Chad, 1997

In

taking the floor for the first time before this Assembly, I

feel legitimately proud to be the voice with which the

people of Chad, its Government and its President, His

Excellency Mr. Idriss Déby, convey a message of peace,

hope and wishes for complete success in our work.

I would like to join the eminent speakers who have

preceded me in reiterating my delegation’s warm

congratulations to the President on his illustrious election to

preside over this session. That choice is both a tribute to his

country, Ukraine — a country resolutely focused on the

quest for global peace — and the culmination of his long

career as a talented diplomat. He can be assured of the

complete support of my country, Chad, in the discharge of

his duties.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express

our gratitude to his predecessor, Ambassador Razali Ismail,

who has conducted the work of the fifty-first session with

tact, competence and devotion.

Lastly, I would like to greet our Secretary-General,

Mr. Kofi Annan, a son of Africa who has succeeded

another great African, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali. The

election of Mr. Kofi Annan is the culmination of a

brilliant career devoted to the service of the international

community. It is an honour to his country, Ghana, and to

all Africa. I should like to assure him of the firm support

of the Republic of Chad in his efforts to bring about the

necessary and indispensable reforms of our Organization

so as to make it more capable of achieving the purposes

and principles of the Charter in our rapidly changing

world.

The ideals of peace, liberty and development, which

are pursued tirelessly by each and every nation

represented here, are of special significance for my

country and people. Indeed, drawing upon the lessons of

its sad experiences, since 1 December 1990 Chad has

made a firm commitment to the establishment of a state

of law and the tireless quest for peace and national unity

which are the essential foundations for its economic and

social development.

At previous sessions the delegation of Chad

regularly referred to positive developments in our country.

Today I have the honour and privilege of announcing that

with the presidential election of 1996 and the legislative

elections held at the beginning of this year, most of our

republican and democratic institutions are in place.

Projects are under way to hold local elections. All this is

taking place in a climate of peace and national harmony.

The ongoing quest for peace between Chadians, the

necessary consolidation of the achievements of national

unity and the willingness to involve everyone in public

administration have compelled our President, Mr. Idriss

Déby, to practise what we call consensual, participatory

democracy. It follows that all political parties, including

those of the opposition, are represented in all State

structures. By the same token, a national mediator has

recently been appointed.

The fifty-second session of the General Assembly

coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights. This is the proper place to

reaffirm our loyalty to that instrument, which, despite its

imperfections, is, in its own language,

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“a common standard of achievement”. (Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, resolution 217 (III),

part A, operative paragraph)

In Chad we are getting down to work, and significant

progress has been registered. Thus, our independent press

is one of the freest in Africa; human rights organizations

are proliferating and carry out their activities unhindered;

and organized civil society is fully playing its role.

Despite these noteworthy advances, insidious

campaigns have been sporadically unleashed against my

country. For my Government the subject of human rights is

not taboo. Thus, I should like once again to reiterate the

invitation that Mr. Idriss Déby, President of the Republic,

extended during his last visit to France to all countries and

human rights organizations that are truly interested in the

fate of the people of Chad: to come to Chad and freely

look into the situation.

With the return to social peace and political stability,

my country is turning a new page in its history, one that

should enable it to face the challenges of the twenty-first

century. To do that, the Government of Chad has adopted

a number of principles that, backed up by concrete actions,

should make it possible to achieve vigorous and sustained

economic growth. The objectives are the following: the

continuation and consolidation of the process of

democratizing political and social life; the increased

participation of the citizens in political, economic and social

life and in making decisions that concern them; the

establishment of sound rules of government; the promotion

of the private sector; the development of human resources;

and the restoration and safeguarding of environmental

equilibrium and of the ecosystem, with special attention

being paid to environmental problems related to human

activities.

This entire development strategy will be presented and

discussed at the round table on Chad to be held in Geneva

in the months ahead. That meeting is necessary to reactivate

and adapt the plan of orientation covering the period 1990-

2000.

I take this opportunity to invite all countries and

intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to

take part in that important conference on the future of

Chad.

I should now like to touch on a problem that is of

crucial importance for my Government: the environment.

Chad is a Sahelian country, afflicted, moreover, by drought

and desertification. It is deeply concerned with protecting

the environment, our common heritage, whose

exploitation for us is a necessary condition for success in

the struggle against poverty. This is the appropriate forum

in which to express our hope that the results achieved by

the Conference of States Parties to the Convention to

Combat Desertification will meet our expectations.

The prospect of the exploitation of Chad’s oil

resources has led to a systematic disinformation campaign

alleging environmental degradation in the region

concerned. I should like solemnly to state here that all

necessary measures have been taken by the Government

not only to preserve environmental balance but also to

prevent any risk of accident that could jeopardize it.

Another subject of grave concern indirectly

connected with the environment is that of mines, an

estimated 1 million of which infest a large portion of the

national territory, thus precluding any development

activities in that region. We would reiterate in this respect

the appeal for assistance in mine clearance that was made

from this rostrum by President Idriss Déby during the

commemorative meeting on the occasion of the fiftieth

anniversary of the United Nations. My Government, a

victim of the scourge of mines, welcomes the adoption on

18 September last of the Convention on the Prohibition of

the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-

Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction.

The international situation remains alarming, even if

peace ad security are not gravely threatened at the global

scale. In Africa, despite the hopes born of the

democratization of the political life of many countries,

hotbeds of tension still persist. In Angola, implementation

of the settlement plan advocated by the international

community is running aground on obstacles that

jeopardize a final return to peace in this country. We call

again on all parties, particularly UNITA, fully to

implement the Lusaka Protocol.

Periodic clashes remind us that in Somalia, the

hatchet has not definitely been buried, despite numerous

attempts at reconciling the fraternal Somali people.

The Great Lakes region is progressively entering a

phase of relative calm despite sporadic incidents

stemming from the chain of events that have caused

upheaval in this part of the continent. We welcome the

concerted efforts of the international community and of

the countries of the subregion to help restore a definitive

peace.

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In Sierra Leone, the situation resulting from the coup

is far from responding to the wishes of the people. Chad,

for its part, strongly supports the consultations held within

the framework of the Economic Community of West

African States, and in particular the conclusions of its last

Summit, held in Abuja, Nigeria.

In Central Africa, closer to Chad, the exacerbation of

the conflict in the sister Republic of the Congo, despite the

appeal made at Libreville by eight Heads of State on 15

September last, is of great concern to us. My country is of

the view that only an immediate and unconditional cease-

fire can make it possible to re-establish dialogue between

the two parties. This in turn would make possible a greater

involvement of the international community, particularly for

the deployment of a multinational force under the auspices

of the United Nations and the Organization of African

Unity (OAU).

The scope of the tragedy of these upheavals on the

African continent can be gauged by the number of

homeless and of refugees who, left to their own devices,

are wandering from country to country, seeking a land to

receive them where they can live in peace. It is urgent for

the international community to take greater notice of these

tragedies, which concern us all, in order to find appropriate

solutions.

This sombre picture of the situation on the continent

does not eclipse the successes of international and, above

all, African mediation in crisis and conflict situations, such

as in the Central African Republic and in Liberia. In the

Central African Republic, the painstaking settlement of the

political and military crisis to the satisfaction of the

political class is, for Chad — a neighbouring, brotherly

country — cause for satisfaction. Likewise, we welcome

the return to peace in Liberia, which has made it possible

to designate a President of the Republic and a Parliament

by means of free and democratic elections.

In both cases, the contribution of Africa was decisive.

We are proud of this, just as we commend the Security

Council for its support of various African initiatives. This

compels me to urge the acceleration of the process leading

to the establishment of an inter-African peacekeeping force.

We also urge the strengthening of existing structures, such

as the Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions

in Central Africa; the Regional Centre for Peace and

Disarmament in Africa at Lomé, in Togo; and the OAU’s

Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and

Resolution.

With respect to Western Sahara, Chad welcomes the

fresh impetus given the process by both parties and hopes

that the settlement plan will shortly be implemented in

full.

In the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian peace

process seems to be put to the test, given recent

developments in this region. We urge all parties

concerned to respect the Washington agreements. This is

the only alternative if we are to achieve definitive peace

in this region. Neither violence nor extremism, nor,

certainly, intransigence will allow us to arrive at a just

and definitive solution to this crisis, which has gone on

far too long.

In Asia, the situation in Afghanistan and in

Cambodia can be solved only by political means.

Therefore we urge the protagonists to gather around the

negotiating table and seek to resolve their differences.

Chad welcomes the progress, however slow, that has

been registered in recent years in disarmament. We

denounce, however, the shocking trade in conventional

weapons, which foment so many conflicts that ravage

various parts of the world, including my country. We

therefore support the efforts initiated in western Africa

related to the moratorium on the export, import and

production of small arms.

My country reaffirms its unswerving faith in the

virtues of dialogue as a means of resolving conflicts

between States. I should like in this connection to refer to

the question of the embargo that has so harshly and for so

many years afflicted the neighbouring and brotherly

country of Libya. Chad is in a good position to gauge the

consequences that affect not only the people of Libya but

also the people of Chad, as that country’s neighbour. That

is why, as a country that is dually cut off and deprived of

its principal means of evacuation and supply, Chad firmly

supports the resolutions of the OAU, the Organization of

the Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement,

and calls for the lifting of this unjust embargo. We should

like to take this opportunity to express our solidarity with

the people of Iraq and Cuba, who have been

indiscriminately affected by similar measures.

My country has noted with satisfaction the end of

the bipolar world, which has made possible the advent of

a new type of constructive dialogue that will enable us

together to meet the challenges of the twenty-first

century. In resuming diplomatic relations with the

Republic of China, the Government and people of Chad

16

have no intention other than to diversify their relations of

friendship and cooperation with all peace- and justice-

loving countries of the world on the basis of equality and

solidarity. In the name of the principle of universality so

dear to our Organization, we support the return of the

Republic of China to the concert of nations.

While the conflicts and other tensions throughout the

world concern us, so too does the international economic

situation. The justifiable fear expressed by the developing

countries in the aftermath of the cold war has not been

mitigated. The recent report of the United Nations

Conference on Trade and Development reminds us of this.

Poverty in the developing countries and the impoverishment

of important social strata in the developed countries provide

fertile ground for intolerance, extremism and nationalism,

whose consequences we are all too familiar with. Despite

the numerous dense documents adopted at major

conferences, the expected concrete action has run aground

on the selfish conduct of the richest. Such an attitude

imposes limits upon the globalization of the economy.

Africa, which has benefited from the sustained

attention of the international community during this decade,

is still, unfortunately, a continent ravaged by poverty,

malnutrition and epidemics of all kinds on a large scale.

To the perpetual problems of indebtedness and the

deterioration of the terms of trade are added the constant

marginalization of our continent from the international

economic circles. It is therefore urgent for concrete

measures to be taken so that Africa can experience

sustained growth, which should lead to genuine

development. The terms of the declaration of the Heads of

State and Government of the seven most industrialized

countries and Russia in Denver last May should be made a

reality in this respect so that Africa, whose well-known vast

natural resources can really become part of the world

economy.

The new Chad reiterates its unswerving support of

United Nations action in the sphere of peacekeeping and in

the area of development activities.

Over time, the reform of our institution has become an

imperative. Therefore, in the context of globalization and

interdependence, the United Nations must adapt itself and

become both the instrument and the expression of

multilateralism in which the interests of all are taken into

account and safeguarded. For our part, we consider that the

promotion of development must be at the core of our

renewed Organization.

The United Nations deserves more confidence than

ever before, provided that it derives from incontrovertible

legitimacy which the Security Council with its present

composition is far from embodying. It has now been

established that that irreplaceable body should be adapted,

but its necessary restructuring should not have a

detrimental effect on any part of the world.

An acknowledgement of the legitimate claims of the

various groups that make up our Organization is therefore

indispensable. Chad, for its part, reaffirms the position

stated at the last Summit of Heads of State or

Government of the Organization of African Unity to

assure the equitable representation of the African

continent in that body, in which the destiny of peoples is

at stake. This is a requirement if the renewed Security

Council is to be credible and effective in the service of

humanity and if it is not to be a Council of double

standards.