General Assembly Should Take a Decision on the Solution, Prefer the Path of Violence
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United Nations (36th GENERAL PLENARY MEETING E'riday, 18 September 1953, ASSEMBLY at 10.30 a.m. ElGlITH SESSION Offirial Records Ne'l~ York CONTENTS pL)Spect might suggest that lasting peace is unlikely of PaKt attainment and that the only course is continued rearm ament. General debate [continued) 35 Speeches by Mr. Maza (Chile), Mr. Casey (Australia) 4. Nevertheless, material forces are strt:ngthened by and Mr. Wcbb (New Zealand) moral values. The ~act that war has not yet broken out and may not break out is due primarily to the existcnce President: Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi PANDIT (India). of the United Nations. In many quarters the United Nations is criticized as ineffective. But the United Nations was organized to maintain peace, not to create it; that was the responsibility of the great Powers which were victorious in the recent world war. The General debate [continued] United Nations has worked under difficult conditions in t::e political field, but its moral authority has pre CJ.~EY SPEECHES BY MR. MAZA (CHILE), MR. (Aus- vailed i if war has not broken out, it is because the TRALIA) AND MR. WEBB (NEW ZEALAND) aggressor would have had to face the :'est of the world. 1. Mr. MAZA (Chile) (translated from Spanish): 5. For this reason, in this time of unceasing vigilance, Since the beginning of the last session, the international my delegation reaffirms its adherence to the United situation has substantially changed. We have seen the Nations; it believes that only in so far as the United end of the war in Korea-the cnd, that is, of the Nations is supported by governments and peoples will hostilities to which communist aggression gave risc in peace be maintained even among those who doubt the that republic. If the present promising situation is possibility of it, so that even the aggressors will be compared with that of the world in 1948, when the compelled to live in peace. Berlin blockade was in progress, or with the more 6. Faith in the United Nations is indivisible. The recent period of war in Asia, it might be thought that Charter signed at San Francisco conceived a system international tension had diminished and that the of collective security based on the restoration of normal aggressive groups had realized what risks they were relations among States, steadily increasing respect for running in t .1rsuing a policy of provocation. World human rights and a constant improvement in the opinion wants nothing so much as a feeling of security. standards of living of the peoples. It was considered This may be seen from the enthusiasm which any that, in order to maintain peace, it was not sufficient peaceful gesture on the part of those who have the merely to prevent the outbreak of war, and the last power to cause conflict or promote peaceful coexistence world war showed that a bold and imaginative effort arouses. was required to eradicate the causes of such great dis 2. Upon reading the Secretary~General's report asters. That was why there was talk of respect for [A/24041, however, and especially the chapter on human rights and why it was tacitly agreed that the political and security questions, we realize that there individual was the real subject of international law. are still problems and difficulties which could danger While there remain regions or countries where hum~n ously disturb this precarious coexistence. Moreover beings are despised and abandoned, the fear of war and this is much more serious-there is no sure sign will persist, for it is impossible to believe that a State of a change of heart in those who have long compelled can be peace-loving in international affairs if it denies the other peoples to live in fear. It would seem that a peaceful life to its people at home. the world has resigned itself to living in a state of 7. We must note with regret that very little progress p~rmanent danger and that the cold war makes the has been made in the vast field of human rights. There peoples long for :>eace but without hope. In order to are States which take refuge behind Article 2, para meet the threat of aggression, a level of rearmament graph 7, of the Charter and claim that anything relating has been reached which suggests that a world war is to the abridgement of freedom in their territory is a expected to break out any day. matter of national s()vere~gnty, of no concern what 3. But international life is fraught with difficulties soever to the international community and entirely other than the se caused by the totalitarian menace. outside the com<}etence of the United Nations. But for There are latent conflicts, rcsulting from previous those who stili believe, ancI with rea.son, that an)' arrangemcnts, which are now coming to the surface country which denies freedom to its own people is not again, because the atmosphere of fear is so wide-spread likely to behave in a democratic fashion in the world at iarge, that attitude con~titutes a threat to the system as to give cover to any kind of violence. In OtP' time, too, dogmatic fanaticism of every conceivable kind has of collective security. renewed its strength. As we live in a state of constant 8. The Chilean delegation is therefore anxious that anxiety, opposing sides, instead of seeking a friendly this General Assembly should take a decision on the solution, prefer the path of violence. This menacing draft international conventions on human rights, so 85 A/PV.436 r"8_1!!16:::::::::::::::::::::~:_::·.-~.~;~;_jjr~·~_·A·ssl!!lcl!!l,ml!!l.l!!I)ll!!ly-I!!IEl!!lil!!lgl!!lhl!!lth-SeI!!lIJljI!!lII!!lOnl!!l-l!!Ip·ll!!1enl!!lal!!lry-M--eel!!ltl!!llnl!!lg·s ~I!!I -.,I!!I__ ..•,._-...I!!I.-:::::::::::"._-.,.,_<-_.. -,.. ~-----=- that States may be given the opportunity.of ratifying tating Western Europe and other parts of the world. these instruments which, taken together, wIll encourage They are accused also of denying their peoples better 19. I greater respect for those rights. standards of living when the fact is that, to safeguard her hil that s11 9. Neither formal good relations among Sta,tes, nor their existence a~ nations., thc;y have been c')mpelled to rigl~ts, t~~em sacrifice som~ part of their legitimate right to a better the fa( even a general respect for h,uman are m I reme selves enough to make possIble a lastmg peace. G.ood life so as to be prepared, albl,;it insufficiently, to n:teet the aggressor. It has been asserted that the Umted of Incl neighbourliness among all peoples and the full enJ0Y: at hav] ment of individual rights cannot be ensured untIl N atioi1s forces used bacterial weapons in the war in in Ind: poverty and want have ~een eliminated. Tha,t W~lS defence of the Republic of South Korea, when in fact th~ .11~1pUr its armies deliberately refrained from using c(~rtain sent at why the United Nations Clul;rter stressed it will tance of better standards of hfe and the possIlnhty of modern weapons in order to respect the moral prin ciples of the United Nations. India building a society where there would.be. equal oppor -will Umity for all and industry could ell1mnate poverty. 14. Nevertheless the IJropaganda machine of the 20. I 10. The industrial countries had to recover. from the totalitarian regimes has persisted in its campaign of our IH disaeter of war. The under-developed countnes sought hate which, unfortunately, has been able to affect a part of world public opinion. has cc to attain a satisfactory level of production and .con reputa sumption. The effort required was too much for natIo!1a1 15. The Korean armistice and the appearance of quiet able SI resources and made international co-operation essentIal. on the front of aggression would seem to show that o(h~r Gener: Loans, gifts, technical assistance, credits and the free world's determination to defend itself has good f forms of aid had to be mobilized to carry out thIS contained the totalitarian advance. If this interpretation 21. 1 joint enterprise with ali due speed. All were directly were correct, the United Nations would begin its eighth Asserr interested in a victory over want because all knew session in a more favourable atmosphere. Nevertlwless dang(~r. charac that until that victory was won peace was in we are anxious lest what has been gained in the the wc tC0 political field should be lost in the economic amI social 11. Unfortunately, the cold war is indivisib!e, hopes The democracies have had to arm to meet the danger fields. ~ggression. future of totalitarian The technique of destruction 16. It is essential tbat the effort that made military has reached a levCl at which the expenditures involved 22. j rearmament possible should be directed to economic -the are tremendous. More than $80,000 million has been ends and that from now on the cold war against want rivalr1 spent on armaments in the past fevy years. Th~t is the should be fought and won. A depressio!l, a world price that has so far had to be paid to keep 111 check tionaf economic crisis or the continuation of the present of us those who would engage in violence. If the same sum imbalance between production and consumption could had beeI~ invested in production and ,;,he means of Union cause as much harm as war and disrupt the democratic 1945.