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

“Should terrorism be permitted through international apathy to fester, it would poison the international body politic, enervating democratic processes, processes the international community is obliged to sustain. It would be myopic for a nation to stand aloof or to disown responsibility for combating acts of terrorism which may seem too distant to evoke anything more than curiosity. With the English poet John Donne, I would say, “never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” Terrorists have the means to move freely across borders, have used chemical weapons, and could well have access to nuclear weapons. Global interdependence is undoubtedly a modern reality. However, opinions vary on the real implications of that phenomenon on the economies of developing countries.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Efforts need also to be made to further strengthen and give legal effect to the 1994 Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism. Now we need more than a mere declaration; we need a convention on measures to combat terrorism. Concerted international cooperation is necessary to ensure that the terrorist does not enjoy safe havens anywhere in the world. The territory of no State should be permitted to be used in any manner that would encourage or sustain terrorist activity in another. Fund-raising activity on foreign soil in particular, either directly or indirectly through so-called charitable funds, must be prohibited.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Many thousands have been injured and maimed. As Sri Lanka’s President emphasized last year at the fiftieth-anniversary session, concerted international action is essential to combat terrorism and compel terrorists to renounce violence. On that occasion President Clinton remarked that no one was immune from terrorism. The summit meeting of the Group of Seven and Russia in Lyon and the subsequent ministerial meeting on terrorism in Paris took bold initiatives which need to be developed into practical action. The proposals for a convention on terrorist bombings and the proposals to prevent the abuse of asylum and refugee laws are particularly timely initiatives. Sri Lanka looks forward to their elaboration during this session.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“We are aware that — in terms of finance, equipment and war matériel — this group draws support from persons outside our country, but not from other States. There is not a single State that supports them either in word or deed. They receive support from misguided members of the Tamil community who live and work in the affluent countries, or through extortion, drug trafficking, gun-running, people-smuggling or other illegal activities in many developed countries, in abuse of the hospitality of the host Governments and in violation of their laws. In Sri Lanka, the terrorists have deliberately targeted civilians. They have bombed a rush-hour commuter train and busy office buildings and have shot up rural villages, causing the death of thousands of innocent civilians, including large numbers of women and children.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“This extremist group does not in any meaningful sense represent the people they claim to fight for. They have never sought a mandate from the people at an election. They have kept out of the democratic mainstream, when many of the minority parties have entered the consultative process to seek redress for their grievances through democratic means. We are working on a set of proposals introduced by my Government to address minority grievances, which includes far reaching constitutional changes. The LTTE does not believe in the path of peaceful negotiations, having put their faith in the power of the gun. The peace process, they fear, would marginalize them; hence the recourse to increased violence.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“We should not spend time seeking to evolve a comprehensive definition of terrorism, lest we become helplessly mired in a semantic minefield. An international consensus against terrorism, based on the recognition of stark reality, has matured over the years. It is imperative now to implement that consensus. The world is aware that Sri Lanka has been racked with the anguish of a violent ethnic conflict which has sapped our energies for almost two decades. We have 2 been dealing for many years with an armed group which seeks to dismember our country by violent means, resorting to terrorism as a means of achieving this illegitimate goal. This group — the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) — has been perpetrating a series of terroristic acts, causing death and destruction in many parts of my country.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“While noting the progress that has been achieved in this endeavour, we should reiterate our commitment to move speedily in this area which vitally concerns the economic advancement and stability of developing countries. I turn now to the problem of terrorism. The epithet “terrorist” has been too often hurled unjustifiably at genuine national liberation movements, those, for instance, which struggled against foreign occupation and apartheid. The legitimacy of such organizations has been recognized by the United Nations. They are organizations which have sat with us here to discuss the issues which had compelled them to armed action. We are happy to see those true movements of the people now occupying seats in this Organization as full Members.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“First, translated into practical terms, developing countries, which are under-represented, need to have their numbers increased in the Security Council. Secondly, there are Member States in the Organization which advance arguments to support permanent seats in the Council no less cogent than the arguments tendered 50 years ago to justify the special status of the current five permanent members. My delegation also notes the useful discussions that have taken place on the subject of “An Agenda for Peace”. We feel that further work needs to be done in this area. The subject matter of the Agenda for Development is of crucial importance. It underlies the central role of our Organization in the field of economic cooperation and development.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Nor should United Nations mandates be used to serve the interests of any one State or group of States. The United Nations must not be used as a franchise to give legitimacy to causes that may not reflect the general will of the membership, on whose behalf the Security Council should act at all times. Now more than ever before we must reaffirm our collective respect for the fundamental principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The smaller nations of the world must receive constant reassurance from the larger nations that their interests will be safeguarded and their sovereignty respected. The smaller nations have only the United Nations to look to for the protection of their national interests.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Only such an approach would guarantee the safety and security of United Nations personnel and the welfare and interests of the people in the receiving State. In playing its role in conflict resolution and peacemaking, it is important that our Organization should not stray into domestic issues and conflicts which are within the domestic jurisdiction of the States concerned. The Organization should play its role only with the acceptance of the countries concerned. This position arises from the simple logic that the States concerned are best equipped, in the first instance, to deal with these issues, being familiar with the socio-economic milieu in which they arise. Otherwise, United Nations action could be counter-productive and could lead even to the exacerbation of conflicts.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“With regard to the Security Council, it is our view that today’s political and economic realities, rather than yesterday’s military power, need to be reflected in any decisions to be taken on questions such as that of the permanent membership of the Council and the enlargement of its overall membership. The United Nations must neither master nor servant be. First, despite fashionable theories about the need to limit national sovereignty, the members of the Organization remain sovereign, independent States. Each State, however small and weak it may be, jealously guards its sovereignty. Hence, where the United Nations intervenes, it should do so expressly within the terms of the Charter. The consent and cooperation of States are vital to ensure the success of any United Nations endeavour which impinges on the territory of a Member State.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Without that, there will be no prospect of building the streamlined, efficient and effective world Organization that we all dream of. We will merely waste our time and energy building castles in the air. The working groups on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and on the strengthening of the United Nations system have made some progress, although no finality has been reached in regard to the main areas of focus. We believe, however, that these efforts should continue. We should redouble our energies to reach consensus. The main organs of the United Nations, it must be emphasized, will be credible and effective only to the extent that they secure the confidence of the general membership and ensure that their decisions enjoy general acceptance.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“9) A viable resource base for the United Nations can be assured not only by effecting greater financial responsibility and sound management, but also, more urgently, by a serious commitment by all Members to honour the financial obligations they are bound to comply with within the terms of the Charter. We agree that the Secretariat of our Organization needs to be rationalized further. The Organization is now, I believe, sufficiently mature to effect cuts where cuts are due. Programmes affecting developing countries need to be lean, effective and sustainable, which is not the same as saying they should not be touched. Prudent, well- conceived economies could be, and have been, put into effect. We must reform, not deform, the Organization. Above all, the United Nations desperately needs a sound financial base.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“The peoples of the world will be watching us closely during this session and thereafter to see how well we are proceeding to redeem the promise we made last year in such fine phrases and rhetoric. The financial constraints confronting the Organization have tempered the once heady enthusiasm among nations for radical reform. Sober pragmatic conclusions now seem inevitable. Yet we must remember that our task, as Sri Lanka’s President pointed out last year, is to: “enhance the capacity of the United Nations, rather than merely effect economies and scale down its scope.” (Official Records of the General Assembly, Fiftieth Session, Plenary Meetings, 35th meeting, p.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“For Sri Lanka it is a matter of particular pride and pleasure that we have a distinguished representative of an Asian country, Malaysia, presiding over the fifty-first session of the General Assembly. Sri Lanka and Malaysia have long enjoyed the warmest ties of friendship. We congratulate the President, and offer him our unstinted support. We also wish to express our appreciation of the contribution made to the success of the historic fiftieth session by His Excellency Diogo Freitas do Amaral of Portugal. Last year at our Special Commemorative Meeting we pledged to bequeath to the twenty-first century a United Nations equipped, financed and structured to serve effectively the people in whose name it was established. This pledge we must not fail to honour.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)