Haiti, 1995

With 15 October 1995 only a few days away — the first

anniversary of the restoration of the democratic process in

Haiti — I am pleased on behalf of the Government and

people of Haiti to extend our greetings to the international

community gathered here and our wishes for a long life to

the United Nations, which is playing an ever more decisive

role in the lives of our peoples.

I should like to extend my warmest congratulations to

His Excellency Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral of Portugal on

his election to the presidency of this fiftieth session of the

General Assembly and extend my best wishes for his

success in the exercise of his important duties.

I should like also to pay a well-deserved tribute to His

Excellency Mr. Amara Essy, Minister for Foreign Affairs

of Côte d’Ivoire, for the wisdom and ability he showed in

conducting the work of the forty-ninth session.

Allow me also to congratulate Mr. Boutros Boutros-

Ghali on his effective management as Secretary-General

of our Organization. His thorough knowledge of the

issues and his proposals contained in the Agenda for

Peace and the Agenda for Development have enabled him

to make a significant contribution to the thinking on

reforming the Organization with a view to making it more

capable of facing the challenges of the twenty-first

century.

This session of the General Assembly coincides with

our commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the

founding of the United Nations. More than any other, this

session is destined to affect the history of our

Organization because of the reflection this anniversary

will certainly inspire with regard to its future.

Fifty years have elapsed since 51 States, including

my own, the Republic of Haiti, recognizing the absolute

need to take collective action to work for peace,

development and social progress, decided to found the

United Nations. From its inception, the United Nations

has been a focus of the aspirations and hopes of peoples

world wide for a more peaceful future and a more

promising tomorrow.

Throughout the half century of its existence the

Organization has exerted great efforts to achieve the goals

set forth in the Charter. It has addressed a broad range of

complex international problems and has, in many cases,

been able to find a satisfactory solution to them.

Thus, the United Nations has distinguished itself in the

decisive role it has played in the decolonization process, in

the strengthening of international security and in the

restoration of peace in many parts of the world. It has also

contributed to the development of international law.

Through a series of global conferences, it has progressed

towards an international consensus on such world problems

as the environment, population, human rights, the status of

women, the rights of the child, sustainable development and

many other fundamental questions.

Quite recently, United Nations activities in support of

peace have taken on added scope with the increase in

peace-keeping operations, some of which have met with

outstanding success — operations in Cambodia, in El

Salvador or in my own country, Haiti, where the joint

action of the United Nations and the Organization of

American States brought about a return of constitutional

order and thereby provided eloquent testimony to this

success.

In that connection allow me on behalf of the people

and Government of Haiti to express to the international

community our gratitude for its support and its contribution

to the restoration of the democratic process in Haiti. Thanks

to you, Haiti now has a valid peace; political stability is on

the verge of becoming a reality; and the security of Haitian

society is a virtual fact.

You helped us to emerge from a period of turbulence

and to create in our country conditions favourable to peace

and development, replacing the repression under which we

had lived for the three years of coup d’état. Once again, I

wish to express the deep gratitude of the Haitian people to

the great family of the United Nations and to each of the

nations that, in one way or another, provided support for

the return of constitutional order.

In this connection I should like to share with the

Assembly the work our Government has accomplished

since its restoration.

One year after the return of President Jean-Bertrand

Aristide to Haiti, significant progress has been achieved in

all spheres of national activity. The Government has made

it a point of honour to draw the Assembly’s attention to the

fact that the rights of all Haitians are scrupulously

respected, freedom of expression and association is

guaranteed, our institutions have resumed their normal

functioning, the scheduled legislative and municipal

elections have been carried out, and insecurity in both

towns and countryside has noticeably diminished.

In achieving that result the Government had to adopt

measures that were vigorous but welcomed by the vast

majority of the population. Among others, I would cite

the dismantling of the corps of section heads and their

auxiliaries, the demobilization of the armed forces

pending approval by Parliament of their dissolution, the

establishment of a new national police force in keeping

with the wishes expressed in the 1987 Constitution, the

creation of the National Magistrature School and the

National Penitentiary Administration. All of those

measures enjoyed the wholehearted assistance of the

United Nations Mission in Haiti, which has been an

invaluable partner in the restoration of democratic

processes in Haiti.

To strengthen the population’s confidence in the

process of national reconciliation the Government has set

up a National Commission for Truth and Justice to shed

light on the atrocities committed during the three years of

coup d’état, and that Commission has made great

progress in its work.

In addition, the Government has understood the need

to go further in making reparations and combating the

acceptance of impunity. In a Decree of 29 September

1995, the Government decided to allocate 20 per cent of

the budget of the Ministry of Justice to victims of the

coup d’état and to provide them with legal aid in bringing

cases and prosecuting criminals. Such measures

demonstrate a determination to put an end to impunity

and to render justice to those to whom justice is due.

Thus, we are firmly and irreversibly committed to

democracy. There are still some problems to be solved,

but no one can question the enormous progress

accomplished since 15 October 1994. The struggle for the

establishment of a democratic State in Haiti continues

with ever-greater determination. However, there can be no

viable democracy without sustained economic

development. In Haiti, the link between democracy and

development is fundamental, affecting as it does the very

survival of our nation.

In this connection the Haitian Government has given

pride of place to two major approaches that define the

national development policy, namely, regeneration of the

space some 8 million inhabitants will share before the end

of the century, and universal education.

Natural resources — restored, revived and protected

from continuous and uncoordinated overexploitation —

must be managed by citizens, families and communities,

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who shall learn to acquire know-how, to share knowledge,

to spread information, and to tap both the vast, exciting

stockpile of human knowledge and their own rich national

culture. Through formal and non-formal education and by

using all training and information technologies, we must

meet the needs of our population, from elementary

education to command of the high technology appropriate

to our development.

It is easy to see that, because of their importance,

those two fundamental decisions will involve redefining all

sectoral and non-sectoral policies and programmes. It is

along these lines that we shall define policies of direct State

management, fiscal, monetary, budgetary, public-

investment, public-administration, public-enterprise

management, credit and other policies, as well as policies

that demand a degree of partnership with various sectors of

the nation. When the conditions are met we will be able to

engage in a process of restoring social balance through an

improved sharing of national wealth. From there we shall

move gradually to narrow the gap between the individual

incomes of different groups. If the State uses the means and

the tools at its disposal, especially fiscal and credit

measures, it should be possible to hasten this movement.

With the support of the international community our

nation is working with high hopes to build a State based on

law and to restore the fabric of our national economy.

The example of Haiti, which I have just described,

along with other successes achieved by the United Nations

over the past 50 years, must not hide the reality of a world

far from fully achieving the objectives of peace and social

progress for all that were the dream of our forerunners.

Despite the end of the cold war, which has lessened the

probability of nuclear conflict, the Earth continues to be an

arena of murderous conflicts that cause unspeakable

suffering and vast humanitarian tragedies. In Bosnia and

Herzegovina, Rwanda, Burundi, Georgia and Liberia to

name but a few, wars born for the most part of ethnic,

religious or tribal antagonisms seem to resist any attempt at

solution by the international community. It is true that there

has been significant progress with respect to certain crises,

such as those of the Middle East and Angola, and my

Government joyfully welcomes this. But the persistence of

such conflicts dampens our hopes for the establishment of

a lasting peace.

In that context, I want to recall the threat that mankind

still faces from stockpiles of nuclear weapons and other

weapons of mass destruction. My delegation hopes that the

nuclear-weapon States will keep the promises they made at

the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties

to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear

Weapons (NPT), with respect to ridding the planet of

nuclear weapons. The conclusion of a nuclear-test-ban

treaty, next year we hope, would be an important step

towards that goal.

One of the ideas developed by the Secretary-General

in his “Agenda for Peace” is that peace cannot be viable

without development. It is acknowledged that a basic

cause of instability and conflict throughout the world is

increasingly flagrant social and economic disparities and

the destitution afflicting a large part of mankind.

In many speeches, the Secretary-General has said

that the globalization of problems requires global

solutions, whether in the sphere of the environment,

migrations, development or international security. It is

also time to adopt a comprehensive approach to the

collateral effects of inevitable structural adjustment. A

timid step in that direction was taken at the Halifax

summit of the seven most highly industrialized countries,

but what is needed most is greater participation by the

countries of the South in the international economic

system with a view to defusing the fearsome “social

bomb” described at the Copenhagen World Summit for

Social Development.

Let us remember how vulnerable our countries —

especially small island States — are to natural disasters.

This year, the Caribbean region has been the victim of an

unprecedented number of hurricanes and tropical storms,

which have caused significant damage to the

infrastructure of a number of countries, which have seen

years of effort shattered in a few hours or less. We extend

our sympathy to our brother countries, and appeal to the

international community to mobilize all the resources

needed for their rehabilitation. Clearly, small island States

are not equipped to deal with such situations. Perhaps we

should consider a multilateral instrument that could limit

their effects on the lives and property of affected

populations. In that connection, we welcome the “White

Berets” initiative inspired by Argentina, of which Haiti

was the first beneficiary.

In a world where the burden of globalization in all

of its forms is increasingly being felt, the need for a new

global contract is becoming more and more imperative, as

a means to guarantee international peace and security. At

the present time, many countries, including my own, are

not able to satisfy the most elementary needs of the

majority of their population. With the increasing

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globalization of markets, and the political, economic,

financial and cultural environment of the world, some

countries are achieving a degree of success, while other

countries continue to slip towards deterioration. The result

is that millions of men, women and children are living in

subhuman poverty, without access to health care or to

adequate nutrition.

This is a timely occasion for our Organization to play

its role as an instrument of solidarity and international

cooperation, in keeping with the mandate that was

conferred on it 50 years ago. The implementation without

delay of the Copenhagen decisions would be desirable. It

should be of concern that, otherwise, these situations would

spill over national borders and become a source of

destabilization on a world-wide scale. In that regard, let us

recall that sustainable development is the process that

guarantees economic, social, political and cultural progress

for the present population, and survival with happiness,

dignity, peace, democracy and justice for future generations.

To the Bretton Woods institutions, we would say that

structural adjustment programmes are useful only to the

extent that they lead to actual development programmes

based on growth, full employment and equity, designed and

carried out primarily for the benefit of the most

disadvantaged classes of society.

This awareness, which implies the will to put forward

a new global contract, also prompts us, on behalf of the

Haitian Government, to call upon the relevant forums, not

only to define and articulate once and for all the areas of

common interest in the various activities of the

Organization, but also to seek out the ways and means to

release the financial resources necessary to make the

actions of our Organization more relevant.

In the context of increased interdependence, which is

characteristic of national policies — especially those of

third world countries — the instruments used by

international institutions and bilateral agreements determine

any experience of a certain scope. For that reason, it is not

just support that we are requesting from our partners: we

are asking them to share with us the experience of

addressing these challenges. Let them have a stake and

involvement — which is possible and even probable — in

the redefinition of their own instruments, which should

change if those instruments are to be equal to the

challenges which, for decades, have faced the world’s

efforts to improve the world order.

We can understand that changes in institutions of a

certain size may give rise to much reluctance. And we ask:

What are the risks to the international community if it

engages in an experiment sufficiently limited not to

frighten us, yet sufficiently important to test the

desirability of extending it to more determining situations

and bringing about a significant institutional change?

Our Organization is at a decisive crossroads in its

history. As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its

founding, we are faced increasingly with the problem of

the financing of the Organization’s budget for the

operation of the system. From the experts’ reports, we

have already learned that the core resources of the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have shrunk

by 15 per cent, and we have noted, with some fear, that

contributions to various United Nations trust funds have

been undergoing some decline for at least four years. In

the long term, this process of regression in the area of

financial contributions will constitute a definite threat to

the various operations conducted by the United Nations

system, whether it be in the field of peace-keeping or in

the area of development activities properly speaking.

These considerations prompt us to ask the question

that concerns all of us on this fiftieth anniversary, the

question of the reform of the United Nations system. At

the dawn of a twenty-first century that is so filled with

promise — but also so disturbing in certain respects —

our Organization will increasingly be called upon to face

certain major challenges in the fields of ecology,

population, economics, information and the fight against

organized crime. Faced with those daunting challenges,

some of which are as yet unknown or unimagined, it is

important to restructure and to strengthen the basic

framework of this universal Organization.

The strengthening of the United Nations structure

should, we believe, be built around a legal, administrative

and institutional reform. In that respect, my Government

would ardently wish to see a reform of the Security

Council, with respect both to its mode of operation, which

should be more democratic, and to its membership, which

should better reflect the diversity that characterizes the

great family of the United Nations.

In this regard, we invite all States to look into the

most effective ways and means to cooperate with non-

governmental organizations. We must acknowledge the

fact that, increasingly, these organizations are serving as

forums for reflection and initiatives in civil society and

are becoming essential partners in the quest for a new

world of more human and integrated development.

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One area of great concern to the Government of Haiti

is the precarious nature of the present situation of many

refugees, especially women and unaccompanied children,

who deserve special attention. Also, I take this opportunity

to state our increasingly resolute opposition to any forced

repatriation of refugees in violation of international legal

instruments that govern this question, including the 1951

Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967

Protocol. Discriminatory policies, racism and xenophobia

will only inflame an already tragic situation which has long

troubled our conscience. It is time for barbarism to give

way to civilization and for respect for human rights to be

enjoyed by all, men and women, without distinction.

The Government of the Republic of Haiti supports the

plan to create an international criminal court to give effect

to the principle of individual criminal responsibility in cases

of serious and unacceptable violations of human rights.

My Government is deeply alarmed at the scale of the

illicit production of, trafficking in and abuse of narcotics

around the world. In order to protect ourselves against this

scourge, it calls on producer and consumer States, transit

countries and those laundering drug money to give their full

support to the fight against this evil.

Since the end of the cold war, a war that actually was

only cold on the territories of the great Powers, the limited

conflicts that seemed to go along with the inherent situation

there have multiplied constantly. We must recognize that

only the pretexts have changed. The real reasons for those

conflicts, we repeat, are the maintenance of an excessively

profitable trade in conventional weapons.

Today, the standing of a nation is not measured, and

should no longer be measured, by its economic power or its

military arsenal. Today, a great nation must apply itself to

solving the problems of its people and those of mankind as

a whole.

In 1945, 51 States created the United Nations, whose

intrinsic purpose was to maintain international peace and

security and to promote the economic development of all its

Members. Fifty years later, as we take stock, the changes

that have taken place in the international arena only bear

out the validity of these ideals of the founding fathers.

The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the

United Nations is an occasion for us to recognize the

capacities of this Organization and the need to reform it in

order to turn it into an increasingly effective instrument that

can face the challenges of the twenty-first century to build

a better world.