General Assembly Session 54 meeting 55

Mr. Santos (Mozambique)

I have the honer to speak on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member States, namely, Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and my own country, Mozambique. The SADC countries would like to associate themselves with the statements made by South Africa and the Sudan on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement and the African Group, respectively.

As the United Nations Decade of International Law is now reaching its end, we think it is time to pause and take stock of the achievements and the work undertaken during the Decade. At the dawn of a new millennium, this exercise is not only appropriate but also necessary as a way to gather momentum and inspiration to face the many challenges that still await the world in the years ahead.

The world is witnessing the phenomenon of globalization, making cooperation among nations imperative. On the other hand, war and violence still ravage many parts of the world, claiming millions of innocent lives and causing social and economic havoc.

It is a tragic reality that the African continent is one which is characterized by strife and conflicts, the majority of which are internal conflicts. Southern Africa, in particular, has been and continues to be subject to these types of conflicts, which have resulted in untold suffering, destruction and loss of life and property.

If we truly want to avert such situations, all nations of the world must be guided in their relations by the principles and rules of international law and resolve their disputes by peaceful means, as proposed in the statement of the Decade's main purposes.

It is in this spirit that SADC countries participated actively in many international forums, at the subregional, regional and international levels, where important treaties were adopted. In this regard, we must acknowledge the undeniable and remarkable advances achieved during the decade in the area of progressive development and codification of international law, one of the main purposes of the Decade.

The Rio Declaration adopted in 1992 built on the Stockholm Declaration of 1972 and created the guiding principles of international environmental law, including Agenda 21. Subsequently, several conventions have been adopted in compliance with these principles and in order to regulate specific areas of international environmental law, thus creating a new and autonomous body of international law.

Many other extremely important conventions have also been adopted, such as the Ottawa Convention on landmines and the Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses.

The adoption in Rome, in 1998, of the Statute of the International Criminal Court constitutes a landmark of the Decade. SADC countries participated actively in the negotiation of the Rome Statute. We believe that the early entry into force of the Statute and the commencement of the Court's operations will put an end to the culture of impunity and will help establish a culture of peace worldwide.

Certainly another major achievement was the entry into force in 1994 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the subsequent establishment and effective functioning of various organs provided for in the Convention, including the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. That Tribunal constitutes an additional and specialized forum for the peaceful settlement of disputes, complementary to the International Court of Justice. Adequate resources must be provided to these bodies in order to permit them to function adequately.

This year the Summit of SADC heads of State or Government had the theme "SADC in the Next Millennium -- Working Together for Peace, Progress and Prosperity". That Summit adopted regional legal instruments on wildlife conservation and on law enforcement. The Summit also noted the entry into force of the charter of the Regional Tourism Organization of Southern Africa and of the regional protocols on shared watercourse systems, energy, transport, communications and meteorology. Previously, SADC countries had adopted or ratified a wide range of protocols and agreements that regulate areas such as tourism, wildlife conservation, drug trafficking, energy and transport.

The organization reiterated its strong commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes through local mechanisms of conflict prevention, management and resolution, thus assuming its role in contributing to the maintenance of peace and security in the region. It was also in southern Africa that the first meeting of States parties to the Ottawa treaty on landmines took place in May of this year. This was a demonstration of the importance of the involvement of all nations, regardless of their economic capacity, in the effort to attain the goals of peace and stability in the world.

The SADC countries would like to express their sincere gratitude to the Governments of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Russian Federation for having initiated and co-hosted -- as a well-deserved tribute at the close of the United Nations Decade of International Law -- the centennial celebrations of the first International Peace Conference. The meetings at The Hague and St. Petersburg were excellent occasions for reflecting on important issues of disarmament, humanitarian law and the peaceful settlement of disputes, which today are as much a part of the world's main agenda as they were a hundred years ago.

In southern Africa, representatives of SADC member States, as well as of all sectors of society, were invited to participate in a seminar held earlier this year in Pretoria to commemorate the first International Peace Conference of 1889. The seminar re-evaluated the aims and aspirations of the Hague Conference in the light of the specific problems and needs of the African continent, and in particular of the southern African region.

It was emphasized at the seminar that, although the potential use of nuclear weapons remains an ever-present danger and a very real threat, the real and present danger of all conflicts is the threat posed by small arms. Small arms are responsible for the killing of millions of people, mostly civilians, in many regions of the world, particularly in Africa. If the ideals of the Hague Conference are to be pertinent and relevant to the African continent, then the pressing problem of the use and proliferation of small arms will have to be addressed.

The southern African region in particular suffers from a surfeit of available weapons. The proliferation of small arms in the southern African region is a product both of the past and of the current demand for arms for specific security needs and criminal purposes. The task of regulating and controlling these arms is huge and multifaceted, and the most effective means to accomplish it is through regional cooperation. Fortunately, there is a growing willingness to engage in such regional cooperation and a genuine desire for peace and development in the southern African region. Practical steps are under way in this regard.

The spirit of The Hague should guide us to the next millennium. It proposes seeking an end to violence, through the peaceful settlement of disputes and a humanitarian approach. Every peace-loving nation must remain committed to the spirit of the Hague Conference and to the goals of the Decade if we are indeed to create a better world guided by the international rule of law.

The strong wind of change in the world, calling for the establishment of democratic, transparent and just systems of governance based on full respect for the rule of law, must also reach the international-relations scene. We call on all the nations of the world to work together for a better millennium, free of violence and poverty -- a world without haves and have-nots, a world where peace is the rule rather than an exception.

The objectives of the Decade remain as valid today as they were 10 years ago. It is our wish that the United Nations will continue to be active and vigilant in promoting the objectives of the Decade into the next millennium.