General Assembly Session 63 meeting 6

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Finland.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations Her Excellency Ms. Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland, and to invite her to address the Assembly.

President Halonen (Finland)

Let me first congratulate you, Sir, on your election to preside over the sixty-third session of the General Assembly. We express our full support for your presidency. I also thank the Secretary-General for his resolute efforts to promote the United Nations and its values.

Finland aligns itself with the statement of the European Union.

Our world is facing unforeseen challenges, such as climate change and the food crisis. The current economic turmoil also requires decisive action. At the same time, we have not been able to rid ourselves of conventional crisis. Unfortunately, armed conflicts are still a reality all over the world. Too often, we -- the international community -- are unable to agree on a common response. Too often, people affected by poverty and conflicts are let down.

The need to adapt the international architecture to these challenges is deeper than ever. We need an efficient United Nations to find common solutions for our future. The United Nations represents collective security in its most global form. Finland is committed to building a more secure, fair and just world through a reformed and credible United Nations.

I had the pleasure earlier this week of presenting to the Secretary-General the final report of the Helsinki Process on Globalization and Democracy. The main political message of this joint initiative of Finland and the United Republic of Tanzania is that some of the challenges posed by globalization can be solved only through multi-stakeholder dialogue, and that the United Nations could play an important role in facilitating and developing new practices for such cooperation.

Climate change must be addressed with vigour. Otherwise, it can wipe out our achievements in the field of sustainable development and even bring into question the whole future of mankind. Recent extreme weather phenomena can be a serious indication of the challenges we are about to face. Multilateral engagement and shared responsibility are the only effective means to tackle this global menace. Others' indifference is no excuse for inaction. Climate change is a matter of our responsibility to future generations. There is no place for petty politics or recrimination.

The United Nations has to play a leading role in the global response to climate change. We must reach a comprehensive global agreement on a new international climate regime. The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference will take place in December next year. It is evident that global commitments need to be implemented and also supplemented by national and regional action. It is important to include all stakeholders, from non-governmental organizations to private enterprises, and from individual citizens to Governments. We need everybody; it is necessary that women too can participate fully in this work.

Industrialized countries have to bear their share in mitigating climate change. However, international negotiations on the new climate regime cannot succeed without extensive participation by the developing countries. We must actively support the most vulnerable developing countries in adapting to and combating climate change.

There is mounting evidence that poverty, especially in rural areas, can be reduced by sustainable management of natural resources. Forests are crucial in reducing greenhouse gases. Finland has a long history of sustainable forest management, and we understand its impact on rural development and employment. We would like the United Nations to intensify its efforts to assist Governments and communities to improve their capacities for rural development and sustainable forest management. We are of course ready to work with others in this respect.

I am pleased to be a co-host, together with the President of Liberia, Ms. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, my friend, of the International Colloquium on Women's Empowerment, to be held in Liberia next March. The conference will address women's role in climate change, security, governance and leadership.

Rising food prices are a challenge with worldwide consequences. Once again the poorest and the most vulnerable -- women and children -- suffer the most. Food shortages lead to deterioration of diets, and can provoke social unrest. Effective Government action and improved donor coordination are crucial in tackling the food crisis. The United Nations Comprehensive Framework for Action is an excellent initiative in addressing this global challenge.

Parallel to the short-term response, attention must be paid to medium- and long-term policies in enhancing food security. Support for the rural sector is crucial for sustainable and equitable development, growth and well-being. Moreover, the promotion of good agricultural practices is among the best approaches to adaptation to climate change.

This food issue can also provide opportunities. If developing countries are supported in the spirit of the Aid for Trade agenda, they can better take advantage of their agricultural potential, including exporting. And we need to ensure, again, that both women and men benefit from support, keeping in mind that women produce most of the food in many developing countries.

The United Nations currently deploys well over 100,000 military and civilian personnel in peacekeeping operations. This is a remarkable figure, and we, the Member States, must continue to support the United Nations efforts in this field. The United Nations and regional organizations should work closer together in carrying the burden in preventing and resolving conflicts.

Increased cooperation should be extended to the African Union. We already have good cooperation and experience in our own region, because improving efficiency and improving cooperation between the European Union and the United Nations remain a top priority. In Kosovo, and most recently also in Georgia, we continue close cooperation between the United Nations, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

That is why I also dare to say that increased cooperation should be extended to the African Union. A continued United Nations peacekeeping presence in Chad and in the Central African Republic would contribute to wider stabilization efforts, both locally and regionally.

Tackling today's multifold conflicts requires a comprehensive approach to security. Trade, development policy and humanitarian aid need to be utilized alongside traditional crisis management tools. We must -- even better than today -- take women and children into account in conflicts and post-conflict peacebuilding.

We have made good decisions. We have to make them become reality. I am pleased to inform the Assembly that last Friday Finland published a national action plan on implementing Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). We hope that more and more member countries will do the same.

Furthermore, there can be no sustainable peace without justice. Finland strongly supports the International Criminal Court in rejecting impunity for the most serious international crimes.

Finally, I want to share my memories and experience. I had the privilege to co-preside over the Millennium Summit with President Sam Nujoma of Namibia eight years ago. We witnessed leaders having the spirit and the courage to adopt the Millennium Declaration and to make a commitment on the Millennium Development Goals. It is our duty to fulfil these commitments. Africa requires our devoted attention and support, as was agreed yesterday. Let us work for it, because today, in this Hall, it is once again time to pledge our joint commitment to the ideas and values of the United Nations.

Everyone present may remember what the Charter calls us to do: "to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security". While the concept of security has changed and become broader, the onus is on us to follow this call of the Charter and translate it into action.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Finland for the statement she has just made.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Haris Silajdzi, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Silajdzi (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

It is an honour to address the General Assembly at its sixty-third session.

Allow me to express my gratitude to Mr. Srgjan Kerim, who ably presided over the Assembly during the preceding year, and to congratulate you, Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, the new President of the General Assembly. I also thank you, Sir, for an inspiring appeal for respect for basic, universal ethical values.

The first time I stood at this rostrum was in May 1992, as the Foreign Minister of a newly independent Bosnia and Herzegovina. At that time, I recounted the unspeakable atrocities that were unfolding in my country. I also warned that, if not stopped, such atrocities would only get worse. In fact, I merely asked that Bosnia and Herzegovina be accorded the right to defend itself, the right guaranteed by the Charter.

We know what has happened since. Some in the international community insisted on maintaining the arms embargo imposed by the Security Council in 1991, thus adding to the obviously overwhelming military advantage of Milosevic's regime, which was bent on destroying Bosnia and Herzegovina and its people. They justified this course by claiming that lifting the arms embargo meant adding oil to the fire. The result was that the fire was quelled with the blood of the innocent.

According to International Committee of the Red Cross data, 200,000 people -- 12,000 of them children -- were killed, up to 50,000 women were raped, and 2.2 million people were forced to flee their homes. This was a veritable genocide and sociocide. The intent of the perpetrators of this genocide was to forever destroy the unique multi-ethnic fabric of Bosnia and Herzegovina through mass slaughter, rape, torture, abuse, expulsion and plunder. In spite of this, defenders of our country conducted themselves honourably, as demonstrated by the acquittal by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of most of Bosnia and Herzegovina's military leadership.

All this culminated in Srebrenica in July 1995. The International Court of Justice -- the court of this Organization -- ruled in its Judgment of 26 February 2007 that "the Bosnian Serbs devised and implemented a plan to execute as many as possible of the military aged Bosnian Muslim men present in the enclave" (para. 292) and that

"the acts committed at Srebrenica ... were committed with the specific intent to destroy in part the group of the Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina as such; and accordingly ... these were acts of genocide, committed by members of the [Army of Republika Srpska] in and around Srebrenica from about 13 July 1995." (para. 297)

Through its acts and omissions, the United Nations, by its own admission, bears part of the responsibility for the crimes committed at Srebrenica. In fact, the Secretary-General's 1999 report on Srebrenica unequivocally states:

"Through error, misjudgement and an inability to recognize the scope of the evil confronting us, we failed to do our part to help save the people of Srebrenica from the Serb campaign of mass murder ... Srebrenica crystallized a truth understood only too late by the United Nations and the world at large: that Bosnia was as much a moral cause as a military conflict. The tragedy of Srebrenica will haunt our history forever." (A/54/549, para. 503)

We do not want the United Nations to be haunted. This Organization's credibility is too important to the world to carry the burden of this failure. Errors can be committed, but errors must not be repeated. We want the United Nations to right the wrongs. In fact, international law mandates that this must be done. The International Law Commission's articles on State responsibility for internationally wrongful acts, adopted in resolution 56/83 of 12 December 2001, mandate that "No State shall recognize as lawful a situation created by a serious breach [of a peremptory norm of general international law]", which clearly includes the crime of genocide and crimes against humanity, "nor render aid or assistance in maintaining that situation" (article 41).

If those principles had been applied, would the institutions identified by the International Court of Justice as perpetrators of genocide still exist? Would vast portions of a country remain ethnically clean? Would over a million refugees and displaced persons remain outside their homes? In short, do these principles allow for the arrest of Karadzic and the simultaneous preservation of the results of his project? In fact, just today The Hague Tribunal announced a revised indictment against Karadzic that charges him with genocide and crimes against humanity, against both Bosnians and Croats in 27 municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This process will further implicate the Milosevic regime in the planning and commission of those crimes.

We cannot bring back the dead, but we can give dignity and justice to the survivors. What we say today is aimed not at the past, but at the future, and not only for Bosnia and Herzegovina. We owe it to not only the victims and survivors, but humanity as a whole. The message to the would-be perpetrators of crimes in the name of a twisted ideology should be crystal-clear: do not even think about it; your terror will not pay off. That should be the message.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we had the opportunity to make that true by a consistent implementation of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the aggression, stopped the genocide, and brought peace. These were its major accomplishments, and their value cannot be overemphasized.

The Dayton Peace Agreement, however, was also intended to reverse the effects of genocide and ethnic cleansing. It had all the necessary elements to do so. Instead, in the words of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, its main provisions have been a victim of:

"a systemic, continuing and deliberate practice of the public authorities of Republika Srpska with the goal of preventing the so-called minority returns, either through direct participation in violent incidents or through the abdication of responsibility to protect the people from ... violent attacks due solely to their ethnic background".

Dayton never intended such ethnic apartheid to take root in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is not the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, but the violation of its core principles, that led to this result. It would be a grave mistake to recognize this result as lawful and legitimate. It is the responsibility of this Organization to make it right. Just as we should not have been forced to smuggle arms into our own country to defend ourselves, we should not be forced now to smuggle basic human rights, justice and democracy into Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Without righting this wrong can we genuinely celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this December? Moreover, can we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide if the first and only Judgment of the International Court of Justice on the crime of genocide remains in the Court's archives?

Now is the time to right these wrongs. We are about to start work on the new Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the outcome of that process will answer many of these questions.

To those who now seek to legitimize the systemic violations of the Dayton Peace Agreement, we all must say: make no mistake, genocide will not be rewarded. That is the responsibility of this Organization. Rewarding genocide would send a dangerous message throughout the world, and would surely undermine the chances of peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region.

Seekers of justice are not the enemies of peace. They are the guardians of peace. As the Secretary-General said today, justice is the pillar of peace and stability. That is what this statement is all about. Certainly, there are those in Bosnia and Herzegovina who would not agree, but they are surely not the victims of genocide.

We have not forgotten the help we received from many of the countries represented here today, a number of whose soldiers, diplomats, aid workers and journalists died in Bosnia and Herzegovina while working to end the aggression, bring peace and ease the suffering, or to make sure that the rest of the world knew about it. For that we thank them once again, and renew our sympathy to their families.

An even greater number of countries have assisted us in rebuilding our society after the aggression, and we extend our heartfelt gratitude for that as well. Bosnia and Herzegovina still needs help in this regard, and we hope that we can work together in order to ensure permanent peace and stability in my country, the region and the world.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the statement he has just made.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Rwanda.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Kagame (Rwanda)

We are gathered here once again to reflect on major national, regional and global challenges -- and on how together, as the United Nations, we can renew our commitment to finding solutions. It gives me great pleasure to share with the General Assembly some insights on how some of those global developments affect Rwanda, as well as our region, as we continue to strengthen our social, economic and democratic institutions for improving the lives of our citizens.

In the context of fighting poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals, our second-generation poverty-reduction strategy is gathering momentum in Africa, East Africa and Rwanda, and is being implemented in the context of greater stability and peace. In Rwanda we are registering a healthy economic growth rate, which is currently averaging 7 per cent annually, in an increasingly open and conducive environment that encourages domestic and foreign investors. We also continue to deepen our regional integration in the East African community. That is essential for a bigger and more dynamic market, which should become a far more effective and efficient gateway to global business.

With regard to empowering women and promoting their socio-economic and political participation, we continue to make significant progress. In the just-concluded Rwandan parliamentary elections for the lower chamber, women candidates performed exceptionally well, increasing their presence in the new Parliament from 49 to 55 seats. We believe that, besides improving gender status in our country, that marks healthy progress towards realizing a vision of a united, democratic and prosperous Rwanda.

Allow me to raise another issue that may have wider implications, namely, that of justice and, more specifically, of universal jurisdiction and its abuse. It is important that those who consider themselves powerful nations do not misuse that tool of international justice to extend their laws and jurisdiction over those they perceive to be weaker countries. If unchecked, one can only imagine the legal chaos that would ensue should any judge in any country decide to apply local laws to other sovereign States. The United Nations has a duty to ensure that universal jurisdiction serves its original goals of delivering international justice and fairness, as opposed to abuse.

There is no doubt that climate change is among the critical challenges of our time. Africa is being gravely affected. Deserts and dry zones continue to claim more territory. Over-reliance on wood for energy by our populations is leading to severe deforestation. Furthermore, unpredictable weather and rainfall patterns, combined with limited scientific and technological capacities, are already undermining our continent's ability to effectively manage water resources.

We take those challenges very seriously in Rwanda. Earlier this month, in Kigali, the Africa Climate Change Forum brought together policymakers, business leaders and academic and scientific communities from different parts of the world. They reaffirmed that the world community urgently needs to think globally, but also to act locally, in translating resolutions into actions. Towards that end, we are determined to intensify efforts in the areas of reforestation, terracing and irrigation for more effective use of water and land resources, as well as to prevent soil erosion. It is indispensable that we partner together as a global community to urgently act to protect our planet in the context of the Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

Rwanda is committed to regional and global peace and stability. Let us not forget that the process of comprehensively resolving the issue of those who committed genocide in Rwanda has yet to be completed. We stand ready to play our part in addressing that matter in the context of broader objectives to consolidate stability and peace on our continent. Once again, I assure the Assembly of our determination and commitment to creating a safer and better world.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Rwanda for the statement he has just made.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Republic of Lithuania.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Valdas Adamkus, President of the Republic of Lithuania, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Adamkus (Lithuania)

First, I would like to express my great respect to the leadership of the General Assembly as it guides the Organization through global issues and challenges.

When I stood at this podium 10 years ago, the list of issues to be urgently addressed was about the same, yet the mood was different. The Kyoto Protocol had just been signed and preparations for the Millennium Summit, including the drafting of the Millennium Development Goals, were under way. The international community, guided by the principles and the leadership of the United Nations, showed the will and the ambition to resolve global issues.

But did we manage to turn that collective will into principled and decisive actions? I have to admit that many nations, big and small, have many more concerns today than they did a decade ago. Today we feel less secure. The very structure of the international system seems to be fracturing, depriving us of the protection provided by international law and international institutions. In my region, in Eastern Europe and in the eastern neighbourhood of the European Union (EU), that is more obvious than anywhere else.

Take energy security: oil supplies to Lithuania have been cut off without warning, and we do not stand a chance of conducting a normal civilized dialogue on how to fix the problem. Gas supplies were interrupted to our neighbours Ukraine and Belarus. In that light, and on the eve of closing down our only independent power generator, we have very serious reason to worry about the possible risks for the future of our economy. I would also say that other countries of our region also have concerns about unreliable energy supplies. Such a situation threatens the stability of the entire region. The United Nations cannot be a mere passive observer if, and when, universal values and international law are under threat. Too often, we remain observers in the face of mounting security crises.

What happened to Georgia a few months ago is a case in point. The United Nations largely failed to react to an act of aggression against a small nation that has been a Member of the United Nations since 1992. Perhaps we failed to react because one of the interested sides to the conflict is a permanent member of the Security Council, which has the responsibility to protect both the letter and the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations and various United Nations resolutions.

But maybe we also failed to react because our faith in the United Nations has weakened. It is the very essence of the Organization's mission to protect human life and human rights, but too often voting on human rights receives less and less support from Member States. Today, there are still about 26 million internally displaced persons in the world, including in the Sudan, Somalia, the South Caucasus nations of Georgia and Azerbaijan, and other places. Last year alone, we faced serious crises in different corners of the planet, including in Myanmar, the Sudan and Zimbabwe. The world needed United Nations leadership, but the Organization has not acted accordingly. That is because some States hide behind technicalities or the shield of national sovereignty, thereby paralysing the United Nations.

It is quite evident that the United Nations cannot continue with business as usual. It needs reform and a greater role in areas that will determine the future of the twenty-first century, such as energy, information security, anti-terrorism, the fight against fundamentalism and the like. How long will we continue with cold-war-era security definitions, closing our eyes to the less visible, but no less dangerous dangers of the twenty-first century? When 17 years ago, following the Soviet occupation, my country regained independence and joined the United Nations, we were told that never again would Molotovs and Ribbentrops dare to decide the future of other nations. Next year we will mark the seventieth anniversary of the shameful Molotov-Ribbentrop secret protocols.

But Lithuania and other nations of the former Soviet Union still have to fight against the revisionism seeping down from the Kremlin's towers and the blatant claims that there was no occupation of the Baltic States and that there was no Holodomor in Ukraine, where millions of people were starved to death by a ruthless dictator. Should not an alarm bell ring across the entire international community when we see such bold attempts to cover up crimes against humanity?

Today, my nation is commemorating the Day of Genocide of Lithuanian Jews. That tragedy is a powerful reminder to us all of the vulnerability of freedom, but it also teaches us that sincere efforts to admit one's crimes help nations to reconcile and create a truly peaceful, secure and stable area. Therefore, on this solemn day we not only remember but we also learn.

If we are to reform the United Nations in a meaningful way, perhaps we should have a better look at the experience of European nations after the end of the Second World War and the end of the cold war. Based on that experience, it is obvious that we need to strengthen democracy at home in order to have good governance and responsible leadership. Perhaps responsible leaders will not protect us from all global challenges, but they will at least seek cooperation with their people and other nations to resolve their persisting problems.

It is only through integration that truly indivisible security can be achieved. Indivisible security has special meaning and importance for smaller nations, which have all too often fallen victim to the redrawing of maps. It is my conviction that the interaction of, and cooperation among, different organizations -- like the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, EU, NATO and the Council of Europe -- have been, and should remain, the foundation for security and stability in Europe. There are difficulties and deficiencies; but there is no alternative, and new alternatives are not needed. I am therefore deeply worried by new calls to revise the institutional structure of European security, rather than to abide by commitments undertaken before the whole international community.

Security based on cooperation should remain the basic principle of different European organizations and of international relations as a whole. The philosophy of the balance of power, which is again growing popular in some capitals, has no place in contemporary Europe. And because security is indivisible, it is in the interest of the international community that the United Nations should play a greater role in strengthening preventive diplomacy and making the principle of the responsibility to protect work.

The United Nations also has to be more responsive to emerging threats, such as unreliable energy supplies, fundamentalism and cyber attacks. It does not matter if the world is unipolar, bipolar or multipolar. Human life and human rights remain at the heart of our world. Only such a world can create a truly viable architecture among States -- an architecture based on trust, openness and respect for human rights. But did we see efforts to create such an architecture in the Georgia-Russia conflict? What we saw instead were renewed attempts to divide the world into zones of influence or privileged interests. That should be unacceptable to the international community in the twenty-first century. Division and exclusion are bad remedies for conflict resolution. Conflict resolution in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and elsewhere should therefore be the responsibility of the international community and international institutions, not of one participating side, which hardly remains impartial.

We also have to maintain commitments to value-based policies. It is through our commitment to change and reform that Lithuania has become what it is today: a consolidated democracy, a strong reformed economy and an active contributor to international peacekeeping missions from the Balkans to Afghanistan.

I believe that we, the peoples of the United Nations, have to renew our commitment to universal values and principles, so that we march together and in the same direction and our steps become stronger. I believe that we must learn those lessons well, so that in another 10-years' time we can celebrate not only the fulfilled promise of the Millennium Development Goals but also the fulfilled promise of creating lasting peace and an era of progress, prosperity and human integrity. It is because the United Nations consists primarily not of the sum total of votes but of universal principles that those principles shall be a guiding light for us in the years to come. I still believe that that is the core mission of the Organization. I care deeply about it.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Lithuania for the statement he has just made.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Ahmadinejad (Iran)

I am grateful to the Almighty for granting me another opportunity to be present at this world Assembly. In the past three years, I have talked to the Assembly about great hopes in the bright future of human society and about some solutions for achieving sustainable peace and expanding love, compassion and cooperation. I have also talked about unjust systems governing the world; pressures exerted by some Powers seeking to trample the rights of other nations; oppression imposed on the majority of the global community, especially on the peoples of Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Africa, Latin America and Asia; about challenges we are faced with, such as efforts to shatter the sanctity of families, destroy cultures, humiliate lofty values, neglect commitments and expand the shadow of threats; as well as about the arms race and the unfairness and inability of the systems governing world affairs to reform the status quo. With the emergence of various new developments, the debility of existing mechanisms has been revealed even more starkly. However, at the same time an encouraging trend, originating in the thoughts and beliefs of peoples, has blossomed and become stronger. Against the backdrop of the despair caused by the new developments, that trend has ignited a glimmer of hope in the hearts of men for a brilliant, desirable and beautiful future.

Today, I would like to talk to the Assembly about the main reasons behind the conditions ruling the world and the means to address them. Of course, the Assembly is already aware of what I am talking about, but I think it is necessary to remind ourselves. It seems that the roots of problems lie in the way one views and perceives the world and humankind, as well as in the important issues of freedom, obeisance to God, and justice. The world, humankind, freedom, obeisance to God, and justice have been of the utmost importance to humans throughout history.

God Almighty purposefully created the world. The world is the bedrock for the evolution and growth of a creature called man, and the laws governing the world and all other creatures are at the service of humankind's quest for loftiness. The world should provide the needed opportunities for the fulfilment of the purpose behind humankind's creation. No phenomenon, creature or, indeed, anything has been created in vain. Together they all pave the way for the flourishing of humankind in a complex and purposeful system, and they are each one of the signs of God Almighty. All are His creations and He is the sole creator and ruler of the world. All existence, including power, knowledge and wealth, comes from Him.

With regard to humankind, God created the world for humans, and humans for Himself. He created humans from mud and in the soil, but He did not want them to remain in the soil or with animal instincts. He kindled the light of guidance in their souls and asked them to rise from the soil to the heavens and to Him with the help of wisdom, prophets and perfect men.

The world will ultimately disappear, but God has created humankind for eternity and has made it a manifestation of Himself. Creativity, mercifulness, kindness, knowledge, wisdom, zeal, compassion, splendor, justice, bounteousness, generosity, greatness, love, glory, dignity, forgiveness, insight, kingship and all other goodness and beauty are attributes of God. God did not create humans for aggression, bloodshed, rancour, selfishness and destruction. He made humans His vicegerents on Earth and has asked them, on the one hand, to make Earth prosper by using their God-given potentials, to prepare the ground for the growth of divine attributes in all humans and to provide all with a life full of beauty, amity, freedom, justice and goodness; and, on the other hand, in pursuance of that path, to prepare for a prosperous, everlasting life endowed by God's mercy. God has obligated humans to live divinely and socially, for it is only through social life and interactions with others that divine attributes can emerge.

With regard to obeisance to God, God Almighty has tied the perfection and true freedom of humans to the devotion and obedience to Himself. True freedom and obedience to God are in balance, and in fact are two sides of the same coin. Obeisance to God means confessing to monotheism, obeying His commands, and being free from ungodly worship. Obeisance to God means the acceptance of the absolute truth, the absolute light and the absolute beauty. Obeisance to God means abandoning selfishness, animal instincts, power-seeking and aggression and surrendering to righteousness, justice, love and perfection.

In that way, humans can achieve their true freedom and flourish. They can grow and manifest divine attributes, have affection for others, stand up for justice, fear no power or threat and defend the oppressed. In such an environment, one's freedom will not impinge on any others'. Contention and conflict are characteristic of materialistic freedom and animal instinct. The essence of all divine religions and obeisance to God and true freedom is disassociating from oppressors and instead obeying and worshiping God.

God is omniscient and knows all that is revealed or kept secret, and He is kind and merciful. All creatures are humble before Him and resign themselves to His will. God is alive and is the Creator of the universe and all life. God loves His creatures and desires nothing but goodness, blessings and perfection for them, and is against bullying, injustice, selfishness and domination.

With regard to justice, it is the foundation of the creation of humankind and the whole universe. Justice is tantamount to placing every phenomenon in its own place and providing humans with opportunities to actualize all their divine capabilities. Without it, the order of the universe will collapse and the opportunity for perfection will fade away. Without justice, it would be impossible for human society to taste real peace, beauty, joy and happiness. Justice is the main pillar of social life, and without it social life cannot continue or grow.

Humans need to know God in order to realize a prosperous society in this world as well as to strive for a beautiful eternal life. To that end, they first have to know themselves and strive for loftiness in themselves and their societies. However, as long as the world is construed as closed, limited and aimless; as long as eternal life is considered imaginary and illusory, while the afterlife and the judgment day, as well as reward and punishment, are thought of as fictional and unreal; as long as morals and commitment to them are called backwardness, while immorality, lies, deceit and selfishness are considered desirable and humans are limited to a materialistic life in this world; as long as attempts are made to replace obedience to God and following His prophets and true freedom with servitude to materialistic tendencies, animal instincts and the oppression of others, while contention reaches its pinnacle; as long as the aggressors, because of their financial, political and propaganda powers, not only escape punishment but even claim righteousness; and as long as wars are started and nations enslaved in order to win votes in elections, not only will the problems of the global community remain unsolved, but they will be increasingly exacerbated.

Let us look at the situation in the world today.

Iraq was attacked under the false pretext of uncovering weapons of mass destruction and overthrowing a dictator. The dictator was toppled and weapons of mass destruction were not uncovered. A democratic government is established by the votes of the people, but after six years the occupiers are still there. They insist on imposing colonial agreements on the people of Iraq by keeping them under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. Millions of people have been killed or displaced, and the occupiers, with no sense of shame, are still seeking to solidify their position in the political geography of the region and to dominate oil resources. They have no respect for the people of Iraq and they disregard any dignity, rights or status for them. The United Nations is not capable enough to solve the problems and to stop aggression, occupation and imposition.

In Palestine, 60 years of carnage and invasion is still continuing at the hands of some criminal and occupying Zionists. They have forged a regime by collecting people from various parts of the world and bringing them to another people's land by displacing, detaining and killing the true owners of that land. With advance notice, they invade, assassinate and maintain food and medicine blockades, while some hegemonic and bullying Powers support them. The Security Council cannot do anything and sometimes, under pressure from a few bullying Powers, even paves the way for supporting those Zionist murderers. It is natural that some United Nations resolutions that have addressed the plight of the Palestinian people have been relegated to the archives unnoticed.

In Afghanistan, the production of narcotics has multiplied since the presence of NATO forces began. Domestic conflicts continue, terrorism is spreading and innocent people are bombarded on a daily basis in streets, markets, and schools and at wedding ceremonies. The people of Afghanistan are the victims of the willingness of NATO member States to dominate the regions surrounding India, China and South Asia. The Security Council cannot do anything about it because some of those NATO members also happen to be the major decision-makers in the Council.

In Africa, there are efforts to re-establish the relationships of the colonial era. By starting civil wars in large countries, including the Sudan, the disintegration of those countries is planned in order to serve the interests of some corrupt Powers. When there is national resistance, the leaders of the resistance are put under pressure by legal mechanisms created by the very same Powers.

In Latin America, people find their security, national interests and cultures seriously endangered by the menacing shadow of alien domineering Governments, and even by the embassies of some empires.

The lives, property and rights of the people of Georgia, Ossetia and Abkhazia are victims of the tendencies and provocation of NATO and certain Western Powers and the underhanded actions of the Zionists.

The never-ending arms race, the proliferation and stockpiling of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, and the threats to use them and the establishment of missile defence systems have made the situation unstable.

With regard to Iran's peaceful nuclear programme, despite the inalienable right of all nations, including the Iranian nation, to produce nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, and despite such facts as the transparency of all Iranian activities and our country's full cooperation with the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Agency's repeated confirmation of the fact that Iran's activities are peaceful, a few bullying Powers have sought to put hurdles in the way of the peaceful nuclear activities of the Iranian nation by exerting political and economic pressure on Iran and threatening and pressuring IAEA. Those are the same Powers that produce new generations of lethal nuclear arms and possess stockpiles of nuclear weapons that no international organization is monitoring. Moreover, the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were perpetrated by one of them.

Indeed, they are not against weapons, but they oppose the progress of other nations, and tend to monopolize technologies and to use those monopolies to impose their will on other nations. However, it is very natural that the great Iranian people, with their trust in God, with determination and steadfastness and with the support of their friends, will resist the bullying and have defended and will continue to defend their rights. The Iranian nation is for dialogue, but it has not accepted and will not accept illegal demands. The time has come for IAEA to present a clear report to the international community on its monitoring of the disarmament of those nuclear Powers and their nuclear activities, and for a disarmament committee to be established by independent States to monitor the disarmament of those nuclear Powers.

Theories of development that are in line with the hegemonic system and not in accordance with the true needs of humankind and human societies have become repetitive and bland tools for assimilating economies, expanding hegemonic domination and destroying the environment and the social solidarity of nations. There is no end in sight to this. Poverty, hunger and deprivation are hurting more than one billion of the world's population and have dashed their hopes for a decent life.

The dignity, integrity and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists. Although they are a miniscule minority, they have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centres, as well as the political decision-making centres of some European countries and the United States, in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner. It is deeply disastrous to witness that some presidential or premier nominees in some big countries have to visit those people, take part in their gatherings and swear their allegiances and commitment to their interests in order to attain financial or media support.

That means that the great people of America and various nations of Europe need to obey the demands and wishes of a small number of acquisitive and invasive people. Those nations are spending their dignity and resources on the crimes, occupation and threats of the Zionist network against their will.

All that is due to the manner in which the immoral and the powerful view the world, humankind, freedom, obeisance to God and justice. The thoughts and deeds of those who think they are superior to others and consider others to be second class and inferior, who intend to remain out of the divine circle and to be the absolute slaves of their materialistic and selfish desires, who intend to expand their aggressive and domineering natures, constitute the roots of the problems in societies today. They are the hindrances to the realization of material and spiritual prosperity and to security, peace and brotherhood among nations.

I explicitly state that the Iranian people and the overwhelming majority of peoples and Governments are against those deeds and perspectives of the world-domineering Powers. The establishment of justice requires people who have achieved moderation and justice inside themselves, restrained their domineering attitudes and actualized their attributes of self-sacrifice and are at the service of humankind. The complete and full-scale manifestation of such characteristics can happen only under the rule of the righteous and perfect human being who is obedient to God and who is promised by the divine prophets.

Of course, with the grace of God Almighty, a hopeful trend is flourishing in the heart and soul of human societies. The universal eagerness for justice, purity, love for others, monotheism and the quest for perfection is clearly and increasingly on the rise. A universal resistance to the acquisitiveness, aggression and selfishness of the bullying Powers is being formed. Today, the bullying Powers' thoughts, practices and strategies are rejected by nations and Governments, and all are seeking to establish new human relations based on justice, with a view to attaining prosperity, perfection, security and sustainable welfare. That is the very auspicious phenomenon that all the traditions of creation and the ruling laws of the universe emphasize and support.

Today, the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse, and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool it and its supporters have created. The Islamic Republic of Iran, while fully respecting the resistance of the oppressed people of Palestine and expressing its all-out support for it, submits to the Secretary-General of the United Nations its humane solution, based on a free referendum in Palestine to determine and establish the type of State in the entire Palestinian lands.

The American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders. Today, the thought of hegemony quickly becomes a demerit.

I should now like to say a few words to expansionist Governments ruling global relations. Be aware that living with obedience to God and carrying out His orders, having compassion for people and striving for the fulfilment of justice is to your advantage too. I invite you to return to the path of God, the prophets and the people of the world, as well as to truth and justice. The only route to salvation is a divine straight path. Otherwise, God's hand of power will emerge from the sleeve of oppressed nations and will make your life difficult, and will put an end to your hegemony. Let us love the peoples of the world and respect their rights. Rectify past behaviour. That will benefit you and the human community. The Iranian people are prepared, along with other nations, to help you be rescued from your current situation and to establish peace and prosperity.

Fortuitously, opportunities are accessible. With the grace of God Almighty, the existing pillars of the oppressive system are crumbling. Great developments in favour of humankind, as well as its true and real rights, are on the way. A golden and brilliant future is awaiting humankind. A global community filled with justice, friendship, brotherhood and welfare is at hand, as I have elaborated -- a community that will tread the path of beauty and love under the rule of the righteous and perfect human being, the one promised by all divine prophets and the one who is the true lover of humankind; a community that will be devoid of all fear, despair and privation. Such a community will soon be ours. The community promised by the great divine prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ and Muhammad is about to materialize.

Let us, hand in hand, expand the thought of resistance to evil and the minority of those who are ill-wishers. Let us support goodness and the majority of people who are good and the embodiment of absolute good that is the Imam of Time, the Promised One who will come accompanied by Jesus Christ, and accordingly design and implement just and humanistic mechanisms for regulating the constructive relationships between nations and Governments.

May the great Almighty deliver the saviour of nations and put an end to the sufferings of humankind and bring forth justice, beauty and love. Let us have a proper share in the establishment of that illuminated and promised divine age.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the statement he has just made.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the President of the Lebanese Republic.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Michel Sleiman, President of the Lebanese Republic, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

President Sleiman (Lebanon)

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