Morocco, 1994

I

am pleased to extend to you, Sir, my sincere

congratulations on your election to the presidency of the

forty-ninth session of the General Assembly and to express

to you my great delight at seeing you, a distinguished

friend from a sisterly country, conducting the work of this

session.

Your competence and great diplomatic experience are

assets which ensure the success of our deliberations. We

are convinced that, through you, Africa will bring to this

session its well-known capabilities and talents in order to

secure the best results for our work. Allow me to assure

you of the full cooperation of the delegation of the

Kingdom of Morocco.

I should also like to pay tribute to His Excellency

Ambassador Samuel Insanally, the Permanent

Representative of the Republic of Guyana and President of

the forty-eighth session of the General Assembly, for the

laudable work he accomplished.

I should like also to express to our Secretary-General,

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, my sincere regards and

appreciation for his untiring efforts in upholding the

principles of the Charter and for the wisdom and the

perspicacity with which he faces the increasing

responsibilities assigned to the United Nations in recent

years.

The end of the cold war gave the peoples of the world

cause for hope that they were about to see the dawn of a

new era in international relations, an era of democracy,

justice and an effective international solidarity which would

take into account the interests of all.

Years after that historic opportunity, we have come to

realize that our optimism was unjustified. We are to see

yet any sincere international effort towards the creation of

a new world order and of the hoped-for peace dividends we

have seen nothing concrete yet. On the contrary, what we

see now makes us fear that that historic opportunity is on

the verge of being dissipated in the fog of an ambiguous

international political atmosphere.

A close examination of the characteristics of the

present world order reveals that its thrust focuses almost

totally on the issues of economic openness, freedom of

international trade, democracy and human rights.

There is no doubt that these two last questions

deserve every attention, since they are among the

underpinnings of any system of honest government and of

social justice and have always been among the goals of

enlightened civilizations in their search for a fair society

in which justice and social peace may prevail.

Maybe it would be going too far to insist, as some

do, on the adoption of one model of democracy, out of all

the other models, by all the countries and societies of the

world without taking into account the numerous factors

which have to do with the civilizations of the peoples of

those countries, their customs, traditions, cultures, the

degree of their development, their general conception of

the universe we live in, or their views concerning life and

society.

As regards our Organization, the principles of

democracy require us to examine its methods of operation

in order to secure a unified implementation of its

resolutions and ensure efficiency in the discharge of its

duties.

In view of the ever-increasing importance of the role

the Security Council now plays in international affairs, we

must debate the extent of its adaptation to the great

changes that have taken place in the world recently and

which have affected the balance of power, side by side

with the new political and economic trends, so that we

may find consensus solutions in reviewing the Security

Council’s methods of work and in trying to enhance its

efficacy.

The changes I have spoken of require us to review

also some of the provisions of the Charter with a view to

enabling our Organization to face up to the new

international challenges with the participation of all in the

interests of all.

As for the question of human rights, the Kingdom of

Morocco attaches great importance to those rights, which

are enshrined in our constitution. However, I wish to

point out - as I did in past years - that human rights have

different aspects which must be respected fully. We

should not focus solely on the political aspect whose

importance has been established. The rights of the human

being to the essential, basic human needs such as food,

clothing, medicine and shelter are inalienable and

fundamental, just exactly as the right to life. That is why

the World Conference on Human Rights, which was

convened in Vienna last year, determined that economic

17

development which makes it possible to satisfy those needs

was a fundamental human right.

Consequently, the affluent nations have an obligation

to pay more attention to the economic interests of the

developing world in order to help it reach the levels of

development that will allow it to accord to those rights the

priority they deserve.

In this context, we expect the World Summit for

Social Development, which will take place in Copenhagen

next year, to define the essential needs of man the

satisfaction of which would guarantee a decent life and

expect the Summit to set up a plan of action to stimulate

social development and economic progress in the countries

of the third world.

The world has entered upon a new era marked by

fundamental changes in the traditional international relations

which emphasized the primacy of political beliefs. In

addition, the great Powers have engaged in a new race for

economic interests in place of the arms race. The race that

now concerns them is characterized by the strengthening of

relations within great economic groupings with a view to

the creation of new economic blocs. These developments

will undoubtedly alter the economic and political map of

the world and will, thereby, widen the gap between the

developed and the developing countries.

In a much more interdependent world, thanks to the

new means of communication and technology, such as live

television broadcasts, it has become ever more difficult to

persuade the peoples of the developing countries to be

content with their lot while the disparities between the

affluence of the developed countries and the misery of the

developing countries are constantly worsening. Therefore,

it would be illogical to expect that lasting peace and

security could prevail in a world wherein the overwhelming

majority of people live in despair, deprivation and social

misery.

The rich countries should find satisfactory solutions to

the economic problems of developing countries - in

particular, to those related to the deterioration in terms of

trade, the decline in commodity prices, external

indebtedness and technological weaknesses.

In April 1994, the city of Marrakech hosted the

signing of various agreements under the General Agreement

on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Through these agreements,

the international community established the primacy of the

rule of law in international economic and trade relations

and put an end to the law of the primacy of strength that

prevailed in the past.

The agreements, which were signed by 109 States,

included a number of extremely positive elements. One

of the most significant results of the Marrakech

agreements was the creation of the World Trade

Organization, which will come into being next year and

will have competence in the areas of control and

implementation. We hope that this new organization,

thanks to its competences, the policies laid for it, and the

programme of work designed to pursue those policies will

be able to lay real foundations for international trade that

would free trade from the protectionism that plagues it

under many guises such as the so-called social

considerations that relate to workers’ rights and

environmental considerations.

In the aftermath of the Second World War and the

setting up of the United Nations, international relations

have been characterized essentially by the movement

towards the liberation of peoples from the colonial yoke,

especially in Africa and Asia. Nowadays, only some

enclaves remain from the colonial era. For particular

reasons, those enclaves required more time for their

liberation, and they are now involved in settlement

processes with the agreement of the interested parties.

The British colony of Hong Kong will revert to

Chinese sovereignty in 1997, as will the Portuguese

colony of Macau in the near future. Similarly, the status

of Gibraltar is the subject of continuous discussions

between Spain and the United Kingdom with a view to

the return of that Territory to Spanish sovereignty. These

are settlement processes that we in Morocco strongly

support.

As we know, some enclaves in the northern part of

Morocco are still under Spanish control. These are the

cities of Sebta and Melilia and the neighbouring islands.

Since its accession to independence, my country has

tirelessly asked Spain to return those enclaves so that we

may restore our territorial integrity and put an end to this

long-standing dispute.

There is no doubt the ideal solution in this respect

would be to follow the same procedure that was adopted

in the case of each of the territories I have just

mentioned, namely, dialogue, natural understanding and

harking to the voice of wisdom by heeding the logic of

our time and taking into account the interests of both

parties.

18

We believe that the Moroccan-Spanish group proposed

by His Majesty King Hassan II to reflect and consult on

that question is the best framework within which it would

be possible to reach a settlement that may safeguard the

sovereign rights of Morocco and, at the same time, allows

Spain to protect its economic interests.

We are convinced that the historic ties of civilization

between Morocco and Spain as well as our relations of

good-neighbourliness and our fruitful cooperation in several

areas will make it possible to overcome the difficulties that

lie in the way of the settlement of this dispute.

The freeing of relations between Morocco and Spain

from the remnants of the past is a matter of significant

importance in view of the fact that both countries belong to

the Mediterranean region, that sensitive part of the world

which should be a region of cooperation, stability and

solidarity.

In this context, we are convinced that the prosperity

and security of Europe and particularly of its Mediterranean

countries could not be fully achieved without genuine

efforts to contribute to the development of the southern

Mediterranean countries. We are also convinced that this

will be achieved only through the eradication of the existing

gap between the countries of the two sides of the

Mediterranean and the establishment of a multifaceted

cooperation that would be inspired by a comprehensive

vision of the concept of cooperation and anchored in the

will of both sides to enter into a partnership that may

provide a solid foundation for the prosperity and stability of

the region.

Proceeding from this conviction, the Kingdom of

Morocco proposed to the Conference on Security and

Cooperation in Europe at its fourth session held in

December 1993 in Rome, the convening of a ministerial

meeting to address the issues of security and cooperation in

the Mediterranean region in which all the Mediterranean

countries as well as all other countries interested in the

future of that sensitive region would participate in order to

consult over the various issues and problems that face the

region. We do hope that the proposal will gain the support

of the countries concerned.

Along with our brethren from the countries of the

Arab Maghreb, Morocco has made sustained efforts aimed

at securing the unity of the region and ensuring the coming

to being of the institutions of such unity.

However, it is no secret to anyone that the

achievement of the desired unity still faces certain

difficulties regardless of all that has been accomplished so

far at the institutional, structural and regulatory levels.

Nevertheless, it is the conviction of all concerned that the

setting up of that edifice will benefit all the people of the

region and will open up great vistas in the areas of

development and progress.

It is obvious that the pace of progress towards the

achievement of the desired objectives is rather slow at the

time. However, my country remains prompted by a

sincere determination and by a firm will to overcome

those difficulties, in the conviction that its future and that

of the countries of the region depend to a great extent on

the achievement of such unity and solidarity amongst

them. In all this, there is the awareness that the ties of

common heritage, of common history, of culture, of

language and of religion bind all our peoples together.

With regard to the so-called question of Western

Sahara, the United Nations settlement plan has entered the

final stage of implementation. The Kingdom of Morocco

has cooperated sincerely with the Secretary-General, as

attested to in the Secretary-General’s reports, with a view

to facilitating his mission and speeding up the ongoing

process. Therefore, we look forward with optimism to

the holding of the referendum within the next few

months.

The past decade was one of the most disastrous for

the African continent in economic and in social terms.

The limited international effort provided to assist the

continent has not yielded any improvement so far. As a

matter of fact, standards of living in many sub-Saharan

countries continue to worsen as the per capita income

continues to decline while the growth rate of the gross

national product dropped to less than 1.5 per cent at a

time when the population grows at a much greater rate.

Thus the overall economic situation in Africa has

fallen to a level below the one recorded in the seventies.

Because of such constant deterioration and the

marginalization from which Africa suffers, partial and

temporary solutions cannot satisfy us. Exceptional

international efforts should be undertaken and drastic

solutions designed to remedy to the situation.

On the occasion of the holding of the historic

meeting of Marrakech, in the context of the General

Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Agreements,

His Majesty the King has called upon the leaders of the

19

world to integrate the economy of Africa in the global

economy and urged the elaboration of a Marshall Plan with

a view to reducing poverty and alleviating the suffering of

millions of human beings in our continent.

As an African country, the Kingdom of Morocco

continues to do its utmost in assisting sisterly countries in

the sub-Saharan region by all the means at its disposal. In

fact, my country channels 90 per cent of the funds it

allocates to international cooperation to the assistance of

sisterly African countries.

During the month of April 1994, the African scene

witnessed an important event, namely, the victory of

democratic forces, the forces of peace and freedom, against

the forces of racial discrimination. Thus, South Africa’s

first free elections in which all segments of its people

participated have resulted in the election of Mr. Nelson

Mandela to the presidency of the Republic.

The Kingdom of Morocco had earlier expressed its

satisfaction at those decisive developments, which ended a

half-century-long conflict and allowed South Africa, a sister

country, to usher in a new era of national harmony and

democracy and give it reason to look forward to a

prosperous future for all its people. My country made its

contribution by giving an impetus to the reconciliation

process through meeting with and offering encouragement

to Presidents Mandela and De Klerk, both known for their

wisdom and clearsightedness.

We were one of the first countries to establish

diplomatic relations with the new South Africa - more than

two years ago now - and we will make every effort to

strengthen the basis of our cooperation with that country,

which, to our great satisfaction, has taken back its rightful

place within the United Nations. We have no doubt that

South Africa will greatly and positively contribute to the

enrichment and effectiveness of the work of our

Organization and to the well-being of the entire African

continent.

One year after the signing in Washington of the

Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government

Arrangements in Gaza and Jericho, between the Palestine

Liberation Organization and Israel, we note today that the

peace process in the Middle East is moving along at a

steady pace, thus giving rise to some optimism for the first

time in the last 50 years.

In spite of the hindrances and obstacles it faces from

time to time, this agreement is being effectively and

practically implemented. We hope that this encouraging

start will continue and will include all the occupied

Palestinian territory, and that it will result in the transfer

of all powers to the Palestinian National Authority to

pave the way for a comprehensive solution that would

grant the totality of its legitimate rights to the Palestinian

people, including the creation of an independent State

with Al-Quds as its capital, in accordance with the United

Nations resolutions.

It was only natural that the Palestinian self-

government experience should face initial difficulties and

experience sensitive beginnings. We hope that the States

members of the international community that have

followed this issue for decades and that supported the

struggle of the Palestinian people throughout its different

stages will not fail to grant all the necessary material aid

and assistance to the Palestinian National Authority

during this delicate period, in order to help it build its

national institutions and its economic structures, and to

ensure the success of this experience.

Similarly, Jordan and Israel have signed an

agreement recently in Washington. However, the advent

of peace and security in that region will always depend

on the achievement of a comprehensive solution, which

would guarantee the recovery of Syrian and Lebanese

territories, in conformity with international legality and in

particular Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338

(1973) and 425 (1978).

The Kingdom of Morocco, convinced of the virtues

of dialogue and concerted action among the parties to the

Arab Israeli conflict, was one of the first to recommend

and promote this approach as the ideal means for the

settlement of disputes. My country strongly believes that

the logic of war and violence does not lead to permanent

solutions. That is why we feel a great deal of satisfaction

today as we see the parties in the Middle East engaging

in a constructive dialogue to achieve an agreement that

would put paid to conflicts and tragedies and usher in a

new era of peace, cooperation and well-being in the

region’s history.

In order to encourage peace efforts and to make the

Arab world benefit from their dividends, Morocco will

host next month, in Casablanca, an Economic Conference

for the Middle East and North Africa. Highly placed

government officials, and businessmen as well as

financial and economic experts will participate in the

Conference. This gathering will aim at setting the rules

for boosting the economy and development in the two

20

regions, and at creating economic programmes based on

partnership for the benefit of the countries of the two

regions and their peoples.

Regarding the dispute between Iran and the United

Arab Emirates, we hope that the two countries, which are

members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference,

will resort to dialogue to resolve their dispute over the

future of the islands of Abu Moussa and the Greater and

the Lesser Tumbs. The historic and friendly relations

between the two peoples, which allowed them to coexist

under United Arab Emirates sovereignty on Abu Moussa

island, should enable them to return to normal relations.

Contemporary history has known few tragedies

comparable to the one being experienced by the people of

the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who have been,

and still are, subjected to all kinds of collective

punishments, massacres, "ethnic cleansing", displacement,

confiscation of property, destruction of places of worship

and demolition of cultural monuments. The inability of the

international community and of the United Nations in

particular to put an end to these outrageous criminal acts

and their inability to uphold the principles of international

law, which is violated daily by Serbian practices, is

intolerable and unacceptable.

Our Organization will celebrate next year its fiftieth

anniversary. The period that has elapsed since its inception

has known many activities and accomplishments but also

some failures and setbacks. As regards its

accomplishments, one should underline its sustained action

to liberate peoples from the colonial yoke and to assist

them in obtaining their political independence, as well as

its activities aiming at the settlement of many conflicts by

peaceful means and the maintenance of international

peace and security through, inter alia, peace-keeping

operations. Its specialized institutions and agencies have

also made considerable contributions through their great

efforts in social, health and cultural matters.

However, our Organization has been unable to

accomplish some tasks entrusted to it by the Charter. I

refer in particular to economic and development issues.

No large-scale action has been taken to help developing

countries in particular achieve economic development,

despite the efforts and the many meetings devoted to this

question.

This fiftieth anniversary will take place in an

international environment that is totally different from the

one that followed the Second World War. Our

Organization must adapt to this change by exploring the

prospects of the twenty-first century, of which we are on

the threshold.

To this end, several ideas have been put forward

with the aim of strengthening our Organization, reforming

its structures and affording it the means whereby it could

meet the new and increasing demands made upon it in

many areas. In short, the aim is to enable the

Organization to satisfy the current needs of the

international community. The Secretary-General’s report

"An Agenda for Peace" appeared at the right moment to

show us the appropriate means by which the organs of the

United Nations might serve international peace and

security. The report also introduced new ideas

concerning preventive diplomacy with the aim of

preventing the eruption of new conflicts and dealt with

the issues of building and maintaining peace, as well as

many other issues, and put forth proposals which we are

sure will improve the functioning of our Organization.

There is no doubt that the fiftieth anniversary

celebrations will be an opportunity for many world

leaders and other high officials that are rich in experience

to rethink the future of our Organization in order to

enable it to meet the highest aspirations of mankind in the

twenty-first century: to live in peace and security, in

social justice and human dignity.