Malta, 2002

Allow me to begin by offering

Mr. Jan Kavan my Government's warm congratulations

as he assumes the presidency of the General Assembly.

He has served the Czech Republic so well as Foreign

Minister, and I have full faith in his ability to meet the

numerous challenges that the fifty-seventh session of

the General Assembly will no doubt present. I assure

him of my delegation's full support in the execution of

his duties.

Allow me also to take this opportunity to express

my appreciation to Mr. Han Seung-soo for the skill and

dedication with which he served this body during the

session that has just come to a close.

It gives the Government of Malta great pleasure

to welcome the recent admission of the Swiss

Confederation to our family of nations. We look

forward to also welcoming among us the Democratic

Republic of East Timor. Their addition serves to further

strengthen the trust and belief of all our nations that

dialogue within a multilateral context is both

worthwhile and irreplaceable.

Over the past couple of weeks the international

community has been seized of the issue of sustainable

development. Malta participated actively in the World

Summit on Sustainable Development, held in South

Africa, and although the Summit's very ambitious

objectives could not all be reached, we are satisfied

that a plan of action — the Plan of Implementation —

with specific targets to tackle key development

problems has been adopted. Throughout the

negotiations, Malta worked closely with the European

Union to include concrete plans and targets in the plan

of action. As a result, the Summit agreed on a series of

commitments in priority areas such as water and

sanitation, desertification, energy and biodiversity. It is

our hope that the plan of action will attract the

necessary additional resources that will make its

implementation possible, thereby making sustainable

development a reality for an ever-increasing proportion

of humanity.

When I had the honour to address the Assembly

at the last general debate, in November 2001, I pledged

my Government's full support for the Franco-German

initiative against the reproductive cloning of human

beings. As a sponsor of resolution 56/93, which

established the relevant Ad Hoc Committee, we have

carefully followed the deliberations within the

Committee on the philosophical, medical, legal and

ethical considerations associated with this pressing

issue. This was a necessary debate which brought to

the fore the consensus that exists on the need to

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respond to the challenges posed by scientists who are

unable or unwilling to recognize the deep moral

implications of their actions, as well as the dangers that

they may pose to mankind. The convergence of

political will has now been manifested. The time is

therefore ripe for the Ad Hoc Committee to be given a

clear mandate to negotiate a convention on this matter.

My Government will strive for the timely conclusion of

negotiations in this regard, preferably before the end of

2003. However, whether or not the international

community concludes such a convention before

attempts at reproductive human cloning actually

materialize, it is imperative that, through international

action and national legislation, Member States deny

safe haven to those scientists willing to defy the

international community.

Before this year is out we shall be

commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the

opening for signature of the United Nations

Convention on the Law of the Sea. When, as a newly

independent State, Malta called for the commencement

of negotiations on such a convention, it was concerned

with the numerous unresolved issues of the rights and

obligations of States with regard to seas and oceans,

and with the seeds of countless conflicts that they

might sow. It is today impossible to speculate on the

number of occasions on which the legal certainties that

the Convention brought about have helped to defuse,

dissipate or prevent altogether the scourge of conflict

and war. It is the curse of international law in our times

to make the news headlines only when it fails, while

passing unnoticed and unsung when it succeeds.

We would do well to remain conscious of the role

that international law, based on the multilateral

process, plays in the prevention of conflict and the

avoidance of threats to international security. That is to

say, we would do well to remember the role it plays in

upholding the central mandate of the United Nations

itself. The role of the instruments of international law,

and in particular those such as the Convention on the

Law of the Sea, should be recognized for the

contribution they provide in that regard.

United Nations Headquarters has just played host

to the historic first session of the Assembly of States

Parties to the Rome Statute of the International

Criminal Court. The complex changes to national

legislation necessary to allow for Malta's ratification of

the Rome Statute have now reached an advanced stage

and are expected to be presented to Parliament in the

coming days, thus enabling Malta to formally deposit

its instrument of ratification very soon.

The new International Criminal Court (ICC) has

its roots in the atrocities carried out during the last

century — not least those addressed at the Nuremberg

trials. The ICC is thus a product of the lessons learned

over time and of the widespread political will that has

led to the creation of a credible deterrent to the would-

be perpetrators of the most heinous crimes. The ICC

thus provides an effective, competent and fair forum

where those individuals may be tried. The

establishment of the Court also represents a major

breakthrough in international law and one which has

become more — and not less — crucial now that

terrorism has imposed itself high on our international

agenda.

The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 still

loom large in our memories. The anniversary of that

tragedy has again filled our television screens with

horrific scenes of suffering and death. It has served to

remind us of the resolve which is necessary in the face

of such horror. My Government has taken part in the

fight against international terrorism with full

determination, and will continue to do so. This is

evidenced not only by our thorough implementation of

the international conventions on terrorism and the

ongoing process towards the implementation of

Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) but also by

ever-tighter controls and scrutiny at our ports. We

undertake further to intensify our efforts in this field in

order to assist in the permanent eradication of terrorism

in whatever shape or form.

The continued turbulence in the Middle East also

continues to be a source of great concern to my

Government. The cycle of violence that continues to

engulf the region provides a confirmation, if ever one

were needed, that there is no purely military solution to

the conflict. The extrajudicial killings of Palestinians,

the deliberate destruction of the property and

livelihoods of innocent civilians and the subjection of

the entire Palestinian population to collective

punishment does not dim the wholly legitimate

aspirations of the Palestinian people to a State of their

own.

Likewise, the targeting of Israeli civilians in

suicide bombings and other forms of destruction of the

lives and property of innocent civilians does untold

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harm to the cause the perpetrators of those crimes

claim to support.

No cause, no argument and no justification can

legitimize these abhorrent acts by either party to the

conflict.

My Government looks on in anguish as a fence,

reminiscent of the Berlin wall, that most shameful of

symbols of the twentieth century, slowly takes shape. It

is a harrowing reminder of how little mankind has

learned from the past, particularly if we look back to

the outbreak of violence in the region since September

2000.

Unjustified preconditions to the start of political

negotiations further hinder any progress in the

discussions on a two-State solution to the conflict.

Negotiations, which must start without further delay,

must be built on the clear and plain language of

Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338

(1973) and the principle of land for peace. The recent

initiative by the States members of the European Union

in presenting a road map for the Middle East which

outlines a three-stage process leading to the creation of

a Palestinian State by 2005 provides a genuine basis

for taking negotiations forward. The international

community looks to the Quartet to advance in that

direction with urgency.

An issue which continues to persist in the

Mediterranean is the situation in Cyprus, which has

remained a cause of concern for more than 25 years.

We earnestly hope that an early settlement of the

Cyprus question will be found and reiterate our full

support for efforts to find a solution on the basis of the

relevant Security Council resolutions. The imminent

accession of Cyprus to the European Union should

provide the necessary impetus for the resolution of this

long-standing problem.

Malta is encouraged by the efforts of the

Secretary-General to engage the Organization in the

quest to achieve a resolution to the situation with

regard to Iraq before it deteriorates any further. My

Government calls upon the Iraqi Government to

comply with all its obligations under all the provisions

of relevant Security Council resolutions, in particular

those concerning disarmament with respect to weapons

of mass destruction. Iraq must meet its commitments

and allow the re-entry of United Nations inspectors

into its territory without any preconditions and as

stipulated by the Security Council.

The international community should spare no

effort in exploring all political and diplomatic options

that would or could assist in resolving the issue. Malta

is in agreement with the Secretary-General that if Iraq

fails to meet its obligations, the Security Council, as

the organ entrusted with the primary responsibility for

the maintenance of international peace and security,

must shoulder its responsibilities. The Security Council

has to ensure compliance with its own resolutions in

the interest of the international rule of law.

Malta's location at the centre of the

Mediterranean has provided us with opportunities for

trade and development, which we have been relatively

successful at exploiting in the interest of our island,

which is otherwise bereft of natural resources. Our

strategic location is, however, now also the scene of

another socio-economic phenomenon of a much less

encouraging nature. I speak here of the poverty divide

that cuts across the Mediterranean Sea.

The countries of the Mediterranean littoral share

much in terms of history, culture and way of life.

However the ever more apparent disparities of wealth

continue to fuel the movement of thousands of people

from the southern Mediterranean and further afield to

entrust their lives and hopes into the hands of

unscrupulous individuals. These traffickers of human

beings, willing to exploit misery and desperation, have

little respect for human life and often abandon the

would-be immigrants to the elements once they have

secured their ill-gotten gains. My Government has

increased the punishment meted out to those found

guilty of such heinous acts. We have also bolstered our

surveillance and rescue capability within our territorial

waters and are simultaneously seeking to provide

treatment that is as humane as possible to the victims

that land on our shores. These efforts have been made,

however, in the full knowledge that they deal more

with the symptoms of the phenomenon of human

trafficking than with its root causes.

The imperative of narrowing the wealth divide

across the Mediterranean is one of the philosophical

cornerstones of the Euro-Med process, which exists to

bring the European Union and 12 Mediterranean States

together on a number of issues of common concern.

Malta has been an avid supporter of the process since

its inception and looks forward to developing its role

further within this forum as a member of the European

Union in the near future.

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My Government believes that the accession of

Malta to the European Union will serve to further

enhance our capability to promote peace and prosperity

within the Mediterranean, given our reputation as an

honest broker that can identify with both sides of the

Mediterranean.

Inasmuch as this is the case, we also believe that

membership in the Union will also serve to strengthen

our own internal workings at all levels of society,

bringing prosperity to the Maltese both now and for the

years to come. Indeed, we believe that membership in

the European Union constitutes a natural progression

for Malta, given our long-standing historical, cultural

and political ties with the Union.

The negotiations concerning membership that are

currently under way are nearing completion, and we

look forward to joining this union of like-minded

States at its next enlargement, in line with the timelines

established at the Nice meeting of the European

Council.

Malta has always played a role on the

international scene far in excess of its size. This we

intend to continue, and I anticipate that all our efforts

will combine with those of the other nations of the

world to bring about improvements in all the areas that

urgently call for our immediate attention. This

unswerving determination will guide our efforts in the

various forums of which we form part and in the

activities we undertake, as together we strive to make a

better and secure world for this and future generations.

I wish the President every success in his

endeavours in presiding over the General Assembly.