108. Seven years have passed since Burundi achieved national
and international sovereignty. The prominent part which
you, Madam President, took in our country’s progress to
independence will never be erased from the memory of the
people of Burundi, since it was under your enlightened
guidance than a United Nations mission, operating in
Burundi in complex and hazardous conditions, found the
Burundi nation irrevocably determined to entrust its
destinies to its own sons and daughters.
109. Despite the obstacles you encountered in your task
and despite the traps set along your road, you resolutely
accomplished your important mission and led the United
Nations to grant to Burundi its inalienable right to govern itself.
110. The decisive role which you undertook in the
accomplishment of independence for our country extended
beyond Burundi and took on a larger significance in the
United Nations during the sixteenth session of the General
Assembly, which raised our country to the rank of a free
nation [see resolution 1746(XVI)]. Thanks to your
irresistible influence and to the far-seeing recommendation
in your report on the determination of the people of
Burundi to end their dependent status, the Fourth
Committee, under your masterly and serene chairmanship,
recommended the grant of independence.
111. For the decisive role you played in enabling us to
achieve our sovereignty, Mr. Micombero, President of the
Republic of Burundi, and the Government and people of
Burundi have instructed my delegation to pay a tribute to
you, Madam, on your election as President of the
twenty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
112. The achievement of independence by our country
was only a prelude to the further affirmation of our
sovereignty by the proclamation of the Republic on 28
November 1966. This independence, to which you made so
active and effective a contribution, has also given Burundi
an impulse towards development and a larger international
role. In fact, you seem to identify yourself personally with
the destiny of Burundi, which yesterday, with your help,
became again master of its fate and has today had the signal
honour of being nominated by the Organization of African
Unity as Africa’s candidate for the organ which is the
guarantor of universal peace: the Security Council. Just as
our country’s political resurrection was accomplished in
1962 in the Fourth Committee under your skilled
leadership, so you, Madam President, are taking the Chair in
the General Assembly at its twenty-fourth session at the
moment of Burundi’s selection as the African candidate for
the Security Council. We are thus led to conclude that the
part you have played has largely contributed to Burundi’s
international as well as its national good fortune. We
combine the expression of our gratitude with our fervent
wishes for the full success of this session. Needless to say,
you have an absolute right to our fullest collaboration,
however modest it may be, in making those wishes come true.
113. My delegation takes this opportunity to associate
itself with the condolences expressed by previous speakers
to the family of Mr. Arenales and to the Guatemalan
Government in connexion with the sudden death of the
former Guatemalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, who
presided over the previous session with devotion, zeal,
understanding and diligence.
114. My Government feels under an obligation to pay a
tribute to U Thant for his immense contribution to the
solution of world problems and his constant quest for
lasting world peace. The manifest interest which our
Secretary-General takes in the viability — and, what is more,
in the complete success — of the Organization of African
Unity assures him of the gratitude and affection of all the
members of that Organization. We must again praise his
integrity, which commands the esteem and admiration of
all those in contact with his work.
115. The Republic of Burundi remains an untiring
champion of peace among the nations. Since 28 November
1966, when the Republic was proclaimed, our Government
has been carrying out a carefully planned and far-reaching
reform intended to give all citizens more security, more
comfortable living conditions and more happiness. It is
doing its utmost thereby to safeguard and consolidate
national freedom, concord and harmony. During the past
three years our new leaders have endeavoured to secure the
future of Burundi in the midst of all obstacles, both
internal and external.
116. These obstacles, in spite of all the skill and power of
those who have raised them, have been removed by the
unfailing vigilance of the people of Burundi, and its innate
dislike of discord. Those who have repeatedly attempted to
disturb the established order have strained their ingenuity
to disguise their attempts in various ways, but the plans of
these trouble-makers have been revealed.
117. Despite the Republic’s earnest desire to treat every
citizen according to his merits, objectively and according to
criteria based on capacity, despite the unprecedented
success attained by the Republic in allocating the most
senior posts, in both numbers and quality, some of those in
a commanding position long for chaos, which remains
invariably their guiding motive. Through malice or
blindness these hardened trouble-makers do not hesitate,
under foreign instigation, to become unscrupulous saboteurs
and destroyers of their own nation. Blinded by
evident bad faith, these groups behave in a way which gives
rise to the belief that they have resolutely undertaken the
task of systematically destroying their own country. Unable
to rise to the top by their individual worth, they have the
temerity to arrogate to themselves sole right over life and to
get rid of their compatriots by exterminating them. Their
conduct is a denial of the most fundamental human rights
and a flagrant violation of the principles and ideals of the
Organization of African Unity and the United Nations.
118. Since, however, our nation has been able to pass
through this storm without losing its personality and to
express its unmistakable determination to maintain its
unity, ensure order and guarantee peace; since it has, in a
word, kept its head at critical moments, how much more
will this reinvigorated nation now be able to foil the plans
of those who gamble on its discomfiture, disintegration and
disappearance?
119. In its firm determination to extirpate all causes of
national regression and all selfish and separatist elements
aiming at extermination, the Government has resolutely set
itself to create and consolidate a State and a society
composed not of mutually exclusive but of complementary
ethnic groups.
120. Such a concept of State policy and of the exercise of
power is proving the soundest and the most beneficial
policy both national and international, with due regard to
the role which the Republic of Burundi is called upon to
play. The political path which our country has mapped out
for itself conforms to the reply given by Solon the wise,
who replied to the Greeks who asked him what would be
the “best constitution“: “Tell me first for what people and
in what epoch.”
121. Situated at the cross-roads of Africa, the Republic of
Burundi seems destined for a key role in the centre of a
united and prosperous continent. In this Africa of fabulous
opportunities, it is a natural link between English-speaking
East Africa and French-speaking Central Africa; and it
endeavours to fulfil with generosity and determination its
natural vocation as an ardent defender of peace and
friendship among its immediate neighbours and among all
members of the Organization of African Unity.
122. At first sight, for those who are not fully familiar
with Burundi realities, this resolve of my country’s
authorities may seem beyond our powers. In answer to
these doubts we must affirm that the country has been able
to make a manifest contribution to understanding among
African brother States. Burundi, with a population of
4.5 million, is among the medium Powers of Africa, since
only some 15 countries have a larger population. It is thus
in the fifth population category.
123. It must, however, be emphasized that the effectiveness
of the role played by States is not necessarily derived
from the demographic and geographical criteria I have
mentioned. Objective minds agree that a country’s status
and importance derive neither from size of territory nor
from number of inhabitants, but on the contrary from the
intrinsic value of its people, the spirit that moves them and
dictates their action, and the lofty ideals which inspire them.
124. His Excellency Michel Micombero, President of the
Republic of Burundi, has devoted all his energies to creating
a climate of political brotherhood among the States
surrounding our country. His statement of 28 November
1967, when the first anniversary of the Republic’s
establishment was being commemorated, clearly showed
that the Head of the Burundi State and his Government
regard peaceful relations with its neighbours as one of their
prime tasks and as an indispensable stage on the road to
continental unity. At that memorable ceremony President
Micombero said:
“Our Government’s first concern continues to be the
strengthening of the friendly relations which we have
endeavoured this past year to establish with neighbouring
countries. The presence among us of experienced
statesmen from the great nations surrounding us is
striking evidence of the full success of this policy, which
began on 28 November 1966... For our part, we are
convinced that the unity of Africa will not be achieved
while causes of friction divide neighbouring African
States. With that idea in mind, since 28 November 1966
we have spared no effort to settle the dispute which has
marred the friendly relations of long standing between us
and our sister Republic of Rwanda.”
125. The African political doctrine set forth in the above
statement has not remained confined to the realm of pious
wishes. Facts and achievements eloquently testify to its
faithful application: conferences and meetings have been
Organized at various levels for representatives of the
Governments in our region; our Government has operated
settlement programmes for about 100,000 refugees and has
taken steps to prevent political activities likely to prejudice
relations between the States concerned. Thus the refugee
problem, which used to be a source of friction, has at last
been solved. The official visit made by the Head of the
Burundi State to Rwanda two months ago ratifies his own
and his Government’s efforts to create a healthy political
climate for all relations with our brother States. This
historic visit preceded by a few weeks the establishment of
diplomatic relations between Burundi and its northern
neighbour Rwanda with the appointment of ambassadors.
126. I now come to the doctrine of co-operation. A
readaptation of international co-operation with a view to
ending economic stagnation in the under-developed world is
an immediate necessity.
127. A large number of speakers from this rostrum have
expressed their deep concern at the under-development in
which most members of the Organization are engulfed. The
pressing dangers of economic inequality have been
described and its causes analysed. The efforts undertaken
by the United Nations, its specialized agencies and its
subsidiary organs, including more particularly the World
Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the International
Labour Organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organization,
the United Nations Development Programme and the
United Nations Industrial Development Organization,
clearly show the gravity of the situation and the overriding
concern of these bodies to remedy it. Despite this
concerted effort of the international organizations to
improve economic conditions in our countries, substantial
changes for this purpose will be possible only if a new and
more objective approach is made to the conditions of
international co-operation.
128. The delegation of Burundi deems it essential that the
present system of co-operation among States should be
readapted. If this new orientation is to concord better with
the appropriate means of development, it must deal with
the machinery set up by the suppliers of economic and
technical assistance.
129. The bitter disappointment caused by the failure of
the first United Nations Development Decade has been
sufficiently expressed in this Assembly and there is no need
to dwell upon it. Nevertheless, on the eve of the Second
Development Decade, it is imperative to guard against the
difficulties and shortcomings which were the root cause of
the failure of the first. To avoid the same reverses during
the next 10 years, the wealthy States will have to make
major concessions to their economically less favoured
partners. The task which will have to be carried out first is
to rectify the concept and purpose of assistance.
130. My Government thinks that the first and last aim of
assistance should be merely to provide for an interim phase
enabling nations in search of development to achieve
technical, professional, administrative and economic self-sufficiency
so that they can gradually, but as rapidly as
possible, free themselves from dependence on mainly
external resources. In other words, assistance from outside
agencies, whether on a bilateral or multilateral basis, should
be nothing more than a launching operation, a “take-off”,
so that the infant economies of the new States can rise to
industrial heights.
131. Criticism of aid in general applies also to its
corollary, technical assistance. If they are to succeed fully,
they must both be decolonized and “depoliticized”. It is
certainly not our intention to gainsay the importance, or
indeed, the need of technical assistance; but there are
principles dear to the heart of every recipient State and
disinterested technical assistance must be adjusted to them.
Assistance must not be regarded as an end in itself but as a
period of development, a formative stage whose objective is
fo prepare technicians in all fields to take over. Viewed
from this angle and governed by this principle, technical
assistance would no longer reserve for aided countries
unskilled persons who cannot cope with their duties
because they are unfamiliar with the problems they are
supposed to tackle. “Experts” with only a fragmentary
knowledge of the fields to which they are assigned are a
double drawback: they are a financial burden and they
cannot give nationals the necessary training and knowledge
of modern techniques; since, as the Latin tag puts it, nemo
dat quod non habet — nobody can give what he does not
possess.
132. This Assembly fully understands the right of recipient
countries to ask, not for supernumeraries, but for
the cream of experienced officials and experts. In brief,
technical assistance without any ulterior motive means
qualified personnel with no desire to take control or to
interfere with domestic policy. It is meant to stimulate the
internal development and to power the economic growth of
he assisted country.
133. In April last, during the second session of the
Preparatory Committee for the Second United Nations
Development Decade, of which Burundi is a member, I
thought it my duty to show how some kinds of economic
and technical assistance could be refined means of domination
and appropriation. I said:
“The generosity of the wealthy countries is not always
disinterested. Action by the large industrial countries for
the benefit of the proletarian nations is still mainly based
on political motives. Thus the volume and nature of gifts
are determined by tactical considerations rather than by
the desire for development. Aid and assistance are often
no more than weapons for fighting one’s adversary and
disputing territory with him...
“In the present stage, assistance by highly-qualified
technicians is essential. But we must stress that the
intervention of exports or of foreign officials is in the
nature of an exception, which can be justified only as a
measure of first aid until qualified national personnel can
take over. The international co-operation sector which,
by definition, should be the most neutral, since it relates
to strictly technical activities, is sometimes politicized:
that is, involved in the calculations and rivalries of the
donor Powers. In the system as described ‘tied aid’, the
main motivation for technical co-operation, is also still
political. Thus technical and financial assistance becomes
both a tool in the service of diplomacy and a weapon
against a rival competitor. In view of such a paradox,
assistance to under-developed countries is rarely effective
in attaining its objectives.“
This political bargaining is undoubtedly a major obstacle to
the success of co-operation.
134. Today the Government of Burundi, through its
delegation, wishes to stress once again the urgent need to
free aid and assistance from the disabilities which I have
mentioned and which were stigmatized by Mr. J. M.
Albertini, who said:
“There is an element of hypocrisy in ‘giving’ or
‘lending’ money when every day, through the trade and
strategy of the large international firms, the assisted
countries are deprived of their substance. The transfer of
public capital thus becomes an insurance premium for the
maintenance of domination.
“It is somewhat cynical to ‘assist’ in such a way that the
‘assisted’ peoples become, in their needs and their
behaviour, a mere pale reflexion of the dominant parties,
docile and perpetual beggars.“
135. The Government of the Republic of Burundi expresses
its ardent hope that the Second Development
Decade, which is to begin during the twenty-fifth year of
the United Nations, will apply in its development strategy
the true doctrine of genuinely disinterested and therefore
more productive economic aid and technical assistance.
136. Apartheid and colonization are monstrous obstacles
to economic expansion and a shameful dehumanization of
African society. On 28 November 1967 President Micombero,
in a statement on the colonial and racist regimes in
southern Africa, described the policy of Burundi in the
following terms, which underline the strength and sincerity
of the commitment assumed by the Government of Burundi:
“We are formally resolved to support the Organization
of African Unity, to intensify the struggle against
colonialism, and to encourage by every means at our
disposal those who fight for the liberation and independence
of the territories still under foreign domination.
We regard the struggle of the peoples of Angola,
Mozambique, Guinea (Bissau) and Namibia as our struggle.
We are at the side of the people of Zimbabwe and the
population of South Africa beneath the yoke of regimes
shamelessly practising the most systematic discrimination.”
137. During the past three years I have outlined in the
Security Council and the General Assembly the factors and
causes which distinguish the parallel aims pursued in Africa
by the Governments of Pretoria, Lisbon and Salisbury. My
statement in the Security Council on 23 June last contains
the following paragraph:
“Now, the painful rebuff with which the Rhodesian
settlers have just repaid the tender solicitude of the
mother country, the sordid contempt with which they
have just responded to its very maternal treatment, the
immeasurable danger posed by the twin regimes of
Pretoria and Salisbury — all these are so many compelling
reasons for shaking off that blissful optimism which has
lulled certain Governments to sleep.”
138. In fact, the treatment of the African peoples in the
Portuguese colonies does not differ greatly from that of the
so-called “coloured” people in Namibia and South Africa.
In the last analysis the Pretoria-Lisbon-Salisbury axis has a
single goal: to perpetuate its despotism over the indigenous
peoples and its monopoly of the fabulous resources of their
countries. Hence any effort to dissociate the ojectives
which these regimes have set themselves would be erroneous
and misleading.
139. Only the method of approach differs slightly: the
exponents of South African and Rhodesian apartheid have
armed themselves with the weapon of racial separatism the
better to despoil the non-whites, whereas the champions of
Portuguese subjugation rely on the notorious assimilation
process. For the rest, do the three regimes not claim to
perpetuate and accentuate the subjugation of the African
peoples, upon whom they have the divine mission of
conferring the benefits of the “sacrosanct civilization”?
140. On 12 December 1968 in the General Assembly
[1739th meeting] and on 23 June last in the Security
Council [1480th meeting] my address, which was buttressed
by abundant documentation and by irrefutable
facts, demonstrated the need for a universal coalition
against apartheid, the sickly child of Hitler’s nazism alike in
its ideological foundations and its expansionist aims. I also
gave evidence that the Pretoria-Salisbury-Lisbon trio is
sowing the seeds of a war likely to reach far beyond the
frontiers of Africa.
141. Today, on the eve of the twenty-fifth anniversary of
the United Nations, the ideals and principles of which are
to defend the freedom of man and safeguard peace, my
delegation deems it appropriate to appeal once again to the
trading and military partners of those régimes to put an end
to this situation.
142. The eradication of racism and colonialism is an
essential factor in ensuring that international co-operation
with Africa shall assume its true proportions and its
authentic character of mutual development among free and
brotherly nations.
143. It is certain that the mutilation of the African
peoples by apartheid in Rhodesia and South Africa and by
Portuguese domination has not only impaired the relations
between the Western countries and Africa but has also
seriously jeopardized any fruitful co-operation between
them in the future.
144. In view of the dehumanization brought about by
such systems, the South African and Rhodesian racists and
the Portuguese colonialists should recognize the damage
they are inflicting not only on Western culture but also on
the most fundamental values and on human dignity itself. A
completely objective analysis reveals that any sound policy
claiming constructive long-range goals must recognize that
the servitude imposed on non-whites by South Africa will
dangerously compromise future relations between the continents.
145. The delegation of Burundi considers that the principal
States of the Atlantic Alliance can also avoid that
monstrous evil which, if not exorcized now, is likely to
draw a permanent demarcation line between the future
generations of mankind.
146. How can the supporters of Pretoria deliberately call
down upon their heads the curses which will overwhelm
them for their guilt in opening an eternal gulf between
future generations of mankind? How can they envisage
without fear and trembling a human race which would be
called upon tomorrow to pay the price of the prodigious
folly committed by the present idolaters of apartheid and
colonial tyranny, and a situation in which the non-white
world would be unleashed in reprisal against its white
opponents?
147. Concerning decolonization, an editorial in the review
Eurafrica for 5 May 1959 stated: “Too many caricatures of
democracy mask and dissemble in Africa a real and
inexorable control by foreign Powers.” The Lusaka Manifesto
on Southern Africa, which has just been endorsed by
the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the
Organization of African Unity, is a charter which could
help and guide the United Nations to decolonize southern
Africa and eliminate apartheid from it.
148. As for the powder-keg in the Middle East, the
Government of the Republic of Burundi places the conflict
in a triple context: world, regional and African. Under this
heading Burundi, which has irrevocably devoted itself to
peace, can remain neither insensitive nor indifferent. The
size of the problem reflects its seriousness and demands an
immediate solution.
149. The frequency of the bloody combats in which the
belligerents engage is among the obstacles to the settlement
of the conflagration. A study of the present situation
reveals these uncomfortable facts. The parties to the
conflict have at the moment completely irreconcilable
positions: Arab Governments are pleading for the immediate
and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli troops
from the occupied territories; and Israel is insisting on
direct negotiations as a prerequisite to guarantee the
security of its frontiers and to conclude treaties giving
mutual guarantees. In the meantime the situation remains
unchanged. The all-too-frequent interruption of relative
truces in this region suggests that it should be called a
continual state of war and a powder-keg ready to explode
at any time and to take on new proportions.
150. My Government certainly recognizes the right of
Israel to exist. Its attitude is deduced rationally from the
creation of that State by the United Nations. The establishment
of diplomatic relations between the Governments of
Burundi and of Israel shows the normal relations between
our two countries. Nevertheless, Burundi cannot approve of
the invasion and occupation of Arab territories by force of
arms. War entails its own condemnation.
151. The information we possess predicts that, if the
occupation troops were evacuated, positive results would
follow. It is in the interests of peace, therefore, that the
Israeli leaders both radical and liberal should realize the
need to withdraw their armies from the Arab countries.
What is more, the Tel Aviv Government can surely not
sacrifice peace to its own detriment and link it to direct
negotiations, which, as Israel knows full well, are incompatible
with the existing psychological climate and the
presence of forces in the area.
152. The repatriation of the Israeli commandos would not
directly imperil the country’s present security, and such
concessions would be justified, since the restitution of the
conquered areas would be a prelude to peace. In the last
analysis the United Nations must not allow itself to forget
the lot of the Palestine refugees, for whom it is responsible,
since it undertook to guarantee their security and their
property. My Government is well aware of the decisive role
the great Powers are called upon to play in putting an end
to this war which threatens to become world-wide. That is
why we welcome the efforts made by the four great Powers
in the Security Council, which in fact have both the duty
and the ability to enforce in full the resolution of 22
November 1967 [242 (1967)].
153. In regard to China: guided by its policy of effective
non-alignment, the Government of Burundi considers that
no country should be excluded from the United Nations on
the ground of its ideology. Respect for the domestic affairs
of States is one of the principles enunciated in the Charter
of the United Nations itself.
154. Faithful to the fundamental ideals and principles
governing our Organization, my Government is deeply
convinced that the time has come to cease the ostracism to
which the People’s Republic of China has been subjected
for 20 years. This attitude of Burundi is not based on any
hostility towards any Power at all, nor is it the result of any
foreign pressure. It arises from our policy of defending the
universality of the United Nations and unlimited peace, and
from our firm opposition to secessionist forces acting
within national entities.
155. So long as China is kept outside this Organization
though it satisfies the requirements for admission to the
international community, the universal character of the
United Nations and world peace will be irrevocably
confined to the realms of Utopia. This truth is indeed
recognized by the States Members of the United Nations,
both large and small, which have established diplomatic
relations with China.
156. In conclusion, the delegation of the Republic of
Burundi makes a fervent appeal to all Members of this
Organization, and more particularly to the great Powers, to
concert and combine all their efforts to celebrate the
twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations in a world
atmosphere of peace and security. The maturity of our
Organization is being tested. It is high time that more
effective measures and more active participation should be
exercised by every State in its own sphere and according to
its possibilities, so that the pious wishes for peace become
living realities. This aim will be attained once the armed
peace described by Jean Jaurés in the following meaningful
terms has been renounced:
“It would seem — and the Heads of State themselves
proclaim it — that all peoples want peace and that human
progress is tending towards that end. But that peace, so
universally desired, can be guaranteed only by a maximum
amount of universal armament. Let all peoples
pour out thousands of millions to cover themselves with
thick armour-plating and to bristle with bayonets! Let all
budgets be overburdened with military expenditure. That
is the prerequisite of peace. It is a strange comment on
human reason that a peace desired by all cannot be
maintained without putting the rifle and the sword in the
hands of all.”
157. I thank the Assembly for its kind attention, and the
President for her understanding attitude towards me and
towards the delegation of Burundi.