Chad

Allow me, Sir, to convey to you on behalf of the people and Government of Chad, our heartfelt congratulations on your unanimous election to preside over the forty-ninth session of the General Assembly. It was a resounding tribute to your country, whose devotion to peace and dialogue is well known. Not simply Côte d’Ivoire, but the whole of Africa has thus been honoured. We should like to take this opportunity to salute the memory of the late President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, whose renown as a statesman extended beyond our continent. I should also like to convey heartfelt thanks to your predecessor, Ambassador Samuel Rudolph Insanally of Guyana, for the skill with which he conducted the business of our previous session. Finally, I wish to express our profound gratitude to the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his dedication to international peace and security, to which he has contributed with “An Agenda for Peace”, now supplemented by “An Agenda for Development”. We welcome the return to this Hall of South Africa, a South Africa now free of apartheid. We welcome it and wish every success to President Nelson Mandela, whose tenacity should once again be commended. The picture of the international situation following the end of the cold war is mixed, being one of both hope and uncertainty. The evolving peace process in the Middle East is an important step towards the achievement of a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of a crisis which has persisted for too long. We pay warm tribute to the Israeli and Palestinian leaders who, with their foresightedness and sense of history, have taken this decisive step. We venture to hope that the peoples of this region, sorely in need of peace, have the benefit of the wholehearted support of the international community. We also commend the efforts now going on to restore democracy to Haiti. Chad has also been following with interest the process under way in Mozambique, and we hope that the elections to be held on 27 and 28 October will pave the way to a new era of peace and prosperity. However, grim situations still continue. How can one fail to be outraged at the daily events occurring in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda, Liberia, Afghanistan or Somalia? Chad, which has been through three decades of conflict, sympathizes with the tragic experience of the peoples of these countries and condemns practices based on ethnic, racial and religious criteria, practices which belong to the past. This was one of the reasons which prompted my Government to make a modest contribution, first, by its military presence with the French force in Opération Turquoise, and then in the second United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda. Chad urges the United Nations to continue its tireless, energetic peacemaking and peace-keeping efforts and asks the parties involved in any conflict to attach greater importance to dialogue. In this regard, we welcome developments in the ongoing talks to bring lasting peace to Angola. We appeal for a speedy solution to the question of the embargo afflicting the Libyan people, a solution in keeping with resolutions of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The proliferation of armed conflicts in Africa is a great challenge to us. Chad therefore makes an urgent appeal to the international community to give its wholehearted support to the OAU’s machinery for conflict-prevention, conflict-management and the settlement of conflicts. Conflicts of any kind are always a disaster for the human race. Therefore, in order to save present and 11 future generations from the danger of a nuclear holocaust, my country supports the indefinite extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Conventional weapons are a permanent source of concern for Chad. That is why we support resolution 48/75 E and welcome the initiative by President Alpha Omar Konare of Mali to halt the proliferation of such weapons in our region. Economic development is a constant concern of the international community. That is why the various initiatives and discussions on the subject, as well as the apt analysis in the Agenda for Development, deserve careful consideration at this session. The worsening economic crisis, marked by chronic indebtedness and the drop in the price of raw materials in developing countries in general, and in Africa in particular, has torn at the weak social fabric and threatened the stability of States. This explains the spread of phenomena such as juvenile delinquency, widespread drug-trafficking and organized crime. However, we look forward to the World Summit for Social Development to be held in Copenhagen next year, and to the World Conference on Women, to be held in Beijing, also next year. They will give the international community an opportunity to discuss today’s challenges and to try to improve the lives of millions of human beings. I now turn to Chad, where the democratic process which began with the coming to power of the Patriotic Salvation Movement is continuing, to the satisfaction of all, thanks to the wisdom of our President, His Excellency Colonel Idriss Déby, who has honoured the spirit and the letter of the historic declaration of 4 December 1990 to establish a State of law. The Sovereign National Conference organized, in a spirit of transparency, with the participation of citizens of Chad of all strata and all political leanings in the presence of foreign observers, adopted a consistent, comprehensive strategy. It thus reflected the general consensus on resolving all our problems, and in particular the creation of a State that respects the rule of law. To that end, a schedule was worked out and transitional institutions were established. At the last session, my delegation took note of progress made towards democratization. I am happy to say from this rostrum that the transition in Chad is proceeding normally thanks to cooperation between the three organs, the presidency, the primature and the Higher Transitional Council. In order to keep within our deadlines, the framework agreement was reduced to more realistic proportions, backed up inter alia by the following priorities: the elaboration of a constitution and texts to govern the upcoming elections; the establishment of a national reconciliation committee consisting of governmental representatives, representatives of the provisional parliament, political parties and civilians. That committee has already achieved some results by signing certain agreements with some organizations, in particular the Bangui II Agreement. We express gratitude to His Excellency Ange Félix Patassé, President of the Central African Republic, for the decisive role he has played throughout the negotiations. At the same time the national reconciliation committee is continuing its contacts with other political and military groups. Our Government is confident that definitive peace will be restored to our country. Considerable progress has been made in the restructuring of the national army but much remains to be done because of the complexity of the problem of demobilizing elements and reintegrating them into civilian life. We reiterate once more our appeal to the international community to provide assistance in carrying out this essential programme for lasting peace in Chad. The signing of a social covenant concluded between the Government and the trade unions took place on 1 July 1994. It restored social peace and is the reason for the important progress that has been made in applying the provisions of the framework agreement. Equally important progress has also been made in other areas. I wish to speak now of human rights and freedoms. For almost four years now we have seen the unprecedented establishment of several independent newspapers, the formation of many political parties, 49 of which have been legalized, and the creation of unions and human rights associations. The recent establishment of the Supreme Council for Communications is another guarantee of freedom of expression, opinion and information. I turn now to human rights. My country, which has experienced one of the most cruel and misguided dictatorships, attaches great importance to the promotion 12 and defence of these rights. The ratification of various international instruments and, more recently, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the establishment of the National Commission for Human Rights and the authorization provided by my Government for the visit to Chad of an independent expert from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, attest to this will. The Government of the Republic of Chad is therefore surprised that certain press organs, certain human rights associations and organizations, manipulated by those who are fighting for power, have launched a campaign that is seeking to mislead international opinion by spreading false information about Chad. I wish to draw attention to the special situation in my country, where there are many political and military groups equipped with weapons, as a consequence of the long conflict. The abuses committed by uncontrolled groups cannot and should not be attributed to Government policy to violate human rights. I should like, therefore, to take this opportunity to call on all countries and governmental and non-governmental organizations that are interested in Chad and in the future of its people to come to my country to establish the facts. Free democratic elections will be organized at the beginning of next year in keeping with the timetable established by the framework agreement. On 7 October 1994 His Excellency Colonel Idriss Déby, Head of State, once again reaffirmed his determination to respect the timetable for the elections to give the country reliable democratic institutions, inter alia, to guarantee the rights of all citizens. Accordingly, we ask our traditional partners to assist the Government of Chad to conclude this delicate mission which require many resources. I now turn to the question of the border dispute that existed between my country and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. On 3 February 1994 the International Court of Justice in its Judgment put an end to this 20-year-old conflict. An Agreement on the practical modalities for the implementation of that Judgment was signed on 4 April 1994 in Surt. In keeping with the Agreement the withdrawal of Libyan troops from the Aouzou Strip was carried out according to an agreed timetable and under the supervision of United Nations observers. Now all that remains to be done is to make a reality of the border as defined between the two countries. I wish to reiterate my sincere thanks to all those who have contributed directly or indirectly to the peaceful solution of this dispute and our gratitude to the United Nations. This fortunate outcome, which reflects the pre- eminence of negotiation over confrontation, is a reason for hope in the matter of prevention and resolution of conflicts. In the framework of the rehabilitation of the Aouzou Strip and the reintegration of the local population, Chad has already set up a technical committee to study the various aspects of rehabilitation, particularly the restoration of infrastructure, the cultivation of our oases, and the restoration of our education and public health systems. We should also create an environment conducive to all these actions by carrying out mine clearance and disinfecting wells that were poisoned during the occupation. We appeal to the entire international community to help us to carry out this programme. Chad, like many other countries in Africa, is confronting an unprecedented economic and financial crisis. Existing difficulties have been compounded by the devaluation of the CFA franc, which has wiped out all the efforts by the Government within the structural adjustment framework. My country regrets the fact that the steps to accompany the devaluation have not been entirely honoured. We urge some of our partners to comply with their commitments in this respect. Chad is a country which is half desert and has suffered a rapid degradation of its environment because of its lack of energy resources and we welcome, therefore, the signing on 17 June 1994 in Paris of the International Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa. We hope that the provisions of the Convention will not remain a dead letter. While in the Sahel rain is welcomed enthusiastically, the rainfall, which has been particularly abundant this year, has caused flooding in many regions of my country, causing serious damage to crops and leaving many families homeless. At the same time an epidemic of cholera has broken out in some cities in Chad. We are working together with our various partners, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations to deal with these situations following appeals made respectively by the Ministers of Agriculture and Health. 13 The United Nations will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary next year. To meet the many challenges we must adapt to present changes. Therefore my country supports the common African position on restructuring and the revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields. I turn now to the Security Council. I wish to recall that the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Chad stated from this rostrum on 8 October 1976 that “The Security Council, whose principal role is to safeguard international peace and security, should reflect the geographical composition of the international community.” (Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-first Session, Plenary Meetings, 23rd meeting, para. 22) In the light of ongoing discussion of this question, we reiterate this position because it is a requirement of our time. I cannot conclude my statement without saying that we hope that the work of the present session will yield answers to our legitimate concerns.