Poland, 1992

Please accept my congratulations,

Sir, on your election to the presidency of the current session of the

General Assembly. I wish you every success in carrying out this

responsible task. Let me also add how glad we are to have a President

personifying the democratic transformation in Central and Eastern Europe.

To the outgoing President, Ambassador Samir S. Shihabi of the Kingdom

of Saudi Arabia, I convey our appreciation for the quality of his

leadership and work.

I also want to assure the Secretary-General,

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, of our unfailing support for his tireless

efforts to make the United Nations live up to the expectations of our time

and to the law of the Charter.

It is with profound satisfaction that we welcome in our midst the new

Members of the United Nations: San Marino, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Armenia,

Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia,

as well as Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The end of the cold war has opened up the possibility of building a world

order free from nuclear terror based on mutual respect among nations, on

greater equality of opportunity, and on effective cooperative structures. It

has raised hopes for a safer, more equitable and more humane world. Yet we

are still far from turning those hopes into reality.

Consequently, the international community is led to re-examine and adjust

the structures and functions of the United Nations. Member States are

thinking more and more in terms of stimulating efforts to enhance the

effectiveness and efficiency of the Organization. In the words of the

Secretary-General, they should seek the "transfiguration of the house". Our

fiftieth anniversary will offer an appropriate occasion to reassess the

structure of the Organization with a view to tapping the full potential of the

Charter. Before we talk about its revision, we first need to re-read the

Charter in an attempt to implement it consistently and to adapt its

application to the post-cold-war realities and to the political and socio

economic challenges originating form the South-North relationship.*

Important suggestions have been made by the Secretary-General in his

imaginative report "An Agenda for Peace" (A/47/277). We welcome this document

and the proposals contained therein.

International security is a multidimensional issue. While the military

factor continues to play its key role, security and stability are becoming

increasingly dependent on other factors as well.

We are facing pressing tasks in the economic area: the economies of the

developing countries and the economies of the newly democratic countries,

which emerged with the fall of communism, must become more efficient. There

are enormous challenges with regard to the protection of the environment, with

regard to the refugee question, and with regard to natural and man-made

disasters. The issue of refugees represents an external manifestation of

problems which cannot be addressed effectively without first attending to

their underlying causes. The dramatic plight of famine- stricken Somalia is a

manifest example. It calls not only for urgent international relief but also

for long-standing assistance.

The advance made in arms control and in disarmament has a direct and

positive impact on the international security climate. Over the last

12 months, negotiations in this vital area resulted, amongst other things, in

the Open Skies Treaty, the agreements between the United States and the four

successor States of the former USSR (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan)

relating to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), and the Convention on

the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of

Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction. The Conference on Disarmament in

Geneva must be commended for having finally reached an agreement to ban these

abhorrent weapons. The States participating in the Conference on Security and

Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) have committed themselves to become original

signatories to that important instrument. We urge all Member States to do

likewise.

However, arms control and disarmament are unfinished tasks. The United

Nations has to deal with the overkill capacity still present in arsenals, both

nuclear and conventional, and with the growing danger of the spread of weapons

of mass destruction and missile technology. There is an immediate need to

control international arms transfers. Openness and transparency in the

military field have to be promoted. Military stability and confidence will be

elusive unless we make headway in all these areas. But even that is not

enough. International peace and security will at best remain fragile as long

as prevailing patterns and practices are not redressed to eliminate the

non-military causes of instability, including ethnic hatred and nationalism.

The crisis in the former Yugoslavia, and especially in Bosnia and

Herzegovina, stands out at present as the single greatest breach of

international peace. It is a threat to the security of the region.

Non-compliance with the law of armed conflict; the atrocities; persecution of

various population groups, including forced resettlement and "ethnic

cleansing" programmes; gross violations of human rights and fundamental

freedoms; obstacles put in the way of humanitarian aid, including obstacles to

the activity of the International Committee of the Red Cross - all these acts

underlie a regional conflict of unprecedented proportions which is brimming

with spill-over risks and incalculable conseguences.

The recent report of Mr. Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Special Rapporteur of the

Commission on Human Rights, contains stark evidence of breaches of

international humanitarian law and human rights. The report leaves no party

to the conflict blameless, while recognizing that the degrees of

responsibility are far from being equal or even comparable.

In view of the reports on civilian and prisoner-of-war detention camps,

the Polish Government deems it necessary to reiterate its demand of 7 August

this year that all such camps be closed down forthwith and all the detainees

be released without delay. Moreover, criminal prosecution of all persons

responsible for breaches of the law of armed conflict must be ensured.

Poland has contributed one of the largest contingents to the United

Nations Transition Authority in Cambodia and to the United Nations Protection

Force in former Yugoslavia. At the same time/ Poland recognizes the urgent

need of reassessment of the tasks and structure of United Nations

peace-keeping forces, including - as proposed by the Secretary-General the

establishment of a standing force at the disposal of the Organization. Another

subject which deserves examination is the financing of the peace-keeping

operations out of the defence budgets of States. The earmarking of merely

half a per cent of their annual military expenditures for peace-keeping

operations would help to overcome the present budgetary constraints. In this

way, the maintenance of peace and security would become a truly common

responsibility of the international community.

Poland stands ready to contribute to the development of international

centres for preparing peace-keeping forces. To this end we propose to make

available to the United Nations one of the military bases in Poland vacated by

the Russian armed forces.

Let me also stress at this juncture that the Government of Poland has

indicated its willingness to assign to peace-keeping operations, as of 1993,

two or three self-contained infantry battalions, in addition to logistics

detachments. This contingent could eventually be made available to the

Security Council on a permanent basis. We thus fully agree with words that

the President of the United States of America uses in his address to us

yesterday namely, that a new emphasis should be put on peace-keeping. That

idea has also been entertained by other speakers. Furthermore, in response to

a recent suggestion by the Secretary-General, Poland stands ready to

participate in consultations aimed at the implementation of Article 43 of the

Charter.

I shall now address the issue of regionalism. Some points have already

been raised during today's debate. I am referring in particular to the

statements by the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth

Affairs and by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Member States should make more use of the opportunities inherent in

Chapter VIII of the Charter. Regional and continental security structures

should become, in our view, part of a global security architecture.

The aggression against Kuwait and the hostilities in former Yugoslavia,

in Moldova and in Nagorno-Karabakh have laid bare the strength of nationalism

and the weakness of some regional structures. Indeed, left to fester,

political, ethnic, religious and other conflicts have spread insecurity and

instability across Europe and far beyond. While the United Nations is, as

proved by the Persian Gulf experience, capable of playing its role in regard

to the restoration and then preservation of peace and security, we still need

to seek new security arrangements in keeping with the Charter. In Europe,

this need has already been recognized by the North Atlantic Alliance, which is

the pillar of security in our continent, the Western European Union and the

Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Poland supports

their involvement and active cooperation with other institutions in

peace-keeping, conflict prevention and crisis management.

Harmonious and constructive interaction between the United Nations and

regional organizations or arrangements may well constitute an important new

element in making the United Nations more effective in the field of peace and

security. This fact is rightly emphasized by the Secretary-General in his

report.

In crisis situations, where several organizations are acting

simultaneously, it could be advisable to set up, on an ad-hoc basis, a single

coordinating framework. This would help to avoid duplication, overlapping or

dissipation of efforts.

The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe should be commended

for its offer of such cooperation. It declared itself a regional arrangement

in the sense of Chapter VIII of the Charter. This implies the establishment

of an important link between European and global security.

In our concern for peace and security we must consider the non-military

factors. Let me turn first to human rights, an area where the Polish nation

has accumulated considerable experience of internal struggle for the respect

of the individual. Our debate on this issue is taking place at a time of both

rising expectations and mounting fears about future developments. The

international community is frustrated by its far-too-frequent helplessness in

cases of grave and massive violations of human rights. Former Yugoslavia is a

recent case in point.

The United Nations should urgently consider additional measures to

address serious violations of human rights among other things, a system of

enforcement of respect for human rights. In this connection, the Austrian

proposal concerning the establishment of a human rights emergency mechanism,

submitted to the Commission on Human Rights, deserves proper attention.

The forthcoming World Conference on Human Rights is an appropriate forum

to discuss these questions. The Conference should adopt a comprehensive

approach to human rights. It should elaborate an action-oriented programme

for the promotion and implementation of human rights as well as for the

prevention of their violation. It should contribute to improving the

coordination of United Nations activities in that respect. The framework for

the preparations for the Conference is provided by General Assembly

resolution 45/155.

While noting the variety of factors which influence the status of human

rights, the resolution places emphasis on their universality. There is no

justification for any differentiation in understanding the contents and the

meaning of human rights, nor is there any room for their selective

application. We must do all in our power to prevent the weakening of the

universal substance of human rights.

My country pays particular attention to the protection of minorities.

This attitude has found its expression in the treaties concluded by Poland

with its neighbours. We fully endorse the adoption by the General Assembly of

the draft declaration on the rights of persons belonging to national, ethnic,

religious and linguistic minorities.

While the ideologically motivated East-West division no longer

exists and we rejoice at that we now see a growing North-South division,

with the countries in transition, such as Poland, stranded in between. As a

result, the promise of peace, greater security and freedom for all is being

slowly eroded.

Global inequality, exemplified by the widening gap between the rich North

and the poor South as well as the disparity in access to markets, must be

alleviated not only for economic, but also for security, humanitarian and

ethical reasons. Ecologically sustainable development, with democracy and the

market economy at its core, should be the focal point and the principal goal

of the United Nations system as it prepares itself for the future: the year

2000 and beyond. We shall not be able to cope successfully with the

challenges ahead unless a coalition for development is forged.

As it happens, there are also grounds to fear a division based on the

level of economic development in Europe. In the case of countries in

transition, their long-awaited prosperity is lagging behind, not coming

hand-in-hand with freedom. The Western industrial democracies have not yet

adopted a coherent approach to the emerging problems of countries in Central

and Eastern Europe. A grand strategy for supporting the democratic transition

has not yet been worked out, a strategy whose relevance, I dare say, may well

one day be highly appreciated in other regions and countries likely to face

transition and transformation problems.

There is little doubt that international economic relations need to be

reformed in the overriding interest of international stability and security.

The stronger the economy, the sturdier the political and social fabric of

States and, in effect, the greater their resistance to the impact of ethnic

conflicts, refugee exoduses and migration problems. This, I believe, is a

valid argument in favour of accelerated restructuring of the economies in

transition and their early integration into the world economy.

The social implications of economic reform and structural adjustment need

to be carefully monitored, both in the developing countries and in those in

transition. We expect that the forthcoming United Nations Summit Conference

on social policies and development will address these implications in some

detail, especially as they relate to Central and Eastern Europe and the

Commonwealth of Independent States. It would certainly be helpful if, in the

course of preparations for the conference, the Secretary-General could

prepare, by analogy with his report "An Agenda for Peace" (A/47/277), a report

on the challenges of social and economic development.

Poland welcomes the fact that the United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro earlier this year, has

opened a new chapter of international cooperation by addressing environmental

protection issues in a manner compatible with the requirements of sustainable

development.

The Decade of International Law has got off to a slow start, yet it still

offers a unique framework for enhancing the role of law as the basic factor

for order in international relations. We should not miss this opportunity.

The United Nations itself is facing a number of legal questions of a highly

sensitive nature: Let me refer, by way of example, to the contemporary

meaning of sovereignty; the rule of law and domestic jurisdiction of States;

respect for international law in conflict situations; global legal mechanisms

for the enforcement of human rights; the establishment of an international

criminal court; succession of States; and international compensation claims.

As to the solution of conflicts, recourse should be made to Article 36 of

the Charter. Security Council recommendations on specific procedures or

methods of adjustment of disputes should become a normal practice in cases

where parties to a dispute are unable to settle it in accordance with their

obligations under paragraph 3 of Article 2. Poland is in favour, in

particular, of reinforcing the role of the International Court of Justice.

I wish to conclude by noting that enduring world peace is inconceivable

without law and justice standing out as unfaltering beacons for all men and

nations alike.