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<html> <head> <meta name="Generator" content="Corel WordPerfect 8"> <title>MS. STEWART - ADDRESS TO THE 26TH GENERAL ASSEMBLYOF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES - PANAMA CITY, PANAMA</title> </head> <body text="#000000" link="#0000ff" vlink="#551a8b" alink="#ff0000" bgcolor="#c0c0c0"> 96/27 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE CHRISTINE STEWART, SECRETARY OF STATE (LATIN AMERICA AND AFRICA), TO THE 26TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES PANAMA CITY, Panama June 3, 1996 Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, foreign ministers of the hemisphere, Mr. Secretary-General, Mr. Assistant Secretary-General, distinguished colleagues, delegates, friends: It is an honour to be with you this week at my third General Assembly of the Organization of American States [OAS]. I would like to extend my appreciation to the Government of Panama for their hosting of this event and for the generous welcome they have extended to us. I believe that it is particularly meaningful that the nations of the Western Hemisphere are gathered in Panama, a country which truly represents a crossroads between North and South, East and West, the Caribbean, and Central, South and North America. Nothing could symbolize more acutely the purpose, geographic breadth and strength of this Organization. Canadians are becoming increasingly interested and knowledgeable about their southern neighbours. Through the OAS, the Summit of the Americas, NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] and the nascent Free Trade Area of the Americas [FTAA] process, Latin America and the Caribbean are more and more in the Canadian public eye. From a country in the region, not too long ago, we have now become fully a country of the region. Canada is committed to the principles of hemispheric co-operation and integration. We know, beyond any doubt, that there is strength in unity. We have carried this message in our growing field of contact with you, our hemispheric partners: in the visit to this region by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien last year, in the travels of Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, Lloyd Axworthy, to Haiti, and Central and South America just last month, and in the recent series of Heads of Government Summits between Canada and the CARICOM and Central American leaders. As we educate ourselves as a nation about our place in the Americas, Canadians increasingly want to know: What is the Organization of American States? What is its role, where is it going? And, most importantly, what has it achieved? When we joined the OAS, Canada made a clear commitment to work with our new partners to reform, revitalize and re-establish the OAS as the pre-eminent institution of the Western Hemisphere, and to equip it to meet the many challenges awaiting us in the 21st century. What has the OAS achieved? In Canada's estimation, a great deal. In April 1995, Secretary-General César Gaviria issued his "New Vision of the OAS," setting out a vast range of principles and objectives for the revitalization of this Organization, some of them with immediate impact, others reaching much further into the future. However, it has been evident over the last few years that the OAS is already increasingly demonstrating its determination and growing capacity to take action and assert its leadership in matters of the highest regional and global importance. A year has now passed since we met in Haiti for the 25th General Assembly. The progress that has been achieved in strengthening democratic institutions and promoting peace and reconciliation in Haiti is a major and unqualified success for the OAS, the United Nations and for the international community at large. Canada is extremely proud of its contribution to peacekeeping and to the creation of a civilian police force in Haiti. At present, Canada is commanding a peacekeeping force of 1900 military personnel, which includes 750 Canadians. We also have 100 Canadian police officers on the ground as part of the UN civilian police force. But the situation in Haiti is still fragile. We have recognized that Haiti will need continued assistance from the international community over the coming months to ensure that the success achieved to date is maintained and consolidated. We will therefore be asking the OAS again to exercise its leadership on this critical matter of regional security by declaring its unequivocal support for a strong UN presence in Haiti beyond June 30 of this year. Another issue of hemispheric security where the OAS is demonstrating its leadership and resolve is land mines. Your agreement this week to create a Western Hemisphere Anti-Personnel Land mines Free Zone will be an historic achievement, leaving no doubt that, in this critical area, the member states of the OAS lead the world. The suffering, death, destruction and stifling of development caused by anti-personnel land mines simply cannot be tolerated in an era of peace, friendship and democracy. There is no ambiguity to Canada's position on this: Canada wants a global ban on anti-personnel land mines. This was stated loudly and clearly by Canada's ministers of Foreign Affairs and of National Defence when they jointly announced, in Ottawa on January 17, a comprehensive moratorium on the production, export and operational use of land mines. This was echoed in Geneva, by Canada's delegation to the recent Conference on Certain Conventional Weapons, and here, in Panama, at the OAS General Assembly. And, this fall, in New York, Canada will be promoting a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly calling on states to work toward such a global ban. We ask you to join with us in this goal. To back this commitment, I am pleased to note that Canada announced yesterday our voluntary financial contribution to the OAS, part of which is to support the Central American Mine Clearance program, through the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy. In addition, Canada will host a meeting of states and non-governmental organizations [NGOs], which have declared their support for a global ban on land mines, in Ottawa this September to develop a plan for systematic, co-ordinated international action on this issue. The OAS has also taken great strides in the field of hemispheric security. The Declaration of Santiago on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures sets out a progressive, clear and concrete agenda for security co-operation among OAS states. We would urge all states to work towards the speedy implementation of these measures. Canada would also like to commend, in particular, the initiative to address the special security concerns of small island states. The threat posed by drug abuse and the international narcotics trade continues to have serious implications for the security and well-being of our countries, our communities and our children. Here, too, the inter-American community has taken action through its ongoing negotiation of a hemispheric counter-narcotics strategy, to take us into the 21st century. We hope to see this critical document adopted at the next General Assembly. While this in itself is an important achievement, we all know that it will only have a real and lasting impact if we are committed fully to the Strategy's implementation. For this reason, Canada has just taken the step of providing to the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission, CICAD, the services of one of our government's leading anti-drug experts for a two-year period to assist in hemispheric counter-narcotics and demand reduction efforts. In the last year, this hemisphere has also taken critical steps in the fight against terrorism, money laundering and corruption. The adoption, through a serious, methodical and efficient process, of an Inter-American Convention Against Corruption in Caracas last March has sent a clear message that this scourge, which impedes all other efforts towards development, democracy, equality and justice, will no longer be tolerated. But I would add that it is up to us, the politicians and leaders, to ensure the credibility of this exercise by the example of our own probity and conduct. By providing a climate of peace, security, transparency and social stability, we know that democracy and economic renewal can thrive. The inauguration this week of a new Inter-American Council for Integral Development [CIDI] marks one of the most deep-reaching reforms at the OAS to date. It is a major accomplishment -- the effects of which may only be reckoned in years to come. After three years of hard work since the introduction of the Managua Protocol, the CIDI is truly a new Partnership for Development, a new concept of how we will work together, as equals, in our common quest for development, stability and prosperity. I would like to take this opportunity to again thank our own Ambassador Brian Dickson and Ambassador Layne of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for their invaluable work in making CIDI operational. It is important to understand that this system must necessarily focus the greatest resources on the poorest countries and the weakest individuals in those countries. But this reform reaches beyond the delivery of assistance; it goes to the heart of the OAS' mission itself, by re-defining the dynamic between policy and programming, and re-establishing the essential relationship between development and our decision making on political issues such as human rights, trade, the environment and democracy. To underline Canada's commitment to CIDI and to the principles of the new Partnership for Development, I am pleased to announce on behalf of Canada's Minister for International Co-operation, the renewal of Canada's contribution to the Voluntary Fund in the amount of $4 million over two years. Canada strongly supports the Secretary-General's proposal to devote more resources to the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy [UPD], which will allow the Unit to continue to expand its valuable work in areas of long-term impact, such as democratic institution building, information and education for democracy, thus moving beyond the mainstay of elections monitoring. In this latter area, I can confirm that Canada will continue to contribute to OAS monitoring missions, including for the upcoming elections in Nicaragua. We have been encouraged by the enthusiastic response of the member states and the UPD to what has become known as the Brazil-Canada Human Rights and Democratic Development Initiative, launched as a follow-up to the Miami Summit Plan of Action. We would like to extend a particular note of thanks to the Government of Brazil for its outstanding leadership and dedication to this project. We look forward to working with all states over the coming year in the specialized Working Group that has been established for the further development of this initiative, including the elaboration of specific projects based on the principles of horizontal co-operation and full partnership. The Hemisphere has also demonstrated a new resolve to address the issue of sustainable development. Canada commends the efforts of the Government of Bolivia to host a Summit Conference on Sustainable Development in Santa Cruz next December. We strongly believe that sustainable development is the issue of the future. The Santa Cruz meeting will be an important starting point to consider the norms and principles that will guide us into the next century. Canada has also made its own contribution to this goal. We were pleased to have hosted an OAS Experts' Meeting on Environmentally Sound Technologies for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Ottawa last November. Attended by private and public sector experts from across the Americas, this conference sought to address the fundamental dichotomy between the equal but often incompatible imperatives of free-market economic development and environmental protection. Canada was also honoured to have the City of Montreal selected last November as the permanent Secretariat to the Convention on Biodiversity. I would like to convey to you Canada's deep gratitude for the support received from the Latin American and Caribbean countries for this bid. One of the most significant and difficult goals set at the Summit of the Americas was the agreement to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas by the year 2005. We believe it is important to recognize the essential work undertaken by the OAS, largely through the Trade Unit and the Special Committee on Trade, in support of the FTAA process. We would be loath to see this role undercut or diminished. Indeed, in each year that we draw closer to the 2005 deadline, there will be an ever-greater need for an anchor and support-base to these negotiations. At this stage, these OAS bodies are clearly the best equipped to fulfil that role. Finally, in describing the successes and strengths of the OAS, I would be remiss to overlook the work of the Inter-American Juridical Committee [IAJC] in the development and integration of international and trade law. Over the next year, the OAS will be evaluating the Secretary-General's paper on "Law in a New Inter-American Order." In this and other juridical exercises, including the development of guidelines for the preparation of legal instruments and the consideration of convention projects themselves, the contribution of this impartial and learned commission of jurists will be invaluable. We are particularly proud that a Canadian, Jonathan Fried, was appointed interim Chairman of the IAJC earlier this year. On his behalf, we would ask for the support of all our friends and colleagues at this table for Mr. Fried's re-election to the Committee. What I have presented to you is by no means a comprehensive inventory of the OAS' work. But in reviewing the accomplishments of this Organization since the last General Assembly, there can be no doubt as to the relevance and growing influence of the OAS. I return to my earlier question. What has the OAS achieved? The evidence speaks for itself. And, for this, the Government of Canada extends its admiration and re-affirms its strong support for the leadership of Secretary-General César Gaviria. The Government of Canada applauds the safeguarding of democratic rule in Paraguay and re-affirms its support to the legitimate, constitutional government led by President Juan Carlos Wasmosy. We also recognize the decisive role played by Secretary-General Gaviria at that moment of crisis. The message is clear: the Inter-American community does not tolerate parties or individuals seeking to govern by force and is committed to representative democracy as the only acceptable form of governance in this hemisphere. Despite these many accomplishments, we cannot be complacent. A great many challenges require our urgent and continued attention. Although the new political realities of the region have contributed to a significant, overall decline in serious human rights violations, threats to human rights and the rule of law continue to blight the political landscape of this hemisphere. An equally insidious threat is being posed by the rooting of impunity in the political and judicial systems of the state. Its eradication will require a concerted effort by the highest levels of government and civil society to institute a new culture in political, judicial and social relations, a culture in which the protection of human rights, accountability and transparency are the cornerstones. This fundamental transformation will also call for a concerted response by the human rights and democracy institutions of the OAS and the inter-American system as a whole. Canada continues to be encouraged by the good works of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, including its five on-site visits carried out in the last year, and we congratulate those countries that invited the Commission to their territories. We have also noted with satisfaction its collaboration with the National Commission of Truth and Justice in Haiti. Canada strongly supports proposals to increase funding to the Commission and to the Inter-American Court as indispensable instruments in the protection and promotion of human rights in this hemisphere. We also congratulate the Commission on its work in the process of drafting an Inter-American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We now hope the Commission will take the lead role in ensuring the fullest possible consultations with Indigenous groups from across the Americas in the final drafting process. The level of poverty that persists in many parts of the Hemisphere remains a cause for grave concern, particularly in its indiscriminate and cruel treatment of society's weakest members, especially Indigenous persons, women and children. My government is particularly concerned by the state of youth and children in the world today. In the six years since the United Nations World Summit on Children and the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, some victories have been gained, but, on the whole, children too often remain victimized, powerless and without hope. Drugs, poverty, disease, malnutrition, a lack of education and health care, the effects of land mines, war and terrorism, the absence of opportunity for self-fulfilment and inability to realize their potential and their dreams or to know security, safety and love: all these things are threatening many of the world's children. By allowing this to continue, we are putting our own future at risk. Canada applauds the work of the Inter-American Children's Institute to address many of these issues, and we are honoured that a Canadian was selected last year to serve as Vice-President of the Institute's Directing Council. In summing up the key challenges for the OAS, we must consider the question of the Organization's 35th member, Cuba, which is not present with us today. Canada shares the hope of many that this situation will one day change, and we urge the Organization to consider renewed forms of contact with Cuba, which would bring us closer to the day of Cuba's eventual re-integration into the inter-American family. We would also welcome an invitation by the Cuban government for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to undertake an on-site visit in the near future. Isolationism is not the answer. Canada values its friendship and over 50 years of unbroken relations with Cuba, but this has not stopped us from expressing our concerns on that country's human rights performance. We have been clear in stating that Cuba does not yet share in the growing democratic culture of this hemisphere. We have also condemned the Cuban Air Force's actions in shooting down two civilian aircraft on February 24 because of the inappropriate use of lethal force and contravention of internationally recognized procedures for such incidents. But policies of isolation do not prevent such tragedies; indeed, they only give rise to the hardening of militant policies and reinforce the wrong kind of nationalism and political rigidity. Canada has also voiced its strong objection to the recent Helms-Burton legislation, enacted by the United States Congress. Passed in the wake of the February shooting incident, we believe that this type of legislative action is fundamentally the wrong response. It violates accepted principles of international law and the United States' own obligations under trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, and seeks to drag third parties into a political disagreement between the United States and Cuba. Canada will not accept that any foreign power can determine where our companies can do business. Furthermore, this legislation has created unfortunate and completely unnecessary tensions among good neighbours and long-standing partners. Since the Miami Summit and in the context of the OAS' own revitalization efforts, we have experienced a virtual explosion of the inter-American agenda. While this is for the best of reasons and has marked an unprecedented level of co-operation among the American states, it has verged, at times, on the unmanageable. If difficult for Canada, we can only imagine that for smaller states to participate effectively is nearly impossible. It is not a question of issues or of the commitment to co-operation, but one of management. Canada believes that the Organization and its affiliate bodies could do more to reach out and profit from the tremendous energy and expertise of non-governmental and private sector stakeholders. Their input can only strengthen the Organization and its ability to respond and take decisions on the key issues of today and tomorrow. Looking at the OAS as an institution, Canada is deeply concerned at the financial situation in which the Organization now finds itself, with approximately $30 million owing in old arrears on regular fund payments. Membership has its privileges, but it also has its price. In a zero budget-growth environment this matter is all the more critical. We would like to take this opportunity to call on the OAS to examine means that would avert a similar situation in coming years, including a study of measures employed by PAHO [Pan American Health Organization], the United Nations and other international organizations to encourage dues payment by recalcitrant members. Canada believes in the potential of the OAS as a vibrant and effective political institution, and we are seeing much of that potential realized. Have we reached all our goals yet? No, by no means. But the OAS is a different Organization than that which we joined six years ago, and a far better one. Through our collaborative efforts, the OAS has and continues to make steady, tangible progress towards its reform objectives and to gain its voice as a potent and respected actor in world affairs. This leaves us with no doubt that when, with your support, Canada hosts the 30th OAS General Assembly in the year 2000, at the outset of the new millennium, the new vision will be a reality. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. </body> </html>

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