YouSaid · the spoken record

Na Champassak

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS NA CHAMPASSAK

lines on the record: 60
first: 1968-09-24
most recent: 1973-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
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

“For my country it is the year of concord and the year in which peace has been restored. By giving us peace, this year has also given us faith in the future and new reasons for hope.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“It is a good augury that those same Powers, in a spirit of generosity and of international solidarity, which is to their credit, are prepared to grant the countries of Indochina the aid they need for reconstruction within a multilateral and bilateral framework and according to modalities that are to be determined. At present, a large-scale programme is being prepared among the donor countries. 191. Endless conflict has in the past accustomed us, in spite of ourselves, to launch recriminations and hurl invectives — to condemn, and to deplore from this lofty rostrum the ill deeds of an implacable battle. 192. The favourable turn of events makes me confident however and enables me to end my statement on a more optimistic note. 193. 1973 is a propitious and reassuring year.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“But the first corner-stone has been laid. We wish to strengthen it and place other corner-stones elsewhere among our neighbours. 189. Friendly nations who are interested in world peace and in maintaining a neutral Laos, have not spared their encouragement and support. We note with reassurance that the process of rapprochement and reconciliation has been followed with a great deal of sympathy by the concert of nations, as well as by the great Powers, which are more specially concerned with safeguarding and consolidating peace. 190.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Laos, because of its size, can be a threat to no one and cannot be considered as such. Its people have no hostile intentions towards any country. It has never interfered in, nor will it ever interfere in, the internal affairs of another State. Its congenital pacifism predisposes it to the maintenance of a peaceful system in its own country and to the continuance of good relations with all its neighbours. Naturally it is entitled to expect that other States will show equally strict respect for its sovereignty and frontiers. Neutrality has become our creed and the aim and basis of all our foreign policy. 188. Yet it remains a fact that the Laos solution is only one step towards genuine peace. Without a global settlement, covering all of Indo-China, the peace will be precarious and my country may indeed fall back into the chaos of war.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“As such, the Laos Agreements nevertheless constitute an interesting experiment and a valuable contribution to world peace. It is indeed in Laos that progress towards a political settlement and the restoration of peace in Indochina have been most marked. In comparison with our neighbours, the Laos solution is unique, because there never has been and there never will be in the new situation, either in law nor in fact, any division of the country. Under the aegis of our august sovereign, a single Government will be formed which will exercise its prerogatives over the entire Kingdom and will follow one policy only. 187. What can that policy be if not one of strict neutrality towards all States without exception, a policy which my Government has voluntarily taken up since 1962, at the time of the signature of the Geneva agreement?”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“We also wish the international community to be witnesses, to recall solemnly to those who will bear the responsibility for it, that there is an imperative need for the total withdrawal of all foreign troops, in particular those which two decades ago brought war to our country. Under the terms of the Paris agreements and of the Vientiane Agreement, this withdrawal must be complete 60 days after the formation of a Government of national unity. 185. I shall spare you further details. We are at present embarked on our path of national reconciliation and peace, while aware that this will be long, difficult and full of pitfalls, because it is no easy matter to eliminate the seeds of distrust and suspicion which a quarter of a century of foreign interference and subversion have inevitably accumulated. 186.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“That is why we are striving to find a political balance in the best way possible which, while respecting treaties, will effectively guarantee our independence and neutrality. We no longer wish to be a battlefield for any nation, whether it is a matter of an ideological war or of territorial conquest. We reject any domination and oppose all the most insidious forms of a certain "mini-imperialism" which, under fallacious pretexts, would seek to expropriate a part of our national territory, carrying out what you yourself, Mr. President, have described as "partition by despotism". 184.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“If it so happens — and this is always regrettable — that some promises are not kept, or there are violations of the cease-fire, these may be isolated events caused by irresponsible agents, or ephemeral and localized acts of minor importance that cannot be allowed to jeopardize the policy of reconciliation which was won in noble battle. 182. We also know that the atmosphere of detente has had a decisive and beneficial influence on our own political situation and has greatly eased the problem of Laps. 183. It would bean illusion, nevertheless, and indeed even dangerous in some respects, to seek peace at any price. Need I remind you that Laos is a small country which has paid a heavy toll for the war imposed on it from abroad, a war which is not ours. My country must no longer, directly or indirectly, pay the price for detente.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“It was rather a matter for the two opposing parties to undertake constructive talks and to clear the way for a broad consensus on the points which could bring us together and unite us. These sustained efforts have borne fruit. Moderation, common sense and, above all, the spirit of conciliation have prevailed. It is the victory of reason over division and misunderstanding. Whatever the results of the fights, the country does not wish to recognize either victors or vanquished. Everyone is an equal citizen, with the same rights and duties, and all are equally determined to work for the common good. A chapter of sorrow in our history has been closed. 180. Perhaps the situation has never been more favourable, nor the opportunities greater for our country to become again an oasis of peace. 181.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“These new arrangements set forth in detail the conditions for the implementation of a vast programme of reconciliation of the people of Laos without foreign interference. 178. On the basis of the agreements concluded and under the decisive impetus of His Highness Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma, who achieved this, a new Government of national union will shortly be formed. 179. The problems we had to face throughout the negotiations were many and arduous. The patient and determined quest for peace made possible the most difficult compromises and made the most delicate points easier to handle. It was not a question of sterile quarrels, of rhetorical jousts, of vain propaganda.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“To our great relief, the useless fratricidal struggles have stopped and there is on both sides, in a spirit of agreement and mutual understanding, a firm will to promote a mutually satisfactory negotiated settlement of the problem of Laos. A reassuring event has already taken place, which deserves our attention. On 21 February 1973, to the general satisfaction of all, the Agreement on Restoring Peace and Achieving National Concord in Laos was signed in Vientiane in order to seal the reconciliation of all the people of Laos and decree the immediate cessation of fighting. 177. After lengthy and laborious negotiations on the thorny problems which remained in abeyance, this agreement was defined and completed by the Protocols of 14 September last.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“It is to be hoped that the views expressed and the settlements proposed on that occasion will prompt the rich countries to think these things over and lead them to consider or reconsider the problems of underdevelopment with more sympathy and understanding. 175. Allow me now to speak on the problem of Laos in the light of the most recent events. 176. Emerging weakened after a lengthy struggle, my country is now reborn to hope, to a dawn of a new era of peace and national harmony. Whereas internationally there is detente and co-operation, internally we must liquidate the consequences of war and organize peace. Our efforts in this direction have not been in vain.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“We have recently observed the de jure recognition by certain States of political parties or movements which are far from having the attributes of a sovereign and organized State. An extensive interpretation of the legitimacy or representative character of these movements would lead us — and this would be mistaken — to multiply admissions to the United Nations at the whim of revolutions and alliances. 174. The Fourth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, recently held in Algiers, rightly pointed out, among other considerations, this delicate problem of legitimacy among the non-aligned. It further drew attention to the polarization on a world scale of wealth and poverty.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“These are two States having different systems of government which recent events have brought much closer together and which are now on a footing of equality within the same Assembly. Because of this doctrine, other divided States may expect sooner or later to be admitted in similar manner to the United Nations. However, one must be forewarned against an improper application of that concept. It is not conceivable, on the pretext of universality, to take into consideration a mere dissident movement in rebellion against the central power of a State. To do so would create a dangerous precedent and introduce in international relations a centrifugal and pernicious force which would encourage new divisions or the erosion of sovereign States.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“This concept of non-violence obviously leads us to regret the bloody events which have overcome our neighbour the Khmer Republic, a country friendly to us. It came into the conflagration late and it deserves to have the hostilities on its soil come to an end soon and to have a peaceful life more in accord with its Buddhist traditions. 172. Further removed from us, three new States have been admitted to the Organization: the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. We congratulate them and welcome them. 173. Until they become reunited, the simultaneous admission of the two German States is a source of satisfaction to the international community at the level of political realities. This new event is the result of a long evolution and we see in it also a healthy result of detente.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Perhaps we shall thus be able to limit conflicts and end terrorism, which all too freely springs up in many different places in a way which ensures impunity for itself while making innocent victims run grave risks. We understand the deep reasons for certain struggles and we respect the ideals and the aspirations which prompt them. But it is difficult for us as Buddhists to recognize that a systematic recourse to force is the right way to promote an ideal or a just cause. Furthermore, if the means used are cruel and repugnant, they may do a disservice to the cause which they are supposed to defend. In this sense and contrary to the well-known adage, "the end does not justify the means", it should be possible to settle the most legitimate claims by peaceful means through national and international legal institutions. 171.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Kurt Waldheim. We hail with respect his praiseworthy initiatives and his frequent pilgrimages in the quest for peace to serve the principles of the United Nations Charter so as to adapt them to the new realities. 169. Because we ourselves have suffered from the Indochina tragedy, we can fully appreciate the initiatives for peace and goodwill which are presented to circumscribe an incipient conflict and to restore order and calm wherever they are threatened. 170. It is a fact that mankind does not know and has practically never known universal peace. But our common duty is patiently to seek it by uniting all our efforts so as to banish war and to promote the coming into being of a rational order. What might appear to be Utopian today may become a reality tomorrow.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“166. Mr. President, our Prime Minister, His Highness Prince Souvanna Phouma, is retained in Vientiane by his many obligations and has done me the honour of asking me to be the leader of the delegation of Laos to this twenty- eighth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Thus it is my pleasant duty to express to you, on behalf of my country, Laos, our feelings of great esteem and confidence as well as our warmest congratulations on your brilliant election to the presidency of the Assembly. 167. I could not at this time fail to pay a just tribute to your predecessor, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland, who last year guided the twenty-seventh session with equal diligence and talent. 168. I should also like to refer with admiration to the dedication and unflagging activities of the Secretary- General, Mr.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“This year again we reiterate our wish and our appeal on behalf of the people of Laos, in the name of the sufferings they endure, in the name of the solidarity which here should unite us when one of us suffers injustice, when one of us sees with despair part of our people scattered and wandering, our towns destroyed, and murderous and arrogant foreign legions coming to lay down the law in an independent and sovereign country we reiterate our appeal for an end once and for all to the sad chapter of this long march in torment and in blood, so that we may at last together usher in the beginning of a new era of concord and peace.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“It is a matter of urgency that, as we said last year, "It is imperative for all international bodies which are mindful of the need for peaceful coexistence and for the signatories to the Geneva agreements, who are responsible for their application, to decide at last to assume their fundamental responsibility." [1943rd meeting, para. 54.] 20.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“May they lead to a global solution of all the IndoChinese problems, so that those peoples, decimated by interminable and now pointless struggles, may recover their identity in peace and reconciliation. 18. Our contribution to peace is, therefore, sincere, loyal and continuous. We have given specific and repeated proof of that. The Government of Hanoi alone has opposed it, through the Neo Lao Hak Xat, which is now prisoner of its political choice. 19. If there is any collective conscience in this Organization it must now awaken and become aware of Laotian realities.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Recently, again, we accepted the five points of the Lactam Patriotic Front as a basis for discussion. We propose that the use of firearms should be immediately halted under strict and impartial international control. We have reason to believe that if the North VietNamese will ease their pressure and withdraw from our country, the Lao of all parties will soon settle their disputes. The latest messages exchanged between the two Princes seem to mark a step forward in the patient and continuous search for a dialog opening the way to the reconciliation and harmony desired by all. 17. The negotiations taking place between the principal interlocutors hold out prospects for peace which seem better now than they ever were in the past.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“North Viet-Nam is quite simply throwing down a challenge to the international community by carrying the war into Laos, allegedly to struggle against the imperialists, who have never entered the country, whereas the first North VietNamese battalions were already in place, having entered our national territory in strength. It is therefore certainly the intention to destroy our society, the monarchy and the institutions which we have established with the assistance of our people and in complete freedom. For two decades we have been denouncing this aggression, which is an insult to law and to international agreements. Our delegation can state that the Royal Government of Laos has done everything in its power to settle its disputes with the Neo Lao Hak Xat, the political party created and maintained by the Hanoi Government.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Ideology is no excuse for doing everything in order to triumph. The export of ideas by force of arms: that quite simply is what we blame the imperialists for. 16. Peace requires the abandonment of unreasonable ambitions and respect for the ideas of others. If North Viet-Nam was not convinced that it was following the direction of history and that it must liberate all the neighboring peoples of old IndoChina and impose, with its friends, a regime which it regards as the best, the most just and the most humane, it would not have invaded our country. It must be recognized that millions of people are resisting because the attitudes of the North VietNamese have not won the unanimous support of the Laotian and Khmer peoples.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Neutrality does not mean isolation although we can speak with some bitterness of the state in which our country now finds itself because of the aggression of one of its neighbors and for the reasons mentioned at the beginning of this statement. Political alignment entails ties which cannot be supported by countries which, like ours, lack the means. With the Geneva agreement of 1962 we accepted political non-alignment. We have respected our signature, while others have held theirs at naught. But non-alignment cannot itself mean an option in which aggressors and aggressed against are mingled. If non-alignment is a philosophy for a policy of peace, it is necessary to distinguish between those who send their armies to invade other countries and those who respect international frontiers.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“We also welcome with great pleasure the steps taken by the two Koreas to resolve the question of the unification of that country. Those are examples of great political wisdom by which many a belligerent should be guided. In the case of countries which were once united but which have become different States, we think that in the age in which we are living the identity of nations is such that territorial partition is an inhuman act of political surgery which can only feed rancor and hatred. 15. And if Laos is to serve as an example, at least for the peaceful settlement of the problems of IndoChina, my delegation will recall that we were among the first to opt for neutrality when the storm was breaking upon us.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Nothing that happens or may hap; in the IndoChina peninsula can be a matter of indifference to the great masses of people who live close to these warm waters, which are sailed by so many vessels, some of which have been following the same routes for decades. We would even say that the political interest is not limited to those coasts alone. So that, if we want peace in so coveted a region, it must be established soon. Laos therefore welcomed with the greatest sympathy the efforts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore to try and find a solution to the IndoChina conflict. We have made known our feelings on this subject. A global solution must be found for all the nations concerned in the war, for there is a common IndoChinese front, which conceals and further burdens the Laotian problem by prolonging it.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Thus it is that in IndoChina and elsewhere, little by little, the principles of the Charter and the principles of Bandung are eroded; thus it is that, little by little, small nations have the feeling that their protests and statements made before the United Nations have become a purely academic exercise and, being unable to obtain justice, they had better seek other means. Thus it is that the crisis of the Organization has continued over the years. It is a crisis of conscience, and only through a galvanizing of this collective conscience, which has failed us, can our institution truly be the monument of hope. 14. So far as our country is concerned, however, we still have hope, because it is precisely in South-East Asia, which is so threatened, that the peoples are beginning to be aware of their common destiny.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“My country asks you to give further thought to those questions. They are indeed within our jurisdiction. They are our moral responsibility, because by the very reason of our hesitation and caution those who have committed aggression against us have been able cynically to declare that we are serving the policy of the imperialists which in their eyes justifies their deploying their divisions, without admitting it, throughout Laos and mounting the attack of which we are today the victims.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Does war between North and South Viet-Nam authorize the belligerents to invade a sovereign neighboring country because it is strategically more convenient to pass through Laos than to cross the seventeenth parallel? A curious hypocrisy, of which I think no one in this Assembly is unaware: the guilty hand of Hanoi, which feigns to respect one frontier in order to violate another. 12. Thus, does the Messianic ideology of a country place it above international law? Does political testament of a national hero permit that country on the grounds of what it calls a sacred mission, no longer to recognize and respect any border? Why must the reunification of Viet-Nam be effected at the expense of other countries? Is North Viet-Nam being attacked and invaded by the forces of Laos, Cambodia or even Viet-Nam? Of course not. 13.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Our Prime Minister expressly wrote to the Secretary-General to this effect some time ago. He said that in his honest opinion the Organization seemed to him the natural place for the settlement of disputes. As the Secretary-General has said, we should have a collective conscience. We believe that, when peace is threatened anywhere, all of us here should be concerned and should help in the quest for equitable solutions, and not simply endorse the fait accompli to turn questioningly towards this or that capital. In the case of Laos the origin of the trouble is clear: foreign troops have invaded our territory by entire divisions on a war footing accompanied by armored vehicles and modern artillery. Is this aggression or a military outing?”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“We say that the war in Laos, the unhappy expression of the Indo-China war, is indeed an international matter. The two conferences held on this subject were international conferences. Legal subtitles can neither conceal nor distort what is the obvious truth. Thus it is futile to speak of peace and international solidarity when small nations which have no means to defend themselves are left to their fate amid widespread indifference. When there are thousands of dead, vast destruction, hundreds of thousands of people dis-placed must legalism be the ultima ratio in this Organization, which was established to defend and demonstrate peace? There has been, quite rightly, talk of a crisis of the Organization precisely because of its inability to solve international disputes. 11. This is what the problem is ail about.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Our delegation therefore welcomes the change in the international climate and the agreements, no matter how meager, which have been attained by way of corollary. The ancient demons are, of course, difficult to exorcise. We speak from sad experience, since our unhappy kingdom has been under unceasing attack for many years by a country which is 10 times stronger. Does the Assembly still recall our statements from this rostrum concerning this indescribable aggression? Do representatives know that the Ho Chi Minh trail passes through Laos and that it has become an open road to invasion and warfare? That is an important problem which, it has often been said, is not for the United Nations to solve, since the internal affairs of States are not within its competence. 10.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Small nations looked with astonishment and anguish on the awesome eagerness of blocs and clans to predict the catastrophes which stalked this or that social system, to vaunt the merits of this or that system, as more and more fantastic weapons were constantly prepared for a decisive confrontation between good and evil. For years the concert of nations had become an appalling cacophony in which threats and condemnations predominated, as in certain ancient tragedies. 9. For some time now, it has seemed that we were moving towards a more humane and less adventurist view of politics. After all, what is at stake is war or peace. Although the security of States is the golden rule of diplomacy, it must not, however, be allowed to lead straight to total annihilation.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The recent meeting between Prime Ministers Chou Enlai and Tanaka in Peking, the echo of which was heard across .the world, will certainly have beneficial effects in Asia. 7. We are thus far from the age when the great Powers were living virtually behind barricades, with weapons directed against potential aggressors, and the latter doing the same against their potential opponents. 8. The fine language of diplomacy was adorned with invective and sombre prophecies, although such prophecies were always given the lie by facts. The international climate was stifling and dangerous.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Last year, our delegation declared that it approached the twenty-sixth session of the General Assembly with a little more hope than in previous years. This feeling was based on specific observations. Since then bold, courageous and politically very wise initiatives have borne out our hopes. Truly, the world today has the clear impression that the winds of history are veering around since the great Powers, some of them once resolutely antagonistic, are finally agreeing on principles which could give them a breathing space. This process of active detente and ideological accommodation after the summit meetings at Peking and Moscow has given rise to tremendous hopes everywhere.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Obstinacy on the one hand, and hatred on the other, have created this kind of dialectic of despair which has impelled men to commit crimes of a new kind, far more dangerous because more insidious. Neither is there any assurance that these sacrifices, voluntary or involuntary, have done anything to bring about a real change in the balance of force or changed the real course of events. 5. As Buddhists, we strongly condemn these acts of terrorism regardless of their motives, because they lead directly to hatred, because they inject the virus of blind terror and, quite simply, because they lead to an erosion of international morality. But in the midst of these tempests, reefs and difficulties which rise in our path, visible signs of a rational order founded on a desire for peace and co-operation are beginning to appear. 6.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“In the Middle East where the state of "no war, no peace" persists, where the situation is blocked, the fever of adventurism is increasing the danger of a confrontation. Elsewhere, in Africa, a situation of veiled conflict, born of the aftermath of colonialism, is not about to improve. The world is tainted with violence. Like the revolutions of yesteryear, terrorism is now exported across frontiers. No continent has been spared its outbursts of anger, riots, repression, assassinations, killings, and so forth. There is no longer any haven of peace anywhere. A whole range of terrorist techniques, from aerial hijackings to attempted assassinations by remote control, or even through the post, has been developed and perfected, causing suffering and bloodshed to innumerable innocent victims.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“I should now like to turn to our new Secretary-General, to congratulate him on his tireless efforts over the past year to inculcate a universal awareness and a new public spirit, everywhere in the world, in order to rouse this Organization from its chronic passivity. With the admission of the People's Republic of China, our Organization has caught its breath and taken a major step towards the universality so much desired by all. 4. While concern and hope impel each of us to speak of peace in this Assembly, it is in fact violence which has predominated over the past year. In our Asia of monsoons, where we have had the dubious distinction of being the star, war has been raging for 10 years now, with ever- increasing violence, extending the conflict to the limits of IndoChina.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“My country has maintained cordial relations with your country since the Geneva Agreements of 1954, which judiciously appointed the International Supervisory Commission, of which Poland is one of the three members. 2. I should also like to pay a sincere tribute to your predecessor Mr. Adam Malik, who, in an atmosphere of unrest, presided over our debates at the twenty-sixth session with firm and tranquil authority. That distinguished statesman, who has worked so hard for the cause of peace and stability in South-east Asia, also succeeded in arousing general respect and admiration to the benefit of our Organization. He deserves our grateful thanks. 3.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“His Highness Prince Souvanna Phouma, our First Minister, detained by his many obligations, having been unable to come this year to the rostrum to plead the cause of" Laos as he has done each year, has entrusted to me the honor of representing him before this Assembly. Mr. President, allow me, on the occasion of your election, to extend the warm congratulations of Laos. In entrusting to you the burdensome task of presiding over its debates and of directing its proceedings, the twenty-seventh session of the General Assembly wished to pay a tribute, first to your qualities as a diplomat, and, next, to your country, Poland, and to the courage of its people and to the realism of its leaders.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Finally, it is appalling to note the retreat of justice, order and international morality as the advance of science 2nd technology gathers speed. Tangible and topical proof of this is the extraordinary feat of those three men who, as they manoeuvre in the atmosphere and circle the globe in their spaceship, continue to defy imagination. 19. For our part, we are convinced that, if we can unite all our efforts to suppress national selfishness and the thirst for domination, we shall be able to secure an international detente and co-operation in peace.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“In our opinion, the Laotian problem must be settled by the Laotians themselves, without outside interference, and in accordance with the principles of Buddhist tolerance and peaceful coexistence. 18. It is ironic that, just as we are preparing to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we should see on all sides those rights not only ignored but violated and flouted. It is distressing that, after twenty-three years existence, the United Nations should tolerate open attacks by sinister forces avid for hegemony and domination on the great principles of non-interference, non-intervention, self-determination, peaceful coexistence and respect for independence which constitute the very bases of the Charter.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“We are sure that Laotians, to whatever party they belong, do not wish their country to become the complaisant dependent of any country, or to be reduced to the rank of a mere cog-wheel in a piece of machinery subject to the arbitrary control of the testing of others. At the risk of the loss of a part of our national territory, we refuse to bow to tie logic of force, of conquest, or even of the fait accompli. We wish to be the masters of our fate. 17. We do not belong to any military or political bloc. We are neutral, and we intend to remain neutral. Our neutrality, which is a supreme national law, since it is inscribed in our Constitution is not just a mental attitude, but a political and geographical imperative.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The neutrality of Laos and its territorial integrity were both recognized by all the Powers, particularly by that very Power that is attacking us and using our territory as a springboard for its aggression elsewhere. 16. Since we are the victims of aggression, we are entitled to expect that our territorial sovereignty and integrity should be promptly re-established in their entirety by the withdrawal of the North Viet-Namese forces. As a faithful Member of the United Nations for thirteen years, we have the right to demand from our neighbours complete respect for our independence, our sovereignty and our neutrality.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“But despite our efforts to make ourselves heard, it appears that a sort of conspiracy of silence envelops the Laotian affair, in contrast with the anxiety and tension that grips our people. This forgotten war, forgotten all the more the longer it lasts, is creating havoc on our territory and a burden on the future of our people. 15. Every intensification of the war in Viet-Nam means an intensification of the war in Laos, so that the future of the Laotian war depends entirely on the vagaries of the Viet-Nam war. And yet, Laos is not Viet-Nam. The Laotian problem was settled by an international agreement guaranteed and concluded at Geneva in 1962.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The construction of the Ho Chi Minh trail, several hundred kilometres long, most of it on Laotian territory, and the deployment of immense human resources for the protection of that crossing and entry route for North Viet-Namese soldiers on their way to South Viet-Nam, constitute in themselves the most insolent intervention. The International Supervisory and Control Commission set up under the Geneva Agreements has established the facts and denounced them to international public opinion. The Laotian Government itself has produced irrefutable proof of these facts and has also made them known to international public opinion and event here in this Assembly on several occasions. The Laotian Government has issued two white papers denouncing North Viet-Namese intervention.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It revealed the North Viet-Namese Government’s determination to intensify the so-called “national liberation” war in Laos and to destroy the bases of the provisional national coalition government of Prince Souvanna Phouma. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are still fleeing from the areas “liberated” by the Pathet Lao. 14. Dozens of North Viet-Namese prisoners belonging to regular units have been captured in battle zones in Laos. From documents found on the dead and interrogations of prisoners the Laotian Government has obtained irrefutable evidence of the presence in our territory of some forty thousand North Viet-Namese troops.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“In defiance of the 1954 and 1962 Geneva Agreements, and with the help of the subversion it has fostered over the past decade, North Viet-Nam, with its leaders and its battalions, is brazenly assisting the military operations of the Neo Lao Haksat, which receives subsidies and weapons from Hanoi. It is an open secret that dozens of North Viet-Namese battalions are deployed in our country, attacking our forces, killing our women and children, destroying our villages and living on the abundance of rice and livestock commandeered from our people. The violent offensive that was started at the beginning of the dry season by the combined Pathet Lao and North Viet-Namese forces against our troops from north to south was significant.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“There the scene of hunger, destitution, frustration and fear is taking on the dimensions of a human tragedy. Elsewhere, in Angola, in Mozambique and in so-called Portuguese Guinea, a lingering colonialism in its most backward form retains its privileges by keeping those countries in the darkness of oppression and slavery with stubborn force. Further shameful practices, such as the racial discrimination that is openly made a principle in South Africa and Rhodesia, are so many challenges to United Nations authority and prestige. 13. In Laos for years we have been suffering the direct effects of the Viet-Nam war. Through the intermediary of the so-called Pathet Lao forces, which were recently transformed into self-styled “national liberation forces", and in collusion with them, the North Viet-Namese have extended the war to Laos.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)