Andorra, 1998

I would first

like to congratulate the President of the General Assembly

at its fifty-third session, Mr. Didier Opertti, of Uruguay,

and to give him Andorra?s unconditional support during

this year of reforms. I would also like to thank the

outgoing President, Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, for his

important contribution to the debates of the fifty-second

General Assembly.

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We are now celebrating the fifth anniversary of the

admission of Andorra into the United Nations. It is

therefore fitting to begin my speech today with an

assessment of what motivated Andorra?s entry into the

United Nations and the tasks that its Government has

accomplished. Andorra wanted to become a part of the

Organization in 1993, immediately following approval by

the Andorran people of a modern Constitution that affirmed

its sovereignty and brought to modern times thirteenth-

century texts, texts which had guaranteed independence and

neutrality for more than seven centuries. Andorra?s

international standing required it.

Nevertheless, neutrality has never signified for

Andorra isolation or a lack of self-determination. To the

contrary, during times of great European conflicts, and

during the Spanish civil war, Andorra opened its doors to

those who fled terror and violence.

Being a sanctuary of peace for so long has given

Andorra certain international responsibilities, enumerated in

the new Constitution of 1993, which says that the Andorran

people shall persevere in the advancement of values such as

justice, democracy and social progress, and keep and

strengthen the harmonious relations of Andorra with the

rest of the world, based on mutual respect, coexistence and

peace in the desire to bring its strength and collaboration to

all the common causes of mankind.

The entry of Andorra into the United Nations has been

a most important step for our country, giving us the

opportunity to make ourselves heard, to express ourselves

and to be a part of the forum which includes all countries;

we must respond with solidarity, aid and our best efforts to

attain peace, liberty and full adhesion to the International

Declaration of Human Rights.

I am speaking in Catalan, the language of Andorra. It

is an old Latinate language, an important part of our

cultural identity, and it is an honour to speak these words

in this language to the Assembly today. It is also proof of

one of the most difficult rights to assume: the right of

difference.

In Andorra, protected by the Pyrénées mountains, we

are proud of our 720 years of uninterrupted peace and self-

government. We have a population of over 65,000,

composed of more than 60 nationalities. We have acquired,

with the passage of time, certain experience in conjugating

the verb “to tolerate”, because of the diversity of our

population, of which “Andorrans” are a minority, the

importance of immigration and the plurality of nationalities,

cultures and languages. These are facts, which conform to

modern societies.

Permit me to expand on certain aspects of our

country in order to emphasize our desire to cooperate in

shared projects and to struggle against aggression and

repression, and for harmony between peoples, cultures

and civilizations. The particular sentiment that our little

country feels before this Assembly is appreciation of the

difference between globalization and particularity, the

paradox between material progress and world poverty.

Our confidence in this Assembly is absolute, and I

shall give two reasons. First, we consider here the grand

strategies we can adopt to pursue justice, democracy and

the rule of law. Secondly, this Assembly is a common

house, where all are equal under the law and all States

can express their concerns to the world in an international

assembly.

The politics of Andorra at the United Nations inspire

me to make a general reflection within this institution. In

the last few years, the directives of the Government of

Andorra concerning United Nations reform have been

very clear: absolute adherence to the reform projects of

the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, who, since his

election, has worked to achieve the restructuring of this

Organization.

I am pleased to say that Mr. Annan is aided in

seeking to attain his goals by the Deputy Secretary-

General, who has helped him bring about his objectives,

and I would like to congratulate Mrs. Louise Fréchette,

who, in the months since she assumed her position, has

helped immensely in the difficult task of reforming this

institution, employing all the skills of a person of her

diplomatic abilities.

With respect to the reform of the United Nations,

Andorra has shown a desire for transparency and greater

access for the General Assembly to the workings of the

Security Council. We would also like to make clear our

desire for an increase in the membership of the Security

Council, to reflect the increasing membership of the

United Nations. The Working Group on the reform of the

Council will sponsor debates and present alternatives, and

we will present our ideas.

The most important theme of my speech today is the

celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights. Andorra has strengthened

its political structures in the light, always brilliant of that

23

1948 Declaration, which indeed, is given form in our

Constitution. Article 5 of this document incorporates it into

the judicial structure of the State in the phrase:

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is

binding in Andorra.”

This Declaration, shared by so many States, should not

be seen as Utopian. The proliferation of publications and

seminars concerning the analysis and investigation of

human rights, understood more and more as a means of

ensuring a proper relationship between the individual, the

community and the environment, touch on the grand

systems of classic thought.

The practice is deceptive. At the international level,

none of us can ignore the paradox of great wealth

contrasted with the abuse, the aggression and the most

sinister forms of cruelty without limits. Today we know

much of what happens in the world and very probably

many of us know why. We cannot now return to ignorance,

to lack of knowledge, to lies.

In a more immediate framework, we cannot argue that

things are getting better. How can we respect the individual

and his fundamental rights if the proliferation of armed

conflicts, racism, xenophobia and the marginalization of

others continues?

Tolerance and respect are not new terms, but they are

key concepts, which must be reinvented or rediscovered,

given a greater significance and a universal application. Too

often tolerance is confused with condescension, and respect

with bureaucratic formality.

The danger increases when we become blinded by

absolute truths and dogmatic positions which, in one way

or another, lead to authoritarianism and exclusion, which

are precisely the opposite of toleration and pluralism.

This is written in the third book of the Pentateuch,

Leviticus:

“Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge

against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love

thy neighbour as thyself”. (The Holy Bible, Leviticus

19:18)

These are old and perennial moral statements, which shape

society, and which have always been universal values

incorporated in all the great statements on human rights.

On 10 December we will celebrate the passing of 50

years since the signing of the Declaration. It has become

a banner of this body, and it gives it reason to exist and

to work.

There remain much work to be accomplished and

much evil to be fought. We are far from any moment of

satisfaction. This century, which is about to end, contains

few events of which we can reflect with satisfaction. The

world has witnessed campaigns of extermination,

holocausts and wars. It has all been extremely cruel and

bloody. We can still see this black light in countries

where assassinations take place under the guise of

redressing religious grievances.

Many other examples can be cited to show that the

universal application of human rights has not been

achieved, and we feel the same sense of powerlessness

when we see our friends and neighbours in the

Mediterranean dying on the southern borders of Europe.

Those who survive are lifted out of the opulence of

Europe and deported, after false hopes and impossible

dreams, back to the misery of their places of origin. This

also occurs, among other places, on the Adriatic coast.

The Mediterranean is no longer the unifying sea that

it once was. Rather it has been transformed into a barrier

between the rich North, with its aging populations, and a

South that, like Prometheus, is filled with misery — but

also with young and struggling people more than half of

whom are under 18. Can we not say, therefore, that a

conflict is in the air? How far we have come from the

stirring poem of Emma Lazarus, which, engraved on the

base of the Statue of Liberty, welcomed, with a door open

to hope, the persecuted and the refugee.

Will the justice system become a mere spectacle?

Even great dignitaries of great democracies, elected in a

clear-cut way, are denied strict respect for personal and

family privacy. The death penalty is still in effect in

many countries. Child labour, child pornography, sex

crimes, abuse and mistreatment are everyday occurrences.

Fifty years of universal human rights mean that we

have rules by which to differentiate between good and

evil, and a standard by which we can recognize the often

inconceivably evil actions of those individuals or States

who live without letting others live. Now, since 1948, we

cannot turn away: we know who respects and who does

not respect human rights.

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The 1998 report of Amnesty International is once

again the faithful portrait of a planet which is capable of

immense technological progress and scientific advances that

we can scarcely imagine, a planet with the ambition to

conquer interstellar space, but nevertheless continues to be

a world of terrible crimes. I do not believe that this should

be an anniversary during which we offer only

congratulations; we should also reflect critically on how we

might effectively achieve respect for human rights. It is

obvious that all of us here today have a clear understanding

of the universality of human dignity: it is the most

fundamental and absolute of rights. We possess faith in the

human being as the means of political action and the giver

of concrete meaning to personal liberty and the freedom of

societies.

Democracy is a synonym for ironclad respect for

human rights, without concessions, as the greatest guarantee

of liberty and progress. What excuse could exist today for

defending the notion that people do not have the capacity

to elect public officials and to send them home through

regular elections when those people believe that the

politicians have not done well enough? It is clear that

democracy is vulnerable when there is no sincere consensus

on the rules of the game, and that this will lead directly to

totalitarianism, corruption and manipulation.

Globalization is not only an economic phenomenon:

with globalization, people have seen large States flower

with democracy, and have seen that oppressive and

authoritarian regimes do not lead to lasting economic

success, as some have claimed.

Many institutions have made excuses for sins

committed 500, 100, or 50 years ago. Must we wait half a

century to apologize for the barbarous acts we commit

today? We all bear responsibility. We should not respond

only with words and good intentions, especially if we

declare ourselves to be powerless before injustice and

misery. Action by States will be the only acceptable

response, for even if every citizen of the world could

cooperate, we would still require force and the necessary

instruments.

What can Andorra, a small State, bring to this world

body? Since 1993, my country has made a great legislative

effort to accede to a large number of conventions, which

permits us to participate in the rule of international law.

From the point of view of security, Andorra desires to

accede promptly to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons, with international solidarity as our goal.

Our humanitarian tradition made us one of the first

countries to have ratified the Convention on the

Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and

Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their

Destruction.

In the domain of international law, our presence at

Rome during the negotiation of the treaty on an

International Criminal Court was marked by active

participation in the writing of the text, notably the first

paragraph of the statute. I would like to thank all

delegations who helped with the Andorran contribution,

and particularly the United States of America.

Turning to international human rights legislation, we

have over the years endorsed many human rights

provisions. Andorra will accede to the Council of Europe

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and

Fundamental Freedoms, which includes the abolition of

the death penalty. We are also a party to the European

Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or

Degrading Treatment or Punishment. At the United

Nations, we give priority to the Convention on the Rights

of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Discrimination against Women.

I have the pleasure today to announce that I have

taken the necessary steps to accede to other human rights

instruments of which the Secretary-General is the

depositary, in particular the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading

Treatment or Punishment.

We are concerned too about universal problems such

as terrorism, which must be combated without concession,

and illicit drug trafficking and the associated money-

laundering, which must be prosecuted relentlessly.

International cooperation and mutual assistance are the

proper tools for this fight.

From a financial point of view, our per capita

contribution is substantial, and we shall continue to

contribute to United Nations funds relating to human

rights, development and peacekeeping.

In the field of preventive diplomacy, I insist on the

importance of words and diplomatic relations in moving

the world forward, and on the implementation of the

memorandum of understanding successfully negotiated by

the Secretary-General last February on weapons

25

inspections in Iraq; our Ambassador is a member of the

Special Group on Iraq?s presidential sites.

I believe that small countries without enemies or

historical conflicts are in a favourable position to conduct

discreet diplomacy and to play a mediation role to help

ensure that important negotiations stay on track.

In five years on the international stage, Andorra has

found its place in the concert of nations, and we are very

proud to belong to this Organization. At the United Nations,

we have learned much from excellent teachers about how

to go from the realm of the national to the international and

from there to the universal. Andorra affirms before you its

belief in human rights, at the same time as we stand for

world security, peace and preventive diplomacy.

During the fifty-third session of the General Assembly,

Andorra will maintain this position and will work to

participate in the reform of this international Organization,

for now is the moment, at the beginning of the new

millennium, to reinvigorate the United Nations, to make it

a more effective instrument of order on this increasingly

globalized planet.

Today no one is innocent; we all share the same

responsibilities. We wish to participate actively with all the

Members in tackling the task of building for a better age in

an imperfect world in which all the peoples of the world

are increasingly interdependent and increasingly demand,

with greater determination and courage, the universal

application of human rights.