Togo, 1982

In this last quarter of the twentieth century,

the world is beset by upheavals which bode no

good. We are seeing a major deployment of arms,

to such an extent that a wise man of Africa

rightly said that today the weapons of death are

greater than those employed to ensure the

survival of humanity. Palestinian and Lebanese

peoples have been massacred by Israel, and the

racist regime in South Africa constitutes a

continuing challenge to humanity at large,

committing ever-increasing acts of arrogance and

destruction against the front-line States. One's

thoughts turn naturally to this painful question

for the universal conscience: is there still hope

of speaking of peace in a world of hatred?

180. As you are aware, Sir, you have acceded

to the post of President of the thirty-seventh

session of the Assembly at a critical moment for

humanity. The United Nations was created to

maintain and strengthen world peace, but today

that peace is threatened more than ever. Thus we

fully understand the complexity of your task.

Your country, Hungary, has more than once

experienced the complexity of events; therefore

we are confident that your out-standing qualities

as a seasoned diplomat, combined with your

experience, drawn from the age-old history of

your country, are assets that will enable you to

guide our work, by calming passions, and creating

the calm atmosphere essential to our

deliberations. It is therefore, my agreeable duty

to extend to you, both in my personal capacity

and on behalf of the delegation of Togo, my

heartfelt congratulations on your election to the

presidency of the thirty-seventh session of the

Assembly.

181. Your predecessor, Mr. President, did not

have an easy task. With rare distinction, he rose

above the general confusion and took a high

stance in presiding over the deliberations, both

those of the thirty-sixth session and those of

the special session held during the course of his

mandate. We extend to him our heartfelt

congratulations.

182. We have all benefited from the unflagging

concern of the Secretary-General, who, throughout

almost a year in office, has been an able

helmsman, a year in which our ship has crossed

some storm- tossed seas. In his report he

highlighted with characteristic sincerity the

causes of those storms which threatened the

existence of our States and our Organization. He

deserves all our congratulations and thanks.

183. The key word which describes the

international political situation this year is

"storm". Can we still talk of peace when daily

life is beset by war, assassination, kidnapping

and persecution? One cannot ask that question

without anguish, without despairing of the future

for peace in the world.

184. Without being an evangelist, one has a

clear impression that most of the conditions

listed in the Apocalypse are now present. Not a

day goes by without the teleprinters clattering

out dispatches announcing the cold-blooded murder

of innocent bystanders, or the explosion of a

bomb which has destroyed apartment buildings at

dawn while everyone was asleep or raids by racist

Powers to destroy the already fragile economic

infrastructures of developing countries, or the

outbreak of what is in fact war in this or that

country; the list is very long.

185. Invariably we return to the same

question: should we despair of the world at this

tumultuous end of the twentieth century? In other

words, is the peace so necessary to the union and

solidarity of peoples still possible? An

examination of the various crises which afflict

the world show that it is important to ask

ourselves that agonizing question.

186. At the international level, the world

economic crisis has reached a stage where an

explosion is possible at any moment. The

developing countries, emerging from the dark

period of decolonization, started on bold

programmes to revitalize their eco-nomies; but

then came the energy crisis; we still have the

aberrant system of the unequal trade; we still

have the absurd increase of interest rates

leading to the constant growth of the

indebtedness of the poor countries to others;

then there came the problem of the continual rise

of the dollar, so that all their debts calculated

in that currency are now quintupled, if not

worse. Thus the efforts that they undertook have

been cancelled out before having had any effect

on their standard of living, on health, or on the

level of education of their populations, which

remain the most deprived in the world.

187. Even in the industrialized countries, the

situation is no more encouraging. The crisis has

reached unforeseen proportions. Factories have

been closed and over 10 per cent of the

population is unemployed,

188. In the face of such a crisis, unless the

world takes care we will have the bitter surprise

of living through another 1929; that is to say, a

world crash which will hurl countries, all

countries, into a cataclysm leading to a system

rejected by mankind, one possibly worse than

nazism, which grew out of the 1929 crisis. Will

the rich come to their senses? For in such a

crisis none will be spared. Let us stop talking

of aid to the third world as if it were manna.

The rich countries, as they realize the danger of

a generalized crisis, must now understand that a

global policy towards the developing coun-tries

should be their main concern today. That global

policy must be to raise the prices of raw

materials, to stop any deterioration in the terms

of trade, to do away with protectionist barriers

in order to promote the trade of the developing

countries and to enhance industrial redeployment

and the transfer of technology, because there can

be no viable development without

industrialization. In ensuring an equitable

distribution of the riches produced by the labour

of all humanity, the rich countries will

guarantee their own survival. But the danger

would be great for all if the rich want to cling

to that selfish policy of every man for himself

which has produced poverty next door and a flood

of poverty-stricken people which breeds criminals

whose main concern is certainly not to guarantee

tranquillity and peace for other people.

189. The industrialized world possesses the

technology, whereas the young developing

countries have substantial natural resources. The

developed countries must know that it is the

complementarity of the technology of their

countries and the raw materials of the third

world that will produce the balance necessary for

peace in the world. If the rich manage to

understand the need for this co-operation, then

we may venture to talk of the possibilities of

peace in the world at the end of the twentieth

century.

190. Unfortunately, some States continue to

think that complementarity is synonymous with the

subjugation of the poorest to the richest of the

earth and do not hesitate to use force to violate

the independence and territorial integrity of

other States and to flout their fundamental

freedoms, disregarding the essential principles

governing relations among nations and causing

situations of tension, wars and destruction of

human lives.

191. Thus the tragedies suffered by the

peoples of the Middle East leave mankind

perplexed and very often, in view of the

absurdity of the massacres perpetrated by Israel,

we have no traction because we do not understand.

Indeed, about half a century ago, Hitler, on the

basis of nazism, decided to annihilate part of

mankind, the Jewish people. The nations of the

entire world, to a man, rose to prevent the

holocaust. And the Organization, through an

historic vote, decided quite rightly that the

Jewish people was entitled to a homeland, We fail

to understand how today the State of Israel can

refuse a homeland to another people, the

Palestinian people; we cannot understand today

how the Jewish people can have decided to

annihilate part of mankind, the Palestinian

people. Today, Beirut has been transformed by the

Government of Israel into a place of

extermination which oddly brings to mind certain

camps where the Jewish people were literally

massacred. Has that Government already forgotten

the horrors of Oradour and the extermination

perpetrated at Auschwitz? It is enough to cause

the human conscience to despair. There Ss a

double' standard, as has been quite rightly said

by a famous French writer: "Depending on whether

you are powerful or poor, the verdict of the

court will make you white or black." The most

elementary ethics seem not to exist for certain

people.

192. Togo, for its pact, in view of the

tragedy of the Middle East, has always supported

and continue; to support the principle of

negotiation, so that all peoples of the region

can have a homeland, the only condition for

guaranteeing peace and stability in the area.

193. From time to time Israel talks of

negotiation, but negotiation requires several

parties. If the side facing you is destroyed,

then you will be the only one at the negotiating

table and there can no longer be a question of

negotiation.

194. There can be no possible explanation for

the Beirut massacres. The Israeli population

itself no longer understands its political

leaders. The thousands of people killed were

civilians, women, children and the elderly. It

cannot even be said that those who were massacred

were combatants. The pretext of terrorism used by

Tel Aviv can no longer be taken seriously.

Nazism, in wanting to exterminate the Jewish

people, succeeded only in giving that people the

only weapon left to it: terrorism. Prime Minister

Begin has considerable experience of that and he

will certainly remember it. Today, the massacres

carried out against the Palestinian people have

compelled that people to scatter to the four

comers of the Middle East. By thus forcing the

Palestinian people into a Diaspora, does the

Government of Israel not see that it alone is

creating the conditions which force the

Palestinian people to use the only weapon left to

it, one used by the Jewish people to gain a place

under the sun, namely the weapon of terrorism? It

is regrettable that the experience of nazism did

not serve as a lesson. The mention of nazism

reminds us of the concentration camps and the

cremation ovens and we believe that the peoples

who subscribed to the Charter had once and for

all repudiated violence and killing as ways to

settle disputes among nations. Therefore our

conscience is sorely troubled by the savage

massacres of Shatila and Sabra, since Israel was

one of those which acceded to the Charter of San

Francisco. Therefore, the Government and people

of Togo join their voice in the general

condemnation of the crime of genocide and demand

that the responsibility of its perpetrators and

their accomplices be brought to light.

195. In passing, we salute the memory of those

martyrs who fell to the cowardly vengeance of

those who believe that the Israeli invasion of

foreign territories was the panacea for the

problem of the Middle East, whereas the reality

of the Palestinian fact is more than ever

compelling.

196. Still on the subject of the Middle East,

we note that two events have appeared recently

which give us a glimmer of hope, notwithstanding

the intransigence of the Government of Israel.

The first was the acceptance by Yasser Arafat of

the United Nations resolutions on the problems

of the Middle East in their entirety. At the same

time, the majority of the Arab countries are

moving progressively towards recognition of the

State of Israel. These elements, curiously,

instead of being viewed by Tel Aviv as positive

data, were played down by them. In a process of

belligerence we must not always want to bring

the adversary to his knees before envisaging any

negotiation. History is full of telling examples:

the Allies, in 1918 as in 1945, did not demand

that Germany change its Constitution before any

peace negotiations took place. The Allies

negotiated with Germany as it was and the

fundamental law creating the Federal Republic of

Germany, for example, was passed much later. It

is odd to lay down as a pre-condition to any

negotiation on the Middle East a complete

renunciation by the protagonist of ail his

principles, since the aim of negotiation is

precisely to obtain reciprocal renunciations of

positions.

197. The second event which provides a glimmer of hope was the change in

the attitude of the United States with regard to

that part of the world. Its positive vote in the

Security Council on resolution 521 (1982) on the

Lebanon massacre represents a meaningful dynamic

element. If these events can combine to create a

solution to the Middle East problem, then we may

venture to say that it is not too rash to talk of

the possibility, however minimal, of peace in the

Middle East, which has suffered for more than 30

years. The Palestine Liberation Organization

[PLO], the legitimate representative of the

Palestinian people, in committing itself behind

its leader Yasser Arafat to the realistic process

of peace, will once again furnish proof of its

maturity and acute sense of its responsibilities.

198. Can we still speak of peace at the end of

the twentieth century while we witness what is

happening in South Africa and Namibia? Pretoria

continues to defy humanity at large with

arrogance. By its dilatory manoeuvres Pretoria is

doing everything to hold up Namibia's

independence. Using the impunity it enjoys, the

Government of South Africa is bent on

systematically destroying the already fragile

infrastructures of the independent countries of

southern Africa. The repeated invasions of

Angolan territory perpetrated by the racist

troops of South Africa, the raids against the

territory of Mozambique and infiltrations into

Zimbabwe, Botswana and other front-line countries

constitute genuine acts of provocation.

199. The experience of the independence of

Zimbabwe where the leaders of that country,

after a struggle to recover their freedom,

managed to set up a multiracial regime and where

Zimbabweans co-exist whatever the colour of their

skin, is proof that Africa is capable in Namibia,

too, of facing its responsibilities in

accordance with its maturity. Therefore the fears

that South Africa claims to have that in Namibia,

under the direction of SWAPO, a non-democratic

regime might be established are only a manoeuvre

that does not fool anyone. Africa has already

given proof of its ability to transcend ethnic

differences. The majority of the Namibian people

under SWAPO is resolved to follow this

irreversible current of history to establish

State structures designed for harmonious

coexistence among the various social groups in

the country. Africa fights the apartheid system

and gives daily proof of its determination to see

that system eliminated from the planet.

200. It is therefore odd that it is the

champions of apartheid who dare to voice fears

about the possibilities of coexistence among the

various racial groups in Namibia. This is a

pretextóan ill-chosen one at thatówhich Pretoria

is using to perpetuate its domination over

Namibia. But the independence of that country is

inevitable. Pretoria's prevarications can do

nothing. Nothing will come of the South African

Government's attempts to destabilize the

front-line States. The combined efforts of

Africa, assisted by the gracious understanding of

the international community, will hasten

Namibia's independence. That is why we can state

that there is every hope that that country's

independence will become a reality soon. But the

sooner that independence comes the greater the

number of human lives that will be spared.

201. The agonizing question of whether we can

still hope for peace in this tormented world of

today arises when we take a look at the present

situation in Chad. Fortunately for that country,

we can say: yes, today peace and reconciliation

are possible in Chad.

202. Togo would like to express its

satisfaction publicly that for the first time in

17 years one can go to Chad without being greeted

with the gun-fire and explosions of the civil

war. The process of reconciliation has been

started to the satisfaction of all. Since the

which brought to the head of the State of Chad

the new President Hissein Habre in June 1982, the

desire of the leaders and political organizations

in Chad has been made manifestóresolutely to

commit themselves to a process of reconciliation

and peace. The late lamented Ahmat Acyl, former

Minister for Foreign Affairs of the now defunct

Transitional Government of National Union, had

stated that he favoured the peace and

reconciliation process advocated by President

Habre. He even wrote a long letter about this to

General Gnassingbe Eyadema, as Chairman of the

ad Hoc Committee on Chad. The brutal death of

Ahmat Acyl did not permit him to see that

initiative through to the end. But today the

situation has been normalized throughout the

territory of Chad after the whole southern part

of Chad rallied to that effort.

203. It is important that the international

community at large join in the ongoing process of

peace and reconciliation in Chad, rather than

engaging in rearguard action based on the

defence of unavowed interests which run counter

to those of the people of Chad. We make an appeal

to all States which cherish peace for them to do

all they can to participate in this endeavour of

national reconstruction.

204. The Middle East and Africa are not the

only flash-points in the world, but it would be

rash to attempt to review all conflict situations

which contain the seeds of a general breakdown of

world peace. However, we should mention the

tragedies of Afghanistan and Kampuchea where

people have been refused the right to

self-determination. Togo hopes nevertheless that

the coalition Government which has just been

established will finally bring to the people of

Kampuchea the peace for which it hopes.

205. At the beginning of July 1982 Togo was

host of the Governmental Conference of the Zone

of Africa for the Support of the Independent

Peaceful Reunification of Korea and we reaffirm

our solidarity with the Korean people. Our

Government supports the pro-posals made by the

great leader Kim 11 Sung to form the Democratic

Confederation of Korea. It is obvious that the

Korean people as a whole wants to see the

reunification of the country and is opposed to

any attempt that would lead to a perpetuation of

the two Koreas.

206. Finally, the Organization of African

Unity [6Mt/] recently lived through some serious

events which have given rise to doubts as to its

ability to surmount the gravest crisis in its

history. We believe that there also we can hope

for a solution to the OAU crisis for the sake of

the vitally needed world peace. Now combined

eventsóand not only the problems of the Sahraoui

Arab Republicóhave given rise to a grave crisis

within the OAU. We are convinced that African

wisdom will finally triumph. Were the Sahraoui

problem the only one, the Committee on self-

determination established by the OAU Assembly of

Heads of State and Government could find a

solution which would enable the nineteenth

session of the OAU Assembly to take place.

207. Togo is convinced that no African head of

State wants to see the OAU break up, and that

indeed no head of State of the international

community wants to see the OAU break up, because

it has shown how much it can contribute to peace

in the world. A crisis of growth after 20 years

is quite normal and it should not frighten us.

208. There will always be crises in the

international organizations. Indeed, my

delegation endorses the analysis of the

Secretary-General about the causes of the

ineffectiveness of the Organization, and which

explains the crisis we are undergoing, which has

unfortunately already broken out in the OAU.

209. While we accept that the present OAU

crisis is one of growth which will enable it to

gain further strength, we have serious doubts

about the future of the United Nations, which has

been in existence for almost 40 years. It is not

normal that at this age the Organization should

continue to see violated the fundamental

principles to which States have freely

subscribed. It is not normal that resolutions and

decisions of the Organization be flouted. The

profound upheavals in today's international life

have arisen from these violations.

210. It is important that all States examine

their conscience, not only about the principles

of the Charter but also about the scope and

implementation of United Nations resolutions and

decisions.

213.. My Government subscribes to the specific

proposal contained in the Secretary-General's

report for a meeting of the Security Council at

the highest level to discuss the question of

measures which might strengthen the effectiveness

of the Organization. Togo has more than once

shared its experience in the cause of peace, and

has participated in several mediation meetings;

it is convinced that the Secretary-General's

proposal can lead to action to enhance the

effectiveness of the Organization.

214. This is the price to be paid for the

maintenance of peace in the world, and we need

that peace to build a just and equitable society.

As General Gnassingbe Byadema, the

President-Founder of the Togo People's Party and

President of the Republic, has stated: "The

Togolese people cherishes for itself and all

nations a will for peace and progress. This peace

must be real and must lead to the effective

emancipation of our various nations. "That is why

we should like to make an appeal to the

international community to combine all its

efforts to build a world of peace, justice and

freedom.