved election to the presidency of this world assembly. The name of Mănescu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Romania, is in itself a symbol and a message. It is charged with meaning, at this opening of the session. It is a sign of the times that — a point I would stress — for the first time in the history of the United Nations an eminent representative of a truly socialist country has been raised to this highest office in the world organization. This inauguration, this investiture, opens up new prospects in our search for world balance. Thus our work begins under the sign of détente and, I trust, reconciliation. We are all familiar with the man who quite recently carried out a number of missions in the West in the service of peace and of a rapprochement between peoples with different social systems in the name of coexistence.
52. Consequently, in this great international figure I salute the messenger of spring in international relations. On the eve of the commemoration of the greatest revolution in the world's history, I salute him as a "dove of peace" of the colossal socialist revolution of October 1917.
53. I have no doubt that all these signs augur well for our work; let us hope that they are a guarantee of Its success.
54. Despite the optimistic note I have sounded, I do not think that the atmosphere of this conference is entirely unclouded. We have an opportunity once a year, apart from emergency situations, to stop and think, to take stock, to ponder together on our work and balance the accounts for the year just past before turning our faces to the future. Because of the dreadful habit we have fallen into of accumulating problems in our files without making a serious effort to find appropriate solutions for them, the inventory for the year shows the liabilities heavily outweighing the assets. I shall endeavour to comment on various aspects of the Organization's work as viewed by my Government.
55. There is no doubt that the Middle East presents the thorniest and most urgent question of the season because of its serious political, social and moral Implications. Yet the fact is not without precedent. It represents a manifestation of history which, if I may say so, is a direct outgrowth of the perfidy of Albion.
56. Without laying any claim to being a historian and without delving into the remote past, I think I can fairly say that after it was granted a mandate over Palestine by the League of Nations, Great Britain, as the Mandatory Power, played a double game and made absolutely contradictory promises to the two parties.
57. Suffice it to recall the Balfour Declaration, in which MacMahon promised to the Arabs the establishment of a great political Arab community extending over the whole of the Middle East, and to the Zionist Jews, the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine.
58. Whatever trials the Jewish people may have had to undergo, it is an established fact that for the past two thousand years the soil of Palestine has been occupied by the Arabs. In law or in fact, can there be any surer or sounder title to land than uninterrupted occupation for two thousand years? There are few States among us that can lay claim to such antiquity.
59. Forged in blood, in disregard of the principles of the Charter, a perpetual cause of unrest in the Middle East, the State of Israel should never have been recognized by United Nations organs. The obligations under the mandate having been violated, the United Nations, without examining the matter and without calling for sanctions, hastened to give its blessing to a de facto situation, a situation brought about by force and fraught with dangerous consequences. That was tantamount to bowing before the facts and accepting the law of the jungle, the principle that might is right, the law of force, whereas the mission of the United Nations is, on the contrary, to uphold the force of law.
60. Be that as it may, if we agree that a joint error creates law, it would be absurd to want to go back, it would be impossible to re-establish the status quo ante and to put everything back as it was. If it was indeed intended to compensate Israel for the misdeeds of history, we can only regret that it should have been decided to redress a wrong by committing another wrong against the Arabs.
61. An ideal solution being impossible, common sense dictates the choice of the lesser evil, or of the lesser sacrifice in the light of the realities: Israel exists, and that is why we can speak of its international responsibilities.
62. We are all eye-witnesses of persistent violations by Israel of the fundamental principles of the Charter. Israel has never seen fit to respect any United Nations resolution — never in twenty years, the length of its existence. Thus, it violated resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947 on the partition of Palestine, resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948 on the return and indemnification of refugees and Trusteeship Council resolution 114 (S-2) of 20 December 1949 prohibiting it from setting up its Parliament in Jerusalem, to say nothing of a number of others.
63. In making the Holy City its capital, Israel prevented the establishment of an international régime for the Holy Places. Now, it has annexed outright the Jordanian part of the city on the pretext of reunification.
64. Israel refuses to apply the various relevant resolutions enjoining upon it to withdraw its troops beyond the armistice line, thus liberating the occupied zones in Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian territory, to indemnify these three States for the incalculable damage to property they have suffered because of the war, and to remedy the moral injury inflicted on all the Arab States, whether or not directly concerned in the conflict.
65. That is why, when hostilities began, my Government unhesitatingly embraced the cause of the Arab States subjected to escalating aggression. In so doing, it chose the path of reason and law.
66. My country, wholly dedicated to the cause of territorial integrity and sovereignty of States, could not but give its entire support, without any reservations and without any trace of opportunistic motive, to the Arab Governments that had resolved to repel the attacks of an imperialism which was cunningly hiding behind Israel but which had proclaimed its intention of breaking the revolutionary movement by cementing counter-revolution and unleashing wars of conquest and subversion with a view to re-colonizing the Middle East and North Africa, That is why Burundi has embraced the cause of the Arab community.
67. There are certainly men in our midst versed in legal subtleties, who are bound to invoke legitimate self-defence and Israel's right to existence in connexion with the Gulf of Aqaba and the Strait of Tiran. These highly topical matters have already caused a great deal of ink to flow, but blood and tears as well. Since a question of law is involved, we should like to state our view on it.
68. The first fact to be noted with regard to the Gulf of Aqaba is that it has a narrow opening, which at no point becomes part of the high seas. Consequently, the question of who has jurisdiction over it is governed only by the principle of sovereignty of the riparian States. To say that, according to article 1 of the Barcelona Convention of 20 April 1921 on the régime of navigable waterways, the Gulf of Aqaba is a navigable waterway of international concern is not the same as saying that it is an international waterway subject solely to international regulation and has nothing to do with territorial sovereignty. Only commercial traffic in the Gulf is a matter of international concern, the waters themselves being purely internal and, as such, being governed by the law of the riparian States, which are free to accept and apply international rules.
69. Although the Barcelona Convention enunciates the principle of freedom of passage, that principle applies only in times of peace, for it must he innocent passage. It goes without saying that the international conventions on the subject are not intended to define the rights and duties of belligerents and neutrals in times of war. They may even be derogated from in peacetime in case of serious happenings endangering State security.
70. The same applies to the Strait of Tiran. While some straits are governed by special regulations, no separate international convention was ever concluded with regard to the Strait of Tiran. The 1958 Geneva Convention on the law of the sea, which was signed by the States concerned, is the only one which applies. Inasmuch as the Strait of Tiran does not connect two areas of the high seas or one such area with the territorial sea of a foreign State, it is not a strait as that term is defined in the Convention. The only relevant portion of that text is that relating to its scope of application, which covers only innocent passage. Leaving aside the question of the volume of traffic, can passage by Israel ships through the Gulf of Aqaba be regarded as innocent? The facts prove that the opposite is true. It is known that Israel did not have access to the Strait prior to the 1956 expedition. Consequently, a will to the contrary has been manifested.
71. Moreover, ever since the creation of Israel there has been an uninterrupted state of war or belligerence. There can therefore be no question of innocent passage; between belligerents, passage must always be presumed to be otherwise.
72. The 1949 General Armistice Agreements, in fact, provided for a mere suspension of hostilities, a truce which, unlike a peace treaty which would have proclaimed a definite end to hostilities, legally allowed a state of war or belligerence to continue. In that particular context, it would be inadequate to label only the recent events aggression. In reality, they are part of an aggression that has been going on for twenty years. It would therefore be more accurate to term them an escalation or a resumption of aggression, inasmuch as neither the aggressor nor the victim of aggression has changed since 1947.
73. Since what is needed is to re-establish the balance destroyed by the unilateral action of Israel with the connivance of the imperialist Powers, in my opinion we must examine here all the problems of the Middle East and look for an over-all solution to them that would be both definitive and fair. My Government feels that, if such a search is to succeed, the Israel forces must effect an unconditional withdrawal to their positions of 5 June 1967, the occupied territories must be given back at once in their entirety, and the Arab States whose territorial integrity has been infringed and which have suffered major losses in human lives and damage to property must be duly indemnified.
74. Turning to the thorny question of Rhodesia, I must say that British duplicity, coupled with what is often called "the weakness of the United Nations", has unfortunately conditioned us through repetition to accept the fait accompli. We always start with a situation which has been brought about by brute force but which is termed "temporary"; then little by little we watch it harden and develop into a permanent situation, until at last it acquires the force of law.
75. When the Rhodesian adventure first began, the United Kingdom, where a Labour Government had just taken over, told us sweetly that it would put an end to the Rhodesian rebellion before three weeks had passed. Later, it was to stress that the rebellion was an internal matter, before finally describing it as international, in order to allow Ian Smith to gain time. Later still, it threatened Rhodesia with so-called "selective" — which meant optional — economic sanctions, which, moreover, were never applied.
76. Despite the Security Council resolutions recognizing that the maintenance of the rebel régime constituted a threat to international peace and security, despite the appeals of the Organization of African Unity, despite the positions taken by members of the Commonwealth, the United Kingdom, one of the oldest parliamentary democracies in the world, continues to support a racist minority of some 200,000 Whites who are holding 4 million Africans in servitude. To destroy every vestige of independence among the Africans of Zimbabwe, the white minority is resorting to classical apartheid methods: expulsion, torture, summary trials and executions, segregation, etc.
77. We who were in good faith were taken by surprise by this vast swindle. What could we expect from talks between the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the usurper Ian Smith, dealing as equals? What are we to think of the good will missions to Salisbury by eminent figures of the British world, the foremost among them being Lord Alport? If 1 am not mistaken, this is what is legally known as a "de facto recognition."
78. My Government's position is well known. The major culprit is the United Kingdom. Ian Smith is merely its henchman, who is obediently putting into execution a pre-arranged plan. Can the United Kingdom, which put down the popular uprising in Aden in a way we all remember, claim today that it is unable to put down the Rhodesian rebellion and restore their legitimate rights to the Zimbabwe majority? It is no doubt waiting for Rhodesia to sever all ties with the Crown by proclaiming a republic, and it will then say to us bravely: "Sorry, it is too late." It is no doubt still haunted by the old dream of its illustrious financier, Cecil Rhodes, who, following in the tracks of the powerful East India Company, cherished the ambition of building an empire that would extend from the Cape to Cairo. But our patience has its limits, and we cannot allow ourselves to be duped any longer.
79. With regard to South West Africa, a territory once held by the Germans, we all know that the League of Nations conferred a mandate on the Union of South Africa which the latter exercised on behalf of His Britannic Majesty. We also know what has happened since. The question has been discussed here since 1946 and seventy-six resolutions have been adopted on it; it was referred four times to the International Court of Justice, the first three times for an advisory opinion and the fourth time for a judgement — a judgement branded as scandalous at the twenty-first session. All this international activity culminated last year in the vote on the historic resolution [2145 (XXI)] terminating South Africa's mandate. Despite the binding nature of that decision, Pretoria, having no great desire to let go, retains its hold on the Territory, which is of considerable economic and strategic importance. To frustrate the United Nations resolution, Pretoria today pursues a man-hunt policy, prior to initiating a general persecution.
80. A year ago, we suggested that Article 6 of the Charter should be applied to South Africa. Today, since South Africa is a hardened and unrepentant offender, we should like to reiterate our proposal, in the hope that this time it will commend itself to the majority.
81. My Government's position with regard to South West Africa may be summed up as follows. The United Nations should: compel South Africa, by an international police action if need be, to withdraw from the Territory of South West Africa; associate representatives of the liberation movements in the organs it would set up for the temporary administration of the Territory: grant the Territory economic, social and administrative assistance; and organize free and democratic general elections to enable the Territory to accede to independence within a set period. Lastly, the United Nations should take a firmer attitude in the face of the economic and military might of the Republic of South Africa and its resultant arrogance and of the connivance of certain Western Powers; for there comes a time when therapy is no longer possible.
82. The name of Portugal is always connected, as the shadow is with the body, with the African Territories of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissao, which Portugal regards as its provinces and integral parts of its territory. It can be readily understood that the oldest conqueror of modern times should want to perpetuate its dominion over the African continent.
83. The United Nations has repeatedly condemned Portugal for its racist practices and its violations of the Charter. I am not forgetting that at the twenty-first session my delegation proposed the expulsion of Portugal in accordance with Article 6 of the Charter, for crimes against peace and against humanity. Will we find a more sympathetic audience today?
84. It is obvious that if Portugal, an under-developed country, were alone, it would have neither the men nor the means to conduct a war of conquest and subversion in Africa. Hence we must seek elsewhere the mysterious orchestra conductor who orders, guides from afar, supplies and finances all these operations. We are for our part convinced that certain military alliances have a hand in the Portuguese adventure in Africa, My own view on the matter is that the one piece of luck we Africans have is that the present rivalries and ambitions preclude another Berlin Conference, which could once again throw the African continent to the colonial lions.
85. As regards the internal quarrels in certain African nations, my delegation believes that the great Powers should resist the temptation to intervene and should refrain from any action that might impair the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the States concerned. The great Powers should especially refrain from double dealing, where they officially give aid to one of the parties while supporting the other.
86. I have dwelt at length, in order of priority, on the situation in southern Africa. But the interest we take in African problems does not interfere with our awareness of other regions in which there is a political situation fraught with serious consequences for international peace.
87. In Viet-Nam, the United States, taking advantage of a period of waiting, has been pursuing a two-fold policy in a spirit of conquest: occupation of the South and aggression against the North. There is hardly need for me to recall that the Viet-Namese people, which is waging a true war of liberation at the cost of sacrifices and privations that testify to its heroism, has all our sympathy.
88. Whereas the 1954 Geneva Agreements stipulated that the arbitrary demarcation line at the Seventeenth Parallel "should not in any way be Interpreted as constituting a political or territorial boundary" the United States has turned it into a veritable frontier. The general elections that were to be held in 1956 with a view to reunification were never held; instead, there was a series of aggressive attacks which were progressively escalated and which were meant to complete the genocide of the Viet-Namese people after depriving it of all means of livelihood.
89. The silence preserved on all this by part of mankind is a fine illustration of people shirking their responsibilities. It is inconceivable that, while an entire nation is being systematically exterminated—a task made easier by the use of internationally prohibited weapons—countries should remain silent or even offer encouragement.
90. A solution to this problem can be found only in the framework of the 1954 Geneva Agreements, with due respect for Sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity. We demand that all foreign troops of aggression should be withdrawn from Viet-Nam at once and unconditionally and that the Viet-Namese people should be permitted, in complete peace and full freedom, to exercise its right of self-determination by means of free elections.
91. The case of Korea is very much like that of Viet-Nam, There too a nation has been mutilated at the whim of a foreign Power, acting under the flag of the United Nations. The Thirty-eighth Parallel, merely a demilitarized demarcation line, has become a State boundary, with all the human tragedies resulting from this artificial division.
92. As in the case of Viet-Nam, my Government asks that all expeditionary occupation forces be withdrawn forthwith and the United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea be dissolved, so that the Korean people may solve its own problems without outside interference.
93. The fiction that there is only one China and that it is constituted by the Chinese province of Taiwan — which is maintaining itself in existence only thanks to the presence of foreign occupation forces — has carried the day in the United Nations, which is thus at odds with itself, since it was intended to be a universal organization. It is unprecedented in diplomatic history for a country to be represented in the highest international organs by one of its provinces. It is sheer cynicism to deny the existence of the most populous State on earth, whose 700 million inhabitants constitute one-fourth of all mankind.
94. Some States believe the rumour that China rejects all international co-operation. Yet the facts belie such assertions. Does not China maintain the most cordial relations with a good many members of the world community? China is accused of being a threat to international peace and security. But in that case, many countries now Members of the United Nations should have been expelled a good long time ago. What, for example, should be done with those which were caught in the act in Viet-Nam, Cuba, and so on?
95. Once again, my Government believes that no problem of world concern can be satisfactorily resolved without the participation of China, It is high time for China to be given back its place in the United Nations and its seat in the Security Council, That is no mere matter of sentiment. It is a pre-condition for the very survival of the Organization, whose prestige and authority have been seriously impaired in recent years.
96. It is Utopian to speak of peace when one of the principals, China, which has forced its entry into the nuclear club, is not regarded as a valid participant in the negotiations, since treaties and commitments entered into behind China's back are in no way binding upon it.
97. We welcome the holding of the second session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at New Delhi. We venture to hope that it will not be a disappointing operation of the Kennedy Round type. The very choice of New Delhi, in the heart of the Third World, should give confidence to the developing countries. We expect a great deal from this conference, which should substantially improve the terms of trade as between primary commodities and manufactured goods.
98. We hope that it will mark a new stage during which we shall be able gradually to close the gap between us and the rich countries. With a little attention on one side and good will on the other, we believe we can attain a practical solution reconciling the rightly understood interests of all parties. As a guarantee of commitments entered into, we should like the parties to agree on a principle of good faith: pacta sunt servanda.
99. After this general survey, we have only a few concluding remarks to make. Throughout our statement, we have endeavoured to present our point of view on the great problems of our time in all frankness. We have told the truth, even if it may have hurt some feelings, without mincing words, in the spirit of independence that permeates our young Republic, which, far from being anyone's property or private preserve, is open to everyone.
100. The first conclusion to be drawn from our general diagnosis is one of bankruptcy. We have noted that, on the whole, the action of the United Nations is ludicrously inadequate and therefore disappointing. The only times the United Nations succeeded was when the parties decided to agree; when that was not the case, it failed. Moreover, in a number of situations we have found distressing contradictions. That is alarming in itself, and we cannot but draw attention to the League of Nations which, as we all know, perished of being unable to "digest" the great problems which it was its duty to solve. The United Nations might well be brought down by that same indigestion.
101. The reason why the United Nations is paralyzed is well known; it is the pride and self-conceit of the great Powers. It is sometimes true that one should leave well alone. That is why we have accommodated ourselves to the privilege enjoyed by the great of being able to frustrate any decision they do not approve of. The right of veto is a pre-condition for the very survival of the United Nations, but at the same time it hamstrings its power to act. Although at the end of the last war there had been a sacred union among the Allies, the changes in alliances that have since occurred have destroyed the economy of the entire system. World peace had been predicated on the assumption that the great Powers would not breach it. Yet today, owing to the bipolarization that has taken place in international relations, certain great Powers are parties to every conflict. According to the principles of our Charter, we would have to ask them to redress the wrongs they have themselves committed. That would be self-criticism with a vengeance, a truly agonizing self-appraisal. The great Powers would be asked to act as both judges and parties in their own cause. How are we to break out of this vicious circle?
102. Since the great Powers have shown their unconcern, we must think of another way out. That way is offered by revision of the Charter. While maintaining the right of veto of the great Powers as a precondition for the survival of the United Nations, we might consider broadening and strengthening the powers of the General Assembly. Before we reach that point, I believe that the best thing we can do now is scrupulously to respect the principles of the Charter. That would be a practical way of bolstering the moral authority of the United Nations. We ought to pay greater heed to the voices of the world's highest moral and spiritual authorities and even of the medium-sized Powers which stand for peace, progress and independence, for it is very true that one may need the help of someone smaller than oneself, I am thinking in particular of some of the lessons to be drawn from the Pope's last Encyclical; "Development is the new name for peace."
103. Very well then, in the name of peace, let us condemn war in its very essence. In the name of development, we invite the rich countries to give up their war effort and to devote the funds from their war budgets to capital aid to developing countries.