Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1994

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, our

planet is seeking a new world balance. Five years have

passed since the struggle for world hegemony came to an

end and the arms race became less frenzied. Unfortunately,

the problems afflicting mankind remain unchanged: death,

disease, war, famine, poverty, hotbeds of tension, and the

tragic wandering of entire populations. The East-West

blocs have been replaced by North-South blocs. The

wealthy North is worried because the poor South is a threat

to its serenity and comfort.

Far from making the international climate better, the

end of the cold war has unleashed instability in the southern

hemisphere. Our world is facing a threefold crisis —

political and economic crises and a crisis of human

society — which is sorely testing international solidarity

and the interdependence of States. The many hotbeds of

tension in Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa arouse

anxiety and concern in our Organization. A number of

ideas have been put forward to check these evils on a

global scale, with greater or lesser degrees of success, but

we feel that the best approach lies in the old saying: “An

ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

Preventive diplomacy seems to us to be decisive in

maintaining and promoting peace, as recent world history

shows. Indeed, it is clear that many current conflicts

might have been avoided had the international community

involved itself in time to prevent them from worsening.

For obvious reasons, I should like to dwell on the

crisis in Rwanda.

A review of the roots of this tragedy shows that the

implementation of preventive diplomacy could have

prevented it or at least mitigated its effects. If we go

back to the earliest manifestations of the ethnic conflict

between Hutus and Tutsis, we see many opportunities to

resolve it which the international community passed up.

But let us look at recent history.

It is clear that if the parties involved had respected

the Arusha Agreements, the Rwandese tragedy would not

have taken on its current dimensions. It is equally clear

that the international community could have guaranteed

respect for these Agreements. Moreover, the presence on

Rwandese soil of foreign and international troops shortly

before and during the massacres could have prevented

them.

The Zairian delegation has recalled the past so that

we can learn the lessons it teaches for present and future

problems. What are these problems?

Millions of Rwandese left their country and took

refuge in neighbouring countries. This mass exodus

caused immeasurable damage and created extremely

serious social and economic imbalances in those

countries. Zaire, for instance, had to absorb nearly 3

million people in less than three months. The little city

of Goma, with a normal population of 200,000, on 14

June alone took in 10,000 refugees a minute. The

modern world has never seen such an uprooting of

populations.

The effects of such a situation could only be tragic:

the swamping of infrastructures, the re-emergence of

endemic disease, housing shortages, the devastation of

crops, environmental destruction, disputes among people

living in close quarters, insecurity, and countless other

examples. In addition to all this, the nationality problem

is worsening — and it was already a matter of concern in

that part of Zaire.

The current situation in countries bordering Rwanda

meets all the preconditions for preventive intervention by

the international community. Of course, it is already

engaged in humanitarian operations on behalf of the

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refugees. My delegation takes this opportunity to thank all

the countries and organizations involved in these operations.

France in particular deserves a special tribute for having

saved so many lives in “Operation Turquoise”. But it is

high time that the international community moved beyond

the humanitarian aspect towards a solution of the

fundamental causes of the Rwandese tragedy and its effects

on neighbouring countries.

These causes relate to the displacement and presence

of refugees in countries that are in no way equipped to take

in such human masses. Thus the solution lies in the return

of refugees to their country of origin. Yet we note that

none of the countries directly concerned by this

phenomenon can cope on its own with the situation without

assistance from the international community.

Let us take the case of my country and of Rwanda.

The tragedy of Rwanda, which occurred shortly before the

installation of our current Government in Zaire, could

benefit only from stop-gap measures on the part of our

Government, given the already disturbing situation of the

economy in Zaire — and the problems remain unsolved.

From this rostrum, Zaire issues a fervent appeal to the

international community for support equal to the difficulties

experienced by our population.

We know that the return of refugees to their countries

is being thwarted by various factors: their administrative

and political organizations were reconstituted in the camps;

the militia, who are difficult to identify, and the former

civilian and military authorities, are intimidating the

refugees; the commitment by the new masters of Kigali to

persuade their compatriots to embark on a voluntary, secure

return seems inadequate, to say the least; in an effort to

respect the spirit of the relevant Organization of African

Unity convention on refugees, the Government of Zaire,

with no means, is confronted with enormous difficulties in

trying to remove the former soldiers from the borders.

All of these factors should lead the international

community to realize the gravity of the situation —

particularly as the evolution of the Hutu-Tutsi conflict risks

swinging back and forth: today we are witnessing a mass

return to Rwanda of Tutsi refugees who were driven into

exile 30 years ago; if the international community is not

careful, however, tomorrow we will witness another tragedy

in Rwanda, this time tied in with the return of the Hutu

refugees.

It is thus urgent that the world help these two ethnic

groups to learn how to live together again in harmony.

We believe that solutions to the tragedy in Rwanda

should include the four following elements: power

sharing between the parties involved; the establishment of

a multi-ethnic army; the establishment of guarantees for

the safe return of refugees; and assistance by the

international community to the countries of asylum and of

origin.

Having sketched out the very dark and disturbing

picture of the situation that prevails in the Great Lakes

region, I would now like to turn to the situation in my

own country, Zaire.

Situated in the heart of Africa, Zaire is a country in

deep crisis. Since the beginning of this decade, Zaire has

been experiencing a serious institutional crisis, punctuated

by individual events which have contributed to destroying

all the basic balances of our economy.

Our country just barely averted a crisis which could

have been comparable to the one in Rwanda. As we

know, the democratization process initiated in Zaire on 24

April 1990 was one of the most tumultuous of the entire

African continent. A national conference which lasted

almost two years was unable to reconcile the political

actors. National unity was harmed by the reappearance

of centrifugal and sectarian movements. Ethnic tensions

erupted here and there throughout the country. In short,

we might well have experienced the same phenomena of

massacres and mass displacements of populations we

deplore in Rwanda.

Zaire succeeded in averting this great tragedy owing

in large part to the timely assistance provided by the

international community.

We do not wish to minimize either the wisdom and

the work done by the internal forces in Zaire, or the

ongoing support from what we call the troika: the group

of countries consisting of Belgium, France and the United

States of America.

We should also like to recognize that it was under

the good offices of the Secretary-General of our

Organization that meetings were held that brought

together all of the political trends in Zaire.

The results of these meetings were of major political

importance because they put an end to the duplication of

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constitutional texts as well as of institutions of transition

towards a new democratic republic.

On 11 July 1994 the transitional parliament established

a Government which represents the majority of the people

of Zaire. This Government intends to conduct the nation’s

politics exclusively through parliamentary control.

In Zaire as elsewhere, democratization is a lengthy

process which requires considerable material and financial

resources. I am thinking not of the resources needed at

particular moments — for example to organize and hold

free and transparent elections. I am referring to the

substantial resources needed to stabilize the economic and

social environment, which will provide the framework for

democratization. This stability has long been ignored, but

today is increasingly being recognized as the prerequisite

for progress towards democracy.

If this is truly the case, then many countries in Africa

and throughout the world have small hope of completing

their democratization, or at least of completing it within a

reasonable time-frame. For in these countries, politics are

grossly distorted by ills such as poverty, malnutrition,

ignorance, violence and so forth.

When a country relies only on its national efforts to

resolve all of those ills, it very quickly gets locked into a

vicious circle which only exacerbates its problems.

The second crisis facing mankind is economic in

nature. This crisis dates back to the 1970s and derives

from fundamental inadequacies in the economic system

established at the end of the Second World War. The

granting of independence to countries that were colonies at

the time completely changed the international situation.

This crisis derives from structural lacunae and from

the imbalance in interdependent areas such as those of

commodities, trade, energy, currency and finance.

For this reason, we would propose that the concept of

preventive diplomacy be transposed into the economic area.

This would imply action being taken on the part of the

international community to deal with the imbalance in a

national economy before that imbalance leads to a

widespread social crisis.

Socio-economic conditions have worsened

considerably in Zaire since the beginning of

democratization. In the last five years, the basic balances

of the Zaire economy have been completely destroyed. As

a result, there is a particularly acute economic and

financial crisis.

This economic crisis has been accompanied by a

profound moral crisis, which has led to plundering and

systematic destruction of the economic fabric.

It goes without saying that such an economic

situation can hardly lead us to the blossoming of

democracy, due to its negative impact on the living

conditions of citizens.

It is equally obvious that Zaire cannot emerge all on

its own from this situation. The current Government has

of course included in its programme specific short-term

measures to slow down somewhat the continuing

deterioration of social conditions. But these measures and

the Government’s recovery plan as a whole can be

effective only if they are supported by strengthened

cooperation between Zaire and its bilateral and

multilateral partners.

However, as is known, this cooperation has been

suspended, and most of Zaire’s partners are making the

resumption of such cooperation conditional on tangible

progress being made towards democracy and progress in

economic management. Thus, we find ourselves faced

with a complex conditionality. The assistance my country

needs to move towards democracy and good management

is made conditional on the prior achievement of

democracy and good management.

My country is not an isolated case. This kind of

conditionality is increasingly a determining factor in

cooperation between developing countries, particularly in

Africa, and their multilateral and bilateral partners. In

other words, many countries today are confronted by a

vicious circle that obstructs their access to the resources

of the international community.

Our Organization must find some means of breaking

this circle because the survival of vast numbers of the

world’s citizens — if not that of the human race as a

whole — is at stake. It is important to note that the

search for these means must lead us off the beaten track

so we can find new and imaginative paths. In our search

we must create new solutions, such as those that made it

possible to rebuild Europe after the Second World War.

The third ill afflicting the world today is the crisis of

society. Human society is falling prey to the re-

emergence and supremacy of force and violence over the

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rule of law in relations between States, in contempt of all

the rules of good conduct. Two thirds of the human race

suffers from hunger, endemic disease, malnutrition,

undernourishment, unemployment, lack of information,

acculturation — in short, total underdevelopment. The

political and economic crisis also has a negative effect on

society.

The Government of which I am the head is a

Government of transition between an old order and a new,

emerging republic in which we will recognize every

citizen’s right to freedom of thought, expression,

association and movement, a new republic where justice is

independent, where the police and the army must serve to

protect the citizen, a new republic where the press is free.

My Government intends to make respect for human

rights in Zaire one of its fundamental priorities of action.

From this rostrum I make an appeal to the specialized

agencies of our Organization to share their enriching

experience with us and to help us effectively in realizing

our aims.

The establishment of institutions for our new,

resolutely democratic republic will involve the organization

in the near future of free, transparent and honest elections.

My Government hopes to see the United Nations

community join Zaire in this last stage of our long journey

towards our goal — a State of law — by assisting in the

preparation, organization and monitoring of these elections

at all levels.

Before concluding, I would just like to express to you,

Mr. President, the great satisfaction my delegation feels at

seeing you presiding over the General Assembly at its

forty-ninth session. We are all aware that your election is

a tribute to your country, Côte d’Ivoire. But it also

represents the international community’s recognition of your

qualities as a statesman and knowledgeable diplomat. Your

competence and experience are without any doubt a

guarantee of the success in our work. We also wish to

congratulate all the members of the General Committee.

I would be remiss if I did not say how greatly my

delegation appreciates the way in which your illustrious

predecessor presided over the forty-eighth session.

We extend our best wishes and our support to the

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

commitment and his tireless efforts to promote peace and

respect for human rights.

I wish to take this opportunity to pay a warm tribute

to the people of South Africa for their political maturity,

which, along with the assistance of the international

community, made it possible to do away with apartheid

and to bring democracy to that country. It is with great

joy and genuine pleasure that, on behalf of the

Government and the people of Zaire, I congratulate the

new, democratic, multiracial Republic of South Africa on

its return to the United Nations.

Finally, I should like to congratulate the political

leaders of the State of Israel and of the Palestine

Liberation Organization, as well as all those who served

as mediators, for their contribution to a comprehensive

and definitive settlement to the conflict in the Middle East

and the question of Palestine.

To sum up, I would simply say that I came here

with three messages. The first one is that of the

interdependence of nations in mutually beneficial

cooperation and with no exclusions. My second message

is that, in its action, my Government attaches the highest

priority to the swift establishment of a new Zaire, a State

of law where fundamental freedoms and the rights of

citizens will be the major concern of those in power. My

third message is a call for the effective implementation of

the concept of preventive diplomacy to promote peace

and eradicate poverty in the world.