Sudan, 2011

It is indeed

an honour and a source of pride to see our sister State

of Qatar represented in the good person of the

11-51390 18

President leading this year’s session of the General

Assembly. His election was certainly the right choice

given his commendable initiatives and contributions to

maintaining peace and security, both regionally and

internationally, which bear out his qualifications and

capabilities. Indeed, we congratulate him on assuming

his post. Through you, Sir, may I also convey my

congratulations and gratitude to Mr. Joseph Deiss,

President of the Assembly at its sixty-fifth session.

We would also like to congratulate His Excellency

the Secretary-General on his reappointment. We commend

him and his colleagues on their admirable efforts in the

various areas in which the Organization is active. We

hope that our deliberations this year will benefit

humankind and serve to promote peace, harmony and

cooperation among peoples and nations.

I address the Assembly today as the Sudan

approaches the international community with new

momentum, having recently provided an exemplary

model in choosing peace and stability, even though

their price entailed sacrificing a dear part of our

country’s territory. During the past six years, the

international community has followed the Government

of the Sudan’s degree of commitment to the choice of

peace through the implementation of the

Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which we concluded

and signed on 9 January 2005.

Despite the obstacles and challenges facing the

implementation of the Agreement from the start, we

have continued to implement it with perseverance and

patience. That culminated in the holding of the

referendum on the self-determination of South Sudan

and, eventually, the acceptance of its result. We were

the first country to recognize the nascent Republic of

South Sudan, extending a hand of cooperation and

brotherhood to it.

The international community has also followed

the historic visit that our country’s President, Mr. Omer

Hassan Al-Bashir, paid to the city of Juba prior to the

holding of the referendum, as well as his participation

in the celebrations declaring the establishment of the

State of South Sudan on 9 July. His address on that

occasion outlined the guiding principles that

established the basis of our warm and friendly

relations, discarding the negative atmosphere and

bitterness of the past and looking towards the broader

horizons of cooperation and communication that serve

the interests of that country’s brotherly people. From

this rostrum, we reiterate our commitment to that spirit.

We also reiterate our congratulations to the State of

South Sudan as it takes its place among the Members

of the United Nations.

Allow me to take this opportunity to welcome the

National Transitional Council as the legitimate

representative of the brotherly people of Libya at the

United Nations, following the revolution that Libya

experienced and the changes it has brought about.

The separation leading to the establishment of the

independent State of South Sudan does not mean a

definitive divorce, in particular as we live in an era of

globalization and State alliances and groupings that

transcend political boundaries and traditional

frameworks. Moreover, until recently our two peoples

were one, connected by common denominators and

various historical, cultural and social ties.

Given those facts, we are resolute in our full

commitment to settling all outstanding issues with

regard to the implementation of the Comprehensive

Peace Agreement, including the situation in the Abyei

region, in order to complete the border demarcation

and the necessary joint measures and mechanisms

required to monitor the border and address economic

issues, including access to oil and oil revenues.

We also affirm that we are committed to reaching

security and political arrangements that address all the

recent tensions in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile

states. As I have said before, we accepted the choice of

separation not because we were bored with unity, for

we had paid dearly for that unity, but because we

wanted sustainable peace and stability. It is therefore

unacceptable and irrational to accept any proxy war

that destabilizes those two states, or any other border

area between them. That will require understanding of

the joint vision that takes into account the special

characteristics of the demographic character of the

region and the interaction among the tribes in those

areas.

With regard to the situation in Darfur, the most

recent peace negotiations in the sisterly State of Qatar

concluded with the signing of the Doha Document for

Peace in Darfur, which was accepted and supported by

the various groups in Darfur. That support was

evidenced by the broad participation in the all-Darfur

stakeholders conference, which was held in May and

attended by representatives of internally displaced

persons, civil society and leaders from the legislative,

19 11-51390

political and executive branches, as well as tribal and

political party leaders, elders and local administration.

The conference adopted the Doha Document for Peace

in Darfur because it responded to all of the aspirations

of the people of Darfur in terms of peace, development,

stability, justice and political participation. As the

Assembly is aware, the Document has received

considerable support from the international community.

I wish to take this opportunity to reiterate our

appreciation to our sister State of Qatar, the African

Union and the League of Arab States, which

spearheaded this initiative. We also wish to thank the

Joint Mediation Support Team and all regional and

international partners who contributed to the

agreement. From this rostrum, I again emphasize that

we will continue to implement our national strategy on

Darfur on the basis of its five pillars: security,

development, the resettlement of refugees and

internally displaced persons, internal reconciliation and

a comprehensive political settlement. We will give top

priority to completing the return of internally displaced

persons and refugees and to creating stable conditions

for them through development, rehabilitation and

reconstruction projects.

We expected the Secretary-General to include a

special paragraph in his statement to illustrate my

Government’s commitment to peace, which was

evident from the signing of the Comprehensive Peace

Agreement and the declaration of the Republic of

South Sudan, which my Government was first to

recognize as a State. We call on our international

Organization not to be hoodwinked by the policies of

some countries, which refuse to give credit where it is

due. The Sudanese leadership, headed by President

Omer Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir, enabled the people of

the South to exercise their right to self-determination.

It made a commitment to do so because of its desire for

peace and stability. Consequently, it is a leadership that

deserves respect and appreciation, not to be the target

of attempts at incrimination or of the arbitrary levelling

of accusations, for example, by the International

Criminal Court.

I need not recall the fact that the President is the

leader of the Republic of the Sudan and was

legitimately elected in fair and transparent elections

conducted under the supervision of international and

regional bodies. Moreover, the unilateral and

unjustified economic sanctions adopted by the United

States of America against the Sudan in order to weaken

it and erode its development revival are but unjust and

coercive measures against the people of the Sudan.

This is happening at a time when we aspire to have the

support of the international community as we move

towards that goal more openly and with greater

determination to fulfil our natural role as an active and

pioneering member of the international family.

As a State emerging from conflict, we look

forward to the contribution of the international

community and its financial institutions in terms of

debt forgiveness and support for development projects.

That would be consistent with the measures being

applied to all least developed countries, as well as to

those emerging from conflict and moving into

peacebuilding, which has now become a reality. The

World Bank has put forward these and other

requirements, and has stated that my country has

indeed demonstrated compliance in that regard.

Similarly, from this rostrum, we call on all

investors, without exception, to try to benefit from the

Sudan and its promising resources, especially those

other than oil, such as mineral resources and metals.

We urge them to invest in the Sudan’s agricultural

resources, taking into consideration the extent of the

country’s arable land and its significant water

resources. This is particularly important in the light of

the food crises, famines resulting from drought and

desertification, and the urgent global need for cereals

and grains. The Sudan’s investment law has provided

all necessary facilities to all foreign investors.

The international financial and economic crisis

has adversely affected most countries of the world. In

the countries of Africa, the crisis has notably

intensified and exacerbated the difficulties plaguing the

economies of developing nations, resulting in increased

poverty and food shortages and the decline of social

services.

At a time when climate change is leading to

natural disasters in many countries, I call on the

General Assembly, all donors and the relevant United

Nations agencies, funds and programmes to respond

urgently to the devastating famine and the attendant

tragic humanitarian situation, which is affecting some

of our sister republics in the Horn of Africa, in

particular Somalia.

We also wish to highlight the importance of

giving issues affecting the African continent a high

priority on the development agenda of the United

11-51390 20

Nations, with a view to supporting and building the

capacities of African economic institutions. This could

be accomplished by reactivating the New Partnership

for Africa’s Development initiative. Priority, support

and financing should be given to projects aimed at

combating poverty and endemic diseases on the

continent, as well as to the relevant programmes linked

to the achievement of the Millennium Development

Goals.

Since development and peace go hand in hand,

we wish to emphasize the importance of supporting the

institutions of the African Union, especially its Peace

and Security Council and its other various mechanisms,

to build early-warning conflict prevention capacities. I

need not mention that Chapter VIII of the United

Nations Charter clearly emphasizes the importance of

regional arrangements in strengthening and

maintaining international peace and security.

We also wish to emphasize the importance of

activating preventive diplomacy mechanisms and

African peacemaking efforts. I refer in particular to the

experience of the Panel of the Wise of the African

Union, headed by former South African President

Thabo Mbeki, which is playing a commendable role in

the Sudan. This attests to the effectiveness of the role

of regional bodies in settling disputes and achieving

peace and security in African countries.

The Sudan had hoped for international consensus

on climate and environment issues, in particular

because we have been directly affected by them, as has

clearly been the case in Darfur. United Nations reports

have emphasized the relationship between the negative

impact of climate change and the intensification of

conflict, especially on the African continent. We had

also hoped that the efforts made in Copenhagen would

have been successful and led to an agreement on how

to address this phenomenon and avoid its negative

consequences.

We had hoped, too, that developed nations would

assume their historic responsibilities in that regard by

adopting specific strategies and action plans to tackle

the root causes of climate change in a manner

consistent with the Rio Declaration on Environment

and Development, adopted at the Earth Summit in

1992. The Sudan attaches the highest priority to the

implementation of a series of national programmes

designed to alleviate the consequences of climate

change and to raise awareness as to its dire effects.

The Sudan looks forward to participating actively

and effectively in the United Nations Conference on

Sustainable Development to be held next year, in order

to help strengthen international efforts to face the

challenges of sustainable development with a

collective will that reflects the aspirations of the whole

world, developing nations in particular, for

development and a decent life for their peoples.

Various entities of the United Nations, including

the Security Council, have adopted dozens of

resolutions regarding the question of Palestine, none of

which have been implemented. This is because of

Israel’s blatant defiance of the international community

and because of the support and protection it enjoys

from some powerful countries. This demonstrates that

the Organization is incapable of standing up for the

rights of peoples and to support their legitimate claims,

as enshrined in the Charter. That has given the green

light to the occupying authorities to continue with their

settlement policies that seek to entrench the occupation

and banish the Palestinian people, the owners of the

land.

The Sudan therefore fully supports the

Palestinian National Authority’s decision to request full

membership of the United Nations, which is their legal

right, based on the right to self-determination, one of

the principles of international law. Moreover, the

Palestinians’ request for recognition as a State is a

legitimate right that seeks to confirm that, first, the

United Nations is committed to its Charter and,

secondly, to international law. This would also help to

alleviate tensions in the region. The international

community should consider the fact that there may be

no one to negotiate with if it allows Israel to impose

conditions on the world and to deprive the Palestinians

of their legitimate rights.

In conclusion, the reform of the United Nations,

and in particular of the Security Council, is an urgent

and compelling priority requiring speedy action.

Without efforts to reform the Organization and its

various entities, we will weaken the role of developing

nations and have a negative effect on their national

interests. This will also allow bodies such as the

Security Council to become a channel through which

particular countries impose their own political agendas,

especially with regard to international peace and

security. Genuine reform of the Security Council and

its working methods is therefore the only way to

prevent it from being exploited by some countries in a

21 11-51390

manner that could cast doubt on the credibility and

neutrality of the Organization, whose founders

carefully drafted its Charter so as to make it the widest

possible forum for consultation and debate — debate

that requires cooperation and interaction among

peoples, nations, cultures and civilizations in order to

create a world in which values such as freedom, peace,

security and justice can prevail.