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Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD Tempat/Venue : JAKARTA, INDONESIA Tarikh/Date : 01/09/92 Tajuk/Title : THE NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT SUMMIT Mr. Chairman, May I on behalf of my delegation and on my own behalf congratulate you on your unanimous election as Chairman of the Tenth Conference of the Heads of State/Government of the Non-Aligned Movement. As a close friend and neighbour, and as an ASEAN colleague, I am particularly happy to see Your Excellency in the Chair. It is fitting that this crucial meeting of the NAM should be held in your country, where the first concept of a third world force was concretised. It is also a tribute to your leadership of this great country, Indonesia. We are confident that with your vast experience and wisdom, you will guide this historic meeting to a suc- cessful conclusion. 2. My delegation wishes also to place on record its deep appreciation to the Government and people of Indonesia for the warm and generous hospitality accorded to us and for the excellent arrangements made to ensure our comfortable stay. 3. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my del- egation's warm welcome to the delegations of Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines as full-fledged members. I also welcome the delegations of Papua New Guinea and Uzbekistan as new members of the Movement, and the deleg- ations of China, Thailand, Croatia and Armenia who are here for the first time as observers. China, a permanent member of the Security Council, would be able to contribute posi- tively to the interests of the group. I look forward to China's full membership of the Movement. I am also de- lighted to welcome Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia who have been accorded guest status. Mr. Chairman, 4. The peace and tranquility in this capital city of Jakarta belie the violence and conflict that occur in other parts of the world. In Bosnia - Herzegovina a vicious war, involving the worst of human rights abuses, is being fought. Concentration camps with emaciated prisoners have returned as Serbs implement their version of apartheid, called ethnic cleansing. Women are being raped and even children are shot and killed by snipers. The Bosnians have been encouraged to exercise their rights, and when they are subjected to an all-out attack as a result, their plight is largely ignored. Talks in far away places have not deterred the Serbs in any- way. The killing goes on. 5. The Europeans who have always considered the Balkans as their special responsibility, and once plunged Europe into a world war because an Archduke was assassinated in Sarajevo, now seem quite unwilling to be involved. The Bosnians do not need just food and medicine. They need to be saved from Serbian expansionism by force of arms. The Western attitude towards the daily killings of the Bosnians stands in stark contrast to the response to the alleged killings of the Kurds in Iraq. Ships and planes, men and money have been deployed there even when the evidence is not clear. 6. Is this the face of the New World order? If it is, it is a frightening face because it is grotesquely distorted. While minor human rights infringements will attract retrib- ution, blatant abuses on a massive scale go unpunished. What kind of a New World Order is this? What will be the fate of the many small and weak countries who make up the majority in our Organisation? If we are subjected to the same Serbian-type brutality, will the world watch uncaringly on their TV screens? Mr Chairman, 7. The ending of the Cold War and East-West confrontation raise the question as to whether neutrality has any rele- vance in world affairs. How can we remain non-aligned when the two ideological adversaries have disappeared? Where be- fore we had the option to defect to the other side, now we have none. Our new option is to submit or resist. Both in- volve a loss of leverage, and weak nations with no leverage can only become weaker. And the strong will truly inherit the world. 8. For members of the Non-Aligned Movement, the moment of truth has come. Unless non-alignment is redefined, it will become a misnomer. 9. But recent history must surely convince us that a unipolar world is every bit as threatening as a bipolar world. Apart from the tragic helplessness of Bosnia, we see international laws and ethical codes being ground into the dust by the powerful and the mighty. We see soldiers invad- ing a weak country to capture the head of Government and bring him back for trial under the laws of the invader. We see a citizen being kidnapped in his own country by authori- ties of another country, sanctioned by the kidnapper's court. We see the extra-territorial application of the laws of the strong over the weak. We see decisions by the Inter- national Court being ignored. We see attempts by democratic states to bomb-assassinate the leader of another country. We hear threats to arrest the legitimate leader of a country because what he did in his own country apparently broke the laws of another country. Mr. Chairman, 10. In the economic field, the independence of nation to decide on their own policies has been effectively curtailed. New concepts such as intellectual property, local contents, free trade arrangements and selective discriminatory taxes restrict world trade and slow down the economic growth in many countries. The environment, human rights and the demo- cratic systems have all become instruments of economic domi- nation. 11. Where before the internal affairs of a country are not to be interfered with by other countries, now a right is claimed for such affairs to be scrutinised uninvited. While the weak are in no position to examine the record of the strong, there is no limit to the judgement and subsequent incursions by the powerful. Matters such as the system of Government, human rights practices, labour relations and laws, and the environment come under the category of matters to be subjected to scrutiny by the self-proclaimed champions and for unilateral action. 12. Internationally, far from moving closer to the rule of law following upon the end of the Cold War, the trend is to- wards the arbitrary exercise of judgements and actions by those in a position to judge and execute. 13. Free speech is one of the freedoms much touted by the exponents of the so-called Western democracy. Woe betide those countries which do not respect free speech and freedom of the press. 14. Yet criticisms of the policies and behaviour of the powerful are not tolerated by them. Dark hints about dire consequences are heard. Alternatively such criticisms are effectively censored. The proponents of freedom of speech and the press apparently believe that those freedoms are to be confined to condemning the third world's own Governments only. The world press is controlled by the powerful and has become their instruments to undermine the very freedoms they preach. Mr. Chairman, 15. The NAM or at least this group of nations needs to pro- tect itself from the unilateral definitions and impositions of the ideas which will shape the post Cold War era. Clearly from the list of violations of basic principles on human rights and accepted international behaviour by the rich and the powerful, there is a need for us to go on and to pool what little strength we have in order to avoid what amounts to a revival of the old Western colonialism. It is not a case of confronting anyone. This group is not in a position to confront. But we need to protect ourselves. Protection needs some strength. 16. NAM may have to be renamed to reflect its new role in a unipolar world. NAM must have a new set of principles. NAM must be given new objectives. Mr Chairman, 17. Not only must NAM change but the UN must change too. The victors of World War II cannot be allowed to permanently affect the relative positions of the nations of the world. New forces have emerged which must be acknowledged. 18. The composition of the Security Council may be justi- fied in the immediate post World War II period. It cannot be justified now. It represents disregard for democracy in international affairs. It denies the rights of the major- ity. We do not need more permanent members with veto rights. We need fair representation, if not on a basis of population, at least on a basis of a combination of relevant factors. 19. Any attempt at building a New World Order must also ad- dress the increasing inequity in the international economic system which has resulted in a widening gap between the rich nations of the North and the poor in the South. Protectionism and subsidies by the developed countries have resulted in developing countries losing US$500 billion a year, ten times more the amount of foreign assistance to de- veloping countries. Still there is more world concern over the Human Freedom Index than the poverty and starvation in the South. Democracy and a multiparty system may be the best political system but by themselves they will not reduce the inequities prevailing nor automatically alleviate human sufferings. Mr. Chairman, 20. A New World Order needs to be more realistic and not be dazzled by the apparent victory of Western Democracy over Communist dictatorship; the free market over the centrally planned economy; absolute freedom over absolute authority. There is no perfect system that can overcome human imperfections. What works in one country or region may not work in another. Imposition should not be the way to spread the faith. Conversion will only work if there is a basic understanding on the part of the majority of the people of the workings of the new creed. 21. A New World Order cannot be determined by the few and forced on the many. The few should by now have discovered that their simple scenario of nations submitting meekly to the will of the powerful is not correct. Determined and blatant disregard of the powerful can occur, especially when the powerful is obviously concerned about minimising their own casualties. Mr. Chairman, 22. Malaysia has always actively supported the struggle of the Palestinian people. We view the latest development pos- itively and hope that peace negotiations be entered into with sincerity by both sides. No one can get everything that they want. But the rights of the Palestinians must be respected. 23. In South Africa, the Government must control their po- lice and stop the carnage. While there should be negoti- ations it is important that the Government exhibit palpable sincerity. Mr. Chairman, 24. Our meeting here provides an opportunity to chart a new course and direction to ensure an effective and meaningful role for our Movement in the changing international environ- ment. In this context, Malaysia supports the elements on future steps to be taken identified by the NAM Ministerial meeting in Accra. NAM needs to establish a code of conduct and its own confidence-building and conflict resolution mechanism to reduce the chances of violent conflicts involv- ing member states. Mr. Chairman, 25. Malaysia believes that in planning for NAM's future di- rection, some serious consideration must be given to tangi- ble cooperation in non-political areas. 26. One important area is economic cooperation and trade amongst the developing countries. Malaysia is fully commit- ted to the Non-Aligned Movement's Action Plan for Economic Cooperation and the appeal made at the last Non-Aligned Sum- mit for member countries to assist and encourage greater South-South cooperation. The Group of 15 South countries has laid the foundation for trade and economic cooperation within the South which should be of interest and benefit to the other members of the Movement. Member countries could, if they wish, avail themselves of the facilities developed by the Group. On our own or together, we need to get our houses in order. Our people must gain from the fruits of progress and stability even if the international economic environment remains hostile. We cannot blame everything on outside factors. Mr. Chairman, 27. We must not subscribe to the view that our Movement is anachronistic. Our Grouping is relevant but in a way that is very different from the period of the Cold War. The Unipolar World is fraught with threats and challenges. To deal with them we need to cling even more closely to one an- other. Without the option to defect to the other side, we can expect less wooing but more threats. Alone we will have to submit one by one. Together we may yet be able to sus- tain our independence and integrity. We must decide our- selves or the decision will be made for us by others. We cannot expect decisions made by others to favour us. I thank you Mr Chairman. |