Indonesia, 2003

Allow me to begin by

drawing the General Assembly’s attention to the fact

that, despite all its deficiencies and weaknesses, it must

be admitted that the United Nations has demonstrated

its merits and contributions, not only for humanity in

general but also, in particular, for its Member States.

This world body has maintained minimum standards

that every State must meet regarding the protection and

promotion of the human rights of all its citizens. The

United Nations has developed, and strived to

implement, international laws binding upon each and

every member. It has also instituted and put into

practice an array of legal instruments that are very

useful in preventing and settling conflicts among

States, as well as in promoting a framework of

cooperation among nations.

I would therefore like to take this opportunity to

convey the gratitude and appreciation of my country to

the United Nations for the invaluable work it has done

for our benefit. The contributions of the Organization

to our political and economic development are well

recorded in our history. Those contributions range from

its mediating role during the period of our struggle to

preserve our national independence, from 1945 to

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1949, to its active participation in our efforts to employ

our independence wisely in our pursuit of national

development.

Our national State — which may not only be the

most heterogeneous but also the largest archipelagic

State in the world — is built upon racial, ethnic,

religious and cultural pluralities. Our people still live

predominately traditional lives, dispersed along the

equator throughout over 17,000 islands. The most

devastating financial crisis in Indonesia’s history not

only ignited conflicts between ethnic groups, but also

revived separatist movements in several regions. We

are doing all we can to contain and defuse those

separatist movements. In the process, we have

diminished our capacity to strengthen our economic

recovery.

Beginning in 2002, while we were contending

with those difficulties, terrorism began to inflict its

brutality upon our homeland. We believed for quite

some time that international terrorism would spare

Indonesia because we had a tradition of tolerance for

human differences. However, we must now face the

reality that Indonesia has become a target of terrorism,

and as a result has suffered enormous losses in human

lives. We have been wondering why those terrifying

acts were carried out. What were the underlying

reasons, motives and arguments for them? How were

they related to international terrorist networks? What

course of action should be adopted to effectively

prevent, deter and eradicate them?

We have adopted a strong set of laws to prevent

and eradicate the threats posed by terrorism. Equipped

with those reinforced legal instruments, we have

dismantled terrorist cells in the country, and

prosecutors have brought members of those cells to

justice. Several of them have already been handed

sentences that befit their crimes.

The people of Indonesia, who are predominantly

of the Islamic faith, support that national policy. Large

and active Islamic organizations, such as

Muhammadiya and Nahdlatul Ulama, as well as the

Indonesian Ulemas Council and prominent Islamic

figures, are one in condemning those terrorist acts. It

should be noted that the terrorists — who are few in

number, but fanatical — often claim that they are

fighting in the name of Islam. They must be a mere

minority, as Islam — which teaches equality, justice

and the kinship shared by all humankind — cannot

possibly endorse the indiscriminate killing of innocent

individuals. As in other Muslim countries, adherents of

mainstream Islam in Indonesia practice moderation and

are strongly opposed to violence. Although they are a

small splinter group in the large Indonesian community

of Muslims, the perpetrators of those terrorist acts

represent a branch of international terrorism. The

motives and justifying arguments of their movement

apparently stem from the prolonged unjust attitude

exhibited by big Powers towards countries whose

inhabitants profess Islam, particularly as regards

resolving the Middle East conflict.

We should truly be prudent and sensible in the

face of such a long-outstanding issue. It is difficult to

refute the impression that the policy on conflict

resolution in the Middle East is not only unjust but also

one-sided. Clearly, the Middle East problem is not a

conflict of religions or of religious adherents, although

some religious nuances may be part of the issue.

We are very much aware of the background of

that situation. Whatever the reasoning espoused by any

one of us, we must all admit that the absence of a just

attitude, exacerbated by a feeling of being sidelined

and ignored, in addition to the lack of a formal means

to channel aspirations, has fostered a climate for

violence and made it grow. In our view, those are

actually both the seeds and roots of a problem that has

a tendency to grow and expand. Among other things,

that problem has also even led to devastating and tragic

acts of terror.

At this distinguished forum, I would like to

appeal to world leaders to open the doors of their hearts

in dealing with that issue, which is crucial to world

peace, the welfare of humankind and the destiny of the

human race. I believe we will be able to carry out that

noble task if we are prepared to look into the problem

with clear hearts and minds. Indeed, we cannot be the

“most just”; but it is necessary to have a just mind and

attitude.

It is depressing to observe that we have been very

slow in understanding the root causes of the problem.

The war in the Middle East a few months ago is just

another reflection of the situation. The war has created

many more problems than it was supposed to solve. I

do believe that a great many lessons can be learned

from the Iraq war.

In order to prevent, deter or eradicate the problem

of international terrorism, I should like to propose that

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the countries whose citizens have been the main targets

of terrorist groups should review their conventional

anti-terrorism policies, particularly in dealing with the

Arab-Israeli conflict. They should adopt a policy that

ensures that all parties involved are given just and

equal treatment. Indeed, many eminent Muslims in

Indonesia believe that once the major Powers behave in

a more just manner and make clear their impartiality in

the Middle East, most of the root causes of terrorism

perpetrated in the name of Islam — which cannot be

justified under any circumstance — will be resolved.

As the Head of State of the largest Muslim country in

the world, I sincerely invite all world leaders to pay

particular attention to that issue.

Let us prevent the root causes of terrorism from

spreading and triggering the emergence of other

unsatisfactory aspirations, including in the social and

economic spheres. The failure to reach consensus at the

recent meeting of the World Trade Organization and

the continued slow progress — not to say stalemate —

in the implementation of various social and economic

global agendas will only complicate and proliferate

existing global problems.

We are all interested in making the world a more

peaceful, stable, prosperous, just and humane place.

Were those not the noble objectives explicitly

stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations at the

inception of the Organization, in June 1945? We are all

aware that the world has undergone rapid changes.

Technology has transformed the world and turned it

into an open and almost borderless place. Human life

and its inherent value system have been developing

very fast, and any institutional and procedural regimes

and instruments require adjustment and improvement.

Forty-three years ago, in 1960, our first President,

Mr. Soekarno, spoke clearly about that issue. In his

address to the General Assembly entitled “To build the

world anew”, he referred to the need to reform both the

international order and relations among nations of the

world. We now all realize and recognize the truth of his

call. We are indeed in need of fundamental reform. If,

to that end, the performance of the Organization

requires improvement to enable it to contribute more

constructively to the attainment of a more peaceful,

stable, just, prosperous and humane world, then we

must have the courage to review, revitalize and

empower its institutions and working methods.

We must strengthen international cooperation and

reinforce regional engagement. In South-East Asia, we

are continuing to enhance the role of the Association of

South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Next month, at

the ASEAN summit that Indonesia will host in Bali, we

expect to take concrete steps towards forming an

ASEAN security community that will support and

complement our efforts at becoming an ASEAN

economic community. I believe that a stable, peaceful

and prosperous ASEAN will significantly contribute to

the realization of the objectives of the United Nations.

There are no easy tasks. But building a better

region and a more democratic world is worth all our

patience and hard work. After all, that is our basic

responsibility. From Indonesia’s own experience in

striving to become a more fully democratic country, I

know how difficult that kind of work can be. We are

therefore aware that building a more democratic world

is even more difficult. Nevertheless, I wish to reiterate

that my country remains committed to fulfilling its

international obligations and that we will continue to

work with other members of the United Nations to

build the new world we dream of.