YouSaid · the spoken record

Haile

lines on the record: 75
first: 1972-09-24
most recent: 1973-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“When we say this we are not unmindful of the technical and scientific difficulties involved, but we cannot believe that these difficulties are beyond human ingenuity to solve. 177. There is, of course, always the need to keep the question of disarmament uppermost in the minds of the people. We hope the proposed World Disarmament Conference will help focus international attention and concern on one of mankind's most important problems. We also hope that all of the nuclear weapon Powers will be persuaded to join the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament and make the contribution which only they can make. 178. International trade and monetary reforms dominated economic discussions in the past year. More than ever the organic links between trade, development, finance and monetary reforms have been recognized.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“With the signing of the important Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction [resolution 2826 (XXVI), annex], the first real disarmament agreement in the post-war years has been achieved, for this Convention not only calls for the prohibition of all such weapons, but also for their destruction. The Conference of the Committee on Disarmament now has before it similar initiatives to prohibit chemical weapons. It is our considered opinion that with regard to chemical weapons a similar approach to the one used in the Convention on biological weapons should be used, that is, the prohibition should be conceived comprehensively rather than selectively, and also the destruction of all existing chemical weapons should be required.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The agreements between the Soviet Union and the United States to limit strategic defensive and offensive missiles are undoubtedly important arms control measures. They will help slow down the dangerous momentum of the arms race. If followed by other arms control and disarmament measures, they may even signal the reversal of a trend. I cannot emphasize too strongly in this respect that one obvious area which calls for immediate action is the conclusion of an agreement banning the underground testing of nuclear weapons. 176.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Through disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, we should remove one of the principal causes of fear and suspicion. We should free resources that can be used to meet the real needs of people in the rich and poor countries alike. By helping to create an effective system of international economic co-operation designed to help the developing countries develop faster, we also should be removing a principal source of instability and of much of the unhappiness born out of unmet needs. 174. Progress in the past year in these two areas has generally been slow, but some advances have also been made. 175. The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks have yielded limited but significant results.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“170. In the interdependent world of today the battle for peace will have to be waged in all regions and on all fronts. We should not slacken our efforts in prosecuting this struggle. 171. In addition to resolving actual conflicts we have to prevent others from arising. We also have to make constant efforts to promote what the Charter of the United Nations calls "conditions" for peace. 172. Nothing could be more urgent in this respect at this point in time than to work for disarmament, economic and social development, and the strengthening of the United Nations. 173. We cannot allow the world to go on spending over $200 billion a year on armaments and only $7 billion for economic aid-one being 30 times more than the other without inviting instability in much of the world today.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“There is no question that, if improvement in the southern African situation is to come, the major trading partners of the colonialist and racist regimes will have to reverse their priorities and be guided by their long-term economic gains, rather than by their calculations of such gains over the short-term. So long as they fail to do that they will continue to assume a particularly significant responsibility for the prolongation of this tragic situation. 169. The African Members of the United Nations have continued to address themselves to the same problems under the aegis of the OAU. They have spared no effort to assist the liberation movements to carry out vigorously their struggle against colonial and racist domination. I wish to express the hope that the United Nations as a whole will adopt some of the measures recommended by the OAU.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“We believe that, if the international community were to show some readiness to move in this direction, if it were only to take, for example, such limited steps as restricting future investments in the economies of these territories; there might perhaps be some hope for progress. But in most of these territories exactly the opposite is happening. Investment is increasing in all the Portuguese territories. With the completion of the Cabora Bassa dam in Mozambique, more investments, as well as an influx of overseas immigrants, are expected. In Namibia, in particular, large sums of money are being spent on mineral exploration and exploitation. 168.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“My August Sovereign, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, recalled this poignantly when, addressing the Special Session of the Security Council held in Africa, he said: "Throughout history it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph. The glorious pages of human history have been written only in those moments when men have been able to act in concert to prevent impending tragedies. By the actions you take, you can also illuminate the pages of history." 167.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“In keeping with this objective we believe that the international community should seriously consider taking concerted action against all the colonial regimes in southern Africa in order to deny them weapons which they can use to suppress the people and in order to sever all economic and commercial ties with them. In this context we should also reject all semantic distinctions between those weapons likely to be used for defensive purposes and those likely to be used for offensive purposes, or between economic ties likely to benefit the majority of the people or those likely to benefit the minority. There are no defensive weapons per se it all depends on how they are used. Similarly, no economic ties which strengthen the oppressor can be, at the same time, of real benefit to those oppressed. 166. What is required is a little more courage.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The time has come for the United Nations to look at colonialism as one interconnected problem requiring concerted international action. The colonialist regimes them-selves have for long realized how dependent their positions have become on concerting their defence against what they consider to be the dangerous onslaught of independence. In the face of that, I wonder how long we can afford to look at these colonial problems separately, and even more, still hope to win the battle against colonialism by resorting to uncoordinated actions. 165.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The oppression of Africans and Asians and of those white people who have dared to question the wisdom of apartheid has increased. At the same time the South African authorities are painstakingly creating an elaborate structure of apartheid, transplanting people from one area to another and herding them in what in the language of their reverse logic they call "homelands". 163. The first meetings of the Security Council to be held in Africa, in Addis Ababa, were significant in one important respect: they helped to focus world public opinion on the problems of colonialism in southern Africa and underscored the great concern of the international community with the deterioration of the situation. It also brought the United Nations closer to the people who need its assistance most. 164.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Like many others, we have continued to hope against hope that South Africa will yet be prevailed upon to change. But I regret to say that the Secretary-General's latest report [A/8724] does not permit any such optimism. So long as South Africa does not accept United Nations responsibility for Namibia, and so long as South Africa is not ready to transfer power to the Namibians, I do not believe there can be any justifiable hope. We have thus to recognize the wide gulf that still separates South Africa from the rest of the world. We should also be careful not to let South Africa use its talks with the Secretary-General as a public relations build-up. 162. The situation in South Africa itself has in the past year been the object of world-wide attention.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Except for information that has been provided by our discussions here and by the United Nations Secretariat, the public at large has been kept in the dark by a conspiracy of silence about the three brutal wars being waged by Portugal. In this regard, the visit of the United Nations Special Mission which visited the liberated areas of Guinea (Bissau) has done much to focus attention on one of these wars. The report of the Special Mission [A/8723/Rev. 1, chap. X, annex I] has also been very informative as to the needs of the liberation movements in Africa and the ways in which the United Nations can help them. 161. Despite the Secretary-General's efforts on behalf of the United Nations, the prospect of independence for Namibia is as remote as ever.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“During the days when they were being ostensibly consulted, the world witnessed spontaneous uprisings in several cities in Zimbabwe, uprisings which may be merely a portent of things to come. In the meantime the military alliance between South Africa and Southern Rhodesia has been strengthened, and apartheid has been nurtured to spread and deepen its roots in Zimbabwe. 159. Yet nothing has been done to strengthen the one action that promises results, that is, the effective implementation of sanctions against Southern Rhodesia. On the contrary the sanctions have not only been successfully evaded, but even whittled down. 160. The hostilities in the Territories under Portuguese domination are growing in scope and intensity.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“In this respect we continue to believe that the diplomatic process that offers the best prospect is the one initiated by the Security Council. We also believe that Security Council resolution 242 (1967) contains a balanced set of obligations which all the parties have to accept. The fulfillment by the parties concerned of all the obligations contained in resolution 242(1967) must be vigorously pursued. 157. By common consensus, the colonial situation in southern Africa has given us no reason for hope; if anything, it has been a source of growing frustration and tension. 158. The African people of Zimbabwe have overwhelmingly rejected the so-called "proposals for a settlement" worked out without their participation by Ian Smith and the British Government.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“We have similarly expressed from this rostrum what in our judgment are the requirements for a just and equitable peace in the Middle East. The present situation of a smoldering stalemate cannot be tolerated any longer, for it contains within it the fuel for sudden eruption. So often have we witnessed the vicious cycle of violence in the Middle East that we should not now fail to realize how the present situation incubates blind violence; how one hostile action invites a counteraction more deadly and destructive than the act that provoked it; how this leads to frustration and raises the level of violence to yet higher and more dangerous levels. If peace is to have any chance, this cycle must be broken and the trend reversed. 156.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“We should not let it stop for lack of momentum. We have to give it all the push we can. 153. It is in that context that we must realize that we have more than ever the duty to resolve the hostilities in Viet-Nam, the near hostilities in the Middle East and the problem of colonialism in southern Africa and move forward in those areas of great concern to the whole of mankind: disarmament, economic development and the establishment of a mutually beneficial system of international co-operation. 154. My Government has always believed that the solution to the Viet-Nam hostilities can be achieved not through their intensification, but through the withdrawal of all foreign troops and the provision of an opportunity to the VietNamese people to determine the political and social system under which they wish to live. 155.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“But whether those portents will materialize in a durable peace will depend on what all of us, and particularly the big Powers, will do to sustain those efforts on a much broader front. 151. It is not only the cumulative force of those small forward steps that will determine in the long run whether we will have a better world; even more important will be what we do to avoid the false steps, the tilings that can undo what has been painstakingly constructed over a period of several years. Active hostilities, or a situation of near hostilities in some regions, and colonialism cannot coexist for long with improvements in other parts of the world. As has so often happened in the past, those counter-currents will sooner or later win out. 152. For the first time in a long while we have something going for peace.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The continuation of the Viet-Nam conflict and the frozen situation in the Middle East have undoubtedly limited the scope of the detente. Our failure to make a dent in the last citadel of colonialism in southern Africa has also dampened the enthusiasm which would have been otherwise justified. The rising trend of violence directed against national leaders, diplomatic envoys, international passengers and innocent civilians bodes ill for a world which was just getting accustomed to conciliation instead of confrontation. 150. To the extent that one is able to draw up a balance-sheet of such complex developments, one can venture to say that certain developments on the international scene this year seem to portend better times.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Indeed, if one were to judge the improvements that have taken place in the last year in relations among the big Powers by the yardstick of post-war history, these developments could be considered important breakthroughs. Under normal circumstances, such salutary developments would have been strong enough to create a self-sustaining momentum for peace. But these are not normal times. Regrettably, for every positive development we have ob-served we can point to another which has complicated the search for solutions to conflicts. 148. It is both pertinent and timely to ask this Assembly why the recently manifested detente in the relations of the big Powers has not led to a significant lessening of tensions everywhere. 149.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The seating of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations;, the visit of the President of the United States to the People's Republic of China and the opening of channels of communications between the two countries; the visit of the President of the United States to the Soviet Union and the agreements between the Soviet Union and the United States to limit strategic nuclear missiles; the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin all these are significant and positive developments. 146. In the wake of big-Power rapprochement others have followed suit. The two Germanys and the two Koreas, which for long have remained estranged from each other, have begun talks. Determined to end their long confrontation, India and Pakistan began negotiations on the morrow of hostilities. 147.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Our assessments of the international scene this year may differ, but we must agree that never before have developments given more cause for hope and disappointment at the same time. Some of the big Powers which only a year ago were hardly on speaking terms not only have begun to talk to each other but have also opened up the areas of trade and accommodation. Those big Powers which used to speak to each other with raised voices have lowered their voices and have begun to listen to each other, while exploring together grounds for agreement and common action. 145.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The problem is in our vision; we all tend to look at the world through the colored glasses of our national history and experience; our perspectives seem to be affected by our geographical position. 143. If the general debate at the United Nations has proved anything in the past, it has been that no one has a monopoly of truth. It is therefore necessary that we should refrain from what we may believe to be righteous indignation; we should rather concentrate on explaining problems as we see them from our particular vantage-points. If we succeed in doing this dispassionately and with the minimum of recrimination, there might be some hope that we can begin to understand each other's positions a little better. 144.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“In the 10 months he has been in office, Mr. Kurt Waldheim has justified the confidence we have shown in him by electing him to be our Secretary-General. In keeping with the tradition of his predecessors, he has worked tirelessly to lend the moral force of the United Nations and the instruments of its diplomacy to the solution of some of the problems besetting the world today. I know we all recognize that in this endeavor he needs all the support and encouragement that we can give him. 142. Once again we are engaged in an exercise of introspection. However much we may exhort each other to be candid with ourselves, I do not believe that any of us can claim today to have the remedy for our ills.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“It gives me great pleasure that you, Mr. President, a distinguished diplomat of a friendly socialist country with which Ethiopia has the best of relations, should be at the helm of the Assembly while I am speaking today. Your election to the presidency is a fitting tribute both to your country's contribution to the work of .the United Nations and to your personal qualities as a public figure of distinction. Please accept my heartfelt felicitations. 139. I should also like to pay a tribute to Foreign Minister Adam Malik of Indonesia for his wise and able leadership of the last session of the General Assembly. 140. All of the previous Secretaries-General have left an enduring mark on world affairs. UThant will best be remembered for having built up the moral stature of the office of the Secretary-General to great heights. 141.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)