| Statement by New York, 7 April 2005
Let me begin by expressing the condolences of the people and Government of Indonesia to the Holy See on the passing-away of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, who died last week. Besides being a spiritual leader, Pope John Paul II was a prominent figure in the advancement of peace, understanding and tolerance among people of different backgrounds, and we join other delegations in praying for the repose of his soul. We would also like to express our condolences to the people and Government of the Principality of Monaco on the passing away this week of Prince Rainier III. My delegation would like to thank you, Mr. President, for convening this important set of meetings towards preparing for the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly in September 2005. We thank the Secretary-General for his report, “In larger freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all.” Before I continue, let me state that my delegation subscribes to the statement made earlier by Malaysia on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and by Jamaica on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. My delegation shares the view that the report before us does not sufficiently acknowledge the positions of these two bodies to which we belong. During the second stage of these discussions, which you have proposed that we do in thematic clusters later this month, we will go into greater detail on our positions. Mr. President, The report of the Secretary-General contains a wide assortment of positions and recommendations capable of changing the character of the United Nations and improving the lives of the peoples of the world in a fundamental way. In this regard, we are grateful to him for his observation that in the 21st century, “States and their collective institutions must advance the cause of larger freedom – by ensuring freedom from want, freedom from fear and freedom to live in dignity.” It is of great significance that he stresses the relationship between development and security quite plainly: “There will be no development without security and no security without development. And both development and security also depend on respect for human rights and the rule of law.” That balance must be respected and maintained. It is also important that the Secretary-General stresses the importance of multilateralism in this report. “No State can stand wholly alone in today’s world,” he writes. “We all share responsibility for each other’s development and security. Collective strategies, collective institutions and collective action are indispensable.” We are further pleased at a number of recommendations and proposals that the Secretary-General makes in the report towards accomplishing this vision, although we have reservations about a number of them, and look forward to receiving clarifications on those proposals. I will devote the rest of my statement to some issues under specific clusters. Mr. President, my delegation admits to a measure of disappointment with some of the contents of the report in terms of the measures for achieving this vision. In the broader outlook, while we do not deny the legitimacy of the issues raised, we believe that more space and greater emphasis should have been given to the development concerns of the developing countries on their merit. Presenting these concerns within a security framework has served to underline security as the priority issue. For developing countries, development is the sure foundation upon which lasting peace and security rest, and it may be pointed out that there is no MDG that directly and explicitly focuses on security. I wish to point out that achieving internationally agreed goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, demands that we commit ourselves to creating a conducive environment at national and international levels that would pull together the necessary financial resources to pursue such a commitment. We have actually taken two very crucial steps forward, and that is to determine the specific actions that need to be taken and the tools needed to realize those actions, through the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and the Monterrey Consensus. The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation outlines the key actions crucial to development that need urgent attention. The Plan’s comprehensiveness merits our recognition that it should be our principal guide for development financing. The Monterrey Consensus outlines the tools that can transform the JPoI into concrete results. These commitments, along with the Millennium Declaration, embody a fully-funded, global development agenda. However, we would argue that attaching significance only to the MDGs is similar to giving attention to specific trees rather than focusing on the entire forest. Thus, we believe the MDGs should not be treated as the full embodiment of development which incorporates much wider issues, such as the systemic inequality in the international financial architecture and the use of tariffs to frustrate the will of developing countries to engage in international trade. These commitments were made in good faith and must be honored by implementation. To ignore these commitments would undermine the credibility and reliability of the international negotiating process. Indonesia is therefore concerned about the new heavy emphasis being placed on developing countries assuming greater responsibility for their own development, as if to suggest they are immune from the impact of the global community in pursuing this goal. That all developing countries should commit themselves to national development strategies, as proposed by the report, and mobilize their domestic resources to meet the development goals, especially the MDGs, cannot be contradicted. However, possession of resources will determine the nature of the plans formulated to implement the MDGs. Without available resources for implementation, development plans are reduced to mere wish-lists. Indeed, all the signs are clear that developing countries have already begun to assume greater responsibility for their own development based on national and international realities. Therefore the request for them to commit now to national strategies to achieve the MDGs by 2015 is to urge them to continue going in the direction that they are going. However, there are severe limitations that some developing countries, the HIPCs in particular, face with regard to the mobilization of resources necessary for their own development. My delegation would like to take this opportunity to endorse the Secretary-General’s position concerning the need to complete the Doha Round and the compelling need to discharge this development promise. While developing countries agree that domestic resources, as much as possible, need to be mobilized, it is also important that developed countries promote international trade in the interest of development, increase official development assistance and work towards sustainable debt financing and external debt relief. Indonesia will certainly present in more concrete terms its views and proposals regarding these issues during the thematic discussions. Furthermore, Indonesia would like once again to express its gratitude to the international community for its support following our recent natural disasters in our country: the earthquake and tsunami on 26 December 2004, and our earthquake experience just over a week ago in Nias Island. In this connection, we would like to declare our support of the Secretary-General’s recommendation of an early warning system for all natural hazards, building on existing national and regional capacity. With reference to this Cluster, the report, contrary to our expectations, takes some positions about which we feel that it ought to have been more balanced. We believe, for instance, that its definition of “nuclear proliferation,” which focuses on the general spread of nuclear weapons while avoiding the more critical issue of “vertical” proliferation and qualitative development, is difficult to comprehend. My delegation would like to stress that the nuclear weapon States should fully implement their commitments and obligations under Article VI of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including the 13 practical steps, with a view to achieving the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Turning to the subject of terrorism, and speaking as a nation that has been victimized by it, we fully support every effort to combat it. We do, however, find a definition which ignores the legitimate struggle of peoples who are under colonialism or foreign occupation to be limited in its understanding, and therefore, to be untenable. We support a counter-terrorism strategy by which this scourge would be attacked at its root cause, and we feel that the time is now ripe for the conclusion of the comprehensive Conventions on the basis of the views that have been expressed by Member States. The conclusion of the Convention on Nuclear Terrorism by the Ad-Hoc Committee established by General Assembly resolution 51/210, early this month, provides momentum for consensus on the definition of terrorism, provided that States are willing to demonstrate flexibility. Next, we have stated that we are favorably disposed to the establishment of a Peacebuilding Commission to perform post-conflict responsibilities. We feel that this is an important idea that deserves careful examination, and we look forward to the elaboration of its implementation. Mr. President, My delegation supports the Secretary-General in urging that Heads of State and Government recommit to supporting the rule of law, human rights and democracy. We hold the rule of law to be a fundamental United Nations principle, the implementation of which is important at the national as well as international level. There is need to strengthen existing international norms and rules, and the implementation of treaties and conventions. With reference to the “responsibility to protect,” it is our view that although there are some moral justifications for this recommendation, we feel that a number of political and legal questions remain to be addressed. We have similar concerns relating to the recommendation concerning the use of force. We will also be presenting a more elaborate examination of our position on this during the thematic stage of these deliberations later in the month. For now, let me state that with reference to Article 51, it is the position of Indonesia that great care must be taken to avoid any rewriting and reinterpretation of this Article. Mr. President, Towards strengthening the United Nations, we support the commitment of the Secretary-General. We would, however, like to reiterate that the reform of the Organization must be seen as a process, and undertaken as a systemic exercise, and never assume the form of the reform of the Security Council. Institutional or systemic reform means that the exercise must be implemented not as a selective, segmented exercise, but with the inclusion of all of the principal organs of the Organization. With reference to the Security Council
itself, we are not convinced that all of its restructuring options
have been exhausted. Furthermore, it is important to state that the
need still remains to improve the working methods of the Council,
towards making it more transparent, inclusive and effective, and that
those reforms must strengthen multilateralism. Also, and in reference to the proposals relating the reform of the United Nations Secretariat, we believe that a lot of questions have yet to be answered, and look forward to clarifications in this regard. Finally, Mr. President, let me again
express my delegation’s support for your commitment and leadership
as we prepare for next September’s High-Level Plenary Meeting.
We recognize that this will be a challenging five-month period, and
we pledge our support and complete participation. We hope that our
undertakings within this period will re-energize the United Nations
and its membership, in support of The Charter and the Millennium Declaration. The report, specifically the annex of recommendations with which it ends, also creates the impression that September is a deadline for action on its contents. We would urge, instead, that the report be seen and treated as a comprehensive and balanced package and as a useful beginning of the process of change and consensus-building to facilitate the implementation of the outcome of the Millennium Declaration which emphasizes development, especially poverty-eradication. There is therefore need for deadline flexibility so that immediate action can be taken on those matters that enjoy widespread support and in order to allow time for the review of controversial proposals that do not enjoy consensus or agreement. Thank you, Mr. President.
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