Belgium, 1996

The opening of the fifty-first session of the General

Assembly, under the presidency of Ambassador Razili,

takes place at the very moment a large number of States

have entered into new commitments on the long road to

nuclear disarmament. Our signature, this very morning, of

the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is another

opportunity for Belgium to reiterate its determination to

contribute to the fight against nuclear proliferation. I am

very happy that this important step was taken today. It

should inspire us to continue our common effort towards

universal acceptance of this new international instrument,

as well as an effective implementation of the international

verification measures it provides.

My Irish colleague, Minister Dick Spring, has spoken

on behalf of the European Union, whose objectives and

concerns my country shares. Belgium endeavours to

contribute substantially to the definition and implementation

of the policies and plans of action which the European

Union intends to carry out throughout the world.

Our intentions before this Assembly should aim to go

beyond formalities. Diplomatic language all too often hides

our inability to act or our lack of real compassion.

The citizens of the world are fearful as we come to

the end of the century. Whatever their country, people are

confronted with a new anxiety, a fear of tomorrow, without

even realizing that these feelings are shared by the entire

world. In numerous regions of the world, this is a fear of

physical danger. It is a fear of external threats, aggression

and civil war. People die in the same way in Africa, Asia,

America and Europe. People are killed for the same

dreams and mutilated in body and spirit by the barbarism

of modern weaponry and criminal madness born of

hatred.

Yes, our world is fearful in the face of all these

violations of fundamental human rights which persist

notwithstanding the major conferences proclaiming our

hope and belief in a world where the rights of men,

women and children are respected. In such a world

respect for humanitarian law need no longer be

questioned.

The crises felt by rich countries cannot possibly

compare with the tragic consequences of war and

underdevelopment. Yet the crises in Europe, in our

prosperous societies, also constitute a humanitarian

deficit. They are also the symptoms — albeit of a

different nature — of the same ills of modern times.

These include contempt for the human person as a subject

of law and his reduction to mere merchandise. Today,

society everywhere is in crisis. The logic of the market

seems to be an exclusionary mechanism which segregates

society. As the Mexican poet Octavio Paz once wrote,

“The society of consumption has chilled human life

with its glacial waters of selfish calculation.”

This dehumanization of mankind for financial profit is the

primary cause of many scourges which affect our planet,

irrespective of the traditions and political systems that

characterize each and every region of the world.

In this respect the inertia of individuals transformed

into consumers rather than dynamic actors comes to mind,

as do the problems of unemployment, the scourges of

trade in human beings, child prostitution, organ trading,

drugs and all other international criminal activities. These

calamities of modern times require the international

community to put in place effective mechanisms by which

we can combat them together.

As I said during the World Congress Against

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, which was

held in Stockholm last August, we must join efforts,

wills, means and resources to eliminate and prevent the

proliferation of these activities on our planet. The

behaviour of those who profit from such cruel treatment

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of human beings must be punished by the international

community.

Belgium strongly believes that the provisions of the

Stockholm declaration and programme of action to

criminalize the sexual exploitation of children should be

translated into new treaty obligations for all States. The

ongoing negotiations on the adoption of the optional

protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child seem

to me the appropriate forum to reach this goal.

The protection of children in this field should equally

inspire us to a creative and courageous approach in other

United Nations forums where the question of international

criminalization of the trade in human beings is dealt with.

The Stockholm declaration and programme of action should

therefore be reflected in the texts we adopt during the fifty-

first session of the General Assembly in order to strengthen

the protection of the rights of the child and to condemn

strongly the exploitation of children.

This year, the International Day for the Abolition of

Slavery, 2 December 1996, will be devoted to the trade in

human beings. The whole world should endeavour to bring

this horrendous scandal to an end.

Although we must tackle these social problems, our

action should first be introspective in order for it to be

credible and efficient. How can modern society be

reconciled with the globalization of cultures and trade?

How can the balance between the resources of rich

countries and the needs of poor countries be restored?

The freedom of the market cannot be absolute, lest it

become an absurdity. Our societies can only be viable if

they result from a balance between the freedom of the

individual and the fundamental rights of the other. The

unfortunate evolution of our consumer society and the

abandonment of humanist values could lead us — as the

events of this summer in my country have shown — to a

society where murder and rape become commonplace for

some and where abuse is tolerated for too long. We must

therefore reconstruct our list of moral priorities and crate a

new international moral code based on simple, readily

implemented priorities.

Peace, non-violence and acceptance of the other head

the list, followed by sharing and social solidarity. Man

needs to be reconciled with modern times, reclaiming his

central role as subject and actor rather than object and

merchandise. These values also should determine the

relations between rich and poor countries. Finally, our

children should be trained to be involved, responsible

citizens, conscious of the consequences of their actions on

society. I believe that the formulation of a new

international moral code is necessary if we are to

overcome our fears and rediscover our will to act — to

fulfil our moral duty to take an optimistic approach to

international cooperation.

This is why preventive diplomacy must be one of

our top priorities. Belgium neither can nor wants to

ignore the need to turn its attention to the South, to Africa

in particular. We must overcome the desperation of

certain situations and do everything within our means to

finally allow the development of justice, social progress

and democracy in Africa. The situation is extremely

troublesome and warrants our basing our political action

on the essential priorities, which are, in fact, challenges

to be overcome. What are these challenges? to avoid new

fratricidal wars and genocide; to ensure that in existing

conflicts international humanitarian law is respected; and

to guarantee the reconstruction and sustainable

development of the continent with full respect for human

rights and the rule of law. We should develop our policies

while keeping in mind the fundamental relationships that

must be constructed between these complementary

objectives.

In particular, I am thinking of former President

Nyerere’s work in Central Africa. Our support for this

work shows our willingness to cooperate with the

Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the countries

of the region in trying, together, to find solutions to the

present crisis and to prevent hatred, death and the ravages

of destruction from overrunning Africa, which is dear to

us. Belgium supports the convening of a conference on

security and stability in the Great Lakes region.

The appointment of Mr. Ajello as Special Envoy of

the European Union and of Ambassador Haesendonck as

Belgian Special Envoy to the region shows the

willingness of the European Union and Belgium to

address these concerns. For 1996 and 1997, the Belgian

Government has made financial resources available to

support the efforts under way. The survival of the

populations of Burundi and Rwanda and of the Kivu

people in Zaire is at stake, as well as the security and

prosperity of Central Africa as a whole.

Within the framework of a policy of conflict

prevention which the European Union, in cooperation

with the OAU, is trying to elaborate, the Western

European Union (WEU), of which Belgium currently

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holds the chairmanship, is also prepared to offer logistical

support to African peacekeeping operations. The WEU’s

fact-finding mission to Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and

Kenya returned with strong conclusions, and we intend to

pursue the recommended course of action during our

chairmanship. My country, which for years has participated

in stand-by agreements, must review the mechanisms that

might be established to improve the functioning of these

agreements.

In this context, I wish to recall our willingness to

support logistically and financially any possible contingency

planning for Burundi. Possibly in a revised form, the

agreements reached in Arusha last 25 June and 31 July

should allow support for the normalization efforts in

Burundi. This option would clearly be preferred to any

other possible solution. The Belgian Government would like

to confirm here its political will to be associated with this

possible assistance to the security of Burundi, taking into

account the modalities that are yet to be defined. However,

it is my deepest wish that the Burundi authorities and all

active parties in that country will find the road to national

reconciliation and peace, to a system of government which

guarantees equitable representation and real protection of

minorities. I wish to recall that Security Council resolution

1072 (1996) of 30 August demands that these negotiations

be initiated before 31 October.

Belgium’s preventive diplomacy efforts should also be

seen in the framework of European Union initiatives to

promote the development of these new societies. The

presidential, legislative, regional and local elections to be

held in Zaire in 1997 are an opportunity for the Belgian

Government and the European Union to show their active

solidarity within the framework of collective electoral

assistance, which must be coordinated by the United

Nations. In order to organize this electoral assistance, I

would hope that a representative of the Secretary-General

could be appointed as soon as possible. Zaire’s people have

the right to participate knowledgeably in free and fair

elections. The international community has the obligation to

facilitate the democratic process in Zaire.

The Belgian Government is aware of the difficulty of

arriving at a global approach to the problems of the South,

and of Central Africa in particular. We do not believe that

we should impose upon other countries any system of

government or dictate the way to achieve this. But we must

insist on the concept of good governance. That is, there

should be systems of government with checks and balances,

which guarantee the free exercise of the civil, political,

social and cultural rights of the people, and which enhance

the development of a free and dynamic society — the

only way to ensure harmonious and sustainable

development.

Preventive diplomacy is meaningless if weapons

remain available to extremist groups who seek, by the

suppression of others and by "ethnic cleansing", solutions

to problems which should only be found in dialogue,

consensus and political negotiation. The United Nations

Register of Conventional Arms is an essential element in

making the arms trade transparent, a goal which my

country and others support. Since its inception, Belgium

has provided the arms Register with the information

requested. The extension of the Register to other

categories of arms is extremely desirable. The Belgian

Government believes nevertheless that, for now, the main

priority should be making the Register universal. We,

together with our partners of the European Union, will

continue to concentrate our efforts on this aspect.

Anti-personnel mines are particularly inhumane

weapons. Belgium is tirelessly pursuing, in every

international forum, its objective of total and universal

prohibition of anti-personnel mines. The Belgian

Government regrets that very little progress has been

made to date. Next October we will participate in the

Ottawa conference which, I hope, will be able to give a

significant boost to the achievement of our objectives.

When preventive diplomacy and arms control cannot

keep peace, peacekeeping missions become necessary. In

our view, these peacekeeping and peace-restoration

missions remain one of the primary responsibilities of the

United Nations. The Belgian Government has taken part

in various peacekeeping operations and is assuming

military leadership of the United Nations Transitional

Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western

Sirmium (UNTAES). I am convinced that the success of

UNTAES will contribute significantly to the

re-establishment of a society which we hope will be

pluralist, tolerant and peaceful. Last year, the General

Framework Agreement, negotiated in Dayton and signed

in Paris led to the establishment, under United Nations

auspices, of the NATO-led implementation force (IFOR).

My country is, with its partners, part of this peacekeeping

operation whose role is to be a force for solidarity,

reconstruction and hope for a new Europe. The recent

elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina allow us to look

toward the future with a degree of optimism.

The increase in number and size of peacekeeping

operations that has characterized the recent history of our

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Organization has allowed the development of political

concepts and given a new dimension to international

military cooperation. It has also allowed for positive and

necessary developments in the field of international

humanitarian law. The Belgian Government hopes that the

recent agreement between the International Committee of

the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Secretariat on the

applicability of humanitarian law to peacekeeping

operations will permit a swift adoption of the lines of

conduct to this effect. This is indispensable and should be

welcomed unreservedly by all troop-contributing countries.

For peacekeeping operations to succeed they must be

followed up by rehabilitation programmes. Obviously, these

programmes, which are meant to eliminate the potential

causes of new conflicts, must be developed in a climate of

peace that ensures respect for human rights.

This fin de siècle is characterized by the size and

urgency of rehabilitation operations and by humanitarian

intervention and aid. Despite exceptional crises situations,

we must not forget the importance of implementing global

and sustainable development. The major thematic

conferences of the United Nations were designed to

establish a strategy for the growth of the human being. I

believe that the effective implementation of the moral and

political decisions taken at these major conferences is fully

in keeping with the new moral code that I hope to see

emerge.

In this context, I would like to mention the efforts to

reform United Nations institutions and, in particular, the

quest for efficiency and sound financial management that

should be the watchword of the functioning of our

organizations.

I began my statement today by denouncing fear and

with a plea for a new international moral code. I would like

to conclude an observation that I made at the outset: that

words are hollow if they are mere figures of speech and

diplomatic formulas. Our words must be alive, and they

must spring from peace, silence and complete transparency.

Only then will we be able to understand the language of the

many children, women and men afflicted by

underdevelopment, war and indifference.