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59TH UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Protagonists: hunger, poverty,
reforms and plagues of locusts
BY FELIX CAPOTE—Granma
International
staff writer—
ON
Tuesday September 21, 80 heads of state and/or
government attended the opening session of the 59th
UN General Assembly at its headquarters in New York
City. Two important parallel summits preceded this
assembly on the Monday: the first convened by the
International Labor Organization (ILO) and the
second by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da
Silva.
The
ILO meeting on globalization discussed its social
aspects and the obstacles to meeting the UN’s
millennium development goals. Lula’s meeting
concentrated on worldwide poverty and hunger.
In
both forums the outstanding participants were Lula
himself and French President Jacques Chirac. Lula
affirmed that poverty is the most lethal weapon of
mass destruction humanity has ever created. The
French leader confirmed that chronic hunger is still
increasing, and called for everyone’s commitment to
achieving a fairer distribution of the benefits of
economic development.
In
his opening speech, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
expressed his horror at the devastating effect of
internal wars, ethnic cleansing, and acts of
terrorism, and called for a vigorous reaffirmation
of international law to fulfill the responsibility
of protecting the civilian victims of genocide,
crimes against humanity and war crimes.
“As
I warned this Assembly five years ago, history will
severely judge us if we do not comply with this
task, or if we think that we are exempt from
international law by invoking national sovereignty,”
the secretary general affirmed.
Annan stated that the General Assembly agenda should
prioritize a state of law and urged his audience to
sign and ratify a series of treaties and conventions
drawn up by this world forum to protect victims of
armed conflicts among the civilian population.
As
this issue goes to press, more than 25 of the
countries attending the Assembly had ratified or
announced their intention to ratify those treaties
via their heads of state or government.
Among the 27 conventions and protocols directly or
indirectly related to civilian victims of conflicts
are the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment
of Genocide, the Convention against Torture, and the
Statute of Rome, which instigated the International
Criminal Court.
Other conventions include those regulating safety
for UN employees, the optional protocol of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the
protocol against the illegal manufacturing and
trafficking of weapons.
From
the beginning of the 20th century, the Geneva
Conventions, a basic source of international
humanitarian law, constituted the first attempt to
regulate war.
Before the General Assembly, Annan mentioned several
examples of flagrant violations of UN treaties and
conventions.
“In
Darfur, we saw entire populations displaced,
their houses being destroyed, and rape utilized as a
deliberate strategy. In northern Uganda, we see
mutilated children forced to participate in acts of
unspeakable cruelty. In Beslan, we see children
taken captive to be brutally massacred,” Annan
observed.
The secretary general also mentioned civilians,
including children, slaughtered in Israel and in the
Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza.
Annan emphasized: “Worldwide we see people prepared
to commit crimes inspired by propaganda infusing
hatred of Jewish, Muslim or any other groups
identified by the aggressor as different.
Annan considered the invasion of Iraq as illegal,
and also criticized the growing number of deaths
among civilians caused by U.S. bombardments.
AGAINST THE US BLOCKADE OF CUBA
Gambian President Ahaji Yahya and other African
leaders added their voices to those calling for an
end to the U.S. blockade of Cuba, in place for more
than 40 years.“
Cuba, another great friend of Gambia, continues
living under various forms of embargo and
restrictions, the president affirmed in his address
to the General Assembly, giving an account of the
main problems of the world.
The leader pointed out that nobody should abide by
unilateral punitive measures having an adverse
impact on innocent civilians.
Earlier, in their addresses, Namibian President Sam
Nujoma and Lesotho Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili
demanded an end to the U.S. embargo of Cuba.
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade made an emphatic
call to combat the plagues of locusts in Africa that
are threatening the lives of millions of people. He
also proposed the creation of a digital solidarity
fund to bridge the gap between the African continent
and other regions of the world.
U.S. President George W. Bush attended the UN
Assembly solely to restate that even if the UN did
not approve of it, his decision to invade Iraq was
right.
On the other hand, several Latin American leaders
explained their most urgent problems in the
international sphere. Peruvian President Alejandro
Toledo demanded that Japan extradite former
president Alberto Fujimori. The Paraguayan head of
state asked for an end to protectionist measures in
trade, and Bolivian President Carlos Mesa emphasized
his country’s need for direct access to the sea.
In addition, small insular states made their voices
heard in the Assembly in the context of the recent
natural disasters in the Caribbean.
The prime minister of St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, restated the need for
the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to organize an
international conference to aid Grenada, which has
been left “without an economy.”
He also referred to the destruction wreaked by a
series of hurricanes in Jamaica, Bahamas, the Caiman
Islands, Haiti and Cuba.
His counterpart Roosevelt Skerrit of the Dominican
Republic pointed out that the effect of the recent
hurricanes in the region underlines the need to
establish recovery programs and revitalize the
economies of the area in the short term.
The premier of Antigua and Barbuda, Baldwin Spence,
emphasized that in his view, the small Caribbean
states have been the target of the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the
U.S. superpower.
Laisena Qarase, prime minister of Fiji, called for
the preservation of the patrimony of the Pacific
Ocean. She also claimed that 95% of the tuna fished
in that country’s national waters is exported to
faraway regions.
Laisena requested UN help to protect the region’s
natural resources and adopt a draft declaration on
the rights of indigenous peoples.
Tuvalu’s Foreign Minister Maatia Toafa emphasized
that small insular states will be unable to escape
the cycle of poverty and marginalization without
significant support from the international
community.
According to Fradique Bandeira, president of Sao
Tome and Principe, the African countries are the
first victims of climatic changes in the world,
which are affecting water sources, biodiversity and
sea resources.
It was also reported that foreign ministers from the
Group of Friends of UN Reform met in New York to
exchange perspectives regarding their goals and to
discuss future activities with the purpose of
strengthening the UN system.
This group’s members are Germany, Algeria,
Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Japan,
Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Netherlands, Pakistan,
Singapore, and Sweden.
Brazil’s attempt to become the permanent
representative for Latin America and the Caribbean
on the UN Security Council was immediately opposed
by Mexico and Argentina and a neutral position on
the part of certain other countries in the region.
That scenario has been repeated among other UN
regional groupings, given that India, Germany and
Japan have proclaimed themselves “legitimate
candidates” for permanent seats representing their
areas as part of the reform of the Security Council.
CUBAN DELEGATION’S INTENSE AGENDA
The Cuban delegation, headed by Foreign Minister
Felipe Pérez Roque, took part in a number of
bilateral meetings with ministers and other
personalities as part of its participation in the
59th UN General Assembly.
Pérez Roque met with the foreign ministers of East
Timor, Bahrain, Sudan, Algeria, Rwanda and Egypt to
discuss relations between Cuba and these countries,
and issues connected with the UN General Assembly’s
regular sessions. The head of Cuban diplomacy also
conversed with the Nepalese minister of state for
Foreign Relations and the deputy foreign minister of
the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Pérez Roque likewise met with Jean Ping, current
president of the General Assembly and the foreign
minister of Gabon, with whom he exchanged ideas on
reform of the UN.
In addition, the head of Cuban diplomacy took part
of the World Leaders Summit on Hunger, organized by
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Namibian President Sam Nujoma received Pérez Roque,
communicating his government and people’s solidarity
with Cuba in the context of damage caused by
Hurricanes Charley and Ivan.
The Cuban minister and his delegation also met with
Abdullah Gui, Turkish vice-premier and foreign
minister, and his counterparts from Belgium and
Spain.
In the framework of the General Debate, Pérez Roque,
nominated by the UN secretary general, participated
in a troika meeting of the Non-aligned Movement and
the high-level panel on threats, challenges and
change. The Cuban delegation also held meetings with
approximately 30 foreign ministers from Africa,
Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe.
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