YouSaid · the spoken record

Lakshman Kadirgamar

lines on the record: 165
first: 1996-09-24
most recent: 2001-09-24
sittings or episodes: 5
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

“Then there are those developing States such as Sri Lanka, with their multi-ethnic, multireligious societies where the legacies of centuries of a colonial past take more than one generation to erase. Aside from the pressures inherent in the very nature and history of a State, let us not forget the additional external pressures a State is subject to — economic, social and political, legitimate and illegitimate, civil and uncivil, and often criminal — that the age of information and its consequences have brought in their wake. These are external pressures that raise troubling uncertainties for many States and for 25 developing States in particular, that are without the blessings of abundant resources and advanced infrastructures.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“With that initial clarification and a reminder that human rights are for the observance not only of States, but non-State entities as well, I shall proceed with the remainder of my address. We must bear in mind that the entities we know as States are national and international corporate entities of enormous complexity, differing in so many respects from corporate entities of the private sector and, of course, differing as well from those innumerable entities, in their thousands now, to which we refer, broadly and benignly, but somewhat simplistically, as civil society. If the management of a developed State with more than adequate resources at its command is a complex undertaking, how much more complex would be the management of a developing State without such resources and such infrastructures?”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“There is, however, a substantial body of opinion, within which Sri Lanka includes itself, which is of the view that the way to proceed in the matter of human rights and the dignity of the individual is properly through continued and close cooperation between all States, while respecting the sovereignty of each. The way of multilateralism or globalization, which appear expressly or by implication to overlook or diminish the sovereignty of States, is not, to many of us in this Hall, a commendable course. It is not a course whose worthiness in practice has as yet been established. Indeed, most endeavours to overlook or diminish the sovereignty of States have often had disastrous consequences.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Before proceeding any further I should make it clear — in view of recent statements on the part of speakers of obvious goodwill and intentions, but with whose fundamental premises I fundamentally differ — that those who assert the necessity of continued reaffirmation of the sovereignty of the State in terms of the Charter must not be regarded — I repeat, must not be regarded — as having in any way diminished their commitment to the importance of universal adherence to human rights and all that is required for the dignity of the individual. Sri Lanka is deeply committed to the promotion and protection of the human rights of its own people and of all peoples everywhere.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Thus, it was the plea of the President of Sri Lanka that everything possible be done to protect and preserve, and not to decry or endeavour to erode, the stability and the well-being of the entity we know as the State, for whose sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence the Charter gave us its assurance.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“She pointed out that it was in the General Assembly that representatives of Governments, of peoples and of States gather together under a Charter that assures States of their sovereign equality, their political independence and their territorial integrity. These are the fundamentals of the United Nations system. And this is as it should be. States are the principal organizational entities into which the peoples of this planet have gathered. The principal, overall organizational edifice of the international community is the inter-States system. For the entity we know as the State, there is no substitute. If States weaken, so will this Organization. If States are diminished, so will this Organization be diminished.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Her words were these: “Peace among all States and peace among all peoples within States so that all, and not only some, may in safety, without fear, in dignity, without humiliation, in good health, and in material and spiritual well-being enjoy the wonders of life on this miracle we call the planet Earth.” (A/55/PV.7) Therefore, the President of Sri Lanka spoke, with emphasis, of the necessity of protecting and preserving, for the future, those minimal and most fundamental certainties that the Member States of the United Nations have been able to establish — in particular, to preserve what was and continues to be the Organization's very foundation: the entity we know as the State.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“The President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, unable to attend the Summit, conveyed, 24 through a message I had the honour to read out to the Summit, her hopes and her vision for the future of humanity.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“I convey to the President the warmest felicitations of Sri Lanka on his election to the high office of President of the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly, and I pledge to him Sri Lanka's fullest cooperation and support in his work. To the Foreign Minister of Namibia, Mr. Theo- Ben Gurirab, I convey Sri Lanka's appreciation and admiration for the masterly manner in which he served as President of the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Tuvalu to the membership of the United Nations. The Millennium Summit is over. I fervently hope that its dreams and hopes for a better world will never fade from the hearts and minds of all mankind.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“With the permission of the President, a draft resolution to this effect, sponsored by a number of countries, will be introduced in the General Assembly at its current session. The Government of Sri Lanka commends this draft resolution to the attention of the General Assembly. 30”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Allow me, therefore, to suggest to this Assembly that as the third millennium of human history opens it would be fitting to recall the immense contribution to the understanding of the human condition that the teachings of the Buddha made 2,500 years ago. I suggest further that it would be appropriate to honour the Buddha by declaring that Wesak, the sacred day for Buddhists the world over, be observed as a special day by the United Nations. Wesak marks the three most important events in the life of the Buddha: his birth, his attainment of enlightenment and his passing away, all occurring on the full-moon day of the month of May. This was the recommendation made by an international Buddhist conference held in Colombo last November and attended by delegates from 26 countries.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“From the religious angle, it is possible to state that in this Declaration lie enshrined certain values and norms emphasized by the major religions of the world. Though not directly expressed, the basic principles of the Declaration are supported and reinforced by these religious traditions, and among them the contribution of the Buddhist tradition, to say the least, is quite outstanding”. Today the teachings of the Buddha are studied and practised worldwide, and nowhere more avidly than in the West. It is said that there are over 150 million known adherents of Buddhism in the world today. But if one took into account the vast uncounted numbers of those who practise Buddhism, that figure would be immensely higher.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“He who renounces both victory and defeat is happy and peaceful”. The only conquest that brings peace and happiness is self- conquest: “One may conquer millions in battle, but he who conquers himself — only one — is the greatest of the conquerors.” Buddhist philosophy contains much more of relevance to statesmen. In the past decade the observance of human rights has been a source of great concern and debate in international forums. In this connection, I would like to quote the words of a scholar who has examined the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article by article, from a Buddhist perspective. He said: “The importance of this Declaration as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations is now acknowledged everywhere.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Asoka, following this noble example of tolerance and understanding, honoured and supported all other religions in his vast empire. The Buddha was just as clear on politics, war and peace. It is well-known that Buddhism advocates and preaches non-violence and peace as its universal message and does not approve of any kind of violence or destruction of life. According to Buddhism, there is nothing that can be called a “just war”, which is only a false term coined and put into circulation to justify and excuse hatred, cruelty, violence and massacre. Who decides what is just or unjust? The mighty and the victorious are “just” and the weak and the defeated are “unjust”. Buddhism does not accept this position. As the Buddha says: “The victor breeds hatred and the defeated lies down in misery.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“I would like to quote in this connection from the great Buddhist Emperor Asoka, who, as the Assembly knows, underwent a radical change of heart through contact with the Dhamma. In his often-quoted thirteenth rock edict at Kalsi, he proclaimed: “And for the following purpose has this rescript on morality been written, namely, in order that the sons and grandsons who may be born to me should not think that a fresh conquest ought to be made; that, if a conquest does please them, they should take pleasure in mercy and light punishments; and that they should regard the conquest by morality as the only true conquest”. Not only the freedom of thought, but also the tolerance allowed by the Buddha is astonishing to the student of the history of religions.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“From that beginning, at one time or another in the course of its history, the message of the Enlightened One spread to large areas of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, to Sri Lanka, China and Japan, to Indonesia, Korea, Laos and Viet Nam, and to Myanmar and Thailand. I state this not with any sense of triumphalism, but to note that this enormous expansion 29 took place in peace. No battles were fought, no cities besieged and no crusades commenced to further the expansion of Buddhism. And when, in accordance with the Buddha's teaching that all things are impermanent, the tide receded, no battles were fought, no cities besieged and no crusades commenced to stem that tide. For all of us who are concerned with statecraft, this holds a fundamental lesson.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Not only has the world experienced numerous wars, but nations and peoples have experienced many kinds of immoral pressures and intimidation. Social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom have, for many nations, been an ever-receding mirage. It is clear that these noble aspirations need some backing, some stiffening, in their implementation. Some 2,500 years ago a great teacher was born in Asia. He was born a prince. He renounced the world and roamed the forests in search of truth until he received enlightenment. Let me recall that Buddhism was first established in the central plain of the River Ganges, just south of the Himalayas.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The Charter of the United Nations commences with these memorable words: “We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and “to establish conditions under which respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and “to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom”. One has only to listen to these words to realize that the 54 years that have elapsed since they were first stated have brought serious disappointments.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“At the close of this century it is relevant to ask of ourselves this question: do moral considerations any longer inspire or motivate our actions, or have we been completely overtaken by pragmatic considerations reflected in our respective national interests, subjectively defined? I would like, in this context, to make an observation. We have all heard the familiar jibe that a diplomat is someone who is paid to lie abroad for his country. Indeed, foreign relations and foreign policy have always had the reputation of being somewhat amoral, the object being to secure some national advantage, with the morality of the end, or of the means used to secure the end, being relatively unimportant. But the consequences of this approach for international relations have been deplorable.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“I urge other countries, particularly in the West, to follow the lead of the United States of America in enacting legislation to outlaw terrorist organizations. In the unfolding debate on the stand-off between state sovereignty and the rights of individuals being subjected to massive human-rights violations, we must be careful to see that terrorist organizations do not reap the benefit of misplaced sympathy in situations of civil conflict. Those who resort to terror in pursuit of their political objectives must never be permitted or encouraged to believe that unremitting terror will ultimately bring its reward in recognition and results. On the contrary, it is only the recognition that a campaign of terror will put its exponents beyond the pale of civilized discourse that will persuade terrorists to seek other ways of gaining a hearing.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Among the new problems of unparalleled menace and danger that have emerged towards the close of the present century are heightened terrorist activities in many countries and ever-proliferating criminal activities in the areas of narcotics, human trafficking and arms smuggling. Every time I have spoken from this rostrum, I have argued that terrorism must be tackled collectively if it is to be tackled effectively at all. In earlier years this plea seemed to fall on deaf ears. But a rash of terrorist bombings in the West galvanized the rich and powerful countries into action. Today we have one Convention in place and two others under consideration at this very session. I am content this year merely to reiterate my plea that there should be no relaxation in the fight against terrorism.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“To this end we have, again after the Colombo Summit, commenced work on a Social Charter for South Asia. 28 The gains we have made in regional cooperation in South Asia are certainly not the material of which sensational headlines are made. In fact, they may even have gone unnoticed in some quarters. Yet we in South Asia know that our achievements are incremental, durable and long-lasting. Whatever may be the burdens imposed by history on our region, our common aspiration for the development and welfare of our peoples brings the Governments of South Asia together in collective endeavour. Our organization has an inherent strength and resilience that has enabled it to weather serious crises in relations between some of our members. It has emerged stronger after each such test of its capacity for collective action.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We will be spelling out in Seattle our views on the achievements so far of the multilateral trading system that has now been put in place and the course corrections we believe are required. We have also networked our central banks and finance Ministries since the Colombo Summit, to strengthen our capacities to anticipate and cope with developments in the international financial system. The economic focus of our regional cooperation has not made us unmindful of our other primary objective, namely of social advancement for our region. The challenges our region faces are many. They relate to education, the empowerment of women, health and population issues, and so on. We are trying to evolve a link between regional goals and national programmes in the social sector through a depoliticized common vision.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Once these capacities were in place, we began during the last decade to work on the core issues of economic and commercial cooperation. We have made some progress in tariff liberalization in South Asia under the SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement. This progress has given us the confidence to contemplate the more ambitious task of establishing a regional free-trade area. At the SAARC Summit in Colombo hosted by Sri Lanka last year, a decision was taken, and thereafter implemented, to begin drafting the legal treaty for a free-trade regime. The Colombo Summit also manifested our determination as a region to equip ourselves to maximize the opportunities afforded by the process of globalization. Our Commerce Ministers have been meeting regularly to prepare for the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Meeting in Seattle.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Science and technology are geared far too much to the problems of rich countries.” (A/54/PV.8) The phenomenon of nations pooling their resources and strengths, either for collective security or economic development, has been a particular phenomenon of the second half of this century. South Asia has been no exception, the only difference being that the process of regional cooperation commenced relatively late — just 15 years ago — in comparison to other parts of the world. We were also clear from the very outset that our endeavours were targeted solely for economic and social development. The early phase of regional cooperation in South Asia required the building of the necessary institutional capacities of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In this connection, I wish to commend the observations of the German Foreign Minister in his speech to the Assembly a few days ago. He said: “The United Nations third major task alongside peacekeeping and promoting human rights in the coming century will be to bring about a reconciliation between rich and poor countries ... The development of the poorer and the poorest countries must not be left to the invisible hand of the global market ... The rich countries have a responsibility to help poor countries take advantage of globalization and enable them to have a fairer share of the world economy by assisting them with internal reforms and by opening up markets ... Development cooperation in the broadest sense must become one of the United Nations core tasks to a greater degree than hitherto.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“As a member of regional groupings, such as the Group of 15, the Group of 77, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Bangladesh-India- Myanmar-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation (BIMST-EC) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC), and also as the current chair of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Sri Lanka hopes to play a part in evolving a developing country consensus on this issue and initiating a healthy debate with developed countries, with the hope of establishing a new, dynamic, mutually beneficial international financial architecture. As a part of this effort, we have been active in promoting a South-South dialogue and developing an agenda for the South.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“A restructuring of the global financial architecture must include special protection for these most vulnerable segments of our global society. Since a crisis in any one part of the global structure has the power to cause havoc in the rest of the world economy, we must look beyond national solutions to global ones, for both are now irrevocably interlinked. Sri Lanka, as chair of the Group of 24, has taken a special interest in building a consensus among developing countries on the issues of reforming the global financial architecture, and also on the matter of implementation of World Trade Organization agreements.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The response of the multilateral financial institutions and the major Powers to the East Asian crisis has been ad hoc and ex post facto, but the need in the first place was for preventive mechanisms. In this milieu, Sri Lanka's response has been to maintain as best it could a steady level of economic growth, despite an unfavourable external economic environment. Our capital account transactions have only partially been liberalized. In our view, foreign direct investment should be of a medium or long-term nature in 27 order to discourage excessive outflow of short-term capital during a financial crisis. It is now virtually established wisdom that the least developed countries have been increasingly marginalized in the globalization and liberalization process.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The emergent economies in Asia are in crisis, experiencing sharp downward pressures on their currencies and capital markets and experiencing stresses, not only on their economic structures, but also on their social fabric and political processes. Fears of widespread international repercussions have borne fruit, and the impact of contagion is all too evident. A bitter lesson that has become all too obvious is the vulnerability of economies to uncontrolled financial flows of various kinds, particularly those of a speculative nature. The globalization and liberalization environment contains no safeguards to control and regulate destabilizing forces in a situation in which rapid movements of vast amounts of capital across national borders is a daily reality.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Domestic policy reforms undertaken by a large number of developing counties in the direction of liberalization and deregulation have not secured for them a place on the “Globalization Express”. The globalization and liberalization process is unfolding in a manner which gives developing countries little voice in shaping the policy framework that underpins this procedure. The ad hoc panel of economists under the aegis of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was set up on a proposal made by Sri Lanka, has concluded that there is very little opportunity for developing countries to be represented at discussions and in the councils under which various aspects of the globalization process are assessed, monitored and tailored. Initial optimism on globalization and liberalization is being replaced by anxiety and concern.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The poorest among us — spanning the continents of Africa, Central America and Asia — have experienced increasing marginalization in the world economy. Surveying the South, we find it evident that globalization and liberalization have, paradoxically, increased the economic gap between rich and poor countries. This is the conclusion reached in the tenth United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report. Domestic liberalization measures undertaken by many of the developing countries have also contributed towards a widening of the gap between the rich and the poor. A number of countries have recorded some acceleration of economic growth in the wake of liberalization and deregulation. But they have also witnessed a shift in income distribution in favour of those in the upper income groups.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The task facing us in the developing world today is one of adapting this twin process to conform to our own specific requirements and priorities. This, in our view, would be the primary objective of an economic agenda of the South in the evolving global economy of the future. Although there have been significant developments in the world economy under the influence of the doctrine of globalization and liberalization, it is imperative to recognize its limitations and drawbacks where developing countries are concerned. We need to grapple with the reality and shake off any feelings of complacency. It is now increasingly evident that the benefits of globalization have by and large bypassed much of the developing world, despite strict adherence to the tenets of the structural adjustment policies.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The South Centre could be a possible coordinating mechanism, which could facilitate the implementation of the South agenda. With the increased marginalization of developing countries in matters of international finance and trade, it is imperative that we urgently put in place a coordinating mechanism to implement the recommendations made by the ad hoc panel of economists. The general thrust of globalization and liberalization of the international economy has now become irreversible. The growing linkages between countries, the opening up of markets, the spread of investments, the impact of technology on standardizing products, the shrinking of distances and the speed of modern communications, offer new windows of opportunity for developing countries, especially if their positive aspects are seized upon and their pitfalls avoided.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The time has come for the countries of the South to formulate an effective and implementable economic agenda. The recommendations of the Non-Aligned Movement ad hoc panel of economists are of primary importance in organizing the substantive work of the 26 agenda for the South. They include the need for the elaboration and regular updating of the developing countries' agenda; development of a networking system between countries of the South, involving specialists and researchers in the various fields of importance; an economic coordination scheme to help identify and analyse aspects of international economic and trade-related issues; and the assembling and launching of expert groups, which could mobilize those national and inter-South institutions, like the South Centre in Geneva.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“By revising the criteria of classification, we would expand the number of countries that could be helped towards achieving meaningful reduction in both the stock of debt and its servicing. Debt relief and official development assistance, which has been dwindling in recent years, should be restored to its former levels, void of conditionality, at least for the least developed countries. A positive step would be the cancellation of their foreign debt. This would help release their very limited resources for social and poverty alleviation programmes. They must be urgently put on the path to sustainable development, if they are to survive. Though relieving these countries of a major portion of their debt burden is a commendable step, it is equally important to ensure that they do not relapse into the poverty trap.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The challenge of fighting human poverty must necessarily continue to have the highest priority. The poor continue to become poorer, remaining deprived of the basic necessities of life. This is morally outrageous in an era of abundance and conspicuous consumption. Poverty degrades humanity and is a threat to the most basic of all human rights. The onus is on us to unite, to wage a moral war, to eliminate the scourge of poverty from our midst. Sri Lanka is of the view that any development agenda of the future must contain a social dimension and assure protection to the most vulnerable elements of our society. It is in this regard that the international community must move beyond the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We leave the twentieth century with many spectacular achievements behind us. But let us make no mistake — we move into the twenty-first century carrying with us old, intractable problems that have been with us since the dawn of time. As the present century draws to a close, new problems of unparalleled menace and danger have emerged. They will undoubtedly occupy our attention well into the next century. Poverty, illiteracy, ill-health, hunger, unemployment, uncontrolled urbanization, the growth of mega cities — these are old problems which deeply affect over half of humanity. We have not addressed these problems with sufficient vigour over the past decades. While the United Nations systems were set up to tackle these problems, the capacity of the system to deliver results has been grossly inadequate.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“And the President stated that he would make it his business to add his “voice and devotion to” the “laudable efforts to make the twenty-first century one of love and security for every child in the world.” (ibid) In Sri Lanka we have decided to set up a rehabilitation centre for the children who desert the rebel army. The task of restoring them to health and normalcy is a daunting one. It is a task for which we can certainly use all the help we can get from those who have experience in that field. My plea to the General Assembly today, two years after I first brought up the question of child soldiers, is that we must proceed with the utmost dispatch to rescue these children from their fate. They are already scarred; if we do not act quickly they will be scarred beyond redemption.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Since 1997 there has been considerable progress on the question of child soldiers. The issue is now on centre stage. Regional conferences have been held, and a world conference is to be held next year. The office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict is operational. A growing number of countries refer to this issue in the General Assembly and at other forums. Most recently the Foreign Ministers of the Nordic Countries roundly condemned the practice and pledged their support for its eradication. The Security Council has unanimously adopted its first-ever resolution on the plight of children. The first decade of the next millennium has been designated the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“25 The Secretary-General in his report (S/1999/957) to the Security Council on the protection of civilians in armed conflict has recommended that the Security Council urge Member States to support the proposal to raise the minimum age for recruitment and participation in hostilities to 18, and demand that non-State actors involved in conflict not use children below the age of 18 in hostilities, or face the imposition of targeted sanctions if they do not comply. One of the most effective sanctions would be the proscription of such organizations in countries where they presently collect money without let or hindrance, or their being named terrorist organizations, as by the United States of America, for instance, and the consequent illegalization of their activities.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“These Governments adopt as their explanation for inaction the impeccable excuse that they do not have laws under which fund-raising for terrorist purposes can be punished. This is true, but it will soon cease to be true when the convention for the suppression of the financing of terrorism is adopted — we hope and pray — at this fifty- fourth session of the General Assembly, requiring all signatory States to enact domestic legislation in keeping with the provisions of the convention.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“These rebel groups are beyond the pale of the law. They acknowledge no international conventions. They are not answerable to any international body. And yet they must be brought to book. Some of them, the LTTE included, operate with impunity in certain countries, wearing the innocent garb of charitable, religious or social organizations. They collect money for ostensibly anodyne purposes. But in fact the money goes to buy weapons for war. And, in truth, host Governments which provide shelter to these organizations under the umbrella of liberal laws of asylum and immigration know, or could easily find out, that those moneys are going to fuel the very war into which young children are being dragooned.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“He described their fate as “horrendous” and said that in his view it “demands that the United Nations show renewed commitment and redouble its efforts as the repository of humanity's conscience and social justice in the world.” (A/54/PV.1) The President referred to the work being done by inter- governmental and non-governmental organizations to save children, and exhorted them to “continue to blame and shame Governments for not doing enough to protect our children's lives and their future.” (ibid) But in some countries Governments are completely blameless. In Sri Lanka no Government, either before independence 50 years ago or after, has ever recruited children under 18 years of age into the armed forces. In my country it is only the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that resorts to this abominable practice.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In his opening address to the General Assembly, the President referred to the boast of the “soulless recruiters” that children “are numerous and readily available, more malleable and impressionable, learn quickly, are small and agile, and quite simply require less food and supplies than adults”.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“This reference was particularly heartening to me as I had, on the basis of the Graca Machel report, first brought the issue of child soldiers to the attention of the Assembly in the course of my address in 1997. In Sri Lanka a rebel group has for several years been conscripting children, even as young as 10, for battle. Even worse, it has been making children, girls and boys, into suicide bombers, thus creating a horrible new phenomenon of depravity and cruelty that the world has never seen before. If the conscience of the world is not outraged by the tragic fate of these children in my country, then nothing will move us to action in defence of the young and the helpless anywhere.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Many of us, Foreign Ministers, have known him well over the years. We have worked with him, and we have greatly admired the energy and dedication that he has brought to the performance of his duties as the Permanent Representative of his country. The developing countries in particular have cause to remember with gratitude the role he has played in the deliberations of the Non-Aligned Movement and the G-77. He brings to his office wide experience of the systems and practices of the United Nations. He also brings to his office a high degree of sensitivity to the important issues of the day. I noticed with keen interest that in his opening statement to the Assembly the President referred in considerable detail to the problem of child soldiers.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Allow me first to extend to our President's distinguished predecessor, His Excellency Didier Opertti, Foreign Minister of Uruguay, President of the fifty-third session of the General Assembly, our gratitude for the excellent manner in which he conducted the work of the previous session. Allow me also to offer to the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga the congratulations and warmest good wishes of the Government and the people of Sri Lanka on their election to membership of the General Assembly of the United Nations. We welcome them and assure them of our unstinted support as they take up their places in the Assembly of nations. Our President's well-deserved election to the chair of this historic final session of the General Assembly of the United Nations for the twentieth century gives us great pleasure.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“All the nations of the world, the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor, must jointly agree to curtail their independence and their claims to act unilaterally. Each must agree to subordinate its individual decision and discretion to a global political will, manifested through truly democratic and representative organs of the United Nations, reflecting the authentic judgement of the world community of States. Apart from, or bereft of, the collective decisions and concerted acts of such a reformed and restructured United Nations, carried into effect resolutely and with determination, I doubt whether we can honestly expect a better future for humankind in the new millennium. We must not fail the United Nations, or else we shall assuredly go down in history as “the hollow men” of the twentieth century.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“These changes will entail sacrifice; they will be changes which many States will hesitate to welcome and be reluctant to accept lest they endanger their sovereignty and their so-called vital interests. Nevertheless, such change will be in the nature of an uncompromising demand that will confront us all. Nothing worthwhile can be achieved without sacrifice. That is indeed a universal truth concerning human redemption, and the United 11 Nations is, after all, like any other human institution. Its weaknesses and strengths are those of humankind. The obligation to act in the common interest cannot be undertaken selectively; nor does the assumption of this onerous duty admit of any double standard.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)