Spain, 2000

I wish

sincerely to congratulate the President on his election

to preside over the work of the Millennium Assembly. I

would also like to express my appreciation for the work

of his predecessor, Foreign Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab,

which culminated in the recent Millennium Summit.

I also welcome Tuvalu as a new Member State of

the United Nations. I am sure that it will make a useful

and enriching contribution to the work of the

Organization.

What kind of United Nations do we want? Why,

and to what purpose, do we need the United Nations in

this new millennium? The Millennium Summit was

convened to answer those questions. The task of the

General Assembly is to devise and implement the

guidelines that the Summit proposed. Spain would like

to suggest some ideas for progress in three of the

Organization's basic spheres of action: managing

globalization, combating poverty and peace-making.

The United Nations that we want must be our

main instrument for meeting the many challenges of

globalization. Its universal nature places our

Organization in an ideal position for that purpose. It

would be unforgivable if it were not capable of rising

to that task, which has to be undertaken in very

different fields. One such area is human rights. The

process of the universalization of human rights

constitutes one of the United Nations most valuable

contributions to international relations since the

adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights, in 1948. If the twentieth century has been one

of formulating and structuring human rights on the

international level, the next century must be that of

ensuring that their effective implementation is

universal.

The practices in most urgent need of elimination

are racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and

intolerance. The 2001 World Conference against

Racism must be an effective instrument to that end. We

must also strive to abolish the death penalty, which we

consider a punishment contrary to the dignity of the

human being. The adoption of moratoriums against

carrying it out could be a first step towards its total

ban.

Our Organization must also enable us to provide

solutions, in a spirit of solidarity, to humanitarian

problems that until recently have simply not been

addressed. The consequences have been borne by

defenceless civilian populations. I refer to the situation

of refugees and persons displaced within their own

countries, civilian victims of armed conflicts and

international aid workers who are subject to threats or

coercion. It is essential to broaden the scope of our

action in this area and to pay special attention to the

most vulnerable sectors of the population.

Last week, in this very city, the President of the

Spanish Government signed the two Optional Protocols

to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, relative

to children in armed conflict and on the sale of

children, child prostitution and child pornography. In

that same vein, the General Assembly this year adopted

a resolution (54/262) agreeing to the holding in Spain

in 2002 of the Second World Assembly on Ageing. We

shall do everything possible to ensure the success of

such an important event.

In this overall context, we must mention the issue

of so-called humanitarian intervention, aptly proposed

on more than one occasion by the Secretary-General.

The United Nations that we want cannot be an

Organization that remains paralysed in the face of

massive violations of human rights, wherever they may

take place. When that has occurred, its prestige has

been seriously affected, and it has been left out of basic

decision-making in times of crisis. The disgust

provoked by a passive stance in the face of those

atrocities and the need to strengthen the role of the

37

Organization in crisis situations are merely two sides of

the same coin. It is essential that we be capable of

building consensus on at least two fundamental issues.

The first is actions regarding which the

international community cannot remain idle, such as

war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide,

which are offences referred to in the Rome Statute of

the International Criminal Court. Consensus should

also be reached among the permanent members of the

Security Council over the cases in which they should

refrain from exercising their veto to block Council

resolutions aimed at putting an end to massive

violations of human rights. The principle of State

sovereignty continues to be essential in contemporary

international society, but it must not be used as a

protective shield to trample upon human rights with

impunity.

The establishment of the International Criminal

Court signals the direction in which the international

community is moving in that area. The creation of an

international system of criminal justice constitutes the

most important change in international law since the

adoption of the San Francisco Charter. I am pleased to

inform the Assembly that my country's process of

ratification of the Rome Statute concluded yesterday. I

hope that the International Criminal Court will become

a reality in the not-too-distant future. I trust therefore

that the Rome Statute will be signed and ratified by the

largest possible number of States, without directly or

indirectly affecting its integrity and effectiveness.

If there is one issue that makes us realize that

there are global interests demanding our collective

management it is that of environmental protection. It is

imperative that the Kyoto Protocol for combating the

greenhouse effect should come into force in 2002, at

the latest. Spain is a signatory of the Protocol, as well

as of the agreements on the ozone layer, bio-diversity,

bio-security and desertification — the latter problem

being one which especially affects my country.

Unfortunately, globalization has also generated

fresh opportunities for the development of universal

plagues such as terrorism and transnational organized

crime. However, globalization also provides us with

new instruments to combat them, provided we agree on

how to use them. Spain supports the drafting of a

general convention against international terrorism, and

is grateful to India for its initiative in that respect. The

work aimed at the adoption of a convention against

transnational organized crime must also be concluded.

One of the United Nations top priorities is the

fight against poverty. The Millennium Summit gave

special attention to measures aimed at eradicating

poverty. The specific implementation of those

measures must be a basic aspect of the work of the

General Assembly. The United Nations that we want

must make it possible for developed and developing

countries to conclude agreements regarding the role

they must play in that task.

The high-level meetings that will be held in 2001

on financing for development and on the least

developed countries must not be wasted. Spain will

certainly do everything within its power to contribute

to their success. My country follows the guidelines

produced by the World Summit for Social Development

suggesting that at least 20 per cent of cooperation

resources be devoted to basic social sectors such as

health, education, housing and employment, which

have the greatest impact on the most disadvantaged

sectors of the population and, as a result, on the

eradication of poverty. Spain has prepared an ambitious

microcredit programme aimed at meeting the needs of

the least favoured sectors of the population of

developing countries.

Likewise, Spain has begun debt relief

programmes in several countries, including

Mozambique and the Central American countries most

affected by hurricane Mitch. We resolutely support the

Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. Medium-

income countries with serious external debt problems

should not be excluded from debt relief plans, as long

as they implement meaningful domestic programmes to

eradicate poverty.

In the health sector there have been severe

setbacks in recent years in the fight against infectious

diseases, especially in Africa. Spain actively backs the

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

(UNAIDS) and the efforts under way to facilitate

access to drugs against AIDS for patients in developing

countries. It also supports the holding of a special

session of the General Assembly on that illness.

Moreover, Spain has a special interest in examining

possible action against other infectious and parasitic

diseases, particularly in Africa.

The first sentence of the Charter states the resolve

of the United Nations to save succeeding generations

38

from the scourge of war. We must not resign ourselves

to the indefinite prolongation of some regional

conflicts. In Africa a solution has not yet been found

for the situation in the Congo, which for years has

ravaged one of the richest and most influential

countries of the continent. Angola and Sierra Leone

continue to be the backdrop for civilian conflicts that

are often financed by the illegal sale of diamonds and

other precious resources.

Political and practical support for the United

Nations and the mission deployed on the ground has

been a constant feature of Spain's policy concerning

the dispute over Western Sahara. Therefore, my

country will maintain its commitment to a definitive

settlement of that dispute during this decisive time and

will support the efforts that the Secretary-General and

his Personal Envoy are making in compliance with

Security Council resolution 1309 (2000).

New prospects for peace have opened up in the

Middle East following the Camp David summit. It is

vital to consolidate the important progress made there

and take advantage of this historic opportunity to

conclude an agreement on all outstanding issues. Spain

considers that, pursuant to the Declaration of Berlin,

the Palestinian people are entitled to establish their

own state. The evolution of the peace process must be

reflected in the resolutions to be adopted this year by

the General Assembly, which must not be a mechanical

repetition of the wording used in previous years.

The situation in Iraq is nevertheless proving to be

frustrating. The interruption of weapons inspections,

the absence of any foreseeable date for the lifting of

the sanctions, the continuation of armed action and the

difficult humanitarian situation in the country all

combine to produce a situation that is far from

encouraging. It is imperative that consensus within the

Security Council on this matter be strengthened and

that Iraq collaborate with the United Nations with a

view to the full implementation of resolution 1284

(1999) and other relevant resolutions.

Turning to Latin America, it is vital that the

international community send a clear message of

support for the peace process in Colombia. The efforts

by President Pastrana to reach an agreement that will

put an end to decades of violence and lack of security

deserve the support of us all.

The difficulties faced by the United Nations

Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo in the

accomplishment of its tasks should not overshadow its

achievements to date in what is probably the

peacekeeping operation with the widest-ranging

objectives ever undertaken by the United Nations.

Those objectives are to pacify the territory, to reconcile

its population, to rebuild its economy, and to enable

Kosovo, as stated in resolution 1244 (1999), to enjoy

substantial autonomy and an administration that is truly

its own, while respecting the principle of territorial

sovereignty and integrity of the Federal Republic of

Yugoslavia.

Many of these conflicts could perhaps have been

avoided. Spain unreservedly supports the Secretary-

General's efforts to direct the Organization's conflict-

prevention. His report on Africa provides an innovative

approach, proposing a wide-ranging package of

measures to address the conflicts on the African

continent.

An important element in this arsenal of

preventive diplomatic measures is a sound sanctions

policy. Sanctions regimes must be carefully graduated

in order to fulfil their goal: to penalize a particular

government whose policies constitute a threat to peace,

without harming the civilian population of that country,

which in many cases is totally powerless to influence

the decisions of its Government, or third parties.

Sanctions must be applied in a flexible way and be

subject to periodic review, enabling them to be adapted

to changing circumstances.

Disarmament and non-proliferation are another

two essential elements of conflict prevention. It is vital

to overcome the setbacks suffered in recent months by

the nuclear non-proliferation process and to promote

the signing and ratification of the Comprehensive

Nuclear-Test- Ban Treaty, with a view to its early entry

in force. It is likewise a matter of concern that it has

not yet been possible to start negotiations on a protocol

on fissile material; it is urgent to achieve the necessary

consensus to that end.

The conclusion of the negotiations on the

Verification Protocol to the Convention on Biological

Weapons represents an achievement in this field that is

as important as the entry into force of the Convention

on Chemical Weapons. In the same way, the 2001

United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small

Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects must

constitute a milestone comparable to the Ottawa

Convention banning anti-personnel mines.

39

Another of the United Nations goals must be to

conclude the decolonization process worldwide by

doing away with the last vestiges of colonialism. One

of them persists, as a painful anachronism, in Spanish

territory. I am, of course, referring to Gibraltar, where,

nearly three centuries after its population was expelled

and the Rock occupied by British troops, a colonial

situation still lingers. This is an infringement of my

country's territorial integrity and contravenes the

provisions of General Assembly resolution 2353

(XXII). Regaining sovereignty over this part of our

territory is a longstanding goal for Spain, which is fully

in favour of a meaningful dialogue. It is regrettable that

the United Kingdom has not yet shown a genuine

political will to resolve this problem. Because of this,

15 years after the start of bilateral talks in the

framework of the Brussels process and despite the

decisions of the General Assembly, we have not

registered any progress at all on this matter, in spite of

several concrete proposals put forward by our side.

We want a United Nations that is capable of

carrying out the tasks that have been entrusted to it. To

achieve this, it must complete its process of reform.

For instance, the role of the General Assembly — the

only body in which all the Member States are

represented — must be enhanced, as it is the United

Nations driving force for debate and political impetus.

Civil society should be incorporated to a greater extent

into the Organization's work. This would contribute to

bringing people closer to the United Nations and to

securing a greater commitment from them with regard

to its work.

It is also vital to reform the Security Council in

order to enable it to fully perform its duties in the

maintenance of international peace and security. The

Spanish Government believes that this reform must

draw its inspiration from the following principles.

First, it must be conducted on the basis of a broad

and solid consensus, in order to avoid dangerous

divisions among Member States and to provide the

enlarged Council with the greater legitimacy it needs to

carry out its work effectively.

In the context of democratization, it must allow

for an increase in the number of non-permanent

members from all regional groups, and especially from

the developing world. Spain considers that an

enlargement of this category of non-permanent

members would best reflect the trend towards the

democratization of international society at the dawn of

the third millennium.

To enhance the Council's effectiveness, steps

must be taken to prevent exercise of the veto power

from blocking the Council in certain crisis situations.

Finally, there must be greater transparency. The

Council's working methods must be improved by

increasing the number and quality of the consultations

among its members and with other Member States, so

that the latter will not be left out of the decision-

making process.

The Organization that we need must also be able

to act firmly and effectively on the ground in order to

maintain the peace. The first step in this direction is to

reflect on past mistakes. Therein lies the importance of

the Brahimi report on United Nations peace operations,

which — in the same way as former reports on Rwanda

and Srebrenica — hit a nerve when it acknowledged

our faults and proposed solutions for overcoming them.

The Organization's shortcomings in this field

have at times been very serious, and have cost human

lives and brought great suffering to the peoples directly

affected. They have also seriously discredited the

United Nations in the eyes of our peoples.

Spain has a direct interest in ensuring that

peacekeeping operations are well organized and

managed, because at this time hundreds of Spaniards

are participating in them in such faraway places as East

Timor, Kosovo, Ethiopia and Guatemala. Moreover,

last year Spain signed an agreement with the

Secretariat on the Stand-by Forces — an agreement in

which some of the recommendations contained in the

Brahimi report already appear.

Spain steadfastly supports these recommendations

and hopes that they will be rapidly implemented. At the

same time, we must be aware that all of this will

require a much greater political and financial

commitment on the part of all with respect to

peacekeeping operations. It will require faster

deployment of the necessary military and civilian units

and larger-scale measures in order to consolidate peace

once conflicts come to an end. Above all, if United

Nations troops are compelled to take greater risks in

order to guarantee the implementation of Security

Council mandates, such mandates must be clear,

realistic and have the unequivocal backing of the

Council. All this will require a serious effort to find

40

common positions and to achieve consensus within the

Council in the elaboration of the resolutions containing

such mandates, eliminating any ambiguities that could

hamper their effective application. It means more

resolute and unwavering action against specific States

or groups which may attempt to disrupt such action,

including the possible application of sanctions. Only

then will we be able to send our troops to situations in

which they will have to risk their lives in order to

ensure that such mandates are upheld.

Improving peacekeeping operations will

undoubtedly be costly. Neither this nor any of the other

tasks facing the Organization will be possible if it does

not resolve its financial crisis. Spain is the eighth-

largest contributor to its regular budget and pays its

contributions on time, in full and without conditions.

Therefore we have a direct interest in seeing the

Organization's financial crisis resolved once and for

all, as soon as possible. The principle of capacity to

pay must continue to be the basic criterion for deciding

the assessed contributions. European Union countries

already are contributing much more than they should to

the United Nations budget in accordance with this

principle. Spain's stance will be a constructive one in

the negotiations to review the scale of assessments later

this fall.

In an increasingly interdependent world, there is

no alternative to multilateral cooperation. The United

Nations must rise to the occasion in order to fulfil the

expectations of the peoples who founded it. The

countries represented here must face up to that

responsibility by building an Organization capable of

meeting the challenges posed by globalization in the

new millennium. The United Nations that we want is

possible. It is within our reach to achieve it.