A/40/PV.74 General Assembly

28.  THE SITUATION IN AFGHANISTAN AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY (a) REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (A/40/709) (b) DRAFT RESOLUTION (A/40/L.ll) (c) REPORT OF THE FIFTH mMMITTEE (A/40/867) Mr. OSMAN (SOmalia): Six full years have passed since non-aligned Afghanistan was brutally attacked and its territories occupied by the vastly more numerous, well-equipped armed forces of a neighbouring super-Power. The Secretary-GeneralIs report (A/40/709), of 7 October, reveals some progress, but still gives little cause for hope that an end to that unprovoked aggression is imminent. The continuing endeavours, determination and concern of the Secretary-General and his Persc,al Representative in their delicate and difficult task of mediation are nevertheless greatly to be commended. They should continue, confident of the full support of this Assembly. The perpetrators of these breaches of international law have to date demonstrated scant respect for the principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of States and the non-use of force in the resolution of conflicts in international relations. In so doing, they have ignored the inalienable right of peoples to determine their own form of government and to choose their own economic, political and social system, free from outside intervention, subversion, coe>.:cion or constraint of any kind whatsoever. A once independent, principled and non-aligned nation is today suffering under an alien and ruthless military occupation. Villages are being decimated or destroyed; homes, farms, crops and livestock are b~ing set ablaze. But the indigenous national resistance movement is not intimidated either by hostage-taking or by the attempted brain-wa&hing of young people. Somalia stands in awed admiration of the courage and faith of the proud Afghan people in their tenacious fight for freedom, their total rejection of alien domination and their willingness to carry on so unequal a struggle against unjust subjugation and the tragic suppression of theit national culture and values. The cost in human lives and the injuries, misery and suffering have been intolerable. At the same time as every effort is made "to promote a political solution to the conflict, generous international humanitarian aid must continue to be extended to the innocent victims of aggression and war - particularly the many refugees, who have fled from armed aggression and oppression. The brave and hospitable neighbc~ring peoples, particularly in Pakistan, have also been called upon to bear the burdens not only of massive refugee flows but of wanton and l unprovoked attacks on refugee camps, assassination plots against ~enational leaders of the Afghan people in exile and countless other infringements of sovereign land and air space. All this, too, is dangerous and greatly to be deplored. All genuine peace-loving nations throughout the world must redouble their support for negotiations and move with renewed vigour towards an acceptable, peaceful solution. We trust that such efforts will succeed and that the remaining obstacles encountered in setting up an acceptable framework for lasting peace will be overcome. With regard to the terms of a political settlement, my Government strongly supports the calls of the non-aligned group of States for the withdrawal of foreign troops; full respect for the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-aligned status of Afghanistan; strict observance of the principles of non-interference and non-intervention; and the r~ght of the Afghan refugees to return to their homes in freedom, safety and honour. (Mr. Osman, Somalia) The Organization of the Islamic Conference has likewise expressed its deep concern in similar terms more than once, and my Government is in f~ll concurrence with its resolutions also. We are dealing with a situation in which the relevance of the principles of the ~harter is clear. It is thus incumbent on all Member States, individually and collectively, to do all they can to promote those ends, since the present situation continues to represent a serious threat to world peace and the stability of the entire region. Mutual respect expressed in mutual guarantees ls clearly called for, on the basis of respect for the principles of the Charter and the established principles of international law. My Government trusts that the matter will remain in the forefront of our attention until - sooner rather than later - an amicable and appropriate settlement is attained. As a sponsor of draft resolution A/40/L.ll, my Government expresses its full support for the restoration of the fundamental rights and freedoms of 'the Afghan people. (Mr. Osman, Somalia) Mr. KHALIL (Egypt) (interpretation from Arabic): It ls regrettable that we have been seized year after year of the item entitled wThe situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security·, and that the resolutions of the United Nations On this question have remained unimplemented. Since 1980, the General Assembly has adopted by an overwhelming majority six resolutions which have set forth the' main elements for a just political and lasting solution to the Afghani question. All those resolutions called for the maintenance of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national independence of Afghanistan and its non-aligned character. They affirmed the right of the Afghani people to choose its Government and its political, economic and social system free from any foreign intervention. They called for the immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan, called upon all the parties concerned to endeavour to find a political settlement of the Afghani question and authorized the secretary-General to use his good offices to reach such a settlement. We are all still calling for those good offices to reach a comprehensive and just settlement of the Afghani question and we are still looking forward to the day when we will witness the end of the plight of the Afghani people as a result of the withdrawal of the military foreign forces from its territories, thereby pUtting an end to foreign interference in its internal affairs, restoring its legitimate rights and allowing the return of its refugees to their national homeland. Egypt is in the forefront of those countries which have expressed solidarity with the people of Afghanistan in its legitimate struggle to restore its inalienable rights. Once again today we affirm our solidarity with this fraternal people out of our belief in and adherence to the rules of international law, the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, the principles of the Non-Aligned Movement and the resolutions of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). All these principles prohibit interference in the internal affairs of states and the use of force in international relations, and grant peoples the right to freedom, independence and self-determination. Egypt has affirmed its position through its support of all the resolutions of the United Nations on the question of Afghanistan, the resolutions of the non-aligned countries and the OIC. Once again we call for the implementation of those resolutions to achieve a just settlement of the Afghani problem. Egypt rejects the claim that the question of Afghanistan is an internal problem in which the United Nations should not get involved. The Afghani question, as the Assembly is aware, is a problem of a people that was subjected to military intervention by a super-Power, and the evidence demonstrates that the negative political outcome of that intervention still poses a threat to international peace and security. It is an open secret that the adoption of the resolutions of the General Assembly on Afghanistan by such an overwhelming majority is the clearest evidence of the unswerving resolve of the international community to reject the policy of fait accompli that was imposed by foreign military forces on the Afghani people, which is still SUffering under harsh circumstances that have transformed many millions of its sons into refugees living in neighbouring countries and struggling to achieve independence for Afghanistan. The reports of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Fe1ix Ermacora, have proved the serious violations of human rights that are perpetuated against the Afghani people. We have also taken note of the report of the Secretary-General submitted to this session of the General Assembly in document A/40/709 and we realize that the Secretary-General and his Personal Representative, Mr. Diego Cordovez, have spared no effort since 1980 in making contacts with all the parties concerned to find a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the question of Afghanistan. In this context, we would like to express our support for the unstinting efforts of the Secretary-General and his Personal Representative. The position of Egypt is based on its faith that resort to force would only exacerbate the problem. We welcome therefore the report of the secreta,ry-General that there is also a growing conviction "••• that a negotiated settlement is the only possible way t~ achieve peace in Afghanistan." (A/40/709, para. 2) The Report of the Secretary-General reveals the concrete progress that has been achieved in negotiations in the proximity talks that have led to an understanding on three of the four instr'~ments that would consti tute the political settlement. Egypt applauds this progress and ~ooks forward to continued negotiations, using the same method that has proved successful, namely, the proximity talks, to reach a final agreement that would achieve the desired settlemgnt. We associate ourselves once agai~ with the Secretary-General in his appeal to both parties to have enough determination and resolve to make the negotiations successful, and to demonstrate political will. The Egyptian delegation followed with interest the statement made by Mr. Yaqub-Khan, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, and we should like to take this opportunity to associate ourselves with those who have expressed their appreciation of the position taken by the Republic of Pakistan, expressing an urgent desire to achieve a peaceful, comprehensive and just settlement of the question of Afghanistan and for an intensified effort to be made in this direction. Egypt looks forward to the outcome of the round of proximity talks scheduled for next month and we hope they will be crowned with success. Once again we should like to express our appreciation of and pay a tribute to the valuable contribution made by the High Commissioner for Refugees with a view to alleviating the plight of the Afghani refugees. In this context, we appeal to all States, international, national and non-governmental organizations to continue their assistance to those refugees. (Mr. Khalil, Egypcj In conclusion, we should like to say once again that Egypt is one of the sponsors of the draft resolution before this session of the General Assembly contained in document A/40/L.ll in support of international efforts aimed at finding a just political solution to the prOblea of Afghanistan. Mr. ESTIER (Prance) (interpretation from French): Since 1980 the General Assembly has regularly had on its agenda the item "The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security". Nearly six years after the Soviet intervention in December 1979 the problem of Afghanistan has still not been solved. That foreign intervention is at the very source of the crisis. The military occupation is being continued, bringing in its wake fighting and sUffering, while the external administrative and ideological hold is being strengthened. Moreover, the prospects for a settlement are still uncertain. In the circumst~nces, reflecting the grave concern of the international communit.v, the General Assembly has understandably decided again to include this item on the agenda of its fortieth session. Whatever arguments are invoked in an attempt to justify it, the soviet occupation in Afghanistan is and remains a violation of a basic principle of the Charter, which first and foremost enjoins Members of the Or.ganization to refrain from the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State • France condemns such acts. The President of the Republic, Mr. Francois Mitterrand, has repeated this firmly on several occaoions. Questioned recently about the situation in Afghanistan, the Prime Minister, Mr. Laurent Fabius, stated: ·With regard to all foreign military intervention of any kind, in the East or in the west, in the South or in the North, the attitude of France and of its Government can only be severe condemnation." The trend of the situation in Afghanistan is in every respect disturbing. The internal resistance, bolstered by broad popular support, is fighting heroically, while more than 100,000 soviet soldiers are still trying to crush it by force of arms. Large-scale offensives continued this year in most of the provinces of Afghanistan, while the operations undertaken along the borders with large-scale military means have produced only futile and deadly confrontations. Such military action is a logical extension of the use of force decided on nearly six years ago, which France would like to denounce once again by stressing that it will not succeed in stifling the legitimate aspirations of the people. The intensification of the fighting has exacerbated the suffering of the civilian population. TO escape the war, four million Afghans have sought refuge in Pakistan and Iran. Tension continues alo~g the country's borders, threatening to extend the conflict to the region as a whole. One cannot but be concerned in this connection about the continued violation of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. France condemns the repeated bombings of Pakistani territory, the territory of a country which, by receiving three million refugees, is already bearing the heavy consequences of a foreign war. In Afghanistan itself, the repression is becoming worse. Responding to the international community's concern over the increasingly specific reports of violations of human rights in Afghanistan, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights appointed a Special Rapporteur. The report this expert submitted to the Commission confirms existing fears. He draws attention to cases of imprisonment which attest to a total lack of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as to several cases of torture and disappearances, in addition to violation of humanitarian rules in the present conflict. Reasons of State cannot justify the fact that fundamental human rights are thus being flouted. The French delegation solemnly urges the responsible authorities to put an end to these unworthy practices. (Mr. Bstier, France) The fact that 119 delegations supported the resolution on Afghanistan last year and that the item is again included in the Assembly's agenda attest to the growing concern of the international community. French public opinion shares this concern and wishes to express its spontaneous sympathy to all these who have chosen to resist foreign occupation in order to protect their right to a national identity and their freedom. For example, many of my fellow countrymen are working selflessly to relieve on the spot the suffering of a population paying a high price for its aspiration to independence. ~ Government salutes the dedication and courage of these French citizens who have, for several years in the field, been providing exclusively humanitarian and medical assistance to the sorely tried Afghan people. I wish to say this before this Assembly, which is deeply concerned with ensuring respect for human rights everywhere. International public opinion cannot understand how an emiment Member of our Organization, one, moreover, entrusted with the special responsibilities vested in the permanent members of the Security Council, can have so far departed from the Charter of the United Nations and have ignored the resolutions of the General Assembly. Continuation of such an attitude does much harm to the image of this great Power in the world. There can be no military solution to the crisis reSUlting from the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. That crisis can be cettled only through political means. The international community has spared no effort to s~ek a solution, whether in the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Islamic Conference or on the initiative of the European Council, whose proposals are still valid. Right nere, the General Assembly has called upon the Seeretary~General and his Personal Representative to exercise their good offices. (Mr. Bstier, France) The goal of the efforts made must be a political settlement in accordance with the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly. These resolutions, I would like to recall, urge the withdrawal of foreign troops, the self-determination of the Afghan people, the restoration of Afghanistan's non-aligned status and the voluntary return of the refugees to their homes. France fully endorSES these aims. France believes that any settlement achieved outside the framework thus defined might produce only a semblance of a solution. In fact it is not enough to oettle the situation -around- Afghanistan; the situation must be settled -in- Afghanistan, because both the problem and its solution lie in Afghanistan itself. We are following the Secretary-General's efforts with interest. France supports this process of mediation and hopes that it will produce speedy progress, in particular towards an agreement on a time-table for the withdrawal of Soviet troops. In Afghanistan, nearly si~: years after the Soviet invasion, the fait accompli has still not acquired the force of law. The injustice has not diminished with time. It has merely become worse. Our Assembly must once again display its determination to produce a true political settlement. The crisis of Afghanistan is grave. It can be ended only when a settlement rs achieved on th~ basis of the principles of the Charter and strict implementation of the resolutions of this Assembly. It is on these conditions that the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of Afghanistan will be preserved, that the suffering of the Afghan people will cease, and that one of the threats to world peace will be eliminated. As in previous years, the French delegation supports the draft resolution submitted to be Assembly for adoption. (Mr. Bstter, France) Miss DEVER (Belgium) (interpretatio~ from French): As the representative of Luxembourg has already stated the views of the 10 states members of the European Community and of Spain and Portugal on the question of the situation in Afghanistan and its implications for in~ernational peace and security, I need only discuss that sUbject briefly. Is it not deplorable that during the Organization'~ fortieth-anniversary year, during which so many statements have been made recalling our commitment to the lofty principles of the Chartet, the General Assembly is obliged to take note of the persistent refusal of the Soviet union to implement six resolutions adopted by an overwhelming majority and of the continuing 'presence of SOviet occupation forces in Afghanistan? This perpetuates a situation which is in open violation of the basic princiFles of the Charter, among them the non-use of focce, respect for hUMan rights, the right of self-determinati.on and territorial integrity. Those who had hoped that the passage of time would make us forget the persistent, increasingly brutal occupation, the terrible trials of the Afghan people, and the consolidation of a courageous resistance reflecting the struggle of a people to recover its independence and freedom, which relentless oppression has been unable to conquer, have hoped in vain. The international community has not focgotten. It is not indifferent to the suffering inflicted on an entire population, whose human rights are systematically violated by the Occup&tion troops, as reported by Mr. Ermacora in his interim report. We await with great interest the new report now being prepared by the Special Rapporteur. It is no su~prise that nearly one-third of the Afghan popUlation has been forced into exile to become refugees in neighbouring countries, thus creating grave problems for those nations. The social and economic problems of Pakistan - which, in having acceptee more than 3 million refugees, is already bearing the heavy burden of a foreign war - have been aggravated by the repeated bombardment of the territory of that country. The Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the 10 States members of the European Economic Community, in their declaration on Afghanistan adopted on 23 July 1985, condemned the expansion of military operations ana repeated their basic position on the overall situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security. The international community is not indifferent, and its concern is demonstrated each year by the growing number of countries participating in this debate. What is the international community demanding? It is demanding nothing less than the implementation of the principles of the Charter. It is demanding that, in accordance with ti.ose principles, Soviet troops be withdrawn immediately from Afghanistan; that that country, freed at last ~rom foreign occupation, recover its status as a genuinely non-aligned independent country; that its people be enabled fully to exercise its right of self-determination; and that the return of the refugees take place in safety and honour. Would that not be the best way of commemorating the International Year of Peace in 1986? In last year's vote on the resoluticn on Afghanistan, 119 States clearly expressed ~eir desire for a political solution. It is essential that the Assembly not slacken its efforts or its pressure, so that the Soviet union can understand the refusal of the' overwhelming majority of Member countries to recognize this fait aCCOmpli, and understand its obligation to put an end to its occupation. It is in that spirit that my delegation, as it has done in previous years, will vote in favour of the draft resolution before the Assembly. Mr. MEESMAN (Netherlands): In December 1979 the world was shocked by the news that t~e armed forces of the Soviet Union had crossed the border into Afghanistan and that the military occupation of that small non-aligned country was under way. In the years that followed, millions of Afghans were forced to flee (Miss Dever, Belgium) their homes, and the situation continues to pose a grave threat to regional stability and to international peace and security. For we cannot escape the reality that the ideal of a world founded on the principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations has been seriously compromised by the proven readiness of one super-Power to pursue its political aims by military means, and at the price of another people's independent national existence. As the Ambassador of Luxembourg stressed in his statement on behalf of the 10 membgr States of the European Community, and Spain and Portugal, this debate serves as a reminder that the international community cannot and will not acquiesce in the continuous attempts of the Soviet union to subdue the people of Afghanistan by the use of its overwhelming military might and to impose on that non-aligned country a regime of its own making. The dangerous consequences of the soviet intervention for the stabi_ity of the entire region are clearly visible in the frequent violations of Pakistan's territorial integrity and airspace. In that connection I wish to recall that in July the 10 member States of the European Community vigorously condemned the bombing of Pakistan's territory and called once again on the Soviet Union to terminate its intervention, which is at the origin of the conflict. In giving its full support to the draft resolution on this question, the Netherlands Government joins the rest of the international community in its condemnat~on of the Soviet Union's violation of Afghanistan's sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence. TOgether with the great majority of United Nations Member states, the Netherlands believes that the tragic SUffering inflicted upon millions of Afghans and the destabilizing effects of the Soviet occupation can be redressed only through a negotiated settlement in accordance with the principles outlined in that draft resolution. First and foremost among the elements underlying a solution to the Afghan crisis is the (Hr. Meesman, Netherlands) removal of its principal cause: the massive intervention and the occupation of the country by Soviet troops. The withdrawal of those forces according to a fixed timetable is the keystone of a comprehensive settlement allowing the Afghan people to exercise freely its right of self-determination, enabling the refugees to return to their homes in safet~ and honour, and permitting Afghanistan to resume its traditional status as a neutral, non-aligned and independent State. TO our deep.concern, the Soviet Union's resort to prevarication whenever this all-important issue is raised seems to point to a continued absence of political will to co-operate, genuinely and in a constructive spirit, in international efforts to bring about an agreement along those lines. (Mr. Meesman, Netherlands) The lack of tangible progress in these negotiations is the more troubling because the situation in Afghanistan has not ceased to deteriorate over the past six years. The scourge of war brought upon Afghanistan by the Soviet invasion is acutely felt by the entire population of the country. The resistance put up by the Afghan freedom fighters, whose indomitable courage in the face of such heavy odds bears testimony to the Afghan people's traditional fierce attachment to their independence, has kept large tracts of the country outside the effective control of the occupier. In response, the occupation army has resorted to scorched-earth tactics and the indiscriminate use of violence against the civilian population. Systematic bombardments of villages and the deliberate destruction of the rural infrastructure hcve laid waste much of the countryside and caused a huge exodus of refugees to other areas and neighbouring countries. As a result, agricultural production has dropped she:ply and there are alarming reports about the threat of famine caused by food shortages and cases of malnutrition, in particular among children. Popular resistance against the regime imposed by foreign armed intervention is repressed with a callous disregard of the most elementary principles of human rights. The country's prisons are crowded with thousands of political prisoners, torture and ill-treatment of persons·taken into custody are commonplace and the number of death sentences and arbitrary executions is on the rise. As the Afghan people cannot be blamed for refusing to submit itself to the tyranny of a regime brought to power and backed by foreign troops, the Soviet Union carries a heavy share of the responsibility for the appalling human rights situation in that country. The wholesale destruction and devastation visited upon the country convinced millions of Afghans that the only way to escape the continuous warfare and its attendant plagues was to seek refuge across the borders. In a massive exodus more (Mr. Meesman, Netherlands) than 4 million Afghan citizens, almost one third of the entire population, left their ho~s and fled to the safety of neighbouring countries. In Pakistan alone 3 million refugees have found hospitality and a generolJs welcome. However, the influx of so many uprooted people in se~rch of shelter and food severely taxes Pakistan's already burdened economy. For that reason, the United Nations High Commdssioner for Refugees, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international ag~ncies have assumed an important part in international efforts to alleviate the situation. The refugee problem can only be solved, however, in the framework of a comprehensive settlement negotiated on the basis of the United Nations resolution. Specific proposals for. a solution in accordance with the principles of this resolution have emanated from the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countr ies and the European Council. In the view of my ~ernment, all these approaches retain their validity. The Netherlands continues to give its full support to the endeavours of the Secretary-General and his Personal Representative, Mr. Corduvez, whose latest report we have studied carefully. The report rightly concludes that the successful outcome of the negotiations now requires an unequivocal demonstration of political will. In the view of my Government, it is primarily up to the SOviet Union to muster that political will to break the present deadlock by clearly signalling its intention to withdraw from Afghanistan. It is time for the SOviet Union to recognize that there is no military solution to the question of Afghanistan. The continued use of force and coercion will turn Afghanistan into a permanent zone of war and exacerbate tensions in South-West Asia and, indeed, throughout the world. We are convince, therefore, that the interests of all the parties concerned and the cause of peace and stability in general will be best served by a settlement in accordance with the draft resolution, to which the overwhelming majority of this (Mr. Meesman, Netherlands) Hr. MAHBUBANI (Singapore): Singapore is one of the smallest ~mber States of the United Nations. It is a militarily weak State. Because we are small and because we are militarily weak, we,have a major stake in the efficacy of international law, in the principles of the Unit~1 Nations Charter and in the United Nations collective security system. It is because our national security is threatened whenever a small or militarily weak State falls victim to aggression, intervention or interference by ~ bigger or ndlitarily more powerful State that Singapore has been so outspoken in defence of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter wherever they have been violated, whether it be in Afghanistan, Kampuchea or Grenada. We believe that all sroall and militarily weak States share with us the same interest in protecting these principles which afford us a degree of protection in a world which is all ~oo prone to violence. When an item has been on the General Assembly's agenda for a few years and when we have heard the same arguments repeated several times there is a tendency to lose sight of the signific~nce of the issue being discussed. Afghanistan is being considered by the General Assembly for the seventh time. There is a need, therefore, to pause, to take a fresh look at the subject and to remind on~self of the significance of the issue being discussed. The Afghanistan issue is significant for many reasons. First, it is the only contemporary example of a small nation suffering from invasion and occupation by a neighbouring super-Power. This in itself is a remarkable fact when one remembers that throughout recorded history, as nations have grown in strength, they have almost inevitably evolved into empires. Today, with the advent of the United Nations and the acceptance by 159 Member States of the united Nations Charter, which has decreed "the principle of the sovereign equality of all its members", the international community no longer allows any nation, no matter how strong and powerful, to invade or occupy its neighbour - a right that the super-Powers of the past arrogated to themselves. If we here today in the united Nations fail to reverse the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, we shall only be helping to turn the clock of history backward. Therefore each and every Member State of this Organization, and - I stress this - especially each of the smaller states, has a powerful vested interest in the outcome of United Nations efforts to free Afghanistan. Secondly, we take it as a given fact that the United Nations accelerated the decolonization of the world. This specia~ role of the United Nations is enshrined in Chapter XI of its Charter, which states, inter alia, that the people of Non-Self-Governing Territories should be "allowed to develop self-government". If the Soviet Union sucoe~ds in Afghanistan, the tide of decolonization, which is almost spent, may be replaced by a new tide of recolonization, which has so far surfaced in Afghanistan and Kampuchea. For these two reasons, the Member States of this Organization should support the draft resolution before us calling for the withdrawal of all foreign forces and the restoration of Afghanistan's freedom and independence. (Mr. Maltbubani, Singapore) The opponents of this draft resolution have made only one major counter-argument: they Bay that it amounts to an interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan. That argument is not new; we have heard it each year during the Afghanistan deb~te. Since it has been repeated again this year, perhaps we should once again briefly discuss who is really interfering in Afghanistan's internal affairs. The Soviet Union has argued that Soviet troops entered Afghanistan on 24 December 1979 at the invitation of the Government of Afghanistan and in accordance with the 1978 Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Good-Neighbourliness concluded between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. The critical question before us is who issued the invitation on behalf of the Government of Afghanistan. It could not have been President Hafizullah Amin, the then President and Head of Government of Afghanistan, because he was killed by Soviet troops on 27 December, ~hree days after the Soviet invasion began. Was the • invitation issued by Babrak Karmal? The fact is that on 24 December 1979 Babrak Karmal was not a member of the Government of Afghanistan and, therefore, had no authority to act on its behalf. He was then living in exile in Eastern Europe; he was brought back to Kabul by the Soviet Union on 27 December when Hafizullah Amin was killed. Signifit~ntly, the first announcement that Bablak Karmal was the new leader of Afghanistan came in a radio broadcast from the Soviet Union. It is difficult, then, to escape the conclusion that the Amin Government had never invited or consented to the entry of Soviet troops. The soviet intervention in Afghanistan is therefore without any legal justification. It is an act of aggression within the meaning of Article 2 (4) of the united Nations Charter and of General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX). The Soviet Union has also committed a (~r. Mahbubani, SingapOre) crime against international peace, again as defined in General Assembly resolutions 3314 (XXIX) and 2625 (XXV). General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) contains the defi"ition of aggression, while its resolution 2625 (XXV) contains the Declaration on Principles of InternationQ;l Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the united Nations. The SOviet Union probably believed when it invaded Afghanistan and installed a puppet regime that the struggle would be over very quickly. It seemed to be an unequal fight; the clash olf a titanic modern military machine with a group of fiercely independent but ill-equipped Afghan warriors. Few of us then expected the Afgh~ns to survive long against the crushing power of the Soviet military machine. It is therefore truly remarkable that almost six years after the invasion the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan is not yet an established fact. The Afghan resistance movement has become a national liberation war, posing a real and formidable challenge to Soviet control Over Afghanistan. The war has wreaked so many casualties on Soviet soldiers that the Soviet public - which has long been kept in the dark about the war - has finally begun to be told the truth. And here, since we have heard in the course of this debate so many accounts of western press reports, I hope that I will be allowed to quote the following from an article published on the front page of yesterday's issue of The New York Times; "••• after almost six years of combat, after hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers have served in Afghanistan and thousands have been killed or wounded, the Kremlin cannot p'~etend that a few Russian soldiers are in Afghanistan temporarily only to help out." (Mr. Mahbubani, Singapore) Another article that 1 have read in a Swiss magazine and, I hope, therefore more objective - helps to explain why the occupation forces have failed. It states: •••• countless facts attest to the unsuitability of these troops and the steady decline of their morale. SOviet pilots keep their aircraft at high altitudes when they anticipate enemy mach~ne-gun fire, despite its minimal effectiveness. Soviet troops show little desire for combat; they hesitate to leave their armoured vehicles and occupy much of their time and energy with black-market transactions, swapping ammunition and even rifles for hashish and food. There has been a sharp rise in drug addition; heroin ••• with its deadly narcotic is beginning to turn up everywhere. Even though the resistance movement has taken few actual prisoners of war in the sense prescribed by the Geneva Convention, and there is only a small number of politically motivated deserters, it has become increasingly evident that Soviet soldiers are leaving their posts.· • Those points were again reiterated in a three-part series published in The New York Times from 31 OCtober to 2 November. Again, I shall quote the following passage from the article by Arthur Bonner in which he writes: "Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan use drugs extensively, and some Russians sell gaso1ine, ammunition and stolen guns to support their habits, according to several Russian defectors living with Afghan rebels. "In addition, several rebel commanders say that they have captured Russians while the soldiers were drugged or while they were trying to buy hashish or heroin from village merchants. (Mr. Mahbubani, Singapore) -According to Western diplomats and analysts of the Afghan situation in Pakistan and elsewhere, Russian troops in Afghanistan have turned to drugs for the same reasons that many Americans did in Viet Na.m: they are young, away from home constraints, bored, frightened and under fierce pressure to prove themselves. And many of the Russian soldiers in Afghanistan are said by the defectors to have a lOth-to-12th-grade education.- (The New York Times, 2 November 1985, p. 1) Clearly, therefore, we have enough evidence that the SOviet army in Afghanistan has become demoralized and undisciplined. One would have thought that, with such a demoralized army, the Afghan population might have benefited from it, but they have not. As a result of the growing frustration at its inability to contain the resistance, the Soviet occupation army has resorted to even more brutal methods, principally against the civilian population. More powerful helicopter gunships, increased fire power and more cruelly the use of anti-personnel mines and booby-trapped toys have caused thousands of casualties. The countryside is gradually becoming depopulated with abandoned villa~as, bombed-out houses and desiccated orchards. To get some idea of the casualties in Afghanistan, I should like to re-read what my colleague from Canada, Ambassador Stephen Lewis, said yesterday in the following remarkable iittle paragraph: "For example, in the little field hospital in Peshawar during the month of July there were 199 war-wounded admitted, 478 surgical operations performed and 962 patients otherwise treated. But, take those figures, multiply them by the network of field hospitals and mobile emergency stations in Pakistan and (Mr. Mahbubani, Singapore) Iran, as well as the tens of thousands of casualties dealt with in Afghanistan itself, and further multiply them by 12 months in the year artd by the almost six years for Yhich a war has raged with unrelieved ferocity and then note the constant references to surgical, orthopaedic and paraplegic procedures, and one has L, the ICRC reports the microcosm of a nation massacred and mutilated." (A/40/PV.73, P. 97) (Mr. Mahbubani, Singapore) And while all this has been going on, we have heard some reports here in the debate that life for the Afghans has never been better. We have been told that the number of doctors, hospital beds, and State-run pharmacies has doubled since 1979. But we have not been told whether they are adequate to serve the millions of Afghans killed or wounded by the war. We have been told that over a million Afghans have been saved from the peril of illiteracy; but we have .Jot been told whether in the same period over one million other people have also been slaughtered. Again, as the Canadian Ambassador put it so eloquently yesterday; -In the choice between literacy and life, they would, like ~ll the rest of us, have chosen life. But why must they make the choice? Why can they not have both?- (A/40/PV.73, p. 102) In addition to this ruthless policy of pacification, there has been, as noted by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan in the discussion here, an effort to "Sovietize- the country. Varying estimates of 25,000 to 40,000 Afghans are said to be studying in the Soviet Union, in the hope ~f creating a new pliant and docile generation. Even more disturbing is the cre~k~ng annexation of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. Power in the Government Ministries seems to be in the hands of a few high-level Afghan offieials, but the key posts are held by Soviet citizens. Economic integration is in full swing. The country's total output of natural gas is piped to the Soviet Union. (Mr. Mahbubani, Singapore) Time and time again we have been told that we should judge a nlltion by its actions. Only recently Hr. Gorbachev, the General Sec-L'etary of the CODIJIIInist Party of the Soviet union, gave an intervl1ew to Time magazine of 9 september 1985, when h~ said, "T~ ~e should be no difference between words and deeds. The deeds should match words.· so far, the Sfj)~l1et occupation of Afghanistan has resulted, according to certain conservative estima.tes; a quarter of a million casualties and, according to others, a million casualties.· We have al.l3o seen one-third of its population fleeing as refugee$, thus imposing a tr~mendous burden on Pakistan and Iran, and widespread destJ;,,~t::tlon of the countryside. It has been a bitterly painful experience for ti.,,· A~ghan population. Some observers have tried to romanticize the Afghan resistance fighter. In fact, he has been fighting a sad, brutal and ugly war, a war that should be stopped immediately. Since all this suffering began with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, it is primarily the Soviet t~ion which has the responsibility today to help find a peaceful solution• . And here, a dispassionate analysis of the Afghan problem should also convince the Soviet Union that it is in the S(""~iet Union's interest to help find a solution to Afgh~nistan. The invasion of Afghanistan has proved to be a costly mistake. Firstly, as I have documented earlier, it has been costly to the morale of the Soviet army. Secondly, the war in Afghanis~n has been costly to the Soviet Union in economic terms. Thirdly, it has been costly by damaging relations between the Soviet Union and the non-aligned countries, to which the Soviet Union has historically attached great importance. The overwhelming majority of the non-aligned countr ies have condemned Soviet inteI:'°oention in Afghanistan 3nd supported United Nations resolutions. Fourthly, it has been costly to the soviet (~~ Mahbubani, Singapore) union's relations with the Islamic countries. Finally, as the Malaysian Ambassador said yesterday: "At the international level, the SOviet intervention in Afghanistan fills many of us with alarm and a deep sense of vulnerability, because we see a super-P~er, a permanent member of the Security Council, with special responsibility for maintaining peace and security in accordance with the principles of the Charter, displaying its contempt for those very principles." (A/40/PV.73, p. 83) It is encouraging to read in the report of the Secretary-General that the Governments of the Soviet Union and th~ United State~ have reiterated on several occasions their Governments' support for a negotiated political settlement and for a continuation of the secretary-General's efforts. However, as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan has documented in his address here on the subject, some of the more recent negotiations have unfortunately failed, because of new conditions created by the Kabul regime. We sincerely hope that the creation of new conditions is not an attempt by the Soviet union to buy time to consolidate its position in Afghahistan. Indeed, in principle, my delegation supports direct negotiations in any conflict, but for the direct negotiations to succeed they should always be between the parties principally involved in the actual fighting - in the case of Afghanistan, between the Soviet Union and the Mujahideen. Finally, the draft resolution that we have before us is a moderate one. It has been gently crafted to provide the Soviet Union a diplomatic way out of Afghanistan. It includes only elements based on the principles enshrined in the Charter, namely, first, it calls for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan; second, it calls for the restoration of Afghan independence; third, it asserts the right of the Afghan people to determine their own future; and fourth, it guarantees the right of the refugees to return to their homes.· (Mr. Mahbubani, Singapore) It also provides a renewed mandate for the secretary-General and his Representative to continue their constructive efforts to find a solution to the Afghan problem. We therefore hope that more nations will vote for the draft resolution this year, which has been co-sponsored by Antigua and Barbuda, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Djibouti, Dominica, Egypt, Fiji, Gambia, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania; Morocco, Nepal, Niger, oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, the Philippines, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Solomon Islands, SOmalia, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, uruguay, zaire and my country, Singapore. We feel that the larger the vote for this draft resolution of the United Nations, the more likely it is that Afghanistan will regain its freedom and independence, and the more likely it is that we will have a safer world for the • smaller nations in the next forty years.