Tajikistan, 1993

The year that has elapsed since the forty-

seventh session of the General Assembly was noteworthy for

the further growth in the authority and the effectiveness of

the United Nations. It testifies, in our view, to the deep

understanding that the members of the world community

have about the need for close, constructive cooperation in

the name of a better future. As I look around this Hall, in

which, for the first time, a Head of State of a sovereign

Tajikistan is speaking, the words of the great poet Saadi

come to my mind:

"The sons of Man are but one body

For the Creator made us all from but one beginning".

Now that I find myself here, in the centre for settling

the problems of the whole world, I should first of all like to

congratulate Mr. Samuel Insanally, the Permanent

Representative of Guyana, on his election to the presidency

of the General Assembly. Allow me to express the hope

Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 5

that this session, under your skilful leadership, Mr. President,

will achieve tangible, successful results for the good of all

mankind. I should also like to draw attention to the

excellent work done by Mr. Stoyan Ganev, President of the

General Assembly at its last session; Mr. Ganev both

energetically and effectively guided the deliberations on

complex political problems.

It is with great satisfaction that I greet

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General of the United

Nations, and express to him our sincere gratitude for his

tireless efforts to resolve the conflicts in various parts of the

world, not excluding my own country.

The Republic of Tajikistan is taking its first steps as a

subject of international law. It is with deep satisfaction that

I note that we have been granted an equal voice in the

commonwealth of nations, and we are aware that this

honourable right imposes significant duties on us.

The two years of our independence, in addition to

moments that are undoubtedly positive, have also entailed

the harsh trials that my patient and peace-loving people are

now going through. It is for the historians to study the root

causes, the reasons for the situation in Tajikistan today. I

think that my job is to point out just one thing: those whom

we believe, on the basis of the law in force in the Republic

of Tajikistan, to be guilty of unleashing civil war are guilty

of grossly violating the very foundations of any modern

society, namely the primacy of law.

As in any civil war, in the civil war in Tajikistan there

can be no victors. Our urgent task as a nation is to heal, as

quickly as possible, the bloody wounds that it has inflicted

on our country.

The attention the community of nations is paying

Tajikistan is understandable. Nor should we be surprised at

the variety of opinions we hear when events in the Republic

are being analysed. I should like to shed some necessary

light on a number of issues.

Now that we have set out on the path of independent

development, we have run up against the enormous political

and socio-economic problems of the transitional period.

Our national economy was built up as just one small

part of the enormous economic complex of the former

USSR, and was basically a provider of raw materials. With

the collapse of those economic ties, our Republic has come

face to face with many almost insoluble problems. There

has been a catastrophic drop in the standard of living, which

could hardly fail to lead to an increase in social tension.

The power struggle that developed at the same time and

the attempts to seize power illegally, by force and

undemocratically, have split society apart and led to a

senseless, fratricidal war. The results of this we know:

thousands of broken lives, thousands of dead and wounded,

refugees and missing. Immeasurable political, social and

economic harm has been done to the Republic.

The internal instability has become the main reason for

the economic and political chaos, the total legal confusion

and the sharp drop in production. The future of our people -

the future of Tajik statehood - has been put in jeopardy.

The sixteenth session of the Supreme Council of the

Republic of Tajikistan, which was held in these conditions,

laid fundamentally new foundations for establishing peace

and civil harmony in our country. The Supreme Council has

decided in favour of solving all political, social and

economic problems solely within the framework of the

constitution. A number of important laws have been adopted

that are designed to afford citizens social protection and to

return them to their homes and peace-time jobs.

In accordance with the Constitution, we have elected a

leadership for the Supreme Council and formed a

Government. Today our society and our people have

become aware that the highest power in the State should be

the law, and only the law.

As the Head of State, I declare, from this rostrum, that

we shall adhere to the fundamental principles of the Final

Act of the Helsinki Conference and the Paris Charter and

other international instruments for the defence of law. We

are determined to carry out democratic transformations in

our country and to acknowledge and respect philosophical,

religious, ideological and political choice as an inalienable

right of the individual.

Working under the constant pressure of political and

socio-economic problems, we have succeeded in a short time

in removing the economic blockade from all the regions of

the Republic and have begun rebuilding our destroyed

national economy and instituting economic reforms in order

gradually to introduce a free market.

From the beginning of the restoration of our Republic,

our Parliament has adhered to the principle of the primacy

of law, and in so doing has passed a number of measures,

while the Presidium of the Supreme Council has laid down

6 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

three special decrees on amnesty. Does not this show that

we are acting to resolve through political means the

problems that have accumulated in our country? We are

prepared for dialogue with all the social forces in our

country to achieve national reconciliation, civil harmony and

stability in Tajikistan.

We would like to cooperate constructively with forces

of any political orientation acting within the framework of

existing law and respecting generally accepted principles of

democracy. I would like to inform the world community

that Tajikistan is actively working to improve its election

laws and to prepare a draft new Constitution in which

maximum attention will be given to all problems related to

guaranteeing and protecting inalienable human rights.

In terms of settling our domestic political problems, we

are seriously concerned over the attempts at regionalization

of the internal conflict in Tajikistan, a conflict which is still

going on in a number of areas along the Tajik-Afghan

border. The outbreak of the conflict this summer brought

dozens of deaths.

Allow me briefly to tell the Assembly my view of the

essential reasons for the tensions along and inside the border.

Everyone knows that until recently Tajikistan had been

systematically subjected to unprovoked acts of armed

intervention from the territory of a neighbouring country.

Naturally, we understand its internal difficulties related to

establishing a centralized State administration. But facts

cannot be denied, and we have now been faced with the

need seriously to deal with the question of self-defence.

We are not hatching any hostile plan with regard to

Afghanistan. The measures which we have taken and are

taken to strengthen the defence of our border - which is also

a border of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) -

do not go beyond what is laid down in Article 51 of the

United Nations Charter and are fully in keeping with

generally accepted norms of international relations.

But this, of course, does not mean that that is the only

way to solve the problem. And here we are encouraged by

the notable speed-up in the negotiating process with the

authorities in Kabul. We have achieved a number of

positive agreements on a broad spectrum of questions,

including normalizing the situation along the Tajik-Afghan

border. We think that a permanent, substantive dialogue

with the leadership of the Islamic State of Afghanistan will

help us remove some other well-known irritants.

It is most unfortunate that huge resources are still being

spent to support destructive elements based on the territory

of Afghanistan. Having gone there from Tajikistan, they are,

with the help of extremist groups and the forces of

international terrorism, hatching plans forcibly to change the

State structure in our country. A legitimate question arises:

is it not wiser to use these resources to build rather than to

destroy?

Another of our problems is that of the Tajik refugees in

Afghanistan. There are many versions of how they ended up

on the territory of Afghanistan, but that is not the main

point, which is that they should return to their homeland as

quickly as possible. We express our sincere thanks to the

Administration of Afghanistan and to the United Nations

High Commissioner for Refugees, who are giving serious

attention to those people. As of the middle of September,

more than 35,000 Tajik refugees - more than half the total -

had returned to their permanent homes from Afghanistan.

We hope that the process of voluntary return will continue

and that with the support of the authorities of Afghanistan

and of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,

we shall in the near future be able to put an end once and

for all to this painful question.

We have already completed our preparation for signing

a trilateral agreement between Tajikistan, Afghanistan and

the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. We

hope that the agreement will be signed as soon as possible.

From this United Nations rostrum, I should like to say

one more thing in this regard. We are firmly convinced that

the support of the Administration of Afghanistan in efforts

to restore peace to the Afghan land, which has suffered so

much, would be in the interests not only of that country but

of the region and of the entire world. There was a time

when some States spent a great deal of resources on war in

Afghanistan. In my view, the time has come to help restore

a peaceful life there. A restless, unstable Afghanistan is a

threat - and not only to Tajikistan.

Regarding our participation in the CIS, I must

emphasize that Tajikistan is in favour of strengthening the

Commonwealth while observing full respect for the

sovereignty and independence of its member States. In this

context, I should like to point out the significance of two

areas of our activities within the framework of the CIS,

activities which are critically important for Tajikistan. I am

talking about relations with Russia and with the Central

Asian States.

Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 7

Russia, as a permanent member of the Security Council,

has undergone great trials in taking upon itself the

maintenance of peace and stability in virtually all the space

and territory of the former Soviet Union. Therefore, the

peoples of the former Soviet Union, including Tajikistan,

commend and welcome the peace-keeping efforts made by

Russia.

A positive role in stabilizing the situation in our country

has been played by the brotherly support of Uzbekistan,

Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic. Tajikistan also thanks

the United States and all the other countries of Europe and

Asia that extended the hand of assistance to us during

terrible and dark days.

We hope that Tajikistan will quickly be removed from

the blacklist of conflict areas. In this respect, we count upon

the tangible assistance of the world community in restoring

our national economy, which has been destroyed by war and

by natural disasters. A country which is rich in natural

resources, which has an attraction in terms of its economic

prospects, needs purposeful assistance in order to be reborn.

Allow me to express the hope that that assistance and that

support will naturally, in accordance with generally accepted

principles in world practice, be given to my country.

Tajikistan, which has gone through the horrors of a

civil war, views with great concern the course of events in

the hot spots of our planet. We know of the pain and

suffering of the people of Somalia. We feel the full depth

and senselessness of the tragedy of the peoples of the former

Yugoslavia, the deadlocked events which have taken place

in the Caucasus of the post-Soviet era. We also know

firsthand how destructive is the force of local conflicts. That

is why we make an urgent appeal to the world community

to multiply its efforts to end, and to prevent, that type of

conflict. We are firmly convinced that the force of arms, no

matter how threatening and frightening they may be, cannot

solve a single contentious issue.

In this connection, we are seriously concerned by the

uncontrolled and unsanctioned trade in arms in areas of

intense instability. Essentially, what is happening is a

massive arming of entire regions. Indeed, we can imagine

how unbelievably difficult it is to take away from a

population weapons that they have illegally obtained. On

the basis of our own bitter experience, we loudly speak out

about the danger of that fateful trend.

Today, this destructive impact on our economy has

been joined by another: the aspiration of a number of

countries to acquire nuclear weapons or the technology to

produce them. As a country which has the technology for

mining and initially processing uranium, we categorically

oppose the use of that priceless source of energy for

non-peaceful purposes.

We state our unconditional support for the

Non-Proliferation Treaty, and we hope that the conference of

the States parties to that Treaty, scheduled for 1995, will

decide to extend it indefinitely.

As the Assembly knows, the end of the cold war and

bipolar confrontation gave rise to great hopes on the part of

the peoples of the world. Unfortunately, events have not yet

justified many of these hopes. None the less, there is one

place in the world where notable political events have been

observed. We are deeply satisfied with the historic

agreements reached between the Palestine Liberation

Organization and the State of Israel on mutual recognition.

We welcome the decision of the United States of

America to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization,

and we commend that great country for its role in supporting

peace and stability on earth.

The questions which the General Assembly will be

discussing at its forty-eighth session show that there is now

an onward rush towards the interdependence of nations. In

Tajikistan we are convinced of this.

We commend the peace-keeping and humanitarian

efforts of the United Nations. We are especially proud of

Tajikistan’s initiative to include institutions of the

Commonwealth of Nations in the broad peace-keeping

activities on the territory of our country; that initiative has

not been ignored.

The mandate for the presence in Tajikistan of the

Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, Mr. Ismat Kittani,

has been extended. The Republic has fruitfully worked with

the United Nations Observer Mission, the representative of

the High Commissioner for Refugees, and the representatives

of other international non-governmental organizations.

Our special gratitude goes to the Security Council of

the United Nations, which constantly monitors developments

in the situation in and around Tajikistan. We sincerely hope

that the efforts of the community of nations will be

increasingly focused on ensuring the conditions for

sustainable development.

8 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

We wholeheartedly support the principles and

recommendations of Agenda 21. We feel that accomplishing

that Agenda’s important goals, such as the transfer of

technology and resources, will have a favourable impact on

disaster areas such as the Aral Sea and areas of great

poverty.

In conclusion, I would like to assure the Assembly that

my people, who have now embarked upon establishing their

own statehood and have overcome considerable difficulties

in so doing, look to the future with a feeling of great and, I

hope, justified optimism.

We will spare no effort, we shall use all our energy, in

building a genuinely legal, democratic and enlightened State

which will not fail to take a worthy place among the

civilized countries of the world.