YouSaid · the spoken record

Kodjo

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS KODJO

lines on the record: 62
first: 1976-09-24
most recent: 1977-09-24
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

“This peace must be accompanied by an active solidarity which will guarantee mankind collective advancement, with respect for different cultures and the indispensable interchange between them. 304. The world which is breaking apart is a world of contempt for the culture of other people and for their intrinsic values. Now that reason has reached its limits and civilization is at bay, regeneration will come from the depths of the heart and the imagination. 305. Let us liberate, therefore, men who are today despised, who are demeaned and who are trodden under foot, because tomorrow they will help us to live. We still have time to live.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“Reach for your ideal a thousand times and if you fail a thousand times, try once again. That is the thinking of a contemporary sage. 302. In a world which has now been cast adrift, where confusion has overwhelmed our minds and hearts, this ideal may seem somewhat obscured. But it is needful for all because of its blinding simplicity. It can be summed up in these three words: justice, peace, solidarity. 303. Beyond the abstruse debates and the rigid positions, there remains an absolute need to ensure justice by making the application of human rights general and by bringing about the general liberation of all those who were born free but [are] everywhere in chains . This is the condition for peace.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“Economic revival and policies of reinvigoration in the northern countries and their success would merely mean the immediate re-emergence of selfishness, the suave mari magno, while the payments deficits of the third world pose and will continue to pose ever more inextricable problems of balance and financing. In this regard the new Witteveen facilities of $10 billion, handled by IMF, are an important step forward. 300. But the third world is getting organized. The Arab- African dialogue, which culminated in Cairo at the beginning of this year, is the most striking example of this. Thus in Africa and elsewhere we have witnessed the birth of regional economic unions, which are the touchstones of collective self-reliance and horizontal co-operation. The progress of the Economic Community of West African States is further proof of this. 301.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“On the strength of the experience of the Lome Convention, some people are tending towards a generalization of the system of the stabilization of export earnings; others are aiming higher, and are not only seeking guarantees of income stabilization but also optimistically contemplating even more far-reaching plans. 298. In view of these steps, the third world is clearly defining its positions: it calls for effective growth for all within the framework of a new organization of the world economic system, with, as elements of this system, the effective stabilization of earnings; better management and dissemination of technology; and the settlement of the problem of indebtedness in a way which would take account of the interests of all-and I repeat, all -of the countries of the Group of 77. 299.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“It is easy, therefore, to understand the reasons why the North-South Conference was unable to overcome the difficulties, to transcend the contradictions and to fulfil the hopes which it had aroused at the beginning. The last session of our Assembly forthrightly admitted as much. 296. Of course, there were results, we must admit, if not in the field of energy, at least in so far as concerns primary commodities, trade and development assistance. 297. But we are left with the weighty handicap of the 21 points on which no agreement was reached; there remains the fundamental problem of the indebtedness of third- world countries. There also remain the endless debates on the common fund for the stabilization of primary commodities.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“It also disregards these wise words of Mahatma Gandhi: Civilization perhaps does not mean the multiplication of needs, but rather the conscious and voluntary restraint of those needs. To wish to create an unlimited number of needs in order to have, subsequently, to satisfy them is to pursue the wind. 294. The fact is that the North wants to preserve, as long as possible, its acquired privileges. Unguibus et rostro, tooth and nail, it is defending its advantages and is shoring up its positions. The aim surely is to plaster over the old order, where those at the centre prosper to the detriment of those on the periphery. There is no question of re-forging the whole system in order to bring about a collective development which will be coherent and harmonious. 295.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“As they weather the crisis and prepare for the unforeseeable, governments feel a deep nostalgia for the old expansionism. Is not their desire to return to a golden age that is all the more attractive because it is over and done with? 290. Thus, the North-South dialogue, instead of unifying diverse aspirations into an integrated whole, has curiously resulted only in empty words and unrelated monologues. 291. That is why, in spite of certain positive signs emerging from the talks which have been held recently, the contradictions between the two groups of countries grow ceaselessly more acute, and the essential still remains to be done. 292. The North refuses to endorse Aristotle's belief that wealth resided far more in use than in possession. 293.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“But here, as elsewhere, there is resistance. 288. To speak of the economic field: the new international economic order has become a subject of discussion. Those who advocate the kind of therapy of putting plaster casts on wooden legs are legion. Plans for stabilization and overcoming stagnation and governmental programmes aimed at ensuring a resumption of production and the establishment of essential balances simply aim at- reorganizing the old order. 289. We reflect, we ponder, we try to reduce the ill effects and we come back to the attractions of subtle applications of budgetary policy and monetary policy. The ultimate aim is for each of the nations to safeguard the advantages it has to avoid social problems and domestic tragedies. Who could be surprised, therefore, at the recrudescence of the old protectionist demons?”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“The international community, while preventing the rearguard action of those who want to undermine this process, must define the lofty designs that it has in mind and contemplate broader horizons. 284. It must struggle together with all those who believe that when political liberty is restored this must mean liberty for the humblest people and respect for their fundamental rights. 285. But it must also guarantee to its members the satisfaction of a need that is just as important: the need for equality, so that we may fulfil the moral requirement of greater justice in the distribution not only of goods but also the power of decision. 286. In this regard, freedom in the economic sense will only be the prelude to or the consequence of a fruitful cultural emancipation within the framework of the indispensable interchange of civilizations. 287.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“In this regard, it is our profound conviction that peace, if it is to be lasting, must be based upon judiciously managed disarmament This disarmament should embrace the immediate cessation of all nuclear tests and the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction, while making it possible for all to have access to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. We therefore unswervingly support the World Disarmament Conference, the primary task of which will be to adopt a coherent programme in the hope that all or part of the $350 billion at present devoted throughout the world to armaments will be devoted to the development effort. 283. Thus, humanity is at the cross-roads. A profound undercurrent is being felt drawing us towards liberty, equality and fraternity, freedom for the peoples, and the safeguarding of their fundamental rights.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“In Cyprus, in the Comorian island of Mayotte, in Lebanon, there is still hope, however, that the international community will be able to control the causes of explosion and conflict, in the interests of peace, of a universal and profound peace. 280. The same applies in Korea where the reunification of the country, which has had such a distressing past, must come about once all foreign troops have been withdrawn and a lasting peace agreement has been concluded. 281. The fact remains that the international community, in its efforts to limit conflicts, has come up against the anguishing problem of the proliferation of arms of all kinds. 282.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“Therefore it is urgent for the Geneva Peace Conference on the Middle East to resume, with the effective participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization on the basis of acceptable arrangements, and that there should be an immediate implementation of the resolutions of the Security Council relating to this subject. 277. We trust that the Israeli Government will associate itself with the efforts of goodwill undertaken by certain States and by our Organization itself to bring about a happy ending to the crisis and to establish just and lasting peace in that area which has been so sorely tried. 278. But here and there, there remain other sources of tension where delicate situations of conflict are of concern to men of goodwill. 279.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“Contempt for fundamental human rights comes together with a classic type of colonial situation in the Middle East. The problem of Palestine and of the occupied Arab territories has taken a serious turn with the coming to power of a new administration in Israel. The intransigence of Israel, its obstinate refusal to free the occupied Arab territories in accordance with United Nations resolutions, its drive to power which prompts it to create settlements on the West Bank, continue to pose-a threat of imminent war in that region. 276. The Government of General of the Army Gnassingbe Eyadema is convinced that any solution to the crisis must necessarily be brought about through recognition of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people and its right to a homeland.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“In the face of this regime of fact and of force which is on its way to becoming a nuclear Power, let us shed our garb of indifference to eradicate once and for all the horror of the African continent and collaborate in the advent of the majority regime, one of liberty and justice. 274. In this regard, we cannot but be gratified at the unprecedented success of the United Nations International Conference in Support of the Peoples of Zimbabwe and Namibia, held in Maputo, and the Lagos World Conference for Action against Apartheid. We hope for the wholehearted implementation by the international community of the recommendations adopted there to alleviate the sufferings of those who live in the shadow of death, segregated in the kraals of misery. 275.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“Similarly, nothing useful will be accomplished in Namibia if resolution 385 (1976) of the Security Council is not applied fully, if the impenitent Vorster does not cease to defy the whole international community with his acts of proven provocation like the appointment of a General Administrator in Namibia or the shameless claim to Walvis Bay. In any case, in regard to this last point, Walvis Bay is Namibian and Walvis Bay will remain Namibian. 273. Now, in South Africa the supporters of apartheid continue cynically to flout the most elementary human rights. Let us beware here of any kind of Pontius Pilate attitude, which would be short-sighted, and let us by no means share the assertion that hell is other people.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“However, in duty to the truth, we must also say that nothing useful will be done in Zimbabwe if Ian Smith continues to prevaricate, cherishing stubborn illusions that he can use certain dissident elements in the liberation movements in order to bring about a so-called internal solution to the detriment of the militants of the Patriotic Front. Without doubt the Patriotic Front itself, overcoming its reluctance, should open itself up to all trends, to all the sons of Zimbabwe fighting and suffering, as suggested by the Conference of the Heads of State and Government of OAU in Libreville in July. But it remains nevertheless clear that the manoeuvres and masquerades of the Salisbury rebel mislead no one, and the time is at hand when we shall see him repent. 272.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“Those who have worn out their vision because they have seen too much horror we now see on their feet, with weapons in their hands, rejecting their status, a status in which man becomes a creature obeying another creature who imposes his will. Now violence is gaining the upper hand and is becoming established. Violence is sharpening insatiably its cannibalistic teeth for the distant future. Thus it is in South Africa, in Namibia, in Zimbabwe and also in the Middle East. 270. In southern Africa, we must above all greet the efforts made to seek acceptable solutions. We must encourage them. After all, the longest journey must begin with a first step. 271.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“Here we are on the very threshold of the kingdom of the shadows . Here, again, the spectacle is one of horror. The progress recorded, the effort made by the international community, should not make us forget that no bargaining is permitted here, no compromises are tolerated, no detour is permissible. We are dealing here with the liberty of peoples. Situations do have particular feat area, but the underlying reality is always the same everywhere: That is, overwhelming oppression on the part of a group that is invariably in the minority, a group which is entrenched in power through cunning complicities, loud of speech and quick to act, forgetful of all rules and scornful of all rights. The result is always a remarkable equipollence.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“the future by lucid reflection on aims and objectives, a crystal-clear definition of a society for tomorrow and voluntary action to guide the course of events towards the great inversion. 268. In the face of these positions in the form of challenges, there remains a clear responsibility of the international community. Endorsed by the basic principles of our Charter' strengthened by the growing outcry of men all over the world who have made themselves the apostles of elementary rights for human beings and call with all their strength for the triumph of a society for all, the international community must step up its efforts to master the evolution and impose everywhere the advent of the sacred principles which enlighten and guide us. 269. First of all it must do so in the field of human rights and decolonization.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“On the one hand, those who find in it their ends by any means available, forgetful of the fundamental precept which is that the means are the incipient end and the ideal about to be brought about are guided by iniquity and fulfil themselves by hatred. On the political level, they have forged blunt instruments of discrimination, domination and subjection. On the economic level, they trample upon the ideals of justice, solidarity and fraternity for the benefit of the pursuit of their uneven short-sighted interests. To the problems of our time they wish to apply their therapy: to apply a plaster cast to a wooden leg. 267. On the other hand are those who have the task of resisting the new heights of unreason, of deciphering the secret language of.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“I have spoken of virtue, and this is indeed the issue-virtue for a world on the look-out for other certainties, a world concerned to reduce barbarism with a human face , which today is an indelible feature of it, in order to succeed through the raging tide of various conflicts to overcome the recurrent bouts of fever, to attain finally the human being. It is perhaps what is described by a word that is singularly worn out, an idea which is gently evaporating and becoming ephemeral—the new international order. 265. The world which is questioning itself and seeking itself, because it is leaking at all seams, this world of which a thinker recently said that it was a disaster of which man is the culmination , is today going through currents that are contradictory because they are clearly antithetical. 266.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“The admission as a full-fledged Member of the United Nations of this country which has known consummate success and exemplary misfortune is an act of reason which gives practical effect to one of the fundamental principles of our Charter, the principle of universality. 263. There can be no doubt that these new States will bring to us the freshness of their generosity, the warmth of their feelings and the ardour of their convictions so as to galvanize a community which is in the grip of its spectres of disenchantment and disillusion. 264.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“In offering him our best wishes for success, we hope that his second term of office will be an opportunity for him to give further vent to his creative imagination in the attainment of even more striking successes for the benefit of the international community as a whole. 262. Welcoming to the United Nations new Members always gives rise to intense emotion, though often restrained. I should like to make ours manifest by greeting whole-heartedly the Republic of Djibouti, whose presence among us is the happy outcome of a long process of decolonization. We welcome also Viet Nam, whose valiant people, rejecting subjugation in all its forms, has earned its place among us at the cost of much suffering and hardship, struggle and victory, which in the end made it free and made it great.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“Amerasinghe, to whom I wish to pay a well-deserved tribute for his constant readiness to serve the sacred causes of. our Organization, and for his equally constant concern about easing, by his exemplary determination, the tragedies and crises afflicting our upside-down world, thus giving our Organization a new lease of tranquillity, greater vigor and an extra element of spirit. 261. My warm congratulations go also to Mr. Kurt Waldheim, whose renewed term of office permits him to preside once again over the destiny of the United Nations. The re-election of the Secretary-General, the apostle of peace, the ardent champion of oppressed peoples and just causes, amply demonstrates how judiciously we were inspired in voting for him.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“He belongs to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a country which we hold in the highest esteem for having achieved that subtle mixture of accelerated but authentic development and an ever outward-looking policy through the promotion of the principles of non-alignment, peace and solidarity among peoples. 259. Steeped in these precepts which live in perfect symbiosis with the general principles of our Charter, and as an enlightened disciple of the school which has made a success of this kind of marriage of character and worth , he has acquired well-tried competence which has inspired both respect and esteem. Hence we do not entertain even the slightest shadow of a doubt as to the way in which he will conduct our proceedings or as to their eventual success. 260. I cannot fail to mention the outgoing President, Mr.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“.Once again we are assembled here in this Areopagus, the destiny of peoples as our horizon, and with the spurring of our consciences as our guiding hope in the face of the tremendous task awaiting us-the hope of undertaking the great change, of surveying new truths and of attaining virtue. 257. But may I first of all, before continuing my line of thought, discharge the agreeable duty of conveying to the President the warm congratulations of the Togolese delegation upon the unanimous confidence which has just been placed in him by his election to preside over the proceedings of this session of the General Assembly. 258.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“255. Our world is falling apart! In the chaotic convulsion of repeated crises, in the sudden outbursts of latent rivalries, in the deadly degeneration of deep-rooted antagonisms, a world made precarious by our impotence which rejects our thirst for new designs-a world rent with stubborn contradictions and acute dissatisfactions, alternately atopical and atypical—is exploding into ruins. Never before has the cry uttered a few years ago by the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, Our world is falling apart! , so relevant. A world is falling apart-a world which we must none the less rebuild based on the measures of new data and new principles. 256.”
1977-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 32 (1977)
“Is it not true that we are of the divine race and have the power to create? Therefore we can and shall hope.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Is this not comforting that we are not "determined" or "predestined," that we have indeed the choice, even that to conform to this precept of a political man who thought he knew well and who said that there is no serious problem so serious that an absence of a solution cannot resolve it. But can we do nothing when the freedom of the peoples is at hand, a freedom which can no longer be fed on ephemeral hopes? Are we going to remain inactive when we have to remain faithful to the history of humanity, which is nothing but the continued passage from the state of necessity to the state of freedom and therefore of dignity? 47. We shall succeed, because man is involved and because a defeat "caveant consules!" would be catastrophic. We shall succeed because the stakes are fundamental, difficult but exalting.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“It is this faith which has constantly inspired the President of Togo General Gnassingbe Eyadema, the apostle of fraternal co-operation between peoples. It is also this faith which has guided the States of the subregion of western Africa and established the Economic Community of West African States, breaking through the linguistic barriers which were a legacy of colonialization. The Economic Community of West African States will tomorrow be the profound foundation of the harmonious development of the countries of this part of the African continent. 46. Men are sometimes masters of their fate.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“May this hope materialize in a positive fashion, because wherever men of goodwill can help solve the problem of our times, dispel anguish and establish solidarity, boldness must be displayed in order that our humanity might be usefully served. 44. But who will fail to understand the impatience of our countries? We have awaited for a long time for solutions to our common problems; we have long hoped that human solidarity would be a reality. Today we no longer wait; we act and we shall act on our own aid for ourselves in order to establish a horizontal co-operation, a sort of southeast- southwest dialog centered upon self-reliance, both individual and collective, for the genuine independence of our States, namely economic independence. But we shall do this while remaining open to dialog, consultation and collaboration. 45.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“The Togolese Government supports strongly the position of the developing countries regarding the cancellation of the public debt by the rich countries for the benefit of the least developed among the poor countries, and hopes that a moratorium will be studied in favor of the same countries with respect to the private debt. 43. In fact, at Nairobi the poor countries have clearly shown that they insisted in the name of their dignity as free men, that they were more in favor of justice and equity than in favor of charity or assistance, and these are the same goals which guide those among them who in our behalf are participating in the Paris Conference on International Economic Co-operation, which is called the North- South dialog. At a time when everything seems to be bogged down, the North-South dialog has brought about hope.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“The Togolese Government is firmly convinced that the integrated program for commodities as proposed by the Group of 77 at the fourth session of UNCTAD at Nairobi, with as its central machinery the establishment of a common fund for the financing of buffer stocks, is the fundamental element of any solution to the problem of commodities. My Government supports without qualification the establishment of the common fund and is ready to contribute to it in accordance with the criteria that will be defined for this purpose. 42. The proposals decided by the poor countries at Nairobi also converged upon a point which has today become highly disquieting, that of the debt of the nations in the third world.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“In the meantime the fifth replenishment of the resources of the International Development Association, which was to reach $9 billion in the next period of three years, is very much behind while the capital of the World Bank is decreasing. 39. Therefore, bilateral and multilateral aid is winding down, whereas the countries of the world and particularly the richest ones are devoting $300 billion on armaments. 40. It is in this context that we have to consider the fourth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTADJ held in Nairobi in May of this year. On that occasion the developing countries presented a clear and realistic program which they had agreed together at Manila. 41.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“The expected co-operation by the central banks to ensure the stability of the system has never operated properly. The interests of the poor countries are more than ever neglected. Proof of this is that the trust fund devised to ensure transfers of means of payment to the countries of the third world has its resources constantly decreased owing to the fluctuations in the price of gold as a result of the recent decisions of the International Monetary Fund. The trust fund-a futile successor of the mechanism linking special drawing rights and the resources for development requested by the poor countries-has not lasted long. 38.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“If inflation is being gradually mastered in particular in the "have" countries, and if expansion is again possible there, the developing countries are still subjected to the rigors of an extremely difficult situation. The problems of balances of payments are as critical in this area as before. The deficit in this field and for developing countries in 1975 (more than $40 billion) would, according to certain estimates, rise to about $112 billion by 1980 if the present trends were to continue. This is a difficult situation on the economic plane and on the monetary plane. The reform of the international monetary system is to be revised or simply cast anew. The machinery adopted for the adjustment of the exchange rate is iniquitous and defective.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Indeed, since the poor countries asked and obtained the convening of the sixth special session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, which in May of 1974 adopted a historic resolution on the establishment of a new international economic order [resolution 3201 (S-VI)J based upon equity, equality, sovereignty, interdependence and co-operation between all States and since the resolution of the seventh special session [resolution 3362(S-VII)J which developed the conclusions of the sixth special session and has given a context for the application of the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States [resolution 3281 (XXIX)], since then little progress has been made towards the search for and promotion of a new, because more just and fraternal, world. 37.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“But what has the international community done in this respect? 34. Since the world has become aware of the dichotomy which prevails within it, the great gap which separates the rich North from the poor South and the dangers which may result from such a perilous situation, aggravated by an unprecedented economic crisis, the new international economic order has become a primary theme for reflection, if not an ardent stimulus to action. 35. Born, of the unprecedented crisis which has shaken the world economy over the past few years and the solution of which has not yet been found, it is to be feared that the new economic order might only be an illusion, an ephemera, which the restoration of the situation in the rich countries might doom to failure. 36.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“The world has embarked upon a fundamental re-examination of its structures under the pressure of events and the brutal eloquence of facts. It has become clear to all that, as has been said, upon the urgent transformation of the world economic structure, upon the awareness of the countries, depends the progress and the liberation of the great under-developed world, through collaboration based on solidarity, justice and respect for human rights, whereas, otherwise, they will be drawn along upon the path of conflict, violence and suffering, precisely for the purpose of ensuring respect for the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. 33. Thus, it is always man who is involved, here as. elsewhere-man and his inalienable rights and, above all, his primary freedom, that which frees him from poverty, famine and ignorance.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“The use made of it by nations having it opens the way to all sorts of anomalies, the most evident and most recent of which is the blocking of the admission to the United Nations of the sister Republic of Angola and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. 31. The courageous and valiant People's Republic of Angola, victorious and triumphant, and heroic and gallant Viet Nam have deserved better from the international community than a blunt rejection. Who would deny this. 32. Thus in the field of pure politics we come up against our own contradictions, incapable of mastering the forces which, like Prometheus or the sorcerer's apprentice, we unleash by our actions or, sometimes, by our deliberate refused to act. And yet in the economic field great hopes have been engendered and great designs have been outlined.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“It is only on this condition and at this price that it will be possible for the Korean people to succeed in achieving peaceful reunification in accordance with the North/South joint communique of 4 July 1972. 30. Inequity and injustice cannot be used as a foundation for a solid and durable political order. We have constantly stated this and we have been proclaiming it ceaselessly. It will therefore be desirable for these vices to be banished from our Organization itself, namely, the United Nations, where the process of decolonization, which has been started here and there must continue. To decolonize the United Nations is to bring about the suppression and the abolition, pure and simple, of the right of veto. The right of veto, understandable 30 years ago, today is perfectly unjustified and in practice disastrous.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Only the cessation of this unacceptable interference and a heightened awareness by the two Cypriot communities that they belong to the same nation will make it possible to open negotiations in accordance with resolutions 3219 (XXIX) of the General Assembly and 365 (1974) and 367 (1975) of the Security Council. 29. Lastly, my delegation cannot pass over in silence the disturbing problem of the divided Korean people and the increase in tension prevailing in this part of the world. In the opinion of my Government the resolution of the Korean tragedy resides in the withdrawal from South Korea of all foreign troops stationed there under the United Nations Command and the substitution for the armistice cf a peace treaty between the parties concerned.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“I should like to express here the great distress which my country feels before this devastating war, in which none of the factions in conflict has anything to gain. 26. We appeal to the belligerents to conclude an immediate cease-fire and to get together with a view to working out a solution which would take account of Lebanon's national unity, territorial integrity and independence. 27. Lebanon is suffering martyrdom in silence and virtually total helplessness, It is paying the price-and what price it is! -for the inability of the international community to perform radical surgery and to vanquish in justice. 28. In Cyprus we are witnessing an aggravation of the crisis which this country has been going through for a number of years as a result of outright foreign interference.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“We ask the international community once again to persevere in its efforts so that on the basis of resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) of the Security Council, a just and equitable solution to the crisis should be found, as the sine qua non for the re-establishment of genuine peace in this region. 24. There is no need to cover one's face, throwing Noah's cloak over a situation which the Lebanese crisis barely covers. Under the ashes, deep below, trouble is brewing in the Middle East. We must have courage in order to tackle it and overcome it, for tomorrow it may be too late. 25. In Lebanon, indeed, a lethal civil war continues in the country, threatening the total extermination of a people which was formerly happy and prosperous.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Here as elsewhere it is as a result of failing to apply the principles of equity, solidarity, and even political courage, however painful it may be, that we now have to go through difficulties and suffering. 23. In the Middle East it has become obvious to the international community that a just and lasting peace is possible only if it is founded upon the withdrawal by Israel from all occupied Arab territories and upon the restoration of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people and, in particular, its right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent State. As in the past my country will continue to give its total support to the Palestinian people in its long and heroic struggle. The same support likewise goes to the brother Arab countries which are sparing no effort to recover their occupied territories.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“The same holds true of the Comoros, where the national unity of this country must be respected by the return of the island of Mayotte to the original fold. 21. It is unfortunate to observe that in Western Sahara no progress has been recorded as far as the application of the principle of self-determination, solemnly adopted at our last session [resolution 3458A (XXX)], is concerned. Quite the contrary: the situation has become more serious as a result of serious misunderstandings. There is no need to say that the international community must thwart this threat to peace and to security in this subregion of the African continent. 22. The same impasse that we referred to earlier characterizes in the same way the crises that are taking place in other parts of the world.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“This, in particular, requires the unequivocal condemnation of the racist regimes of southern Africa, the effective application by all countries of the sanctions imposed upon those regimes, a strengthening of support and an increase in the aid to liberation movements. And here the Togolese delegation is pleased to hail warmly the courageous decision taken by the People's Republic of Mozambique to apply, unreservedly and at the cost of considerable sacrifices, the sanctions that have been imposed upon Rhodesia by our Organization. 19. In the case of the Territory of the Afars and the Issas we would invite the Administering Power to give unconditional and genuine independence to the people of this country which, like all others, is entitled to liberty, equality and fraternity. 20.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Indeed, as part of strengthened cooperation, these regimes have constantly received from these countries increased aid in the military, economic, commercial, financial, cultural and social fields. If it were not for this deliberately continued co-operation, the Republic of South Africa would have been unable to be in the first rank of the world's economic and military Powers, thereby becoming a perpetual threat to the front-line countries and to the African continent as a whole. 18. The international community is duty bound fully to assume its responsibilities in the face of this explosive situation. It has the duty to help to bring back detente and to restore peace and security to this part of the world.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“For us there remains vigilance, a vigilance that must be maintained all the time, so that Africa should not be deprived of its victory, its very own victory. The liberation movements must maintain this unity, indeed their perseverance, so that tomorrow an independent and prosperous Zimbabwe may be built up in peace and concord. 17. An objective analysis of the problems which prevail in these three Territories leads us to affirm that the persistence in perversity that one sees there is encouraged by certain States Members of the United Nations which, as they place their selfish and immediate interests above their international obligations, are not applying the sanctions enacted by our Organization against the racist regimes of southern Africa.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Vorster has embarked upon diplomatic negotiations on the future of Namibia and Zimbabwe, perhaps he should simply be reminded of the fact that the horror is on his own doorstep and that the liberation movements supported by the courageous people of Azaraia will vanquish, sooner or later, peacefully or otherwise, for the honor and the dignity of the black man, nay, of man! 16. In Zimbabwe, there is reason for hope. After years of stubborn struggle the populations and the liberation movements supported by peace-loving States, in particular those on the front line, to which deserved tribute must be paid, have driven the Ian Smith regime to its last line of defense. Today international diplomacy has taken up the question and seems to be trying to resolve a problem which was already half solved.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)