The 38th floor: excerpts from statements by UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar made between 1 January and 31 March 1991.

Excerpts from statements by UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar made between 1 January and 31 March 1991

Encouraging hope in arms limitation...

In the field of arms limitation and disarmament, the agreements that have been reached encourage hope that much more can be achieved. The 1987 Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Nuclear Missiles between the United States and the Soviet Union will, we trust, soon be supplemented by the strategic arms reduction talks agreement which is expected to cut their strategic nuclear forces significantly. The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe concluded in Paris last November and the new set of confidence- and security-building measures adopted in the framework of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe have genuinely established a new basis for growing cooperation. These positive measures, if fully and faithfully implemented by all parties, will definitely have a lasting impact on international peace and security.

'The riches of nature'

Ancient peoples had great respect for their natural environment, because the depend on it for their sustenance. I consider this gift of Denmark to be particularly appropriate at a time when the earth's natural resources, many of them non-renewable, are constantly being threatened and degraded--by carelessness, abuse and by natural and man-made disasters, including conflict.

Human beings have the technology and the ingenuity of benefit from the riches of nature, but they must learn to respect the resources they use, lest they destroy them completely. Peoples in the past revered their environment because they realized it was their primary source of life. Let us hope that future generations will form the same impression of us.

At the unveiling of a gift from Denmark to the United Nations entitled "The Sun Chariot", presented by Queen Margrethe II, New York, 22 February

Decolonization: a historic

anniversary

The year 1990 was not only the thirtieth anniversary of the historic Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, but also the year when Namibia acceded to independence. In this context, I wist to pay special tribute to the important contribution that this Committee has made, both as an advocate for the rights of the Namibian people, and in supporting the efforts that led to the independence of Namibia.

At the opening of the 1991 session of the Special Committee on decolonization, New York, 21 February

'A new South Africa'

I am confident that the international community will do its utmost to foster the process of negotiation on a new constitution for the establishment of a united, non-racial and democratic society in South Africa as soon as possible. For my part, I will continue to follow closely developments in South Africa, particularly the progress made in the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on Apartheid, as requested by the General Assembly. I shall continue to spare no efforts to facilitate the process leading to the peaceful eradication of apartheid. The historic opportunity that has emerged in South Africa must succeed. The most recent initiatives of President de Klerk are encouraging as they show that a common vision for a new South Africa is materializing.

At a solemn meeting of the Special Committee against Apartheid for the observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, New York, 21 March

Eliminating the world's

military arsenals

It is encouraging to observe that the progressive elimination of the world's military arsenals, including nuclear weapons, has already begun. The qualitative development of nuclear armaments has now been limited to a few technical areas. The principle of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons has gained a momentum by specific actions and declarations of a number of Member States who have reiterated their renunciation of the nuclear option. The Ad Hoc Group of Scientific Experts of the Conference on Disarmament is making meaningful progress in the consideration of various technical issues related to the verification of a nuclear-test ban.

At the opening of the Amendment Conference of the States Parties to the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under Water, New York, 7 January

'Vigil of Hope' for Alec Collett

Six years have now passed since our friend and colleague Alec Collett was taken hostage near Beirut while on assignment for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). . . . At this solemn meeting, we gather to rekindle our hope--the hope that those taken captive in Lebanon and elsewhere will soon be freed, and the hope that the reprehensible act of taking innocent people hostage will cease.

At a joint UN Correspondents Association (UNCA)-United Nations "Vigil of Hope", New York, 25 March

Preventing terrorism

International terrorism, aside from endangering or taking innocent human lives, has a serious negtive effect on international relations and may jeopardize the territorial integrity and security of States. It is, accordingly, no surprise that the United Nations, as an organization whose primary function is the maintenance of international peace and security, should have devoted, during the past 20 years, so much attention and energy to the elimination of acts of international terrorism and of their underlying causes. The Organization is aware of the need to prevent and curb not only direct unlawful uses of force in inter-State relations, but also covert forms of violence which are pursued in an insidious and clandestine fashion and are frequently therefore more difficult to counteract.

At the opening session of the International Conference on Air Law, Montreal, Canada, 12 February