Dominica, 1992

I am honoured to congratulate Mr. Ganev and

his country, Bulgaria, on his election to the high office of President of the

General Assembly at its forty-seventh session. We are aware that he possesses

the qualities and experience required for assuming the responsibility of

presiding over the Assembly, and we are therefore confident that he will serve

in that capacity with authority, dignity and honour. I assure him of the full

cooperation of the delegation of the Commonwealth of Dominica in the discharge

of his duties.

It is with great pleasure also that I congratulate and welcome

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali on his election as the sixth Secretary-General of

the United Nations.

Mr. Boutros-Ghali's election is a contribution by Egypt, Africa and the third

world in general to the maintenance of world peace, justice and fundamental

human rights. His intellect, integrity, sense of commitment and wide

experience in international affairs are qualities which, I have no doubt, will

ensure excellence in the performance of his duties. I assure

Mr. Boutros-Ghali of the strong support of the Government and people of the

Commonwealth of Dominica throughout his term as Secretary-General.

Permit me to formally bid farewell to the former Secretary-General of the

United Nations, Javier Perez de Cuellar, who gave 10 remarkable years of

service to this international body. He will be well remembered for his keen

interest in the welfare of humankind and more specifically for his efforts at

maintaining world peace. It is my firm belief that his successor will pursue

the issues that Mr. Perez de Cuellar hopes will be the main concern of the

United Nations in the coming years: maintenance of international peace and

security, justice, universalization of human rights, and lessening of the gap

between rich and poor nations of the world community.

We believe the United Nations should be a truly international body, with

universal membership. However, we do not accept the practice of automatic

succession. We insist that all new States seeking admission must qualify for

membership. Countries seeking admission to this world community must be

committed to peace and must accept the obligations of the United Nations

Charter: countries which, in the judgement of the Organization, are able and

willing to carry out their obligations.

It is in this context that we wholeheartedly support the decision to

exclude for the time being Serbia and Montenegro from membership of the United

Nations, and we welcome other new members from the former Yugoslavia and

former Soviet Union. Serbia and Montenegro, on the other hand, by their

barbaric acts and flagrant violation of human rights through the practice of

"ethnic cleansing", have demonstrated a lack of respect for the obligations

and principles of this world body.

The Commonwealth of Dominica joins the world community in condemning

Serbia's acts of violence and aggression against the peoples of Bosnia and

Herzegovina, and calls for concerted and effective action in defence of the

defenceless in those States.

While we support unstintingly the resolutions adopted by the Security

Council authorizing the use of force to provide humanitarian assistance to the

refugees and displaced persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and applaud the

efforts of different United Nations agencies in that respect, there is need

for greater effort to stop Serbian aggression and end the civil war under way

in the former Yugoslav Republic. "Ethnic cleansing" and violations of

international humanitarian law must not be tolerated. Our community of

nations cannot be indifferent to the slaughtering of innocent people.

Recent trends have demonstrated a weakening, and even a disruption, of

the democratic process, as well as widespread violations of human rights not

only in Eastern Europe but also in Africa and the Americas.

Civil war coupled with the severity of the drought problem has led to

famine and death for too many Somalians, and we exhort the United Nations to

spare no effort in alleviating the plight of the starving millions of that

country.

The Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica was deeply gratified by

the positive outcome of the referendum on reform in South Africa. It seemed

to confirm the will of the people of South Africa to move forward rapidly

towards an equitable society where all citizens would be offered their

God-given dignity and their full right to participate in the affairs of that

country. As a sign of support, and in response to the positive vote on the

referendum, the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica joined other

nations of the Commonwealth in an easing of people-to-people contacts

generally.

We are however deeply concerned at the persistence of violence and the

failure of the South African Government to control it, which undermines and

obstructs progress towards democracy and majority rule. We call for a

concerted thrust to bring an end to violence, and for a constructive and open

dialogue between the Pretoria regime and the African National Congress in an

effort to arrive at an early agreement on majority rule.

The international community must keep the situation under constant review

and should ease economic sanctions against the minority regime in South Africa

only in response to firm, significant and irreversible progress towards a

democratically elected government based on principles of equality and

justice. We hope for an end to all violence and look forward to peaceful

progress towards a truly just and democratic system.

The situation in Haiti is of particular concern to us in the Americas.

The violence and illegal interruption of the democratic process in our sister

island has led to continual violations of human rights, increased poverty and

suffering of the Haitian people, economic degradation and the fleeing of

thousands from their homeland. The subsequent refugee crisis is cause for

9rave concern.

The Organization of American States (OAS) has made significant efforts to

restore the democratic system in Haiti, but despite resolutions passed by the

OAS General Assembly and a number of missions to Haiti, along with other

initiatives, the situation has not been resolved. We urge all States Members

of the United Nations to support the decision contained in the OAS resolutions

on the restoration of democracy in Haiti and to participate in their effective

implementation. The leaks that have enabled the illegal government to survive

and even consolidate its position in the face of the embargo must be closed

off.

In his statement before the United Nations General Assembly in

December 1991, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali stated:

"If there is no development without democracy, there can also be no

democracy without development." (A/46/PV.59. p. 16)

The economic situation in Haiti is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Labelled the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, Haiti continues to

suffer economic deterioration. The Members of the United Nations cannot turn

a blind eye to the urgent and basic development needs of Haiti. Our concerted

efforts at restoring democracy must be accompanied by plans for immediate

improvements in the social and economic conditions of the people of this

Caribbean nation.

Within this context, Dominica issues a warning that the collapse of the

banana industry in Dominica and the Windward Islands, which may be the

inevitable consequence of imposing a tariff on bananas under the General

Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, would immediately and dramatically adversely

affect the economic and social conditions of those small island developing

States. We would find ourselves dealing, not with one Haiti, but with three

or four in the Caribbean. Such an upheaval could very easily be avoided at no

appreciable cost to the basic principles of world trade. What we need is

continuing flexibility based on a recognition of the already proclaimed

special needs of small island developing countries.

Allow me, in the context of the discussion of violations of human rights,

to refer to Iraq's flagrant violation of United Nations Security Council

resolution 688 (1991), which requires Baghdad to end the repression of its

citizens and allow access by international humanitarian organizations. It is

the responsibility of Iraq as a Member of the United Nations to comply fully

with United Nations Security Council resolutions. Iraq's continued violation

of these resolutions and continued repression of its civilian population must

be condemned.

One of the fundamental principles of the United Nations is respect for

the sovereignty of each Member State. It is with this in mind that we

consider intolerable the assumption that one sovereign State can with impunity

commit criminal offences in another sovereign State on the pretext of

promoting law enforcement. National sovereignty is not of varying value

depending on the size or wealth of the nations. The rule of law must be

upheld between States as well as within States.

The quest for the protection of the environment continues to be pursued

vigorously, and the efforts of international organizations must be applauded.

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio last

June, is proof, according to Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali, that nations

understand the very fragile nature of the Earth and how very important it is

to save our planet. The question to be addressed, then, is how to approach

the problem of environmental degradation in a manner which will protect the

interests of both developing and industrialized countries.

Out of the Earth Summit emerged the Rio Declaration on Environment and

Development, consisting of a set of principles aimed at governing the economic

and environmental behaviour of individuals and nations in the quest for global

sustainability. Agenda 21 covers all areas affecting the relationship between

the environment and the economy and deals with the protection of the

atmosphere and of the oceans; combating deforestation, desertification and

drought; the role of indigenous peoples and women in implementing sustainable

development; the meeting of basic human needs; and, very importantly, the

transitional patterns of production and consumption in the industrialized

countries which would significantly reduce their disproportionate contribution

to the deterioration of the Earth's environment.

We must be cognizant of the difficulties to be encountered in our

attempts to accomplish some of the goals of Agenda 21.

The industrialized countries have gained economic prosperity in disregard

of the resultant destruction of the environment. The developing countries,

for their part, are seeking, belatedly, to raise the standard of living of

their populations, primarily through a process of industrialization patterned

on the model of the developed countries. That quest will no doubt take its

toll on the environment.

The responsibility of the industrialized countries to contribute to the

progress of the developing countries in a compensatory manner must be

recognized. They must compensate for damage to the environment and for

injustice to the developing countries.

The sovereign right of a country to use its natural resources for its

economic development, while respecting the environment and bearing in mind the

needs of future generations, must be recognized. Small countries, no less

than large ones, have the right to pursue their national interests free from

the bullying threats of special-interest groups.

Finally, I should like to recall that Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali, in

his induction speech on 3 December 1991, promised to streamline the operations

of the United Nations, "eliminating what is wasteful and obsolete

(A/46/PV.59. p. 16). If our objective of achieving progress towards world

peace is to be realized, we must strengthen, not weaken, the ability of the

United Nations to provide technical and material assistance to developing

countries "in order to narrow the gap between the rich North and the poor

South" (A/46/PV.59. p. 13). It will also help us to achieve the "agenda of

justice" which the outgoing Secretary-General, the distinguished diplomat

Javier Perez de Cuellar, identified as the dominant concern of the United

Nations in the years ahead.

The restructuring of the United Nations is a very urgent need. We are

living in a dynamic world where, every day, events make heavy demands on the

Organization. The United Nations has had to deal with those demands in a

rather ad hoc manner, and if it is to become more responsive to the needs of

Member States and to function more effectively within the parameters of the

Charter, a comprehensive analysis needs to be undertaken immediately and new

machinery put in place to make the tasks of preserving world peace and

promoting fundamental human rights achievable.

During the forty-sixth session of the General Assembly, there was much

discussion on reforming the Organization. Emphasis was placed on streamlining

the Secretariat and increasing the authority of the Secretary-General. There

is need at this point to do more in-depth study of the plan worked out by the

22 industrialized and developing countries and of the final report prepared by

the Nordic United Nations Project. The important thing is that whatever is

done must render the Organization more effective in promoting peace and

development throughout the world. Anything less would merely perpetuate the

waste of limited resources. It must be made clear that the world cannot long

continue on its present path.