Gabon, 1982

It is an honour for me to convey to Mr. Hollai on

behalf of the Gabonese delegation and on my own

behalf, our warmest congratulations on his

election to the presidency of the thirty-seventh

session of the General Assembly. Aware as we are

of his wealth of diplomatic experience and his

brilliant qualities, to which all previous

speakers have paid a tribute, I am convinced that

under his enlightened, fair and balanced

guidance, our work will be conducted in an

atmosphere of calm and dignity and will yield

useful results, thus living up to our

expectations. I should therefore like to assure

him at that the Gabonese delegation will always

be ready to co-operate with him in any way he

wishes, to assist in achieving his goals. To Mr.

Kittani, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iraq,

President of the thirty-sixth session of the

General Assembly, I wish to say how highly we

esteem his judiciousness, effectiveness and sense

of moderation which he demonstrated throughout a

tenure of office during which he had to deal with

many difficult and delicate questions within the

framework of a seriously declining international

situation. The Government of Gabon has already

had occasion to convey its official

congratulations to Mr. Perez de Cuellar, the new

Secretary-General, on his election to the chief

office of the Organization. r wish here to repeat

our profound satisfaction at his appointment,

which is an honour not only to Peru but also to

the whole third world, and to assure him once

again that he can always count on the Gabonese

Government for the necessary understanding and

support in the accomplishment of his difficult

and delicate task.

130. There is now a well-established tradition

that we, the representatives of Member States,

should meet here each year to review the

international situation. By evaluating the

accomplishments since the last session and

exchanging views on future prospects, we attempt

to define together the objectives to be attained

and the tasks to be performed for the coming

period.

131. The thirty-seventh session of the General

Assembly has opened in a very dramatic climate,

marked by the tragic events in Lebanon, the

fratricidal war between Iraq and the Islamic

Republic of Iran, the aggression against Angola

by South Africa, the presence of foreign

occupation troops in Afghanistan and in Kampuchea

not to mention other sources of tension which

imperil security and peace in other parts of the

world.

132. The peaceful settlement of conflicts

through negotiation, the very basis of detente

and inter-national co-operation, is increasingly

giving way to the use of naked and blind force, a

phenomenon that is becoming more and more

frequent and indeed seems now to be the rule in

diplomatic practice.

133. The right of peoples to decide on their

own destiny, although universally recognized, is

far from being accepted and applied by those

Powers which hold sway over them.

134. New forms of political and economic

domination are emerging and developing,

aggravating injustice and imbalances, a source of

tension and conflict which imperil international

peace and security.

135. There is no denying that international

relations are now going through a difficult

period and the persistence of these tensions and

conflicts is subjecting the Organization to a

considerable ordeal and exposing the

international community to new perils.

136. In the Middle East the recent invasion of

Lebanon by Israel with all its disastrous

consequences has even further complicated a

situation that was already explosive in that

region. The recent massacres committed in the

Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut have filled

us all with shock and horror. The international

community has unanimously condemned that odious

crime, which sounds the death knell of a certain

morality which hitherto had compelled respect for

non-combatants' right to life. Let us hope that

that criminal act will not open the way to a new

cycle of blind and murderous violence, whose

first victims are liable to be more innocent

people.

137. The situation in the Middle East has now become

so serious that the United Nations, with the

total support of the great Powers permanent

members of the Security Council, must more than

ever before do everything in its power to halt

war and to look for a comprehensive, just and

durable solution that will restore peace to that

sorely troubled region. Such a solution can never

be based on force and must there-fore be accepted

by all, because it has become clear that there

can be no solution to the Middle East crisis if

it fails to take account of the interests of all

parties. This entails the restoration by Israel

of the Arab territories occupied in 1967, the

participation by Palestinians in the peace

negotiations, and, of course, all necessary

international commitments guaranteeing to all the

right to existence within secure and recognized

borders.

138. Furthermore, Gabon is profoundly

concerned over the bloody and prolonged conflict

between Iraq and Iran which is jeopardizing peace

and security in that so sensitive and vital part

of the world.

139. On the strength of its close and friendly

relations with the two States in question, Gabon

once again appeals to the sense of responsibility

and real-ism of their leaders to put an end to

that fratricidal war so that dialogue and

negotiation may commence, in accordance with the

spirit of the Charter and the principles of

non-alignment to which both countries have

subscribed.

140. The situation has become even more

explosive in that part of the world through the

existence on the borders of Iran of another

source of tension: Afghanistan, a country rent by

a terrible internal war.

141. The United Nations must continue its past

actions and its efforts to secure the withdrawal

of foreign troops fighting in that country. It is

only after that withdrawal that the peoples

concerned will be able freely to express

themselves and to determine the regime of their

choice, which alone can guarantee the sovereignty

of Afghanistan and safeguard its non-alignment.

142. The same applies to Kampuchea, where the

legal, internationally recognized regime is not

able to exercise its authority throughout the

territory because of the presence of foreign

troops. We wish to encourage the initiatives

aimed at restoring legitimacy and democracy to

Kampuchea taken by the free political forces of

that country as well as by the independent States

of the region.

143. With regard to the Korean peninsula, the

division of the country into two distinct

antagonistic States because of differences in the

political options of the present regimes is a

sequel of the cold war of a bygone era, a time of

confrontation of the rival ambitions of East and

West. Faithful to its motto-dialogue, tolerance,

peace-Gabon has always recommended that the two

parties should sit down at a negotiating table

and together, without foreign interference, seek

ways and means of permitting the reunification of

the country. This position was recently once

again reaffirmed by the Gabonese head of State,

El Hadj Omar Bongo, who stated:

"It is through dialogue and dialogue alone, in

the spirit of the joint communique issued on 4

July 1972 whereby the two Koreas announced to the

world their wish to work peacefully for

unification, that the peninsula will achieve this

end in the interest of peace and security, rot

only in Korea but also in the world at large.

144. The violence of the conflicts which we have

just described b s its consequence, it would

appear, that of polarizing and attracting the

concern of the international community, which

gives the impression of being less attentive to

what happens in Africa. Are we to believe that

the problems of Africa arouse only secondary

interest and that compassion and fraternal

solidarity are aroused only by what happens

outside the black continent?

145. Nevertheless, in Africa people are dying by

the thousands and continuing to die in the south

of the continent-in Namibia, Angola and

elsewhere-because of the aggressive acts of the

South African racists dictated by their inhuman

policy of apartheid. In spite of the unanimous

censure of the inter-national community, in spite

of the appeals and condemnations of the United

Nations, the racist Government of Pretoria

continues imperturbably and I with impunity its

disgraceful policy of segregation and continues

to subject the black community to terror and

violence. Expeditious methods of physical

elimination have now become common practice. The

arsenal of unjust laws is constantly being

strengthened and ever more sophisticated in order

better to neutralize and subjugate the black

people, whose sons, within the African National

Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress, are

being imprisoned, tortured, martyred and murdered

every day in their heroic resistance struggle.

146. This heinous policy, which everyone has

utterly censured and condemned, can be carried on

only thanks to the massive support of major

international capital and the proved complicity

of the Governments of countries which possess in

South Africa powerful and varied interests. Once

again we call upon those Governments to cease all

co-operation with the racist Government of

Pretoria, in accordance with United Nations

resolutions, and to exert on that Government all

appropriate pressure to prevail upon it to

abandon its apartheid policy and to permit the

black majority finally to occupy in dignity and

equality of rights and duties its proper place in

national life.

147. With regard to Namibia, the South African

government does not appear to wish to give way

and to comply with the will of the international

com-munity. The independence of Namibia, which

should have been achieved long ago, is constantly

being postponed from year to year because of the

refusal by Pretoria to put an end to its illegal

occupation of that country. The South African

army, which is meeting with heroic resistance

from the valiant people of Namibia, is not only

sowing terror and desolation among the innocent

civilian population but also attacking, now

openly, neighbouring countries, particularly

Angola. It is inadmissible that the great Powers,

which bear responsibility for peace in the world,

should countenance this arrogant policy of

aggression, which is a violation of international

law and flouts international morality. The

Governments of the five Western States of the

contact group must impose on the Pretoria

Government the settlement plan contained in

Security Council resolution 435 (1978), which is

the only valid basis for negotiation.

148. The manoeuvres of Pretoria to justify its

illegal occupation of Namibia by the presence of

its forces on the territory of Angola cannot

possibly deceive anyone, and blackmail aimed at

establishing a link between the withdrawal of its

troops from Namibia and the presence of Cuban

troops in Angola is inadmissible and must be

rejected. Indeed we are all aware that South

Africa is illegally occupying Namibia, an

international Territory under the sovereignty of

the United Nations, while the Cuban troops are in

Angola on entirely legal grounds, by virtue of

agreements negotiated and concluded in full

independence and liberty by two sovereign States.

Consequently, there can be no question of linking

the two facts, and the Governments of the five

States of the contact groups must make the South

African government see this. Africa-indeed the

whole international com-munity-demands that South

Africa withdraw from Namibia so that the people

of that country, fighting so heroically, can

exercise freely its right to self-determination

and accede to national sovereignty with

territorial integrity.

149. The United Nations will thus have succeeded

in putting an end to an anachronistic colonial

situation that is unacceptable in the world

today, where all men, all peoples, all countries

must be free, equal and sovereign.

150. The violence, conflict and war which trouble

peace and security in the world are all part of

the absurd logic of man's self-destruction, to

which the folly of the arms race is inexorably

leading-an arms race which is assuming a pace and

proportions that are more and more alarming. The

continuance of the manufacture and accumulation

of increasingly sophisticated nuclear weapons and

other weapons of mass destruction and the

development of biological and chemical weapons

with terrifying effects are leading inexorably to

a wholesale conflagration.

151. This real danger of a planetary catastrophe,

although everyone is aware of it, is.

Unfortunately, not sufficient to halt the arms

race in which the great Powers are engaged. It

has become commonplace to describe the vast sums

spent on armaments, just as it has become

commonplace to denounce the wastage of all the

resources spent in that way-resources which could

have been devoted to development needs-but, such

is man's nature that, blind to the obvious, he

pursues his course imperturbably, even if it is a

path that leads to the abyss.

152. The failure of the second special session

of the General Assembly on disarmament, held here

last June, is a sad example of that blindness. At

that session representatives of the

non-nuclear-weapon States as at the first special

session on disarmament, vigorously denounced the

mad arms race and the wastage of resources and

urged the great Powers to put an end to the

policy of over-armament, to abolish weapons of

mass destruction and to embark on a process

leading to general and complete disarmament. We

must recognize, unfortunately. that that appeal

fell on deaf ears and at that session the

Assembly was unable to come up with any positive

measure.

153. Nevertheless. Gabon believes that we

should not lose hope and that the efforts already

begun should be continued, to prevail upon the

great Powers to adopt a more co-operative

attitude towards the United Nations which must be

in a position to play its full and proper role in

disarmament negotiations.

154. General and complete disarmament is a

vital necessity. not only because it will put an

end once and for all to the ever-growing risk of

a planetary conflict but also because it will

free the huge sums of money now being swallowed

up in the arms race and enable them to be used

for reviving the world economy which. as we can

see is today in a state of general collapse.

155. Indeed many studies undertaken recently

both by the World Bank and by UNCTAD present a

very gloomy picture of the economic situation in

the world. The slowing down of economic expansion

has spared no region no group of countries

whatever the level of development or economic

structure. This slowing down has been

particularly clear in the' developing countries

where we have witnessed a sizeable increase in

unemployment and a significant and constant

decline in national income.

156. It is unlikely that the international

economic situation will make possible any revival

of growth in the developing countries in the next

few years. The export of these countries will

continue to decline until there is a clear

revival of the economies of the industrialized

countries. Similarly. the decline in the terms of

trade, which is reflected in the increase• in the

prices of capital goods and the decline in the

prices of commodities, the malfunctioning of the

inter-national monetary system engendered by the

abandonment of fixed parities and the increase in

interest rates, which has now placed an

intolerable burden on debt servicing, do not give

grounds for optimism; they are all reasons for

the general economic recession we can see in the

developing countries.

157. The industrialized countries do not seem

to be concerned about this situation. On the

contrary, they are multiplying protectionist

measures in the name of their national interests,

in flagrant violation of the international norms,

which are in any case unfavourable to the

developing countries.

158. It is to deal with this situation,

pending a restructuring of the world economy,

that we have found it necessary to call for an

increase in bilateral aid, particularly official

development aid. Similarly, multilateral

institutions should adopt more flexible methods

in this regard. It would, for example. be

desirable that the share of the resources of the

Inter-national Monetary Fund [IMF] allocated for

co-operation for developing countries be granted

on more favourable terms and for the World Bank

to increase Hs loans to those countries, which of

course presupposes a strengthening of its means

of intervention.

159. In my statement to the General Assembly at

its thirty-sixth session [27th meeting]. I said

that I placed great hopes in the International

Meeting" on . Co-operation and Development at

Cancun, which was supposed to launch the process

of global negotiations. Unfortunately. those

negotiations have not yet got under way. and

millions of people who are calling for the

establishment of a new international economic

order fail to understand how this year again 'We

have been unable to reach an agreement that would

make it possible for the negotiations to begin. .

160. It is in order to mitigate the effects of

this momentary failure in the North-South

dialogue. a failure we all deplore, that the

developing countries have been trying to organize

regionally and sub-regionally. In our own

sub-region, for example, on the initiative of El

Hadj Omar Bongo, President of the Gabonese

Republic, 11 heads of State and Government met

this year in Libreville, Gabon, and, in keeping

with the spirit of the Lagos Plan of Action;5

laid the foundations of an economic community -of

Central African States, an organization that

should provide us with structures to expand and

promote trade and economic development among

member States and stimulate and. consolidate

regional solidarity and co-operation.

161. This need for solidarity and co-operation,

noted in the economic plan. has also been felt on

the cultural• level with just as much force. It

is clearly a vital imperative in the fight for

development, fulfilment and assertion of the

identities of the peoples of these States. which

have a profound awareness of their common

identity. That is why in the cultural field

-again on the initiative of President Bongo-the

representatives of the States of the Bantu world,

which embrace some ISO million persons,' met in

Gabon to attempt more closely to identify the

cultural dimension of development and to examine

the possibility of creating an international

centre for Bantu civilizations, a project agreed

upon by the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural

Policies, known as MONDIACULT, held last July in

Mexico City.

162. In the face of all these problems, all these

difficulties both economic and political, one

question naturally arises: how to create a more

favourable climate for international relations

and hence how to propose solutions likely to

satisfy the aspirations of States and peoples.

163. In the view of the Gabonese delegation, the

United Nations must enjoy increased effective

support from its Members if it is to become an

effective instrument in the service of the

community of nations in the consolidation of the

independence and sovereignty of all States, the

safeguarding of international security and the

strengthening of world peace.