Panama, 2007

On behalf of my country, and on my own behalf, I would like to

congratulate Mr. Kerim on his election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at the sixty-second

session. I should also like to commend Secretary-

General Ban Ki-moon for his encouraging message this

morning.

The Charter of the United Nations has been the

subject of revisions almost from the moment it entered

into force. Some of those changes were successful and

timely. However, today we are acting too slowly in

adapting United Nations structures to the realities of

the twenty-first century, despite the fact that the

Millennium Development Goals have given it new

vigour and almost a new raison d’être. Although there

seems to be broad agreement to strengthen the General

Assembly and to make the Security Council more

representative and transparent, we are spending too

much time trying to decide how to do it.

Panama has been very clear in its support for the

aspirations of Brazil, Japan and Germany to become

permanent members of the Security Council. But we

have also deemed it appropriate to offer Member States

alternatives that would enable us to make progress in

this debate. We urge an open mind so that we can

complete this debate and come up with the relevant

changes quickly.

Panama became a Security Council member with

a great feeling of regional solidarity and fiduciary

responsibility vis-à-vis the international community on

all matters relating to the maintenance of international

peace and security. We are grateful for the confidence

that the General Assembly placed in my country, and

we are always ready to seek agreement between parties

to a conflict and to help remove obstacles that stand in

the way of peace and agreements. To that end, we have

encouraged and supported efforts to advance

democratic institutions and the rule of law, the

promotion and protection of human rights and

humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced

persons.

No conflict in the world has been given greater

attention by the international community than that in

the Middle East region. Although agreements have

been arrived at that have eased tensions, the path

towards peace has always been elusive, and new

obstacles arise all the time. The conflict between Israel

and Palestine is at the very core of the problems in the

region. Panama therefore encourages and promotes

negotiations between the parties, geared towards

creating a Palestinian State that can live in peace with

the State of Israel, with secure borders for both. This

will require a cessation of attacks on Israel from Gaza,

withdrawal from all the occupied territories in the West

Bank and the achievement of an agreement about the

status of Jerusalem that would satisfy the parties

directly involved and the entire international

community.

On the situation in Lebanon, it is important for

the international community to realize that a lasting

peace in the region requires the establishment of a

government of unity which can end the current

political deadlock. If it is not resolved, this could lead

to a return to civil war, which is something that we all

thought was now over and done with.

From this rostrum, we join in the call for an

immediate reduction in tension and peaceful solutions

in all parts of the world where international peace and

security are threatened. It is much less costly to invest

our efforts in avoiding confrontation than to stop it

once it has begun. Accordingly, we appeal to this

Organization to reconsider its actions vis-à-vis the

conflict in the Middle East which, far from being

resolved, seems to be intensifying.

Turning to the dispute between Serbia and the

Kosovar Albanians, today we can be cautiously

optimistic that, after several months of Security

Council debate, which included a visit to the region,

the parties have agreed to resume dialogue. Only an

agreement between them can ensure peace and

economic development in the region.

Panama strongly supports the renewal and

extension of the mandate of the United Nations

Stabilization Mission in Haiti. We recognize the

progress made by the Haitian Government with support

from that mission. However, there are many matters

that still require more efforts, and it is essential that the

mandate not end before that country’s institutions have

been strengthened.

We welcome the progress made, but we must

condemn the violation of human rights in Myanmar

and the continued detention of Nobel Peace Prize

laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Although every conflict

has its own particular causes, we can say that

violations of the human rights of certain groups, a

culture of impunity or the absence of strong institutions

able to guarantee the human rights of all are the

common denominator of most conflicts.

In Africa, there are examples of how institutional

weakness and abuses of human rights become the main

causes of conflict. On the initiative of the President of

France, the Security Council is meeting this very

afternoon to analyse all the problems that afflict that

continent (see S/PV.5749). It is only by strengthening

institutional capacity and building a culture of justice

that it will be possible to restore to those peoples the

rights that this Organization enshrined for all

inhabitants of the Earth.

Responsibility for solving disputes and

preventing conflict lies primarily with the States

parties to a dispute. However, achieving peace depends

to a large extent on our commitment to the collective

security architecture that we have built here in the

United Nations. Since the end of the cold war, the

United Nations has responded to the major challenges

to international peace and security by increasing the

number and the quality of peacekeeping operations in

cases where diplomacy has failed. To avoid a return to

conflict situations, peacekeeping operations cannot be

confined to simply separating rival forces. It is

essential to strengthen the concept of integrated

missions to include new responsibilities that cover a

broader range of activities. Achieving a lasting peace

means more than simply laying down one’s weapons.

One must set off on the path towards development;

legal and political institutions must be rebuilt and

human rights must be respected.

We cannot talk about lasting peace while we live

under the threat of terrorism, whose definitive defeat is

an ongoing challenge for the international community.

Panama supports United Nations efforts to combat this

scourge in an integrated manner, such as the adoption

of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism

Strategy (see resolution 60/288). And, because we

attach high priority to the adoption of a comprehensive

convention on international terrorism, we have

shouldered the responsibility of chairing the Security

Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee.

The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of

Persons with Disabilities (see resolution 61/106) was a

major milestone on the path towards a world without

exclusionism and reaffirmed the universality of human

rights. Specific measures have been defined to

guarantee full participation. Above all, we have

categorically said that discrimination against any

person on the basis of disability is a violation of the

inherent dignity and worth of the human person. I

would like to say that Panama has made significant

progress in this area; inclusive education is a State

priority. We have signed the Convention, and we are

committed to implementing it.

Of particular importance to Panama is the recent

adoption of a declaration on indigenous peoples for the

Latin American region. It strengthens respect for

cultural diversity, with emphasis on preserving cultural

assets.

A year ago, I told the General Assembly (see

A/61/PV.12) that my country would hold a referendum

to decide whether to undertake the work of widening

the Panama Canal so that larger ships could transit

between the two great oceans. As I believe is generally

known, the people of Panama approved the project, and

barely three weeks ago the work began. It will be

completed by the year 2014.

Panama, which has always contributed to the

development of international trade and to

understanding among nations, is especially pleased to

reaffirm that unifying mission today, as well as its

commitment to peace, development and full respect for

human rights.

I should like to conclude my statement by

referring to some words spoken from this same rostrum

by a Panamanian more than 50 years ago and that are

still just as true today. He said that to attempt to

preserve peace without at the same time improving

peoples’ living conditions is to leave the task

unfinished and inconclusive. We should not tire of

repeating that the most serious threats to peace and

freedom are rooted in human poverty, social injustice,

ignorance and economic backwardness; and that the

only peace worth keeping and defending, and which

can be lasting, is peace with honour, justice and

freedom.