Rwanda, 1996

Permit me to

congratulate Mr. Razali Ismail on his unanimous election

to preside over this session. His election is a reaffirmation

by the United Nations Member States of the confidence

that they have placed in him and in the Government of

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Malaysia. In this regard, I should like to assure him of the

cooperation of the delegation of the Republic of Rwanda in

our shared desire to galvanize the community of nations in

their common resolve to fulfil the objectives of the United

Nations Charter. I should like to take this opportunity to

pay tribute to his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Diogo

Freitas do Amaral, for presiding over the fiftieth session of

the General Assembly in a most efficient and able manner.

The session over which Mr. Razali is presiding will be

addressing a considerable agenda of more than 155 items,

which, when put together, will contribute to world peace,

security and stability. The United Nations is the most

appropriate forum to discuss these and other related matters

of global peace, development and international cooperation.

The agenda before us therefore seeks to address the

implementation of the objectives of the Charter, as

enshrined in Article 1.

As we move towards the twenty-first century, it is our

individual and collective responsibility to re-examine the

extent to which our countries have or have not contributed

to the attainment of these objectives. The United Nations

Agenda for Peace and its valuable initiatives on

peacekeeping, human rights and other development-related

issues — collective security, terrorism, denuclearization,

conflict prevention and resolution — will be discussed

during the session. Rwanda would like to join its voice to

those of the delegations that spoke from this rostrum and

who called for world peace, security and the development

of developing countries.

Statements have been made from this rostrum in

connection with what some have described as the ghastly

events that took place in Rwanda in 1994. Many, perhaps

inadvertently and in a simplistic manner, have described the

events of 1994 in Rwanda as a conflict, a crisis, ghastly

events or as gross violations of human rights. There was

genocide in Rwanda, nothing else but a genocide. It was

not a tribal or ethnic conflict, as it is often referred to.

Between April and July 1994 more than one million

Rwandans were butchered in a systematic and planned

manner. This carnage was carried out in only 98 days. The

devastating effects of the aftermath of the Rwandan

genocide are still with us, and we live with them. Rwanda’s

population now consists of 70 per cent women, 60 per cent

of whom are widows, and we have 400,000 orphans in the

country.

The perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide are still at

large in some capitals. Far from feeling remorse, they pride

themselves in their unfinished agenda. Their army, militia

and political leadership are in military and refugee camps

within walking distance of the Rwanda-Zaire border. They

have recently stepped up infiltrations into Rwanda in

order to kill the remaining survivors of genocide.

We call upon the international community to exert

pressure on the Government of Zaire to relocate the

refugees away from its borders with Rwanda, in

conformity with the 1951 Geneva convention (relating to

the Status of Refugees).

The withdrawal of United Nations peacekeeping

troops in April 1994, at the height of the execution of the

genocidal agenda, was not helpful. For us in Rwanda, it

remains, and will continue to remain, a reminder of the

responsibility of the United Nations to ensure that this

does not reoccur anywhere else. More importantly, it

points to the need for the United Nations to support

Rwanda in its efforts to rebuild its socio-economic

infrastructure. This is critical. There can be no sustainable

peace without reconstruction and development. The recent

high-level symposium on conflicts in Africa, which was

held in Tokyo this month, on 9 and 10 September, came

to the same conclusion.

Allow me to put on record my Government’s

appreciation of the efforts made by those countries,

institutions and humanitarian agencies that helped and

continue to assist Rwanda in the various sectoral

rehabilitation programmes. We are equally grateful to

those who have shown their disposition to do so in the

near future.

The recently concluded round table conference,

which was organized with the support of the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has been

helpful. We are grateful for the commitments that were

made. This will go a long way in assisting Rwanda to

consolidate and build on the achievements of the past two

years.

The Government of National Unity of Rwanda,

under the leadership of His Excellency President Pasteur

Bizimungu, has made significant strides to return the

country to normalcy. Tremendous achievements have

been made, including the gradual and steady rehabilitation

of the security structure, the judiciary, the legislature and

the economy. The sound macroeconomic policies that

have been adopted have contributed, in less than two

years, to a reduction in inflation from 60 per cent in 1994

to 10 per cent in 1996. This will drop to 5 per cent by the

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end of 1997. Agricultural production has reached 70 per

cent of the pre-war level, and we have recorded impressive

levels of food production.

We are also pleased to inform the international

community that more than 2.2 million refugees have now

returned to Rwanda. All Rwandan refugees originally based

in Burundi have been repatriated and successfully resettled

in their own communities without incident. This is

sufficient proof that Rwandan refugees in other

neighbouring countries, apart from being the hostages of

genocidal leaders in the refugee camps, have no other

reasons to remain.

These achievements have been made in spite of some

critical factors that the international community could help

Rwanda overcome if we are to maintain the pace of our

continuing progress towards stability, durable peace and

development.

The crippling debt burden has hamstrung all social

sectors, especially the most vulnerable groups. Children,

women, widows and the elderly are among the most

affected. Rwanda’s debt stock at the end of 1995 stood at

a staggering high of $1 billion, or 91 per cent of the gross

domestic product (GDP). Most of this, 84 per cent, is owed

to multilateral institutions; 13 per cent is bilateral; and the

remaining 3 per cent is on account of suppliers’ credits.

Given the magnitude of this suffocating debt, the

Government cannot rebuild its shattered socio-economic

infrastructure in the aftermath of genocide. We therefore

urge the international community, and especially the

multilateral financial and development institutions, to cancel

immediately Rwanda’s debt. Short of new resources in the

form of a Marshall Plan, this cancellation would greatly

contribute to Rwanda’s recovery and sustainable growth.

We know very well that where there has been a significant

infusion of financial resources in post-war periods, peace

and stability have been achieved and sustained.

The question of conflicts and insecurity in the Great

Lakes region has been mentioned by many speakers. The

situation in Burundi is cause for concern to many,

especially the countries of the region. I should like in this

regard to commend the efforts of the Organization of

African Unity, the leaders of the region and all those who

are involved in the search for a durable solution.

Regional instability has been complicated by the

systematic persecution of Kinyarwanda-speaking Zaireans.

This process was stepped up this year with the massacre of

several North Kivu region Zaireans of Rwandese culture;

others were forced to flee to Rwanda and Uganda. This

persecution has recently been extended to the South Kivu

region of Zaire, where, again, Kinyarwanda-speaking

Zaireans have been subjected to brutal attacks by Zairean

forces, along with former Rwanda Government soldiers

and interahamwe militias, who did not finish but exported

their genocidal and “ethnic cleansing” agenda.

Survivors of these attacks — predominantly women

and children, as men and boys are either killed or

imprisoned — have been forced to seek refuge in

Rwanda. It is the responsibility of the Government of

Zaire to unconditionally repatriate its nationals who are

currently living in refugee camps in Rwanda. We call

upon the international community to prevail upon the

Government of Zaire so as to stop the systematic “ethnic

cleansing” currently taking place in eastern Zaire. We

further call upon the Government of Zaire to cease

immediately its military aggression which has recently

been directed against Rwandan territory.

We would like to pay tribute to Mwalimu Julius

Nyerere, former President of the United Republic of

Tanzania, for his unequivocal and genuine search for

solutions, not only for Burundi, but also within the wider

context of the Great Lakes region.

The problem is not the lack of solutions. What is

lacking is the decisiveness to implement commitments

voluntarily entered into. That is what should be addressed.

In the case of the Great Lakes region, former Presidents

Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Jimmy Carter of the United

States of America and General Touré of Mali successfully

managed to get the Heads of State and Government to

agree and sign solemn declarations on the modalities for

solving the problems of the region.

At this session, we will be considering the

re-election of the Secretary-General. My Government’s

position has been clear since Yaoundé, during the summit

of the Organization of African Unity. We are not

supportive of the re-election of the incumbent. Doing so

would reward his failure to use the instruments of the

United Nations Charter in order to come to the rescue of

Rwandans during the genocide. Above all, it would be

against the collective conscience of the Rwandan people

to support the candidacy of the incumbent. But beyond

these moral grounds, we believe that the election of a

contested Secretary-General is not in the interest of the

United Nations. It would jeopardize the functioning of an

institution that needs to be strengthened.

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