Mauritius, 2000

It gives me great

pleasure to address the Assembly under the leadership

of Mr. Harri Holkeri. I offer him our heartiest

congratulations on his election to preside over this first

session of the new millennium and assure him of the

total support and cooperation of my delegation.

We would like also to thank Mr. Theo-Ben

Gurirab, the Foreign Minister of Namibia, for the

excellent manner in which he presided over the work of

the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly. This

year again, we wish to compliment the Secretary-

General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his remarkable leadership

in the conduct of the work of the United Nations. We

pay special tribute also to the President of the fifty-

fourth session of the General Assembly and to the

Secretary-General for their imaginative and tireless

efforts in achieving the resounding success of the

Millennium Summit, held here just a few weeks ago.

We also wish to welcome Tuvalu as the newest

Member of the United Nations family.

During that historic Summit — the largest

gathering of heads of State or Government the world

has ever seen — the relevance and importance of the

United Nations in a global society was emphasized.

World leaders pledged most prominently their

commitment to ensuring that the United Nations adapts

to the new era and strengthens its capacity to deal with

the challenges of maintaining peace and security,

eliminating poverty and promoting development and

progress for the benefit of all humanity.

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Since its inception, the United Nations has been a

beacon of hope to mankind for a more secure and

prosperous world. The recently adopted Millennium

Declaration provides fresh impetus to the United

Nations to rededicate itself to the fulfilment of the lofty

ideals of our Organization, namely to uphold world

peace and security and promote cooperation and

development in all areas of human endeavour.

The maintenance of world peace and security

remains the biggest challenge for our Organization.

The continued existence of nuclear arsenals and the

threat of a nuclear disaster represent a major

impediment to the maintenance of peace and security.

Following the end of the cold war, the feeling of

insecurity created by nuclear militarization has

diminished, but the international community's

aspiration to global disarmament and the complete

elimination of weapons of mass destruction within a

defined time-frame has eluded us.

We welcome all the efforts the international

community is making towards achieving universal

acceptance of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Yet more than 30,000 nuclear

weapons are deployed around the world, including

weapons that are still maintained in a high state of

readiness. The risk that nuclear weapons may explode,

whether by design or by accident, is ever growing. My

delegation is convinced that the early convening of an

international conference on nuclear disarmament to

address issues of global denuclearization, including the

total elimination of all existing nuclear weapons within

a specific time-frame, is of critical importance. Such a

conference would allow all States, most importantly

those possessing nuclear capabilities and which do not

fall under the purview of the NPT and the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), to

voice their concerns and contribute substantially

towards achieving a world free of nuclear weapons.

This is a debt we owe to generations yet unborn.

The role of the Security Council in the crucial

area of international peace and security is evident.

However, this central organ of our Organization will be

rendered even more effective if it is further

strengthened to make it respond positively to the

emerging new realities which the new millennium is

bound to confront.

Members of the United Nations attach great

importance to the need for reform of this supreme

body. It is to be noted that under the existing provisions

of the Charter, which date back from a time when two

thirds of the Members of the United Nations were still

under colonial rule, a handful of States on the Security

Council have the power to make decisions that bind the

whole membership. Such a mode of operation is

completely out of tune with today's realities, and, for

this institution to retain its credibility, it should

undergo a comprehensive reform, taking into

consideration proper and equitable geographical

representation.

In this regard, Mauritius supports the position of

the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of

African Unity (OAU) on the expansion and

representativity of the Security Council, and we look

forward to an early conclusion of the work of the

Open-ended Working Group on the Question of

Equitable Representation on and Increase in the

Membership of the Security Council.

We support an increase in the membership of the

Security Council, and we are in favour of making the

Council an effective representative body that can act in

the interests of humankind at large at all times.

The meeting of the Security Council at the level

of heads of State during the Millennium Summit was

an unparalleled opportunity for the 15 Members to

discuss, at the highest level, how to make peacekeeping

operations more responsive. We are all aware that

deployment of United Nations troops in conflict

situations is seen as the last chance for the restoration

of peace and, in this venture, we simply cannot afford

to fail. Therefore, the discussions that took place at the

summit level of the Security Council need to be

seriously pursued so that the future orientation of

peacekeeping operations may be effected on a sounder

basis.

In this respect, we welcome the proposals for

improving the United Nation peacekeeping

performance, as contained in the report of the Panel on

United Nations Peace Operations — the Brahimi

Report — and we look forward to their speedy

implementation.

It is indeed a sad reflection that at the dawn of a

new century, several African nations, such as Angola,

the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone,

Burundi, Somalia and the Comoros remain trapped in

civil conflicts with disastrous consequences for

millions of people on the continent and in the

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subregion. At the regional level, the OAU, as well as

leaders of the subregions concerned, have spared no

efforts to address each of these conflicts, but we need

to realize that no great success has been achieved so

far. The intransigence of the main protagonists

involved continues to remain the stumbling block

towards the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa.

The involvement of the United Nations in these

conflicts has unfortunately also met with little success.

We need to be imaginative, and we need to explore,

with the civil society in each country in conflict, ways

and means to convincingly establish that the fruits of

peace are achievable. We need to look at the

permanence of our interests, and these are based in

peace and stability.

We also note with great concern that, despite all

the efforts and steps taken by the OAU for a speedy

return to constitutional order in the Comoros, the

Anjouanese separatists and the military leadership in

Moroni have signed the Fomboni Declaration in

defiance of the OAU and the international community.

We urge the international community to refrain from

lending any support to the Fomboni Joint Declaration

which, we believe, will undermine the unity and

territorial integrity of the Comoros. Indeed, it is

unacceptable that the future of the archipelago of the

Comoros be compromised by two individuals who are

non-elected and do not represent the aspirations of the

population. We reiterate our support to the OAU in its

ongoing efforts aimed at resolving the crisis, in

accordance with the provisions of the Antananarivo

accord, which remains the most viable framework for a

lasting, consensual and durable solution to the crisis.

We call on the military regime and the separatists in

Anjouan to cooperate with the OAU so as to achieve an

early resolution of the crisis.

We welcome the signing of the Agreement on

Cessation of Hostilities between Ethiopia and Eritrea

this year. This is a positive step, and we urge the OAU,

the United Nations and other States to continue support

for these two countries to take the next steps to

conclude a settlement for lasting peace. Our region

deserves no less.

While, inevitably, the international community,

through the United Nations and regional and

subregional organizations, must continue to do all it

can to end the existing conflicts and prevent new ones,

there is an important aspect of civil conflict that cannot

be overlooked any longer. It has been established

beyond doubt that civil conflicts such as those in

Angola and Sierra Leone have resulted from personal

ambition or greed for private enrichment on the part of

powerful individuals, rather than in pursuit of a

legitimate cause and struggle for the common good. In

pursuit of their sinister designs, these individuals wage

long wars on and against their own people and, acting

with impunity, inflict untold suffering on the masses,

including women, the elderly and children, cause

refugee problems within and outside their national

frontiers, and retard development and progress of their

countries We believe that such dangerous persons

should not only be condemned and stopped as early as

possible from pursuing their unpatriotic designs, but

also should be made to answer to their people and to

the international community for the crimes they

commit.

The proposed International Criminal Court should

serve as the tribunal of the international community to

try and punish such individuals and, the sooner it starts

functioning, the better it will be for humanity at large.

The International Criminal Court will not only be a

deterrent for people who engage in heinous crimes but

will also be an important instrument for the

maintenance of international peace and security. Unless

such a step is taken, the world will continue to face

similar tragedies, and the perpetrators of such tragedies

will go unpunished.

At long last, we have seen a glimmer of hope for

the suffering people of Somalia. We congratulate the

leaders of the Intergovernmental Authority for

Development (IGAD) for their initiative in putting

together a peace and reconciliation process that will

allow for the establishment of a representative

government to take charge of the affairs of the country.

We appeal to all factions in Somalia to come together

and to take part in this new initiative, with a view to

stopping the misery that the Somali people have

endured for too long.

Important steps have been made this year towards

peace in the Middle East. We congratulate President

Arafat and Prime Minister Barak for the courage they

demonstrated recently during the difficult negotiations

in Camp David under the guidance of President

Clinton. We believe that, having reached such a crucial

stage of the negotiations, President Arafat and Prime

Minister Barak must meet the daunting challenge of

taking further steps forward to reach a final agreement.

15

We are confident that both leaders have the capacity to

bridge the gaps and reach a mutually acceptable and

satisfactory agreement. We appreciate that the issues

outstanding in the path of such an agreement are

delicate, but we are confident that the leaders of the

region will respond to the ardent wish of peoples

around the world for a peaceful Middle East.

It may sound like an anachronism, but it has

happened just a few months ago in the Pacific

region — namely in Fiji and in the Solomon Islands —

that small bands of thugs have overturned

democratically elected Governments. In the case of

Fiji, Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry together with

his whole Cabinet of Ministers, was held hostage for as

long as 56 days, in a struggle for political power. The

Prime Minister was set free only after he finally

conceded that his Government would resign.

The international community watched helplessly

as the tragic situation unfolded in Fiji. The fact that

this is not the first time that a democratically elected

Government is overthrown by unorthodox and violent

means makes the situation all the more serious and

calls for the immediate attention of the international

community. Mauritius condemns unreservedly all

attempts by any group, anywhere, to thwart the will of

the people by force. I am reminded here of the

statement of the United Nations Secretary-General at

the opening of the OAU Summit in Lomé this year

when, applauding the OAU decision to exclude

Governments that have come to power by

unconstitutional means from participating in OAU

meetings, he expressed the wish that some day the

United Nations also would take a similar decision. The

time has come for us to seriously consider such

avenues in order to send a clear signal to people who

are bent upon perpetrating constitutional violations in

total disregard of the will of the people.

Mauritius remains fully committed to the respect

and promotion of human rights, democracy, good

governance and the rule of law. These principles are

enshrined in our Constitution. With regard to human

rights, our commitment goes far beyond our national

borders, as reflected in our membership in various

United Nations committees, where we play an active

role. Multi-party, free and fair elections constitute core

traditions jealously cherished by the people of

Mauritius. In the exercise of our valued democratic

rights, on 11 September last, just 10 days ago. the

people of Mauritius, for the seventh time since our

independence in 1968, elected a new Government. This

Government remains committed to supporting strongly,

at the national, regional and international levels, the

principles I have mentioned earlier.

Since we met in September last, we have

witnessed several acts of terrorism in various parts of

the world endangering the lives of numerous innocent

people. The hijacking of an Indian Airlines jet, the

kidnapping of unsuspecting tourists from a Malaysian

holiday resort and bomb attacks in some capitals are

grim reminders of the dangers we face at the hands of

unscrupulous and heartless fanatics. We condemn all

acts of terrorism and call on the international

community to take concerted action to deal with this

problem. For our part, Mauritius stands prepared to

play a significant role in the United Nations and its

various organs to combat all such acts which pose a

threat to international peace and security.

I had some remarks on people-centred

development, debt and globalization. I refer delegates

to the text that will be circulated. I will now talk about

regional cooperation.

Mauritius attaches great priority to global

partnership in addressing the key issues of poverty

alleviation, achieving sustainable growth and

development, and peace and security. We believe that

regional cooperation continues to be the inevitable

route towards strengthening international partnership

and cooperation. Regional cooperation not only is

desirable, but constitutes a necessary dimension in the

process of the regional integration of many economies

into the global economy.

Small island developing States, which constitute

one fifth of the membership of the United Nations, are

in a particularly difficult situation due to their

vulnerability to a wide range of ecological, climatic

and economic factors. The specificities of these States

have been articulated in the Barbados Programme of

Action for the Sustainable Development of Small

Island Developing States. Constraints to their

sustainable development include a narrow resource

base that does not allow them to benefit from

economies of scale, and the fact that they have small

domestic markets. They also rely heavily on external

markets, which are usually geographically distant, and

costs for transportation, energy and infrastructure are

high. In addition, small island States have little

resilience to natural disasters. A vulnerability index of

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socio-economic and other parameters has been

prescribed for these States in the Barbados Programme

of Action. We urge the United Nations and other

international organizations to coordinate their efforts in

developing and refining such an index, which should

be used, together with other factors, by the World

Trade Organization and the Bretton Woods institutions

to accord special and preferential treatment to this

category of State.

I wish to say a few words now about the Chagos

archipelago and the island of Tromelin. Respect for

sovereignty and territorial integrity is, under the United

Nations system, an acquired and inalienable right of

every State, however big or small. We are conscious

that the United Nations favours the completion of the

process of decolonization.

For a number of years now, we have continuously

brought before the General Assembly the question of

the Chagos archipelago, which has always formed part

of the State of Mauritius. This Assembly will recall

that the Chagos archipelago, including the island of

Diego Garcia, was detached by the colonial Power just

before our independence, in violation of General

Assembly resolutions 1514 (XV) of December 1960 —

the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to

Colonial Countries and Peoples — and 2066 (XX) of

16 December 1965, which prohibits the

dismemberment of colonial territories prior to the

accession to independence. We have all along sought to

resolve this issue bilaterally with the United Kingdom

through dialogue, but there has been no tangible

progress so far. This issue has now reached a critical

stage and we are extremely anxious to have meaningful

negotiations with the United Kingdom with a view to

resolving this matter within the shortest possible time.

We also reiterate our demand that, pending a resolution

of this issue, the former residents of the Chagos

archipelago and their families, who were forcibly

evicted and sent to Mauritius by the colonial Power, be

allowed to return to their homeland.

We launch a fresh appeal to the former colonial

Power, the United Kingdom, to come forward and

engage in serious and purposeful discussions with us

towards the early settlement of the Chagos archipelago

question. We wish to stress that Mauritius will never

abandon its intention to reunite its territory and to

assert its sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago.

We also urge France, with which we have been

discussing the issue of the return to us of the island of

Tromelin, another outer island territory of Mauritius, to

work with us constructively for an early resolution of

this important issue. There is an agreement in principle

for the co-determination of the island and its

surrounding maritime space and we need to work out

further modalities so as to arrive at a final solution on

this issue.

(spoke in French)

I was gratified by the meeting, on 6 September

2000, of heads of State and Government of French-

speaking States Members of the United Nations. That

meeting allowed us to consider and arrive at the truth

that the United Nations is the keystone that will allow

mankind to free itself from the chains and other

prejudices that hinder the evolution of international

affairs and globalization, the two main engines of a

better future for all. This meeting offered French-

speaking States Members of the United Nations the

opportunity firmly to assert their determination to

achieve that objective.

I wish to stress that the future to which we aspire

and in which we place our hopes must develop in

conditions of respect for and promotion of the plurality

of our peoples, their cultural and ethnic diversity and

their multilingualism. We are duty-bound to respect,

maintain and preserve the nature of our world, that

rainbow of many cultures which, through globalization

and the United Nations, will be a source of enormous

wealth for States and individuals.

The Republic of Mauritius daily lives out this

vision of the future. Our experience prompts us to

subscribe to that vision for the common good. Hopes

and dreams are built on concrete action. With the

assistance of all its Member States, the United Nations

must enjoy better and greater means. Only thus will

peace become a tangible reality. Without peace and

security, any effort at development is doomed to failure

and the happiness to which the peoples of the world

aspire will remain dead letter.

(spoke in English)

It goes without saying that, to achieve the

objectives of a more peaceful, just and prosperous

world, nations need to rededicate themselves to new

commitments in the twenty-first century. Our

delegation is ready to assume this responsibility and

17

looks forward to a fruitful outcome for the session that

lies ahead under Mr. Holkeri's leadership.

I wish to end on a note of optimism with regard

to the capacity of the United Nations to address global

issues and to spearhead development and progress. My

delegation is confident that our Organization and its

specialized agencies are poised to play an even greater

role in global reconstruction. We live in a highly

demanding world. It wants results, seeks accountability

and is not ready to condone failures. We all have a

responsibility to make the world a safer place and to

ensure a better future for our people. We can do it. Let

us do it.

Before I conclude, however, I wish to take this

opportunity to confirm the candidature of Mauritius for

election to one of the non-permanent seats in the

Security Council in the elections that are scheduled to

take place next month. As far back as January 2000,

Mauritius announced to all countries of the East

African region that we would seek election to a non-

permanent seat on the Security Council. At that time,

Mauritius was the only declared candidate. The

Government of Mauritius considers itself fully

qualified to serve on the Security Council, which is the

supreme organ of the United Nations, in the larger

interests of peace and security and to contribute in a

substantial measure to the important work of our

Organization.

As a multi-party democracy in a multi-ethnic

society, Mauritius has a track record in international

relations and we consider that the standing of the

Security Council depends upon that of its constituent

members. The Security Council will be called upon to

take important decisions in the interests of peace and

security and it is important that the Security Council

act as a homogeneous body. It is the wish of my

country that our candidature be considered on its

merits. We will very much appreciate the General

Assembly's support in this regard.