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Speech by:
Mr. Nouri Abdul-Razzak
Hussain
Secretary General of the
Afro-Asian Peoples’ Solidarity Organization (AAPSO)
To the 8th Congress of AAPSO
14-16 December 2008
Hyderabad – India
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Ladies and Gentlemen
Before I commence my report, I would like to remind this august assembly
that it is our duty to honour and pay homage to all those leading
personalities of our movement who passed away since the 7th
congress held in Delhi 1988.
First of all our revered President Dr. Morad Ghaleb who was elected the
President at the 7th congress passed away last year when we
were preparing for the 50th anniversary. Among the others I
would like to mention following leaders who left us,
Mr.
Abdul Aziz, Vice President of AAPSO from Sri Lanka.
Mr.
Aziz Sherif, Vice President of AAPSO from Iraq.
Mr.
Chandrajt Yadav Vice President of AAPSO from India.
Mr.
Alfred Nzo Vice President and Former Foreign Minister from South Africa.
Mr.
O.P. Palival AAPSO Deputy Secretary – General from India.
Mr.
Chitta Biswas AAPSO Deputy Secretary – General from India.
Mr.
Baran Ray AAPSO Deputy Secretary – General from India.
Mr.
Dan Cindi Member of the Permanent Secretariat from South Africa.
Mr.
Danial Qila Member of the Permanent Secretariat from Congo.
Mr.
Torson Zada First President of Soviet Solidarity Committee.
Mr.
Ibrahimov Second President of Soviet Solidarity Committee.
Mr.
Kapitza Third President of Soviet Solidarity Committee.
Mr.
K.M. Khan, General Secretary of AIPSO and President of Indian Committee
on Defense of Palestine.
Above are names known to us. There may be others whom we consider as
part of the list.
While mourning them, I request all to stand one minute silence.
This 8th congress, being held in Hyderabad - India, comes
after two decades from the date of our 7th congress which was
held in New Delhi in 1988 by an initiative and invitation from our
organization in India (All India Peace and Solidarity - AIPSO) and we
consider it a privilege to extend deep thanks to the kind and noble
invitation offered by "AIPSO" to host the two congresses with the high
dedication towards the AAPSO and its future.
I
would like to thank the Indian government, political parties and civil
society organizations for the great efforts exerted to make the 7th
congress a big success and we are sure that the 8th congress
too will be a great success. Within the period between both congresses,
a lot of activities have been conducted as many meetings, presidiums,
conferences and fora were held particularly adequate attention to revive
Bandung principles and policy. The past two decades witnessed
significant changes and sweeping storms that made the world beyond
recognition. All political powers, regional and international
organizations were totally affected. In turn, our organization too was
affected but still maintains its sustainability and organizational
setup.
No
doubt that we are living in a turbulent world that have significantly
changed within the last decade. The people of the world lived hard
times, fruitless years as a result of the policy adopted by the
neo-conservatives in the US administration that intensified the tension
all over the world; engineered more wars and destroyed economies. This
arrogant policy is featured by taking decisions unilaterally,
disregarding other countries and international organizations, UN in
particular. Depending on US as sole super power in the process of
changing the path of the world, fabricating new slogans such as axis of
evil and rogue countries, including new terms in the international
dictionary that raise the feeling of hatred and widen the gap of
conflicts among countries, continents, regimes and social blocks. This
is the worst administration in the history of US. Due to its policy that
is characterized by reactionary, aggressiveness and violations of
international legitimacy, such administration is controlled by a group
of neo conservatives who adopted right-wing racist and hostile ideas.
Now our world is in the process of beginning a new era, we have to
consider all our steps to be able to go on the right path in the
interest of the countries and movement of the south. It is not enough to
continue the old style on globalization and growing communication era in
the inter-dependent world where G8 had their hegemony. I believe this is
a proper analysis with new changes that have to be objectively
considered with open minds, to reach results that would intensify our
activities.
During the recent period, we have been encountered by two important
developments that might affect the whole world,
First: the recent capitalist crisis; this crisis have altered all
concepts offered by the neo liberalism on globalization, market policy,
capital escalation, role of multinational corporations and the control
of the developed countries over the global economies. These policies
have led our countries to a tragic situation reflected in the current
financial crisis. The consequences of this crisis proved that economic
integration among rich and poor countries can create a state of new
understanding in relation to labor, finance and technology and to reduce
the dependence on the global economy. The huge economic challenges
imposed on the world can not be overcomed without the financial support
from the rich countries to the countries requiring finance to set global
sustainable development.
It
is important to know that 90% of revenues gained in the U.S. during the
recent years went to 1 % of Americans and that is one of the main
reasons behind the crisis. To effectuate the resolutions of G20 summit,
held recently in Washington to develop accountability and transparency
standards and money transfer should be transparent, may provide some
solutions in the future.
The
roots of the crisis in the first place are attributed to the policies of
George W. Bush and neoconservatives in general. They reduced the rate
of interest on real estate loans from banks believing that would push
the economic growth forward, but the international tension, reduction of
rate of interest on real estate loans and the Americans' appetite to
hold large homes and real estate properties even if they could not
afford them imposed harsh economic crisis on the people.
Accordingly, we can now hold a comparison between the real estate debts
which were 680 billion dollars in 1974 and rose to 14 trillion dollars
in the current year. It is worth mentioning that real estate industry
has similar scores of other industries like tourism and furniture. The
world capital crisis is not an American crisis only but it moved to hit
all European institutions in general and part of the Asian institutions
as well. The US exported the crisis to rest of the world. The reason is
that the American real estate mortgages infiltrated to a number of
international banks and institutions in Europe, and some Asian countries
away from any control or follow up of the national central banks. Thus,
the recent crisis proved the failure of the neo liberal policy. We may
remember the collapse of the Asian currencies in 1997, the reasons of
that collapse resemble the recent ones, which was taking large loans
with the inability of the banks to sustain. This means that absence of
state regulation and the free market policy without any controls always
lead to such calamities.
It
is worth mentioning that the great capitalist countries particularly the
United States approaches the developing countries like China, Brazil,
India, Saudi Arabia and gulf countries seeking financial liquidity to be
used in the financial and commercial institutions and the banks in
United States and Europe. This is a new phenomenon that must be taken
into consideration especially after these countries became prominent in
the world economy like China, India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa,
Korea, Malaysia, Turkey, Australia and other countries that form the
Group20. This is in addition to the Gulf Countries and Saudi Arabia
which have their weight in the world economy. The G8 approach those
countries to help solving or mitigating this crisis. We have to see also
the new horizon which is open before the countries of south. The
international financial system formed under the Brettonword system has
now no such effectiveness. As there are now new countries that form
about 50% of the world economy and would form most of it in the middle
of this century. These countries get the benefits and the positive
aspects of globalization and made it useful for their development and
economic progress. On these bases, the new situation affects the
countries of the south positively.
The
second aspect, which has a great importance and that, might be connected
with the global financial crisis, is the coming of Barack Obama who
became the president of the United States after eight lean years of Bush
Administration. When Bush leaves the white house, he will leave behind
him nothing but damage and darkness. At the beginning of his
administration, Bush had launched two aggressive wars against Iraq and
Afghanistan. He gave false reasons to wage these wars, and then he
brought the question of Democracy. Yet, Iraq found nothing but severe
destruction. All objectives and slogans set by the neo conservatives had
failed in Iraq as well as in Afghanistan. After six years, we had
discovered that Taliban movement is increasing its influence and at the
same time put NATO in a real dilemma. NATO countries seeks negotiation
in order to put an end to that deteriorating situation as winning seems
to be impossible.
It
is not astonishing to know that one reason of the economic crisis is the
American war on Iraq. The cost of this war reaches 700 billion Dollars,
and by adding the indirect expenses it reaches 3 trillion dollars. This
war is considered to be the most expensive war in the American History
after the Second World War.
The
policy set by Bush administration and the neo conservatives had created
tension and crises and could not solve any of them. Despite Bush
Administration's claim of adherence to some steps, neither the Iraqi
situation settled up nor the Palestinian issue solved. Bush
Administration was always behind the Israeli government, and as a
result, the road map, Annapolis meeting as well as all the decisions of
the American administration had failed. Thus the American policy
surrendered to the Israeli decisions.
At
the economic level, the financial crisis is a result of the policy of
the neo conservatives and the neo liberal and war policies which
affected the global economy. These policies encouraged aggression and
gave excuses for terrorism to spread all over the world. This
administration, which is a right wing depending on evangelist religious
creed, had paved the way for the Islamic groups and the other powers
that stand behind the terrorist movements recently. Consequently, and as
a result of the great move of the American society, the failure of the
policy of the neo conservatives and the victory of the democratic party
of Obama presidency promises a new era that may heal the damage of Bush
Administration.
No
doubt that the new administration will change the negative effects of
the old one. Although United States works through institutions and not
individuals. Yet, Bush administration had affected badly the interests
of the American institutions themselves. The Pentagon had less pressure
against Iraq and Afghanistan than the neo conservatives’ administrations
policy. The new administration would improve the U.S world image,
mitigate tension and follow the policy of negotiation rather than
confrontation and the policy of multi-polar rather than unilateralism.
It would also activate the role of the United Nations and reconsider the
hot issues by trying to find solutions that reflect the common interests
of all parties through diplomatic negotiations. Such main features that
we see in the plan of the coming Obama administration depend on the
American people, the powers of the coloured people. I would not like to
exaggerate but I would like to illustrate that there would be a new
phase connected with this economic crisis and world capitalism. The
world expect that this change should not be limited to change from Bush
to Obama or white to black.
In
this context, I think that there is an opportunity for the non-alignment
movement to go beyond its parameters which has been shrunk recently, and
to raise the slogan adopted by Kualalumpur summit in 2003, for
reactivating the movement, which has all the objective values to
reappear on the international arena as an active and effective power,
especially if its activity links with the civil society. We in AAPSO
have been critical to NAM for being away from the popular movements and
accordingly it does not benefit more favourable situations from the
power of people. We now, are amidst environment suitable for restoring
the spirit and principles of Bandung on new basis. Here, we have to
refer to the Asian- African summit held in Jakarta on the occasion of
the fiftieth anniversary of the historical Bandung conference, which
laid new basis for the relation between the two continents.
The
new American Administration has to mitigate these tensions by
reconsidering the installation of U.S. radar and missile shields in
Europe and expansion of NATO, which constitutes a direct threat for the
Russian security and it may push the other party to take deterrent
procedures and hence, the international tensions may increase.
There are hot files left by the Bush Administration including the issue
of the Palestinian people, the establishment of the Palestinian state in
accordance with the road map and peaceful solution, the respect of
international legitimacy and the rights of the Palestinian people. We
have also the Iraqi file and to objectively tackle the Iranian nuclear
file which has to be settled through negotiations and transferring the
whole file to the International Atomic Energy Agency being the proper
venue to handle this issue. We call for solving the aggravated problems
which still form dangers to the people’s destiny, like the situation in
Darfur, in Sudan, the disintegration of Somalia, the appearance of the
international piracy which affects the international trade, the
conflicts in Africa such as that in Congo, and the issue of unifying
both Koreas. This is in addition to other hot issues. There is also a
necessity to strengthen the national state and its stability and ending
the sectarian and ethnic disputes.
Bush Administration and its policy resulted in the weakening and
dismantling of the national state and the appearance of militias that in
some way replaced the state. We think that the results of such policy
was negative to the people of those countries. It is important to
strengthen the national state and concentrate on the question of good
governance in order to combat corruption, robbery of waste of huge
wealth of their people and to ensure democratic functioning. The
anti-globalization movement has to take a new form in the light of the
new conditions. The world social forum which will be held next January
in Brazil is very important. We have to encourage the contributions in
affecting the works and results of this movement in order to acquaint
the anti-globalization movement with the new outlooks and priorities.
I
think that the issue of human rights has a great importance for us
especially as we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights a few days ago. Since the
universal declaration, the issue of human rights is not on the right
track concerning assisting and promoting the principles of human rights
especially in the last decade; human rights are disregarded namely the
living rights which are ignored due to world poverty in general and the
poverty in the African Continent in particular. Other rights are also
disregarded such as the right of obtaining clean water, medicine,
health, which are beyond the reach to most of the poor countries.
Political rights are also greatly violated in countries governed by
dictatorships such as the regular annihilation processes in Darfur and
Somalia in addition to other problems like the emigration from the South
to the North and the education problem; i.e. it is an integrated bundle
for which the United Nations and Human Rights Council must find
solution.
These problems are also part of the responsibility of the International
Community and the states which signed the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. Moreover, it is an integral part of the responsibility of the
Civil Society that must play a governing role and its organizations must
perform their duties.
Brothers and Sisters
During my speech, I tried to add some comments that will draw your
attention. Moreover, I submit one of the main issues that affect the
future of AAPSO; an issue which was presented during the 50th
anniversary conference held in Cairo, last February. I also tackled it
in the meeting of the preparatory committee of this congress held in
June in Moscow where I said that if the role of the movement is not
upgraded by an increasing activity, it will be difficult for our
movement to grow and for us to preserve its vitality. In the permanent
Secretariat, we feel that the national committees is not paying enough
attention to the activities of the organisation hence it reduces its
international influence. With the exception of some committees, namely
the All India Peace and Solidarity Organization (AIPSO) and some other
committees, many of our national committees don't perform fully its
duties towards the organization. The integration of the committees
affiliate to our organization pushes the movement towards crystallizing
its policy on the regional and international level. The secretariat is
the coordinator of these regional blocs which can develop the
organizational activity.
I
want to draw your attention to the idea that if such matters continued,
we cannot be optimistic of the future of our organisation, despite its
historical importance and its immense prestige for more than half of a
century. We need to intensify the efforts of the committees so as to
enhance the political initiatives and activities and to make the
organization part of the global Civil Society whose importance is
increasing at the present time.
I
want also to draw your attention to the necessity of changing our
political vocabulary in a way that takes into consideration the current
fact that we are in the age of rapid globalization and the great
technological revolution which made the globe one small village and
which affected the minds of millions of people around the world.
Regardless of this great development, we should preserve the integrity
of our movement on the national, regional, and global level. We cannot
give readymade solutions for different problems; there is a state of
complexes within each country and each region, so we have to pay
attention to the different opinions, communicate with one another to
find similar viewpoints. We have to be patient, to be far-sighted, and
to keep away from subjections.
"The secretariat believes that this congress is a historical turning
point for us", our movement’s future depends on its outcome, the
commitments provided by the committees will determine the organizational
future of AAPSO. I am sure that this congress will herald a new
dimension in determining the future orientation in the movement in
fostering solidarity of the African, Asian and Latin American movements.
Thank you all for attending this congress and I extend my special thanks
to All India Peace & Solidarity Organization for hosting this gathering
during this critical stage of our organization.
Let us all work in
the spirit of optimism.
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