A/32/PV.65 General Assembly

I call on the representative of Rwanda, who wishes to introduce draft resolution A/32/ L.lS/Rev.1.

Four years have already elapsed since an illus- trious African statesman, Citizen Mobutu Sese Sekou, the President of the Republic of Zaire, from this rostrum1 drew the attention of the international community to the fact that among the demands of formerly colonized countries was one that concerned the cultural heritage of our countries. He recalled that, during the colonial period, works of art, just like natural resources, found their way to the metropolitan countries, thereby leaving a cultural vacuum that is today difficult to fill without a restitution of those works of art. This reminder of the speech made before our Assembly in October 1973 by the President of the Republic of Zaire is designed to recall the fact that the works of art of which colonized peoples or peoples under foreign domination were deprived conEtitute for them not only their national heritage but also the precious patrimony bequeathed to them by their ancestors. The restitution ?f those works of art to their original and true owners will make it possible for the latter to recover their past, their souls-and, in short, their national identity. In fact, it will make it possible to preserve the culture of the fonner or ex-colonies. 3. For four years, our Assembly has discussed at each session ways and means for the international community.to take action to meet the legitimate demands of countnes that are victims of the expropriation of their works ofart. NEW YORK We are pleased to note the positive action undertaken by the Director-General of UNESCO, in particular the estab- lishment of a Committee of Experts entrusted with the consideration of the principal legal and technical questions in this regard [see A/32/203, annex IJ. In the same connexion, my delegation also welcomes the recommenda- tion, adopted by the UNESCO General Conference held at Nairobi in October and November 1976, whereby member States are invited to encourage international exchanges of cultural property [ibid.] thus facilitating the making of donations and long-term loans of cultural property that would permit the establishment in the countries of origin of representative collections of their cultural heritage. 4. My delegation would also like to pay a tribute to ~e Government of Belgium which has shown its understandmg of the scope and justice of the claims made in this ~gard br returning some works of art, notably to Zarre. This manifestation of productive and beneficial co-operation should serve as an example to others. S. Draft resolution A/32/L.1S/Rev.1 is before the As- sembly. This type of draft resolution has regularly been considered and adopted by a substantial majority in our Assembly for four years now. This is why it refers in the preambular part to the previous resolutions of the General Assembly and of the Fifth ConferencE} ofHeads ofState or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Colombo in August 1976. As can be seen, its own national cultural heritage can help a people to understand the culture and civilization of other peoples and can thus contribute to the development of international co-operation. Cne must a1S? consider the protection of the national culture and patn- mony as being a means of preserving and developing cultural values in each people. The report of the Secretary- General [A/32/203] demonstrates the import! ~ that Member States attach to this question. 6. In operative part 1 of the draft resolution, the General Assembly would invite:. "... all Member States to sign and ratify the Conven- tion on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educatioml, Scientific and Cultural Or- ganization on 14 November 1970". 7. Secondly, it would call upon all Member States: "... to take 2ll necessary steps to prever~t) on their territories, any illicit traffic in works of art coming from any other country, especially from territories which were or are und_er colonial or f0reign domination arad occupation". 9. I should like to say that the sponsors have decided to add a fourth operative paragraph, which does not at present appear in the document. This operative paragraph would read as follows: U4. Decides to remain seized of the question and to include in the provisioncil agenda of its thirty-fourth session an item entitled 'Restitution of works of art to countries victims of expropriation' in order to review the progress achieved and, in particular, the action taken in this regard by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization."2 io. I should like to ask representatives if this draft resolution might be adopted by consensus, as I hope will be the case.

The delegation of the Republic of Iraq attaches great impor- tance to the item which is before the General Assembly at this morning's meeting. The "delegation of my country is one of the sponsors of draft resolution A/32/L.18/Rev.l, wIrlch the representative of Rwanda has introduced to the Assembly on behalf ofits sponsors. 12. There are a number of objective reasons for attaching very great importance to: this question. Some of these reasons have to do with Iraq itself, and some relate to ntankind's heritage and world civilization; still others'have a bearing on the new system of international relations that we wish to establish on a basis of equity', justice and co-operation. 13. The delegation of Iraq wishes briefly to explain some of these reasons. " 14. So far as Iraq is concerned, must we remind the General Assembly of a historical fact known to all those who are familiar with the IdstOIy of the human race-even students in schools in various parts of the world; namely, that the civilization of Mesopotamia, the valley formed by two rivers, was the place where human civilization began; it is mankind's frrst heritage. Thus, the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations gave birth to world civilization, and Iraqi cities such as Ur, Babel and Niniveh and a-large nl1mber of other cities were and continue to be deep sources of knowlerlge for all those who are interested in the beginnings of history and in historical development. More than 1,000 years ago, when Europe was in the Dark Ages, Baghdad was at the very heart of Arab civilization and world civilization, opening the way to mankind's progress. ~ 16. It must also be bome in mind that works of art and monuments are the most important stimuli for national artists; they are a source of inspiration for the creative energy of those artists. It is unjust to deprive the countries to which these works of art belong of these important sources of their national and artistic culture. Finally, these works of art draw tourists and therefore bring income to a country. It is inadmissible that the lawful owners of the works of art should be deprived of such a necessary source ofincome. 17. We. have heard some representatives state that the developing countries are incapable of safeguarding, preserv- ing and protecting these works of art. We reject that argument, which is based on an unwillingness to recognize the competence of the experts· in this field in the developing countries. A single visit to the various monu- ments and museums in Iraq would serve to refute the letter and spirit of that argument. 18. We believe that there is a very close, indeed a direct, link between the question ofthe restitution of works of art to the countries from which they have been expropriated and friendly relations b~tween countries and the strength- ening of international solidarity. That is why we think that UNESCO ~d the United Nations could play a very important role in this field. The Director-General of UNESCO in his report annexed to the Secretary-General's report IA/32/203, annex11, has set forth the various initiatives-and they are very praiseworthy initiatives-taken by UNESCO to facilitate the restitution of \V9l'ks _of -art. But we can only note with regret that despite the many resolutions adopted by UNESCO and the United Nations in which the countries holding these works of art are. called upon to return them to the countries from which they have been expropriated, most of those countries have not yet heeded these appeals. 19. In conclusion, we wish to state once again that the peoples have the right to their national and cultural heritage, which is reflected above all in the works of art and

I propose, if there is no objection, to close the list of speakers on this item at 3.30 this afternoon.

The importance of this item is closely connected with that of the struggle of peoples who have suffered under the yoke of foreign domination and colonialism aud are now fighting to regain their cultural heritage and national identity, because works of art are an integral part of the national identity of those peoples. The colonial occupying authorities did not hesitate to buy up the works of art of the colonized people in a very clear attempt to eliminate their heritage and their national identity. 22. Works of art and artistic monuments are an important part of the cultural history of peoples and enable them to consolidate their culture. In our view, the international community should use its best efforts to persuade those countries which have taken works of art to return them to their proper owners. 23. The delegation of Zaire did a very praiseworthy thing a few years ago when it proposed including this item on the agenda of the General Assembly. The question is of considerable importance to many third-world countries . whose works of art were plundered while they were exposed to colonialism and domination. 24. My delegation also attaches particular importance to this question in view of the fact that it has been demonstrated that the Israeli occupying authorities have violated principles of international law and The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, adopted in 1954,4 and have deliberately sabotaged and plundered historic monuments and works of art in the Syrian territories which they have occupied, particularly in Quneitra. 25. The General Administration of Syrian Museums has established a· committee of experts to carry out research with regard to the historic areas liberated from Israeli occupation in particular in Quneitra, so as to record the damage that has occurred in those various historical locations. It is known that Quneitra was an ancient town with historic and cultural sites of great importance, as can 26. The barbarous acts committed by Israel in Quneitra, in Rafid and on the Golan Heights are without precedent in history. Paragraph 4 of ~cle 4 of The Hague Convention has also been violated by action undertaken by Israel in those areas. That paragraph requests all Parties to refrain from any act ofplunder ofcultural property. 27. Israel has adopted no measures to preserve cultural property in Syrian occupied territory. Quite the contrary, those authorities have transgressed all the provisions of the Convention and have undertaken acts of deliberate sabotage in violation of article 5 of the Convention which provides, in paragraphs 1 and 2, that all States Parties to the Convention, in occupation of the whole or part of the territory of another Party, should safeguard and preserve the cultural property located in the occupied territory. 28. With regard to the draft resolution introduced by the representative of Rwanda on behalf of the sponsors [A/32/L.18/Rev.lJ, my delegation would have liked to add a paragraph indicating that the artistic heritage ofa people is an integral part of that people's national rights. We would also have liked to add a paragraph condemning the .plundering by Israel of works of art and relics in occupied Arab territories. My delegation, shall, however, vote for this draft resolution, which, it hopes, will be adopted by consensus.

Item 26 deserves more attention and interest than seems to be accorded to it by the Assembly. Many countries with a colonial past will fmd, if only they take enough interest, that their citizens can spend their time most profitably abroad in visiting museums where they can see displayed objets d~rt, monuments, museum pieces, artifacts, manuscripts and other documents which should be displayed in the museums of their own countries. One effect of colonialism was that, while the colonial Power did its best to impose its own culture on the colony and its people, at the same time, it expropriated from the colonial country many of its artistic treasures, thus impoverishing in that country the cultural history which is the very warp and woof of its people's life. While we are grateful that, after expropriation, those treasures were preserved rather than destroyed, we must express concern at the fact that their restoration to their rightful owners has long been overdue. To my delegation, this should have been a part ofthe decolonization process itself. 31. The Government of Malta, always mindful of the importance, usefulness and quickness of bilateral negotia- tions, has in the pa~t few years approached those Govern- ments which had removed objets dmt and museum pieces from Malta so that these treasures could be duly rest9red. Unfortunately, these efforts, made in the most cordial and friendly manner, have elicited no response, and we have informed the Secreta,ry-General of that state of affairs in reply to his request for infonnation on the subject made in July 1974. 32. In its bilateral contacts, my Government faced argu- ments which we consider strange, to say the least. The pretexts for non-restoration offered by the Governments concerned were, fIrSt, that, if such restoration were to take place, their museums would be denuded and, secondly, that the treasures themselves would be lost to the public. We consider these arguments as specious and, therefore, not valid. To the fIrSt we reply: you cannot furnish your house with somebody else's furniture and then claim denudation if that somebody else asks for its return. To the second we say: the public that needs most to look on the treasures of the. past is the one to whom that past belongs, and we in Malta fortunately have adequate museums fully staffed with experts in their own fields where these treasures could be housed and displayed for the enjoyment of all, including the ever increasing number of visitors that come to our shores.

I call on the representative ofTogo, who wishes to introduce draft resolution A/32/L.19.

In a resolution adopted in May 1963 at the Addis Ababa Summit Conference, entitled uAfrica and the United Nations",s the Heads of State of Africa expressed their fmn belief that the United Nations is an important instrument for the maintenance of peace and security among nations and for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples. They also expressed their desire to strengthen and support the international Or- ganization. - 35. That resolution, which was based on the relevant provisions of the United Nations Charter relating to regional organizations, is the basis of the fruitful and effective co-operation which has been functioning effec- 5 Sce Organization of African Unity, Assembly ofHeads ofState and Government: Resolutions and Declarations of Ordinary and E:ttra-Ordinary Sessions (Addis Ababa, 1963), p. 10. 36. There is no doubt that this development and rapid expansion in co-operation between the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity [OAUj is due to the similarity between the purposes and principles of both organizations. Both have a profound faith in the funda- mental rights and the dignity of man and peoples. Both strive to see justice and freedom prevail. Both strive to establish peace and security. Both work for the develop- ment of international co-operation in the economic, social and- cultural areas, with a view to the harmonious and integrated development of the international community. 37. A tribute should be paid to those who speedily discerned that similarity of aims and those who conceived such'co-operation as an appropriate means to work together effectively for the realization ofconditions oflasting peace, and to meet the many dangerous challenges which mankind confronts. 38. But we must also congratulate all those who, in the exercise of their lofty and difficult responsibilities in both organizations, do all they can jointly to give real content to co-operation ~md to make it effective, dynamic and active. 39. It is consequently only just to express our apprecia- tion to our Secretary-General and to the Administrative Secretary-Genetal of the OAU, and to all those. of their colleagues who, from near or far, have participated in the many activities described in the above-mentioned report. 40. That report, which we do not deem necessary to comment on at length, since it is thorough and detailed, is encouraging in tenns of the diversity of areas in which action is undertaken pursuant to the relevant resolutions adopted by our Organization to provide liberation move- ments with comprehensive assistance, an assistance which is particularly useful for the pursuit of the struggle they wage with courage and determination to liberate their territories and peoples and to eradicate from the African continent the disasters known as colonialism, apartheid and racial hatred, which in this twentieth century of ours, are cankers eating away at the whole ofmankind. 41. Faced with the obstinacy of anachronistic elements who, becau£e of their barbarism and political blindness, do not realize the wrong they are qoing to mankind, by subjecting whole peoples to the yoke of subservience and robbing them of dignity, the United Nations and the OAU should in all areas of co-operation step u}l their active support of the liberation movements fighting in southern Africa until their fmal victory over the forces ofevil. In this connexion, we are gratified at the co-operation that characterized the International Conference in Support of the Peoples of Zimbabwe and Namibia, held in Maputo in May, and the World Conference for Action against Apart- heid, held in Lagos in August, as well as the unanimity recently recorded in the Security Council in the,adoption 'of the arms embargo against South Africa. 43. Liberated Africa should p~osper. The establishment of a new international economic order, economic develop- ment, the transfer of technology, the ensurance of more justice in international economic relations, social progress, the eradic'ation ofhunger and disease, the adjustment of the prices of raw materiaIs and similar improvements would be the key reflections of the aspirations of our developing countries, and they therefore lie at the heart of the organizations associating them with countries which have already attained a high level ofindustrialization. 44. The United Nations, through its specialized agencies, and the OAU have in recent years, as pointed out in the report of the Secretary-General, undertaken promising co-operation in the area of economic and social develop- ment. That must be continued and intensified; and our Assembly, while appreciative of the initiatives undertaken by the OAU to promote economic and social advancement, should also give specific encouragement and support to efforts at regional grouping in different parts of Africa directed to the development ofour continent. 45. This brief analysis oi the Secretary-General's report has, at the same time, enabled us to stress the succinct nature of the draft resolution on co-operation between the United Nations and the OAU which is now before the Assembly and which I have the honour of introducing on behalfofits sQonsors. 46. The draft resolution is contained in document A/32/ L.19. Essentially it reproduces, at least with respect to the political ~rea, the substance of General Assembly resolution 31/13. 47. The noteworthy innovation introduced in this year's text relates to the economic and social sphere. It takes into ac~ount,on the one hand, the need for and growing interest in co-operation between the United Nations and the OAU in the area of development, and, on the other, joint action already undertaken in that area. In this connexion, I should especially like to draw the attention of the Assembly to the fifth preambular paragraph and to operative paragraphs 6, 10 and 11 of the draft resolution, which, the sponsors hope, will be adopted by consensus.

Before calling on the next speaker, I propose, if I hear no objection, to close the list of speakers on agenda item 29 this afternoon at 4 o'clock.

We have just heard with interest the introduction of draft resolution A/32/L.19 by the Perma- 50. The countries of the European Community, which maintain relations of friendship and special co-operation with the African countries, are aware of the importance of the links that have been established with those countries, and desires to maintain with the organization to which they belong the same relations of understanding and mutual respect based on equality. 51. We believe that regional organizations-and con- sequently the OAU-are called upon to play a very important role, whose value was fully appreciat~d by the founders of the United Nations, sir~ce the Charter refers explicitly to it. 52. The European countries support all initiatives designed to promote the peaceful settlement of problems on the continent. We are convinced that the efforts already undertaken in the past by the OAU to fmd African solutions to certain questions of vital importance to the international community will be pursued in future in the same constructive spirit.

The United States is weIlt aware of and fully appreciates the essential role regional organizations play. We believe that regional co-operation is a concrete and necessary com- ponent of global co-operation. In particular, the United States Government wishes to reaffmn its respect for the OAU and the noble ideals embodied in its Charter. 54. It is well to recaII that upon the estabIishment of the OAU, Heads of Government of African States referred to the efforts the OAU would make to strengthen their devotion to and support for the purposes and principles of . the United Nations Charter and the fulfIlment of all the obligations under the Charter. My delegation is pleased to note that co-operation between the United Nations and the numerically latgest regional organization, the OAU, has since then been examined at each session of the General Assembly. This in itself is ample proof of the importance which Members of the United Nations attach to co- operation between the United Nations and that African organization. • 55. The United States is committed to working co- operatively with the nations of Africa to s&ve that continent's problems. In this regard, the United States will continue to endeavour to make the spirit ofco-operation a reality in our dealings with the OAU. The meetingrose at 12.25 p.m.