Comoros, 2010

This year I

should like to devote most of my statement once again

to the important matter of the Comorian island of

Mayotte. This has been a dispute between us and

France for more than three decades. It is our hope that

there will be greater understanding and more active

solidarity on this matter on the part of this Assembly.

It is my belief that the future of my country, the

Union of the Comoros, depends on peace and stability.

But there can be no lasting stability in my country

without a final solution to this problem. Accordingly,

this year we have once again requested that an item on

the Comorian island of Mayotte be included on the

agenda of the sixty-fifth session of the General

Assembly.

I also take this opportunity to express the deep

gratitude of the Comorian people for the valuable and

unwavering support of the African Union, the League

of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic

Conference on this issue.

I would like to begin by recalling that, pursuant

to recommendations of the United Nations, the highest

French authorities have themselves affirmed that the

Comoros should accede to independence within

inviolable borders. Thus, former French President Mr.

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing declared, inter alia, that the

Comoros are and always have been an entity and that it

is natural that they have a common destiny.

I also deem it vital and timely to recall today

certain resolutions of our Organization confirming the

legitimacy of the Comorian claim to the island of

Mayotte. These include resolution 1514 (XV), of

14 December 1960, on the granting of independence to

colonial countries and peoples, which guarantees the

national unity and territorial integrity of such countries

on regaining their sovereignty. Resolution 3291

(XXIX), of 13 December 1974, reaffirms the integrity

and unity of the Comoro Archipelago. In addition,

resolution 3385 (XXX), of 12 November 1975, adopted

a few months after the independence of the Comoros,

affirms the admission of the Comoro Archipelago,

composed of the islands of Mayotte, Anjouan, Mohéli

and Grande-Comore, to the United Nations.

Lastly, the historic resolution 31/4, of 21 October

1976, underscores the right of the Comoros and the

duties of France with regard to that independent

country. Allow me to read out the provisions of that

resolution that is of paramount importance to my

country and which will remain forever etched in the

memory of my Comorian compatriots.

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“Considering that the occupation by France

of the Comorian island of Mayotte constitutes a

flagrant encroachment on the national unity of the

Comorian State, a Member of the United Nations,

“Considering that such an attitude on the

part of France constitutes a violation of the

principles of the relevant resolutions of the

United Nations, in particular of General

Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December

1960 concerning the granting of independence to

colonial countries and peoples, which guarantees

the national unity and territorial integrity of such

countries,

“1. Condemns and considers null and void

the referendums of 8 February and 11 April 1976

organized in the Comorian island of Mayotte by

the Government of France, and rejects:

“(a) Any other form of referendum or

consultation which may hereafter be organized on

Comorian territory in Mayotte by France;

“(b) Any foreign legislation purporting to

legalize any French colonial presence on

Comorian territory in Mayotte;

“2. Strongly condemns the presence of

France in Mayotte, which constitutes a violation

of the national unity, territorial integrity and

sovereignty of the independent Republic of the

Comoros;” (resolution 31/4, third and fourth

preambular paragraphs and paras. 1 and 2).

France refuses to comply with all those relevant

resolutions adopted by the General Assembly relating

to the Comorian island of Mayotte and continues to

violate the principle of the inviolability of colonial

borders. It must be recalled that the principle of the

inviolability of borders became a rule of customary

international law, codified under paragraph 6 of

resolution 1514 (XV), which stipulates that:

“Any attempt aimed at the partial or total

disruption of the national unity and the territorial

integrity of a country is incompatible with the

purposes and principles of the Charter of the

United Nations.”

That same resolution recalls in its paragraph 7 that:

“All States shall observe faithfully and

strictly the provisions of the Charter of the United

Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights and the present Declaration on the basis of

equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of

all States, and respect for the sovereign rights of

all peoples and their territorial integrity.”

International jurisprudence fully recognizes that

principle of the indivisibility of colonial entities. In the

judgment handed down on 11 September 1992 in a

dispute between Honduras and El Salvador, the

International Court of Justice in The Hague declared

that the principle of the inviolability of colonial

borders is a retroactive principle that changes

administrative boundaries originally designed for other

purposes into international borders.

For many years, my country has called the

international community to witness and has made

known its readiness to seek a fair and just solution

bilaterally. The response to our position was crushing.

France not only took unilateral steps in 1994 to hinder

the free circulation of persons by introducing a visa for

all Comorians wishing to visit Mayotte, part of

Comorian territory, but also, in 2000, it began the

process of making the island a department, which is

illegal under international law.

I wish to stress that the imposition of a visa

requirement in 1994 had truly tragic human

consequences. The small slice of the sea of

approximately 70 kilometres separating Anjouan from

the sister island of Mayotte has now become the largest

maritime cemetery in the world. To date, nearly 7,000

people have been killed.

Moreover, while we had agreed to establish a

high-level working group to relaunch the dialogue in

order to consider together equitable and just solutions,

on 29 May 2009 France organized another referendum

aimed at changing the status of the island of Mayotte

into an overseas department.

We are surprised that, despite all the good will

demonstrated by the Comorian side — and in particular

the innovative proposal on Mayotte known as “one

country, two systems” or two administrations, which I

myself introduced at an earlier session of this

Assembly — there has been no positive response from

France to that outstretched hand. The dual system

would be a compromise that would finally ensure

respect for international law, while enabling France to

continue to legally administer the Comorian island of

Mayotte during a period to be mutually agreed. It

would also enable our Mahorais brothers and sisters,

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whom I love dearly, to preserve their social status and

standard of living, and the three other islands to finally

take up the many challenges of development in peace

and stability.

But France wants to know nothing about this

compromise. Faced with such an attitude, we find

ourselves obliged to request our dear Organization to

require France to respect and comply with international

law, implement the various relevant United Nations

resolutions on the Comorian island of Mayotte, and to

reconsider its position on our offer, which clearly

represents a huge sacrifice on the part of my country,

which in fact is within its rights.

What is at stake is the future of the Comoros, a

small sovereign country Member of the United

Nations. Also at stake is the honour of France, a great

country whose ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity

so strongly and profoundly inspired the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights and the principles

underpinning our Charter. Ultimately, what is at stake

is the honour of our Organization, whose very

credibility would be sorely challenged should

international law and legality continue to be

disregarded and the territorial integrity of the Comoros

continue to be violated.

The United Nations is the guarantor of respect for

international law. It is duty-bound to require that its

Members’ legislation complies fully with the relevant

resolutions. I can only endorse the statement of the

President of the General Assembly, His Excellency Mr.

Joseph Deiss, who said at the opening of this session

that the United Nations is the guarantor of global

governance and enjoys a global legitimacy.

I cannot end my statement without reiterating that

the Comoros supports the efforts of the international

community, and more specifically the personal efforts

of His Excellency President Barack Hussein Obama, to

establish a just and lasting peace in the Middle East

enabling the Palestinian people to live freely and safely

in an independent State and to enjoy fully all their

legitimate rights.

My country also pays tribute to efforts to bring an

end to the fratricidal conflicts that are ripping apart the

Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic

of the Congo and the Great Lakes region.

We also reiterate our strong support for the

territorial integrity of the brotherly Kingdom of

Morocco and our full backing for the Moroccan

autonomy proposal as a definitive political compromise

solution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan

Sahara.

We also reiterate our unwavering support for the

legitimate demands of the People’s Republic of China

for the return of Taiwan to China’s fold.

It is through peace, stability and security and

respect for international law that our nations will be

able to attain the development goals they have set

themselves to help our peoples. I therefore have full

trust that our Organization shall continue to make these

ideals its main focus.

We must, as soon as possible, implement the

agreements and resolutions that we have agreed in

order to find peaceful and definitive solutions to all

outstanding issues, because any delay in or suspension

of our search for such solutions would create

additional, similar issues and crises in other countries

and spark the flames of extremism and terrorism

throughout the world. We hope that we shall find

solutions that will lead to the happiness and well-being

of all our peoples.