A/38/PV.23 General Assembly

Mr. President, it is my privilege to address to you today, on behalf of the Democratic Republic of Madagascar, our warm congratulations and sincere wishe5 for s,uccess. We know your talents as a jurist and a diplomat and your qualities as a statesman which you have so often and so successfully used in the service of your country and of your region, of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and of the United Nations, and they augur well for our present session. 2. To your predecessor, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Hungarian People's Republic, our col- league of long standin6' Mr. Imre Hollai, we renew our great respect and special thanks for the calm, rational and effective way in which he conducted our work. 3. We reiterate our confidence in and support :"r the Secretary-General, whose reports on our activities have provoked clear and salutary thought on the state of ilter- . national relations and the role befitting our institutions. 4. Lastly, we are pleased to welcome among us Saint Chrlstopher and Nevis. 5. It has been said that the delegations from the third world come to the United Nations to present their demands, describe their difficulties and explain their concerns and then go horne with reassurances and prom- ises that are sometimes not kept, because reality deter- mines otherwise. We detect this general feeling of frus- tration at every session, as it is true that the hopes for the improvement of the world situation are dashed by events and incidents the seriousness of which we recognize. 6. Irdeed, wherever we look, we see only disorder and confusion. Economic, monetary and financial disorder! Disorder in political relations and confusion in ideological relations! Disorder and confusion in assigning responsi- bility for ensuring peace and understanding among na- tions and for ensuring full development for peoples in the best possible conditions. 7. This year again, we are far from the global secu- rity provided for by the Charter, because we cannot reach agreement on the methods to be used, on the pro- cedure to follow or even on the meaning of the concept. Generalized war, we are told, has so far been avoided, but regional conflicts continue to be manipulated and the great fear of nuclear war grips all peoples without exception. 8. Furthermore~ since recovery seems to be confirmed in certain countries, statements are being made advo- cating a dialogue to deal with the crises of growth and development, while nevertheless encouraging the main- tenance of several grey areas concerning the objectives, content and format of such a dialogue. NEW YORK 9. One should not therefore be astonished if peoples, particularly the peoples of the third world, seek new ways to ensure peace and development, in the absence of a security system whose establishment has been prevented by obstacles arising from mistrust, the promotion of selfish interests, the determination to perpetuate an out- dated stateofaffairs and the declineofwhat theSecrnry- General, in his latest report on the werk of the Organiza- tion [A/38/l], calls multilateralism and internationalism. 10. Our peoples are hardly familiar with the cryptic language of politico-military circles concerning ballistic missiles, strategic bombers or intermediate nuclear forces. But can one really wish them to be other than particularly il;lierested in the peace movements and in initiatives advo- cating the non-use of force, the non-use of nuclear wea- pons and the demilitarization and denuclearization of zones of peace and outer space? 11. Can we be blamed too for insisting that it is essential to continue disarmament negotiations and not to use them as mere window-dressing or as one more pawn in the East-West confron~ation? 12. We have the right and the duty to insist on this, all the more so because we are all concerned by the over- armament of the great Powers and because cold-war animosities are re-emerging. The situation is such that we have the unpleasant impression that we have become the hostages of concepts which primarily serve selective strategies. 13. In this connection, we recall that a five-point plan was recently proposed for the Mediterranean, providing for the limitation of naval activities, the reduction of naval equipment, confidence-building measures, the withdrawal of vessels equipped with nuclear weapons and the non-deployment of nuclear weapons in coastal and hinterland States. Of course, we maintain the specific nature of the Indian Ocea,n. But if this plan is good enough for the Mediterranean then it is also good enough for the Indian Ocean; it could even be applied to other regions that wish to be zones of peace. In this connection the great Powers and blocs should decree a moratorium, with the idea of subsequently limiting, reducing and eliminating all military activity there. 14. It would be naive of us, however, to believe that nuclear disarmament will help make our peoples more secure. Indeed, what security can there be when we see the transfer and the crystallization of international ten- sions in regions regarded, rightly or wrongly, ss strategic? 15. In the case of Chad, for example, the Democratic Republic ofMadagascar, which recognizes the legitimacy. conferred by the Lagos agreements concluded with the endorsement of the Organization of African Unity [OAU], is opposed to any attempt to internationalize a conflict that primarily concerns the Chadians themselves. Howev.•,r, it was seen fit at one time to r~ort to means out of all proportion to the African dimension of the problem. We can understand, nevertheless, the recourse to machinery in an agreement for co-operation between the Chadian ~vemmentand a foreign Power. An argu- ment has be':' .,at forward by our regional organization recommefi\:!~!";fdirect negotiations between Morocco and questions were debated. Nevertheless, the results of this POLISARIO' ~o establish a cease-fire and a referendum succession of multilateral meetings failed to come up to free from military or administrative pressure-in other expectations, perhaps because we entertained too many words, after the withdrawal ofthe Moroccan troops and illusions or were unduly ambitious. The more likely administration. We have no ambition to make or rewrite reason is that it is still hard to reconcile our differences. history, but to ignore the consensus which arose around 26. Be that as it may, since optimism is a human quality, this problem during the last Assembly of Heads of State we are condemned to persevere and to succeed. However, and Government of the 0,ganization of African Unity there are intolerable situations which cannot await the would endanger the already difficult task of the Imple- result of complex negotiations. We have in mind, in mentation Committee, and the credibility and future of particular, Africa, a continent which stands most in need the OAU. of development but which development seems to have 19. To reduce tension and eliminate regional conflicts forgotten. through political settlemeQ.is strictly conceived outside any 27. A brief look at the facts suffices: the average rate East-West confrontation and with due consideration for of growth in African countries has fallen over the last the rights of peoples and nations to p{(e and security, three years from 4.4 per cent to 0.6 per cent; the annual as well as for the fundamental principles of sovereignty, mutual respect and non-interference-this is still our income of the inhabitants today is lower than it was 20 position on the other problems before us. years ago; the terms of trade have worsened by a total of about 20 per cent over five years; the overall current 20. Thus, we continue to support the just proposals of deficit is estimated at $12 billion and the foreign de!., has the Democratic People's Republic ofKorea on the reuni- increased nearly seven-fold in over 10 years, while the fication of the Korean homeland which would be inde- average debt-servicing rat.io has more than doubled. pendentt peaceful and free from outside interference. We also call for the implementation of the declaration on 28. Given that plainly gloomy state of affairs, our South-East Asia, issued by the Seventh Conference of concern will undoubtedly be shared by the industrialized countries, whatever their economic and social system. The Heads ofState or Government ofNon-Aligned Countries economic recovery which has been forecast will have no rsee A/38/132 and Carr.1 and 2], a declaration that the ~ountries of Indo-China and those of the Association of effect or will be feeble at best, because the economic and South-East Asian Nations [ASEAN) have already ac- financial difficulties of the African countries will reduce db' ~ dial W ~ 11 . h . the demand for the exports of the industrialized countries cepte as a aslS or ogue. e 10 ow WIt mterest and will thus increase unemployment in some of them. developments in the talks on the situation in South-West Asia, in keeping with the guidelines set forth bythe special 29. It is in the interest of all. therefore. to launch the representative of the Secretary-General, which is an ap- emergency programme for Africa now in order to avoid proach already advocated by Afghanistan itself. We call the economic collapse of the most seriously affected missHe~ in exchange for zero reductions on the part of NATO; or, according to the latest United States proposal, to force the Soviet Union to reduce its medium-range missiles and allow new American missiles to be deployed in Europe over and above the present NATO nuclear potential. Such an approach is totally contrary to the principle of undiminished security of other States, as recognized by the United Nations, and the principle of equality and equal security. It should also be emphasized that the American Pershing 11 and cruise misdles to be deployed in Western Europe are capable of destroying targets throughout the Middle East and over half the African contirient, that is to say, they are targeted at several regions of the world-Europe, the Middle East and Africa. 54. Let us now consider the question of the strategic arms of the United States and the Soviet Union, which are roughly equal although difficult in structure. The Soviet Union has proposed the reduction of such arms by one fourth and, concurrently, the reduction to equal, agreed levels of the aggregate number of nuclear war- heads deployed on the remaining delivery vehicles. 55. The proposals put forward by the United States provide for selective reductions whereby the United States would end up with three times as many warheads as the USSR. Such proposals are designed to disrupt the existing structure of Soviet strategic forces. 56. The United States is pursuing the same self-seeking and negative course with regard to all other disarmament issues. It is blocking the Vienna talks on the reduction of armed forces and armaments in Central Europe. It is sabotaging the implementation of the United Nations resolutions on the non-first-use of nuclear weapons, a freeze on nuclear capabilities, nuclear disarmament, a comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty, the renunciation of the production of neutron weapons and of new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons and on the preparation of a convention on the elimination ofchemical warfare capabilities. It should be noted in this regard that, according to reports in the United States press, the Pentagon already has in its possession enough chemical weapons to destroy the entire population of the Earth 50 times over. The United States is opposing a freeze on and a subsequent reduction of military budgets. The United States is not only increasing its own military expenditures but is also asserting its right to dictate to its allies their levels of military spending. As a result, the aggregate military expenditures ofcapital- ist co~ntriesincreased seventeen-fold from 1950 to 1982. , ; 57•. The United States is attempting to justify its obstructionist stand on arms limitation and genuine arUs~nalhinc7lu7dOOes sAome 9din ,.500 whi~hdeads, whhiU'le ~hedeSsoviet 64 D · I Ast.far backthasp1981 tht.e UnifteNd NlationsC atdotptedha mon as, . ccor g to s ata, t e mt tates ec ara Ion on e reven Ion 0 uc ear a as rop e has an advantage of 7,000 tactical nuclear weapons. It [resolution 36/100]. One year later it endorsed the uni- is also worth recalling that the United States has encircled laterally assumed obligation of the Soviet Union not to the Soviet Union with a network of military bases and be the first to use nuclear weapons &:ild called upon the installations; that since the Second World War it has other nuclear Powers to follow suit [resolution 37/78.1). resorted to military force 260 times to further its foreign Now the time has come to adopt a declaration condemn- policy goals and threatened to use nuclear weapons on ing nuclear war as the most hideous crime against the 19 occasions, including 4 times against the Soviet Union; peoples and declaring as criminal acts the formulation, and that since 1975 alone it has dispatched its forces propounding, dissemination and propaganda ofpolitical abroad in about 50 cases. The United States is building and military doctrines and concepts intended to justify new military bases on foreign soil, expanding existing the "legitimacy" of the first use of nuclear weapons and ones, and sometimes even increasing its payments, as if in general the "admissibility" of unleashing nuclear war. a higher rent increases the security of the owner ofa house 65. Nor can it be denied that if we are seeking nuclear who is forced to share it with a sick trespasser who is disarmament-and no one dares to challenge that goal dangerous to the people around him. openly-then we should start by freezing nuclear weapons 58. It is not concern for international peace and secu- and halting, under appropriate verification, the buildup rity that motivates the United States. This was acknow- of all components of nuclear arsenals, including all kinds ledged even by the United States Secretary of Defense, ofdelivery vehicles and warheads, renouncing the deploy- Mr. Weinberger, when he said that much of the energy ment of new kinds and types ofsuch weapons, declaring resources that the United States needs and many strate- a moratorium on all nuclear-weapon tests as well as tests gically important minerals are thousands of miles away of new kinds and types of delivery vehicles, and halting from United States shores and that in order to gain access the production of fissionable materials for manufacturing to these resources-to be more exact, other peoples' nuclear weapons. resources-the United States must increase its military 66. That proposal, containing qualitative and quanti- and naval might. Thus there is a direct link with the tative limitations, is addressed to all the nuclear Powers, imperialist practice of proclaiming vast regions of the but the Soviet Union believes that it is possible that globe "spheres of United States vital interests". initially the United States and the Soviet Union can set 59. Is it surprising, then, that the United States is oppos- a good example for others to follow with an appropriate ing the preparation in the United Nations of a world agreement to freeze their nuclear potentials. treaty on the non-use of force in international relations 67. We believe that these proposals will enjoy very wide and that it is unresponsive to the proposal for a treaty support among States Members of the United Nations. between the Warsaw Treaty and NATO countries on the We can and we undoubtedly must solve these problems. mutual non-use of military force and the maintenance of Our conviction is based on the success of the Madrid relations of peace? meeting of the States participating in the Conference on 60. Let us now consider the question of preventing an Stheecunten'ts~oannsd'ncoE-Oupepreationd tinhrEOurohpe'twthhere, dlesd psittaetall arms race in outer space. The earlier Soviet proposals on I I ro an ug ou e wor, es this subject are well known. The current session has with differing social systems still succeeded in finding b ~ . dr f h h'b' . f h mutually acceptable agreements on the basis ofthe prin- e ore It a a t treaty on t e pro 1 Itlon 0 t e use of ciples and provisions of the Helsinki Final Act,2 includ- force in outer space and from space against the Earth [see . A/38/194]. It has been proposed that agreement should mg agreement to convene the Conference on Confidence- be reached on a comprehensive ban on the testing CoUld and Security-building Measures and Dismmament in deployment of any space-based weapons capable of de- E68uropeN' I . ... f . stroying targets on Earth, in the atmosphere or in outer . ow et us, m our Imagmatlon, turn rom conti- space, on the elimination of existing anti-satellite systems nental Europe to other parts of the worId' and on the prohibition of the development of new ones. 69. We see that while the Soviet Union is proposing that Meanwhlle the USSR has unilaterally assumed the ex- the Mediterranean be turned into a zone of stable peace tremely important obligation not to be the first to place and CC>-()peration, that all ships carrying nuclear weapons any kind of anti-satellite we&pons in outer space. be withdrawn from that area and that the deployment =:~~~~m.m~e=~~~_~_:n:~_._.:::-=:~~ l09y i l Our close neighbour Libya was among the fore- most to recognize'the significance of our decision to re- move all military bases from our territory for the security free and sovereign nationhood, and the call for vastly increased global economic co-operation to relieve the misery, hunger and suffering which still cast a dark shadow in the closing twentieth century. 115. Malta steadfastly joins in the pursuit of these objectives because it sees in their implementation the most effective safeguard of the political and economic freedom which it has progressively achieved over the few years since eliminating all unwanted foreign military, political and economic influence from its territory. 116. At New Delhi the non-aligned countries formally expressed their recognition and support of the status of neutrality adopted by Malta in pursuance ofits objective to entrent;h the process of its national development within a larger process of regional security and co-operation in the Mediterranean [see A/38/i32 and Carr.l and 2]. In the same spirit the New Delhi meeting welcomed Malta's initiatives on Mediterranean security undertaken within the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe and agreed to call a meeting of all Mediterranean non- aligned countries to consider what further action should be taken to consolidate Mediterranean security and co-operation. 117. We cannot forget that it is through the support of the Non-Aligned Movement that Malta finally was given its first opportunity to serve as a member of the Security Council. All our actions in the Council have been inspired by the firm appreciation of its unique role in the pursuit of international peace and security. We have in this way further ma~fested the active concept of our neutral status. Malta's is not a passive neutrality intent on shying away from a commitment to int~rnationalobligations. mibia~ which involved very intensive and delicate nego- tiations. That resolution [532 (1983)] mandated the Secretary-General to undertake consultations with all the parties involved, and we trust that the basis thus estab- lished will be pursued assiduously by all so that the Namibian people will finally achieve their long-awaited independence. 126. The confidence that we have inspired through our approach in the Security Council has been such as to encourage members to entrust uS'with the complex and time-consuming task ofidentifying points ofconvergence in efforts to enhance the Council's effectiveness in ful- filling its role for peace. We shall pursue the efforts we . have undertaken over the past months and which by September had alrr:dy resulted in a note by the Presi- dent6 outlining a l~...mber of points on which progress could be achieved. 127. Malta sees the Security Council not only as the body which deals with issues onpe they reach crisis point, but also as having an important role in laying down the more durable foundations for the improvement of the international environment through effective action which, for example, facilitates the creation of zones of peace in regions like the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and elsewhere. 128. Over the past three years, in the Madrid follow- up meeting of the Conference on Security and Co-oper- ation in Europe, Malta has been engaged in another forum where it has sought to consolidate the basis of its own national freedom through the enhancement of the process of regional and global security and co-operation. 129. In 1975, in the Conference on Security and Co- operationin Europe at Helsinki, meeting for the first time since the Second World War, all European States except Albania, together with the United States and Canada, agreed on a broad set of measures aimed at ensuring European security and co-operation. At Madrid, Malta's basic position was that the arrangements being worked out for security in Europe should be reflected in ana- logous arrangements regarding the Mediterranean region. The tremendous resistance to Malta's position at Madrid showed unmistakably the clear intention of some parti- cipants to reject the commitments they had undertaken at Hels.inki regarding security in the Mediterranean. This Malt.a could never accept. 130. By late July of this year Malta had made it clear that, after waiting through two and a half years of bick- ering and confrontation at Madrid over an extended range 154. With the EEC Malta has long-established eco- nomic links which it is seeking to improve. We have found a considerable understanding from our European part- ners of the need for corresponding economic and finan- cial measures of support for our status of neutrality, in exchange for our guarantee that Malta would not be used as a base for aggression against any EEC member State. 155. There is also a growing understanding that the need to en.'lure that the special relationship Malta is to establish with the Community, which will be different from full membership, and the concomitant obligation to apply politically inspired economic sanctions entangling us unnecessarily with an economic group against a third country or group ofcountries would not preclude us from pursuing equally close, though not exclusive, special relationships with other economic groups. 156. In fact, we have already-forged close ties with our neighbours in North Africa, especially Libya and Algeria, which are participating actively with us, through joint ventures and in other forms, in various industrial pro- jects, including the construction of an iron foundry, the deve~opmentof manufacturing enterprises and the build- ing of tourist complexes. Our friends from the Gulf, particularly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, assist us through grants and loans on conditions which are genuinely adapted to our small and fragile economic and financial potential. This assistance enables a more rapid development of the new port at Marsaxlokk, the grain silo and the Marsa shipbuilding yard, among other projects. We are in this way putting into p~ace the foundation for a special relationship with the Maghreb, as well as with Gulf countries, which, we are assured, will permit us at the appropriate time to gain preferential access to their markets once these are more closely consolidated. 157. Our policy of equal distance from the super- Powers has an economic dimension as much as a political dimension. The super-Powers today are convinced that our actions in the Security Council, the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Non- Aligned Movement, among other bodies, constitute an unequivocal manifestation of our staunch adherence to the policy of equal distance in the political sphere. Malta is resolved to maintain this policy, while fully conscious of the limitations which deny infallibility to even the best among us. whi~htthe Japanese pursue their trading policies places serious obstacles in the path of international economic co-operation. It should come as no surprise, therefore, con for peace throughout the Mediterranean. 172. Mr. KAMANDA wa KAMANDA (Zaire) (inter~ pretationfrom French): First ofall, Sir, on behalfofthe delegation of Zaire and on my own behalf, I warmly congratulate you on your election to the pr~idency of the thirty-eighth session of the General Assembly. 173. It gives me particular pleasure to see you presiding over the work of the General Assembly because you are 179. The world in general, and the United NatioDiS in particular, are thus faced by a dual challenge: the chal- lenge to law and to the values of humanism, and hence a challenge to the primary mission ofthe United NatioDiS; and the challenge to co-operation conceived as a rational and equitable organization of the interdependence of States, and to international solidarity. The fJrstcom- pounds the second and tite second explains the first, although in no way justifying it. 180. Peace and security in the world, the sine qua non for progress and development, indeed for the survival of civilization and the restoration of confidence in interna- tional relations, can be secured only if we are prepared to pay the price to meet that double challenge, and first ofall, the challenge to law and to the values ofhumamsm. 181. The1.'e is a challenge to law and to the principles ofthe Charter of the United Nations in the Cb5e ofChad, in Namibia, in South Africa, in the Western Saha1a, in the Middle East, in Afghanistan, in Kampuchea, in the case of the destruction of a Boeing of the South Korean civilian air transport company and so forth. There are many soarces of teDiSion that draw the concern.of world opinion and rightly provoke all sorts of questions con- cerning the future of mankind, at a time when we are less than 20 years from the end of the twentieth century. 194. We should like to take this opportunity to reaffIrm that Security Council resolution 435 (1978) remains the solt: basis for negotiations for the peaceful settlement of the Namibian problem. For the fIve members of the contact group which initiated the United Nations plan to resolve the Namibian problem, there is a question of credibility. They must implement the plan and not set aside its objectives. 195. Africa intends to keep out of power rivalries, and it is for that reason that it asks that the Namibian problem be seen as a problem of decolonization and that all the parties abstain from introducing into the Namibian ques- tion extraneous elements which could distort the problem and present it in Manichean terms as part of the East- West conflict. 196. We hail the heroic struggle being waged by the Namibian people under the leadership of SWAPO, and we appeal to all nations of the world to contribute to the rapid implementation of the United Nations Plan for the settlement of the Namibian question and to lend their support and assistance to SWAPO, the sole authentic representative of the Namibian people. 197. We reiterate our condemnation ofthe repeated acts of aggression carried out from Namibian territory by South Africa against neighbouring African States, and in particular the vi"lations of the territorial integrity of our sister republic of Angola, which have resulted in enormous damage to the economy of that developing country. 198. South Africa's continuing illegal occupation of Namibia, coupled with its denial of the rights of the Namibian people and use of Namibian territory as a base for attacks against neighbouring countries, constitutes a serious threat to peace and security in that sensitive region of southern Africa. 199. In South Africa itself, the perpetuation of the policy of apartheid, condemned by the international community as a crime against humanity, is repugnant to the conscience of all right-thinking people, to all men devoted to reace and justice throughout the world. Al- though apartheid has been unanimously condemned as a crime against humanity, there are some who refuse to draw the logical conclusions of that condemnation both with regard to their own attitudes towards the Pretoria regime and with regard to the actions of that regime and the legitimate struggle for national liberation being waged by movements recognized by the United Nations. 200. What the Africans are demanding is the emergence in South Africa of a truly democratic multiracial society governed by the majority and respecting the rights of all minorities. In an era when the defence of human rights is on the agenda of international gatherings as well as bilateral meetings, particularly between the countries of the Nol'th and those of the South, how can we explain the silence of one side in the face of the most serious violation of human,rights and fundamental freedoms of all time, namely, apartheid? flnarl~i~ institutions to harden their positions and con- cern themselves more with the establishment of harsh programmes of economic and financial adjustment in the countries with the greatest indebtedness, without any regard to the social obligations of our States. The inter- national financial institutions are becoming agencies for the recovery of thtl public and private debts of the States of the third world. 257. The economic crisis which has now gone on for almost a decade has attained such a scope that sectorial or partial solutions will not work. 258. Thus, the new international economic order that we seek implies a radical break with the laws and prin- ciples that have regulated the economic world since the end of the Second World War. The solutions to this crisis must be global and laid down in a spirit of complemen- tarity and interdependence, for the greatest good of all. 259.. This economic crisis, inthe face of the unaccom- modating attitudes we have noted, calls for our commit- ment to solidarity and interdependence and our ability to adapt to change. sover~ignty and interdependence. We must therefore rev~tsethe tendency towards the erosion of multilateral cO'-operation and curb the excesses of politically inspired bilateralism.