Comoros, 2013

At the

outset, let me convey to the United States authorities

our full gratitude for the always warm and fraternal

hospitality they show us at this great annual event in

New York at the United Nations. I also express my

sincere congratulations to the President, and I wish him

every success and an excellent conduct of the work of

the Assembly at its sixty-eighth session on the post-2015

development agenda. Finally, on behalf of my delegation

and myself, I join the other heads of delegations present

in the Hall to express my full gratitude to Secretary-

General Ban Ki-Moon for his willingness to serve our

world with the commitment and self-sacrifice for which

he is known.

At a time when the world is facing the most serious

kinds of crises, blind barbaric terrorist acts, which

we strongly condemn, have just been perpetrated in

Kenya, claiming dozens of innocent victims, including

women and children. At a time when armed conflicts

are challenging our common abilities to build a world

where peace reigns, the crisis that has been evolving

in Syria for two and a half years, with its litany of

distress and human tragedy, should call on us to reach

an early settlement of the conflict and put an end to the

suffering of the Syrian people. We strongly condemn

the use of chemical weapons in Syria against innocent

populations, just as we vigorously condemn the

perpetrators of that horrible act.

Let me formally draw our attention to other crises

and other evils that, while they may appear to us to be

minor or insignificant, are also every bit as serious.

They are serious particularly because they lead to a

heavy loss of human lives and, for those who live with

them daily, they frequently give rise to frustration,

scorn and a sense of abandonment.

At the same time, those other evils actually should

not even exist, because it was together in the United

Nations that our predecessors unanimously, in a spirit

of the equality of peoples, universal justice, fairness and

humanism, decided with an open heart and free spirit to

make humankind more harmonious for the well-being

of our species. Indeed, it was our Organization that

decided to decolonize all territories under the colonial

yoke. It set the rules, laid out a path, and supported the

peoples to be freed.

Let me also pay tribute to the permanent members

of the Security Council and to all States Members of

the United Nations for the responsible attitude they

have demonstrated since the creation of the United

Nations to the present time in supporting national

liberation movements and organizations, particularly in

our continent of Africa. It is, however, regrettable that,

68 years after its inception and after the adoption of the

Charter, the Assembly continues to bear witness today

to a situation in which the territory of a small island

State — in this case my own country, the Comoro

Archipelago — remains under the thumb of another

State, a major Power and a permanent member of the

Security Council — the State of France.

And yet the Organization came out unequivocally

in favour of the independence of the Comoro

Archipelago, in accordance with resolutions 1514 (XV)

of 14 December 1960 on the Declaration on the Granting

of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, and

2621 (XXV) of 12 October 1970, containing the Plan of

Action for the Full Implementation of the Declaration

on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries

and Peoples. Furthermore, resolutions 3161 (XXVIII)

of 14 December 1973 and 3291 (XXIX) of 13 December

1974 reaffirm the unity and territorial and integrity of

the Comorian islands and the inalienable right of its

people to self-determination and independence.

Thus, the Security Council, through its unanimous

adoption of resolution 376 (1975) of 17 October 1975,

recommended to the General Assembly that the

Comoros be admitted to membership in the United

Nations. The Comoros therefore became a Member of

the United Nations, under resolution 3385 (XXX) of

12 November 1975, which reaffirms the need to respect

the unity and integrity of the Comoro Archipelago,

composed of the islands of Anjouan, Grande Comore,

Mayotte and Mohéli. I recall that all Member countries,

including the European countries, voted in favour of

that resolution. France did not oppose it.

Can those who lead our States and Governments,

guarantors of the independence and integrity of their

territory, imagine the frustration and moral torture

of a Head of State who has to deal with such a tragic

situation on a daily basis? In addressing them, I am

letting my heart speak. They may rest assured that

all my fellow citizens do the same daily. What have

we, the Comorian people, done that is so serious that

history does not treat us as it does all other peoples of

the world? Why must we time and time again explain

or justify the united nature of our people, its history, its

geography or its culture? Moreover, when some seek to

persuade us that it is because a part of our population

supposedly expressed a desire to remain colonized, we

sincerely wonder if they are trying to relive the Berlin

Conference of 1885.

If that were indeed the case, are we to understand

that these same people would seek to raise that issue

with all peoples who wish to remain themselves or

change their destiny? Since it is the desire of all people

to strive for freedom, what would happen if one day

the Comorian people of Mayotte called for its freedom

from France? What a historical inconsistency that

would be, and what norms of international law would

the Organization act on?

Since 6 July 1975, the date on which my country,

the Comoros Archipelago, acceded to its sovereignty,

the Comorians have continued to call simply for the

implementation of international law. They have done so

in vain. And yet, in other similar cases, certain major

Powers demand compliance with the same international

law and win their case. Thus, the movement of peoples

among the islands of the Comoros Archipelago, which

is an inalienable right, is impeded by an unfathomable

and unacceptable decision of the French authorities who,

in 1994, imposed a visa on travel between Mayotte and

the three other Comorian islands. That visa system has

to date led to the death of nearly 10,000 of my fellow

citizens, making the strait that separates Mayotte and

the other islands the largest marine cemetery in the

world. Our common conscience requires that we act

quickly.

In all international forums, including the

United Nations, the international community, while

recognizing the right of the Comorians to recover

their territorial integrity, has repeatedly called upon

the two parties involved, the Comoros and France, to

enter into negotiations in order to find a lasting and

equitable solution to this unfortunate territorial dispute

in accordance with international law. Each of my

predecessors in turn undertook negotiations with the

French State, but it is undeniable that we are still at

square one.

Since I was elected President of the Republic, I

have thought a great deal about the issue and consulted

widely. The responsibilities I have assumed require

changing a game that has remained unchanged now

for 38 years. After an initial meeting with my French

counterpart, President François Hollande, in Kinshasa,

on the sidelines of the Summit of La Francophonie, I

understood that the new French authorities were at long

last ready to find a solution to the issue of the Comoros.

I noted and acknowledge that France today is prepared

to play its historic role as a State that is respectful of

international law, regardless of what that law may say

on any particular subject. What France has recently

done for Mali is the most eloquent example of that.

On that note, let me join the Malian authorities and

people and the African continent in general to thank the

French authorities who took the responsible decision to

ensure that the armed forces of the Republic of Chad

and the countries in the West African region join the

French armed forces in helping Mali recover its unity

and territorial integrity. I take this opportunity also to

welcome the presence among us here of His Excellency

Mr. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, President of the Republic

of Mali, and express our joy in sharing with the brother

people of Mali the sense of pride at their having

recovered the integrity of their territory.

Move by the same ideal and the same hope of seeing

my country recover its territorial integrity, I warmly

welcomed the invitation from President François

Hollande to carry out a working visit to France in

order to undertake serious negotiations and give a new

impetus to our relations, particularly on the issue of the

Comorian island of Mayotte. In the wake of that visit,

we signed and issued a political declaration, the so-

called Paris Declaration. Before my visit, I consulted

the Chairperson of the African Union Commission in

order to ensure that our latest effort was in keeping with

the principles upheld by our continental organization

and also to consult her expertise. I take this opportunity

to express all our gratitude to Ms. Dlamini-Zuma,

Chairperson of the African Union Commission, for her

ongoing support to our country.

In thus expressing myself, I call on the entire

international community to bear witness to my request

that the Secretary-General provide his expertise,

support and backing throughout the negotiations for

the new dynamic to which we and the French have

resolutely committed.

I would like to inform the General Assembly that

the issue of Mayotte will henceforth be on our agenda

every year and that we, the Comorian authorities, are

commited to reporting every year on the course of the

negotiations until a lasting settlement is found to the

issue of the sovereignty of my country. My country

calls on the United Nations and other international

organizations with which we are affiliated — including

the African Union, the International Organization

of La Francophonie, the League of Arab States, the

Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Non-Aligned

Movement and the Indian Ocean Commission — to

provide us with their full support during the negotiations.

A high joint council, the follow-up body to the

Paris Declaration that I mentioned previously, will be

established in the weeks ahead. It will begin its work

this year by considering the problem of the movement

of goods and persons in order to put an irreversible end

to the human tragedies that daily afflict all Comorian

families.

Never has our world has been so close to achieving

the objective for which we, the world’s leaders, meet in

this United Nations temple at least once a year. That goal,

as the United Nations Charter stipulates, is to maintain

international peace and security. It would therefore be

appropriate for me, before I conclude my statement, to

commend the efforts of the international community

that have led to considerable progress in Madagascar,

thereby opening the path to the forthcoming presidential

elections in that great brother country.

In order to ensure that “The post-2015 development

agenda: setting the stage”, which is the theme of the

sixty-eighth session, is not just one more pipe dream,

we need to act quickly to shelter our peoples from fear

and need. Let us dare to fight injustice. Let us dare to

put an end to deadly conflict. Let us dare to make peace

our daily struggle and our sole reason for being, so that

humankind may live in harmony.