Central African Republic, 2012

It is a genuine honour and pleasure for me to

take the f loor in the General Assembly Hall to report

on the great interest that the Central African Republic

takes in the major international issues of concern to

everyone here.

However, before doing so, I would like, on

behalf of my whole delegation, to extend my warm

congratulations to Mr. Jeremić on his election to the

presidency of the Assembly at its sixty-seventh session and to assure him of our full cooperation in his noble

and demanding work. I would also like to commend the

excellent work done under the presidency of Mr. Nassir

Abdulaziz Al-Nasser during the sixty-sixth session. I

wholeheartedly express my deepest thanks to Secretary-

General Ban Ki-moon for the particular attention he

focuses on our post-conflict country, where the quest

to achieve and build peace remains a major challenge

on the road to reconstruction and development. I also

commend his tireless efforts to strengthen the role of

the United Nations and to consolidate ever more firmly

the moral authority of the Organization.

Before conveying our assessments and perspectives

on the main recurring themes of the general debate,

which constitute a litany of global concerns, let me

first say that my country welcomes the initiative in

convening at the outset of the current session the

High-level Meeting on the Rule of Law at the National

and International Levels. That is an issue of critical

importance, considering that the rule of law itself is

being harshly put to the test all over the world. All

States and all international institutions should strive to

promote the rule of law at both the national and the

international levels. Strengthening the rule of law and

democratic institutions is of the utmost importance,

because they represent the guardians of sovereignty

and peaceful coexistence.

The real battle at the national and international

levels is to enforce respect for the rule of law wherever

chaos prevails. Many challenges remain in maintaining

the rule of law. Hotspots persist and old conflicts erupt

anew in many parts of the world, causing tragedy and

threatening to unravel the rule of law.

In Africa the rule of law is particularly at risk of

breaking down, threatened by tensions, disputes and

conflicts in a number of high-tension areas, especially

Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the

Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia. The same applies

to other crises all over the world, carrying untold risk

to governance and stability within countries, not to

mention to international relations.

The Government of the Central African Republic

goes to great lengths to support efforts to promote

the rule of law, justice and transparency through its

management of the national institutions charged with

enforcing the rule of law. Without peace and stability

at the global and regional levels, national security and stability are out of the question, and therefore so is the

rule of law.

All around the globe we hear cries for freedom and

democracy. Since 1989 the world has been in a period

of change that has sparked much political fire in Africa.

With the international transformations of the 1990s,

many African States, including the Central African

Republic, have begun to move towards democratizing

their political systems. Democracy, good governance

and human rights are interdependent. We can say that

there can be no rule of law unless those values are

respected, both by Governments and the governed.

The support and programmes designed to respond to

citizen’s expectations must take those shared values

into account, and the Government of the Central

African Republic strives to achieve that every day. The

Central African Republic has returned to democratic

practices, and there is no question that through the

evolving democratic process efforts have been made to

improve the management of public affairs politically,

economically and socially. But we must admit that

much remains to be done, and it is something that the

international community must commit to collectively.

My country’s commitment to human rights has

been demonstrated, not only through its full accession

to many if not almost all, of the relevant international

and regional instruments, but also in practice, through

its encouragement of those rights. Under the leadership

of General François Bozizé, President of the Republic

and Head of State, we adopted a new Constitution on

27 December 2004. The Constitution enshrines the

principles of good governance, maintains the rule

of law and respect for human rights, and broadens

the scope of individual and collective liberties. The

Constitution also provides for recognition of the

principle that international conventions ratified by the

Central African Republic take precedence over national

legislation, thus encouraging the harmonization of our

laws with our international commitments.

In expressing its political will within the framework

of the defence of civic and political rights protected by

the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights, the

Central African Republic implements the provisions

of that Charter, which have been incorporated into its

laws. The Government is also making efforts to protect

and encourage vulnerable groups, such as women and

children and minorities, through social policies that

benefit them.

We are aware that the press is the fourth estate in

every democracy. In order to guarantee the exercise

of the freedom of the press in the Central African

Republic, the Government enacted, on 22 February

2005, Ordinance No. 05002, concerning freedom of

communication, which relaxes the laws concerning

press offences, notably by replacing prison terms with

ordinary fines for any contravention of the laws in

question.

In an effort to avoid post-electoral political crises,

the Government, the political parties — both the

majority and the opposition parties — trade unions and

civil society are currently reviewing the electoral code

in order to correct dysfunctional areas that were noted

during the election campaigns of January 2011. The

work being done will enable Central African political

actors to undertake reforms and essential improvements

for the next electoral cycle in a spirit of dialogue and

consensus.

The state of the world should make us aware of

the urgent need to strengthen multilateralism in order

to avoid the collective disaster we face, if we do not

speedily come up with appropriate and agreed-on

solutions to our global problems. The fundamental

goals of disarmament and the non-proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction continue to be held

hostage to the policy of the double standard, along with

the discriminatory practices and lack of respect for

commitments undertaken on the part of certain nuclear

Powers.

The fight against terrorism and violations of

human rights around the world, which is approached

selectively, and the biased implementation of

international humanitarian law has given rise to

legitimate doubts as to whether those noble causes are

being exploited for political ends. That calls for action

by the Organization. Issues of climate change and the

protection of the natural world also demand a changed

approach that takes into account the aspirations of all

peoples. Floods and energy and drought-induced food

crises continue in some parts of the world, and such

crucial issues require greater mobilization on the part

of the international community.

This year we will renew the debate on the central

role of the United Nations system, while putting

particular emphasis on the global governance that it

embodies. The Organization remains the keystone of

the new world order and the conscience of humankind. That is why the need is greater than ever for a United

Nations that can take on a more leading role in that

global governance, a groundbreaking organization

that will be at the forefront of actions promoting an

inclusive framework and global and lasting solutions

to all the crises that trouble our world and have direct

repercussions for human rights.

Increasing multipolarization and economic

globalization, the recent evolution of world economic

governance and growing cooperation between

emerging countries have all presented valuable

development opportunities to many countries around

the world. The United Nations is the most universal and

representative intergovernmental organization with the

greatest authority, and it is the most important platform

for achieving multilateralism. Since its establishment it

has played a huge and irreplaceable role in maintaining

world peace, promoting shared development and

strengthening international cooperation. In today’s

world its role must be reinforced, not weakened.

The Central African Republic will continue to

support the essential and rational reform of the United

Nations in line with the evolution of the international

situation, in order to increase its authority and

effectiveness, strengthen its capacity to deal with

new threats and challenges and better implement

the mandates entrusted to it by the Charter. Both

the revitalization of the General Assembly and the

necessary reform of the Security Council in order to

meet the legitimate aspirations of developing countries,

in particular in Africa, are certainly valid.

The issue of civilian resources needed in postconf

lict situations takes us back to the Organization’s

initial purpose: to be a centre for the coordinated efforts

of nations to maintain international peace and security

through peaceful means. The Charter has given rise to

two texts on the peaceful settlement of disputes: the

General Assembly Manila Declaration on the Peaceful

Settlement of International Disputes of 1982 (resolution

37/10, annex) and the 1988 Declaration on the Prevention

and Removal of Disputes and Situations Which May

Threaten International Peace and Security and on the

Role of the United Nations in this Field (resolution

43/51, annex). We could also mention resolution 47/120,

entitled “An Agenda for Peace”, drawn up following

the summit meeting of the Security Council in January

1992 convened to establish a doctrine of preventive

diplomacy in order to anticipate crises or to facilitate

their settlement through the mechanisms of good offices, mediators and special envoys of the Secretary-

General supported by the Mediation Support Unit.

In that context, the Government of the Central

African Republic welcomes the African Union’s

launching of the African Solidarity Initiative in July. Its

aim is to mobilize contributions of all kinds in support of

the various reconstruction phases in African countries

emerging from conflict. Post-conflict reconstruction is

complex and requires short-, medium- and long-term

programmes to prevent violence from escalating and

the reoccurrence of violent conflict and to strengthen

and consolidate a lasting peace.

Under the presidency of President Bozizé, the

Central African Republic, a post-conflict country that

owes much to the virtues of dialogue, quickly noted

the significance of such a tool in the prevention and

settlement of national crises. In that regard, I would

like to draw the international community’s attention to

the fact that the Central African Government has made

the issue of mediation a priority concern in its work

plan. To that end, it established the National Mediation

Council.

We should perhaps go further in establishing

civilian mediation bodies for the restoration of peace,

whose members would be charged with visiting the

warring parties in order to establish dialogue between

them and to help them to settle their disputes through

peaceful means.

The Central African Republic affirms that there

can be no rule of law without respect for and the

promotion of rights and freedoms, including that of

religion, which should be practiced without extremism,

the consequences of which often lead to a clash of

civilizations. Regional and international meetings have

taken place in the context of the dialogue of civilizations.

However, violence and intolerance continue to affect

social relations.

This is the place to express to the American

people the sincere condolences of the Central African

Government over the attacks on the United States

consulate in Benghazi, which led to the death of

innocent victims.