Botswana, 2012

Allow me, on behalf of

my delegation, to join preceding speakers in expressing

our felicitations to Mr. Vuk Jeremić on his assumption

of the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-

seventh session. Let me also seize the opportunity to

sincerely commend his predecessor, Ambassador

Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, of the State of Qatar, for his skilful stewardship of the sixty-sixth session.

My delegation is confident that under the President’s

guidance and wise leadership, the General Assembly

will achieve a successful and fruitful outcome. I

therefore pledge the full support and cooperation of

my delegation to him, in the discharge of his onerous

responsibilities.

Botswana is among the developing countries

that have been adversely affected by the 2008 global

economic and financial crisis. Consequently, we

were compelled to reorder our priorities and also

defer implementation of various approved projects in

our National Development Plan, some of which were

of strategic national importance. In that regard, we

continue to be concerned that many of our traditional

donors who helped us to progress to where we are today,

have virtually abandoned us following Botswana’s

graduation to higher middle-income developing country

status. Contrary to the perception that Botswana is an

economically well-off country, we now, more than ever

before, need development assistance, on account of the

varied nature and gravity of the challenges we continue

to face.

With respect to the African continent, Botswana

has followed with concern some recent peculiar

developments. The military coups in Mali and Guinea-

Bissau early this year are a sad reminder of what we

thought was a closed chapter of the dark days of African

politics driven by self-interest. Those developments

seriously undermine the significant progress which

Africa has made to date in embracing and consolidating

democracy, good governance, respect for human rights

and the rule of law. We therefore call on the African

Union to remain firm and resolute in its rejection of

unconstitutional changes of Government on the African

continent, and we implore the international community

to give full importance and full support to the African

Union in that regard.

Elsewhere on the continent, we particularly

welcome the recent agreement between the Sudan and

South Sudan on the implementation of the African

Union road map, aimed at resolving outstanding issues

in the relations between the two countries. However, we

remain concerned about the fragile security situation,

and we therefore appeal to both parties to exercise

maximum restraint and to commit to honouring the

terms of the road map. Although the appeal is made to

both sides, we are very much aware that the Sudan is the

main cause of the instability between the two countries. The catalogue of incidents of provocation and blatant

acts of aggression against the Republic of South Sudan

by the North that has led to instability in that region has

been typical of the Sudanese regime for many years.

We live in times when our common well-being

is seriously compromised by such threats as nuclear

proliferation, terrorism, climate change, environmental

degradation, underdevelopment and pandemic diseases,

coupled with the effects of the global economic and

financial crisis and internal conflicts. The resolution

of the myriad of challenges and threats confronting

mankind requires urgent and concerted action by the

international community. Because of its universality,

the United Nations commands the requisite legitimacy

and moral authority to provide guidance and leadership

in addressing those threats and challenges. It is therefore

imperative that the United Nations of the twenty-first

century respond effectively to present realities and

effectively handle future challenges.

We believe that the international community

should act and speak out strongly and forthrightly

against human rights abuses and atrocities wherever

and whenever they occur. In that regard, my delegation

observes with deep regret that, over the past few months,

the world community has watched helplessly and

failed hopelessly to intervene as Syria descended into

protracted anarchy. In the process, the Syrian people

have been subjected to a cycle of violent repression and

some of the worst human rights abuses and atrocities

known to mankind.

Even as we speak, the violent crackdown and

bloodshed in that country continue unabated. Al-Assad

has displaced more than a million Syrians to satisfy

his lust for power. He has caused around 300,000

Syrians to f lee into neighbouring countries because

of his criminal acts. He has slaughtered 20,000 of his

citizens in order to remain President. He has killed

men, women, children and babies to achieve that. The

international community has, regrettably, failed to

respond collectively. And Syria remains a Member of

the United Nations, a body with the expressed objective

of defending humankind. That surely cannot be right.

Syria’s allies in the Security Council and in the region

need to be equally condemned.

The uprisings in the Middle East, commonly

referred to as the Arab Spring, have demonstrated that

no amount of force can suppress the will of the people

forever. The situation in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt,

where the popular will of the people has ushered in

democratic dispensations, attests to that.

Concerning Libya, which had to engage in an

internal conflict to rid itself of a brutal dictator, we

commend the Libyan people and their allies in the

military coalition that imposed a no-f ly zone in order

to remove Colonel Al-Qadhafi and his regime.

My delegation is of the view that given its

mandate to maintain international peace and security,

the Security Council should assume the high moral

ground in defending the victims of war crimes and

crimes against humanity, such as those currently being

committed in Syria. The principle of the responsibility

to protect, as expressed in Security Council resolution

1674 (2006), should be forcefully applied wherever

crimes against humanity occur. In that connection, my

delegation condemns in the strongest possible terms

the persistent vetoes by China and Russia of successive

Security Council resolutions aimed at putting pressure

on the Syrian leadership to cease its heinous crimes

against its citizens. We therefore call on those members

of the Council to live up to their responsibilities, in

accordance with the provisions of the United Nations

Charter. We urge the international community to

act swiftly to save the people of Syria from further

unwarranted bloodshed.

Botswana will continue to sponsor and support

the various General Assembly and Human Rights

Council resolutions aimed at addressing the situation in

Syria, as a practical demonstration of our unwavering

commitment towards a resolution of the Syrian

crisis. It is for that reason that we join forces with

like-minded countries in calling for the situation in

Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court

for investigation, so that those responsible for crimes

against humanity can be held accountable. Al-Assad

and his regime should be removed as soon as possible.

We must encourage the opposition to unite and to form

a transition administration that we can all recognize.

We wish to commend Turkey and the other countries

that have taken on the burden of accommodating Syrian

refugees, have spoken out against the deteriorating

security and humanitarian situation in Syria and

have responded, with others, to the plea of the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees (UNHCR) for contributions. For its part,

Botswana has made a modest contribution to UNHCR to

help the humanitarian relief efforts for Syrian refugees. We also wish to commend responsible human-rights

organizations, such as Amnesty International and

Human Rights Watch, for the work they do in seeking

to safeguard the principles that protect humankind.

Their mission — to act as watchdogs in matters of

safeguarding human rights — is a very necessary

one. Similarly, we commend those humanitarian

non-governmental organizations that work tirelessly,

with meagre resources and under very difficult

circumstances, to bring relief to refugees affected by

natural and man-made disasters.

Human rights abuses and atrocities are not limited

to Syria. It is in that context that we affirm our support

for the International Criminal Court and urge it to

continue to fulfil its mandate, including prosecuting

those indicted for human rights abuses and crimes

against humanity. We therefore appeal to States parties

to fully cooperate with the Court in its efforts to bring

the suspected perpetrators of such crimes to justice.

We wish to add our voice in condemning the violence

that occurred following the release of a publication that

offended people of the Islamic faith. There can be no

justification for such a violent response. The violence

itself caused offence to its victims. Retaliation against

offensive expressions therefore cannot take the form

of other offensive actions aimed at innocent parties.

However, where democracy is defined as Government

of the people, by the people, for the people — in

other words, doing what is in the best interests of the

people — how can it be in the people’s best interests if

freedom of speech results in insults?

Other freedoms, in a democratic dispensation,

include freedom of association — but we cannot

associate with terrorist or criminal groups without

consequences, since it is not in the people’s best interests

to live among terrorists and criminals. Freedom of

expression allows for protests — but only peaceful

protests — in democracies, because it is also not in

people’s best interests to have violent protests; and in

democracies consequences do follow if protests become

violent. The same goes for freedom of the press, if it is

abused, as it often is. There must be consequences, in

order to protect people’s interests from misinformation

and attempts to discredit or defame them. With all such

freedoms there must be limits. Democracy is supposed

to be responsible. Causing offence and insult cannot by

any stretch of the imagination be passed off as what

we want in a democracy. Trying to justify irresponsible actions as permitted under any of these freedoms,

including freedom of speech, is itself irresponsible.

Turning to environmental issues, we note the limited

and disappointing progress made at the United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development in addressing

sustainable development issues, as has been the case at

similar summits in the past. As we all know, the world

is facing the twin challenges of scarcity of resources

and climate change. Those problems are particularly

acute in Africa, owing to the high incidence of poverty

there.

To respond to those big problems, which clearly

need visionary solutions and strong partnerships for

sustainability on a scale and with an impact that are

unprecedented, my country took the important initiative

of hosting in May the Summit for Sustainability in

Africa. Participation was at the Head of State level,

and included representatives of some of the most

inf luential and significant private-sector stakeholders

in the world. The Summit adopted the Gaborone

Declaration, which, among other things, provides for

policy improvements at both the Government and the

private-sector levels, aimed at integrating the value of

natural capital development. The Declaration also calls

for increased private-sector investment in Africa to

help reduce food insecurity, improve livelihoods and

increase sustainability. We therefore call on the United

Nations system and the international community in

general to commit to implementing the Declaration.

There are many important and urgent issues

affecting developing countries that must be addressed.

They include technology transfer, funding and capacity-

building in other areas, aimed at enabling such countries

to adapt to the requirements of a green economy in the

context of sustainable development. In that regard, we

urge the developed world to help developing countries

to address these critical issues and take accelerated

action in order to deal with climate change and its

causes in their economies.

However, we welcome the agreement to launch an

intergovernmental negotiation process that will lead

to the adoption of sustainable development goals as

part of the post-2015 development agenda, when the

implementation process of the Millennium Development

Goals will have run its course. My delegation believes

that the process for developing sustainable development

goals should be synchronized with the 2013 review of the

implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. We would like to take this opportunity to commend the

work done by environmental organizations worldwide

in their efforts to save the planet from climate change

and its negative effects.

Botswana participated in the ill-fated United Nations

Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty in July, whose

purpose was for Member States to agree on common

international standards for regulating the international

trade in conventional weapons. We believe that, when

adopted, an arms trade treaty will complement the

United Nations programme of action for combating the

proliferation of arms and ammunition, which continue

to cause untold suffering.

Before concluding, I wish to state that Botswana

fully supports the call for implementing the Assembly’s

successive resolutions on lifting sanctions against Cuba,

something we believe is logical and long overdue.