General Assembly Session 54 meeting 100

The President

In the letter contained in document A/54/915/Add.2, the Secretary-General informs the President of the General Assembly that, since the issuance of his communication contained in document A/54/915 and Add.1, Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Saint Lucia, Turkmenistan, Vanuatu and Yemen have made the necessary payments to reduce their arrears below the amount specified in Article 19 of the Charter.

May I take it that the General Assembly duly takes note of the information contained in that document?

The President

The General Assembly will now resume consideration of agenda item 22, entitled "Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal".

In this connection, I should like to draw the attention of the General Assembly to document A/54/971, which contains a solemn appeal that I made

on 1 September 2000 in connection with the observance of the Olympic Truce.

I will now read the solemn appeal:

"On 24 November 1999, the General Assembly adopted resolution 54/34, in which it urged Member States to observe the Olympic Truce during the games of the XXVII Olympiad, which will be held at Sydney, Australia, from 15 September to 1 October 2000.

"The idea of the Olympic Truce dates back to an ancient Greek tradition of ekecheiria, in keeping with which all hostilities would cease during the Games.

"Today, the Olympic Truce has become an expression of mankind's desire to build a world based on the rules of fair competition, peace, humanity and reconciliation. Moreover, the Olympic Truce epitomizes a bridge from the old and wise tradition to the most compelling purpose of the United Nations -- the maintenance of international peace and security. As the most visible illustration of this connection in goals and aspirations between the Olympic movement and the United Nations, the flag of the United Nations now flies at all competition sites of the Olympic Games.

"The forthcoming Sydney Games -- the first Olympic Games of the twenty-first century and of the new millennium -- should be a harmonious, athlete-oriented and environmentally

committed event. The period of the Games, and beyond, should provide an opportunity for dialogue, reconciliation and the search for durable solutions for the restoration of peace in all areas of conflict, where the first victims are the children, the youth and women.

"Humanity's quest is for a world free of hatred and war, a world where ideals of peace, goodwill and mutual respect form the basis of relations among countries. That goal may still remain elusive, but if the Olympic Truce can help us to bring about even a brief respite from conflict and strife, it will send a powerful message of hope to the international community. With the United Nations flag flying in Sydney at the XXVII Olympic Games, adherence to the Truce will gain even greater symbolism.

"I therefore solemnly appeal to all States to demonstrate their commitment to the spirit of fraternity and understanding among peoples by observing the Olympic Truce during the Sydney Games.

"I urge all those who are now engaged in armed struggle -- for whatever reasons and wherever it might be -- to suspend hostilities in keeping with the observance. I urge everybody, individually and collectively, to take the initiative to abide by the Olympic Truce as a way of promoting goodwill and encouraging the peaceful settlement of conflicts in full conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations."

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to take note of the solemn appeal in connection with the observance of the Olympic Truce?

The President

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 22?

The President

The General Assembly will resume its consideration of sub-item (b) of agenda item 49, entitled "The Millennium Assembly of the United Nations".

In this connection, the General Assembly has before it a draft resolution issued as document A/54/L.89.

In view of the need to dispose of this item expeditiously, I should like to consult the Assembly with a view to proceeding immediately to consider the draft resolution contained in document A/54/L.89. In this connection, since the draft resolution has been circulated only this morning, it would be necessary to waive the relevant provision of rule 78 of the rules of procedure, which reads as follows:

"As a general rule, no proposal shall be discussed or put to the vote at any meeting of the General Assembly unless copies of it have been circulated to all delegations not later than the day preceding the meeting."

Unless I hear any objections, I will take it that the Assembly agrees with this proposal.

The President

I give the floor to the representative of Iraq.

Mr. Al-Humaimidi (Iraq)

My country's delegation already presented its comments on paragraph 9, bullet 8, dealing with sanctions. We wish to reaffirm here that this eighth bullet contains a double-standard provision relating to economic sanctions. The paragraph does not reflect the point of view of the international community and United Nations Member States.

As expressed many times, General Assembly resolution 51/242, adopted by consensus, puts forward the basic principles -- namely, the need to exhaust all peaceful means before resorting to sanctions, which can only be considered as a last resort. Economic sanctions, if necessary, can be imposed only when they are in conformity with the principles of the Charter, after having determined the objectives of the sanctions, having a clear time table and having included provisions allowing for a regular re-examination of the sanctions and precise conditions linked to lifting them. Sanctions cannot be used for the purposes of pure revenge or reprisal.

Unfortunately, the United States and the United Kingdom and their Kuwaiti agents have insisted on maintaining this subparagraph as it is. This paragraph allows innocent populations to be targeted through sanctions. My delegation is surprised to see how this double standard policy can be so flagrantly used in such a United Nations document, adopted on the eve of the new millennium.

Why are we asking for a reduction of the harmful effects of the economic sanctions against innocent populations, and at the same time ask that they be removed from third countries? It would be better to remove the harmful effects of sanctions from innocent populations as well as third parties. My delegation has shown great flexibility in order to reach a consensus text. Unfortunately, once again we are forced to note that the United States, the United Kingdom and their Kuwaiti agents have insisted on keeping this paragraph, which has no legitimacy, either legal or moral. The delegation of this country cannot accept such a shameful text.

The President

As President of the General Assembly, I must take very serious exception to your implication that I too, as President of the General Assembly, am somehow under the control of those countries you mentioned, or others. There were more countries than those that you have mentioned who did not support you. You have the right to place on record the position of your Government, but I take very serious exception to the implication contained in the statement you have just made. I was fair to every single delegation, and the ruling that I made was based on a more than clear consensus of those who were present and joined the consensus.

We have heard the last speaker in the debate on sub-item (b) of agenda item 49. We shall now proceed to consider draft resolution A/54/L.89. The Assembly will now take a decision on that draft resolution, entitled "Draft United Nations Millennium Declaration". May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt draft resolution A/54/L.89?

The President

I shall now call on those representatives who wish to speak in explanation of position on the resolution just adopted.

Mr. Doutriaux (France)

On behalf of the European Union, we are happy with the work that you, Mr. President, have carried out. You have said several times in informal meetings that you were a major combatant and you have proved once again that you are a major combatant for the United Nations and for the success of the Millennium Summit.

On behalf of France, I have a brief statement to make. France has a reservation to the idea of convening an international conference to identify ways of eliminating nuclear dangers. In relation to the options which can lead to the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, we would recall our preference for convening a fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament.

Ms. King (United States)

On behalf of the United States I would like to make some comments on the document which we are transmitting to the fifty-fifth General Assembly to be read as a declaration at the end of the Millennium Summit to be held from 6 to 8 September.

Earlier this year, the fifty-fourth General Assembly accepted an important challenge. The challenge was to draw upon the observations so eloquently expressed in the Secretary-General's March report, a discussion of the role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century, in order to develop a declaration which would allow the Heads of State and Government who are even now converging on New York to reaffirm their faith in the United Nations and its Charter.

I do not need to tell you, Mr. President, or anyone else gathered in this room, that the draft we have before us is the result of extensive negotiation and significant compromise by many, if not all, member States. Our combined goal was a consensus document summarizing values essential to international relations in the twenty-first century, and identifying key objectives for the future. While the document we have before us generally meets that goal, the United States has reservations about certain aspects of this text. Specifically, in the section referring to the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, the document continues to refer to keeping all options open, including the possibility of convening an international conference to identify ways of eliminating nuclear dangers. The United States has strong and often repeated reservations to such a conference.

The United States welcomes the reference in this document to the issue of climate change and is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We believe strongly that climate change is a global problem requiring a global solution. We also note that economic growth and emissions growth need not go together. Over the past two years, United States economic growth has been 4 per cent or higher, and growth in greenhouse emissions has been 1 per cent or lower.

With respect to the Kyoto Protocol, the United States notes that ratification in many countries, including the United States, is subject to the approval of national legislators, and that no reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are required by the Protocol, unless and until that agreement is ratified and enters into force.

Finally, in the important section focused on meeting the special needs of Africa, the United States regrets that the paragraph describing measures to address the challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development in Africa, made reference to debt cancellation. The United States believes that it would have been more accurate and useful to refer to the need, which the United States recognizes and supports, for member States and international financial institutions to work with the Governments of African countries to develop programmes of debt relief, including debt forgiveness, taking into account demonstrable commitments to poverty reduction.

Mr. Gatilov (Russia)

In view of the adoption of draft resolution A/54/L.89, by which the Assembly decides to refer the draft United Nations Millennium Declaration to the Millennium Summit, and especially in view of its reference to striving for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, the Russian delegation wishes to note that progress towards the goal of nuclear disarmament is necessary for the implementation of agreements already in existence. We should strive for the elimination of the nuclear threat in the context of the strengthening of strategic stability.

Mr. Wang Donghua (China)

As always, the Chinese delegation has supported you, Mr. President, in all your efforts to achieve a good draft United Nations Millennium Declaration, and the draft text we have just adopted is indeed a good one. The Chinese delegation, moreover, is in agreement with it.

Turning to paragraph 9, bullet 9, on the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, the Chinese delegation understands the views of some countries on the convening of an international conference on nuclear dangers. It is our hope that such a conference can be convened within the existing disarmament framework.

Mr. Mekprayoonthong (Thailand)

We would like to express a concern of which we have spoken before regarding paragraph 9, bullet 10. We would have preferred the words "especially by making arms transfers more transparent and supporting regional disarmament measures" to have been deleted.

Mr. Apata (Nigeria)

Speaking on behalf of the Nigerian delegation and of the Group of 77, I wish to express our sincere appreciation to you, Mr. President, and to congratulate you and your team on your outstanding work on the draft United Nations Millennium Declaration, a text of which we can all be proud and which undoubtedly will stand the test of time.

I want only to add my suggestion that the delegations that have indicated reservations here and there should please reconsider, because this declaration will be adopted at the summit level. I make a special appeal to them to waive such reservations; this is a draft Declaration that we should all endorse because we are in a new millennium.