Belgium

The opening of the fifty-first session of the General Assembly, under the presidency of Ambassador Razili, takes place at the very moment a large number of States have entered into new commitments on the long road to nuclear disarmament. Our signature, this very morning, of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is another opportunity for Belgium to reiterate its determination to contribute to the fight against nuclear proliferation. I am very happy that this important step was taken today. It should inspire us to continue our common effort towards universal acceptance of this new international instrument, as well as an effective implementation of the international verification measures it provides. My Irish colleague, Minister Dick Spring, has spoken on behalf of the European Union, whose objectives and concerns my country shares. Belgium endeavours to contribute substantially to the definition and implementation of the policies and plans of action which the European Union intends to carry out throughout the world. Our intentions before this Assembly should aim to go beyond formalities. Diplomatic language all too often hides our inability to act or our lack of real compassion. The citizens of the world are fearful as we come to the end of the century. Whatever their country, people are confronted with a new anxiety, a fear of tomorrow, without even realizing that these feelings are shared by the entire world. In numerous regions of the world, this is a fear of physical danger. It is a fear of external threats, aggression and civil war. People die in the same way in Africa, Asia, America and Europe. People are killed for the same dreams and mutilated in body and spirit by the barbarism of modern weaponry and criminal madness born of hatred. Yes, our world is fearful in the face of all these violations of fundamental human rights which persist notwithstanding the major conferences proclaiming our hope and belief in a world where the rights of men, women and children are respected. In such a world respect for humanitarian law need no longer be questioned. The crises felt by rich countries cannot possibly compare with the tragic consequences of war and underdevelopment. Yet the crises in Europe, in our prosperous societies, also constitute a humanitarian deficit. They are also the symptoms — albeit of a different nature — of the same ills of modern times. These include contempt for the human person as a subject of law and his reduction to mere merchandise. Today, society everywhere is in crisis. The logic of the market seems to be an exclusionary mechanism which segregates society. As the Mexican poet Octavio Paz once wrote, “The society of consumption has chilled human life with its glacial waters of selfish calculation.” This dehumanization of mankind for financial profit is the primary cause of many scourges which affect our planet, irrespective of the traditions and political systems that characterize each and every region of the world. In this respect the inertia of individuals transformed into consumers rather than dynamic actors comes to mind, as do the problems of unemployment, the scourges of trade in human beings, child prostitution, organ trading, drugs and all other international criminal activities. These calamities of modern times require the international community to put in place effective mechanisms by which we can combat them together. As I said during the World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, which was held in Stockholm last August, we must join efforts, wills, means and resources to eliminate and prevent the proliferation of these activities on our planet. The behaviour of those who profit from such cruel treatment 0 of human beings must be punished by the international community. Belgium strongly believes that the provisions of the Stockholm declaration and programme of action to criminalize the sexual exploitation of children should be translated into new treaty obligations for all States. The ongoing negotiations on the adoption of the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child seem to me the appropriate forum to reach this goal. The protection of children in this field should equally inspire us to a creative and courageous approach in other United Nations forums where the question of international criminalization of the trade in human beings is dealt with. The Stockholm declaration and programme of action should therefore be reflected in the texts we adopt during the fifty- first session of the General Assembly in order to strengthen the protection of the rights of the child and to condemn strongly the exploitation of children. This year, the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, 2 December 1996, will be devoted to the trade in human beings. The whole world should endeavour to bring this horrendous scandal to an end. Although we must tackle these social problems, our action should first be introspective in order for it to be credible and efficient. How can modern society be reconciled with the globalization of cultures and trade? How can the balance between the resources of rich countries and the needs of poor countries be restored? The freedom of the market cannot be absolute, lest it become an absurdity. Our societies can only be viable if they result from a balance between the freedom of the individual and the fundamental rights of the other. The unfortunate evolution of our consumer society and the abandonment of humanist values could lead us — as the events of this summer in my country have shown — to a society where murder and rape become commonplace for some and where abuse is tolerated for too long. We must therefore reconstruct our list of moral priorities and crate a new international moral code based on simple, readily implemented priorities. Peace, non-violence and acceptance of the other head the list, followed by sharing and social solidarity. Man needs to be reconciled with modern times, reclaiming his central role as subject and actor rather than object and merchandise. These values also should determine the relations between rich and poor countries. Finally, our children should be trained to be involved, responsible citizens, conscious of the consequences of their actions on society. I believe that the formulation of a new international moral code is necessary if we are to overcome our fears and rediscover our will to act — to fulfil our moral duty to take an optimistic approach to international cooperation. This is why preventive diplomacy must be one of our top priorities. Belgium neither can nor wants to ignore the need to turn its attention to the South, to Africa in particular. We must overcome the desperation of certain situations and do everything within our means to finally allow the development of justice, social progress and democracy in Africa. The situation is extremely troublesome and warrants our basing our political action on the essential priorities, which are, in fact, challenges to be overcome. What are these challenges? to avoid new fratricidal wars and genocide; to ensure that in existing conflicts international humanitarian law is respected; and to guarantee the reconstruction and sustainable development of the continent with full respect for human rights and the rule of law. We should develop our policies while keeping in mind the fundamental relationships that must be constructed between these complementary objectives. In particular, I am thinking of former President Nyerere’s work in Central Africa. Our support for this work shows our willingness to cooperate with the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the countries of the region in trying, together, to find solutions to the present crisis and to prevent hatred, death and the ravages of destruction from overrunning Africa, which is dear to us. Belgium supports the convening of a conference on security and stability in the Great Lakes region. The appointment of Mr. Ajello as Special Envoy of the European Union and of Ambassador Haesendonck as Belgian Special Envoy to the region shows the willingness of the European Union and Belgium to address these concerns. For 1996 and 1997, the Belgian Government has made financial resources available to support the efforts under way. The survival of the populations of Burundi and Rwanda and of the Kivu people in Zaire is at stake, as well as the security and prosperity of Central Africa as a whole. Within the framework of a policy of conflict prevention which the European Union, in cooperation with the OAU, is trying to elaborate, the Western European Union (WEU), of which Belgium currently 1 holds the chairmanship, is also prepared to offer logistical support to African peacekeeping operations. The WEU’s fact-finding mission to Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya returned with strong conclusions, and we intend to pursue the recommended course of action during our chairmanship. My country, which for years has participated in stand-by agreements, must review the mechanisms that might be established to improve the functioning of these agreements. In this context, I wish to recall our willingness to support logistically and financially any possible contingency planning for Burundi. Possibly in a revised form, the agreements reached in Arusha last 25 June and 31 July should allow support for the normalization efforts in Burundi. This option would clearly be preferred to any other possible solution. The Belgian Government would like to confirm here its political will to be associated with this possible assistance to the security of Burundi, taking into account the modalities that are yet to be defined. However, it is my deepest wish that the Burundi authorities and all active parties in that country will find the road to national reconciliation and peace, to a system of government which guarantees equitable representation and real protection of minorities. I wish to recall that Security Council resolution 1072 (1996) of 30 August demands that these negotiations be initiated before 31 October. Belgium’s preventive diplomacy efforts should also be seen in the framework of European Union initiatives to promote the development of these new societies. The presidential, legislative, regional and local elections to be held in Zaire in 1997 are an opportunity for the Belgian Government and the European Union to show their active solidarity within the framework of collective electoral assistance, which must be coordinated by the United Nations. In order to organize this electoral assistance, I would hope that a representative of the Secretary-General could be appointed as soon as possible. Zaire’s people have the right to participate knowledgeably in free and fair elections. The international community has the obligation to facilitate the democratic process in Zaire. The Belgian Government is aware of the difficulty of arriving at a global approach to the problems of the South, and of Central Africa in particular. We do not believe that we should impose upon other countries any system of government or dictate the way to achieve this. But we must insist on the concept of good governance. That is, there should be systems of government with checks and balances, which guarantee the free exercise of the civil, political, social and cultural rights of the people, and which enhance the development of a free and dynamic society — the only way to ensure harmonious and sustainable development. Preventive diplomacy is meaningless if weapons remain available to extremist groups who seek, by the suppression of others and by "ethnic cleansing", solutions to problems which should only be found in dialogue, consensus and political negotiation. The United Nations Register of Conventional Arms is an essential element in making the arms trade transparent, a goal which my country and others support. Since its inception, Belgium has provided the arms Register with the information requested. The extension of the Register to other categories of arms is extremely desirable. The Belgian Government believes nevertheless that, for now, the main priority should be making the Register universal. We, together with our partners of the European Union, will continue to concentrate our efforts on this aspect. Anti-personnel mines are particularly inhumane weapons. Belgium is tirelessly pursuing, in every international forum, its objective of total and universal prohibition of anti-personnel mines. The Belgian Government regrets that very little progress has been made to date. Next October we will participate in the Ottawa conference which, I hope, will be able to give a significant boost to the achievement of our objectives. When preventive diplomacy and arms control cannot keep peace, peacekeeping missions become necessary. In our view, these peacekeeping and peace-restoration missions remain one of the primary responsibilities of the United Nations. The Belgian Government has taken part in various peacekeeping operations and is assuming military leadership of the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES). I am convinced that the success of UNTAES will contribute significantly to the re-establishment of a society which we hope will be pluralist, tolerant and peaceful. Last year, the General Framework Agreement, negotiated in Dayton and signed in Paris led to the establishment, under United Nations auspices, of the NATO-led implementation force (IFOR). My country is, with its partners, part of this peacekeeping operation whose role is to be a force for solidarity, reconstruction and hope for a new Europe. The recent elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina allow us to look toward the future with a degree of optimism. The increase in number and size of peacekeeping operations that has characterized the recent history of our 2 Organization has allowed the development of political concepts and given a new dimension to international military cooperation. It has also allowed for positive and necessary developments in the field of international humanitarian law. The Belgian Government hopes that the recent agreement between the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Secretariat on the applicability of humanitarian law to peacekeeping operations will permit a swift adoption of the lines of conduct to this effect. This is indispensable and should be welcomed unreservedly by all troop-contributing countries. For peacekeeping operations to succeed they must be followed up by rehabilitation programmes. Obviously, these programmes, which are meant to eliminate the potential causes of new conflicts, must be developed in a climate of peace that ensures respect for human rights. This fin de siècle is characterized by the size and urgency of rehabilitation operations and by humanitarian intervention and aid. Despite exceptional crises situations, we must not forget the importance of implementing global and sustainable development. The major thematic conferences of the United Nations were designed to establish a strategy for the growth of the human being. I believe that the effective implementation of the moral and political decisions taken at these major conferences is fully in keeping with the new moral code that I hope to see emerge. In this context, I would like to mention the efforts to reform United Nations institutions and, in particular, the quest for efficiency and sound financial management that should be the watchword of the functioning of our organizations. I began my statement today by denouncing fear and with a plea for a new international moral code. I would like to conclude an observation that I made at the outset: that words are hollow if they are mere figures of speech and diplomatic formulas. Our words must be alive, and they must spring from peace, silence and complete transparency. Only then will we be able to understand the language of the many children, women and men afflicted by underdevelopment, war and indifference.