Gabon, 1998

I

wish first to convey to Mr. Didier Opertti the warm,

sincere congratulations of the Government and the

delegation of Gabon on his well-deserved election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-third

session. This is a tribute to his country, Uruguay, and an

unambiguous recognition of his personal and professional

qualities. Our congratulations go also to all the other

Assembly officers, and we wish them every success in

guiding our work. We assure them of the support and

cooperation of the delegation of Gabon.

To the President of the General Assembly at the fifty-

second session, Mr. Hennadiy Y. Udovenko, who spared no

effort in carrying out his responsibilities, I convey our

satisfaction and our deep gratitude.

The present times are characterized by political

tension, by change and by socio-economic upheaval

exacerbated by a grave financial crisis; our involvement is

required, in more than one respect. Gabon remains

convinced that the United Nations continues to be the best

forum for working together to harmonize our different

approaches towards peace and development. We owe it to

ourselves to consider the circumstances in which the

Organization was established to free the world from the

spectre of war. Was it just to prevent world war, or was it

to make use of the renewed humanism inspired by the San

Francisco Conference to eradicate all the causes of armed

conflict wherever they might emerge so as, in the words of

the Charter, “to promote social progress and better

standards of life in larger freedom”?

Now more than in the past, and especially since the

end of the cold war, narrow nationalism has been

resurfacing to nullify all the international community?s

efforts to make of our world a global village in which

peace and security, friendship among nations and

international cooperation are the watchwords. Peace is a

sine qua non for the development of peoples and of nations.

That truth is easy enough to affirm, but applying it is

complicated by the play of interests within States, often

combined with outside interference.

This has been and remains the bitter experience of

Africa. For nearly a decade, the African continent has faced

multifaceted political tension and violence between and

within States, just when the end of the cold war had given

rise to hope that resources would be mobilized for its

development.

Yet during that same period many African countries

have courageously embarked on political reform and

economic restructuring. Overall, there has been tangible

progress. Clearly, stability is indispensable for such

progress, which means that questions of international

peace and security are the concern of the day on our

continent, and more specifically in Central Africa. That

subregion, so rich in potential, has come since the end of

the cold war to be a world disrupted by “the disorder of

nations”, fuelled and maintained by a variety of forces.

Although living in peace within its borders and with

its neighbours, Gabon is extremely concerned at this

situation. President Bongo believes that our country

cannot remain an isle of peace, freedom and even relative

prosperity in an ocean of misery, violence and fratricidal

wars. That concern is shared by the other heads of State

of Central Africa, and was at the root of the summit

conference held on Thursday, 24 September 1998, at

Libreville, at the initiative of President Bongo, on the

situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That

important meeting gave heads of State and heads of

delegation an opportunity to express their support for

President Kabila and to condemn the aggression against

the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the

interference in the internal affairs of that country. They

called for the withdrawal of foreign forces of aggression;

for a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;

for respect for the territorial integrity of that country; and

for continuing the process of democratization begun by

the Government of the Democratic Republic of the

Congo.

They also stressed the need for concerted action by

the countries of Central Africa, the States members of the

Southern African Development Community, of the

Organization of African Unity and of the United Nations,

and all those who are working to find a solution to the

Congo crisis, renouncing any partisan decisions that could

prolong the suffering of the peoples of Congo and of

neighbouring States. The heads of State and heads of

delegation of Central Africa therefore decided to establish

a summit follow-up and negotiating committee under the

chairmanship of the President of the Gabonese Republic,

and reaffirmed that it would be appropriate to establish a

regional peacekeeping force.

Turning to Angola, I wish first to honour the

memory of the Special Representative of the Secretary-

General, Matre Alioune Blondin Beye, and of members

of his team, who worked tirelessly for peace in that

country, tragically giving their lives to that cause. The

heads of State and of delegation reaffirmed at the

Libreville summit their support for the Government of

Angola, which is sparing no effort in the search for

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lasting peace in that country and for the full and speedy

implementation of the Lusaka accords.

Finally, with regard to the Republic of the Congo, the

heads of State supported the reconstruction and national

reconciliation efforts and condemned the destabilization

manoeuvres originating outside the country.

Of course, we are not insensitive to the disturbances

and violence occurring in other parts of the world — quite

the contrary. Gabon shares the position of the Organization

of African Unity (OAU) on ways and means of resolving

the problems in Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and

Somalia and between Ethiopia and Eritrea. We are

following most attentively the resumption of dialogue

between the Israelis and Palestinians, as seen in the recent

summit meetings. These talks offer a glimmer of hope for

a global settlement of the problems of the Middle East. We

likewise believe that only political means will return peace

to Afghanistan. With the same conviction, we encourage the

efforts of the Association of South-East Asian Nations

(ASEAN) to preserve peace in South-East Asia.

A global vision of peace is certainly necessary. In fact,

through the phenomenon of globalization, the shock wave

of conflict is often felt very far from the epicentre. It is

equally clear that development cannot be ensured in an

unstable environment, for peace constitutes the fertile

ground in which development must take root and prosper.

It is in that spirit that Gabon studied the remarkable

report (A/52/871) that the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi

Annan, submitted to the Security Council on the causes of

conflict in Africa. He very rightly noted that historical

legacies, internal and external factors, economic motives

and particular situations are the source of many conflicts in

Africa. These various causes are known to us and we must

combat them.

In this respect, I would like to draw the attention of

the Assembly particularly to one of the causes of conflict

that I believe should be given our full attention because of

the many dangers it poses to the stability of our entire

continent. Furthermore, this phenomenon is also evident in

Central and Eastern Europe. I refer to the question of

transnational populations — in other words, communities

dispersed over several States as a result of various historical

circumstances. Aware of the danger in Africa, the founding

fathers of the OAU, in their great wisdom, inscribed in its

Charter the principle of the inviolability of frontiers

inherited from colonization. To reshape States on the basis

of diverse claims seemed to them to be simply risky. They

therefore chose to take charge of our history through the

openness of integration. Gabon reaffirms its support for

this approach.

All in all, the resurgence of nationalism, poor

understanding and abuse of the rights of peoples as well

as their manipulation, inevitably lead to national unrest,

with its attendant deadly difficulties. Faced with these

realities and possibilities, the Government of Gabon

would more than ever like to reaffirm its commitment to

certain principles which underlie the maintenance of

peace and security, both internally and internationally.

These include respect for human rights in general and for

the rights of national minorities in particular; respect for

cultural identities; respect for the territorial integrity of

States; respect for national sovereignty; the principle of

non-interference in internal affairs; the principle of good

neighbourliness; and the principle of the peaceful

settlement of disputes.

In any event, dialogue remains the best and most

effective way of preventing conflicts and maintaining or

restoring peace. Political differences must have a political

response. The African populations, already overwhelmed

by underdevelopment, cannot and should not have to

endure, in addition, the deadly consequences of conflict.

We must therefore always engage in dialogue. This is

why President Bongo, sensing the changes in history and

the aspirations of his people, set in motion in mid-1989

the rethinking within the former single party in our

country that led to the national conference of March-April

1990, which reopened the way to pluralism and

democracy.

New regulatory and control institutions have

gradually been established since then and they are

working. Individual and collective freedoms are

recognized and enjoyed by our citizens, who can even

appeal as high as the Constitutional Court, as a glance at

our newspapers in Gabon suffices to make clear. This

shows how deeply committed we are to the principles of

participatory democracy, taking into account our overall

level of development and our sociological environment.

It is also in this new context that in two months we

shall be organizing presidential elections for the second

time. The logistical and legislative preparations are

already at a very advanced stage; they are basically the

work of government. The National Electoral Commission,

which is already in place, will conduct the actual electoral

operations. Its representatives were appointed last week in

all departments and communes. The Prime Minister sent

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invitations a month ago to various States and organizations,

including the United Nations, to observe both the

preparations and the polling process itself.

A few days ago I had the opportunity to address the

Security Council on mechanisms for conflict prevention in

our subregion. Without repeating the report that has been

made to the Assembly, I would like to recall here that, in

accordance with the decision made by the heads of State or

Government of the countries of Central Africa, Defence and

Interior Ministers of the countries members of the United

Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security

Questions in Central Africa, meeting in Libreville from 28

to 30 April 1998, re-examined the plan for the

establishment of an early-warning mechanism as an

instrument for the prevention of crises and conflicts. Gabon,

which now holds the chairmanship of the Committee, is

doing everything in its power to meet the logistics needs to

allow Libreville to be the headquarters of that mechanism.

Along the same lines, also concerning the logic of

prevention, the Committee held from 18 to 21 May 1998 in

Bata, Equatorial Guinea, the first conference on the

question of relationships between democratic institutions

and peace in Central Africa. That conference brought

together members of Governments, representatives of

opposition political parties, high-ranking officials of the

forces of law and order, representatives of civil society and

experts on matters of political freedoms, the press and

human rights. The participants? main recommendation was

the establishment of a subregional parliament of Central

Africa, which would be charged with dealing with questions

of common interest, with a view to strengthening measures

for confidence-building and subregional peace, while

serving as a forum for harmonization of views and the

promotion of values related to the democratic experiences

of member States. In general, we can say that the action of

the Committee is a needed extension of the Organization of

African Unity?s Mechanism for Conflict Prevention,

Management and Resolution.

All these preventive measures would be in vain if the

international community made no further disarmament

efforts. My country supports the high priority given by the

United Nations to the question of disarmament in general

and to the elimination of nuclear weapons and other

weapons of mass destruction in particular. Even if the harm

they can cause is less, we are also concerned about the

proliferation of conventional weapons, which are also tools

of death and destruction. We therefore commend the

statement by the President of the Security Council on the

occasion of the ministerial meeting on Africa held on 24

September 1998, in which the Council asked the ad hoc

Working Group to elaborate further concrete

recommendations on the need to stem illicit arms flows to

and in Africa.

Apart from these concerns, we have certain grounds

for satisfaction. Disarmament took a step forward very

recently with the adoption of the Convention on the

Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and

Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their

Destruction, which I personally signed on behalf of

Gabon on 4 December 1997 in Ottawa, and which has

just entered into force with the deposit of the fortieth

instrument of ratification by an African country, Burkina

Faso.

Other significant instruments, such as the Chemical

Weapons Convention and the Comprehensive Nuclear-

Test-Ban Treaty, have become a reality. Gabon,

convinced of the prominent role of disarmament in the

maintenance of international peace and security, is a

signatory of these important instruments. My country

invites all States Members of the United Nations to work

towards complete and general disarmament in the twenty-

first century, the guarantor of a lasting peace. We must

make the quest for peace a cardinal point of reference.

However, that peace will remain in jeopardy as long

as the basic needs of peoples are not met. The persistence

of conflicts, non-respect for the human person, hatred and

the rejection of democratic values all have serious

repercussions on the economic health of States. Likewise,

the phenomenon of refugees and displaced persons,

epidemics and the cost of reconstruction in the wake of

war all are burdens that affect already fragile economies

and aggravate difficult social situations.

The situation at this end of century makes it

imperative for the international community to deal with

development and social issues if we wish to prevent our

world from self-destructing. The content of the 1998

Human Development Report, published by the United

Nations Development Programme a few weeks ago,

strengthens this conviction. The conclusions of the 1995

Copenhagen summit therefore remain valid, and the

United Nations must again take the initiative.

Statements of intention no longer suffice. We need

concrete action and realistic programmes that take into

account the phenomenon of globalization. These

27

programmes must ensure that no one is excluded and that

each of our nations, by making the necessary efforts to

adapt, can become integrated in the most harmonious way

possible. That is why Gabon believes it necessary to

relaunch the idea of a new partnership based on fairness in

order to respond to the legitimate aspirations of people —

mainly, to eliminate poverty and to promote well-being.

With globalization, States? autonomy and room for

manoeuvre has been greatly reduced. The power of

Governments is offset by the power of the markets.

Openness and freedom, however, must not come to mean

free rein to establish the law of the jungle, in which we, the

small and the weak, will inevitably be crushed and

destroyed.

In this context, it seemed necessary to the Government

of Gabon not to abdicate but to refocus the role of the

State. A new direction has been reflected, inter alia,

through an ambitious programme of liberalization of

economic activities on the one hand and on the other by the

privatization of large sectoral public enterprises.

As for the structure of the economy of Gabon, let me

say that our country remains dependent on the sale of three

principal raw materials: oil, wood and manganese. The

prices of these products have been on the decline for

several months now. If we factor in the fluctuations in the

United States dollar, which is also on the decline, we can

see that the result is a decrease in the income of the State,

which puts the country?s investment and development

capacities in considerable jeopardy.

This fact is not the only handicap to my country?s

development. The debt and its servicing absorb almost 45

per cent of our budgetary resources. This is truly

intolerable.

All of this notwithstanding, the international financial

institutions continue to classify Gabon as an upper middle-

income country, thus preventing its access to financing on

flexible terms. Gabon is the only sub-Saharan African

country in this situation, which is simply unjust.

Gabon, a developing country just like any other, asks

that international financial institutions apply new assessment

criteria and, above all, that they give more appropriate

consideration to our debt burden in order further to unleash

our productive capabilities. This would benefit not only the

people of Gabon but also our partners abroad.

Other major problems must also mobilize the

international community, inter alia, the drug problem,

terrorism, major pandemics, human rights and the

environment.

The General Assembly held its twentieth special

session on the fight against drugs last June. Gabon is

pleased that on that occasion our Organization enshrined

the criminal nature of the traffic in drugs and broadened

the options for solutions to this scourge at the global

level. That session gave political impetus to the

international efforts of States in the fight against drug

trafficking, which now spares no country. The

Government of Gabon invites the United Nations and its

specialized agencies to further support the efforts made in

this respect at the regional level.

As for the scourge of terrorism, and bearing in mind

the horrible attacks in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam, I must

first of all pay a tribute of compassion and respect to the

memory of the Kenyan, Tanzanian and American citizens

who lost their lives there. I express my deepest sympathy

to all of those persons who were wounded. Above all, the

Government of Gabon most forcefully reaffirms its

condemnation of acts of terrorism in all their

manifestations, wherever they may occur. We believe that

no cause can justify resorting to such acts. But I also

denounce certain retaliatory measures that they inspire, in

particular the placing of countries that are suspected of

involvement under embargo. This type of response is

neither appropriate nor efficient. In most cases, those

types of measures affect mainly innocent civilian

populations.

We believe, therefore, that under the auspices of the

United Nations, urgent dialogue must be undertaken to

explore ways and means of preventing and combating

terrorism.

In the field of human rights, Gabon welcomes the

creation of an International Criminal Court, as established

by the Statute adopted at Rome on 17 July last. The same

applies to the Organization of African Unity Protocol,

which created, at the organization?s thirty-fourth summit,

a Pan-African Court of Justice.

Because of industrial development, environmental

questions have become an increasingly pressing concern

for the international community. The awareness to which

the Rio Summit gave rise unfortunately was not followed

up by the concrete measures that were expected.

Commitments have not been fulfilled, and as time goes

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by, the Rio consensus must lead us more than ever towards

a necessary commitment if we wish to avoid its remaining

a dead letter.

I should like also to take this opportunity to express

my delegation?s satisfaction with, and its support for, the

efforts made by the International Seabed Authority, the

guarantor of a common heritage of humankind, in the

consideration of a draft code on the mining, exploration and

exploitation of the seabed.

We must make sincere and tireless efforts on all of

these major issues. I very much appreciate the work of our

Organization, which, through its executing bodies, its

specialized agencies and with the support of other

organizations, is making every effort to achieve these noble

objectives.

As I already said last year, Gabon supports the idea

that the United Nations system needs rational and consistent

renewal, in keeping with today?s realities. The proposals of

the Secretary-General on the reform of the budgetary,

administrative, social and economic sectors reflect a spirit

of innovation that will make it possible to face the

challenges of the new millennium.

More specifically, as regards the thorny question of

the expansion of the Security Council, Gabon is, of course,

in favour of it. We believe Africa should have two

permanent seats — I repeat, two permanent seats — which

would be occupied on a rotational basis by all African

countries — I repeat, all African countries — in accordance

with modalities to be determined by them.

Before concluding, allow me to commend the

achievements of Secretary-General Kofi Annan. We know

his task is immense and difficult. He has already

accomplished a great deal, with courage and skill. I have

already mentioned the promising views he shared with the

Security Council on the eradication of conflicts and the

promotion of lasting peace in Africa. For Africa, and for

the entire international community, we must encourage and

support him.