Yemen, 1995

Permit me at the outset warmly to congratulate Mr. Diogo

Freitas do Amaral of Portugal on his election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at this session, which

coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of

the United Nations. His election to the presidency of this

important session reflects special appreciation for his

well-known diplomatic skills. It also reflects his country’s

role in and contribution to the international community and

to consolidating its security and stability in line with the

principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

Nor can I fail today warmly to thank His Excellency

Mr. Amara Essy for his judicious management of the work

of the General Assembly during its last session, and for his

tireless role in restructuring the United Nations and

democratizing its practices.

Similarly, I should like to reaffirm my country’s

appreciation of the role played by the Secretary-General,

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and of his indefatigable,

invaluable work for international peace and security. We

particularly commend the Secretary-General’s two reports,

the Agendas for Peace and for Development, which

constitute central pillars of the new international relations.

This session takes place half a century after the

founding of the United Nations. It therefore behoves us to

pause for reflection on how the Organization has developed

over the past five decades, for identifying positive and

negative developments over that period and for working

towards promoting the positive elements. We must steer the

Organization in new directions that would spare us the

negative elements which accompanied the progress of the

Organization in the past.

Proceeding from this, the Republic of Yemen supports

the efforts aimed at developing the Organization’s

machineries and principal organs in order for it to be able

to rise to the challenges of the twenty-first century. My

country, therefore, welcomes the introduction of structural

reforms, especially with regard to expanding Security

Council membership to reflect more accurately the new

realities and recent changes in international relations, while

observing the principles of equitable representation and

geographical distribution and ensuring transparency in the

Council’s work. My country is confident that these required

reforms, when introduced, will contribute to the emergence

of new international relationships that would be

characterized by right, justice and equality.

There is no doubt that the international conferences

the World has witnessed since the end of the cold war on

social, environmental and women’s issues, have been

important steps taken by the United Nations towards

shaping a new, integrated system with human

development as its goal, in order to develop a new way

of life, ensure the future of the human race, establish the

foundations of equitable and sustainable development and

work towards eliminating the spectres of poverty,

ignorance and disease, dangers which continue to threaten

hundreds of millions of the world’s inhabitants.

In this context, my country wishes to express its

satisfaction with the work carried out by the Committee

on the Indian Ocean to make that region a zone of peace.

We call upon States members of the Security Council,

maritime users of the Indian Ocean and littoral countries

to participate in the work of the Committee in view of the

positive contribution it is making towards strengthening

peace, security, stability and cooperation in the region, in

the light of General Assembly resolutions 48/82 and

49/82.

There is no doubt that the world at the end of the

twentieth century is vastly different from what it was in

the past. Many fundamental concepts of peace,

development and security are changing, side by side with

the developments that are taking place in international

relations. In the light of these changes, everyone is

becoming increasingly aware that human development

should become the focus of the activities of the United

Nations systems with a view to narrowing the gap

between North and South, and to promoting economic and

social integration on the basis of the common interests of

States.

If any achievement is to be made in this area, we

will need to rely upon international economic cooperation

in facing up to such international problems as mitigating

poverty and eradicating famine from developing countries,

especially the least developed among them. In this

context, my country calls upon the international

community to commit itself to implementing the

Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries

for the 1990s, in accordance with General Assembly

resolution 45/206 of 1990. My country also welcomes the

establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO),

and the conclusion of the 1994 GATT agreements, which

aim at enhancing integration, promoting equitable

cooperation in trade relations and reducing the intensity

of unfair competition between different societies.

14

The tragic situation of the people of Bosnia and

Herzegovina has been the focus of the international

community’s attention. It has become clear that

international efforts in that region have not succeeded due

to the absence of a genuine desire to put paid to the horrific

massacring of defenceless civilians in the Republic of

Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Bosnian Serbs, in open

defiance of the international will. Therefore, my country

considers it imperative that the Security Council should

hasten to lift the weapons embargo in order for the people

of Bosnia and Herzegovina to be able to exercise the right

of self-defence enshrined in Article 51 of the United

Nations Charter. It is not acceptable, in today’s world, that

we should stand as spectators under whose eyes a

tyrannical minority is allowed to impose by force its will

over the majority’s legitimate rights. While the Republic of

Yemen welcomes the peace efforts that are being deployed

with a view to putting an end to the suffering of the

Muslim people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it hopes for a

concerted international effort to find a just solution, which

would guarantee the freedom, sovereignty and territorial

integrity of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and

ensure the continued provision of humanitarian assistance.

The Middle East has witnessed developments which

could represent an historical turning-point in the lives of the

peoples of the region, and could thereby reduce the

intensity of hotbeds of tension that threaten international

security and stability. Special mention should be made of

the positive gains made on the Palestinian-Israeli track,

which resulted in the signing in Washington last year of the

Agreement on the transitional period, and the recent Taba

Agreement on the expansion of Palestinian autonomy. My

country looks forward to the day when the Palestinian

people will enjoy their full rights and establish their State

on their own territory, with Holy Al-Quds as its capital.

Despite the tangible progress made on the Palestinian and

Jordanian tracks, we stress that just and lasting peace will

remain contingent upon complete Israeli withdrawal from

all the occupied Arab territories, particularly the Syrian

Golan and South Lebanon, in accordance with United

Nations resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 425 (1978),

and in line with the principle of land for peace, on the basis

of which the Madrid conference was held in October 1991.

The civil war in Somalia and the tensions in the Horn

of Africa which have exceeded the bounds of logic and

reason, have caused serious trouble to the neighbouring

countries, and will cause endless social problems. The

perpetuation of the situation of disruption, confusion and

infighting in Somalia is a source of grave concern to us all.

Given Yemen’s Arab, regional and humanitarian

obligations, it has suffered and continues to suffer the

consequences of the war in Somalia. We have borne the

burden of receiving and accommodating tens of thousands

of refugees, but our ability to continue to do so will

depend on whether or not the concerted efforts of the

international community and the international and regional

organizations will put an end to the suffering of the

Somali people and stop the infighting between the

warring factions. A solution to this tragic situation must

be found and what has been destroyed by the war must be

rebuilt, in order for the Somali people to resume a normal

way of life.

While my country affirms that Iraq should complete

implementation of the relevant Security Council

resolutions, and cooperate fully with the International

Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to clear up the

problem of missing persons and prisoners, it reiterates

that Iraq’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity

should not be infringed and that there should not be any

interference in its internal affairs under any pretext.

Yemen also repeats its call for the lifting of the economic

sanctions against Iraq, in order to mitigate the suffering

of the Iraqi people. This should be done without any

devious interpretations of the resolutions of international

legality and without the imposition of any new conditions

relating to the nature of the political system, as this is a

purely Iraqi matter that should be decided only the Iraqi

people themselves. The Republic of Yemen wishes to

express its satisfaction with the declaration made by Iraq

to the Security Council, and made during the

Organization’s Envoy’s recent visits to Iraq, that Iraq is

prepared to cooperate with the international inspection

team.

The Republic of Yemen urges the international

community and the Security Council to push for an end

to the air blockade and other measures imposed against

Libya, in response to the resolutions and decisions of the

regional Organization in relation to the dispute, and in

response to the positive initiatives calling for dialogue and

negotiations.

The Republic of Yemen also renews its appeal to its

brethren in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United

Arab Emirates to reach a peaceful settlement to the

problem of the three islands — Greater Tunb, Lesser

Tunb and Abu Moussa — in accordance with the Charter

of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the

15

principle of good-neighbourliness and the precepts and

principles of international law.

The continued acquisition by the world of weapons of

mass destruction, endangers international security and

stability and obstructs the search for solutions to the

problems of development. Disarmament and the channelling

of a portion of military expenditure to development must be

as fundamental steps towards the consolidation of

international security and stability.

Peace and development are two concomitant essentials

for the life of man and should lie at the heart of United

Nations future activities at the threshold of the twenty-first

century.

In this context, my country commends the

achievements of the Review and Extension Conference of

the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons in April 1995. However, the success of

the resolutions adopted by this Conference will depend on

the extent of commitment by all States to the contents of

those resolutions, the affirmation of the universal dimension

of the treaty and its full, not its limited implementation on

the regional level, particularly in the Middle East. That will

strengthen the legal force of the Treaty, and create the

appropriate climate for the functioning of the institutions

and mechanisms which will play a principal and important

role in the process of its implementation.

The Republic of Yemen, having achieved reunification

on 22 May 1990, and having firmly consolidated the

foundations of this unity through the triumph of our people

over the separatist conspiracy on 7 July 1994, is now

engaged in strengthening its democratic approach of

political pluralism, respect for human rights and freedom of

the press. Yemen is also engaged in effecting economic

reforms that would enable it to achieve the qualitative

transformations required by Yemeni Society in the

economic life of the country, such as restructuring the

national economy. This will make Yemen a force for peace

and stability in the region, and enable it to contribute more

effectively to the maintenance of international security and

stability.

As Yemen is one of the least developed countries, and

in view of the damage done to its national economy by the

separatist attempt, we hope that the international community

will increase its support and assistance, in order to enable

us to rebuild our social and economic structures and rid

ourselves of the effects of the failed attempt.

In the context of our foreign policy approach of

dialogue and the settlement of problems by peaceful

means, my country has resolved its border question with

the fraternal Sultanate of Oman, and is in the process,

with the same degree of sincerity and seriousness, of

seeking a settlement to the border problem with the

fraternal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through the work of

joint committees, on the basis of the principles contained

in the Memorandum of Understanding signed in Holy

Mecca on 26 February 1995.

The Republic of Yemen, as a member of the

international community, has always performed and will

continue to perform its humanitarian role in the

framework of the United Nations. It will spare no effort

in effectively participating with the international

community in working for the maintenance of

international peace and security. Let us then make this

session a new point of departure, towards the renewal of

the concepts of inter-State relations, and towards making

our Organization a universal arbiter.