Chad, 1994

Allow me, Sir, to convey to you on behalf of the people

and Government of Chad, our heartfelt congratulations on

your unanimous election to preside over the forty-ninth

session of the General Assembly. It was a resounding

tribute to your country, whose devotion to peace and

dialogue is well known. Not simply Côte d’Ivoire, but the

whole of Africa has thus been honoured.

We should like to take this opportunity to salute the

memory of the late President Félix Houphouët-Boigny,

whose renown as a statesman extended beyond our

continent.

I should also like to convey heartfelt thanks to your

predecessor, Ambassador Samuel Rudolph Insanally of

Guyana, for the skill with which he conducted the business

of our previous session.

Finally, I wish to express our profound gratitude to the

Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his

dedication to international peace and security, to which he

has contributed with “An Agenda for Peace”, now

supplemented by “An Agenda for Development”.

We welcome the return to this Hall of South Africa,

a South Africa now free of apartheid. We welcome it and

wish every success to President Nelson Mandela, whose

tenacity should once again be commended.

The picture of the international situation following the

end of the cold war is mixed, being one of both hope and

uncertainty.

The evolving peace process in the Middle East is an

important step towards the achievement of a

comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of a crisis which

has persisted for too long. We pay warm tribute to the

Israeli and Palestinian leaders who, with their

foresightedness and sense of history, have taken this

decisive step. We venture to hope that the peoples of this

region, sorely in need of peace, have the benefit of the

wholehearted support of the international community.

We also commend the efforts now going on to

restore democracy to Haiti.

Chad has also been following with interest the

process under way in Mozambique, and we hope that the

elections to be held on 27 and 28 October will pave the

way to a new era of peace and prosperity.

However, grim situations still continue. How can

one fail to be outraged at the daily events occurring in

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda, Liberia, Afghanistan or

Somalia? Chad, which has been through three decades of

conflict, sympathizes with the tragic experience of the

peoples of these countries and condemns practices based

on ethnic, racial and religious criteria, practices which

belong to the past.

This was one of the reasons which prompted my

Government to make a modest contribution, first, by its

military presence with the French force in Opération

Turquoise, and then in the second United Nations

Assistance Mission for Rwanda.

Chad urges the United Nations to continue its

tireless, energetic peacemaking and peace-keeping efforts

and asks the parties involved in any conflict to attach

greater importance to dialogue.

In this regard, we welcome developments in the

ongoing talks to bring lasting peace to Angola.

We appeal for a speedy solution to the question of

the embargo afflicting the Libyan people, a solution in

keeping with resolutions of the Organization of African

Unity (OAU) and the Organization of the Islamic

Conference.

The proliferation of armed conflicts in Africa is a

great challenge to us. Chad therefore makes an urgent

appeal to the international community to give its

wholehearted support to the OAU’s machinery for

conflict-prevention, conflict-management and the

settlement of conflicts.

Conflicts of any kind are always a disaster for the

human race. Therefore, in order to save present and

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future generations from the danger of a nuclear holocaust,

my country supports the indefinite extension of the Treaty

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

Conventional weapons are a permanent source of

concern for Chad. That is why we support resolution 48/75

E and welcome the initiative by President Alpha Omar

Konare of Mali to halt the proliferation of such weapons in

our region.

Economic development is a constant concern of the

international community. That is why the various

initiatives and discussions on the subject, as well as the apt

analysis in the Agenda for Development, deserve careful

consideration at this session. The worsening economic

crisis, marked by chronic indebtedness and the drop in the

price of raw materials in developing countries in general,

and in Africa in particular, has torn at the weak social

fabric and threatened the stability of States. This explains

the spread of phenomena such as juvenile delinquency,

widespread drug-trafficking and organized crime.

However, we look forward to the World Summit for

Social Development to be held in Copenhagen next year,

and to the World Conference on Women, to be held in

Beijing, also next year.

They will give the international community an

opportunity to discuss today’s challenges and to try to

improve the lives of millions of human beings.

I now turn to Chad, where the democratic process

which began with the coming to power of the Patriotic

Salvation Movement is continuing, to the satisfaction of all,

thanks to the wisdom of our President, His Excellency

Colonel Idriss Déby, who has honoured the spirit and the

letter of the historic declaration of 4 December 1990 to

establish a State of law.

The Sovereign National Conference organized, in a

spirit of transparency, with the participation of citizens of

Chad of all strata and all political leanings in the presence

of foreign observers, adopted a consistent, comprehensive

strategy. It thus reflected the general consensus on

resolving all our problems, and in particular the creation of

a State that respects the rule of law. To that end, a

schedule was worked out and transitional institutions were

established.

At the last session, my delegation took note of

progress made towards democratization. I am happy to say

from this rostrum that the transition in Chad is proceeding

normally thanks to cooperation between the three organs,

the presidency, the primature and the Higher Transitional

Council.

In order to keep within our deadlines, the framework

agreement was reduced to more realistic proportions,

backed up inter alia by the following priorities: the

elaboration of a constitution and texts to govern the

upcoming elections; the establishment of a national

reconciliation committee consisting of governmental

representatives, representatives of the provisional

parliament, political parties and civilians. That committee

has already achieved some results by signing certain

agreements with some organizations, in particular the

Bangui II Agreement. We express gratitude to His

Excellency Ange Félix Patassé, President of the Central

African Republic, for the decisive role he has played

throughout the negotiations. At the same time the

national reconciliation committee is continuing its

contacts with other political and military groups. Our

Government is confident that definitive peace will be

restored to our country.

Considerable progress has been made in the

restructuring of the national army but much remains to be

done because of the complexity of the problem of

demobilizing elements and reintegrating them into civilian

life. We reiterate once more our appeal to the

international community to provide assistance in carrying

out this essential programme for lasting peace in Chad.

The signing of a social covenant concluded between

the Government and the trade unions took place on 1 July

1994. It restored social peace and is the reason for the

important progress that has been made in applying the

provisions of the framework agreement.

Equally important progress has also been made in

other areas. I wish to speak now of human rights and

freedoms. For almost four years now we have seen the

unprecedented establishment of several independent

newspapers, the formation of many political parties, 49 of

which have been legalized, and the creation of unions and

human rights associations.

The recent establishment of the Supreme Council for

Communications is another guarantee of freedom of

expression, opinion and information.

I turn now to human rights. My country, which has

experienced one of the most cruel and misguided

dictatorships, attaches great importance to the promotion

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and defence of these rights. The ratification of various

international instruments and, more recently, the Convention

against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading

Treatment or Punishment, the establishment of the National

Commission for Human Rights and the authorization

provided by my Government for the visit to Chad of an

independent expert from the United Nations Commission on

Human Rights, attest to this will.

The Government of the Republic of Chad is therefore

surprised that certain press organs, certain human rights

associations and organizations, manipulated by those who

are fighting for power, have launched a campaign that is

seeking to mislead international opinion by spreading false

information about Chad.

I wish to draw attention to the special situation in my

country, where there are many political and military groups

equipped with weapons, as a consequence of the long

conflict. The abuses committed by uncontrolled groups

cannot and should not be attributed to Government policy

to violate human rights. I should like, therefore, to take

this opportunity to call on all countries and governmental

and non-governmental organizations that are interested in

Chad and in the future of its people to come to my country

to establish the facts.

Free democratic elections will be organized at the

beginning of next year in keeping with the timetable

established by the framework agreement. On 7 October

1994 His Excellency Colonel Idriss Déby, Head of State,

once again reaffirmed his determination to respect the

timetable for the elections to give the country reliable

democratic institutions, inter alia, to guarantee the rights of

all citizens. Accordingly, we ask our traditional partners to

assist the Government of Chad to conclude this delicate

mission which require many resources.

I now turn to the question of the border dispute that

existed between my country and the Libyan Arab

Jamahiriya. On 3 February 1994 the International Court of

Justice in its Judgment put an end to this 20-year-old

conflict. An Agreement on the practical modalities for the

implementation of that Judgment was signed on 4 April

1994 in Surt. In keeping with the Agreement the

withdrawal of Libyan troops from the Aouzou Strip was

carried out according to an agreed timetable and under the

supervision of United Nations observers. Now all that

remains to be done is to make a reality of the border as

defined between the two countries.

I wish to reiterate my sincere thanks to all those who

have contributed directly or indirectly to the peaceful

solution of this dispute and our gratitude to the United

Nations. This fortunate outcome, which reflects the pre-

eminence of negotiation over confrontation, is a reason

for hope in the matter of prevention and resolution of

conflicts.

In the framework of the rehabilitation of the Aouzou

Strip and the reintegration of the local population, Chad

has already set up a technical committee to study the

various aspects of rehabilitation, particularly the

restoration of infrastructure, the cultivation of our oases,

and the restoration of our education and public health

systems. We should also create an environment

conducive to all these actions by carrying out mine

clearance and disinfecting wells that were poisoned during

the occupation. We appeal to the entire international

community to help us to carry out this programme.

Chad, like many other countries in Africa, is

confronting an unprecedented economic and financial

crisis. Existing difficulties have been compounded by the

devaluation of the CFA franc, which has wiped out all the

efforts by the Government within the structural

adjustment framework. My country regrets the fact that

the steps to accompany the devaluation have not been

entirely honoured. We urge some of our partners to

comply with their commitments in this respect.

Chad is a country which is half desert and has

suffered a rapid degradation of its environment because of

its lack of energy resources and we welcome, therefore,

the signing on 17 June 1994 in Paris of the International

Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries

Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification,

Particularly in Africa. We hope that the provisions of the

Convention will not remain a dead letter.

While in the Sahel rain is welcomed enthusiastically,

the rainfall, which has been particularly abundant this

year, has caused flooding in many regions of my country,

causing serious damage to crops and leaving many

families homeless. At the same time an epidemic of

cholera has broken out in some cities in Chad.

We are working together with our various partners,

United Nations agencies and non-governmental

organizations to deal with these situations following

appeals made respectively by the Ministers of Agriculture

and Health.

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The United Nations will celebrate its fiftieth

anniversary next year. To meet the many challenges we

must adapt to present changes. Therefore my country

supports the common African position on restructuring and

the revitalization of the United Nations in the economic,

social and related fields.

I turn now to the Security Council. I wish to recall

that the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of

Chad stated from this rostrum on 8 October 1976 that

“The Security Council, whose principal role is to

safeguard international peace and security, should

reflect the geographical composition of the

international community.” (Official Records of the

General Assembly, Thirty-first Session, Plenary

Meetings, 23rd meeting, para. 22)

In the light of ongoing discussion of this question, we

reiterate this position because it is a requirement of our

time.

I cannot conclude my statement without saying that we

hope that the work of the present session will yield answers

to our legitimate concerns.