It is the pleasure of my delegation to welcome the Report of the Security Council to the General Assembly covering the period 1 August 2002 to 31 July 2003. I would like to express our appreciation to the President of the Council, Ambassador Negroponte, for his clear and capable introduction of the report. As usual, the report provides a quick overview of the Council in the past year in its area of responsibility, which is the maintenance of international peace and security. As we all know, the past year was very engaging in this respect. This is always a good opportunity for Member States to take a look at the work of the Council in the course of the previous year, and one that we always look forward to. We thank the members of the Council for the report. Before I go any further, I would also
like to welcome, on behalf of my delegation, the “Report of
the Open-Ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation
on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other
Matters related to the Security Council.” This is a very important
issue to my delegation and to other Member States of the United Nations,
and we always welcome this annual opportunity to contribute to it. The Report of the Security Council before us is a very important document. It faithfully details the work of the Council within the period. Unfortunately, it remains little more than a blow-by-blow account, one that could easily have been prepared by individual Permanent Missions to the United Nations, or obtained from the Dag Hammarskjold Library. It contains previously publicized documents, but little analysis or explanations of the Council’s actions and decisions, as many delegations have requested in the past, and shows very little evidence or consciousness that this is an important account to this Assembly. What makes this report even more difficult to understand is that it was still sent late to Member States every year. There is, therefore, a clear contradiction between its contents and the amount of time needed to process it. Unless there is significant analytical input, it is difficult to see why a report with a cut-off date of July cannot reach Member States within the following month. In this connection, it is curious to consider, for instance, that despite all of the events that took place in connection with the Iraq file during the period, the report devotes just over two pages to it without saying one word beyond what was already known to Member States. For an institution concerned with the maintenance of peace and security, the annual report contains almost no mention of the hostilities. Indeed, the report refers only to the President of the Council being informed of “the commencement of military action,” and “during the period of conflict in Iraq.” There should be no mistake about this:
when the Council reports to the Assembly, it is not the concession
by one organ of the United Nations to another, but the fulfillment
of a Charter obligation. This obligation should be wholly and consistently
fulfilled in the interest of the peoples of the United Nations by
both the Secretariat and the Security Council. Our request is for
a document that is useful to the wider membership of our Organization
because it is timely, informative, and analytical. Despite the foregoing, we are pleased that the Council was able to accomplish so much with its increased workload during the period. We note the progress in its work in such areas as African conflicts, the Middle East, and counter-terrorism. Particular mention must be made of the Council’s focus on the situation in Africa, where there was new instability in some countries, notably Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia. The Council demonstrated laudable commitment when it sent two Missions to different locations in the continent at the same time. Similarly, the work of the Council in connection with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, especially the implementation of the Road Map of the Quartet, deserves commendation. Indonesia has always supported the Road Map, and urged its faithful implementation. In our statements before the Council, we have also maintained that the Council should maintain a proactive stance. It is to be hoped that despite recent setbacks in that process, the Council will find ways of encouraging the parties, thereby steering the process carefully and with determination towards the stated objectives. My delegation is gratified at the progress that continues to be made in some of these conflict situations, and the intervention that is therefore possible not only in averting humanitarian crises, but in the promotion of peace and democracy. Before I move on from this report,
Mr. President, I would like to note that while the Council had tried
to encourage greater transparency in recent years by organizing monthly
wrap-up sessions that were open to Member States, the past year did
not follow that pattern. In our view, what is needed are more –
not fewer – of such occasions; important contributions that
can be happily reported in the Council’s annual reports to the
General Assembly. It remains a matter of great concern to my delegation that no substantial progress has been made on the issue of Security Council reform, nearly 10 years after the Open-ended Working Group was established. The events of the early part of this year underline what we have continued to stress, namely that comprehensive reform of the Council is long overdue if the decisions of that body are to continue to enjoy the support of the larger membership of this Organization. There can be no doubting the point that a transparent, democratic and representative Security Council whose membership and practices reflect the world of the 21st century, not that of the first half of the 20th century, is the only structure capable of achieving this goal. We should not put this overriding objective behind national or narrower interests. Thank you, Mr. President.
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