Guinea, 1998

On behalf of my delegation, I should first of all like to

congratulate Mr. Opertti warmly on his election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at this session. My

country, the Republic of Guinea, is pleased with this

expression of confidence, eloquent proof of the international

community?s recognition of the very positive role played by

his country, Uruguay, in working for the noble ideals of our

Organization. I am sure his personal qualities and great

experience will ensure success at this session.

I should also like to take this opportunity to convey

our great appreciation to Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko,

President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second

session, for the skill, open-mindedness and efficiency of his

presidency.

I should also like to extend to the Secretary-General,

Mr. Kofi Annan, the confidence of the Government of

Guinea, which greatly appreciates his perceptiveness, his

great wisdom and his hard work, which together are

opening up new horizons for this Organization.

Despite encouraging results in many areas, the United

Nations still faces many challenges that threaten

international peace and security and jeopardize the

sustainable development of nations. It is the responsibility

of the United Nations, in accordance with its purposes and

principles, to become more involved in the enduring search

for peace, so that the human race, on the eve of the third

millennium, can establish a real foundation for the

prosperity of all States.

How can one ensure peace and the harmonious

development of our States if the international community

will not firmly commit itself to identifying and eradicating

the deep causes of the many conflicts and imbalances that

continue to impede mankind?s progress towards greater

well-being? At a time when we are preparing to

commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, the world?s conscience is

still troubled by the indifference of the major players in

the international arena in the search for appropriate

solutions to the challenges that face us all.

In a number of countries, peoples and individuals are

deprived of fundamental rights. Civil wars continue to

cause great suffering to innocent victims. It has been

shown that respect for fundamental rights, including

promotion of the right to development, which underlies all

other rights, is an excellent instrument of preventive

diplomacy today.

Our session is opening at a time when the Middle

East peace process is completely deadlocked. My country

is following with great concern recent developments in

that part of the world, particularly in the Arab territories

occupied by Israel. My delegation is convinced that unless

the rights of all the interested parties are taken into

account, peace will remain elusive.

The search for peace in the Middle East is a matter

of concern to all States, first and foremost the States

members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference

(OIC), which on several occasions has called on the

Security Council and the General Assembly for greater

United Nations involvement in achieving a just and

lasting peace in the Middle East through the return of the

occupied Arab territories, the creation of a Palestinian

state and respect for the rights of all States in the region

to peace and security.

My delegation appeals to all parties concerned,

particularly the authorities in Tel Aviv, to ensure strict

implementation of the Oslo and Washington agreements,

with a view to saving peace and thereby avoid the threat

of another crisis that jeopardizes the balance in the

subregion and international peace as a whole.

The African continent continues to be a central

concern of the international community. There is no need

for me to enumerate the many internal conflicts that have

occurred in Africa in recent years.

In West Africa, the collective awareness of the

member States of the Economic Community of West

African States (ECOWAS) of the need to make our

subregion a zone of peace, security and stability has

15

contributed, thanks to the resolve shown by our heads of

State, to restoring peace in Liberia and has allowed for a

return to constitutionality in Sierra Leone.

These achievements, which are the result of the

unanimous desire of our peoples to manage their own

affairs, also attest to the vitality of the institutions of

regional integration as instruments for conflict prevention,

management and resolution. Here, I would appeal to the

international community for more cooperation with and

assistance to the peacekeeping mechanisms initiated by

subregional organizations.

There is a need to consolidate the great achievements

of the restoration of peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone

through massive assistance for their speedy reconstruction,

the return of refugees and national reconciliation. If the

young people who have been demobilized in these two

countries do not quickly find some activity in civilian life,

the temptation to return to disorder will remain. To

strengthen peace and security in the West African

subregion, the international community must help the

economies of Liberia and Sierra Leone return to the path of

growth.

While ECOWAS and the international community

were seeking ways and means to consolidate peace in

Sierra Leone and Liberia, another conflict erupted on 7

June 1998 in Guinea-Bissau. The Government of Guinea,

which has always advocated dialogue and consultation to

resolve conflicts, expressed, from the beginning of this

crisis, its grave concern because of the geographic,

historical, social and cultural ties uniting Guinea-Bissau and

my own country.

The existence of a mutual defence assistance pact,

signed on 25 January 1980, and the explicit invitation by

the Guinea-Bissau?s democratically elected President,

President João Bernardo Vieira both justified the sending of

a Guinean contingent to Guinea-Bissau to preserve

constitutional order and help end the war. Faithful to our

policy of peace and dialogue, the Government of Guinea

has been working since the beginning of this crisis in the

ECOWAS Committee of Seven to find a just, negotiated

solution.

We believe that complementary action by the

Economic Community of West African States and the

contact group of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking

Countries will make it possible for us to achieve the

objective of restoring peace and security in Guinea-Bissau.

If we are to preserve the achievements of

democratization in Africa, the international community

must adopt new, more binding legal instruments

prohibiting any seizure of power by force and banishing

those responsible for such actions at the international,

regional and subregional levels. The implementation of

such measures will help to strengthen preventive

diplomacy and to preserve peace and security within our

States, with respect for fundamental human rights.

I cannot end this section of my statement without

mentioning the thorny issue of refugees and displaced

persons, who are the victims of these crises. My country,

the Republic of Guinea, because of its geographic location

among three countries facing civil war, has of all the

countries in the world the highest proportion of refugees

within its territory. Over the last decade, Guinea has taken

in more than 700,000 refugees, which is one tenth of our

population. This massive and prolonged concentration of

people has had serious social, economic and

environmental consequences in the areas of Guinea

concerned, and is weighing heavily on my country and its

economy.

I would like to reiterate here the appeal made by the

Government of Guinea for substantial assistance, in

accordance with Security Council and ECOWAS

resolutions to help the Republic of Guinea bear the

burden of these refugees. On behalf of the Government of

Guinea, I should like to express our gratitude to those

States that have already responded favourably to this

appeal.

Concerned about the situation, the United Nations

Department of Political Affairs and the United Nations

Development Programme organized a special meeting on

the Republic of Guinea on 9 and 10 July this year in New

York. The Government of Guinea appreciated this

welcome initiative by the Secretary-General. We greatly

appreciated the recognition by the international

community, through the United Nations system, of the

great sacrifices made by the people of Guinea to help the

refugees from neighbouring countries, and especially the

will of the United Nations system to mobilize resources

to strengthen Guinea?s economic capacity and preserve its

stability, so that we can continue to be a small island of

peace and prosperity.

I should like to take this opportunity to urge

multilateral partners, all our partners, to continue to

pursue with us the activities undertaken in support of

Guinea, particularly in the area of the environment, which

16

has been seriously degraded by the long-term mass

presence of refugees. The future of the water supplies of

West Africa is at stake here.

The Republic of Guinea is closely following recent

developments in the political situation in the Great Lakes

region, particularly the crisis in the Democratic Republic of

the Congo. My delegation is deeply concerned by the risk

that the conflict will spill over into the subregion. We

urgently appeal to all the parties to the conflict to call an

immediate ceasefire and to respect the territorial integrity of

the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in accordance with

the recommendations of the summit of heads of State of the

subregion held at Victoria Falls on 7 and 8 September this

year.

Promoting the right to development is part of the

overall search for greater prosperity for the human race.

While tangible political progress has been made in Africa

over the last decade, African States still face the challenge

of development, indebtedness and the negative impact of a

globalization which is not yet fully understood.

This terrible situation, aggravated by the negative

impact of internal conflict, is significantly weakening our

States and opening them up to new and dangerous forms of

foreign greed. The implementation of a policy to gradually

reduce the imbalances between rich and developing

countries would contribute to the emergence of a true

global market by the creation of centres of development on

all continents.

Each country in the world should be given every

opportunity for development and helped to become part of

the world trade system. Despite considerable efforts by

African countries towards political and economic

restructuring, and towards strengthening their credibility and

making their economies more competitive, the economic

situation in Africa continues to be critical. If urgent and

appropriate measures are not taken, the sacrifices made risk

having been in vain.

My Government has already undertaken far-reaching

political, economic and structural reforms and hopes that

special attention will be given to the situation in Africa. We

appeal to the international community and the developed

countries to continue to increase official development

assistance. Sustained assistance to African countries will

enable them to consolidate what they have already achieved

and thereby to enter the next millennium with a greater

sense of calm. In this respect, the Agenda for Development

should be strongly supported, with a view to its effective

implementation.

The question of disarmament and the non-

proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is still a

concern for my Government. While the adoption of the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was a significant

step forward for the preservation of peace, recent

developments in the international arena require the

international community as a whole to consider more

deeply the underlying causes of the nuclear arms race. It

seems clear that as long as imbalances and injustices are

not put right, the spectre of proliferation will continue to

threaten international peace.

Countries that already possess nuclear weapons have

a special responsibility for the preservation of

international peace and must shoulder their responsibilities

by taking a more active part in strengthening prevention

and peacekeeping mechanisms, resolving existing or latent

conflicts, ensuring more equitable treatment for States

involved in conflict and, finally, making a more

substantial contribution to the development of less

fortunate nations.

The Government of Guinea believes that only

general and complete disarmament can prevent the risk of

proliferation. In the subregion of West Africa, the trade

in small arms endangers the internal equilibrium of our

States. Within the context of conflict prevention in West

Africa, subregional cooperation is under way to eradicate

this scourge. We invite the other regions of Africa to

support this initiative and to work to establish appropriate

structures in order to put an end to the illicit trade in

small arms and make Africa a zone of peace and security.

The Republic of Guinea welcomes the adoption and

signing of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use,

Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel

Mines and on Their Destruction. The National Assembly

of Guinea has already ratified this important Convention

to show its support for the elimination of landmines,

which cause so much suffering to innocent victims.

It is reassuring to note the greater awareness at the

global level of the need to end drug-trafficking, whose

many consequences dangerously threaten the prosperity of

nations. The results of the recent world summit meeting

on drugs will doubtless enable us to further refine our

methods to combat the production, distribution, sale and

consumption of drugs, which are a real scourge.

17

The recent adoption in Rome of the Statute of the

International Criminal Court was a major milestone in the

progress of humankind towards the elimination of serious

violations of humanitarian law committed during

international or internal conflicts.

As our community prepares to enter the third

millennium, it is now more necessary than ever to adapt the

United Nations to the requirements of international life. The

new challenges facing us will require the adoption of new,

more appropriate arrangements to make the twenty-first

century one of peace, justice and prosperity within the

context of an equitable partnership that is beneficial to all

nations.

My delegation is convinced that the United Nations is

still the melting pot in which all nations can make their

voices heard in the search for just and lasting solutions to

their concerns. We therefore believe that the financial

capacity of the United Nations must be strengthened.

Contributions must be paid on time and in accordance with

the established scale. To that end, we must, together,

review the way in which the United Nations system

functions with a view to adapting it to current and future

circumstances.

My delegation believes in the need for the

democratization of the United Nations through the

restructuring of its principal bodies, such as the Security

Council, whose current membership reflects the state of the

world in 1945 and no longer corresponds to the political,

economic and social realities of the world today. The

reform of the principal bodies of our Organization must

enable all States to use their national capacities to seek and

consolidate international peace.

My country is more committed than ever to the

honourable mission of our Organization as set forth in the

Charter. Given the many challenges facing us, Guinea

believes in the need for all of us to work together to

strengthen and preserve humankind?s vision of justice,

freedom, peace and solidarity. That is what our peoples

would have us do.