--~·------- UNITED NATIONS A ------------------------------·-----·--·--~--~--·---- General Assembly ffiOVIS IONAL A/S-16/PV.l 15 Decent>er 1989 ENGLISH Sixteenth special ses::: ion GENERAL ASSEMBLY PROVISIONAL VEffiATIM RECDRD OF 'rHE FIRST MEETING Held at Headauarters, New York, on Tuesday, 12 I::ecemher 1989, at 10 a.m. Temporary President 1 Ms. ATTAH (Nigeria) later 1 Mr. GAffiA (Nigeria) (President) later: Mr. JAYA (Brunei Darussalam) (Vice-President) Opening of the session by the !emporary President, the Chairman of the delegation of Nigeria - Minute of silent prayer or meditation Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations Credentials of representatives to the sixteenth special session of the General Assembly (a) Appointment of the memhers of the Credentials Committee / ... This record contains the original text of speeches delivered in English and interpretations of speeches in the other languages. The final text will he printed in the Official Records of the General Assent>ly. Corrections should he submitted to original speeches only. They should be sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned, within one week, to the Chief, Official Records Editing Section, I::epartment of Conference Services, room DC2-750, 2 United Nations Plaza, and incorporated in a copy of the record. 89-600 03/A 5 751 V (E) NR/dl A,IS-16/PV.l 1 (a-z) • 1• ..-. ·••. •·, u~ 'f;" ~.:; t', )·1!~~ ·. :~, 1 ..."!& ·'-~ El.ectioo of the Presi<\~•t - Statement by the President - Statement by the Secretary-General - Organization of the session Aooptioo of the agenda Address by Mr. Kenneth D. Kaunda, President of the Republic of Zanbia Address by Mr. Robert Gabriel Mugabe, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Apartheid and its destructive consequences in southern Africa [71 Address by Mr. Vasil TUpurkovski, Member of the Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia NR/dl A/S-16/PV.l 2 The meeting was called to order at 10.25 a.m. ITEM 1 OF THE PROVISIONAL AGENDA OPENING OF THE SESSION BY THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT, CHAIRMAN OF THE DELEGATION OF NIGERIA The TEMPORARY PRESIDENT: In accordance with rule 30 of the rules of procedure, I declare open the sixteenth special session of the General Assembly. ITEM 2 OF THE PROVISIONAL AGENDA MINUTE OF SILENT PRAYER OR MEDITATION The TEMPORARY PRESIDENT: I invite representatives to stand and observe one minute of silent prayer or meditation. The members of the General Assembly observed a minute of silent prayer or meditation. SCALE OF ASSESSMENTS FOR THE APPORTIO~ENT OF THE EXPENSES OF THE UNITED NATIOm The TEMPORARY PRESIDENT: Before turning to the next item on our agenda, I should like, in keeping with the established practice, to invite the attention of the General Assembly to document A/S-16/3, which contains a letter addressed to me by the Secretary-General in which he informs the Assembly that one Member State is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the United Nations within the terms of Article 19 of the Charter. I remind delegations that under Article 19 of the Charter "A Member of the United Nations which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contributions to the Organization shall have no vote in the General Assembly if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years." May I take it that the General Assembly decides to take note of this information? It was so decided. NR/dl A/S-16/PV.l 3-5 ITEM 3 OF THE PROVISIONAL AGENDA CREDENTIAIB OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE SIXTEENTH SPECIAL SESSIDN OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY (a) APPOIN'IMENT OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CREDENTIALS <XJMMIT'I'EE The TEMPORARY PRESIDENT: Rule 28 of the rules of procedure provides that a Credentials Committee shall be appointed at the beginning of each session and that it shall consist of nine members, to be appointed by the General Assembly on the proposal of the President. With a view to expediting the work of the special session, and in accordance with precedents, I propose that the Credentials Committee consist of the same members as those appointed for the forty-fourth session, namely: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, China, Colombia, Malawi, the Philippines, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United States of America and Zaire. If there is no objection, I shall consider the Credentials Committee constituted accordingly. It was so decid~d. The TEMPORARY PRESIDENT: Members will recall that at the 1st plenary meeting of the forty-fourth session of the General Assembly the 1emporary President proposed that, as the sixteenth special session would be held within the period envisaged for the forty-fourth session and in order to permit the special session of the Assembly to use the limited time available to it for consideration of the substantive question before it, the Credentials Committee of the forty-fourth session should be authorized to examine and report not only on the credentials submitted for representatives to the forty-fourth regular session but also to the extent possible on those submitted for representatives to the special session. The Assembly decided to authorize the Credentials Committee to proceed accordingly. EH/dm A/S-16/PV.l 6 (The Temporary President) The Credentials Committee has submitted two reports to the General Assembly (A/44/639 and Add.l) by which the Committee reported that it had accepted the credentials of representatives of Member States participating in the present sixteenth special session of the General Assembly, it being understood that credentials in proper form of representatives to the present session for whom only Provisional credentials have so far been submitted will be communicated to the Secretary-General as soon as possible. The two reports of the Credentials Committee dealing with the credentials of representatives to the sixteenth special session have already been approved by General Assembly resolutions 44/5 A of 17 October 1989 and 44/5 B of 11 December 1989. May I take it that the General Assembly wishes to take note of the fact? It was so decided. ITEM 4 OF THE PROVISIONAL AGENDA ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT The TEMPORARY PRESIDENT: I now invite the Assembly to proceed to the election of the President of the General Assembly. In this connection it has been proposed that the President of the forty-fourth session, His Excellency Major-General Joseph Nanven Garba of Nigeria, be elected by acclamation as President of the General Assembly at its sixteenth special session. I take it that the Assembly adopts that proposal? It was so decided. The TEMPORARY PRESIDENT: I extend my sincere congratulations to Major-General Joseph Nanven Garba and invite him to assume the presidency. I request the Chief of Protocol to escort the President to the podium. Mr. Garba took the Chair. EH/dm A/S-16/PV.l 7 STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT The PRESIDENT: I should like to thank all the members of the Assembly for their continued confidence in me and for electing me to preside over this very important special session of the General Assembly on apartheid and its destructive consequences in southern Africa. In convening this special session the General Assembly has accorded the question of apartheid the highest possible priority on its political agenda. The global campaign against apartheid has entered a new and decisive phase and has been given a tangible and constructive impetus by the fact that this special session, the first ever on apartheid, is being held at all. While I am highly honoured to preside over this special session, the entire exercise will be totally meaningless to me personally, and indeed to the international community, if at the end of it all we fail to send, unanimously, a clear and unambiguous message to Pretoria that apartheid must end. In this global situation, when numerous anachronistic regimes, ideological facades and political barriers are crumbling, the apartheid system cannot escape being dismantled in its turn. Having served as Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid over the last five years I cannot but express a sense of deep satisfaction and my belief and acknowledgement that the United Nations, in deciding to hold this special session, is finally determined to pronounce itself with one voice and in no uncertain terms on this protracted issue. This special session is not a session for recriminations. It is not a session for acrimony or divergence of opinions. Indeed, it is not a session aimed at cataloguing the well-known evils of the apartheid system. Rather it is a session that is in consonance with the prevailing global atmosphere of peace and the EH/dm A/S-16/PV.l 8 (The President) lessening of tension. It is a session which we, as responsible members of the international community, are determined to use as a vehicle for endinq apartheid - a crime against our collective conscience and dignity. It is a session that offers us an opportunity collectively to express our long-overdue consensus on how best to eradicate apartheid. This special session should therefore be seen as a joint venture between the international community and the entire people of South Africa, a venture in which the international community, by lending its voice, ideas and impetus to the apartheid debate, is offering co-operation and assistance that should contribute in a concrete and meaningful way to the immediate resolution of the complex problems and issues emanating from the policy and practices of apartheid. Furthermore, it is an excellent opportunity for the international community categorically to reaffirm its stand and while acknowledqing that in South Africa some recent developments have taken place which may be deemed positive they fall woefully short of what is expected of the authorities in Pretoria.