YouSaid · the spoken record

Bernard Makuza

lines on the record: 34
first: 2003-09-24
most recent: 2004-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

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

“Let us, therefore, work all together to change this situation.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“As I speak, as members know, hundreds of thousands of people in Africa are facing hunger, poverty and disease and are living in great despair. The United Nations, therefore, needs to mobilize, concentrate and guide all our collective efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals and to pull the African continent out of its current political and economic difficulties. Here, the New 46 Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is a kind of reassuring road map and framework, that is helping us to bring about the rebirth and prosperity of Africa. Thus, this universal family of nations should reject the current situation with half of us living in affluence, prosperity and good health, while the other half is dying of hunger and disease, which all of us together can prevent and eradicate.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“My Government has taken note of the improvements which have been made towards greater efficiency in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and encourages the Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry to pursue their efforts to end the waste and corruption which have characterized the Tribunal. And it is from that standpoint that we guarantee our full support for the Tribunal in the implementation of its completion strategy. We are awaiting the upcoming conclusion of agreements regarding the transfer of certain accused to be tried, as well as some who have already been convicted and who will serve their sentences in Rwanda, which we feel is a token of trust and of restored cooperation. In conclusion, for us, support for economic development remains one of the greatest raisons díÍtre of the Organization.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“In particular, we are deeply concerned that an unwritten rule, nowhere to be found in print, seems to have reserved the initiative for making proposals only to the permanent members of the Security Council. Even more worrying is the apparent division of the world into spheres of influence, with each permanent member having the almost absolute and exclusive right to propose draft resolutions and presidential statements relating to its own zone of influence. This situation does no credit to the Organization and seriously undermines the credibility of the Security Council and its decisions.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Rwanda, which has been the subject of debate almost continuously in the Council for 14 years, is more sensitive than many other nations to the need to make this powerful body of our Organization more representative and democratic. We feel, in particular, that it is high time to end the marginalization of the continents of Africa and Latin America by granting them permanent seats in the Security Council. While emphasis is quite rightly being given to the expansion of the Council and regional representation, we firmly believe that equal attention should be devoted to improving the Council's methods of work and that emphasis should be placed on their transparency. We hope that this aspect will be taken into account by all the parties concerned; otherwise, this reform will be cut short and will not have any real impact.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“It is in this context that, since 1994, the Government of Rwanda has reserved 5 per cent of its annual budget for priority contributions to the health care and education needs of those who escaped the genocide. In the same spirit, and during the current session of the Assembly, a draft resolution will be submitted, requesting the Secretary-General of the United Nations to mobilize the entire United Nations system to give financial support to our domestic efforts, which remain, despite everything, insufficient with regard to the real - if not vital - needs particularly of the orphans, widows and victims of sexual abuse. We hope that it will receive your support. My Government has followed with great interest the current discussions regarding reform in the Security Council.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“In our humble view, the United Nations should assume its responsibilities and take the necessary measures to disarm, demobilize and repatriate the terrorist and genocidal groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which continue to destroy with impunity entire communities in our region and which have been the source of two wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, directly involving up to eight African countries. My Government feels that, just as the international community has the responsibility or obligation to guarantee the protection of individuals in serious danger, it is also responsible for protecting and supporting those who have escaped from those situations.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“The most incomprehensible and unacceptable thing for us is the well-known fact that the bases of all these groups are located in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and that their leaders are well- known, but that no serious international action has been undertaken, to date, to destroy these bases and to arrest their leaders. And yet, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, almost in the very same location as these genocidal forces, there is a well- armed United Nations force, which is costing the international community a mere $700 million per year. We need to seriously ask ourselves whether the international community has learned any lessons from the tragedy of Rwanda.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Indeed, the forces that committed genocide in Rwanda, namely Rwandaís former Forces armees rwandaises (ex-FAR) and the INTERAHAMWE continue to bring death and devastation with unsurpassed cruelty to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Rwanda. You all certainly know of their most recent and sinister deed, carried out barely two months ago, when this same group, together with the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) rebels of Burundi, attacked a refugee camp in 45 Banyamulenge in Gatumba, Burundi, and massacred 160 innocent people ó men, women and children ó because of their ethnic origin.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Is the world's division into major Powers' zones of influence not continuing today ó just as it did in 1994 in Rwanda - to prevent the United Nations from formulating just and effective responses to crisis situations? Every Member of this Assembly is certainly aware of the magnitude and the frightening scope of terrorism as well as the challenge it poses to international peace and security. Indeed, from the Russian Federation, through Spain, Indonesia, Kenya and to the United States, terrorists are causing devastation, even using innocent women and children to achieve their unspeakable goals. The Great Lakes region in Africa is certainly acquainted with terrorism.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“In this context, my Government did not hesitate to respond to the appeal of the African Union regarding Darfur and sent a military mission to contribute to the efforts of the international community and the Sudanese Government to restore peace to this sorely tested region of our dear continent. We feel that the international community also needs to engage in some soul-searching in order to reflect on the lessons to be learned from the failures of the past and to re-examine its responses to crisis situations such as the genocide of 1994 in Rwanda. We should therefore ask ourselves if we really do have a system of early warning in place to detect emerging crises. Can we say that today, more than yesterday, we have the political will necessary to respond decisively and appropriately around the world to these emerging crises?”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“We are also now transforming our economy by emphasizing innovation, competitiveness, the role of new information and communication technology and the improvement of public services as the appropriate way to achieve economic growth and lasting national development. We have carried out other reforms in the areas of education, health, security and the advancement of women in public administration to such an extent that today Rwanda leads the countries having the largest number of women elected to national decision-making posts. Rwanda is contributing, albeit modestly, to all the peace processes underway in our region and other areas of Africa.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“This new constitution guarantees the freedoms and fundamental rights of the people, brings together universal principles and national realities, but also, and above all, offers measures to exclude once and for all from our society the poor governance that led to the genocide in 1994. We have carried out important legal reforms that have indeed restored our judicial system. In the search for justice that will restore and reconcile our people, we have introduced traditional participatory jurisdiction - known as Gacaca - to judge the thousands of those presumed to be implicated in the crimes committed during the genocide.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“In the process, we created the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, which has led the national dialogue over the last five years. We have also undertaken vast reforms at all levels and in many areas of national life, which, among other things, enable people to develop initiatives and to participate in decisions affecting their own development. We have thus adopted a new constitution, which, for the first time in the history of our country, was conceived by the people of Rwanda themselves and drafted according to the ideas, concerns, aspirations and priorities of the people and not according to those of so-called legal experts from other continents.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“In April this year, the whole world joined Rwanda in our observance of the tenth anniversary of 44 the 1994 genocide, in which more than a million of our citizens - men, women and children - were massacred by the former Government, which institutionalized hatred, discrimination and sectarianism. We thank in particular the General Assembly and the Security Council for joining us in this Hall last 7 April to pay tribute to the memory of the victims in Rwanda and to renew our commitment to ensuring that the horrors of genocide do not occur again, in any part of the world. That tragedy of genocide and its many consequences obliged us in Rwanda to undertake the national and collective duty of examining our conscience. We believe we have learned so much in sorrow from that task that we have undertaken concrete measures in that respect.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Allow me at the outset to convey to the President my Government's congratulations on his election to preside over the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly. We have no doubt that his wisdom and experience will be of great service to the Organization at a time when it must make important decisions, in particular concerning the reform of the Security Council. He will surely do honour to all Africa. I also take this occasion to express our gratitude and congratulations to Mr. Julian Hunte for the excellent quality of his presidency at the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Rwanda would like to take advantage of this forum to reiterate its steadfast determination to commit itself and to contribute, however modestly, to address those challenges. We are committed to working with all the nations of the world to begin that undertaking in our region and in our dear continent, Africa.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Nevertheless, the development goals for the new millennium, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, the current series of negotiations in the Doha round to allow greater access to world markets for products from developing countries, the recent decision by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to allow poor countries to import low-cost basic generic medicines to combat such illnesses as AIDS, and the various tools established by the United Nations to combat international terrorism all represent the beginning of collective responses to those challenges. However, those initiatives will only bear fruit if all nations abandon selfish reflexes, such as those that were at the heart of the recent failure of WTO negotiations at Cancun.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We believe that the answer to all of those questions, and many others, will determine the nature and scope of the reforms to be undertaken. In that regard, we welcome the Secretary-General's decision to establish a high- level panel to address the question of reform and to make proposals to the General Assembly. 19 As I said at the beginning of my statement, the major challenges in the world today include poverty; poor governance; economic, political and social injustice which give rise to many internal conflicts international terrorism; globalization and the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other widespread diseases. Those challenges cannot be successfully addressed without greater and more effective cooperation on the part of all countries.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We must therefore better reorganize the United Nations so that it can achieve the goals of ensuring peace and security among nations, developing more equitable international relations in the areas of cooperation and friendly ties and inspiring and guaranteeing the international order and international law. In doing so we must ask ourselves why the United Nations has been unable to respond collectively and effectively to such recent crises and tragedies as the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the situation in Iraq. Why has the United Nations been unable to prevent or stop various crises throughout the world or to fulfil its primary mission of ensuring peaceful co-existence among nations? Why has the United Nations been unable to be an effective and efficient catalyst for harmonious political, social and economic development in all nations?”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“At a time when we are requiring all nations to have democratic governance, is it not legitimate to require the Security Council itself to be more representative and more democratic in its methods of work? Rwanda supports the proposal submitted by other Member States to increase the number of members of the Security Council to better reflect regional realities and therefore to allow a better representation of developing countries. Nevertheless, in order to do that, we must bear in mind the fact that the Security Council has been placed as a body under the General Assembly and that its enlargement can in no way compromise that order.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“In fact, as the United Nations Secretary-General indicated, when the stakes change, we must adapt our responses to them. It is certain that the challenges facing the international community today are different from those they faced from the 1940s to the 1980s. Rwanda is also convinced, therefore, that the institutions, the structures and the working methods of the United Nations, which have been adopted over the years must be adjusted and fine-tuned to the realities of the day. Would it not be fair, for example, in a world which has fundamentally changed, that we question the membership and the decision-making methods in the Security Council?”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We are of the view, however, that these conflicts will not disappear on their own, unless we pay attention to them and unless we attack the root causes of these conflicts and, in particular, unless we put into place effective and appropriate mechanisms to prevent, manage and resolve these conflicts. Indeed, we must all work together, resolutely, to promote dialogue in good faith, solidarity among nations, non-exclusion, the human dimension, international law and diplomatic activities as a means worthy of the individual and of nations to resolve their differences. The point concerning United Nations reform is on the agenda of our Organization and has been for several years, although we have never been able to agree on the scope and content of the necessary reforms. That the United Nations needs to be reformed is without doubt.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“This being the case, at a time when these different African peace initiatives are beginning to take form, it is time to call on the international community to accompany them and support organizing an international conference for peace, security and development in the Great Lakes region. This conference would hopefully produce a kind of Marshall Plan for the development of the region. Elsewhere in Africa and throughout the world, Rwanda condemns the fact that conflicts, often conflicts that have been going on for some years, continue to claim many human lives and deflect enormous financial and material resources that could be allocated to developmental projects.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“18 We are disposed to work with this new Government, as well as with the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), to achieve disarmament, demobilization and effective repatriation, as called for in the Agreements of Lusaka and Pretoria, of the ex- FAR and the Interahamwe militia, whose belligerent activities are at the heart of the two regrettable clashes between our two countries. With respect to the situation in Burundi, this requires more attention on the part of the international community. Rwanda, at this point, is calling on all the parties to consider the best interests of the Burundians and to join with the ongoing peace initiatives supported by countries in the region so that we can put an end to the unspeakable suffering of the Burundian population.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Our country was particularly pleased and satisfied with the recent decision of the Security Council to appoint a full-time prosecutor for the ICTR in order to improve its performance and its effectiveness. We are of the view, however, that other reforms could still be initiated to obtain this objective which, in our view, would help restore human dignity. Regionally, the political and security situation in the Great Lakes Region in Central Africa has tangibly improved since last year. Rwanda is pleased with the ongoing peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has led to the formation of an inclusive transitional Government and the reunification of that country.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We had to take steps to completely overhaul the classical legal system and introduce a legal system that is participatory and traditional called Gacaca', which is inspired by Rwandan know-how and whose major objective is not only to punish crimes committed during the genocide, but also, and especially, to reconcile Rwandans. It should also be pointed out that the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide obliges the international community to prevent, stop and punish genocide. While the international community came up short in its obligations under this Convention, we did greatly appreciate the subsequent establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), established to bring to justice and punish the perpetrators of this crime.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We have also set up principles of accountability and transparency at all levels of public life by creating strong autonomous institutions to combat corruption, nepotism and abuses of power. The success of these initiatives can be measured today by the fact that a recent study of the World Bank Institute has cited Rwanda among the developing countries that are the best managed, the best governed and not corrupt. Such public transparency would not have been possible without our having eradicated the culture of impunity which had taken root in our country.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“These consultations, we are reminded, are not the result of chance, and would not have taken place nor known as much success as the international community has seen, had it not been for the firm will of the Rwandan leadership and the Rwandan people to commit themselves with determination to peace and security of individuals and property throughout the entire Rwandan territory; unity and reconciliation of the Rwandan people; and good governance which, in the end, is our policy engine and which has allowed us to dismantle the structure of a State that was too centralized and totalitarian and which stifled positive initiatives, as well as the involvement of the people in decisions concerning their own development.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“These free and transparent elections, as well as the legislative elections which are ongoing even now as we speak, are not only an important step in the process of democratization, but also and especially are restoring Rwandans to their right and sense of pride at being able to make and write their own history, a history, which has turned its back forever on genocide and which is instituting, as critical values and objectives, unity, peace, justice, democracy and development.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“In fact, in the last five months Rwanda, which in 1994 looked very much like a failed State, courageously undertook its reconstruction and now has experienced some promising events, the most promising of its post- colonial history. Since its accession to independence in 1962, the first pluralist presidential elections have just been held and they took place in an atmosphere of unprecedented peace and calm. The stunning victory of His Excellency Paul Kagame as President of the Republic in the vote that was held on 25 August, exactly one month ago, is part of the democratic process set in motion since 1999 by local elections, followed in 2001 by municipal elections and in May 2003 by the constitutional referendum. This marks, de jure, the end of the transitional period, begun in the aftermath of the Rwandan tragedy in 1994.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We hope that this will be 17 an occasion for the General Assembly to collectively recommit our efforts, as Governments and peoples across the globe, so that these types of horrors never again occur. Toward this end, we suggest that 7 April 2004 be declared, by this distinguished Assembly, as a day to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. While the advent of this sad anniversary obliges us to recall this genocide as something we must remember and as a sign of respect and of international solidarity, it is not the only reason we have taken the floor here. On the contrary, we wish to share an experience which is very hopeful, namely the rebirth of the Rwandan nation which, in our opinion, has been a test of stamina and of the determination of an entire people.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We ask him to accept our congratulations and our gratitude and we hope he will continue to impart to us the benefits of his experience. We would also like to respectfully convey our thanks to the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, for the wisdom that he has shown and for his tireless efforts which he continues to deploy, sometimes in extremely difficult situations, so that the Organization can, as much as possible, reach the objectives which have been assigned to it under the terms of its Charter. During this fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly, we are going to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the genocide which, in less than 100 days, from April to July 1994, in plain sight of the entire world, claimed the lives of more than a million Rwandans and caused the internal displacement or the exile of thousands of others.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“This session of the General Assembly is being held at a time when the world is confronted with the most serious challenges of its history in all areas. The Assembly has chosen Mr. Julian Hunte to preside over our work and for my delegation it is a sign of recognition of his qualities and competence. I would therefore like to join my voice to those of other distinguished heads of delegations preceding me in conveying to him my sincere congratulations as well as my hopes for his complete success, and we pledge to him the support of my country to assist him in accomplishing his task. We also wish to pay a tribute to his predecessor, whose success was tremendous in conducting the work of the fifty-seventh session, which has just ended.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)