A/40/PV.128 General Assembly

In mzcordance sith General Asaembty resolutfan y_----- 3237 (XXIX) sf 22 ivovemhe 1974, I now call. on the observer of the Palestine Ltberation Oryanizntian, Hr. TERZf O?slestfne Lilwx¶tisn Qrganization (P&O)): We wish to express our sylrpathy to the peqle and the Government of the Ukveoinisn SSR, X(cafdtents do happen. This accident 1s nat the first in this fieldr but 1st us hc~.pe that ft 3s the last such accident. we hawe just been informed by the representative of the Ukrainian sS# that there is t~1 need Ear universal alarn. We are assured that the authorities in Eeiev czan ape with the resulting situation and we are certain that they will ds so. I[ wish to thank the Sexrretary-General for having recruested the resumpticw csf the General Asse&ly seosian on an urges& twlsis ~XB de& uith the currene: ffnanciak crisis of the united Matians, but first permit me to uuote f’ram his statement: *Pol.itical attitudes arust be broughr into, sufficient canwnanca to permit constructive co-operatian in deciding the programme agenda . . . *Most importantly, HSember States - large, medium and small - m~fit reccqnfze their cawrjly shared interest in the existence of a r;eund, universal Organizaeian, capable of strengthening the praspect of peace and global secur Sty. * (A/4O/PV. 124 e p. 12) AS the representative of a victimdzed people we are most keen to mjintain the existence of a .sczundP universal Organization capable of strengthening the prospect of peace and global. security, We are also keen an insisting on the need frar the Secratary-Gen~ral, dnd I dare EDay og all of ua, cmoncerufng %zhe fate of the Onganlzation, .AEtw all, the outotmdfng cmtri&stfon amuntdl @3 a little more than the tot341 contributions pwyabla in one yem. HPW~~VCE~ in bit3 second report of 25 April the S~rebary4eneral presented a lees alarming state of finances which dbdnishd the mctent of QUK alam. In this context, we think that our attention should fume: more on the contrfbutiom outmmding from *prior yearie”. One can find the explanation that the outstanding contributionss for the mment year have not been settled .%s yet, but we me certain that, come September, the Secretary-General will be in a position to 88843 our concern and inform ufi t!mt payments have al&m&y been made. But what Is worth while nsting hew is the finaiWia1 sttnfus of outstanding contributions, naaelylr aontributdone withheld deliberately by the Govsrmnt of the United States of &mica. According to the scale of aasesslnents the United States contributeo 25 per cent af the budget. I think that the United States had opted to do that. Yet we note that on 25 April 1966 the outstanding cuntrfbutions by the United State8 represented 35 per cent of the total contributions outstanding from “prior yeamu. This, in itself, is fndfuertive of the politicaL will - or ill-will. - uf the Gove~ruuent of the United Gtcbtes and ita role and obligations in the Owanization. Withholding contributians in Ohio arbitrary way is, Ln itself, a vf.oIatdon of the principles of the Charter. Naturally, if the United States GWernment wi8hes to diminfoh its contr%butians, or have them diminished, there is a legal way of proceeding to da that. They cnuld have come to the General- Assembly and at?pealed to the Mekbers to consider Q &w$ew conducive to d%mfindsh#,ng the: percentage of their contribution, for there is no harm in laying that: the U~it:ed the funds to oupport tbr Cantras unclprovbde "5tOtqar" mfsrrilw tm scrcalled rebels coma strufght to the p0int. The United State8 could tell UBI : that, ufnce WaahPngton oE fact, in his ctrteeent thio molrning the oapreaentative of the UnitcJd States aaid that it uaf3 fcurtrateil, X am afmid that firuatration might PeaI into scxncthfng,_ mcm aggreenrive than the mere withholding of it6 contribution. The United Nai#xas General-Uoowbly can ryise the assessment chart and the CMtributfon percentagre as duly apportioned, but that cannot be done unilaterall-f. X see no reasLlfn why then United qtates Government need resort to financial blackmail and pressure to achieve fts aims.‘-‘In our opinion, the crisis fs not purely ffnanci;?l; it 9s financial. inasmuch as it reflects a political decision by the Governslant of the United States, s permanent member of the Security Counail, the host country , to undermine the Eunctf ming of this Organization. But let us go to the report of the Secretary-GeneraP. The sugge&ion to curtail the oessicon of the GeneraY. Assembly by three weeks might be appealing if Some constructive suggestions were made identifying what items should be eliminated from the provisional agenda. FOX someone, for an outsider, who has not participated in the agony of long discussions and the determination of participants needed to reach the minimof understanding on some issues, the suggestion to curtail the session by three weeks out of an average of 14 might be considered to be an expression of opinion that the General. Assembly was embroiled in a process of unneaessary verbiage. We are of the opinion that the provisions of Chapter SV of the Charter8 and specifically in Articles 10 to 17, are as valid today as they were when the Charter was drafted by the founding fathers - and we understand that the United States of America played a very imprtant role in that dKafkiW. We ix3lieve that the purposes of the Charter and of the United Nations are more needed now than ever befare. A suggestion has been made that would, in our opinion, contradict the provisions of Articles 2 and 18, which hold the sovereign equality of all Members and the one-Member, one-vote principle to he indispensable for the democratic functioning of the United Nations. The suggestion ta resort ta "consensus' call.5 for some cautious reconsideration. First, a clear-cut definition of cr;lsensus _ ., - (Mr, Terzf, PLO) sbuuld be established, If: should nefUker. be aonst~ued as .tb nerd. Ear. .unaniarity nor as granting veto EwJwer to some. We recall with regret the failure ta reach agrmnt on the issuing of a declaration comtmarating the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations, That sad result sbuuld not have been permitted and rphould never be permitted again. We believe that the suggestions set forth in annex SV of dmluarent rr/40/1102 must have beon made by firmnctaX wizards who1 on the face oE it, were’ twyfng to cut bask on exlcpanditure wft=hWt any considexation for the purposes of the Chsrter. A dlore profcrund study and analysis of thn riqgeati~~s lead us in tha Pakstins Liberation Brganfzation, whiah represents a p%apZe living - or rather, existing - morrtly under Saraelf occupation, more convinced that th.e selectivity wafJ politically motivated and not only, or exclusively, financial. For how on earth csuPd the euggestion ~JB made to defer to 1987 the meetinge oE the Special CamaLtte0 to Investigate Israeli Practicea Affecting the Human Rights of the PapuPation of the Occupied Territories? Are we to k!x?Pieve that Xorael, the occupying PuwezI ‘nas promised to behave in a civilized way and abide by the aonventions and norma of international kw? Hae Israel prcsmimd or declared its intention to withdraw totally and UnconditfonalEy f!,xxn the .palestinian ati other Arab territories it ~~eupies, includinn Jerusalem e in conformity with the decisions of the Security Counci1? Or, in the minds of those who made that suggestion, was it felt that Israel’s r--c---4-- r&;SuTes, its ur. uuea vs irorr-fist policy and its other violations, were not a gs~& enough reason to investigate and report upon, and that Israeli should cor?e out scat-free or perhaps even thanked for it~ barbarity and acts of State tarrrsriem? Another suggestion is that the number of regional seminars or sympssiume an sem*nara are primarfly ta prwmte the peace process set out by the in resolution W58 C and it34 ccMf3squent msitive effect on the wpenees incurred by the WniWd Bations in such matters as 5sending United Nations PWua-keeping trrmps, canwening great numbers of meetings of the Secority Csuncil to consider derivatives - namely@ acts of aggression and violations by the occupying Pawa~ I Israel, against our pop%@. Apparently, those uho made that suggestion have 3,ose sight. of the purposes of the United Nakicx% Sf we had peace, if the paue pocrcress continued, then there uuuld be na need for aI& f’nose con~inusus ati canCinlaing Besugity CmHv2ii m3e~ii;gap whether t.liltil 6 p.m. or until 6.30 p.m. In our opinion, the so-called package as it now sW~ds d-s not help the cause c?f the United Natians, nor &es it heighten credibility amUng thuse who have faith in the Organfzation - and we too have faith in the Orqanizattan. Another suggestion was made ta incorporate the spgcfal. session of the General AsSemblj! an the q~estlen sf i4amibPa into the forty-fir&z session. Thank yutnr but the question of Namibia is a&ready imscribed on the agendi~ of the forty-first session, 60 there is no need for that suggestion. ft only mean6 that that special session should be eliminated, We actively participated in the work of the Mini.sterfal Meeting of the Cwardinatfng Bureau of Non-ALiqned Cauntries held at New Delhi earlier this manth, where ir’ne crisis and the &~txxztes that hicder the efficiency and efr’icacy of the United Naticrns were cansfdered, The Chejrman nf the Ran-Aligned Movement has Bllready informed the Assembly of the de+karatbon adopeed at that: meeting. 1?e fuily concur with the representative of Yugoslavia, who spke on behalf af the Group sf 77, and we identify rzurseEves with his appreciation of the efforts of the Secretary-General to._fqr.m@.ate propo.q&~ coverJng n\any diffe$r$. wF?s with potential for savings, Fbweucr,.we are not inclined to treat all the proposals *on an eaual fooOmg*. Finally8 we honestly believe @h+ a more anaLytica sfqdy &XMJ&~ be made, first, to ensure that Meinher States.do not withhold any of their contributions as apportioned and, secqndly, to consi&g priorities in light of the etitimated revenue, Se am csnfident that: khe.resumed session has achieved a gccd purpose through an exchange of opinions , and-we are certain that in the light of the discussion here the Secmtary-General, Chief Administrative Officer of the Organisation, will be in a better position and better inforned and advised on action to he taken, keeping in raind the purposes of the Qrganization, as ~11 as its priorities and responsibilities. The meeting rose at 6.20 p.m.