Rwanda, 1982

I have the honor of extending to Mr. Hollai, on behalf of the

delegation of Rwanda the warmest congratulation, echoing those

already addressed to him from this rostrum by those speakers who have

preceded me. His election to the presidency of the thirty-seventh

session of the General Assembly is a tribute. Indeed, it duly

recognizes the confidence which is owing to his personal qualities,

particularly his competence, to which solemn homage has thus been

paid. His election, moreover, is a mark of recognition of the

important role that his country plays within the international

community in the promotion of the ideals and principles inscribed in

the Charter. In this context, the Rwandese delegation, whose

readiness and sincere co-operation are assured him, is convinced that

under his presidency the work of the current session will yield the

results which the international community is entitled to expect in

view of the objectives justifying the existence of the United

Nations. May I also pay a tribute to Mr. Hollai's predecessor, Mr.

Kittani of Iraq, who deserved well of the Organization by the wisdom,

devotion, talent and dynamism with which he led the debates, which

were undeniably long and difficult, that took place during the

thirty-sixth session, as well as those of the seventh and ninth

emergency special sessions and those of the special session devoted

to disarmament. I should also like to take this opportunity to

reiterate the congratulations of the Government of Rwanda to Mr.

Perez de Cuellar following his election as Secretary-General. The

Government and people of Rwanda again express their best wishes for

his full success in his noble and difficult mission and commit

themselves to supporting him and assuring him of their full

co-operation, within their means, in giving concrete form to the

ideals for which the United Nations remains the guarantor and trustee.

In accordance with established tradition, the General Assembly is

gathered here to take stock of a year of activities by the United

Nations, primarily for the purpose of preparing for the future in

accordance with the lessons, experiences and results of the past. As

happens every year, a privileged opportunity has again been given to

all Member States publicly and solemnly to express their positions

with regard to problems which are currently of concern to the

international community, as well as their hopes for the future-hopes

whose realization will depend on the mobilization and contribution of

all peoples within the framework of increasingly active solidarity,

above and beyond pious wishes and simple declarations of intent.

$53

The concerns of the Rwandese delegation bear first of all on the

international economic situation, which scarcely prompts optimism,

following a structural crisis which is creating an increasingly wide

gap between the industrialized countries and the developing

countries. World recession, monetary upheavals and increasingly heavy

and crushing indebtedness confront the developing countries with

problems that are at times inextricable and they are threatened in

the end with bankruptcy.

During the year which is drawing to an end, no tangible development

has occurred to modify in any positive or lasting way that tragically

alarming trend, which the international community has been deploring

for several years. The world continues to flounder in this crisis,

which reduces to naught the ambitions and hope of enabling the

majority of three quarters of humanity to escape the suffering of

poverty and wretchedness.

The disorder of the international monetary system thus aggravates the

problems of the third world countries which, while on the path to

development with precarious resources, difficulties which are

characterized notably by the persistence of inflationary pressures,

the increasingly marked deterioration in terms of trade and the

reduction of resources of institutions whose mission is to ensure

financing.

For many such countries, the deterioration of the food situation has

already gone beyond the point at which they are forced to increase

their dependence on imported products to such a degree that they are

no longer in a position to make the adjustments necessary to break

the spiral of a worsening food shortage.

In this context, the countries which can afford to should abandon an

exceedingly comfortable and simple attitude of inward withdrawal and

should devote further efforts to ensuring that their official

development assistance reaches the target of 0.7 per cent of gross

national product set within the framework of the Second United

Nations Development Decade. In that connection, the Republic of

Rwanda would like to hail the decision already taken by a certain

number of industrialized countries, which intend to devote 0.15 per

cent of their gross national product to assistance for the least

developed countries, of which my country is unfortunately a member.

My country at the same time welcomes the fact that the target of 0.15

per cent has been approved in the Substantial New Programme of Action

for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries, a programme which

the General Assembly endorsed in resolution 36/194. My delegation

ventures to hope that donor countries, as well as all potential prime

lenders, will take adequate steps forthwith so as to ensure the

effective implementation of the Substantial New Programme of Action.

My delegation is thinking particularly of immediate steps making it

possible to satisfy the most urgent needs of the least developed

countries. I should like to refer, by way of example, to the

provision of substantial resources to reduce shortages of foodstuffs

and energy resources, immediate financial assistance in the form of

the cancellation or (rescheduling of debts and support for the

balance of payments, and the immediate provision of supplementary

financial support, especially for identification of projects, the

carrying out of feasibility studies and the detailed preparation of

investment projects.

The hardly encouraging picture of the world economy shows that the

establishment of a new international economic order based on justice

and equity is an urgent and imperative need. In that regard, I need

not dwell on the disappointment caused by the impasse regarding the

global negotiations. Since the eleventh special session of the

General Assembly, in August 1980, two years have elapsed without

delegations having succeeded in finding a compromise acceptable to

all parties so as to permit the effective resumption of global

negotiations.

Although the present situation is undoubtedly one of impasse, certain

parties like to praise the therapeutic virtues of the free play of

market forces, which unfortunately benefit only the powerful and the

strong, inasmuch as they do not fall within the framework of a real

strategy of international co-operation and disregard economic

interdependence, thus threatening to exacerbate the disagreements and

disparities among States.

The Government of Rwanda is firmly convinced that the development of

the third world depends on a fundamental restructuring of

international economic relations as a result of reforms designed to

put an end to the present system, which tends to keep the poor

majority subordinated to the wealthy minority. Interdependence is a

crucial element which must constantly be borne in mind: it should

inspire greater solidarity and complementarity in the organization of

the economic relations between the industrialized countries, which

possess the technology, and the developing countries, which possess

raw materials. To disregard that reality would be to close our eyes

deliberately to the facts and risk plunging the international

community inextricably into a crisis.

Interdependence should not, however, be limited to North-South

relations; it should also be an important element in South-South

relations, and should be understood to apply particularly to

co-operation among developing countries-co-operation which the

effective implementation of the Caracas Programme of Action would al

low to develop and strengthen yet further.

In this connection, Rwanda is working unceasingly and with all its

strength to promote and strengthen its co-operation with other

developing countries in general and neighboring countries in

particular. With the latter Rwanda is endeavoring to develop

relations of friendship and co-operation on the bilateral level and

also within the framework of the sub regional communities. The

Rwandese delegation is convinced that such co-operation, which is

fully in keeping with the objectives set forth in the Lagos Plan of

Action for the Implementation of the Monrovia Strategy for the

Economic Development of Africa constitutes, with regard to the

countries concerned, an important contribution to the achievement of

international economic relations which serve the interests of all the

parties. We are also convinced that we must foster exchanges which

could enable the third world countries to confront the difficulties

inherent in the imbalance of the present system, which is reflected

in persistent disorder and profound structural problems.

It is high time all States understood that all hope of peace and

security will be vain as long as the world is ruled by a system which

maintains three quarters of mankind in the worst conditions of

poverty, malnutrition, hunger and even abject, pathetic and revolting

squalor.

The conclusions of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of

the Sea have shown the skeptics that the Organization constitutes an

ideal framework for constructive dialogue on problems and questions

of world interest. Rwanda welcomed the adoption last April by a great

majority of countries of the United Nations Convention on the Law of

the Sea. It is not necessary to recall here the entire background of

that Conference; its origins are well known to all delegations at

this session of the General Assembly. My delegation would simply like

to pay a well-deserved tribute to all the delegations that took an

active part in the work of that important Conference, at which there

were lengthy negotiations before arriving, after more than 10 years,

at the drafting and adoption of an effective international instrument

on the law of the sea.

As a representative of a developing country which is, furthermore,

deprived of direct access to the sea, I should like to take this

opportunity to express, on behalf of the Government and people of

Rwanda, our sincere satisfaction with the provisions of the

Convention concerning the right of access to and from the sea and

also the exercise of the rights provided for in the Convention,

especially those pertaining to the freedom of the high seas, the

common heritage of mankind and the enjoyment of freedom of transit

through the territory of transit States by all means of

transportation. The land-locked countries would certainly have liked

to see other provisions included in the Convention, but they

refrained from insisting on that point so as not to jeopardize or

block the consensus which was sought by all parties.

We hope that the Convention will enter into force as soon as possible

and that it will serve as a model for the management and sharing of

the wealth of our planet for the benefit of all mankind in general

and of the poorest in particular. With this in mind, my delegation

hopes that the delegations that so far have not, for various reasons,

been able to support the Convention on the Law of the Sea will

reconsider their position and join the majority, so that the

objectives which in this sphere are common to all Member States may

be achieved.

With the same optimism, we hope to see substantial and noteworthy

progress made in the sphere of international trade, which for several

years has been the object of important negotiations within UNCTAD.

The gradual fall in the prices of raw materials and the inexorable

increase in the prices of finished products make the economic

situation of the developing countries increasingly catastrophic, for

the deficits and the gaps to be filled compel them to contract more

and more crushing debts and thus to become insolvent, which

jeopardizes their future not only socially and economically but also

politically.

I shall not engage in the futile exercise of enumerating all the

problems confronting the developing countries in general and the

least developed and the land-locked countries in particular. I will

simply draw the attention of the Assembly once more to the fact that

all the defects of the world economy are at present affecting even

more seriously this category of countries with weak and vulnerable

economies. Therefore I reiterate that the time has come for

solidarity and co-operation based on sharing, justice, equity and

complementarity, in the framework of the democratization of

international relations, which is an urgent necessity.

The role of the United Nations is to contribute to this and thereby

to achieve its primary objective, that of promoting and ensuring the

maintenance of peace, security and justice, while working for

individual and collective well-being and progress, for the benefit of

all the peoples of the world.

We are bound to note and to deplore the fact that the world does not

seem to be prepared to lead from history and to give concrete form to

the noble ideals to which all the Member States freely and solemnly

subscribed.

Since the policy of detente, which would allow different

socio-economic and political systems to lay the groundwork for

fruitful co-operation, is increasingly losing ground to confrontation

and tension; we face a future fraught with anguish and uncertainty.

The arms race in nuclear, bacteriological and classical weapons is

accelerating at an alarming pace to the detriment of investment that

might help save people in developing countries from dire poverty.

Some references to problems of our times and a rapid overview show

that overt conflicts and areas of tension which bring to bear grave

threats to international peace and security are very much with us.

Some are due to anachronistic colonialism or to the hateful and

cynical policy of apartheid. All are linked to flagrant violations of

the Charter and norms established by international law.

In Africa, above and beyond socio-economic problems, one of the major

concerns remains the situation prevailing in the southern part of

that continent and the sufferings, sacrifices and tragedies imposed

on the Namibian people and on black South Africans struggling for

recognition of their most basic rights.

As regards Namibia, which is still illegally occupied and

administered by the minority racist Pretoria regime, the many actions

undertaken by the United Nations to lead that Territory to

independence-a matter for which the United Nations bears

responsibility-have thus far come up against the intransigence,

hesitation and dilatory maneuvers of South Africa, which arrogantly

defies the international community. How can we fail to deplore the

procrastination and the attempts to torpedo the United Nations plan

for Namibia, when every day the Namibian people thirst for

independence, for which it will continue to pay a heavy price,

through the sufferings of freedom fighters who go as far as making

the supreme sacrifice to emancipate their homeland?

The Government of Rwanda, which has had the privilege and signal

honor of taking part in the delegation sent by the OAU to the Western

countries members of the contact group on Namibia, bitterly regrets

that this year is likely to end without the date on which the

Namibian people is to achieve self- determination and independence

being firmly set. In this connection my delegation would like to

reaffirm the conviction of the Government of Rwanda that the United

Nations plan for Namibia remains the only realistic framework for any

initiative pertaining to the future of the Namibian people. That is

why the five Western countries that make up the contact group cannot

bow out without betraying the hopes and desires that the overwhelming

majority of the international community have for Namibia. That is why

those countries should be encouraged to show greater determination,

willingness and commitment to compel South Africa to agree to strict

implementation of Security Council resolution 435 (1978).

The right of the Namibian people to self-determination and

independence should not, under any circumstance or any pretext, be

sacrificed to the selfish interests of certain States Members of the

United Nations, States which, deaf to the repeated appeals of the

international community, happily continue their collaboration with

the Pretoria regime in economic, military and other matters.

The accession of Namibia to independence is an inevitable process

which goes along with the tide of history. It is thus absolutely

necessary for the Namibian people to be able without further delay to

exercise its right to decide on its future for itself in complete

independence and to choose for itself, free of any external

interference, the political regime and socioeconomic system that

would be in keeping with its legitimate aspirations.

In recalling this position the Rwandese delegation once again hails

the nationalist and anti-colonialist struggle being waged by that

valiant people of heroes and martyrs under the aegis of SWAPO, its

sole legitimate representative, to which Rwanda solemnly reiterates

its unflagging support.

The return to the policy of gunboat diplomacy and the wanton and

exclusive quest for spheres of influence, which sacrifice principles

sacred to the entire international community as well as the

elementary rights of peoples, will in no way affect the justness of

the cause of the Namibian people. It will at the most delay matters;

it will not at all undermine the heroism of that people.

I should also like to express the Rwandese Government's solidarity

with the front-line States of southern Africa and more specifically

the People's Republic of Angola and Mozambique, which are constantly

victims of the bloody, barbarous aggressions and acts of sabotage in

which the racist minority regime of South Africa takes pleasure.

In South Africa itself the proponents of apartheid-the iniquitous,

hateful and inhuman policy they have established as a system of

Government, thus enshrining racism and racial segregation as State

policy-are attempting to maintain domination without regard for

morality and right. So it is-and this is only one of many

examples-that they install the majority of the population in

so-called independent Bantustans and have recourse to ignoble

practices such as assassination, kidnapping, torture and imprisonment

against nationalists.

This regime, which has been abhorred by the great majority of Member

States, furthermore stubbornly defies the international community by

terrorizing all of southern Africa through armed invasions,

assassinations, massacres, infiltration, political de- stabilization

and acts of economic sabotage against neighboring States. Quite

obviously such practices amount to a desperate strategy in the face

of the sacred cause of the liberation of peoples defense of which is

daily mobilizing greater strength and determination within South

Africa itself. That tangible progress compels the South African

Fascists to launch escalated guerrilla warfare and frequently to

resort to the use of bands of mercenaries.

In this context, in this International Year of Mobilization for

Sanctions against South Africa it is important that the diplomatic

world redouble its efforts to isolate completely the minority racist

regime in South Africa, politically, economically and militarily.

The situation in Chad is also a matter of concern to the African

continent. The fratricidal conflict which has ravished that country

has seemed for some months now to have died down to some extent, but

what is temporary threatens to last, jeopardizing the settlement of

the crisis, unless all the protagonists abandon once and for all

their bitterness and resolutely commit themselves in a spirit of

national reconciliation to the quest for a peaceful solution which

will safeguard the higher interests of their country and, especially,

preserve its territorial integrity. Such a development is an

important prerequisite for the reconstruction and development of that

country, tom by internecine strife. That reconstruction and

development will be the taskof all its vital forces, and Member

States will not spare their support in this long-term endeavor,

thereby showing the value they attach to the maintenance of peace and

security, which the people of Chad so badly need.

Still in Africa, the question of Western Sahara is also a topical one

and a major concern for our continent. For my country, the essential

aspect of this issue is the need to apply the universal principle of

the right of peoples to self-determination. It is in that spirit

that, since 1976, it has recognized the Sahraoui Arab Democratic

Republic.

Reference to the principles which inspire and underlie international

ethics and politics requires that the African countries, which have

always shown their support for peoples struggling for recognition of

their right to self-determination, bury their disputes on Western

Sahara in order to preserve their vital unity in the OAU, without

denying the principles they have freely subscribed to or sacrificing

either the interests or the rights of the Sahraoui people.

Other fratricidal conflicts which play their part in the

proliferation of areas of tension continue in Africa, where they

seriously threaten peace, security and stability in the regions and

areas concerned and could encourage outside interference.

With full respect for the sovereignty of other States, the position

of Rwanda with regard to these conflicts and tensions, which

constitute grave obstacles to development, is to put its trust in the

wisdom of the parties involved and hope that the spirit of

conciliation will prevail over hatred and that recourse to compromise

solutions will help to preserve peace, security and stability in

Africa, with strict respect for the principles of the charter of the

OAU and that of the United Nations.

For more than 30 years tension and murderous confusion have persisted

in the Middle East, against the background of the intolerable

martyrdom constantly imposed on the Palestinian people. Today more

than ever this troubled region is characterized by the intransigence

and barbarity of the State of Israel, which scorns the decisions of

the international community and resorts to the policy of an ostrich,

burying its head and refusing to recognize the right of the

Palestinian people to self-determination. In the orgy of fire and

Mood of which Lebanon has recently been the scene, this year has been

marked by an unprecedented increase in acts of violence, launched by

Israel on the pretext of reprisals against the PLO and of

self-defense against the other States in the region.

At the same time, the repression in the occupied Arab territories has

never been so brutal and savage. Armed with its arrogance, which has

been denounced and condemned many times by the Assembly, Israel

arrogates to itself the right to annex the Syrian Golan Heights in

flagrant violation of the Charter and of the established principles

of international law. Its invasion of Lebanon, its provocation and

harassment of all kinds in the occupied territories and the

establishment of new settlements are all elements which clearly

illustrate Israel's contempt for international morality and ethics as

affirmed in many resolutions of the United Nations, to which that

ungrateful State owes its birth.

The many repercussions of the situation in the Middle East

demonstrate the absolute and imperative need for a comprehensive

solution. In this context, Rwanda remains convinced that any just and

lasting solution in this region must necessarily involve the

restoration to the Palestinian people of its fundamental and

legitimate rights, especially its right to self-determination, the

right to its own homeland to establish there, under the aegis of the

PLO, its sole legitimate representative, the governmental structures

of its choice. As long as this key problem is not satisfactorily

solved, as long as the State of Israel refuses to return the Arab

territories it has been occupying by force since 1967, including the

Holy City of Jerusalem, as long as it persists in rejecting full

participation by the PLO in the initiatives designed to promote the

peace process in the Middle East, it will be an illusion to expect

positive and constructive developments in this region so vital to

international peace and security.

The diaspora imposed on the valiant Palestinian people will not give

the slightest legitimacy to acts designed to stifle its legitimate

aspirations, any more than the policy of terror and occupation of the

Israeli Government will deflect the international community from its

duty to promote, everywhere and in all circumstances, peace and

justice, which are the foundations of the Charter.

Above and beyond the Israeli-Arab conflict, the state of war which

persists between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite the

many attempts at mediation, also continues to be a cause of deep

concern in that already explosive region and for the whole of the

international community. That war, in which the victims can be

counted in thousands, is seriously disrupting the economies of the

two parties to the conflict, for which it involves a considerable

loss of business. The Rwandese delegation pays a tribute to all

people of good will who have spared no effort to seek a settlement of

this fratricidal conflict. Rwanda hopes that these two non-aligned

countries which, furthermore, have the some Islamic faith, will not

remain deaf to the urgent appeals of the international community

urging them to find once again the way to concord and co-operation,

instead of following the easy way which leads to hatred and

destruction, and so that they may seek the honor of promoting peace,

understanding and co-operation.

In central Asia, the Afghan crisis persists and clearly shows the

precariousness and fragile nature of East-West detente. The events

which have occurred in Afghanistan have in fact provoked a deep

division in the policy of detente, a division which has increased

following the Polish crisis, exacerbating suspicions which have

become only too commonplace when they involve a struggle for

influence on the international scene.

Rwanda believes in the need to establish and develop a calmer climate

which may allow all nations to make further development efforts.

Rwanda feels at the same time that attempts to promote detente cannot

exclude the third world in general, and Africa in particular, without

running the risk of being ineffective.

In Indo-China, Kampuchea is still torn asunder by a continuing

fratricidal struggle, with outside interference, for the control of

power.

The Rwandese Government believes that respect for the sovereignty of

States, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries

and the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes should allow for

an end to such conflicts, which are obstacles to the security and

peace needed by the international community, for they go hand in hand

with the arms race.

As regards divided nations, Rwanda supports the right of peoples

directly concerned in this problem to seek ways and means to

rediscover their unity. They should exercise this right peacefully,

free from any interference or outside pressure.

It is with this in view that the Rwandese Republic remains firmly

convinced that the Korean nation cannot achieve its reunification

unless all foreign troops withdraw from that area.

The Rwandese Government also considers that current relations between

the two German States are a reflection of the spirit of detente which

underlies their relations. The co-operation established between those

two States should attenuate at least to some degree the effects of

division and gradually create a political climate which will not

exclude the idea of a free and peaceful reunification of the German

nation.

Our concern in the face of an increase of areas of tension and the

persistence of conflicts should not lead us to forget that the

greatest danger to international peace and security is the unbridled

arms race which causes the threat of an unprecedented holocaust to

loom large over the world.

The second special session on disarmament, which was of such great

interest to the General Assembly, showed sufficiently that the

provisions of the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the

General Assembly were not applied in a satisfactory manner.

The dawning of an era of peace, progress and justice for all peoples

is still impeded by the constant increase and spectacular improvement

of massive means of destruction. Research programmes and military

development in this regard are disquieting, for immense financial,

material and human resources are being increasingly mobilized to

refine the techniques of the extermination of the human race, thereby

increasing the risk of conflict and conflagration.

The Rwandese Government solemnly reiterates its appeal that this

formidable scientific and technological potential, as well as the

financial means and human resources which allow for its development,

be further exploited for peaceful purposes, especially to reduce the

gap separating the wealthy from the still developing countries.

Will the international community be able to face the great challenge

of our century, that is, the close relationship between disarmament

and development? This is the outlook which all States Members of the

United Nations-especially the developed countries in general and the

great Powers in particular-should adopt in seeking elements of a

solution to the problems of our times, without any ulterior motive or

evasion, but armed first and foremost with the firm determination and

genuine will to promote concord, solidarity and co-operation among

all peoples.

This is the message of hope which I wish to transmit from this

rostrum on behalf of the Government and people of Rwanda, in the

conviction that the work of this thirty-seventh session of the

General Assembly will lead to results specifically in keeping with

the expectations of the United Nations, the Organization which is

responsible to the whole international community for results which

will consolidate and enhance its prestige.