Tunisia, 1982

115. Mr. President, the General Assembly in

having unanimously decided to entrust you with

the task of guiding its work has thereby paid a

resounding tribute to you personally and to your

country. It is Tunisia's agreeable duty to join

in this tribute from this rostrum. At the same

time, the General Assembly has conferred upon you

a particularly heavy and delicate responsibility.

Fully cognizant of the very exceptional gravity

of the questions to be debated at this session,

Tunisia is convinced that you will

whole-heartedly guide our work with all the

competence and devotion and all the effectiveness

and objectivity of which we know you are capable.

In expressing its warm con¬gratulations to you,

my delegation would like to assure you of its

complete co-operation.

116. I should also like to take this

opportunity to pay to your predecessor, Mr. Is

mat Kittani, the tribute he deserves for the

skill, objectivity and courtesy which he

displayed with admirable consistency throughout

the past year. His presidency will remain a

matter of pride for his country, as well as all

the other Arab, Moslem and non-aligned countries.

117. The year that has just elapsed has shown

us once again that developments in the

international situation since the previous

session have not registered any appreciable

progress. What is more, the conditions under

which the present session is being held are

marked by an even greater and more disturbing

gravity.

118. One need only observe the current

pervasive disorder in international relations to

realize the risks the world is running. Whether

it be the persistence of hotbeds of tension which

we have not managed to put out or the emergence

of new conflicts which we have not been able to

prevent, whether it be the growing imbalance in

international economic relations and their

disastrous consequences for the third-world

countries, whether it be, finally, the problems

of security and the all-out arms race, inevitably

we are faced with a turn of events extremely

difficult to control.

119. When the elementary principles of

international law are daily trampled underfoot

throughout the world, when clear-cut acts of

aggression are committed with impunity and in

defiance of unanimously admitted standards, when

genocide is premeditated and con¬fessed openly

without the guilty party being ener¬getically and

immediately thwarted in its dark designs and when

international peace and security are so sorely

undermined without the Security Council

shouldering its primary responsibility in timely

and appropriate fashion, we are entitled to feel

doubts, indeed anguish, about the effectiveness

and viability of the international order we have

today.

120. Given that international relations are

based more and more on the principle of

interdependence and that the conflicts and crises

which affect one group of parties automatically

have an impact on the interests of other parties,

we are forced to the conclusion that we stand

together. We are at one concerning how we wish to

build the world for ourselves and for future

generations. We are at one concerning the

conse¬quences of any serious decision which

various parties may take unilaterally. It is here

in this Hall, and nowhere else, it is within the

Organization that this solidarity must be

expressed and made real, and it is on the basis

of the principles of the Charter that the unity

of our goals and the unity of our action can be

shown.

121. This is to assume that the Organization

is strong and respected, that it can be the

conscience of the world and at the same time a

recourse for those among us who are victims of

any violation whatsoever of the principles to

which we adhere. In a word, it is to assume that

the Organization is able to say what is right and

to see that right is respected.

122. But what in fact do we see? Each time

there is a flagrant violation of the Charter, the

Security Council, to which the Member States have

entrusted the main responsibility for maintaining

international peace and security, can only

discuss the question. However, we must note that

the veto, which has been used and abused more and

more in recent times, all too often puts a stop

to all discussion and thus to any action by the

Council. When it is not the veto which obstructs

the Council, it is the party complained of,

which, with disturbing calmness and awareness of

impunity, immediately rejects the resolution

which has been adopted and declares null and void

any initiative by the Council. In the words of

the Secretary- General, we are perilously near to

a new international anarchy.

123. In this situation, which is more and more

dangerous for international relations, Tunisia

has never missed an opportunity, especially of

late during its term as a member of the Security

Council, as Well as in the General Assembly—of

showing its concern and calling for widespread

awareness of that danger. My country, which has

always given its full and unreserved support to

all United Nations efforts to carry out its

mission for international peace and security and

to establish a better balance in economic

relations, recog¬nizes that the United Nations

has played an extremely important role,

particularly in facilitating the irreversible

process of decolonization and in clearly stating

the relationship between the process of

decolo¬nization and the process of development.

My country considers, indeed, that the

Organization is the unique and irreplaceable

international forum for negotiation and, when

necessary, for decision. This explains our fear

and concern when we see the state of semi

paralysis in which the United Nations finds

itself. It also explains our great satisfaction

5n seeing our own concerns reflected in the

report on the work of the Organization submitted

by the Secretary-General.

124. It is happy and comforting to know that

less than a year after taking office the

Secretary-General has officially pointed out,

with remarkable clarity and authority, the

dangers which threaten the United Nations, and at

the same time the world. It is equally comforting

that the Secretary-General has taken care to put

forward specific suggestions and proposals for

retrieving, before it is too late, a situation

which if left alone would inevitably lead to the

decline of the Organization.

125. Aware of the consistent position taken by

Tunisia in this connection, a position which we

had the opportunity of stating again during his

recent visit to us, the Secretary-General will

not be surprised to hear Tunisia confirm to him

from this rostrum its total confidence, as well

as its support for any action to strengthen the

Organization and defend its high and noble goals,

because in my country legality is a watchword,

and international legality is conceived of as an

intangible principle which must necessarily

underlie the conduct of international relations.

126. It is to international legality that

Tunisia and its President have appealed each time

some conflict in the world has had to be

resolved. Recent events in the crucible of the

Middle East have brought to the forefront the

constant concern of President Bourguiba to endow

his thinking and his actions with the neces¬sary

legitimacy, on the basis of the sacrosanct

principle of legality.

127. What has been called the Bourguiba Plan

for a just solution to the Palestinian problem is

based in fact on a return to and use of the

international legal principles defined as early

as 1947 which, regardless of their imperfections,

could not be rejected by anyone, least of all by

those whose birth and very existence depend on

them—but those are the very people who today show

the most complete scorn for international law,

the principles of the Charter and the entire

Orga¬nization, adopting an attitude of defiance

and arrogance and ignoring the decisions and

recommendations of the international community.

128. The General Assembly is beginning its

work at a time when the entire world has just

witnessed a frightful massacre carried out in

cold blood in Pal¬estinian refugee camps by armed

bands trained and financed by Tel Aviv, in the

presence and with the complicity of the Israeli

occupation forces which had encircled the Sabra

and Shatila camps. The wave of Shock at this

hateful crime has led to consternation, horror

and outrage throughout the world. There is not

the slightest doubt that by moving into west

Beirut, in violation of the agreements reached

through the intermediary of the Habib mission,

the Israeli leaders bear the whole responsibility

for this crime against humanity. Under the

pretext of protecting the civilian population of

Beirut, they in fact allowed their legion of

mercenaries to do the dirty work. This tragedy,

unprecedented in the recent history of mankind,

is the logical consequence of the paranoia

characteristic of those in power in Israel, who

consider each Pal¬estinian a potential terrorist

and, as such, an absolute evil which must be

rooted out and exterminated. Is not a former

Prime Minister of Israel alleged to have admitted

to that sense of fear at the birth of each

Palestinian child?

129. What can only be called the hasty retreat

of the multinational forces of separation in

leaving the refugee camps without protection,

despite the fears expressed in the first place by

the Palestinian leaders, was evidence of that

criminal design. This appalling slaughter, among

the victims of which were thousands of women,

children and the elderly, is the result of this

diabolical war launched by the Israeli Government

on 6 June. In fact since that time, the Israeli

Army, with considerable manpower and material of

a very sophisticated kind, has invaded more than

half of Lebanon, causing immense destruction and

partic¬ularly heavy human losses among the

Lebanese and Palestinian populations, estimated

by UNICEF to be 30,000 dead and wounded in Beirut

alone.

130. Under the false pretext of ensuring the

security of its northern frontiers, where a

ceasefire has been in force since July 1981,

Israel has put into operation the final phase —in

accordance with its strategy—of its plan to

annihilate the Palestinian resistance centered on

the PLO, leading to the elimina¬tion of the

Palestinian presence in Lebanon, by terrorization

and the destruction of their shelters.

131. In the past, the Tel Aviv authorities

tried in vain to establish a tame new

administration to carry out in Israeli-style

autonomy in the occupied terri¬tories on the West

Bank and in Gaza, once the democratically elected

municipal councils had been dissolved and

replaced by village leagues which are armed

groups that bring about Israeli order in the

expectation that a quisling will emerge to serve

as a likely negotiator.

13z. Neither the systematic repression of the

occupied territories, nor the use of

sophisticated military arsenals, including

phosphorous and frag¬mentation bombs as well as

implosion bombs, or the terrible bombardment of

west Beirut, has succeeded in overcoming the

determination of the Palestinians to fight to

defend their legitimate cause, as President

Reagan himself recognized in his statement on 1

September.

133. For 60 years, the Palestinian people, faced

with Zionist designs on their country, have never

ceased to fight. In spite of the ups and downs of

an unequal struggle and the fact that on three

occasions since 1948 the Palestinians have been

dispersed, Palestinian nationalism has emerged

strengthened from each test, because never in the

long history of colonialism Las brute force

succeeded in overcoming the determina¬tion of

peoples who fight for liberation. The

Pal¬estinian people, driven from their homeland

and pursued with hatred and tenacity in exile,

have paid heavily for their recognition of their

inalienable right to self-determination and the

establishment of their own State.

134. By subjecting an entire country to fire

and bloodshed, by massacring savagely and

indiscrimi¬nately thousands and thousands of

innocent people, by depriving blockaded

populations of any sanitary or humanitarian aid,

by creating finally even more victims, including

victims among their own ranks, which has never

happened before in the confronta¬tions in that

region, was Israel really, in those con¬ditions,

responding to its need for security, or did it

use its military power to ensure its supremacy?

135. If we are to believe Time magazine of 20

Sep¬tember 1982, Israel is the fourth largest

military power in the world. In those conditions,

how can they use vulnerability and insecurity as

pretexts when what is involved is the appeasement

of dominating and expansionist instincts? What is

involved is an attempt to establish its own order

in Lebanon, which is an independent and sovereign

country. It is a question of stripping an entire

people, the Palestinians, of its rights to

self-determination and to a State, and of

discrediting its unique and sole representative,

the PLO.

136. That is what really lies behind the

notion of security invoked each time by Israel;

it is nothing but a code name to camouflage dark

designs. Do we have to emphasize that security is

the constant concern of all peoples in the

region? It is also a condition neces¬sary to

their development. Security cannot be con¬ceived

of as being the supremacy of one State over

others, implying a right to intervene in the

internal affairs of other countries, nor could

security be con¬sidered as a means of

legitimizing the subjugation of- peoples.

137. One reality emerges clearly from all

those events: that of an imperative need to end

the tragedy of the Middle East. Any further delay

would risk jeopardizing forever peace and

security in that region and in the world. To that

end, the Palestinian people and the other Arab

peoples, with a single voice —through their

leaders who met at the Twelfth Arab Summit

Conference at Fez—have shown their deter¬mination

to achieve a just, overall and lasting solution

of the problems.

138. Two basic principles were clearly

defined: first, the withdrawal by the Israelis

from all Arab terri¬tories, including Jerusalem,

and then the recognition of the absolute right of

the Palestinians to self- determination and to

the establishment of their own State under the

leadership of the PLO. It also involves the right

of all the peoples of the region to live in peace

under the guarantee of the Security Council;

which has that role in accordance with the

Charter.

139. That plan, which has the merit of

international legality and takes into account all

the recent public peace initiatives—in particular

that by President Reagan in which we noted with

satisfaction a more correct appreciation of the

realities of our region—for the first time

presents a specific means of implementing a

lasting world solution.

140. However, whereas the peace efforts of the

Arab countries arouse interest and even support

among many countries, the Tel Aviv authorities,

by the use of arrogance and defiance as an

overriding weapon, remain hidebound in their

complete and total refusal: no to the Fez Arab

peace plans; no to the self-determination of

the Pal¬estinian people and the creation of their

State; no to the existence of the PLO, although

it is recognized by 117 States; no to the

Venice Declaration; no to the Franco-Egyptian

plan; no to the Brezhnev plan; and no to the

Reagan plan of September. The entire world is in

the wrong; Israel alone is in the right.

141. At the Fez Summit Conference an historic

turning point was reached by Arab countries,

opening up new prospects towards a lasting peace.

It is the duty of the Organization and of the

Security Council in the first instance to assume

their responsibilities, to end this infernal

cycle of brute force which can only exacerbate

passions, feed the extremists, creates radical

attitudes and deals a fatal blow to the hopes for

peace of the peoples of that region.

142. It is comforting to see the action taken

by the advocates of peace in the Middle East,

including Israel itself, growing continuously.

Everything must be done to ensure that the Fez

message of peace does not become one more lost

opportunity.

143. If we are appealing today more than ever

for respect for international legality, it is

because in this period of disturbance and

disorder in which we live legality is the only

way for us to speak a common language. It

constitutes for us all the law which each must

respect.

144. It is this legality which we wish to see

respected in Namibia and elsewhere. It is the

illegal occupation of Namibia that we have always

denounced with all our strength. It is

recognition of the legitimate rights of the

fraternal Namibian people, represented by SWAPO

that we demand. It is the rapid and definitive

solution of the anachronistic problem of Namibia

in application of the relevant United Nations

resolutions that is our deepest aspiration. It is

our desire to see with us as soon as possible

here in the United Nations a free and independent

Namibia that we are expressing today, at a time

when hope of a solution is dawning.

145. It is in that same spirit that we

denounce most forcefully once again today the

inhuman practice of apartheid, which the

segregationist and racist Pretoria regime has

made into a system.

146. We appeal to the conscience of the

international community so that without further

delay that aberra¬tion of our time may be ended,

as mankind approaches the end of the twentieth

century. It is a political, economic and social

problem, but it is also and above all as we see

it a problem of civilization. To the people of

South Africa, to its leaders, represented by the

African National Congress, who are steadfastly

struggling for the sake of civilization, we

reaffirm our esteem and our active solidarity.

147. Other equally grave hotbeds of tension

continue to disturb the African continent. The

conflict in Western Sahara that still disturbs

the northern part of the continent, the conflict

in the horn of Africa, the problems of refugees,

and displaced persons, the problems of drought

and hunger, make it necessary for the Africans

themselves to redouble their efforts and draw on

their traditional wisdom to find settlement

procedures that are acceptable to all and thus to

strengthen the ranks of the Organization of

African Unity, which has throughout its history

played a particularly positive and indeed

irreplaceable role.

148. The OAU, to which nearly one third of the

Mem¬bers of the United Nations belong and which

is pursuing at the regional level the same

objectives as the United Nations has demonstrated

that it is able to contribute substantially to

the work of the Organization, which is universal

in its calling.

149. As regards the situation in Asia, in

Afghanistan and in Kampuchea, no notable progress

has been recorded in the past year towards the

solutions advocated by the General Assembly.

Foreign forces are still occupying the

territories of those two coun¬tries. The Afghan

and Kampuchean peoples are still being prevented

from exercising their right freely to decide on

their own system of government. Interna¬tional

legality and the principles of the Charter

con¬tinue to be disregarded. It is time that the

peoples of those two countries, like other

peoples, at last had the right to speak.

150. The particularly sensitive Gulf region,

because of the unjustified persistence of the war

between Iraq and Iran, two fraternal neighbouring

countries which should enjoy understanding and

co-operation, con¬tinues to constitute a source

of major concern to us and to all who desire

stability and equilibrium in that region. We have

noted with great interest the con¬structive

attitude taken by one of the parties and we ask

that international legality be respected, here as

elsewhere, and that Security Council resolutions

479 (1980) and 514 (1982) be fully implemented.

151. The use of force, regardless of its

immediate results, can never bring about peace

and security. It is through the peaceful

settlement of disputes that the objective of

genuine peace can be achieved. It is through

dialogue and negotiation that just and lasting

solutions can be found. This will always be our

preferred course of action. We support this same

course of action for the settlement of disputes

that have lasted some time now, as well as for

those that have emerged more recently, such as

the conflict that broke out in the South Atlantic

over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) and which,

because it grew out of all proportion, seriously

disturbed the world.

152. We appeal to the United Kingdom and the

Republic of Argentina, two friends of Tunisia, to

resume, on the basis of the relevant resolutions

of the General Assembly, the dialogue which was

interrupted, using once again the good offices of

the Secretary- General, whose commendable efforts

in that matter, had they not been hindered, would

have spared many lives and thus enhanced the role

of the United Nations. ,

153. In this general context of disorder, tension

and confrontation the second special session of

the General Assembly devoted to disarmament was

held from 7 June to 10 July last. My country had

hoped that that session would bring about a

general awareness of the danger of widespread

conflagration which haunts the world. It had

hoped that the international com¬munity would

take appropriate measures to prevent war and to

arrive at an agreement which would prohibit for

ever the use or the threat of use of nuclear

weapons, an agreement on which the fate of all

mankind depends.

154. Our disappointment and our frustration

were great when our efforts failed. The necessary

political will for such an agreement was lacking,

particularly on the part of those with the

largest arsenals of weapons of destruction. Could

it have been otherwise, when the biggest Powers

seek only to ensure their own security without

much concern for international peace and security?

155. We venture to hope that at this session

those who in the past were not ready will have

decided to make the necessary efforts to join

their will to that of the great majority

expressed here, especially through the

non-aligned countries, and thus make it possible

to prevent a nuclear disaster, achieve general

and complete disarmament and focus exclusively on

economic and social development in peace and

security.

156. The international economic situation

continues to stagnate in crisis and is cause for

the most serious concern. Year after year we

witness a worsening of the already very

precarious conditions of two thirds of mankind.

The facts are there, shameful, distressing.

157. In 1980 nearly 800 million human beings

had an annual per capita income of less than $150

and they continue to live in miserable conditions

of absolute poverty. If nothing is done to remedy

this situation their numbers will increase in

absolute figures by approximately 30 per cent and

will reach the figure of 1 billion by the year

2000.

158. In a world economy characterized by

uncer¬tainty and instability and affected by

destabilizing and disturbing phenomena which

seriously obstruct its growth rate in the short

and medium term, the prospects for the developing

world are grim indeed.

159. The sacrifices and efforts made by the

devel¬oping countries, moreover, no longer

receive the back¬up and support that are needed

from a developed world which is becoming

increasingly egocentric. In fact, official

development assistance from member countries of

the Organization for Economic Co¬operation and

Development decreased by 6 per cent in 1981.

Furthermore, the excessive indebtedness of the

majority of developing countries has passed the

critical threshold, and may at any time plunge

many of these countries into bankruptcy. In

addition, the proliferation and strengthening of

protectionist measures in the developed countries

may stifle, if they have not already done so, the

emerging industries of the developing countries.

160. In brief, in their economic and social

develop¬ment efforts the developing countries are

facing serious obstacles: a deficit in the

balance of payments, deterioration in the terms

of trade, a decrease in the volume of their

exports, higher debt-servicing costs,

over-indebtedness and galloping imported

inflation. The steady deterioration of the

economic conditions of the developing countries

does not seem to be of much concern to the

industrialized countries, which, claiming

domestic economic difficulties, obstruct change

and oppose reform.

161. Urgent change is none the less greatly needed in order to restructure international

economic relations on the basis of justice,

equity and sovereign equality, in accordance with

the objectives of the new interna¬tional economic

order. To that end the members of the Group of 77

have proposed a new approach in a suitable

framework. They are prepared to undertake,

through global negotiations, an egalitarian,

universal and dynamic dialogue, in order to study

in a democratic forum, that of the General

Assembly, the major problems in the way of

international economic co¬operation. Instead of

seizing the opportunity to engage in genuine,

constructive and comprehensive negotia¬tions, our

partners from the developed countries seem more

concerned to safeguard and protect the excessive

advantages inherited from an unjust economic

order.

162. We are very disturbed at the lack of the

sincere political will to launch the global

negotiations on international economic

co-operation for develop¬ment. We believe it is

high time for the international community to

reach agreement in this respect.

163. It is encouraging to see in the

communique issued after the Versailles Economic

Summit in June that the growth of the developing

countries and the strengthening of constructive

relations with them are vital to the political

and economic prosperity of the world.

Paradoxically, however, we are witnessing an

erosion of the spirit of international

co-operation. In recent years the developing

countries have faced the rejection of dialogue by

their industrialized partners from the north.

164. Our disappointment and our frustrations

are increasing. Never before has international

co-operation met so many obstacles, so often been

deadlocked. We are even witnessing a calling into

question of mutually accepted commitments to

increase con¬siderably the financial resources of

UNDP. The deterioration of the financial

situation of UNDP is a source of concern and

anxiety for all the developing countries. Such

deterioration may not only hinder the

implementation of those countries^ projects and

pro¬grammes but even endanger the very principle

of multilateral co-operation, which is urgently

necessary for the international community, and in

particular for developing countries.

165. It is essential, bearing in mind how far

we are from attaining the objectives that we have

set through our agreements, to redouble our

efforts to give UNDP the financial means that it

needs to enable it to sup¬port and aid the

developing countries on a foreseeable, secure and

continuing basis in their economic and social

development efforts.

166. This attitude of rejection and

obstruction on the part of certain developed

countries is undeniably harmful to both the

credibility and the ideals of the United Nations.

It could destroy the rare achievements of

multilateral co-operation, the results of so many

years of effort.

167. We for our part will continue to believe

in the virtues of dialogue and agreement, a

democratic, com¬prehensive, global dialogue for

the consideration of questions and for

decision-making. In this respect, we are pleased

that the Third United Nations Conference on the

Law of the Sea has arrived at a convention which,

despite the dissatisfaction that it may have

provoked in certain quarters, none the less

constitutes the embodiment of the law. We

strongly hope that the results of 10 years of

painstaking efforts and intense negotiations will

soon be formally adopted by the entire

international community.

168. The agenda of the thirty-seventh session,

on only a few items of which I have touched,

clearly demonstrates the seriousness of our

responsibilities and the importance of the task

before us, an enormous and most exhilarating task

if we are truly to find solu¬tions to the

problems of our day and prepare a better future

for ourselves and our children. We must, first

and foremost, rid ourselves of the specter of war

and the threat of a nuclear holocaust, for which

some with thoughtless equanimity are preparing.

169. It is urgently necessary to put an end to

so-called localized wars and other regional

conflicts which, like the one in the Middle East,

spread and grow sharper day by day, bearing the

constant danger of an overall conflagration.

170. We must take fully into account our

com¬plementarity and our interdependence in order

to prepare at last a new international order

suited to our time. We must ensure strict respect

for the principles embodied in the Charter and

make this forum the primary place for agreement

and negotiation, which alone can enable us to

find comprehensive and generally acceptable

solutions to our problems.

171. By adopting that course of action we

defend the aims and objectives of the

Organization and disprove the forecasts of its

critics by strengthening its effectiveness, its

prestige and its credibility. This is the course

that Tunisia intends resolutely to pursue.