Burundi, 1969

108. Seven years have passed since Burundi achieved national

and international sovereignty. The prominent part which

you, Madam President, took in our country’s progress to

independence will never be erased from the memory of the

people of Burundi, since it was under your enlightened

guidance than a United Nations mission, operating in

Burundi in complex and hazardous conditions, found the

Burundi nation irrevocably determined to entrust its

destinies to its own sons and daughters.

109. Despite the obstacles you encountered in your task

and despite the traps set along your road, you resolutely

accomplished your important mission and led the United

Nations to grant to Burundi its inalienable right to govern itself.

110. The decisive role which you undertook in the

accomplishment of independence for our country extended

beyond Burundi and took on a larger significance in the

United Nations during the sixteenth session of the General

Assembly, which raised our country to the rank of a free

nation [see resolution 1746(XVI)]. Thanks to your

irresistible influence and to the far-seeing recommendation

in your report on the determination of the people of

Burundi to end their dependent status, the Fourth

Committee, under your masterly and serene chairmanship,

recommended the grant of independence.

111. For the decisive role you played in enabling us to

achieve our sovereignty, Mr. Micombero, President of the

Republic of Burundi, and the Government and people of

Burundi have instructed my delegation to pay a tribute to

you, Madam, on your election as President of the

twenty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly.

112. The achievement of independence by our country

was only a prelude to the further affirmation of our

sovereignty by the proclamation of the Republic on 28

November 1966. This independence, to which you made so

active and effective a contribution, has also given Burundi

an impulse towards development and a larger international

role. In fact, you seem to identify yourself personally with

the destiny of Burundi, which yesterday, with your help,

became again master of its fate and has today had the signal

honour of being nominated by the Organization of African

Unity as Africa’s candidate for the organ which is the

guarantor of universal peace: the Security Council. Just as

our country’s political resurrection was accomplished in

1962 in the Fourth Committee under your skilled

leadership, so you, Madam President, are taking the Chair in

the General Assembly at its twenty-fourth session at the

moment of Burundi’s selection as the African candidate for

the Security Council. We are thus led to conclude that the

part you have played has largely contributed to Burundi’s

international as well as its national good fortune. We

combine the expression of our gratitude with our fervent

wishes for the full success of this session. Needless to say,

you have an absolute right to our fullest collaboration,

however modest it may be, in making those wishes come true.

113. My delegation takes this opportunity to associate

itself with the condolences expressed by previous speakers

to the family of Mr. Arenales and to the Guatemalan

Government in connexion with the sudden death of the

former Guatemalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, who

presided over the previous session with devotion, zeal,

understanding and diligence.

114. My Government feels under an obligation to pay a

tribute to U Thant for his immense contribution to the

solution of world problems and his constant quest for

lasting world peace. The manifest interest which our

Secretary-General takes in the viability — and, what is more,

in the complete success — of the Organization of African

Unity assures him of the gratitude and affection of all the

members of that Organization. We must again praise his

integrity, which commands the esteem and admiration of

all those in contact with his work.

115. The Republic of Burundi remains an untiring

champion of peace among the nations. Since 28 November

1966, when the Republic was proclaimed, our Government

has been carrying out a carefully planned and far-reaching

reform intended to give all citizens more security, more

comfortable living conditions and more happiness. It is

doing its utmost thereby to safeguard and consolidate

national freedom, concord and harmony. During the past

three years our new leaders have endeavoured to secure the

future of Burundi in the midst of all obstacles, both

internal and external.

116. These obstacles, in spite of all the skill and power of

those who have raised them, have been removed by the

unfailing vigilance of the people of Burundi, and its innate

dislike of discord. Those who have repeatedly attempted to

disturb the established order have strained their ingenuity

to disguise their attempts in various ways, but the plans of

these trouble-makers have been revealed.

117. Despite the Republic’s earnest desire to treat every

citizen according to his merits, objectively and according to

criteria based on capacity, despite the unprecedented

success attained by the Republic in allocating the most

senior posts, in both numbers and quality, some of those in

a commanding position long for chaos, which remains

invariably their guiding motive. Through malice or

blindness these hardened trouble-makers do not hesitate,

under foreign instigation, to become unscrupulous saboteurs

and destroyers of their own nation. Blinded by

evident bad faith, these groups behave in a way which gives

rise to the belief that they have resolutely undertaken the

task of systematically destroying their own country. Unable

to rise to the top by their individual worth, they have the

temerity to arrogate to themselves sole right over life and to

get rid of their compatriots by exterminating them. Their

conduct is a denial of the most fundamental human rights

and a flagrant violation of the principles and ideals of the

Organization of African Unity and the United Nations.

118. Since, however, our nation has been able to pass

through this storm without losing its personality and to

express its unmistakable determination to maintain its

unity, ensure order and guarantee peace; since it has, in a

word, kept its head at critical moments, how much more

will this reinvigorated nation now be able to foil the plans

of those who gamble on its discomfiture, disintegration and

disappearance?

119. In its firm determination to extirpate all causes of

national regression and all selfish and separatist elements

aiming at extermination, the Government has resolutely set

itself to create and consolidate a State and a society

composed not of mutually exclusive but of complementary

ethnic groups.

120. Such a concept of State policy and of the exercise of

power is proving the soundest and the most beneficial

policy both national and international, with due regard to

the role which the Republic of Burundi is called upon to

play. The political path which our country has mapped out

for itself conforms to the reply given by Solon the wise,

who replied to the Greeks who asked him what would be

the “best constitution“: “Tell me first for what people and

in what epoch.”

121. Situated at the cross-roads of Africa, the Republic of

Burundi seems destined for a key role in the centre of a

united and prosperous continent. In this Africa of fabulous

opportunities, it is a natural link between English-speaking

East Africa and French-speaking Central Africa; and it

endeavours to fulfil with generosity and determination its

natural vocation as an ardent defender of peace and

friendship among its immediate neighbours and among all

members of the Organization of African Unity.

122. At first sight, for those who are not fully familiar

with Burundi realities, this resolve of my country’s

authorities may seem beyond our powers. In answer to

these doubts we must affirm that the country has been able

to make a manifest contribution to understanding among

African brother States. Burundi, with a population of

4.5 million, is among the medium Powers of Africa, since

only some 15 countries have a larger population. It is thus

in the fifth population category.

123. It must, however, be emphasized that the effectiveness

of the role played by States is not necessarily derived

from the demographic and geographical criteria I have

mentioned. Objective minds agree that a country’s status

and importance derive neither from size of territory nor

from number of inhabitants, but on the contrary from the

intrinsic value of its people, the spirit that moves them and

dictates their action, and the lofty ideals which inspire them.

124. His Excellency Michel Micombero, President of the

Republic of Burundi, has devoted all his energies to creating

a climate of political brotherhood among the States

surrounding our country. His statement of 28 November

1967, when the first anniversary of the Republic’s

establishment was being commemorated, clearly showed

that the Head of the Burundi State and his Government

regard peaceful relations with its neighbours as one of their

prime tasks and as an indispensable stage on the road to

continental unity. At that memorable ceremony President

Micombero said:

“Our Government’s first concern continues to be the

strengthening of the friendly relations which we have

endeavoured this past year to establish with neighbouring

countries. The presence among us of experienced

statesmen from the great nations surrounding us is

striking evidence of the full success of this policy, which

began on 28 November 1966... For our part, we are

convinced that the unity of Africa will not be achieved

while causes of friction divide neighbouring African

States. With that idea in mind, since 28 November 1966

we have spared no effort to settle the dispute which has

marred the friendly relations of long standing between us

and our sister Republic of Rwanda.”

125. The African political doctrine set forth in the above

statement has not remained confined to the realm of pious

wishes. Facts and achievements eloquently testify to its

faithful application: conferences and meetings have been

Organized at various levels for representatives of the

Governments in our region; our Government has operated

settlement programmes for about 100,000 refugees and has

taken steps to prevent political activities likely to prejudice

relations between the States concerned. Thus the refugee

problem, which used to be a source of friction, has at last

been solved. The official visit made by the Head of the

Burundi State to Rwanda two months ago ratifies his own

and his Government’s efforts to create a healthy political

climate for all relations with our brother States. This

historic visit preceded by a few weeks the establishment of

diplomatic relations between Burundi and its northern

neighbour Rwanda with the appointment of ambassadors.

126. I now come to the doctrine of co-operation. A

readaptation of international co-operation with a view to

ending economic stagnation in the under-developed world is

an immediate necessity.

127. A large number of speakers from this rostrum have

expressed their deep concern at the under-development in

which most members of the Organization are engulfed. The

pressing dangers of economic inequality have been

described and its causes analysed. The efforts undertaken

by the United Nations, its specialized agencies and its

subsidiary organs, including more particularly the World

Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the International

Labour Organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organization,

the United Nations Development Programme and the

United Nations Industrial Development Organization,

clearly show the gravity of the situation and the overriding

concern of these bodies to remedy it. Despite this

concerted effort of the international organizations to

improve economic conditions in our countries, substantial

changes for this purpose will be possible only if a new and

more objective approach is made to the conditions of

international co-operation.

128. The delegation of Burundi deems it essential that the

present system of co-operation among States should be

readapted. If this new orientation is to concord better with

the appropriate means of development, it must deal with

the machinery set up by the suppliers of economic and

technical assistance.

129. The bitter disappointment caused by the failure of

the first United Nations Development Decade has been

sufficiently expressed in this Assembly and there is no need

to dwell upon it. Nevertheless, on the eve of the Second

Development Decade, it is imperative to guard against the

difficulties and shortcomings which were the root cause of

the failure of the first. To avoid the same reverses during

the next 10 years, the wealthy States will have to make

major concessions to their economically less favoured

partners. The task which will have to be carried out first is

to rectify the concept and purpose of assistance.

130. My Government thinks that the first and last aim of

assistance should be merely to provide for an interim phase

enabling nations in search of development to achieve

technical, professional, administrative and economic self-sufficiency

so that they can gradually, but as rapidly as

possible, free themselves from dependence on mainly

external resources. In other words, assistance from outside

agencies, whether on a bilateral or multilateral basis, should

be nothing more than a launching operation, a “take-off”,

so that the infant economies of the new States can rise to

industrial heights.

131. Criticism of aid in general applies also to its

corollary, technical assistance. If they are to succeed fully,

they must both be decolonized and “depoliticized”. It is

certainly not our intention to gainsay the importance, or

indeed, the need of technical assistance; but there are

principles dear to the heart of every recipient State and

disinterested technical assistance must be adjusted to them.

Assistance must not be regarded as an end in itself but as a

period of development, a formative stage whose objective is

fo prepare technicians in all fields to take over. Viewed

from this angle and governed by this principle, technical

assistance would no longer reserve for aided countries

unskilled persons who cannot cope with their duties

because they are unfamiliar with the problems they are

supposed to tackle. “Experts” with only a fragmentary

knowledge of the fields to which they are assigned are a

double drawback: they are a financial burden and they

cannot give nationals the necessary training and knowledge

of modern techniques; since, as the Latin tag puts it, nemo

dat quod non habet — nobody can give what he does not

possess.

132. This Assembly fully understands the right of recipient

countries to ask, not for supernumeraries, but for

the cream of experienced officials and experts. In brief,

technical assistance without any ulterior motive means

qualified personnel with no desire to take control or to

interfere with domestic policy. It is meant to stimulate the

internal development and to power the economic growth of

he assisted country.

133. In April last, during the second session of the

Preparatory Committee for the Second United Nations

Development Decade, of which Burundi is a member, I

thought it my duty to show how some kinds of economic

and technical assistance could be refined means of domination

and appropriation. I said:

“The generosity of the wealthy countries is not always

disinterested. Action by the large industrial countries for

the benefit of the proletarian nations is still mainly based

on political motives. Thus the volume and nature of gifts

are determined by tactical considerations rather than by

the desire for development. Aid and assistance are often

no more than weapons for fighting one’s adversary and

disputing territory with him...

“In the present stage, assistance by highly-qualified

technicians is essential. But we must stress that the

intervention of exports or of foreign officials is in the

nature of an exception, which can be justified only as a

measure of first aid until qualified national personnel can

take over. The international co-operation sector which,

by definition, should be the most neutral, since it relates

to strictly technical activities, is sometimes politicized:

that is, involved in the calculations and rivalries of the

donor Powers. In the system as described ‘tied aid’, the

main motivation for technical co-operation, is also still

political. Thus technical and financial assistance becomes

both a tool in the service of diplomacy and a weapon

against a rival competitor. In view of such a paradox,

assistance to under-developed countries is rarely effective

in attaining its objectives.“

This political bargaining is undoubtedly a major obstacle to

the success of co-operation.

134. Today the Government of Burundi, through its

delegation, wishes to stress once again the urgent need to

free aid and assistance from the disabilities which I have

mentioned and which were stigmatized by Mr. J. M.

Albertini, who said:

“There is an element of hypocrisy in ‘giving’ or

‘lending’ money when every day, through the trade and

strategy of the large international firms, the assisted

countries are deprived of their substance. The transfer of

public capital thus becomes an insurance premium for the

maintenance of domination.

“It is somewhat cynical to ‘assist’ in such a way that the

‘assisted’ peoples become, in their needs and their

behaviour, a mere pale reflexion of the dominant parties,

docile and perpetual beggars.“

135. The Government of the Republic of Burundi expresses

its ardent hope that the Second Development

Decade, which is to begin during the twenty-fifth year of

the United Nations, will apply in its development strategy

the true doctrine of genuinely disinterested and therefore

more productive economic aid and technical assistance.

136. Apartheid and colonization are monstrous obstacles

to economic expansion and a shameful dehumanization of

African society. On 28 November 1967 President Micombero,

in a statement on the colonial and racist regimes in

southern Africa, described the policy of Burundi in the

following terms, which underline the strength and sincerity

of the commitment assumed by the Government of Burundi:

“We are formally resolved to support the Organization

of African Unity, to intensify the struggle against

colonialism, and to encourage by every means at our

disposal those who fight for the liberation and independence

of the territories still under foreign domination.

We regard the struggle of the peoples of Angola,

Mozambique, Guinea (Bissau) and Namibia as our struggle.

We are at the side of the people of Zimbabwe and the

population of South Africa beneath the yoke of regimes

shamelessly practising the most systematic discrimination.”

137. During the past three years I have outlined in the

Security Council and the General Assembly the factors and

causes which distinguish the parallel aims pursued in Africa

by the Governments of Pretoria, Lisbon and Salisbury. My

statement in the Security Council on 23 June last contains

the following paragraph:

“Now, the painful rebuff with which the Rhodesian

settlers have just repaid the tender solicitude of the

mother country, the sordid contempt with which they

have just responded to its very maternal treatment, the

immeasurable danger posed by the twin regimes of

Pretoria and Salisbury — all these are so many compelling

reasons for shaking off that blissful optimism which has

lulled certain Governments to sleep.”

138. In fact, the treatment of the African peoples in the

Portuguese colonies does not differ greatly from that of the

so-called “coloured” people in Namibia and South Africa.

In the last analysis the Pretoria-Lisbon-Salisbury axis has a

single goal: to perpetuate its despotism over the indigenous

peoples and its monopoly of the fabulous resources of their

countries. Hence any effort to dissociate the ojectives

which these regimes have set themselves would be erroneous

and misleading.

139. Only the method of approach differs slightly: the

exponents of South African and Rhodesian apartheid have

armed themselves with the weapon of racial separatism the

better to despoil the non-whites, whereas the champions of

Portuguese subjugation rely on the notorious assimilation

process. For the rest, do the three regimes not claim to

perpetuate and accentuate the subjugation of the African

peoples, upon whom they have the divine mission of

conferring the benefits of the “sacrosanct civilization”?

140. On 12 December 1968 in the General Assembly

[1739th meeting] and on 23 June last in the Security

Council [1480th meeting] my address, which was buttressed

by abundant documentation and by irrefutable

facts, demonstrated the need for a universal coalition

against apartheid, the sickly child of Hitler’s nazism alike in

its ideological foundations and its expansionist aims. I also

gave evidence that the Pretoria-Salisbury-Lisbon trio is

sowing the seeds of a war likely to reach far beyond the

frontiers of Africa.

141. Today, on the eve of the twenty-fifth anniversary of

the United Nations, the ideals and principles of which are

to defend the freedom of man and safeguard peace, my

delegation deems it appropriate to appeal once again to the

trading and military partners of those régimes to put an end

to this situation.

142. The eradication of racism and colonialism is an

essential factor in ensuring that international co-operation

with Africa shall assume its true proportions and its

authentic character of mutual development among free and

brotherly nations.

143. It is certain that the mutilation of the African

peoples by apartheid in Rhodesia and South Africa and by

Portuguese domination has not only impaired the relations

between the Western countries and Africa but has also

seriously jeopardized any fruitful co-operation between

them in the future.

144. In view of the dehumanization brought about by

such systems, the South African and Rhodesian racists and

the Portuguese colonialists should recognize the damage

they are inflicting not only on Western culture but also on

the most fundamental values and on human dignity itself. A

completely objective analysis reveals that any sound policy

claiming constructive long-range goals must recognize that

the servitude imposed on non-whites by South Africa will

dangerously compromise future relations between the continents.

145. The delegation of Burundi considers that the principal

States of the Atlantic Alliance can also avoid that

monstrous evil which, if not exorcized now, is likely to

draw a permanent demarcation line between the future

generations of mankind.

146. How can the supporters of Pretoria deliberately call

down upon their heads the curses which will overwhelm

them for their guilt in opening an eternal gulf between

future generations of mankind? How can they envisage

without fear and trembling a human race which would be

called upon tomorrow to pay the price of the prodigious

folly committed by the present idolaters of apartheid and

colonial tyranny, and a situation in which the non-white

world would be unleashed in reprisal against its white

opponents?

147. Concerning decolonization, an editorial in the review

Eurafrica for 5 May 1959 stated: “Too many caricatures of

democracy mask and dissemble in Africa a real and

inexorable control by foreign Powers.” The Lusaka Manifesto

on Southern Africa, which has just been endorsed by

the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the

Organization of African Unity, is a charter which could

help and guide the United Nations to decolonize southern

Africa and eliminate apartheid from it.

148. As for the powder-keg in the Middle East, the

Government of the Republic of Burundi places the conflict

in a triple context: world, regional and African. Under this

heading Burundi, which has irrevocably devoted itself to

peace, can remain neither insensitive nor indifferent. The

size of the problem reflects its seriousness and demands an

immediate solution.

149. The frequency of the bloody combats in which the

belligerents engage is among the obstacles to the settlement

of the conflagration. A study of the present situation

reveals these uncomfortable facts. The parties to the

conflict have at the moment completely irreconcilable

positions: Arab Governments are pleading for the immediate

and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli troops

from the occupied territories; and Israel is insisting on

direct negotiations as a prerequisite to guarantee the

security of its frontiers and to conclude treaties giving

mutual guarantees. In the meantime the situation remains

unchanged. The all-too-frequent interruption of relative

truces in this region suggests that it should be called a

continual state of war and a powder-keg ready to explode

at any time and to take on new proportions.

150. My Government certainly recognizes the right of

Israel to exist. Its attitude is deduced rationally from the

creation of that State by the United Nations. The establishment

of diplomatic relations between the Governments of

Burundi and of Israel shows the normal relations between

our two countries. Nevertheless, Burundi cannot approve of

the invasion and occupation of Arab territories by force of

arms. War entails its own condemnation.

151. The information we possess predicts that, if the

occupation troops were evacuated, positive results would

follow. It is in the interests of peace, therefore, that the

Israeli leaders both radical and liberal should realize the

need to withdraw their armies from the Arab countries.

What is more, the Tel Aviv Government can surely not

sacrifice peace to its own detriment and link it to direct

negotiations, which, as Israel knows full well, are incompatible

with the existing psychological climate and the

presence of forces in the area.

152. The repatriation of the Israeli commandos would not

directly imperil the country’s present security, and such

concessions would be justified, since the restitution of the

conquered areas would be a prelude to peace. In the last

analysis the United Nations must not allow itself to forget

the lot of the Palestine refugees, for whom it is responsible,

since it undertook to guarantee their security and their

property. My Government is well aware of the decisive role

the great Powers are called upon to play in putting an end

to this war which threatens to become world-wide. That is

why we welcome the efforts made by the four great Powers

in the Security Council, which in fact have both the duty

and the ability to enforce in full the resolution of 22

November 1967 [242 (1967)].

153. In regard to China: guided by its policy of effective

non-alignment, the Government of Burundi considers that

no country should be excluded from the United Nations on

the ground of its ideology. Respect for the domestic affairs

of States is one of the principles enunciated in the Charter

of the United Nations itself.

154. Faithful to the fundamental ideals and principles

governing our Organization, my Government is deeply

convinced that the time has come to cease the ostracism to

which the People’s Republic of China has been subjected

for 20 years. This attitude of Burundi is not based on any

hostility towards any Power at all, nor is it the result of any

foreign pressure. It arises from our policy of defending the

universality of the United Nations and unlimited peace, and

from our firm opposition to secessionist forces acting

within national entities.

155. So long as China is kept outside this Organization

though it satisfies the requirements for admission to the

international community, the universal character of the

United Nations and world peace will be irrevocably

confined to the realms of Utopia. This truth is indeed

recognized by the States Members of the United Nations,

both large and small, which have established diplomatic

relations with China.

156. In conclusion, the delegation of the Republic of

Burundi makes a fervent appeal to all Members of this

Organization, and more particularly to the great Powers, to

concert and combine all their efforts to celebrate the

twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations in a world

atmosphere of peace and security. The maturity of our

Organization is being tested. It is high time that more

effective measures and more active participation should be

exercised by every State in its own sphere and according to

its possibilities, so that the pious wishes for peace become

living realities. This aim will be attained once the armed

peace described by Jean Jaurés in the following meaningful

terms has been renounced:

“It would seem — and the Heads of State themselves

proclaim it — that all peoples want peace and that human

progress is tending towards that end. But that peace, so

universally desired, can be guaranteed only by a maximum

amount of universal armament. Let all peoples

pour out thousands of millions to cover themselves with

thick armour-plating and to bristle with bayonets! Let all

budgets be overburdened with military expenditure. That

is the prerequisite of peace. It is a strange comment on

human reason that a peace desired by all cannot be

maintained without putting the rifle and the sword in the

hands of all.”

157. I thank the Assembly for its kind attention, and the

President for her understanding attitude towards me and

towards the delegation of Burundi.