Bahrain, 2012

It gives me pleasure to congratulate

Mr. Vuk Jeremić on his election as President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session. I

am confident that he will successfully manage the

session thanks to his competence and his rich and long

experience in diplomacy in the service of his friendly

country, the Republic of Serbia. I also express our great

appreciation for the President of the Assembly at its last

session, Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of

the fraternal State of Qatar, and thank him for the vital

role he played, the constructive issues he advanced and

his excellent management of the work of the sixty-sixth

session. We are proud of him as a seasoned diplomat

from a State member of the Gulf Cooperation Council,

and wish him every success in his future endeavours.

Let me also express our great appreciation for

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and thank him for

the strenuous efforts he has made to enhance the

effective role of the Organization in various fields. We

look forward to a renewed role for the United Nations

compatible with the Secretary-General’s new vision so

that the Organization will be able to address the major

challenges before it.

Since joining the United Nations, the Kingdom

of Bahrain has worked tirelessly to promote the noble

purposes and principles of the United Nations, in

particular, the maintenance of peace and security and

the development of cooperation and friendly relations

among nations on the basis of mutual respect. Guided

by full respect for those principles, I am honoured to

represent a country that acts upon its international

commitments and has laid the foundations of a modern

State through initiatives, planning and political and

organizational vision. We seek to build a modern

society that is well organized and committed to its

values in various fields, notably education, health,

employment, vocational training, economic reform and

the advancement of women.

Our country, Bahrain, has opted for dialogue as

an approach to all its modernization efforts aimed

at meeting the requirements of its long history. We conducted municipal elections in the 1920s and

parliamentary elections in the past few decades.

Important results have been achieved in providing a

greater degree of equality, participation, transparency,

political rights and human dignity. That is truly a

historical milestone on the path towards building a

society based on competitive sustainability, justice,

the rule of law, equality and the consecration of the

principles of popular participation and representation

in the decision-making process.

Notwithstanding all those remarkable national

achievements, since last year the Kingdom of Bahrain

has faced some serious challenges to its security and

stability, which it has addressed in full transparency,

commitment and honesty. In that context, we established

the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry to

ascertain the truth and provide redress. Consequently,

we launched a comprehensive dialogue among the

various sectors of society that resulted in a series of

constitutional and legislative reforms encompassing all

aspects of life — political, economic, social and legal.

Against that backdrop, His Majesty King Hamad

bin Issa Al Khalifa of Bahrain proposed the creation of

an Arab court of human rights to lay the foundations of

an environment conducive to the protection of human

rights and the prevention of their abuse in the Arab

world, using the model of the Inter-American Court of

Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights

and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The Council of the League of Arab States endorsed that

historical initiative, and arrangements are currently

under way to establish the legal basis for the court’s

establishment. We hope that the court will become a

reality in the near future.

Last week, consistent with our efforts to build

a pluralistic Bahraini society and in full respect for

the protection and enhancement of human rights, the

Kingdom of Bahrain approved more than 90 per cent

of the recommendations made by the Human Rights

Council in Geneva during its Universal Periodic Review,

including a possible accession to the Optional Protocol

to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,

Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The challenges and threats facing our region have

led the States members of the Gulf Cooperation Council

to realize the need for greater synergies among them.

They have endorsed the proposal of the Custodian of

the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, to move from cooperation to union as a

means of addressing those challenges and threats and

building capacities to achieve a Gulf Cooperation

Council society based on a shared vision of the future

that responds to the accelerating pace of the world and

answers to the aspirations of the peoples of the Gulf

region. They are convinced that their interests and

gains can be served only through solidarity and unity

with a view to preserving national independence and

State sovereignty and to meeting the needs arising

from the strategic transformations on the regional and

international scenes.

My country believes that the United Nations has an

indispensable role to play in addressing international

and regional problems and finding appropriate

solutions to them. Our region dearly needs that role

to be fulfilled, given the catastrophic and fast-paced

developments taking place in Syria. The international

community, represented by the United Nations and

its organs and bodies entrusted with the maintenance

of international peace and security, is called upon

to unify its position with a view to putting an end to

the humanitarian suffering of the Syrian people and

finding a political solution to the crisis that will end

the violence and bloodshed, preserve the unity of Syria

and the cohesion of its people, and spare the region as a

whole serious repercussions that could spill far beyond

the borders of Syria.

The United Nations must therefore shoulder

its responsibilities to protect unarmed civilians

without allowing the Organization’s procedures and

mechanisms to impede its ability to prevent crimes

against humanity from being committed. It must set

aside narrow geopolitical interests and proceed to

attain the supreme goal of protecting civilians in armed

conflicts and wars. My Government welcomes the

appointment of Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi as Joint Special

Representative of the United Nations and the League

of Arab States, and wishes him every success in his

endeavours to achieve the legitimate demands of the

brotherly Syrian people.

On the basis of the same humanitarian principle,

we should also stand by the Rohingya Muslims in

Myanmar in their ordeal and provide them with

assistance and support while providing good counsel to

the Government of Myanmar in that regard.

Although the Syrian crisis is preoccupying

the international community today, the Palestinian

question remains the core issue for the Arab States and the international community. The Kingdom of Bahrain

believes that it is imperative to redouble efforts towards

a just, durable and comprehensive solution, notably

through the creation of an independent Palestinian State,

with East Jerusalem as its capital, in conformity with

the relevant United Nations resolutions, the Arab Peace

Initiative and the decisions of the international Quartet.

We are extremely concerned at attempts to violate the

sanctity of the holy sites in Al-Quds Al-Sharif and the

attempts to alter their identity.

We call on the international community to

support Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of

Palestine, who is striving relentlessly to defend the

cause of his occupied country and to achieve a just and

comprehensive peace in the region. We therefore urge

the international community to demand that Israel cease

its settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian

territories and dismantle settlements that jeopardize

the chances for peace. We also stress the need to

implement the relevant General Assembly and Security

Council resolutions by putting an end to ongoing Israeli

violations and aggression, and to ensure the principles

of international legitimacy, notably the Fourth Geneva

Convention of 1949, which prohibits any geographical

or demographic alteration in occupied territories. We

look forward to peace in our region, which would serve

the interests of all its peoples.

One tenet of our foreign policy is to enhance peace

and security in the region. In that regard, Bahrain

reaffirms its unf linching position in favour of a

nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East. That will

be possible only by compelling Israel to implement

relevant international resolutions, to adhere to the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,

and to subject its nuclear facilities to the supervision of

the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Moreover, we stress that the Islamic Republic of

Iran must fulfil its commitments in full and transparent

cooperation with the IAEA. Indeed, nuclear weapons

constitute a serious threat to peace and security in the

entire region, and various parties must therefore assume

their responsibility for peace and security and refrain

from the language of intimidation, threats and counter-

threats that have recently dominated our region.

In that regard, we stress the importance of an

excellent preparation process for the 2012 conference

to be held pursuant to the agreement reached in the

Final Document of the 2010 Review Conference of

the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT/CONF.2010/50 (Vol. I)).

We also reaffirm that the principle of establishing

a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East in no

way precludes the right of all nations to access nuclear

technology for peaceful purposes, provided that they

do so in full transparency and abide by the IAEA

guarantee system.

While the States members of the Gulf Cooperation

Council (GCC) have extended their hand to their

neighbour, the Islamic Republic of Iran, they have

unfortunately found no positive Iranian response that

could facilitate confidence-building, peace and security.

On the contrary, we have had to endure constant

interference in our internal affairs from our neighbour.

Recently, Iran has reiterated menacing threats to GCC

Member States, in contradiction of the spirit of good-

neighbourliness, thus generating tension and distrust in

the region. More importantly, the Kingdom of Bahrain

reaffirms the need, either through direct negotiations

or through arbitration by the International Court of

Justice, to resolve the problem of the three United

Arab Emirates’ islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and

Lesser Tunb that are occupied by the Islamic Republic

of Iran.

With regard to the situation in brotherly Yemen,

we are aware of the need for a successful transitional

period in order to achieve security and stability

in the country, in line with the agreement reached

within the framework of the GCC initiative and its

implementation mechanisms. We welcome the steps

taken by Mr. Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi Mansour,

President of the Republic of Yemen, to launch a national

Yemeni dialogue, and we are fully confident of his wise

leadership of Yemen during this critical transitional

period, so that the aspirations of the Yemeni people can

be realized.

In that regard, the Kingdom of Bahrain welcomes

the convening of the donors conference for Yemen,

held in Riyadh and sponsored by the Kingdom of

Saudi Arabia, and fully supports the recommendations

and conclusions agreed upon with a view to building

a brighter future for brotherly Yemen, as well as the

outcome of the meeting of the Friends of Yemen, held

today in New York.

We also reaffirm the unwavering, principled and

consistent position of the Kingdom of Bahrain, in

solidarity with the Kingdom of Morocco, regarding the

preservation of the territorial integrity of Morocco and the peaceful settlement of the Moroccan Sahara issue

pursuant to relevant Security Council resolutions.

In regard to the current political developments

in Somalia, the Kingdom of Bahrain welcomes the

election of Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the new

President of the Somali Republic in the context of

the transitional process. We call on the international

community to offer its support and assistance in the

restoration of peace and security in the country and in

the preservation of Somalia’s territorial integrity and

political independence. We commend the efforts of the

Somali Government, together with the international

community, to restore peace, stability and cooperation,

particularly in combating piracy in the Horn of Africa.

We have recently witnessed ugly insults and

denigration addressed to our beloved Prophet

Muhammad — peace be upon him, his family and

his companions. A typical example of that is the

shameful video that the Kingdom of Bahrain condemns

in the strongest terms, and which led to violence

and destruction around the world. Our concern is

compounded by the unjustified aggression perpetrated

against the diplomatic mission of the United States

of America in Benghazi that killed Ambassador

Christopher Stevens and a number of innocent

American diplomats, in f lagrant violation of the Vienna

Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.

In spite of these serious developments and

repercussions, we should not let that gloomy scene

overshadow the spectacle of the crowds that took to

the streets in Libya the following day to condemn that

abominable attack on the American mission. We are

all responsible, as peoples and nations, to teach each

other about respect. We need to redouble our efforts to

prevent the recurrence of insults to religions, prophets

and other religious symbols as Allah commands us in

the Holy Koran:

“We have created you from male and female

and made you peoples and tribes that you may

know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you

in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.

Indeed, Allah is all-knowing and acquainted”

(The Holy Koran, XLIX:13).

The Kingdom of Bahrain is among the first to

have achieved most of the Millenium Development

Goals (MDGs) before the prescribed time frame in the

fields of education, the empowerment of women, the

expansion of social security to vulnerable groups, equal opportunities for men and women, and the enhancement

of health services, notably for children. Therefore, the

Kingdom of Bahrain occupies an advanced position

at the global level, as reflected in the United Nations

Human Development Reports issued during the past

few years.

If the international community is to overcome the

challenges facing Member States, we must be able to

fully shoulder their responsibilities, especially as the

deadline for achieving the MDGs is approaching. We are

only three and a half years from that deadline. We have

to redouble our efforts and review our policies in order

to enhance national and regional capacities to avoid

imbalances and to overcome challenges. According

to the Millennium Development Goals Report 2012,

and notwithstanding some negative indicators, child

mortality has been decreasing across the world, the

percentage of those living in extreme poverty has been

halved, and over 89 per cent of the world’s population

now has access to safe drinking water.

However, it seems that other objectives are still

unattainable in many countries, and inequalities

continue to rise in some areas such as public health that

remains dismal and a cause for great concern. That also

applies to the scarcity of water resources. We therefore

cannot use the global financial crisis as an excuse

for reneging on our financial commitments to those

countries in greatest need.

In that regard, Bahrain welcomes the outcome

of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development, as well as the Secretary-General’s vision

with regard to sustainable development. Much remains

to be done, however, to ensure that people across the

world not only have access to the most basic needs, but

that they have the tools to maintain them over time.

We must acknowledge that sustainability is not merely

a response to needs but rather a principal element of

human dignity.

To conclude, I believe that the formidable changes

and challenges our world faces today present valuable

opportunities that we can exploit through wisdom,

courage, patience and joint action. We must work with

all our capacity to address the elements that divide us,

particularly backwardness, extremism and isolationism.

At the same time, we must continue to lend a hand

to those most in need. We must use objectivity and

honesty to challenge immobility and prejudice in order to achieve the progress, dignity and prosperity to which

our peoples aspire.