Statement by
H.E. Mr. Makmur Widodo
Permanent Representative of the
Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations
At the Annual Coordination Meeting of Foreign Ministers of
The Organization of the Islamic Conference
New York, 15 November 2001
Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates
Assalaamu’alaikum wa-Rahmatullahi wa-Barakatuh.
May I first express my delegation’s pleasure at seeing
you preside over our Meeting.
I wish also to convey our appreciation to our distinguished
Secretary General, H.E. Dr. Abdelouahed Belkeziz, for the excellent
work that he is doing.
Indonesia warmly welcomes the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire
to the ranks of our Organization.
Mr. Chairman,
We meet in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of
11 September 2001. We in the OIC have joined the rest of the civilized
world in condemning these horrible acts of savagery.
In response to the terrorist attacks, the United States
has led an international coalition in a strike against terrorism that
has been attended by heavy bombing in Afghanistan, a country that has
already borne untold suffering in many years of incessant warfare. Thus
again, the violence of war is killing innocent civilians in large numbers
and driving masses of people to become refugees away from their homes.
This is a complex situation that poses hard questions
to which there are no simple answers.
Among the things that we can be sure of is the urgent
need to extend humanitarian assistance to alleviate the sufferings of
the people, while pursuing various political and diplomatic initiatives.
For many years now, the OIC has worked together with the United Nations
to promote the establishment of a broad based and multi-ethnic government
in Afghanistan. Today these efforts are deemed all the more imperative,
including an international presence under the auspices of the United
Nations to provide a secure environment for the establishment of a democratic
government acceptable to all Afghan people.
The United Nations has provided us with a bundle of
legal instruments against terrorism, the latest of which being the antiterrorist
resolutions passed by the General Assembly and the Security Council.
Resolution No. 1373 is notable for its effect of freezing the financial
assets of terrorist organizations.
But these are by no means enough. That is why the Final
Communiqué of the Ninth Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Conference
of Foreign Ministers in Doha, Qatar last month had to call on the United
Nations to take a major role in the collective effort to prevent and
eliminate international terrorism. Moreover, the United Nations must
define terrorism in a way that is neither selective nor subject to double
standards. The collective action that it would lead must address the
causes of terrorism and cut off its roots-one of which is the prevalence
of injustice. For it is the conspicuousness of injustice that enables
terrorists to claim moral ground by pretending to be the champions of
the downtrodden.
One of the worst forms of injustice is taking place
in the Middle East. With impunity, Israeli forces remain on Palestinian
and Arab territories that they have occupied since 1967. They continue
to oppress the Palestinian people, denying them the exercise of their
right to self-determination, including their right to an independent
homeland with Jerusalem as its capital.
Terrorism thrives on the soil of poverty-the poverty
of the masses that in their desperation succumb to the blandishments
of terrorists. The members of a known terrorist Abu Sayaf group in the
southern Philippines have all been recruited from among the destitute.
It is therefore essential that the Peace Agreement between the Government
of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front and the cease-fire
agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front must work to lift the
people in the agreed area of autonomy out of the morass of poverty.
In the eyes of millions of people living in poverty,
they are the victims of injustice, hence, the North-South partnership
for development must be formed and be put to work in the cause of social
justice. It is imperative that Official Development Assistance (ODA)
flow again in sufficient volume. Accordingly, it is essential that the
IMF and the World Bank continue to enhance the HIPC initiative. And
we in the OIC must gain stronger representation in multilateral financial
institutions to ensure a vigorous global debt relief effort. Also, let
us help build a new international financial architecture that is transparent
and fair to all so that we will be spared from devastating financial
crises.
Let us make sure that the Declarations adopted at the
WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar that only concluded yesterday
will be implemented to accommodate the needs of developing countries
including the OIC Member States.
In brief, let us do everything that we can so that there
is less poverty in this world. Moreover, let us gird ourselves for a
war against poverty that is waged as energetically as the strike against
terrorism is now being waged. Terrorism cannot be eradicated so long
as it is watered by the tears of those who suffer injustice while long
ranging conflicts can not be resolved until lasting and durable solutions
are found. Towards this end, let us in the OIC redouble our efforts
to work with the United Nations to support peace-building in Afghanistan.
Wassalaamu’alaikum wa-Rahmatullahi wa-Barakatuh
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