Zimbabwe, 1982

It is my privilege to deliver the statement of

the Republic of Zimbabwe to the Assembly on

behalf of my Minister for Foreign Affairs, who

has had to go home on urgent business. The

following is his statement.

The Government and people of the Republic of

Zimbabwe warmly greet the Secretary General and

all delegations and wish the session success. I

should like to take this opportunity to

congratulate Mr. Hollai on his election to the

presidency of the thirty seventh session of the

General Assembly. He has my best wishes and those

of my delegation in the very important

responsibility which the Assembly has placed on

his shoulders. He can certainly count on my

delegation's cooperation with him in his work.

May I also join other speakers who have paid a

thoroughly deserved tribute to Mr. Kittani of

Iraq, for the way in which he presided over the

thirty sixth session of the General Assembly, as

well as the special sessions.

As this is the first opportunity for me to offer

my personal congratulations to Mr. Perez de

Cuellar, on his election to the highest office in

the Organization, I wish to do so now. This is,

of course, in addition to the messages of

felicitation and good wishes which the Government

of Zimbabwe communicated to the Secretary General

through the normal channels soon after his

election and also during the recent special

session of the General Assembly devoted to

disarmament. The Government of the Republic of

Zimbabwe is particularly satisfied at his

election for several reasons, the most important

of which are his outstanding qualities both as a

person and as a diplomat, which are well known to

all in this Assembly, and, equally important, the

great honor which his election represents to his

country, Peru, to the nonaligned movement and to

the third world.

There can be no denying the fact that the thirty

seventh session of the General Assembly is taking

place against the background of a critically

deteriorating international situation. I wish to

refer to some of the things which contribute to

this atmosphere of fear, tension and insecurity

in our world. In so doing it is my sincere hope

that when we conclude this session we shall all,

as individuals and nations, rededicate and

recommit ourselves to the high principles of the

Charter and to world peace.

The current vicious arms race, especially the

nuclear arms race, if it is not quickly and

effectively checked, could lead only to a nuclear

conflict, resulting in the complete destruction

of this planet; and, as the Secretary General has

already warned in his report on the work of the

Organization, nothing worthwhile will survive a

nuclear holocaust if one comes. Let us remind

ourselves, therefore, that what is at stake here

is the survival of the human race. If so far,

however, we have been spared this no victor, no

vanquished' war, it is perhaps because the world

has not yet been so unfortunate as to produce

persons sufficiently crazy and foolish to wish to

inscribe their own names on the pages of history

which no one will ever survive to recount.

It has already been observed by speakers before

me that Mother serious threat to world peace and

security is the production and stockpiling of

more sophisticated conventional weapons. Although

they know full well the destructive capacities of

such inhuman weapons, some of the nation’s

possessing them seems most eager to employ them

in the pursuit of so called national interests

and objectives, the achievement of which does not

seem beyond means that are more acceptable under

civilized international law. In fact, those who

possess these dangerous weapons of death and

destruction often assume postures and positions

which render ineffectual the mediatory and peace

keeping efforts of the United Nations and other

international bodies concerned with seeking

peaceful solutions to conflicts. Such has been

the common frustration of the Security Council,

the OAU, the nonaligned movement and other

international and regional organizations. In most

conflicts threatening regional or international

stability, peace and security, such as, for

instance, those in the Middle East, the Persian

Gulf, the South Atlantic recently, Afghanistan,

South East Asia or southern Africa to mention

some of the current areas of tension and conflict

resolutions and decisions of those organizations

are met more with defiance and violation than

with compliance. We in Zimbabwe had as, indeed,

has all peace loving peoples of the world high

hopes and expectations of the second special

session of the General Assembly on disarmament.

We are just as deeply disappointed that the

session did not produce any tangible result.

However, in spite of the failure of the special

session, we remain even more firmly convinced

that there can be no other course for the

international community than to continue its

efforts to achieve arms control leading

ultimately to total disarmament. This will not

only ensure peace for us as individuals and

nations, but will certainly lead to a fresh and

more balanced review of our already critically

deranged sense of priorities in the allocation

and distribution of the scarce resources of our

planet. For example, we are convinced that the

$US 500 billion now annually squandered on arms

of death and destruction will be diverted towards

national, regional and interregional

developmental projects designed to benefit people

rather than to destroy them.

It is not being suggested or implied here that

success in arms control or disarmament will

create a world free of tension and even conflict.

These will always be there. What is being

suggested, however, is that the temptation to

resort lightly to the use or threat of force in

resolving political disputes between nations is

likely to be reduced markedly?

A cursory review on a regional basis of our

world, and especially of the political scene,

will very quickly reveal how far we have wandered

from the path, the ideals and the goals which

inspired the authors of the Charter of this great

Organization, of which we are all proud to be

members. I wish to start this review with the

southern African region. There the Apartheid and

racist Pretoria regime continues its oppressive

and repressive policies against the black

majority in South Africa. The same racist regime

continues its illegal occupation of Namibia in

defiance of the resolutions, decisions and

declarations of this Organization, the OAU and

the nonaligned movement and the wishes and

demands of the people of Namibia.

When in 1978 the five Western countries now known

as the Western contact group successfully

persuaded the Security Council to adopt the now

well known resolution 435, they argued that this

proposal offered prospects of an immediate

peaceful ending of racist South Africa's illegal

colonization of Namibia. Indeed, resolution 435

has since been universally accepted as the only

fair, practical and realistic basis for the

peaceful settlement of the Namibian independence

question. Efforts have since been made to

implement the plan, which the illegal regime also

accepted. Yet Namibia still remains occupied.

I wish to refer briefly to the most recent

efforts involving the front line States, Nigeria

and SWAPO on the one hand and the Western contact

group and South Africa on the other. The front

line States, Nigeria and SWAPO cooperated in

these efforts, genuinely hoping that they would

facilitate the implementation of the United

Nations plan outlined in Security Council

resolution 435. During and after the abortive

Geneva Conference in 1981, the Western contact

group informed all concerned that South Africa

had certain concerns which must be dispelled

before the implementation of the United Nations

plan for Namibian independence. We were further

persuaded that once these so called concerns had

been dispelled South Africa would cooperate in

the implementation of resolution 435.

We can say without hesitation that all the

participants in the recent consultations,

including South Africa itself, were agreed at the

end of the exercise that South Africa's concerns

regarding resolution 435 had all been completely

allayed; that is, all matters and questions relating

to resolution 435 (1978) and to the

implementation of the United Nations plan had

been discussed and fully clarified to the

satisfaction of all concerned, including South

Africa. I should mention in passing, however,

that South Africa still has to specify which of

the two electoral methods will be employed in

Namibia, that of single member constituencies or

that of proportional representation.

It must be emphasized here that SWAPO has time

and again reiterated its readiness to sign a

cease fire agreement and to take part in free and

fair elections under United Nations supervision,

as provided for in the United Nations plan. As

representatives here will recall, this has been

SWAPO's position since the abortive Geneva

Conference of 1981.

What, then, the General Assembly must be asking

itself, is blocking progress towards the

implementation of Security Council resolution 435

(1978)? The front line States, Nigeria and SWAPO

are and have long been ready to proceed to the

next point at anytime, as soon as the electoral

method is known. SWAPO needs to know this in

order to make the necessary preparations for the

elections.

What I have said so far indicates tremendous

progress towards a peaceful settlement of the

Namibian question. Let me also say that this

progress is greatly attributable to SWAPO's

cooperation and to the air of optimism and

momentum generated in the capitals of the Western

contact group before and during the six weeks of

consultations. Yet all this momentum and good

will may soon be lost if South Africa and some

members of the Western contact group continue to

manufacture pretexts for delaying the

implementation of Security Council resolution 435

(1978).

In this regard, let me make Zimbabwe's position

very clear. I am referring here to the politics

of linkage and parallelism which have been

formulated to make the departure of Cuban troops

from the People's Republic of Angola a pre

condition of the independence of Namibia. This

strategy, which is not related in any way to

Security Council resolution 435 (1978), and which

is the creation of certain members of the contact

group and Apartheid South Africa in order to

promote and serve their own bilateral interests,

is totally unacceptable to Zimbabwe. Dragging the

issue of the Cuban presence in Angola into the

Namibian question is an unwarranted and

unacceptable interference in bilateral affairs

and relations between the sovereign States of

Angola and Cuba, which are Members of the

Organization and of the nonaligned movement.

Moreover, those who subscribe to this ridiculous

and absurd view should be reminded that, while

racist and colonialist South Africa continually

commits acts of aggression against the People's

Republic of Angola, Cuban troops have never set

foot on South African soil. With regard to the

obnoxious system in South Africa itself,

Zimbabwe's position is well known. We have always

said that we should like to see the total

dismantling of Apartheid and racist minority rule

in that part of our region. We demand instead a

democratic system of government which sees all

the people of that country, regardless of race,

religion, language and sex, as equal citizens of

their land. We call upon the leaders of the

Apartheid regime in Pretoria to negotiate with

the legitimate leadership of the oppressed and

exploited black majority with a view to working

out ways and means of establishing a system of

government guaranteeing every South African

freedom and social justice. The recently proposed

so called Presidential Council giving limited

representation to South Africans of mixed race

and Asians in that country is totally

unacceptable to the people of South Africa, who

are now solidly behind the armed struggle

prosecuted by their liberation forces.

The Government and the people of Zimbabwe support

the struggle for liberation, equality and social

justice being waged by the liberation movements

in South Africa. We strongly condemn the

continued incarceration of Comrade Nelson Mandela

and other legitimate leaders of the people of

South Africa by the racist Pretoria regime. This

and the numerous political murders committed by

the racist rulers against the opponents of the

iniquitous system are also violations of human

rights. We appeal to the international community

to continue and even to intensify its material,

moral, diplomatic and political support to the

struggling people of South Africa in their

commendable efforts to free themselves from the

Apartheid yoke.

In its desperate efforts to frustrate the

liberation process in Namibia and the dismantling

of the Apartheid system within its borders, the

oppressive regime is busy waging destabilizing

campaigns against the neighboring independent and

sovereign States of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho,

Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Economic

blackmail, bullying and sabotage, political

propaganda and subversion, and open military

aggression and mercenarism are the common tactics

employed by Apartheid in its campaign of regional

destabilization. As the Assembly is well aware,

the regime's forces have been occupying part of

Angola's territory for a year now and there is

sufficient evidence that more incursions are

being planned.

The abortive coup d’état against the legitimate

Government of the Republic of Seychelles earlier

this year by Pretoria mercenaries and criminals

is also part of this campaign of destabilization.

So also is the recruiting, training, equipping

and supporting of dissident groups in some of the

neighboring independent States for the purpose of

resisting legitimate Governments there.

Zimbabwe's position on the question of the

destabilization of neighboring States by South

Africa is that this will not deter us from our

declared policy of offering moral support and

whatever material support we can to the

liberation struggle in that land. Zimbabwe

demands that the Pretoria regime should stop

forthwith its destabilizing campaigns against our

countries. It should withdraw its forces from

Angola forthwith and unconditionally. The white

minority Government of apartheid South Africa

must be warned that no country has any right

whatsoever to violate international law with

impunity. I should now like, before leaving the

African region, to turn to the question of

Western Sahara. As the Assembly knows, this

question has for a long time been on the agenda

of the OAU and of the United Nations. The people

of the Sahraoui Arab Democratic Republic deserve

more support in their just struggle for self

determination in accordance with General Assembly

resolution 1514 (XV). Because the Government of

the Republic of Zimbabwe is totally convinced of

the justness of the Sahraoui people's cause,

Zimbabwe has recognized the Sahraoui Arab

Democratic Republic as an independent and

sovereign State. We believe that the resolution

adopted by the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and

Government at its eighteenth session, held at

Nairobi in 1981, providing for the signing of a

cease fire between Morocco and the POLISARIO and

for the holding of a referendum to be

administered by a neutral force offers the best

prospects for settling the question of Western

Sahara.

Zimbabwe views with deep concern efforts by

certain members of the OAU, apparently with

outside encouragement, to polarize and therefore

paralyse the OAU.

The past few months have witnessed a tragic

deterioration in the situation in the Middle East

region, as has been horribly exemplified by

Zionist Israel's invasion and occupation of

Lebanon and the massacring of thousands of

innocent Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and

Shatila camps on 16 and 17 September. The

civilized international community was deeply

outraged, shocked and revolted by this genocidal

act and crime against humanity, whose sadism can

only be compared to the crimes committed by the

Nazis, ironically enough against Jewish people,

during the Second World War. Surely the world

cannot behave as if the thousands of defenseless

men, women and children in the two camps were

killed by a natural disaster. The barbaric

slaughter was planned and carried out by the

Zionist Government. That Government and its

supporters who, if they had wanted to do so,

could have prevented the massacres, should be

held responsible for this crime against humanity

and appropriately punished by the international

community.

We have time and again emphasized that no

solution of the Middle East question will be

acceptable unless it recognizes the inalienable

right of the Palestinian people to national self

determination and to the establishment of a

Palestinian State under the leadership of the PLO.

It is our view that the Palestinians and their

Lebanese brothers and sisters richly deserve to

be commended for their courage, resilience and

determination in the face of naked aggression and

intimidation by Zionist Israel. Zimbabwe salutes

them, especially the gallant PLO forces who for

several weeks courageously defended their people

against Zionist butchers.

While still in the Middle East, we should like to

express our deep concern about the continuing

conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and

Iraq. It is our sincere hope that peace may come

to this area where regional stability and

security are seriously threatened.

Afghanistan is another area of concern to the

Organization and we feel obliged to reiterate our

position with regard to it. We feel that a

political settlement is urgent and that this is

only possible on the basis of the withdrawal of

foreign forces and the cessation of all outside

influences and pressures. Accordingly we call

upon all concerned to respect that country's

independence, sovereignty and nonaligned status.

With regard to Cyprus, Zimbabwe would again want

to see the end to all forms of foreign

intervention and interference, so that the people

of that republic may be able to determine their

own future freely. The Government of Zimbabwe

strongly supports the independence, sovereignty,

territorial integrity and nonaligned status of

Cyprus, as one united country. We share the

concern expressed by many speakers before us that

the intercommoned dialogue initiated under the

auspices of the Secretary General’s Special

Representative has not yet produced any tangible

results.

Poland is another area of international concern.

Our own view is that it is only the people of

that country free of external pressure,

intervention and interference who can resolve

their internal problems. We believe very strongly

that any solution imposed from outside and

against the will of the Polish people is totally

unacceptable.

Zimbabwe's position with regard to the situation

in South East Asia remains unchanged. We believe

very strongly in a peaceful political solution to

the Kampuchean problem in accordance with the

principles of the United Nations and the

nonaligned movement. Thus, we would like to see

the withdrawal of all foreign troops from

Kampuchean soil so that the various factions

contending for the mastery of that country might

meet to discuss and resolve their differences for

the benefit of the suffering masses of that

country.

Zimbabwe believes in the principle of self

determination and the termination of all forms

and manifestations of colonialism. For that

reason we find unacceptable Indonesia's military

intervention in East Timor. It is our belief,

therefore, that the struggle waged by the East

Timorese under the leadership of FRETILIN is a

just one, deserving international support. We

call upon Indonesia to withdraw its forces from

East Timor.

I should like to tum to the question of the

Korean peninsula, another area of major

international concern. We note with great regret

that the massive foreign military build up in the

South continues unabated and poses a grave threat

to international peace and security. The enemies

of Korean unity and the supporters of the two

Koreas myth have also been trying to confuse the

international community by their deceitful talk

of the possibility of free and fair elections in

the South. This cheap propaganda cannot deceive

anybody, as we all know that there can be no free

and fair elections in a territory under military

occupation.

While my Government will support negotiations

between North and South Korea, we believe that nomeaningful

negotiations are possible under the prevailing

conditions. We would therefore like to see the

immediate withdrawal of foreign forces from the

South, so as to create an atmosphere conducive to

mutual trust between the artificially divided

people of the peninsula. It is our strong view

that President Kim Sung's proposal for a

confederate system offers realistic prospects for

a settlement in the troubled area. If adopted, it

has every chance of putting the Korean people on

the road leading to the ultimate goal of complete

Korean reunification.

The recent crisis over the Falkland or Malvinas

Islands in the South Atlantic merits comment. In

that regard, we believe that the tragic events in

that region could have been avoided if the

parties to the conflict had observed the

principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

As Zimbabwe is opposed to the use of force in the

settlement of disputes between States, we wish to

urge the two parties to seek a peaceful, just and

lasting settlement through negotiations.

I wish to comment briefly on the international

economic situation. It will be recalled that it

was at the Fourth Conference of Heads of State or

Government of Non Aligned Countries, held at

Algiers in 1973, that the idea of a new

international economic order was introduced. That

concept, which has since been debated at many

meetings and conferences, is attractive to the

developing countries, as it seeks to halt the

perpetuation of a misdistribution of our world's

wealth. Last year, in this very Hall my

delegation and many others referred to and warned

against the dangerous deterioration in the world

economic situation. That same warning is still

very relevant today, especially since that

deterioration in the world economic situation may

adversely affect world stability, peace and

security.

Zimbabwe and all developing countries have been

hoping, almost in vain, that a conciliatory

spirit would intervene to facilitate the

concluding of global negotiations for a new

international economic order. Unfortunately,

however, up to now no progress has been achieved,

as several opportunities have been lost.

While the industrialized countries continue to be

uncooperative on this vital matter, their own

economies have not been able to escape the

ravages of one of the worst world economic

situations. It must be observed, however, that

developing economies are the hardest hit. The

industrialized countries are experiencing

inflationary spirals, massive unemployment,

currency weaknesses and high interest rates. Slow

growth rates are becoming a common feature of

their economies, too. Regrettably, these

recessionary conditions are now being used as

excuses for inward looking policies and for

protectionism against export commodities from

developing countries. We call for the immediate

liberalization of trade relations in favor of

developing countries. The balance of payment

problems of the developing countries continue to

grow. The deficits of the latter countries,

especially the non oil producing countries, have

reached astronomical figures, reflecting the

multiple crises afflicting the international

economy. Clearly, the international monetary

system needs restructuring to reflect

contemporary economic realities. The core of such

a system should be the participation of the

developing countries in the decision making

process and the enhancement of their ability to

have a significant impact on the democratization

of the international monetary system.

The problem of energy is closely linked to that

of our economic development. Our countries have

serious difficulties in meeting their oil

requirements, and the oil bills of non oil

exporting developing countries have reached

unprecedented proportions. This is, however, an

area where the developed countries and the oil

exporting, newly industrializing countries can

play a crucial role in alleviating the general

paralysis now crippling oil importing developing

countries. We do appreciate the efforts made by

some members of the Organization of Petroleum

Exporting Countries to try to resolve this acute

problem. What we would appreciate even more is

greater cooperation in the exploration of energy

resources, especially in the area of new and

renewable sources of energy.

Another area of concern to us is that of global

food supplies. The eradication of hunger and

malnutrition is, and should be, a collective

international effort. The establishment of a

world food security system and an internationally

coordinated system of nationally held food

reserves would go a long way towards ameliorating

current world food shortages and would also

guarantee surpluses for our expanding populations.

It is quite obvious that most countries cannot

escape the malignant consequences of the world

economic crisis. Indeed, some countries are faced

with stagnation and outright zero growth rates.

There is therefore the need to intensify economic

cooperation and collective self reliance among

States, particularly among the developing

countries. The new international economic order

will, however, remain illusory unless the

developing countries prove that they are willing

to be assertive and determined to play an

effective role in international economic

relations.

Finally, may I congratulate and thank the

Secretary General for his frank, objective and

honest report on the work of the United Nations,

to which I have already had occasion to refer in

my statement. The delegation of Zimbabwe agrees

entirely with every aspect of the report and

strongly endorses the references to the need to

examine more critically the peace keeping and

peace making roles of the United Nations,

especially the Security Council. The Secretary

General's report is both a welcome inspiration to

my delegation and a challenge at a time when

Zimbabwe is looking forward with humility to

serving on the Security Council. The report has

certainly refocused our attention on the noble

purposes and principles of the Charter, to which

Zimbabwe is recommitting and rededicating itself.