Delegation from Albania

Represented by ESSEC Business School

Position Paper for General Assembly Plenary The topics before the General Assembly Plenary are: Human rights, cultural integrity and diversity; promoting alternative development strategies to combat the world drug trade; and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. Albania is willing to respect and develop human rights, as it is both a moral necessity and a way to decrease terrorism. Albania is also dedicated to collaborative multilateral approaches to find a solution to the issue of drug trade in a way that does not harm the peoples interests. I. Human rights, cultural integrity and diversity

Albania urges the international community to defend human rights. Once again, we have to reaffirm the principles and commitments of the Article 13 of the Charter of the UN. Human rights violation raises many other issues. Indeed, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking; Commentary in November 2010. It highlights a link between human trafficking and human rights violation. Analogously, the United Nations should also point out that organ harvesting is a consequence of human rights violations, as noticeable in Europe where organ harvesting is a growing awareness. As regards discriminations that threaten minorities, some improvements are needed. A report of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) noticed that millions of Afghan girls and women suffer from discrimination and it is the same in many developing countries, particularly in the Middle East. Gender equality is also an issue in the rest of the world, to a lesser extent as domestic violence exists worldwide and must be erased. Other minorities exist. For instance, indigenous peoples face discrimination and religious minorities are often victims of persecution. We think the United Nations must protect freedoms of minorities by encouraging a peaceful coexistence and intervening to help repressed peoples to obtain self-government if necessary. II. Promoting alternative development strategies to combat the world drug trade

As a country at the heart of the world drug trade, Albania endorses all processes in order to combat drug trade. Due to its geographical position, Albania is a turntable for drug transiting from Asia to Western Europe. The power of the Albanian mafia and the drug barons had even forced in 2002 the president of the Parliament M. Dokle to resign. Albanian authorities are thus willing to help in any possible way to fight this scourge. For instance, the United States is present in the country through DEA and FBI offices, bridgehead of organised crime and drug trafficking fight. As a candidate to the EU membership, Albania will support EU Drugs Strategy (2005-2012), to continue the progresses made with EU Drugs Strategy and Action Plan 2000-2004. It consists in improving

coordination, reducing demand, reducing supply, improving international cooperation and improving the comprehension of the drug consumption phenomenon. In accordance with the Union effort to encourage candidate countries to adopt and apply the EU acquis and to participate to the fullest extent possible in existing structures such as the EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction), Europol and Eurojust, Albania will follow the EU directives concerning drug policy. Albania also supports the organisation of a new session on drugs to pursue the significant progress of the 1988 Vienna Convention, and overtake the failure of the 1998 UNGASS (United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem). Albania has been working with the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) since 1998, under the coordination and supervision of the Regional Programme Office for South Eastern Europe based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Albania supports the UN rural development measures in the context of sustainable development efforts in countries taking action against drugs. In particular, it is concerned by the need to pacify and stabilize the zones subject to the domination and violence of drug traffickers from the socio-economic angle, due to the situation of the Albanian Mafia.

III.

Protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism

Albania has recently decided to help the United-States and the European Union fight terrorism, it started with sending soldiers in Afghanistan to help the American and European forces there. The Albanian president, Sali Berisha, recently claimed that the Albanian soldiers would remain for as long as necessary. Albania also sent weapons, riffles and bullets to Afghanistan to help fight terrorism. Terrorism, especially the one in the Balkans, has long been one of Albanias important battles. Albania agrees that ridiculing human rights seeds terrorism; it creates anger and frustration which enhance the desire for revenge of the people and this is exactly what terrorists are looking for. The international community must collaborate gather information and create dialogues on a regular basis to counter terrorism more efficiently, as highlighted in the UNHRC decision (A/HRC/15/L.7). Having been victim of terrorism in the past, it is a sensitive subject in Albania. We are willing to find, arrest and trial the person responsible for those mass murders. It is also a necessity to get from them the complete and unbiased truth. Obviously, this should always be done regarding the human rights as the terrorists are also allowed dignity, but should still be punished as deserved.