Tunisia, 1993

I am particularly pleased to offer my warm

congratulations to Ambassador Insanally, both on my own

behalf and on behalf of the Government of the Republic of

Tunisia, on his election to the presidency of the General

Assembly at its forty-eighth session. I am delighted to see

him directing our work and I am convinced that in the

choice it has made, the General Assembly intended to

honour his country, which has been devoted to the cause of

peace and international cooperation.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank his

predecessor, Mr. Stoyan Ganev, for the contribution he made

to the work of the forty-seventh session and for the great

skill he evinced at that time.

It is also a pleasant duty to pay tribute to the Secretary-

General of the Organization, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for

his efforts and the determination in implementing the

objectives and decisions of the United Nations aimed at

resolving conflicts throughout the world. His is far from an

easy task, particularly since those conflicts have multiplied

and the activity and role of the United Nations today have

increased as well.

I should also like to congratulate the new Member

States that have acceded recently to membership of our

Organization and to welcome their delegations here present.

I am quite certain that they will make their own valuable

contributions to what is being done by the United Nations to

promote peace and cooperation between nations.

After the spectacular upheavals that the world has

undergone, the current session provides us with a propitious

opportunity to take a close look at the circumstances and the

prospects offered by these changes and to consider ways and

means of strengthening our Organization and its new fields

of action, particularly on the basis of preventive diplomacy

and on building relationships of trust and cooperation

between States.

Starting from 7 November 1987, Tunisia has been

engaged in laying the foundations of a modern and advanced

State capable of adapting to the changes that have taken

place and continue to take place in the world. Tunisia hopes

that after the era of dogmatism and ideology, the world will

be able to evince greater maturity by putting more vigour in

striving for cooperation between nations and solidarity

between peoples.

One of the signs of such maturity is undoubtedly the

dynamic peace process in the Middle East. There can be no

doubt that the premisses of peace in the Middle East which

are now attracting the attention of the entire international

community are an indication that an end to decades of

confrontation, destruction and suffering is now in view.

The historic mutual recognition between Israel and the

Palestine Liberation Organization and the declaration of

principles relating to the occupied territories are all

important signposts along the road towards recognition of the

legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and are a cause

for hope that a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle

East is in the offing.

Tunisia, while welcoming these developments, would

like to voice the hope that Israel will show the necessary

courage to reach agreement with the Arab parties concerned

in order to achieve a just and lasting peace that will

guarantee that all the peoples of the region will live in

security and stability, and that in the place of strife and

conflict there will be good-neighbourliness.

Devoted as it is to the universal values of peace and

justice, Tunisia will continue to endeavour to give impetus

to this dynamic peace process in the Middle East with a

view to undoing the knot of the crises and conflicts that

beset the world today.

In line with this stance, Tunisia has made a point of

being associated with the efforts of the international

community and with the work of the United Nations in the

service of peace, security and stability.

It is in this context that we should view Tunisia’s

participation in the operations involving supervision of the

elections in Cambodia, despite the enormous difficulties that

were encountered.

Forty-eighth session - 27 September l993 17

Also, Tunisia recently responded to the United Nations

appeal to take part in the Somali operation; unfortunately,

the situation seems to indicate that a return of peace in the

short term seems rather unlikely.

Tunisia also responded to the United Nations appeal to

be associated in United Nations efforts in the Western

Sahara, the purpose of which is to lay the groundwork for

holding a referendum.

Regarding the tragedy of the people of Bosnia and

Herzegovina, Tunisia once again appeals to the conscience

of the world to work determinedly towards seeking a just

settlement based on law and international legality rather than

on the basis of fait accompli politics, so that a swift end may

be put to this tragedy, particularly as winter is near.

Since it remains faithful to its Arab and Islamic

identity, and since it also belongs to the Maghreb, Tunisia

will do everything it can to strengthen the ties of

brotherhood and cooperation in order to achieve our

objectives so that we may be able to realize the aspirations

of our peoples of a better future. It is in this spirit that

Tunisia and Algeria have recently concluded an agreement

on the demarcation of the borders between our two fraternal

countries. The agreement will be deposited shortly with the

United Nations.

In this context, we should like to express our sincere

hope that all the problems in the Gulf region will be

properly and rationally resolved, including the boundary

disputes between Iraq and Kuwait and between the United

Arab Emirates and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and that this

will be achieved by peaceful means in line with existing

agreements and the norms of international legality, in

keeping with the new spirit which now inspires international

relations as well as with the aspirations of our world after

peace and stability in this particularly sensitive region.

Tunisia’s efforts on the Arab Maghreb’s level in its

capacity as current president of the Arab Maghreb Union

aim at creating the necessary conditions that would enable

us to make progress in building the Maghreb and

strengthening its role in the international arena. Building the

edifice of the Maghreb is part and parcel of the current

development of international relations, which favours

regional groupings. We for our part are doing everything we

can to ensure that the Arab Maghreb Union keeps pace with

events in a way that will make it possible to establish

fruitful relations in the international context and more

particularly with the regional Arab, European and

Mediterranean groups so that, as a group it may serve as an

instrument of peace and cooperation and a bastion of

security and stability.

The dispute between Libya, a member of the Arab

Maghreb Union and three Western countries is a source of

deep concern for us. Tunisia has worked hard within the

Maghreb framework and at the Arab level to find a

negotiated and honourable settlement that would safeguard

the interests of all parties and spare the region the risk of

any escalation of tension and instability.

Tunisia has always worked for strengthening peace and

cooperation in Africa. It is our hope that in future Africa

will reap the beneficial side-effects of the profound

international political and economic changes that have taken

place, so that it may devote its efforts to development.

Tunisia, which has welcomed the process of change in

South Africa, and looks forward with optimism to seeing the

April 1994 elections restore this great African country to a

place worthy of its standing within the African family, calls

upon all political parties to respect the agreement that has

been concluded, and to implement it in good faith so that the

peoples of Azania can see an end to racism and the advent

of a new era of democracy.

The establishment, at the most recent Summit of the

Organization of African Unity, of machinery for the

management and settlement of conflicts in Africa is also a

source of great satisfaction. In our view, this is evidence of

the determination of the African Heads of State to turn the

page once and for all on wars and disputes and to embark

upon a new era based on dialogue and fruitful cooperation.

Henceforth, Africa will have to rely essentially on its

own resources. However, it does need the support of the

international community so that its efforts may succeed in

achieving the goal of African development and African

stability.

Attention should be drawn to the suffering of many

African States as a result of upheavals and conflicts such as

those witnessed by Somalia, Liberia and Angola, which have

now become sources of major concern for the entire

international community. The international community must

not remain unmoved by such events, which undermine whole

States and sap their potential. We believe that the

international community is capable of contributing genuinely

to national reconciliation in those countries, and that by so

doing it will make it possible to eliminate all the other

sources of tension in the continent.

18 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

The profound changes in international relations have

undoubtedly imparted a global dimension to the problems of

the world. International solidarity and cooperation in the

new shape they have taken, have become an absolute

necessity whether the issue in question has to do with the

maintenance of peace, disarmament, the upholding of human

rights, or with addressing problems relating to the

environment, demography and development.

On November 7th, Tunisia charted for itself an

unswerving course in that area and boldly has taken several

decisive steps toward laying the foundations of a State that

functions under the rule of law, through institutions that

uphold fundamental freedoms. Thus the concepts and

principles of human rights, freedom, pluralism, the rule of

law and State institutions, have become constants on which

all Tunisians unite around their President Ben Ali, in order

to devote themselves to laying the foundations of our

society.

Tunisia has spared no effort to ensure the success of the

International Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, to

facilitate the successful elaboration of a common approach

and to identify the appropriate machinery to ensure respect

for human rights.

My country remains convinced that development,

combatting poverty, the settlement of disputes that arise from

foreign occupation, the elimination of racism and fanaticism,

are all absolute imperatives in defending human rights of

people, ensuring the stability of States and enabling their

peoples to progress.

In this respect, I should like to highlight one particular

scourge namely the dangerous phenomenon of extremism

and terrorism, especially that type of extremism which dons

the garb and mask of religion while, in spirit and action, it

constitutes a total negation of democracy and human rights.

Tunisia, which unmasked in time the doublespeak of

that type of extremism, has been able, through an overall

strategy of political, economic, cultural and social

achievement, to contain this phenomenon and thwart its

designs. Consequently, our country now enjoys safety,

stability and continued progress.

We have listened with great attention to President

William Clinton when he spoke this morning of the risks

which continue to threaten security and stability throughout

the world, particularly extremism - racial extremism above

all - and religious extremism, which breed hatred and

terrorism. Tunisia continues to appeal to the international

community to intensify its efforts to contain this

phenomenon which sows anarchy and chaos in the bosom of

the international community and hampers the development

process.

It is high time for the international community as a

whole to give serious thought to this phenomenon, to define

its various forms and manifestations and to devise an

international course of action and a legal framework to

combat it. We should also look for just foundations that

would reinforce the laws of asylum now in force in all

States.

It is obvious that while the right of asylum acquires a

humanitarian character and is essentially a part of State

sovereignty, the granting of asylum should be in accordance

with certain ethical rules and principles which must be

respected.

Tunisia believes that the right of asylum is one of those

common human values which must not be used for the

purposes other than those for which they were created.

The persistence of old problems and conflicts which

drag on in various parts of the world, delays in development

which plague a considerable segment of mankind highlight

the fragility of peace and security. Consequently, it is

essential to work for genuine disarmament. It was in

keeping with this thinking that Tunisia acceded to the Non-

Proliferation Treaty, the Treaty banning the development of

biological weapons and signed, in January 1993, in Paris, the

Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,

Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their

Destruction.

I hardly need to recall that the concept of security

transcends the purely military aspects and embraces various

elements that encompass political stability and economic

security. This means we have to draw up an agenda for

development as a necessary prerequisite for the success of

An Agenda for Peace.

The right of both present and future generations to live

in a healthy environment is today at the very centre of the

concerns of the international community and is one of the

main concerns of my country.

To this end, Tunisia adopts a policy that combines

preventive and remedial environmental programmes. That

policy has yielded so far, many tangible results, in areas

such as the conservation and safeguarding of natural

resources, the protection of fisheries and coastlines, and the

Forty-eighth session - 27 September l993 19

improvement of the quality of life. Ratification of the

international conventions which followed the Earth Summit

and the creation of a national Commission on Sustainable

Development are all tangible facts which reflect Tunisia’s

commitment to the implementation of the decisions of the

Rio de Janeiro Summit.

It goes without saying that steps taken at the national

level can only be viable to the extent that the international

community succeeds in identifying the interrelationships

between the problems of the environment and those of

development.

In this connection, there is need for a new approach in

addressing the issues of North-South relations. This means

moving towards strengthening of a multilateral economic

system in order effectively to respond to the priorities of the

poorer countries.

Tunisia has constantly given concrete expression to

cooperation between the North and the South in its various

aspects because it is convinced of the interdependence of the

interests of the two groupings and the link between the

growth and volume of assistance provided by the countries

of the North. That is why it would be judicious to formulate

a new approach to international cooperation which would

encompass development assistance, trade, investment and the

transfer of technology.

To avoid a North-South schism, the developed countries

must take account of the economic problems of the countries

of the South, especially those problems that relate to the

development process as well as the problems relating to the

restructuring of their economies and to indebtedness.

We cannot deal with international trade without taking

up one vital question, namely the necessity of establishing a

link between the transfer of technology to the developing

countries and capital flows.

In this connection, it must be recalled that indebtedness

and debt-servicing, in the case of the developing countries,

in most cases is the main obstacle that impedes further

development and hampers full participation in the world

economy.

Although Tunisia has always honoured its financial

commitments I should like in this connection to reiterate

some proposals we made earlier on this subject: in

particular regarding the rescheduling of debt by creating a

special fund to finance job-creating development projects.

There is no doubt that such projects, in addition to their

direct return which would be beneficial to the recipient

countries, will have the effect of settling populations in their

original regions and thus contribute to reducing migratory

flows to wealthier countries.

In this very Hall, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

proposed a contract for peace and development that in our

estimation, would strengthen the existing capabilities and

enhance potential in the States of the North and of the South

alike.

In his recent address to the European Parliament at

Strasbourg in June 1993, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

further proposed organizing a conference on the development

of the Maghreb States with a view to establishing a new

political, economic, social and cultural partnership between

the Maghreb and the European States.

Before concluding, I wish to touch on the question of

the restructuring of the organs of the United Nations. I want

again to welcome the initiatives of Mr. Boutros Boutros-

Ghali to adapt the universal Organization’s structures to the

ongoing changes in international relations, to rationalize the

activities of the United Nations system and to reorganize the

methods of its functioning. The elements of the proposed

reform package should be carefully considered and discussed

by all Member States with a view to making the

Organization’s new structure more efficacious.

The projected reforms - whether involving enlargement

of the Security Council, redeployments in the Secretariat or

cuts in spending - deserve our attention to the extent that

they take account of the interests of the developing

countries. We think the reforms should emphasize the

principle of equality among Member States and guarantee

decision-making balance among the Organization’s various

organs, and particularly with respect to the Security Council

and the General Assembly.

Let me conclude by reiterating my wishes for the

success of the work of the forty-eighth session; we count on

it to realize the hopes of the peoples of our world.