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2002 Address by Dr Henry A. Kissinger |
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| President of the Jury | |
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Delivered
by Mr Jean Foyer Honourable
Presidents, It
was already past noon when I was asked to stand in for the President of
the Jury, Dr Henry Kissinger, at the podium. Under the circumstances, it
was obviously impossible for me to prepare my own personal speech. I shall
therefore make do with reading, not the exact speech prepared by Dr
Kissinger, since it is in English, but rather, its French translation. It
is now Dr Kissinger who, from my mouth, is speaking in French: As
President of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize Jury, it is my
pleasant duty today to present to H.E. President Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão
the UNESCO Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize, awarded him unanimously
at the Jury's meeting in Paris on 9 October 2002. This
award to President Gusmão reflects our hope to strengthen the memory of
the past for the future, to remind the leaders of this generation - and
the next, and the next - of the struggles and the triumphs, of the
sacrifices and victories, which others before them have recorded in the
name of human dignity and peace. By honouring President Gusmão, we are
raising a statue, not of stone but of memory in the minds of men and women,
a symbol of courage, dedication and persistence in the service of peace. The
moral imperative to which President Gusmão responded will also persist
for future generations. Those generations will find no better model for
their own struggles than President Gusmão. In
accepting the award, President Gusmão joins a small band - men and women
who have made their singular contributions to peace and human dignity, men
and women who became voices for entire nations. Timor-Leste's
colonial anguish lasted four centuries. Its struggle had to be conducted
on behalf of a small country amidst nations following imperatives they
considered more immediate. President Gusmão assumed the leadership of the
struggle for liberation almost three decades ago. He carried the burdens
of that leadership into prison with him when, a decade ago, he was tried
and convicted for his efforts to turn back colonial rule. From prison, he
spread the liberation strategy which his admirers pursued so diligently
and effectively - and in the meanwhile, in a demonstration that those who
lead freedom's struggle represent other values as well, he learned several
new languages, painted, and wrote some of Timor-Leste's most important
modern poetry. His courage and human dignity earned the respect even of
those who opposed his cause. When
the Portuguese army evaporated in November of 1975, it was replaced in
Timor-Leste by another foreign ruler. The human impact of that event was
not immediately understood by most of the nations of the world, including
my own. That
makes the significance of the Timorese accomplishment all the greater. For
24 more years, the people of Timor-Leste bore the greater burden, and
earned the greater share of the honour, for bringing that rule to an end
under the brave leadership of the man we celebrate today. Americans
can take pride in the role their country has played in the ultimate
culmination of these efforts. The
liberation struggle led by this remarkable man finally succeeded in late
1999. It did so against all odds - against overwhelming military power,
against indifference abroad and fear within Timor-Leste, against
deprivation and poverty. Magnanimous
in victory, his first act was to extend the hand of friendship to those
who had for a long time sought to frustrate his cause. By
his life, President Gusmão reminds us that power is not its own
justification, that force alone will not in the long run suffice unless it
is called forth in the service of human dignity and freedom. We honour
President Gusmão and the nation which he now leads and which he inspired
before it was a nation. They have achieved freedom by the moral authority
of their cause, for which we thank them in the name of peace. Henry
A. Kissinger President
of the Jury Thank
you. |
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