Yemen, 2012

To begin

with, I offer my deep congratulations to Mr. Vuk

Jeremić on his election as President of the General

Assembly to steer its work at its sixty-seventh session.

We trust in his capacity to ably manage the affairs of

the Assembly during this session. I would like also to

thank Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President of

the General Assembly at its previous session, for all of

his efforts. We also commend Mr. Ban Ki-moon for his

wise management of the affairs of the United Nations

and his interest in the developments in my country.

During the past few weeks the Islamic world has

experienced a wave of outrage and anger as the result of

a film containing explicit denigrations directed at the

Muslim Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and

the values of true Islam. It is deplorable that a campaign

exists with the aim of deliberately insulting Islam and

Muslims in order to distort their image worldwide and

to sow seeds of hatred between nations and religions.

Yet given all of that, such behaviour has attracted

people who defend the film based on the justification

of freedom of expression. Those people, however, must

not overlook the fact that there should be limits on the

freedom of expression, especially if such freedom is

used to blaspheme the beliefs of nations and defame

their religious figures and symbols.

While my country has strongly denounced

the film, it has also called for respect for religions

and religious figures, enhanced understanding and

dialogue between religions and civilizations, and the

adoption of international instruments to prevent any

further similar practice or abuse of the right to freedom

of expression. My country also calls for adherence to

peaceful expressions of opinion, while denouncing

violence and incitement to hatred that contradict the

values of true Islam.

The current session of the Assembly is being held

within the context of important global developments

and events that are directly affecting political,

economic, social, security and environmental situations

in all nations of the world. Those circumstances have

resulted in various pressures on all international actors

and have destructively impacted the least developed

countries — the so-called the countries of the

South — including my country, the Republic of Yemen.

These days we are celebrating the fiftieth

anniversary of the 26 September 1962 Revolution and

the forty-ninth anniversary of the 14 October 1963

Revolution. I therefore take the opportunity to extend,

from this international rostrum, my warmest greetings

and best wishes to the great people of Yemen on this

occasion. No doubt, the 50 years since the Yemeni

revolution have contributed to sparking the Yemeni

people’s aspirations for change and for freedom,

equality and national dignity that resulted in a new

reality where the wheel of change continues to turn,

despite all difficulties obstacles and barriers.

Recently, we experienced the historic achievement

of a peaceful transfer of power for the first time in the

country. That transition would not have been possible

without the Yemeni people’s determination to fulfil

the goals of the revolution: freedom, sovereignty,

an end to autocratic and family rule forever, and the

establishment of a republican regime governed by the

Constitution under a new social contract between the

State and its people.

All Members know that Yemen is one of the so-

called Arab Spring countries. We Yemenis experienced

a difficult situation for over a year that could have

led to catastrophe. However, the country avoided that

trajectory because the disputing parties were wise

enough to follow a role model designed to reach an

agreement. Thus, they accepted the political settlement

under the initiative of the Cooperation Council for the

Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and its implementation

mechanism, which had become the accepted reference

for all parties and enjoyed international support.

Early presidential elections were conducted

representing a public referendum for change. The

referendum granted the new authorities full legitimacy

to pursue the implementation of the provisions of the

GCC initiative with a view to steering the country

towards the safe side and a brighter future where

people have faith in their future and can freely and with

conviction choose their rulers and thus contribute to

building the new Yemen.

In that respect, please allow me to express my

gratitude and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two

Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud

of Saudi Arabia, the leaders of the GCC countries

and the Secretary General of the GCC, Mr. Abdellatif

Zayani, for all of the various forms of attention and

support they have extended towards the political

settlement of the crisis.

Thanks also go to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon;

the five permanent members of the Security Council;

Mr. Jamal Benomar, Special Adviser of the Secretary-

General on Yemen; the League of Arab States and its

Secretary General; and the European Union for all

of their efforts to bolster the political settlement and

provide the necessary economic support to Yemen in

all areas, including for convening the national dialogue

conference.

The conference will outline the future of Yemen by

addressing various situations such as conflict, war and

pending problems, including the monopoly of power

and wealth. The aim is to build a modern civil State

based on the principles of the rule of law, equality,

inclusion, equal opportunity, the fair distribution of

wealth, participation in decision-making and managing

elements linked to the new State’s sovereignty at the

national level under a political regime to be decided by

the people of Yemen in the awaited national dialogue

conference. I stress that the doors of the national

dialogue conference are open to all Yemeni parties

and all issues and demands. The conference shall be

the means for correcting mistakes, achieving national

reconciliation and developing the principles of a

modern civil Yemeni State, under a unified Yemen, as

stipulated by Security Council resolutions.

The current political arrangements in Yemen

for the implementation of the settlement agreement

and resolutions 2014 (2011) and 2051 (2012) have the

support of the brothers and friends of Yemen. However,

Yemen still faces many political, economic, security

and social obstacles and impediments. Those obstacles

represent weaknesses and jeopardize the progress

and prosperity of Yemen in the coming decades. It is

a fact that 95 per cent of the Yemeni people have the

willingness and ambitions to move with the rest of the

world into the twenty-first century. The political and

social problems and the escalating political conflicts,

anarchy and acts of violence and extremism shall never

stand as obstacles in the way of the Yemeni people.

Therefore, the right way to address the situation in

Yemen is to adopt an overarching vision that takes into

account all circumstances and conditions related to the

country’s history and geography and the challenges of

the present and the future. A key factor is the strategic

location of Yemen at the juncture of trade routes and in the heart of international sea navigation routes. Yemen

faces the security challenges of organized crime, piracy

and terrorist acts, in addition to the influx of illegal

migrants and refugees to its coasts.

There is an increasing trend of unemployment

among young people under 30, who represent 70 per

cent of the total population of the country. The youth

look forward to a better future and a modern civil State.

That requires the international community and donor

countries to understand those factors and to provide

urgently needed support to our country in various

fields, including in the areas of establishing a modern

civil State based on democracy, good governance,

respect for human rights and social justice. There

is a need to abandon the traditional standard and

bureaucratic mechanisms adopted by donor countries

and international parties supporting the path towards

settlement in Yemen.

As for us, we stand ready to provide a favourable

and appropriate atmosphere for their work, absent of

any complex Government bureaucracy, by adopting a

high level of transparency and removing any obstacles

they may face. I confirm that it is investment that

results in stability, and not vice versa.

Terrorists, who have pervaded our country for more

than 10 years and were recently poised to seize control

of different Yemeni regions and provinces, represent a

huge threat to local, regional and international peace

and stability. Although, following the heroic acts of the

Yemeni armed forces and local popular committees and

a series of defeats, Al-Qaida is today much weaker than

before, we cannot underestimate its desperation. Due to

its failure to adapt after its successive defeats, Al-Qaida

has equipped its members with explosive belts and

transformed them into time bombs against innocent

and unarmed people. That has resulted in Al-Qaida

losing any local or national sympathy.

We reaffirm our commitment to eradicating

terrorist elements and demand that its sources of

internal and external support be eliminated. We invite

our international partners in the fight against terrorism

to provide more logistical and technical support to our

security forces and counterterrorism units, and that

they expand intelligence cooperation and coordination

in that field.

I cannot pass up the opportunity to draw attention

to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen as a result of the

terrorism and acts of violence in Sadah and the events of the past year that have resulted in the displacement

of more than 500,000 people from their villages, in

addition to the increasing number of refugees from

the Horn of Africa region. That led the United Nations

and its agencies to launch an appeal for approximately

$600 million. However, the funding gap stands at

50 per cent of the required amount. I therefore call

on brotherly and friendly countries to respond to the

appeal of the United Nations to enable it to meet the

basic needs of internally displaced persons and refugees

in our country.

It has been more than six decades since the General

Assembly, which I have the honour to address today,

issued the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It

is deplorable that, after all these years, many nations

still suffer violations of their rights and dignity. The

Palestinian people have been subjected to a gruesome

escalation of Israeli violence. Israeli settlements are

expanding, innocent Palestinians are maimed, activists

are besieged, prisoners and detainees are oppressed

and the attempts of the Israeli side to demolish the

Al-Aqsa Mosque are continuing. That requires a

stronger role and a more united and effective presence

of the United Nations and its various agencies against

Israeli arrogance and f louting of the resolutions of

the international community and its rejection of all

peaceful proposals and initiatives.

The lack of international pressure on Israel

represents a key failure in international justice standards.

The role of the United Nations and international forces

in achieving justice and freedom requires the exertion

of pressure to implement international resolutions. In

that regard, I ask: has Israel forgotten that its State

was created on the basis of an international resolution?

We declare our full support for the application of the

State of Palestine to become a full State Member of

the United Nations in order to affirm its legitimacy

and to ensure respect for its recognized rights under

international law.

We also call on the United Nations to adopt

appropriate solutions to end the crisis and internal war

in Syria and to put an end to all forms of violence against

thousands of civilians in Syria, including women and

children. Proposed initiatives and announced peaceful

solutions shall be revived to end the crisis and to

make a success of the mission of the Joint Special

Representative of the United Nations and the League of

Arab States for Syria, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi.

I reiterate the call on all concerned parties in Syria,

the Government and the insurgents, to heed and respond

to repeated calls to initiate dialogue and make mutual

concessions as the only way to stop the bloodshed.

The only option for our brothers in Syria is to agree

on an initiative to mark the path towards change and a

peaceful transfer of power through the ballot box.

There is no doubt that Somalia has been living in

dire crisis since the early 1990s. Yemen and Somalia

have deep historical relations and both provide

strategic depth for each other. On that basis, Yemen

played a leading role in restoring peace and stability

in Somalia by supporting the reconciliation efforts

and hosting various rounds of negotiations between

different parties. Yemen did not stop there; it opened its

doors to more than a million Somali refugees, despite

the difficult circumstances Yemen is encountering and

all the economic, health and security impacts of the

refugee process.

While we congratulate the Somali people on their

success on their accomplishing a peaceful transfer of

power and electing Mr. Hassan Sheik Mohamud as their

new President in a democratic environment, we hope

that those elections will lead to reconstruction of State

institutions; the restoration of peace and security to

Somalia; and an end to the humanitarian suffering and

its consequences, including the suffering of a million

Somali refugees in our country. We reaffirm the

Republic of Yemen’s position of support for the elected

Somali president and the Government he is forming. We

will spare no effort to enhance relations between our

two brotherly countries for our mutual benefit and in

the interests of security and stability and of countering

terrorism and piracy in the region.

In that context, the continuing and intensive influx

of migrants and asylum seekers into Yemen represents

a real threat to national security, peace and stability

in the region. It is essential that the international

community share that burden with Yemen, especially

since Yemen’s resources are being drained. Under the

exceptional conditions that Yemen is dealing with, it is

extremely difficult for us to cope with the continued

f low of arrivals.

The brutal ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Myanmar

makes it incumbent on the international community to

pay attention to that humanitarian tragedy and take

concrete steps to stop the series of violent and savage

acts being committed against that group. Considering the acts of ethnic brutality and other practices that have

occurred in recent months, it is not enough to issue

statements condemning and denouncing them. An

international committee should be set up to investigate

human rights violations against Muslims in that

country, deliver humanitarian aid to them and provide

guarantees to protect them against further violence and

atrocities.

Finally, I would like to reiterate my thanks to the

President of the General Assembly and the Secretary-

General. We greatly appreciate the role of the United

Nations as an international platform that brings together

all countries and nations of the globe for the sake of

peace, security, freedom, human rights and coexistence

between nations, religions and civilizations and their

common interests.