Myanmar, 1997

Allow me to begin by

congratulating His Excellency Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko on

his unanimous election as President of the fifty-second

session of the General Assembly. His outstanding

diplomatic skills and long experience in foreign affairs

assure us that he will lead our deliberations at the present

session to a successful conclusion.

May I also pay our tribute to his predecessor, His

Excellency Mr. Razali Ismail of Malaysia for his sagacious

and exemplary stewardship of the Assembly at its fifty-first

session.

I also wish to extend our warm congratulations to the

new Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi

Annan, on his assumption of his high office. The new

Secretary-General has already proved his dynamism and

dedication in the discharge of his responsibilities — not

the least by providing us with his comprehensive United

Nations reform programme for our consideration at this

session of the General Assembly.

This is a time for change and renewal for the United

Nations. The reform package, proposed by Mr. Kofi

Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations in his

report, “Renewing the United Nations: A Programme for

Reform”, is the most comprehensive proposal on the

reform of the United Nations in the 52-year history of the

Organization. Specific proposals, contained therein, need

to be most carefully studied, and considered by all of us.

Another question of reform which is the subject of

intensive consultations and discussions among Member

States at present is that of the composition and working

methods of the Security Council.

Both the reform of the United Nations and that of

the Security Council are imperatives of our times. These

institutions and their working methods need to be changed

and adjusted appropriately to reflect the present-day

realities. With regard to the reform of the United Nations

in general, we believe that there is a need for a thorough

review of the United Nations Charter. Many profound

changes have taken place in the world since the Charter

was framed 52 years ago. We are of the view that the

role of the General Assembly should be enhanced in line

with Articles 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of the Charter. The

practice whereby a few great Powers hijack important

political issues for settlement among themselves in the

Security Council, bypassing the Assembly is not basically

consistent with the spirit and principles of the Charter.

Nor is it in the interest of the entire membership of the

United Nations and the interest of the Organization. The

General Assembly should be more actively involved in

the settlement of important political issues before the

United Nations. We wish to see more intimate and

dynamic cooperation between the General Assembly and

the Security Council. Moreover, the General Assembly

and the Economic and Social Council should play a

greater role in the coordination and direction of global

macroeconomic policy matters.

With regard to the reform of the Security Council,

there is an emerging convergence of views among

Member States that the membership of the Council should

be expanded to reflect the present-day realities, although

differences of opinion still exist on the modalities of

enlarging the Council. Myanmar endorses the position of

the non-aligned countries that the Council should be

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enlarged by not less than 11 new members and that such an

enlargement should be based on the principles of sovereign

equality of States, equitable geographical distribution and

rotation. Imbalance in the composition of the Security

Council and gross under-representation in it of the non-

aligned countries should be corrected in order to reflect the

universal character of the world Organization. In the

category of permanent members, there are a few interesting

proposals, including that of Mr. Razali Ismail, President of

the fifty-first session of the General Assembly,

recommending an increase of five new permanent members,

two industrialized States and one State each from regions

of Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean,

respectively. There are also proposals to rotate the three

new regional permanent seats. These proposals deserve our

serious consideration. We believe that there is also a need

for democratization and greater transparency in the working

methods of the Council.

May I now touch briefly on the reform package,

proposed by the Secretary-General. We welcome the main

thrust of his proposals for cost-cutting and streamlining of

the United Nations institutions and services. The important

thing is that the reform of the United Nations should truly

benefit the entire membership, of which the majority are

developing countries. Our vision is a leaner and more

efficient United Nations that can more effectively respond

to the challenges of our time and better serve the interests

of the entire membership of the Organization. In this

respect, we need to examine most carefully whether the

new senior executive posts it is proposed to create are

really necessary and whether emphasis and focus on

institutional reforms are rightly placed.

These proposed reforms, if and when approved by the

General Assembly and implemented, will have far-reaching

effects on the Organization and will go a long way in

determining how well the United Nations will be equipped

to meet new challenges in the twenty-first century.

Accordingly, we should not rush into reform measures for

their own sake, showing undue haste. We should undertake

a most careful examination and a thorough discussion of

these proposals before taking firm decisions in this regard.

Myanmar is an ardent advocate of stepping up

international disarmament efforts with a view to making

further advances in this important area of our collective

endeavour. We welcome the proposal by the Secretary-

General in his reform package to upgrade the Centre for

Disarmament Affairs to the Department for Disarmament

and Arms Regulation.

Today, the post-cold-war international political

climate is conducive to arms limitations and disarmament.

Last year, the General Assembly successfully adopted the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). We are

encouraged to learn that the Preparatory Commission for

the Organization of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban

Treaty is making good progress. However, it was

disconcerting to learn of the recent subcritical non-

explosive nuclear tests carried out by a nuclear-weapon

State. Such subcritical tests run counter to the spirit of the

CTBT and to the cause of nuclear disarmament. We wish

to see the cessation of all weapon-related nuclear tests —

be they explosive or non-explosive, subcritical or

supracritical — in all environments for all time.

In the field of arms limitations and disarmament, we

attach the highest importance to nuclear disarmament and

elimination of weapons of mass destruction. At the

historic golden jubilee session of the United Nations

General Assembly, Myanmar submitted, with the

overwhelming support of Member States, the draft

resolution that became resolution 50/70 P, entitled

“Nuclear disarmament”, calling upon the nuclear-weapon

States to undertake a phased programme of progressive

and balanced deep reductions of nuclear weapons with a

view to the total elimination of these weapons within a

time-bound framework and calling upon the Conference

on Disarmament to establish, on a priority basis, an ad

hoc committee to commence multilateral negotiations on

nuclear disarmament.

Since the adoption of resolution 50/70 P by the

General Assembly in 1995, there has been a ground swell

of renewed interest in and support for nuclear

disarmament worldwide. In their advisory opinion of 8

July 1996, all Judges of the International Court of Justice

unanimously reaffirmed the existence of a legal obligation

for all States, including nuclear-weapon States, to pursue

in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations

leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under

strict and effective international control. There has also

been a clamour for nuclear disarmament by several

groups of experts, groups of ex-military officials from

some nuclear-weapon States and public organizations in

various countries around the world.

At the fifty-first session of the General Assembly,

my delegation once again successfully submitted a follow-

up resolution — resolution 51/45 O — on the same

subject. My delegation will submit another follow-up draft

resolution on nuclear disarmament at this year’s session

as well. We hope that, in view of its immense political

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importance, our draft resolution will enjoy the

overwhelming support of Member States, as in previous

years.

The recent Conference held in Oslo from 1 to 19

September negotiated a draft convention to place a total ban

on anti-personnel landmines. We are supportive of banning

the export and indiscriminate use of anti-personnel

landmines. We believe, however, that every country is

entitled to exercise the right of self-defence, enshrined in

Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, in matters of its

national defence. In our view, the real problem lies in the

indiscriminate use of anti-personnel landmines and the

export and trade in these weapons. It is the indiscriminate

use of anti-personnel landmines that is actually killing and

maiming innocent children, women and men the world

over, and it is the export and trade in these mines that is

causing their proliferation, leading to their indiscriminate

use. We should effectively address these real issues, rather

than reach out for an indiscriminate and all-encompassing

total ban on anti-personnel landmines.

Next year, 1998, will mark the fiftieth anniversary of

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Significant and

substantial advances have been achieved by the United

Nations in the promotion and protection of human rights in

the past 50 years. Nowadays, increasing importance and

emphasis have been placed on the promotion and protection

of human rights.

We are all for the promotion and protection of basic

human rights, including the right to development. There is

no question about that. But when it comes to the

application of human rights standards, we are concerned by

the deviation by certain Western countries from the criteria

of universality, objectivity and non-selectivity enshrined in

the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted

by the World Conference on Human Rights. The

politicization of human rights questions and the selectivity

and use of double standards run counter to the spirit and

basic norms of human rights.

Myanmar has been unfairly treated in this matter and

has been singled out for censure by certain Western

countries under the guise of the promotion and protection

of human rights. The fact is that never in our post-

independence history have we in Myanmar enjoyed such

economic growth; never have the Myanmar people better

enjoyed the basic human rights to peace and stability,

shelter, clothing and food than at present. Those Western

countries turn a blind eye to all these positive developments

and accomplishments of the Government in my country and

indulge in the ritual of unfounded fabricated charges

against my country. To cite a Myanmar saying, their

ignorance of the realities and misjudgment may be

likened to that of a quack doctor who ignores the fact that

the patient is a man and gives him a gynaecological

diagnosis. A man must not be accused or censured for the

offences he has not committed.

For our part, we have cooperated with the United

Nations to the fullest extent possible. Myanmar has been

engaged in a continuing dialogue with the United Nations.

From 1994 onwards, I myself, as a representative of the

Myanmar Government, have held discussions with the

Secretary-General and his representatives at United

Nations Headquarters in New York. Assistant Secretary-

General Mr. Alvaro de Soto, representative of the

Secretary-General of the United Nations, has visited

Myanmar several times and has met and held discussions

with officials of the Government. There have also been

several visits by the Special Rapporteur of the

Commission on Human Rights. Moreover, the Myanmar

Government has fully responded to queries on human

rights situations and provided the full and comprehensive

information sought by the United Nations and its

subsidiary bodies. We shall continue this cooperation with

the United Nations.

The spread of narcotic drugs is a growing

international concern. Myanmar has always been in the

forefront of the war on illicit drugs. A few facts and

figures will speak for themselves.

In the military operations from 1988 to the end of

August 1997 by the Myanmar Armed forces to interdict

drug traffickers, 776 members of the Armed Forces,

including 25 commissioned officers, sacrificed their lives;

and 2351 members, including 84 commissioned officers,

sustained injuries.

From 1989 to date, operations to destroy narcotic

drugs have been carried out 11 times in Yangon;

operations to destroy narcotic drugs, drug refineries and

poppy plantations have been carried out 18 times by the

local populace in frontier areas; a total of 36,682.03 acres

of poppy plantations have been destroyed. All these

operations took place in the presence of foreign

journalists and diplomats.

Myanmar has a comprehensive legal framework to

combat drug abuse, including money laundering. Under

the 1993 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

Law, money laundering and the acquisition of property by

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the illegal means of drug trafficking are strictly prohibited.

Stern punitive measures for such criminal offences are

prescribed and a separate body — the Property Examination

Committee — was constituted effectively to deal with these

offences.

Myanmar’s cooperation with other countries in mutual

legal assistance in the suppression of narcotic drugs is

exemplified by the handing-over of the drug trafficker Mr.

Li Yun Ching by the Myanmar authorities to the Thai

authorities on 17 May 1997 during the goodwill visit of

Thai Prime Minister General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to

Myanmar.

A most significant accomplishment by Myanmar in

recent times in this respect is the declaration of Mong-la

Special Zone (4) of the Eastern Shan State as a “drug-free

zone” as of 22 April 1997. Special Zone (2) of the Eastern

Shan State and Special Zones (1) and (2) in Kachin State

have been designated for establishment as “drug-free

zones”. Effective measures are being implemented to totally

eradicate drug abuse in these areas. We are confident that

these areas will be totally drug free in the near future. By

establishing an increasing number of such drug-free zones

and by other effective measures of suppression of narcotic

drugs, we envision and strive to achieve the total

eradication of drug abuse in Myanmar in the not-too-distant

future.

In fairness to all, it would be hard to find other

countries that have made sacrifices of such magnitude in

terms of loss of life and limb of the members of their

armed forces and have carried out such massive destruction

of narcotic drugs. No candid observer, free from any

prejudice against Myanmar, can deny these concrete facts.

But certain Westerners, bearing prejudice and malice

against Myanmar, are pointing accusing fingers at my

country on all sorts of fabricated charges. Nothing can be

further from the truth. So glaring is their distortion of facts

that we can only say that the analogy of the quack doctor

I have quoted above also applies in this instance.

As this is a time for change and renewal for the

United Nations, so it is for the Association of South-East

Asian Nations (ASEAN). In this year of the thirtieth

anniversary of the founding of the Association, ASEAN, at

its ministerial meeting in Kuala Lumpur in July this year,

admitted Laos and Myanmar, bringing its membership to

nine. By so doing, ASEAN has demonstrated to the world

the solidarity among the South-East Asian countries. We

are confident that this will lead to the further expansion of

the membership of the Association to 10 in the near future.

By this expansion, ASEAN has once again proven its

relevance, viability and dynamism as a regional

organization.

Myanmar is also taking an active part in regional

economic cooperation. An important step taken by my

country recently is Myanmar’s joining of the Bangladesh-

India-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation (BIST-

EC) in August this year.

Through its pursuit of an independent and active

foreign policy, Myanmar has consistently contributed to

peace and stability in the region and beyond. As a

member of ASEAN and of the Non-Aligned Movement,

Myanmar will continue this contribution through its active

participation in international and regional affairs in future

as well.