Tunisia, 1998

It gives me great pleasure at the outset, Sir, to

extend to Mr. Opertti my sincere congratulations on his

election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its

fifty-third session. We are confident that his political

perspicacity and wide knowledge of international affairs

will guarantee the success of the work of this Assembly.

His election is an acknowledgement by the international

community of the active role that his friendly country,

Uruguay, is playing at both the regional and the

international level for the establishment and enhancement

of cooperation between peoples and the consecration of

the universal principles of peace and justice.

I should also like to extend to his predecessor,

Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, my warmest thanks and

appreciation for the competence and dedication he

demonstrated in discharging his responsibility in order to

strengthen the foundations of change and structural reform

of our international Organization so as to enable it to

enter the next century with the necessary efficiency and

effectiveness.

I also wish to pay tribute to the Secretary-General,

Mr. Kofi Annan, for his continuous and dedicated efforts

to strengthen and restructure the Organization and for his

eagerness to bolster international peace and security and

the peaceful settlement of conflicts.

The last decade of the twentieth century has been

characterized by fiftieth anniversary celebrations

commemorating the creation of many international

institutions, including the United Nations. As the

international community moves towards the twenty-first

century, it is called upon to evaluate its accomplishments

20

in giving effect to the principles and goals of the United

Nations and in delineating the contours of the future with

a view to ensuring security, peace and development for all

the peoples of the world.

In this regard, ensuring a better world for future

generations — a world in which security, justice, stability

and prosperity for all prevail — remains the highest

common goal, whose achievement requires efforts by all.

This requires the international community to show an

unwavering determination and to sustain efforts to establish

a world order, built by all States, consolidating the

objectives and principles of the United Nations and

fulfilling the spirit and the letter of the Charter, on the basis

of international legitimacy and the principles of democracy,

equality and equity among States.

The new approach adopted by the international

community in the process of reform, which covers all

United Nations structures and fields of activity, offers an

opportunity for consolidating the principle of democracy as

a basis for international relations. In this connection,

Tunisia attaches great importance to strengthening the role

and prerogatives of the General Assembly in all the areas

of its competence as provided for in the Charter of the

United Nations, particularly with regard to the development

and maintenance of international peace and security.

We wish to emphasize once again the need to

revitalize and enhance the role of the General Assembly,

given its universality, representativeness and democratic

character. Strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of

the General Assembly should go hand in hand with the

reform of the Security Council so as to confirm the

principles of transparency, pluralism and democracy. These

are values which should prevail in international relations

and guide the activities of our Organization and its various

bodies, including the Security Council, in order to enhance

and develop its role in the maintenance of international

peace and security, which, in recent years, has become

increasingly important.

Just as we expect the Security Council to act

effectively and to fulfil its mission in the best way possible,

we also stress the need to give that body a globally

representative character that takes into account the interests

of developing countries and reflects the reality of the world

following the end of the cold war by expanding its

membership to include all regional groups. In this respect,

we stress our support for the request of the Group of

African States, reaffirmed at the Ouagadougou summit,

which calls for the allocation of two permanent seats to be

occupied on a rotational basis by States from Africa, with

the enjoyment of the same privileges as those of the

current holders of permanent seats.

However, the process of Security Council reform

should not be limited to restructuring that body. The

rationalization of the Council’s working methods is

needed so as to strengthen and consolidate one of the

Charter’s most important principles, that of compliance

with and respect for international legitimacy by all. In this

connection, we emphasize the need to review the veto

right, whose use should be confined to the areas covered

by Chapter VII of the Charter.

We also believe that the sanctions regime practised

by the Security Council should be reviewed to ensure the

protection of populations, prevent their suffering and

guarantee their right to development and to a life of

dignity, and take into account the interests of

neighbouring countries which have economic and

commercial relations with the country targeted for

sanctions. A specified time-frame should also be set up

for the implementation and lifting of sanctions. In this

connection, we stress the necessity of respecting Iraq’s

sovereignty and territorial integrity and of implementing

the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, including

those resolutions dealing with Kuwaiti prisoners and

missing persons.

As we pay tribute to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi

Annan, for his efforts to contain the crisis between Iraq

and the United Nations Special Commission, we call upon

him to increase his efforts and to undertake the required

initiative for a comprehensive review of the situation with

a view to finding a solution acceptable to all parties

which would accelerate the lifting of the sanctions

imposed on the brotherly Iraqi people.

Regarding the Lockerbie issue, Tunisia has expressed

optimism over the recent developments, which could

accelerate the achievement of a just and satisfactory

settlement of this issue, taking into account the

willingness demonstrated by the brotherly country of

Libya and other concerned parties to deal in a positive

manner with the ideas already put forward. We encourage

all parties to move ahead in that direction so that the

embargo imposed on the brotherly Libyan people can be

lifted.

With respect to the Middle East peace process,

Tunisia has since the very beginning supported and

worked relentlessly for its success. We wish once again

21

to express our deep concern about the present status of the

process. We warned that setbacks and deadlocks would

result from Israel’s continued policy of fait accompli and its

refusal to honour its commitments and to implement the

agreements that were concluded.

We believe that it will not be possible to reach a just,

comprehensive and lasting solution to the Middle East

question without Israel’s compliance with international

legitimacy represented by the relevant United Nations

resolutions and based on the principles outlined in the

Madrid process, particularly that of “land for peace”.

Tunisia, which supports the just Palestinian cause,

welcomes the resolution adopted by the General Assembly

at its last session enhancing the status of Palestine as

observer at the United Nations. We hope that this step will

soon be followed by international recognition of an

independent Palestinian State with Al-Quds al-Sharif as its

capital.

Increased efforts by the international community to

consolidate democratic relations among States and to

strengthen international legitimacy in the conduct of world

affairs are imperative for the foundation of a balanced

international order that guarantees a better life for future

generations and promotes conditions of stability in the

security, economic and social dimensions.

With regard to security, many regions of the world

continue to be torn by war and conflicts, and their

populations still endure suffering and tragedies due to the

absence of stability and security. In our view, the best

solution to these problems is to pre-empt crises through

preventive diplomacy so as to eliminate their causes in the

fastest and most effective way. The international

community has successfully adopted this right approach and

has been able to contain a number of conflicts through

mediation, good offices and other peaceful means.

The United Nations has also achieved considerable

successes in the context of peacekeeping operations in

many parts of the world, enabling it to contain conflicts

either by interposing itself between the belligerents or by

supervising the conclusion of peace agreements or by

following up on their implementation. In addition, the

United Nations has intensified cooperation with regional

organizations within the framework of respect for the

national sovereignty and political independence of States,

and non-interference in their internal affairs.

Nevertheless, these efforts remain insufficient, given

the challenges that persist in many regions of the world,

in particular, the African continent. Africa continues to

face difficulties and diverse problems which are

increasing its burden and hindering its efforts to achieve

stability and development.

In this respect, Tunisia has welcomed the Security

Council’s initiative regarding the situation in Africa. We

believe that the Secretary-General’s report in this regard

was well timed, expressing concern about the situation

and offering help to the African continent to find

solutions capable of enhancing its security and

development.

We hope that this orientation will be confirmed by

continued United Nations support for the Mechanism for

Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution of the

Organization of African Unity through adoption of

practical measures designed to help the integration of

African States in the world economy.

We believe that a lasting peace can be established

only through total dismantling weapons of mass

destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, whose

formidable arsenals constitute a continued threat to

humanity. It has become clear that the current nuclear

non-proliferation regime cannot by itself eliminate the

danger that the arms race poses to humanity with its

ominous implications. Therefore it has become imperative

that the international community increase its efforts to

adopt practical measures aiming at eliminating all

weapons of mass destruction, without exception, and

banning their proliferation and stockpiling.

While working towards that objective, the

international community should strenuously endeavour to

ensure the safety of non-nuclear States and to prohibit the

use and the threat of the use of nuclear weapons against

the sovereignty, territorial integrity and peoples of those

States. We also emphasize the need for creating nuclear-

weapon-free zones so as to put an end to continued

threats to the security of countries and to open new vistas

for the establishment of peace, security and stability

throughout the world. In this context, Tunisia calls for the

urgent creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the

Middle East, considering that all the countries of the

region except Israel have adhered to the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

With regard to conventional weapons, we express

our satisfaction at the signing at Ottawa of the

22

Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling,

Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on

Their Destruction. Tunisia hastened to sign that Convention,

believing that an end should be put to the great suffering

that unarmed civilians are enduring because of these

weapons. Hence, the necessary legal measures are being

taken for Tunisia’s ratification of the Convention.

We believe that peace and security cannot be

established in the world without achieving economic and

social development and ensuring conditions of well-being

and dignified living for all peoples.

Meeting the major challenges confronting developing

countries starts with the establishment of a world economic

order founded on equality and solidarity so as to enable

developing countries to be integrated in the world economy

and to attract the required flow of capital and direct

investment needed to support their development efforts.

The financial crisis that certain developing countries

are experiencing confirms our belief that the economic

globalization in which we have placed high hopes has,

despite its positive aspects, negative repercussions on the

world economy, particularly on the stability of the

economies of developing countries.

We call upon the international community and all

United Nations agencies, in cooperation with the Bretton

Woods institutions, to speed up taking the necessary

measures that will overcome the negative aspects of

globalization. Therefore, we support the search for effective

multilateral mechanisms to control international capital

flows and monetary fluctuations in order to ensure fair

competition and to organize financial transactions on sound

and solid bases. In this context, my country supports the

initiative taken by the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries

to establish a high-level mechanism of consultation between

the Movement and the Group of Eight most industrialized

countries.

We also believe that in the absence of a radical

solution to the debt problem, efforts to liberalize the

economies of developing countries will remain insufficient.

In this regard, I would like to recall the proposal made by

Mr. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, President of the Republic of

Tunisia, with respect to finding a solution to the problem of

external debt by applying those debts to the implementation

of environmental, social and other priority projects in

developing countries.

Working for the adjustment of the globalization

process is not, in our opinion, limited to the pivotal role

played by international organizations and financial

institutions. Increasing efforts at the national and regional

levels are also needed. In this context, Tunisia has striven

to make its financial structures more efficient and to

strengthen the factors of sustainable development through

concentrating on the enhancement of human energies,

establishing the state of law and institutions, protecting

human rights and public freedom and strengthening

democracy, which is based on the participation of civil

society with all its components in decision-making.

Aware of the importance of economic and

geographic groupings in advancing the economies of

developing countries, promoting man and facing the

challenges of globalization, Tunisia has adopted a

comprehensive strategy that reconciles the imperatives of

security and the requirements of cooperation with

economic complementarity and solidarity among States.

That strategy is also based on strengthening the Maghreb

area, establishing partnership with the European Union

through the creation of a free trade zone and

consolidating its relations with all countries, particularly

those of Africa.

The international conferences which have been held

in recent years, particularly the Vienna World Conference

on Human Rights, the Beijing Conference on Women and

the Copenhagen World Summit on Social Development,

have enabled the international community to develop

coherent plans of action, addressing many social problems

which still hinder the progress, the stability and the

security of peoples.

Tunisia calls for increased efforts to ensure full

implementation and genuine follow-up of the decisions,

recommendations and plans of action adopted by those

conferences and for the necessary measures to apply

them.

While we recognize the responsibility of States in

implementing economic policies which ensure the right of

their citizens to development, we also emphasize the need

to establish equitable international economic relations

which take into account the right of all countries,

particularly developing countries, to comprehensive and

sustainable development. We also call upon United

Nations organs, funds, programmes and specialized

agencies to shoulder their responsibilities and help

developing countries carry out their economic

programmes.

23

The continued shrinkage of resources allocated for

United Nations economic and social activities is a matter of

concern to us. Therefore, we call again for the

implementation of General Assembly resolutions stressing

the need to provide additional funds for development. We

also urge the international community, and particularly rich

countries, to honour their commitments so as to give

impetus to their efforts in the area of economic and social

development.

The year 1998 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This coincides

with the start of the evaluation of the follow-up of the

recommendations adopted at the Vienna World Conference

on Human Rights. We believe that the international

community should take this ideal opportunity to reaffirm its

commitment to promoting and protecting human rights as

well as to develop a clear plan in this regard for the future.

Tunisia takes note with satisfaction of the pioneering

role played by the United Nations in promoting human

rights, a matter which is in the forefront of its priorities, in

accordance with an approach based on a comprehensive and

coherent vision of those rights. Tunisia has contributed to

the formulation of that approach. Nevertheless, we feel that

these achievements are not enough. Poverty and exclusion

continue to disrupt social stability in many countries. These

are phenomena which also threaten the gains made in the

field of human rights and constitute challenges which

should be met with the required efficiency and

effectiveness. The international community should, in our

opinion, confirm the values of tolerance and disseminate

them as a basic platform for promoting human rights and

deepening the culture of human rights among societies

throughout the world.

We also emphasize that great importance should be

given to the right to development and the need to remove

all obstacles to the effective exercise of that right.

In implementing its social and economic policy,

Tunisia has adopted a comprehensive and integrated

strategy aimed at the advancement of human beings. It has

worked to honour all the commitments it has made by

adhering to human rights conventions. At the initiative of

the President of the Republic, many amendments to enact

legislation have been introduced with a view to

strengthening democracy and pluralism, promoting and

safeguarding human rights, disseminating the culture of

human rights, strengthening national institutions and

mechanisms working in this field and protecting individual

and group liberties as well as the rights of women and the

child.

In the area of social and economic development,

Tunisia has increased its efforts to ensure a dignified life

for members of all social sectors. It has focused its policy

in this field on the enhancement of social integration, the

struggle against poverty and the promotion of

employment for all. In formulating its policy, Tunisia has

been eager to involve all components of civil society in

defining a comprehensive strategy and in taking necessary

measures to carry out programmes of economic and social

development.

Social solidarity is one of the pillars of Tunisia’s

policy in combating poverty and all forms of exclusion.

The National Solidarity Fund, set up in 1992 at the

initiative of the President of the Republic and

subsequently reinforced by the creation of the Tunisian

Solidarity Bank, has provided funds for many projects for

low-income groups and has made possible the integration

of underprivileged regions into the national economy.

With respect to the consolidation of its employment

policy, Tunisia recently formulated a comprehensive

strategy manifested in the adoption of a national

declaration on employment. That declaration was drafted

following broad consultations in which all the country’s

active forces took part; this was signed by all of our

political parties, trade unions and professional

associations.

Tunisia’s approach to the formulation and

implementation of its economic and social policy is based

on the conviction that the phenomena of exclusion,

marginalization and social discrimination create threats to

the very foundations of stability and security, which are

essential for the progress and prosperity of peoples. The

struggle against those phenomena is the most appropriate

means for eradicating terrorism in all its forms and

manifestations, organized crime and drug-trafficking.

In that connection, we once again urge the

international community to increase its efforts to combat

terrorism by setting up a global strategy and taking the

necessary legal measures to contain and uproot that

phenomenon.

Increased international awareness of the great danger

of the drug phenomenon, which was illustrated in the

convening of a special session of the General Assembly

in June 1998 on the common struggle against drugs,

24

encourages us to support the efforts being made by the

Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to

formulate a draft United Nations framework convention

against organized crime. We hope that these efforts will

succeed, for the international community is in urgent need

of such an instrument.

In the same context, Tunisia welcomes the

recommendations of the World Conference of Ministers

Responsible for Youth, held recently in Lisbon, and stresses

the need to ensure that the implementation of the decisions

taken at that conference is followed up. This will allow us

to deal with the concerns of young people, develop their

sense of responsibility and properly prepare them to assume

the responsibility of managing tomorrow’s world.

The Diplomatic Conference held at Rome in June and

July 1998 on the creation of the International Criminal

Court and the extensive participation of Member States and

non-governmental organizations in that Conference, testify

to the great importance we all accord to the creation of

such a court, whose task will be to deal with heinous

crimes against humanity and to punish their perpetrators.

Tunisia participated in the Conference and voted in

favour of the statute of the Court. While expressing

satisfaction at the agreement reached on the creation of

the Court, we would like to stress once again the

importance of ensuring its independence and neutrality.

Given the need to respect the principle of national

sovereignty, Tunisia supports the consensus reached on

the complementary character of the jurisdiction of the

International Criminal Court and on the need to accord

priority to national legal systems, which should retain the

initiative of prosecution.

We look forward to the advent of the new century

with high hopes, and we call upon all States to evaluate

what we have achieved so as to pursue joint action, to

confront remaining challenges and to spare humanity from

suffering like that which it has endured throughout the

current century. This is a task that requires firm political

will from all of us in order to meet the aspirations of our

peoples to security, stability, growth and cooperation.

Our devotion to the principles and purposes of the

Charter of the United Nations, the consolidation of

international legality and democratic practice among

nations, and the implementation of the process of the

reform of the United Nations system to serve those

principles and goals are undoubtedly the best means by

which to lay the foundations of a better world, a world

which we shall shape and build together for future

generations.