Uzbekistan, 1999

In my

statement, I should like to dwell on those questions, which,

in our opinion, demand special attention. First among these

is the issue of security and the maintenance of regional and

global stability.

Today, we are forced to recognize that terrorism is one

of the principal challenges and threats to international

security and stability in the twentieth century. Should the

United Nations react to this most daunting challenge? Yes.

The coordination of the efforts of the international

community in the search for legal mechanisms to fight

terrorism at the global level has become urgent. The

struggle against terrorism transcends the problems of one

country or even groups of countries. I take this opportunity

to emphasize in particular the serious threat of terrorism

facing the States of Central Asia. In this respect, I wish to

say the following.

First, terrorists, using Islam — one of the world’s

most peaceful religions, founded on the greatest cultures of

civilization — as a cover, are seeking to attain the broadest

of political goals: the creation of a new regional and

ultimately global order. The terrorists’ methods of

assassinating peaceful civilians and creating diversions

radically contradict the principles and values of Islam.

Secondly, terrorism is undergoing an intensive

process of internationalization. Extremists working in

Central Asia are consolidating their ranks with recruits

from throughout the world. Terrorism has neither

nationality, borders nor any particular belief. Attempts to

give terrorism, and international terrorism in particular, a

national or ethnic character do not reflect reality and have

their own dangerous consequences.

Thirdly, the fight against terrorism requires

coordinated international efforts and wide recognition of

the legitimate rights of States to protect their citizens

from terrorist assaults. Terrorists casually and most

insolently attack peaceful populations and deprive human

beings of their fundamental right to life.

Fourthly, the global danger of terrorism is obvious

today. There is an understanding at the international level

of the need for coordinated action. At the same time, we

do not fully understand the rather subdued reaction of the

international community and the major States to the most

dangerous spread of terrorism in Central Asia, posing the

threat of regional and global destabilization.

Finally, the contemporary wellsprings of terrorism,

where it is born and nurtured, are the theatres of military

conflict. In our region, that means Afghanistan.

A working meeting of the “six plus two” group in

the special format, with the participation of

representatives of the two main parties to the Afghan

conflict, was held in Tashkent two month ago. The

discussion resulted in the signing of the Tashkent

Declaration, defining the fundamental principles for the

peaceful settlement of the conflict in Afghanistan.

Uzbekistan supports increased international efforts to

further assist the stabilization of the situation in Tajikistan

and the rapid elimination of new hotbeds of tension in

southern Kyrgyzstan, which has become a new target for

invasion by international terrorists and extremist forces.

In this regard, I would propose the adoption of a

resolution by the General Assembly to consider the

problem of terrorism in the framework of the Security

Council, as well as the establishment of an informal

group to coordinate efforts aimed at fighting terrorism and

extremist crimes. We also support the proposal to

convene an international conference on the fight against

terrorism. We believe that the international community, in

29

preparing for the Millennium Assembly in the year 2000,

should show its determination by defining extremist crimes

and drafting its explicit understanding of the threat of

terrorism.

The Republic of Uzbekistan is recognized around the

world as an authoritative supporter of the non-proliferation

of the nuclear weapons. Uzbekistan is party to the Treaty

on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the

Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. The

Republic was among first countries to sign an Additional

Protocol to its agreement with the International Atomic

Energy Agency on the application of safeguards in

connection with the NPT. These actions revealed not only

a deep understanding of the importance of these

international documents, but also our desire to make a real

contribution to solving the problem of the non-proliferation

of nuclear weapons, improving the planet’s ecology and

strengthening global security and regional stability.

The issue of establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones is

firmly established on the disarmament agenda. It is already

widely recognized that the creation of such zones is a

unique instrument in the process of nuclear

non-proliferation and disarmament, which undoubtedly

strengthens international and regional peace and security.

Let me express the conviction that this topic will be

considered as one of the major issues in the work of the

2000 NPT Review Conference. The value of this step is of

special importance in the light of nuclear testing in South

Asia and the clear tendency towards a global arms race.

Substantial progress has been achieved towards the

realization of the Central Asian initiative to establish a

nuclear-weapon-free zone. The Central Asian countries,

through their common efforts and with the support of the

United Nations, have come considerably closer to

concluding a treaty on the establishment of a Central Asian

nuclear-weapon-free zone. I hope that, at the meeting to

prepare the draft treaty to be held in Japan in few days, the

experts of the Central Asian countries will be able to

finalize the draft.

The Republic of Uzbekistan supports the measures

proposed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to reform the

United Nations. The implementation of the reform

programme will go a long way towards adapting the United

Nations to the demands of the modern world. The

Secretary-General’s proposal to convene the Millennium

Assembly and the Millennium Summit in the year 2000

must be implemented. The year 2000 is a unique symbolic

moment to affirm the position of the United Nations and

to strengthen its role as a leading force in the twenty-first

century.

The Republic of Uzbekistan continues to consider

Security Council reform to be a necessary and urgent

process. Any delay in this process will prevent the United

Nations from adapting efficiently to the dynamics of the

coming millennium. We are convinced that Germany and

Japan can rightly claim permanent membership of the

Security Council. We are also in favour of an increase in

the number of new non-permanent members of the

Security Council.

The deteriorating problem of the Aral Sea requires

me once again to call on the Assembly for support. With

the help of international organizations, the opinion that

the Aral Sea crisis can be resolved only through

humanitarian intervention has gradually taken root in the

perception of the international community. But this is not

the case.

Measures of this kind have not given positive results

on any continent where mankind has been faced with

ecological catastrophes. In this connection, it is necessary

to develop and implement, with the assistance of the

United Nations specialized agencies and donors, a

specific, long-term strategy and programme of

revitalization for the Aral area, that would affirm the

principles of sustainable development, prevent a

deterioration of quality of life for people living in the

region and ensure a dignified standard of living for future

generations.

We are hoping for the effective support of such

international financial and economic institutions as the

World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP) and others, as well as donor countries, in the

normalization of the ecological situation and in meeting

the pressing needs of the population living in the affected

area. The problem of Aral Sea can be solved only with

the help of an adjusted financing mechanism and the

conscientious work of experts.

The Republic of Uzbekistan comprehensively

supports efforts of the United Nations and the

international community aimed at counteracting the illegal

cultivation, transportation and consumption of narcotic

substances. The problem of drugs should be considered a

danger in that it gives rise to terrorism, international

crime and money-laundering.

30

The illegal sale of drugs is the most profitable shady

activity in the modern world. The transnational structures

controlling global trade in drugs appear in most cases to be

more mobile than the structures opposing them. Today, as

has been pointed out by previous speakers, more than 90

per cent of the drugs in some European countries are of

Afghan origin.

According to a 1998 annual report on international

drug control, starting in 1995 Uzbek customs employees

halted the attempted illegal export from Europe to

Afghanistan of 72 tons of raw chemical material used for

heroin manufacturing. This reaffirms the conclusion about

the internationalization of the narcotic business and the

emergence of international terrorism, which is no less

dangerous.

During the twentieth special session of the General

Assembly, devoted to the fight against the illegal

manufacturing, sale, purchase, transport, trafficking and

spread of narcotic substances, we advanced many concrete

proposals, including the establishment of a regional

coordination centre to fight drug-trafficking and the drug

business. Concrete forms of cooperation between Central

Asian countries and the European Union were defined.

We call for more work by the United Nations

International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) in the

region of Central Asia. The conclusions of experts show

that the Central Asian region is considered by the criminal

world an important transit area for the transport of drugs to

Europe and North America.

Specific UNDCP projects aimed at the development of

technical possibilities to control the transit of goods by

providing border services with up-to-date methods of drug

detection could contribute to this fight, which can hardly be

regarded as the problem of one region alone. In this regard,

we welcome the establishment, on the initiative of the

Secretary-General, of the United Nations Office on Drug

Control and Crime Prevention’s regional office operating in

Uzbekistan.

The process of democratization is long and

complicated, especially if it runs parallel to large, extensive

economic reforms. However, the real threat to democracy,

security and stability in the region stems from the sphere of

transnational crime. In this respect, we state our firm

support for the work of the Commission on Crime

Prevention and Criminal Justice.

For this reason, the Republic of Uzbekistan has

expressed its intention to present its candidature for

membership of the United Nations Commission on Crime

Prevention and Criminal Justice for the period of

2001-2004. We hope that the tenth United Nations

Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of

Offenders, to be held from 10 to 17 April 2000, in

Vienna, will be devoted to the search for answers to the

challenges of the twenty-first century, as indicated in a

number of its main topics.

We would like to focus on the work of UNDP in

Uzbekistan. As the largest United Nations programme

rendering assistance to developing countries in their

process of development, UNDP, together with the

Government of Uzbekistan, is carrying out a number of

useful projects. We hope that such cooperation will be

continued in the future as well.

Nevertheless, I would like to say a few words about

one problem that has emerged in our cooperation with

UNDP and that, in our view, must be explained. The

proposed regional UNDP Programme for development of

the Fergana Valley has not received the support of our

Government. In our opinion, the substance of the project

has not been sufficiently considered and could entail

negative consequences.

Despite the exhaustive and comprehensive

substantiation by our Government of the unacceptability

of this project, which interferes with the security of the

region, attempts to involve our country in the participation

of the programme by distributing erroneous information

throughout the international community have been

undertaken during the last three years by UNDP and the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

We sincerely hope that the new UNDP

Administrator, Mr. Brown, will take note of Uzbekistan’s

assessments. At the same time, we note with satisfaction

the new style of work at the UNDP mission in

Uzbekistan, which was recently headed by Mr. Kral.

In conclusion, I wish to refer to the book written by

the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, His

Excellency Mr. Islam A. Karimov, Uzbekistan at the

Threshold of the Twenty-first Century: Threats to

Security, Conditions and Guarantees of Progress, which

says,

“As we enter the new millennium, we extend to

everyone the hand of friendship and mutual

31

understanding, symbolizing this with the words

security, stability and sustainability of growth and

development. For we believe that the realities these

words signify constitute the most solid foundation for

global geopolitical balance, and for the peace,

prosperity and well-being of every individual country,

which will enable every human being to face the

future with confidence”.