Category: News

Azeri leader, OSCE chairman discuss Karabakh conflict

Azerbaijani TV Channel One, Baku
16 Mar 04

[Presenter] President Ilham Aliyev today received the visiting OSCE
chairman-in-office and Bulgaria’s foreign minister, Solomon
Passi. They exchanged views on Azerbaijan’s closer integration into
European organizations. Aliyev regretted that there was still no
progress in the activity of the OSCE Minsk Group which is tasked with
resolving the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagornyy
Karabakh.

[Correspondent over video of the meeting] Aliyev and Passi met in
private first. They discussed Azerbaijan’s relations with the OSCE and
closer integration into other European organizations. Aliyev talked
about the political and economic reforms that are under way in
Azerbaijan. The social policy will continue, he said.

Aliyev told Passi that the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict between Armenia
and Azerbaijan remained unresolved. It is essential that the
international community should take more effective steps to resolve
the conflict, Aliyev said. It is possible to resolve the conflict
within international legal norms, Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity
and the return of Azerbaijani refugees to their native lands, he said.

Passi said that he highly rates Azerbaijan’s commitment to European
values. The world welcomes Azerbaijan’s course of integration and
democratic reforms. The European organizations understand the
importance of solving the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict between Armenia
and Azerbaijan for a lasting peace in the region. He said that he will
discuss ways to resolve the conflict during his upcoming visit to
Armenia.

The meeting between Aliyev and Passi continued in a broader
format. During the conversation, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan will
continue its policy of integration into international bodies. He
especially noted all the achievements Azerbaijan has made in every
sphere of life. Building a democratic society is Azerbaijan’s
strategic line, he said.

Aliyev once again drew Passi’s attention to the fact that the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict still remained unresolved. Armenia’s nonconstructive
position is a threat to regional stability and stable development,
Aliyev said.

[Aliyev in Azeri] Unfortunately, due to Armenia’s nonconstructive
stance, the Armenian armed forces are unwilling to withdraw from the
occupied territories. Thus, this creates a big threat to the region as
a whole. In order to resolve the conflict, the principles of
international law have to be observed first of all. Only on the basis
of those principles, can the conflict be resolved, and the essence of
that is in ensuring the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, in
withdrawing the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories
and returning refugees and internally displaced people to their native
lands.

We hope that the OSCE and its Minsk Group will continue their efforts,
and that the conflict will be soon resolved in a fair way and in
accordance with the principles of international law.

[Correspondent] Passi congratulated Aliyev on his election as
Azerbaijan’s president and on success in his work. I am visiting Baku
with pleasure, he said, respectfully noting that Azerbaijan has rich
history and cultural heritage.

Speaking about integration into Europe, Passi said that Azerbaijan’s
achievements in this regard are visible. The integration of Azerbaijan
and Bulgaria into the Euro-Atlantic community is becoming a reality,
he said. He is certain that closer integration will intensify in the
Black Sea basin and in the Caucasus. All possible assistance will be
rendered to Azerbaijan in every area, Passi said.

The Nagornyy Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is a
truly serious problem. All we can do to resolve the conflict is to
speed up the talks, he said. Passi thanked Aliyev for his constructive
position and said that he will talk about his impressions in Yerevan.

OSCE chief meets Azeri opposition leaders

Turan news agency, Baku
17 Mar 04

BAKU

OSCE Chairman-in-Office Solomon Passi, who is currently visiting Baku,
met leaders of the leading opposition parties today.

Musavat leader Isa Qambar told Turan news agency that they mainly
discussed the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, human rights and
democracy in Azerbaijan, the situation after the presidential
elections which had been held last year.

Isa Qambar said that apart from Musavat, representatives of the
Democratic Party, the AMIP Azarbaycan Milli Istiqlal Party , the PFAP
People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party (reformers) and the Social
Democratic Party had attended the meeting.

A1 Plus | 14:26:36 | 17-03-2004 | Official |

KOCHARYAN MET SCHLEICHER

President Robert Kocharyan has today received the delegation of European
Parliament’ Commission for European Union-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation,
headed by Ursula Schleicher.

President reconfirmed resoluteness of Armenia to deepen and intensify the
relations with European Union. Kocharyan commended the procedure European
Union has launched over application of the idea on “Extended Europe: New
Neighbors”.

Ursula Schleicher said that the Southern Caucasus is in the interests of
European Union, and they are concerned in establishment of stability and
peace in the region.

Referring to the economic priorities of the state, Robert Kocharyan noted
that Government aims to provide equal economic development all over the
republic.

—

Under Government Pressure, Baku Opposition Paper May Go Under

Rosbalt
17/03/2004, 10:03

BAKU, March 17. Eni Musavat, Azerbaijan’s main opposition newspaper, is on
the verge of going out of business. The paper’s acting editor, Gabil
Abbasoglu, spoke about the situation Monday, a Rosbalt correspondent
reported.

Abbasoglu blamed the problem on legal actions brought against the daily by
the government. The authorities, he said, are seeking payment of
approximately USD 30,000 in fines arising from six separate cases and have
blocked the newspaper from otherwise using its day-to-day sales income. All
income from sales of Eni Musavat, handled by three companies, have been
sequestered in special accounts. Abbasoglu called the action ‘arbitrary and
in violation of the law.’

The chief bank account of the newspaper has been under seal since last
August. One result is that the newspaper’s staff now is working without pay.
‘If we were selling 25,000 copies per issue before the presidential election
of 2003, we’re barely at 10,000 today,’ the editor said. Because of the lack
of pay, reporters are beginning to leave, he said.

He said the newspaper has appealed to President Ilkham Aliyev in a statement
noting that the latter’s late father had every opportunity to close the
paper but did not do so. The statement also calls on the head of government
not to deprive the country of a forum for the opposition. ‘We stand ready to
hear out any conditions proposed by the authorities and will work with full
consideration of their views,’ the statement declares.

The publication is seeking help from its distributors, other newspaper
organizations and, most important, the Press Union, the editor said. The
newspaper staff is threatening a hunger strike to call attention to the
situation.

Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
March 17 2004

Melkonian pupils in spontaneous protest against school closure
By Jean Christou

OVER 200 pupils from the Melkonian Educational Institute (MEI) walked
out of their classes yesterday after hearing the news that their
school was to be closed down in June next year.

During the spontaneous demonstration, the students chanted `Melkonian
Not For Sale’ at the main gate and in front of the founders’
mausoleum. They held placards condemning the sale and suggested this
was a `second genocide’.

The news that the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU),
headquartered in New York, has decided to close the 78-year old
school has prompted a rush of support from Armenians living abroad.

The 3,000-strong Armenian community in Cyprus are planning to stage a
mass demonstration against the closure of the school on March 24,
according to Shavasb Bohdjalian, who heads the school’s alumni.

`You cannot imagine the reaction, apart from Cyprus,’ he told the
Cyprus Mail yesterday. `There is a lot of anger and the assemblies in
Europe and the US are trying to get the AGBU to reverse its decision.
We are getting a lot of support.’

In an official announcement, the New York-based AGBU said that after
`extensive deliberations and thorough assessment’, the Central Board
had resolved unanimously to discontinue MEI in June 2005. This
decision is based largely on the Board’s conclusion that MEI `no
longer meets the challenges of its mission in the present context of
the Armenian world.’
The AGBU administers 22 Armenian schools worldwide, including the
Melkonian, which was founded in 1926 and is today the only secondary
school in Cyprus for the Armenian community. It also serves dozens of
other Armenian pupils that board there from neighbouring countries.
The alumni have sought legal advice from law firms in Cyprus and
abroad and intend to incorporate international expertise to
strengthen their defence as they move to contest the decision and
block the AGBU’s plans to sell the school.

The loss-making Melkonian school is sitting on a £40 million plot in
the capital’s commercial district. Reports have been rife that it is
up for grabs by developers.

The AGBU initially denied this, and said in November that the school
was not for sale. However, the alumni are not convinced and believe
the foundation’s only aim is to `take the money and run’.

Since the controversy began, the Armenian community has managed to
have the Melkonian declared a listed building and has persuaded the
Forestry Department to file an application to declare the wooded area
in the grounds as a protected forest.

Yesterday, the AGBU issued an eight-page statement detailing the
reasons for its decision to close the school.

`MEI’s continuing deficit levels have been taken into consideration
but have not been the primary issue of concern… AGBU has focused its
attention on MEI’s recent educational performance and its current
inability to fulfil a role similar to that which it fulfilled
throughout the late 1960s,’ it said. `If MEI’s current structure
provided exceptional opportunities to its students as it had done in
the past, substantial subsidization under those circumstances would
be warranted.

Unfortunately this is not the case in spite of the diligent efforts
of committed school board members, the principal and the teaching
staff.’
Commenting on the statement, Bohdjalian said the AGBU was trying to
justify its decision `and blame everyone except themselves’.

OPINION – Time for government to pay the Armenians back for their loyalty

Cyprus Mail
Wednesday, March 17, 2004

SO THE rumours were true: the Melkonian School is set to close at the
end of the next school year — June 2005 — after a proud history of
almost 80 years, serving Armenians on the island, as well as the wider
region.

The Armenian community in Cyprus has for years served as a role model
for community relations, maintaining a remarkable balance between
integration and identity. The Melkonian School has been a key element
in that balance, providing the children of Armenian families with an
education that nurtured that identity in a foreign land.

For a diaspora community, a full secondary education is the key to
survival, a role that cannot be filled with Sunday school lessons
nurturing an identity as living as the sepia photographs on our
grandparents’ walls. Until now, the existence in Cyprus of a full
Armenian curriculum taking children all the way through to adulthood
has been a recognition of the status of the community on the island.

The AGBU – the American-based foundation that runs Armenian schools
worldwide – defends its decision to close the school: it points out
the Melkonian’s dwindling attendance and financial deficit, but
focuses its criticism mainly on its recent educational performance.
If, the foundation argues, the Melkonian had “provided exceptional
opportunities to its students as it had done in the past, substantial
subsidisation would be warranted. Unfortunately, this is not the
case.”

The AGBU also points out that about 90 per cent of children in the
diaspora are not educated in Armenian schools and the money may be
better spent in other educational programmes.

Fair enough. But Cyprus is different: the Armenians are a recognised
community according to the constitution. So if the AGBU is not willing
to maintain the school, the Cyprus government should step in. Already,
the building has been declared a listed site, while moves are under
way to have the grounds declared as protected forest, preventing the
developers from barging in.

These are steps in the right direction, but more still needs to be
done. The AGBU clearly paints a picture of financial crisis at the
Melkonian, and saving the school from sale is only part of the
equation, which needs to be accompanied by a cash commitment and
substantial reform of the institution.

The government must show its willingness to help the school
financially if it is to survive. Surely one of the main rights of a
recognised community is the right to their own education. The
Armenians in Cyprus have shown extraordinary loyalty to the Greek
Cypriots. It is time to pay them back.

Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2004

Interfax
March 17 2004

ACP net profit up 170% in 2003

Yerevan. (Interfax) – Net profit at the metallurgy company Armenian
Copper Program in 2003 amounted to 762.7 million dram, up 170% from
283.6 million dram in 2002, a source in the company told Interfax.

Sales revenue last year amounted to 7.25 billion dram, up from 6.04
billion dram in 2002, the source said.

Production of blister copper at the company fell from 8,500 tonnes in
2002 to 6,270 tonnes last year.

ZAO ACP was set up in 1997 based on the Alaverdi Mining and
Metallurgical Combine, which was liquidated in 1989. ACP charter
capital amounts to 3.1 billion dram. Liechtenstein registered Vallex
FM Establishment owns 53.7% of the company’s shares and Switzerland’s
Elecom – 46.3%.

The official exchange rate on March 16 was 562.3 dram to the dollar.

Cyprus risks USD 80 mln capital flight

Melkonian students protest as US group announces closure

Financial Mirror
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
(Front page, lead story)

Over 200 students of the historic Melkonian school in Nicosia
demonstrated Tuesday against its impending closure after the
U.S.-based foundation that runs the Institute announced it will close
the school in June 2005, after over seven decades.

News of the closure has angered critics who say that profits from the
USD 80 mln sale of the school’s prime assets will be whisked out of
Cyprus.

Protesting students blocked the main road leading out of the capital,
chanting “Melkonian not for sale” and brandishing placards condemning
the foundation. They suggested this was a “second genocide”.

The school was established in 1926 by two Armenian brothers to provide
shelter to orphans that escaped genocide at the hands of the Ottomans
during the First World War.

The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), based in New York, which
has been entrusted with the management of the Melkonian since the late
1920s, has decided to close the historic school in 16 months’ time,
without giving sufficient justification for its action.

In a press release issued in New York, the AGBU said that “after
extensive deliberations and thorough assessment”, its Central Board
has resolved unanimously to discontinue MEI in June 2005. This
decision is based largely on the Board’s conclusion that MEI “no
longer meets the challenges of its mission in the present context of
the Armenian world.”

The decision is hotly challenged by the worldwide Melkonian Alumni,
all Armenian Diaspora organisations, with the Cyprus Alumni resorting
to all means to overturn the decision.

The Cyprus government, all political parties and leading Greek Cypriot
personalities support the efforts of the Armenian community to keep
the Melkonian open, since they consider the Melkonian as part of the
national heritage and culture of the island.

Last month, the cabinet, headed by President Tassos Papadopoulos,
allocated an additional aid package towards efforts to keep the
Melkonian in Cyprus, in a development which will further embarrass the
US-based organisation, that until recently insisted that the Melkonian
was not for sale.

Alumni representatives say the core issue is the prime land on which
the Melkonian is located and the intention of AGBU NY to sell the land
and whisk up to USD 80 mln out of Cyprus, which it will use for
unspecified purposes. They said that it also violates the provisions
of the will, made by the Melkonian brothers, who established the
school in 1926 initially as an orphanage for children surviving the
Genocide.

The Alumni have sought legal advice from law firms in Cyprus and
abroad and intend to incorporate international expertise to strengthen
its defence as it moves to contest the decision and block the sale
plans in courts.

“It is not just a matter of the sale of the land and the flight of
some 80 million dollars to the U.S., but also abuse of the rights of
Armenian children who are being deprived of their human right to a
fair education based on their cultural heritage,” says the Alumni.

The local Armenian community plans a mass demonstration next week, in
front of the Melkonian to show its disgust at the decision and to
raise awareness among the Cypriot population to ignore a press
marketing campaign employed by the US-based organisation in order to
win support.

Copyright © Financial Mirror 2004

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
March 17 2004

Minsk group will present new proposals for Karabakh at meeting of FMs

Baku Today 17/03/2004 12:47

Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers will meet in Prague by the
end of March according to Turan News Agency.

OSCE Minsk group chairmen are to present new proposals for peaceful
settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, according to the 525th newspaper.

The timing of the meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents
is still to be arranged, said Trend News Agency.

PRESS RELEASE
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia
Contact: Information Desk
Tel: (374-1) 52-35-31
Email: [email protected]
Web:

MINISTER OSKANIAN ADDRESSES 60TH SESSION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

Minister Vartan Oskanian addressed the 60TH SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON
HUMAN RIGHTS in GENEVA on 16 MARCH. On the occasion of this meeting,
foreign ministers from 70 countries addressed the Commission on global and
local human rights issues and concerns.

Less than a week after a terrorist attack resulted in massive deaths and
injuries in Spain, the Minister called for unity in implementing the ideas
that are shared in order to make possible democratic systems which breed
stability and protect the human rights of all mankind.

In his statement, Minister Oskanian reflected on the links between human
rights and development explaining that many of today¹s social and economic
ills can be resolved if human rights are accepted, absorbed, respected and
implemented as inarguable, inalienable, unalterable rights.

He spoke about Armenia’s commitment to the Human Rights agenda, Armenia’s
accmplishments over these 10 years, including the abolition of the death
penalty and the appointment of an ombudsman, and reforms in legislation. The
Minister cited the recent killing of an Armenian soldier in Budapest by an
Azerbaijani soldier as example of ethnic hatred. He explained that today’s
grievances in the region are the results of human rights abuses and called
on the international community to recognize the Karabakh population’s
inherent basic human right to self-determination.

Withiin the margins of the Commission Session, the Minister held a series of
important bilateral meetings. Below is the complete text of the statement.

STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF ARMENIA
MR. VARTAN OSKANIAN

60TH SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
GENEVA, 15-16 MARCH 2004

Mr. Chairman, the first time I addressed this forum seven years ago, Armenia
was not yet a member of the Council of Europe, was not a member of this
Commission, and the responsibilities and obligations facing us appeared
overwhelming. Today, as I take stock of where we were and how far we¹ve
come, I am pleased to say that Armenia has had a role to play in the efforts
to promote, espouse, advocate, even celebrate human rights. The freedoms
enjoyed in many countries, the freedoms that make some societies the envy of
the world, are the right of each individual man, woman and child. As
societies and governments represented here, we gather to reaffirm our
commitments and to continue the search for ways to make those ideals real.

This 60th session is symbolic of all our hard-learned lessons. The struggle
to articulate, explain, codify, legislate, impose, ensure human rights in
each society has been both international and local. We wish to achieve
universal access to and guarantee of human rights for all the world¹s
citizens. Whether motivated by altruism or enlightened self-interest, we
want the same civil liberties for the old and new democracies, the big and
small powers, the developed and developing nations. As a new democracy, a
small country following the path to development, we know that what happens
inside countries – large and small — can have and has had, a huge effect on
the rest of the world.

While symbols should not be mistaken for substance, they should not be
dismissed as insubstantial, either. The gains that we have made are
testimony to the truism that what is right is also good. Many of today¹s
social ills, and the economic ones, too, will be well on their way to
disappearing if human rights are accepted, absorbed, respected and
implemented as inarguable, inalienable, unalterable rights.

This is why older democracies – having suffered first-hand the risks of
civil societies which do not extend human rights protections — are
determined to instill good governance mechanisms around the world. That is
why international organizations include the human dimension as a significant
component of their security concerns. That is why the terror of terrorism
has imposed discussions of the elimination of human rights violations as
solutions.

The driving force is not just philosophy and idealism but also politics and
pragmatism. Societies which respect the human rights of their own people are
more likely to respect the rights of their neighbors. Countries which
acknowledge that national aspirations can be given their just dues without
resorting to violence or aggression are the kinds of societies in which we
ourselves wish to live, and which we all want at our borders. Those among us
who can confront remembered wrongs without committing new ones will have
earned the right to call ourselves modern, inclusive, tolerant, neighborly.

That is what we want for our neighborhood.

>From the Caspian to the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the South Caucasus, the
Northern Middle East is a cauldron of constant dynamic change, geopolitical
fermentation, domestic and sub regional threats, and multi-power interest
and competition. An uneven distribution of resources, mixed with a bumpy
path to regional development and cooperation makes good governance based on
a respect for individual rights even more critical for the interests of
governments and citizens alike. We know that this requires a determination
generated inside our societies. It necessitates intellectual and practical
conversions that go beyond our international commitments.

Towards this end, the comments, observations and even admonitions of various
countries and international organizations on our human rights
accomplishments and goals is acknowledged, and appreciated. We know that
this is a win-win struggle, where what is good for Armenia is also good for
the region. But we also know that preaching democracy is no substitute for
the sustained efforts essential to create a healthy society, which in turn
will guarantee the health of the state. We are ready to work with all those
who comprehend the natural process of maturation needed for these changes to
be authentic and deep-rooted, not cosmetic and short-lived.

In Armenia, where human rights has been on our collective agenda for just
one sixth of these 60 years, changes have already begun to take root. This
year, the death penalty was abolished. The inherent right to life is now
guaranteed for all our citizens. Just a few months ago, an ombudsman was
appointed to hear grievances and facilitate solutions.

Armenia¹s minority populations, although small in number, continue to enjoy
the government¹s attention and equal protections under the law.

Trafficking, an emergent global evil, is the object of an interagency plan
to eradicate the local conditions and mechanisms that enable this crime.

The National Plan of Action for Children was approved to coordinate
Armenia¹s obligations and programs for children – a vulnerable group whose
basic quality of life indicators are paradoxical, just like those of their
parents. Our kids are the victims of drastic and still incomplete economic
and social transitions. Their access to nutrition and medicine is sometimes
in jeopardy, but not to culture and education. This same dilemma is at the
root of our implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, which when
met, will go farther than any declaration to protect the basic rights of
each individual citizen.

Just as those goals are still not completely met, neither are programs to
grow an independent judiciary. The road plan is there, but we still have far
to travel. We are working with the Council of Europe on judicial and
electoral reforms. The same is true for a fully participatory transparent
legislative process. The existence of laws does not mean that their
implementation is full and comprehensive. Our laws on press freedoms
continue to be reformed in line with Council of Europe standards. We are
committed to arriving at improved legislation. But we also know that
legislatively facilitated press freedoms have still not resulted in an
intellectually and fiscally free and responsible press.

That we can even make these lists, and slowly cross off some of the items
listed there, is ample indication that we are fully engaged in one of
society¹s hardest tasks: to equally and broadly allocate the rights,
privileges, benefits of human civilization.

But, Mr. Chairman, the world is not there yet. Even as the world champions
human rights, we tolerate excessive human wrongs.

We tolerate atrocities, massacres, ethnic cleansing so long as they happen
in distant lands. We tolerate their memories and approve the deniers. We
tolerate historians who claim that there are circumstances in history that
justify ethnic cleansing and its logical progression, genocide. Armenians
have experienced these inexplicable human wrongs for a hundred years. We who
have suffered these crimes have declared that the best way, the only way to
restore faith and confidence is for perpetrators and victims to acknowledge
the past, and move on to the future. Ironically, it is we the victims who
have and who continue to make these unconditional offers. The perpetrators,
old and new, do not. We do so, moved by a need to restore relations between
peoples who have been and will continue to be neighbors. It is not for
history¹s sake alone that we insist on acknowledging the past, but for the
sake of the future. The political obstacles, the economic blockade that
exist today are left over from an unfinished and unreconciled past. We want
to move on to a collaborative and cooperative future. For that, our
neighbors must sit with us today, in the present, with a will to recover
that which the past has erased.

In our neighborhood, the past is not buried in history. Today¹s grievances
in our region are the consequences, expressions and manifestations of human
rights abuses, not their causes.

There were no refugees and no territorial issues when the people of Nagorno
Karabakh, legally, in accordance with the legislation of the time, followed
all necessary steps, to opt for self-determination. The state abrogated its
responsibility to provide safety and security for its population. Instead,
the response was military aggression.

It is very telling that a sovereign government responded to its people¹s
democratic calls for self-determination with military means. Moreover, the
violent, military response was not directed against the population of
Nagorno Karabakh alone, but also against Armenians in Sumgait and Baku,
miles away from the territory and population of Nagorno Karabakh.

This was ethnic cleansing — the first time that ‘solution’ was brought to
and utilized in the former Soviet space — even before it showed its head in
the Balkans. The Armenians who were driven out were the first refugees in
the former Soviet Union.

Despite Armenians’ continuous victimization, despite recent memories of
pogroms and deportations, despite the continuing fragile defensive,
protective position of Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh, Armenians continue to
express readiness to arrive at some compromise settlement. This is not
diplomatic talk. The Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh have held legitimate
elections, are building a civil society based on legislation which protects
human rights, and are preparing for the day when their own rights to
self-determination and a life of peace and dignity will be recognized.

Mr. Chairman,
Unfortunately, the past is not behind us. Earlier this month, in Budapest,
in a North Atlantic Cooperation Council training program, the concept of
cooperation was shockingly shaken by the murder of an Armenian soldier by an
Azerbaijani officer. This expression of ethnic hatred is more than
disturbing, as we continue to search for solutions that will allow us to
coexist in peace in this region.

That is why we continue to call on our neighbors to join us in searching for
ways to go forward. In a complex, problematic neighborhood, heavily burdened
with history, we know full well that human rights, when equally and
indiscriminately protected, will mean the ability to protect the safety,
security and dignity of entire populations, whole countries and regions. It
truly does start with each country, one person at a time.

Mr. Chairman,

We wish to join in welcoming Justice Louise Arbour to her new position as
the new High Commissioner for Human Rights. We would have wished her good
luck even had this meeting taken place a week ago, and we do so, even more,
today. In the wake of the shocking, frightening, inexplainable horror that
hit Spain and the world just a few days ago, I must repeat that which we all
know: there is a way to beat the terrorism, to defeat those who are bent on
destroying a way of life. That way is to unite in implementing the ideas
which we all hold dear, in making possible the democratic systems which
breed stability, in protecting the human rights of all mankind so that we
never again need to protect ourselves from ourselves.

Thank you.