ASSEMBLY FIFTEENTH SESSION

Transcription

1 ted Natons 938th repl NF, RAI, real Zon, -ÿ ered. Ip of land saÿ lave t, by 'f Panama l Mnster Mud at a )f Zÿnanÿ he Cuban :ountry s ae Unted epuble of:' 'egn State aton, and ' great or : dp of Cuba Xuster ' of an Z, )oak agan_ ASSEMBLY FIFTEENTH SESSION,Oÿcal Records CONTENTS Page Agenda tem 8;'." Declaraton on the grantng of ndependence to colonal countres and peoples (contnued),. 11'/5 Presdent: Mr. Frederck H. BOLAND (Ireland). AGENDA ITEM 87 Declaraton on the grantng of ndependence to colonal. countres and peop!es.(contnued) Mr. Illueca (Panama), Vce-Presdent, took the Char, 1. The PRESIDENT (translated from Spansh): Contnnng the debate on the agenda tem, I gve the floor to the representatve of the Unted States of Amerca n exercse of hs rght of reply. 2. Mn, PAYNE (Unted States of Amerca): It s not surprsng to us that n hs statement the representatve of Cuba saw ft to refer to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rco, and I cannot really, say that we are dsapponted--because the remarks of the representatve of Cuba make t possble for us to talk on a subject whch s a consderable source of prde to the Unted States. I must say, however, that references to Puerto Rco by the representatve of Cuba, whle not ntended to make our proceedngs more Orderly, may n fact result n a postve contrbuton to our dscussons, postve because facts--and I repeat, facts--wll be brought to lght. 3. Snce Puerto Rco was last mentoned n our general debate--that was n September--an electon has been held n Puerto Rco, and the results of that electon, to whch Mr. Wadsworth referred n hs statement ths afternoon [937thmeetng], speak more eloquently than I could hope to do. Wth these results n mnd, one could wonder for what purpose ths subject was rased n ths debate. Surely t must strke many here as ronc that a Commonwealth where true democracy exsts should be attacked by the Foregn Mnster of a country whose people have not been allowed freely to express ther wshes through democratc processes. By ts resoluton 748 (VIII) of 27 November 1953 e General Assembly recognzed that the people of Puerto Rco expressed ther wll n a free and democratc way, that they effectvely exercsed ther rght to see-determnaton, and that Puerto Rco clearly an autonomous poltcal entty. Operatve paragraph 9 of ths resoluton had ths to say: PLENARY M[ETING Tuesday, 6 December 1960, at 8.30 p.m. NE'W YORK th"expresses ts assurance that, n accordance wth e sprt of the present resoluton, the deals emboded n the Charter of the Unted Natons, the tradtons of the people'of the Unted States of Amerca and the poltcal advancement attaned by the people of Puerto Rco, due regard wll be pad to the wll of both the PuertoRean and Amercan peoples n the conduct of ther relatons Under ther present legal statute, and also n the eventualty that ether of the partes to the mutually agreed assocaton may desre any change nthe terms.of ths assocaton". 5. The people of Puerto Rco and the people of the Unted States have lved up n every way to the expectatons of the Unted Natons, a fact whch s a source of prde to all Amercans. 6. If any of you assembled here have anydoubts concernng the present status of Puerto Rco, I would suggest that you read the full text of the message from the Honourable Lus Mu_foz Marfn, Governor of the Commonwealth, whch was crculated as a Unted Natons document. I should lke to quote a part of t [A/45191 : "The people of Puerto Rco strongly adhere to the democratc way of lfe, based on the respect of mnorty rghts, the protecton and furtherance of ndvdual freedoms, and the effectve exercse of the rght to vote n free, unhndered electons. There can be no genune see-determnaton unless these condtons are met. "Puerto Rco has truly and effectvely met them and t has freely chosen ts present' relatonshp wth the. Unted States. The people of Puerto Rco are a self-governng people freely assocated to the Unted States of Amerca on the bass of mutual consent and respect. The polces regardng the cultural and economc development of Puerto Rco are n the hands of the people of Puerto Rco themselves for them to determne accordng to therbest nterests. "The Unted Natons GeneralAssembly, by resoluton of November 1953, has solemnly recognzed that the people of Puerto Rco effectvely exercsed ther rght to self-determnaton n establshng the Commonwealth as an autonomous poltcal entty on a mutually agreed assocaton wth the Unted States. In further regard to the prncple of self-determnaton, the Commonwealth Legslatve Assembly has approved ths very year a law authorzng another vote on Puerto Rco's status whenever 10 per cent of the electors request t". 7. That s what the Governor had to say. And what of hs opposton? Only today, Mr. Wadsworth receved ths telegram: "As gubernatoral Canddate of the Statehood Republcan Party of Puerto Rco advocatng statehood for ths sland, whch polled more than 250,000 or 32.4 per cent votes cast electon last November whch, when added to 58 per cent votes polled by the party n power, whch also advocated permanent 1175 A/PV.938

2 1176 General Assembly-- Ffteenth Sesson -- Plenary Meetngs unon between Puerto Rco and the Unted States, wth common Amercan ctzenshp representng more than 90 per cent our electorate, we consder t mproper for small group of Independentst leaders whose party polled only 24,000 votes or less than 3 per cent of electorate, to go before Unted Natons to msrepresent the stuaton n Puerto Rco, whch s a communty of Amercan ctzens by ts 5wn free wll. Ths s a reproachable attempt to nterfere wth the process of sell-determnaton whch has been freely exercsed by the communty of Amercan ctzens of Puerto Rco. (ÿ Lus A. Ferre" 8. If, after hearng these communcatons, any representatve n the Assembly stll has doubts about the wshes of the Puerto Rcan people, I recommend that he go there to see for hmself. He wll be greeted wth the tradtonal warmth and nnate courtesy of the Puerto Rean people--amercan ctzens all--and he wll fnd Puerto Rco one of the most delghtful slands on ths globe, a place partcularly well suted for relaxaton after ths rather arduous sesson of the Assembly s over. 9. Mr. PARISIS (Belgum) (translated from French): Belgum brought the colonal rggme to an end of ts own accord. The ndependence proclamed at Leopoldvlle on 3 June 1960 was not the outcome of age-long struggle or the end of a rÿgme of oppresson. The transfer of power was complete andunreserved; there has never been any queston of gong back on t. The Belgans have no other colones. 10. At the present tme Belgum stll exercses trusteeshp over Ruanda-Urund. It does so n vrtue of a Trusteeshp Agreement whch succeeded a League of Natons mandate. Belgum, through ts Government, stated on 9 September 1960 the wsh that the trusteeshp regme should end n the frst sx months of Ths was confrmed by the representatve of Belgum n the Fourth Commttee on 25 November _/ 11. Wth a lttle more dscernment, a lttle more concern for truth, we shall have a clearer nsght nto the problems that confront us. I need only recall the wse words uttered by P resdent Fulbert Youlou on 18 November: "We know what colonalsm, lke any other human actvty, has sometmes mposed on us n theway of hÿmlatons and njustces, but we do not wsh to deny the extent to whch t has also enrched us, both materal)y and sprtually." [917th plenary meetng, para. 8.] 12. On the other hand, I am bound to note that the Sovet statement [A/4502] contans errors of the frst magntude. I have already dsposed of the slanderous allegaton that the populaton of the Congo was decmated n ffty years. I have shown that, on the contrary, the rate of ncrease of the Congolese people has quadrupled durng the past twenty years. Ths same document even contans the audacous statement that when the ndependence of the Republc of the Congo was proclamed "only a few of ts nhabtants could read and wrte". Is t not realzed, then, that n July 1960 there was a complete educatonal system, comprsng teacher tranng, techncal, secondary andpr- mary schools, attended by nearly 2 mllon chldren, or one-sxth of the total populaton of the Congo? Ths fgure represented 57 per cent of the school-agepopu. laton. Ffty-seven per cent' Ths fgure must be compared wth that for Afrcan countres whch have been ndependent for a long tme, and where school attendance vares between 5 and 25 per cent of the school-age populaton. Mr. Khrushchev does notmen. ton the exstence of two Congolese unverstes, whch were establshed, respectvely, n 1954 at Leopoldvlle, and at ElsabethvUe n 1956, and where racal dscrmnaton s unknown. 13. Perhaps he does not know that theonly nuclear reactor n Afrca s n operaton at the Unversty of Lovanum, twenty klometres from Leopoldvlle. 14. In the Same document Mr. Khrushehev says of Afrca that "... ts man agrcultural mplements, just as they were thousands of years ago, are the mattock, the wooden plough and the sharpened stake; ts prmtve system of agrculture s causng sol exhauston and eroson". Unfortunately he pulled out the wrong ndex card; the descrpton he gves us apples to the stuaton ffty-two years ago, when the Belgan State set to work on Afrcan sol. Snce then the Belgans have lad an economc and socal nfrastructure whch has entaled the nvestment of $3,000 mllon over the past ten years. Ths represents a per capta nvestment rate of $148 a year, whereas n other ÿndepeudent Afrcan and Asan countresthe rate of such nvestment does not exceed $30 a year. 15. Agan, need I remnd the Assembly of the report of the Commttee on Informaton from Non-Self-Governng Terrtores, whch refers to the ten-year development plan2_/that has been carred out at a cost of 48,000 mllon francs--or about $1,000 mllon-- entrely by the Belgans n the Congo? If we consder the countres of Afrca that are n process of ndustralzaton, We read n the same report that "... the Belgan Congo, wth 152,758 employed n 1956, representng 4.86 per cent of the total economcally actve populatons was well n the lead among Afrcan terrtores... "3-/. 16. Belgum has just brought about the accesson of the Republc of the Congo to ndependence. Contrary to what has been sad, that accesson was prepared. Electons took place and were followed by the settng up of local nsttutons n1957 and A parlamentary workng group travelled all over the Congo n Two round-table conferences, one dealng wth poltcal questons and the other wth economc and fnancal problems, were held at Brussels n January and May 1960 respectvely. There Congolese leaders met wth representatves of Belgum to work out terms for the accesson to ndependence. The jont task was completed n 1960 by the holdng of general electons. Such were the stages n settng up the nsttutons of the Republc of the Congo. 17. At the same tme the Belgahs made avalable to the new State, along wth extensve ad, the servces of ts own qualfedpersonneh 10,000 teachers, mags" trates and cvl servants were placed underthe exclusve authorty of the Congolese Government. 18. It has been stated from ths rostrumthatbelgum showed lberalsm n agreeng to proclam the nde- -T I ' 1/Offcal Records of the General Assembly, ffteenth sesson, Fourth Commtÿee_ÿee 1065th meetng. 2_/Ibld., Supplement No. 15 (A/4371), second part, para /Ibd., para. 78.

3 938th meetng ÿ 6 December ch:dreÿ ago7 Ths age Popuÿ must heh have re School ent of the. not ÿnenÿ les, whch Leopold. re raclÿ Y nuclear versty of lle. v says of, plements, ), are the led stake 1sng sol pulled out gves us, when the nce then ;al nfra,, of $3,000 resents a, whereas ntres the 30 a year, the reÿrt,self-govÿ ten-year Lt at a cost mllon-- consder I of nduÿmt "..:the 56, reprÿ ally astr! can terr! cesson of!, Contrary prepared, e settng rlament- Congo n mlng wth aomc and n January se leaders : out terms t task was electons. asttutons e servcesÿ : rs, magsÿ: : exclu" ' the ÿ,; at BelgUm 55." of the Congo; but t was added that Belgum abotaged that ndependence. Such an accusaton absurd as t s unjust and groundless. Belgan s based essentally on the prncple of respect the soveregnty and ndependence of the Republc Congo, and on non-nterference n ts domestc The Belgans consder that those affars should ed exclusvely by the Congolese. 19 If we re-read our hstory we fnd that a great y countres represented here have been n the urse of ther hstory, by turns, colonzed and colonzng. Belgum tself had known many a foregn domnaton before, n ths century, t was nvaded :: ÿce n twenty-fve years, from 1914 to 1918 and from 1940 to The msdeeds of colonalsm are, alas' seen everywhere--threughout the past, and n all of the world. We cannot but condemn them wherethey appear, not exceptng the USSR. The repreof the Sovet Unon may have mantaned at Assembly's 925th meetng that nternal affars nvolved. But colonal questons are, nprncple, ternal n character because they relate to Terr-- t0res under the soveregnty of a State. That does :ÿ0t prevent the Sovet Unon from mountng a sold attack on the countres whch have, or have had, In meetng the representatve of the Sovet on hs own ground, I am merely exercsng :lzy rght of reply. There cannot be two sets of standards The PRESIDENT (translated from Spansh): I ask the representatve of Belgum kndly to the rostrum n order that the representatve of Sovet Unon may rase a pont of order. lr. Mr. ROSHCHIN (Unon of Sovet Socalst Retÿblcs) (translated from Russan): Mr. Presdent, we re here dscussng the colonal queston. Ths ques-!ÿ0n s on the General Assembly's agenda and, accordgly, the references that the Belgan representatve makng here to the Sovet Unon and other countres and that have no bearng on ths queston, are net related n any way to the tem we are dscussng n Ms Assembly. I should be glad, therefore, f the 'Presdent would call the representatve of Belgum to order, snce t s precsely the colonal queston that we are consderng. The Belgan representatve spoke here of the very!;great work that has been done n the Congo. We are wtnessng just what s gong on n the Congo t s just the stuaton whch has now arsen n e Congolese Republc that the General Assembly s precsely through Belgum's fault. There no drect connexon between the matter we are dscussng--colonalsm=and the queston touched here by the Belgan representatve. I would acask the Presdent to call the Belgan repreto order and to pont out to hm the need to strctly to the questons we are now dscussng. 2!. The PRESIDENT (translated from Spansh): The aar wshes to be Objectve and, at thesame tme,.ÿ gve all representatves ample opportunty to ress the vews of ther Government. Nevertheless ]should lke to remnd all representatves, as Mr. 01and has done on other occasons, that the General Aasembly has decded to postpone ts consderaton 0f the queston of the Congo. That beng so, I would quest all representatves, when speakng, to confne Qsr remarks to the agenda tem under dscusson. '24. The representatve of Belgum may aganhave the floor. 25. Mr. PARISIS (Belgum) (translated from French): In the course of these dscussons, many attacks have been made on my country. We have never nterrupted; we have exercsed our rght of reply when necessary, and we thought we could count on the Presdent for protecton. 26. I resume my statement where I left off. I regret that Mr. Roshchn found t necessary to nterrupt me, for I was about to quote from a report of 12 January 1957 by Mr. Gorkn, Secretary of the Presdum of the Supreme Sovet, and I do not magne that the representatve of the Sovet Unonwll mpugn ths authorty. The quotaton reads as follows: "The Twenteth Congress of the Communst Party took cognzance of certan facts that are n flagrant volaton of the fundamental prncples of Lennst polcy regardng natonaltes n the: Sovet State. These volatons took the form of the unwarranted evcton of whole peoples and the mposton of restrctons on them n ther new place of resdence. Thus at the end of 1943 and at the begnnng of 1944 the Balkars, Cheehens, Kalmuks and Karachas were sent from the northern Caucasus to areas n Kazakhstart and Central Asa...". 27. The PRESIDENT (translated from Spansh): I would request the representatve ofbelgumtobe good enough to leave the rostrum to allow the representatve of the Sovet Unon to rase a pont of orde}. 28. Mr. ROSHCHIN (Unon of Sovet Socalst Republcs) (translated from Russan): I would lke to pont out to the Presdent that n ths nstance he s not mantanng suffcent objectvty n the conduct of ths plenary meetng. 29. The tem under dscusson s the colonal queston. Ths s determned qute clearly by the agenda and the range of questons that we are consderng. In order to dstract the Assembly's attenton from consderaton of ths tem, the Belgan representatve s tryng to dvert the Assembly nto dscussng matters that have no bearng on ths tem. If he were to attract closer attenton by the General Assembly to colonal matters and, n partcular, to the stuaton nto whch the Belgan admnstraton has brought the Congo, that would, of course, be n the order of busness and would perhaps be a contrbuton to our dscusson of ths tem. Indeed, the stuaton n the colones and, n partcular perhaps, n the Belgan colones s recevng great publc attenton throughout the world, n all countres. The colonal queston has aroused great and profound nterest n all contnents of the globe. The dscusson we have hadherehas shown that all delegatons wsh to speak on ths urgent and mportant queston of the day. 30. In order to dmnsh the tremendous effect that the dscusson of ths queston s havng n all crcles thrqughout the world and on publc opnon n all countres, the Belgan representatve s now attemptng to dvert attenton by referrng to events whch took place n varous countres and whch were due to certan hstorcal crcumstances, to the war, the extremely grevous war endured by all the ÿpeoples of the world, and partcularly the peoples of the Sovet Unon. In ths way he seeks to dvert attenton from the matters whch the General Assembly s now dsq! I j:! /,,

4 1178 General Assembly- Ffteenth Sesson- Plenary Meetngs cussng and on whch the attenton of the whole world s focused, to matters whch have no connexonwhatsoever wth our agenda. 31. I should be glad, f, n vew of ths crcumstance, the Presdent would call the Belgan representatve to order, so that he should not take up any more of our tme, snce the matter s one of such extreme mportance. There are many other questons we could dscuss here n connexon wth ths crcumstance. If there were need, we Could now begn a detaled and thorough examnaton of the Belgan admnstraton's actvtes n the Congo. But the stuaton n the Congo and the patently unlawful acts of the Belgan admnstraton, the Belgan Government and the Belgan rulng crcles n that country consttute a separate agenda tem whch we shall dscuss at the meetng, of the Securty C cuncl tomorrow mornng and n the plenary General Assembly two days. hence. I wsh once agan to draw the Presdent's attenton to the necessty of callng the Belgan representatve to order. 32. The PRESIDENT (translated from Spansh): I gve the floor to the representatve of Ceylon who has asked for t n order to rase a pont of order. 33. Mr. PERERA (Ceylon): I am ntervenng to support the pont of order rased by the representatve of the Sovet Unon. As a sponsor of the draft resoluton. 34. The PRESIDENT (translated from Spansh): I would ask the representatve of Ceylon to bear n mnd the fact that the pont of order rased by the representatve of the Sovet Unon must be ruled upon by the Presdent. Ponts of order are not open to debate. I would therefore ask hm to allow the Char to deal wth the pont of order rased by the representatve of the Sovet Unon. If the representatve of Ceylon then desres to rase a new pont of order I shall be glad to grant hm the floor. I cannot, however, allow hm to contnue to speak now, snce I have to rule on the pont of order rased by the representatve of the Sovet Unon. 35. Mr. PERERA (Ceylon): I bow to your rulng, but I want to save you from makng two rulngs. It s on the same pont. Maybe I can clarfy t ths way: as a sponsor of the draft resoluton [A/L.323 and Add.l-6] on the endng of colonalsm, I submt, Mr. Presdent, that the representatve of the Belgan Governmenthas made submssons whch are mproper and rrelevant. 36. The PRESIDENT (translated from Spansh): I wsh to refer to the pont of order rased by the representatve of the Sovet Unon. 37. I repeat that I wsh to allow representatves who have the floor to state the poston of ther Government. In that connexon I nvte representatves to exercse dscreton, because I cannot stop a representatve who s statng a poston. The Char wshes to pont out that the representatve of Belgum was quotng somethng and that the representatve of the Sovet Unon wll have an opportunty n due course to exercse hs rght of reply. I repeat, however that the Presdent cannot stop the representatve of Belgum from speakng, snce hs rghts are those guaranteed to every Member of ths Assembly. I call upon the representatve of Belgum to contnue hs statemelÿt. 38. Mr. PARISIS (Belgum) (translatedfromfreneh)ÿ I have fnshed my quotaton from the report of Mr' Gorkn, Secretary of the Presdum of the Supreme Sovet. I have nothng to add to t and no comment to make on t; but I am amazedatmr. Roshchn's touch. hess, whch s of a completely dfferent order fron our own patence. 39. Mr. Roshchn has sad that colonalsm has aroused the deepest nterest on all contnents. To go on from there, I shall observe wth reference to the jont draft resoluton, that the Belgan delegaton can. not but declare tself n favour of the basc prncple underlyng that proposal. It s a prncple whch BeN gum, for the reasons I have just stated, has recently appled to the full n the case of the Congo and whose mplementaton t s actvely pursung n the case of Ruanda-Urund. However, my delegaton s bound to note that the resoluton contans several naccuraces, ncludng some of a legal nature: 40. Lke the other delegatonÿ that have spokenhere, we censure the msdeeds of colonalsm and other forms of subjecton. We beleve that the essental cooperaton among peoples must develop n an atmosphere of mutual respect and.esteem; and'whatever our detractors may say, thÿ General Assembly canbe sure that t was ths honest "convcton whch led us to summon our Congolese brothers to ndependence. 41. Mr. LHEYET-GABOKA. ÿ(cbngo [Brazzavlle]) (translated from French): In addressng ths Assembly, I cannot clam to produce any remedy, any support, or any pallatve for the uneasness left by the many statements whch have been made here regardng the colonal system. Qute the contrary. The many speakers who have succeeded one another at ths rostrum have already examned all the symptoms and dagnosed all the lls; one after another, they have put ther fnger on the open sore of colonalsm n all ts forms and n all ts ambtons. Those speakers have lad bare the truth--a truth hot as heat tself, tasteless, btter, and ndgestble for those who joy n the conquest and submsson of the weak; n colones and ther nexhaustble wealth; and n peoples deceved, perpetual chldren doomed to bondage. 42. My predecessors at ths rostrum, then, have put ther fnger on the runnng sore of colonalsm. Snce we must burn colonalsm to ashes; snce we must corner t and face twthts ownmage; snce we must lance the abcess n ths Assembly; snce we have the opportunty to speak freely and frankly, you gentlemen wll not hold t aganst me f I, n my turn, clear a lttle ground on the path to freedom. That freedom s not a favour begged by long-subjected peoples from ther alleged masters but an ndefeasble, legtmate rght; for all men are born free and equal, whatever ther skn pgmentaton, the level of ther cvlzaton, the sze of ther naton and the geographcal poston of ther country. 43. No race here below, whether whte, yellow or black, can clam a rght of senorty over other races n order to mpose ts wll on them. There are only good-natured people, who too often preen thems elves on the enlghtened nature of ther cvlzaton and pass on that account forthe world's most ntellgent; but ntellgence does not follow the barometer. Brth n a cold country s not a ttle to everythng there s, and brth n a hot country s not an atavsm whch debars one from everythng, even from freedom. L

5 938th meetng -- 6 December the case s bound 1 and n razzavll s Assemlÿ] supp01 by the mÿa,ga, nglt nanyspea hs r0strÿ wll you not agree wth me that a brd shut up n escapes, f t can, to fly n the ar agan7 Wll wth me that a dog long pent n ts kennel madly for release7 If anmals, wth only nstnct them, can grasp and understand the need to eand to lve ther ownlves, how could man, the fal to share that mperatve need7 Every chld, n hs youth, nexperence and lack lves under the wng of hs parents. When up, he leaves hs parents' home, goes out world and makes a home forhmself far from who reared hm, because he feels free n hs and personalty. Then should the colonzed, ever have hs freedom ratoned by hs c01on- In the country of the blnd, where the one-eyed s kng, does nothng begn and nothng end7 Is to survve ndefntely n Afrca, Asa and to menton only three parts of the globe? lavery, mperalsm, dogmatsm and all ther contnue to thrve n Afrca, n Asa, and n Must colonalsm be upheld n order to avod to dsarm the natons andto pacfy the whole I do not thnk so. Everythng here below has a and an end, and only the nave expect to outther allotted span. Only the blnd cannot see the sun rses and where t sets. Not long ago we were beng posoned wth the venom of colonzatonmeolonzaton wth tsn Wonderlandn marvels, ts mkless, breasts, ts keen-edged mandbles, whch cut slowly but surely than a lancet. Not long ago wewatched our masters dd, and sad not a word to them. took advantage of our slence to sate on our natural wealth. They took advantage our vllages, and n return--a fne taught us to go backwards nstead offorÿ and gave us tools, good or bad, wthout showng h0w to use them. But we have outgrown the stage of servtude, we nq longer credulous chldren who can be made to n Santa Claus forever. Those days are over, colonalsm has been outstrpped at every pont. Asa and Oceana are no longer an "open for men who, through ther own rudeness, own dscourteous and humlatng ways, have embttered mnds, peaceful revolutonares who k only the lberaton of ther country and people 7oke of colonal occupaton. Yesterday we were told, uphll and down dale and terms, about a wet-nurse by the name of Today that wet-nurse has been dressed up called "decolonzaton". It s a fne thng, ths ths neologsm that s the outcome of dstressng and regrettable events. What dd yesterday by "colonzng"7 What do they by "decolonzng" today? The answer to that les ready n the mnds of yesterday's coand today's decolonzers. I have no wsh to labour the pont but t wll be remnd our prncelngs that colonzng, to them, 'dvde and rulew; t meantbreakngupthe conlands and sharng them out lke game, so as fat profts from them at the expense of other are yet ther equals n the redness of ther the nvsblty of ther souls. Colonzng entrenchng themselves n countres whch dd to them, n order to corner ther wealth and to oppress ther peoplesi to the lengthof reducng them to ther lowest terms--to utter non-exstence. 50. Well, they have at last come round to the dea of decolonzng; and n my humble opnon as a Negro, and thus as one of yesterday's subject people, decolonzng means admttng ther past errors, makng confesson after plunderng and playng the master, after paralysng and mmoblzng the evoluton of the beasts of burden. Decolonzngmeans lftng offafrca, Asa and Oceana the heavy and massve carapace of colonalsm. Decolonzng means restorng freedom to peoples who were born free but who, out of sheer presumpton, were long eondemned to gnorance and bondage. That s the part of greatness and sncerty. 51. At a tme when the Unted Natons s takng up the queston of colonalsm we must be mndful of the exstence, spread across the world, of colonzed peoples, subjugated peoples, who are lookng to us. These peoples, whether Afrcan or European, expect of the Unted Natons postve acton to delver them for all tme from the yoke of colonalsm, the system that dsgraces the twenteth century, n whch nuclear weapons seem a superhuman dscovery. My meanng s that our century s the one n whch manknd has reached perfecton; also that the tme has come when the colonzers must realze that our cres of protest are justfed; for n ths century, n whch man has mastered scence and rvals the Creator n nventveness, freedom for the former colones mustnotbe the cause of bloodshed and mournng. 52. Convnced that decolonzaton wll flng wde the gates to ndependence for the colonal countres and peoples, the delegaton of the Republc of the Congo takes ths opportunty to express once agan ts grattude to France and to General de Gaulle, Presdent of France, who was quck to realze that to keep the peoples subject to an outdated system n ths century was contrary to the prncple that every people should enjoy self-determnaton. 53. My delegaton wshes also to congratulate all those Afrcan andasan States whchworked at Bandung n 1955 and denounced colonalsm n all ts forms. The Congolese people are gratefulto allthosewho have helped and are helpng to condemn the colonalst system. The Congolese people are proud that they are now free to jon the ranks of the fghters for the freedom of all peoples. Not long ago my country was a French colony. Emnent speakers from ths rostrum have vgorously and eloquently branded every aspect of colonalsm. As an Afrcan, and as a Congolese, I am too well acquanted wth the horrors of the colonzed not to assocate myself wth allwho, for love of freedom, are wagng a btter struggle to end the colonalst system once and for all. 54. The poltcal developments whch, happly, have lately been gatherng speed, enablng many Afrcan States to attan ndependence, gave rse n 1960 to acts made more memorable by the fact that that year wll ÿbe remembered as the year n whch Afrca's hstory started anew. It should be recognzed that a great step has already been taken towards the freedom of the colonzed countres and peoples; even more, howeverÿ t should be stressed that, for the future, decolonzaton must be effected wthout dsguse and wthout hypocrsy. For we have also to wage a determned war on racal segregaton and to bury t for all tme.

6 1180 General Assembly -- Ffteenth Sesson -- Plenary Meetngs 55. There s a country--cabnda--whch knows no freedom. Though the sun s sadto shne for everyone, the people of Cabnda stll vegetate under colonalst rule. Its foregn occupers seek to dazzle the world by representng t as part of a Portuguese provnce, whereas there s n realty a consderable margn between colonzers and colonzed n that country. I do not wsh to go nto detals, but merely to draw the attenton of the Unted Natons to a stuaton whch s certan to cost us more bloodshed and mournng n Afrca. From 1946 to 1958, accordng to a provson of the French Consttuton of 1946, we Congolesewere French ctzens; but ths dd not prevent France from gvng us ndependence. What France has done other natons can do, especally those whch clam to be Chrstan. 56. But f there are stll peoples underthe colonalst yoke n Afrca, t should not be forgotten that there are countres elsewhere n the world whch know no freedom ether. Even n Europe, whch prdes tself on ts cvlzaton, we can count up the peoples who, at the present tme, certanly envy the lot of the Afrcan States whch have attaned ndependence. We must not forget those countres whose cres are stfled and hence cannot reach us. What are ther colonzers watng for before decolonzng them? 57. I have no desre to setmyselfup as defence counsel for France n ths Assembly. I know that that naton, lke all other cvlzng natons, commtted serous mstakes n the countres whch were under ts colonal occupaton. But allow me, n passng, to emphasze the greatness shown by France n knowng / " " " " U when to free ts Afmcan colomes, afterhavmgbro ght them to an undenable poltcal maturty, after seeng them clmb the successve rungs of the "ndggnat" system, the "lo-cadre" that led to nternal selfgovernment, and fnally ndependence. 58. France's noblty of heart s far from beng equalled by other cvlzng natons, whch clng jealously to ther colones. France dd not wat for pressure from outsde before recognzng the rght of ts former colones to the freedom t owed them. I do not want to put the cart before the horse by statng ths as a fact, but the state of publc opnon ndcates to me that France wll not delay much longer n decolonzng Algera; for, speakng personally, I have complete confdence n ts good fath and greatness, whatever people may say. Francewllnotwatuntl the most dsastrous possble moment lke Portugal, whch perssts n rulng Cabnda by magc wand and keepng t under the yoke of ts prejudces. France has not wated for the hour of doom as dd Belgum whch, through obstnacy and lust for permanent domnon, carred monsters on ts shoulders and turned the Congo (Leopoldvlle) nto a vast arena for brawls, massacres, fratrcdal war and senseless volence. 59. Freedom s not a shoddy tem to be bought, n the world's every market place, for the bloodthat has become current con nourtmes. Its an nborn rght; no one here below can clam to be freedom's master, to gve t or take t away as he pleases. Down wth colonalsm: Down wth dogmatsm, down wth the mperalsts and captalsts who plundered Afrca, my natve land, that became a laughng-stock for other natons! 60. Ths brngs me to the end, but I must state n concluson that the Congo (Brazzavlle) delegatonwll jon wholeheartedly n votng for the draft resoluton before us [A/L.323 and Add:l-6] and keenly desres to see decolonzaton speeded up, so that all pe6ples may lve n freedom and ndependence. Mr. Lu (Chna), Vce-Presdent, took the Char. 61. Mr. N'GOUA (Gabon) (translated from French): My delegaton, representng an ndependent Statewhch was once a colonal terrtory, cannot reman slent on the mportant queston of colonalsm whch we are now dscussng. I shall be bref, frstly n order to avod the repetton to whch some speakers are prone, and secondly n order not to abuse the ndulgence of the Assembly. But I do not wsh to forego ths opportunty of expressng my country's vews. 62. In ts latest report, whch has been crculated to delegatons, the Commttee on Informaton from Non- Self-Governng Terrtores noted that... the Admnsterng Members, and others alke, seem agreed that the peoples of the Non-Self-Governng Terrtores are enttled n each case, and on a bass of complete equalty, regardless of the dfferences of race, colour or creed, to complete ndependence, or, f they prefer, to some form of full self-government freely chosen by them, andthat t wll be for them to determne ther future status. "-4/ 63. Here, clearly defned, s the basc prncple upon whch--i hope--everyone n ths Assembly s agreed. In gvng hs approval to ths prncple, however, the representatve of Gabon has no sensaton of pushng an open door, for t became clear to hm durng the dscussons In Commttee that there were dfferences of opnon on varous ponts, partcularly as to the form n whch that development should take place; dfferences whch were sometmes on mnor ponts but whch, nfluenced by partsan feelng, often confused the dscusson and obscured the man ssue, just as t s sometmes mpossble to see the wood for the trees. 64. That s why Gabon wshes to play ts part n restorng calm by recallng a few elementary truths; these are worth repeatng after so many statements whch, although perhaps nspred by very lofty consderatons of poltcal prncple, have n many cases been dstorted by what Imght call a certan demagogy. The representatve of Argentna rghtly sad n Commttee, as many others had sad before hm, that one of the prncpal condtons for the peaceful evoluton of Non-Self-Governng Terrtores towards ndependence was the exstence of proper admnstratve and techncal staffs capable of operatng the complex servces requred by the modern structure of the State. In our vew t s not suffcent to elamour for the mmedate lberaton of thousands of bengs who are stll, n one way or another, dependent; the rght condtons must be created for that lberaton. There may be a desre--and a most laudable one--to brng the date of ndependence or self-government forward somewhat; but the man consderaton s tohave ready for the take-over the new structures wthout whch there can be no vable and durable ndependence. It s a fact that the colonal system s outmoded and doomed, but the problem s to prepare the peoples for ther new responsbltes. That wll not be aceom" plshed by subverson, hatred and the unleashng of poltcal passons. 4[ Ibd._._., para. 25.

7 938th meetng -- 6 December esoluton desres peoples - halr. French): :atewhch slent on h we are order to.re PrOne, ce of the,portunty ers alke, el-gov,ÿ, and on a the dffcomplete form of ], and that status. "4-/ cpleupon s agreed. lever, the f pushng turng the erenees as to the &e placeÿ ponts but t confused Le, just as sd for the 67. It could thus be sad that here was a perfectly SUccessful decolonzaton. I do not thnk ths can be serously questoned on the legal or poltcal sde: r freedom and ndependence are real. On the other d t could also be sad, and rghtly, that on the sde nequalty perssts. We are aware of t. know that n the near future we must am at more satsfactory economc structures, an adots part n ry truths;ÿ tatements lofty conany cases: lemagogy; : d n Comÿ: l, that one evoluton ndepend" ratve plex serthe State.!",ur for the,ÿs who are the [on. ;ÿto have tout mdenee.! moded )e cashng 5. I referred, n my short statement n Commttee, to the example of the former Belgan Congo. The causes of the chaos whch now regns n that unhappy country could be dscussed ndefntely. Itpans me, as brother Afrcan, to learn each day of fresh msfortunes afflctng that young naton. Each one may, accordng to hs+poltcal lghts, lay greater orlesser stress on the underlyng causes of that unfortunate stuaton and throw the blame for the catastrophe on ths or that State or poltcal deology; but the fact remans--and I do not thnk I am the only Afrcan to reason thus--that the man cause of ths fasco s the lack of preparaton for, or rather the mprovsaton of, that ndependence. It s not my purpose here to expatate on the errors whch may have been commtted by the responsble Power. Impartal observers recognze that Belgum made commendable efforts; but wthout wshng to overwhelm that country wth reproaches we must admt that, ntentonally or not, the colonal Power faled to prepare the Congo suffcently for ndependence. Proof of ths truth has unfortunately been suppled by the dstressng events we have experenced. But that s not all. If we turn to the Second Progress Report of Mr. Dayal, Specal Representatve of the Secretary-General n the Congo, we read the followng: "There s clear evdence of the steady return, n recent weeks, of Belgans to the Congo, and wthn ths framework, of ncreasng Belgan partcpaton n poltcal and admnstratve actvtes, whether as advsers, counsellors or executve offcals." [A/ 4557, para. 39.] Mr. Dayal goes on to say that there s at Brussels a recrutng agency for the Congo, the object of whch seems to be to assst n re-establshng a cvl servce of Belgan natonalty prncpally at the polcy level. Here, then, s a strkng case n pont. An attempt was made to rushthe fences--to clmb the ladder too fast. The rungs gave way, and the clmber was back where he started, ff not further down. 66. These are the serous dsadvantages of ndependence granted wthout transton, dsadvantages whch the Governments of some colonal Powers have endeavoured to avod. Thus the majorty of Afrcan States recently admtted here have attaned ndependence qute smoothly and wthout jolts; and, although not everythng s yet perfect n our countres, the condtons are set for steady progress. Our new States are frmly establshed, and our accesson to ndependence s none the less genune and rreversble for havng come about gradually. By way of llustraton I need only recall the stages through whch Gabon has passed: from the colonal regme, known as the French Empre, to the nsttutons of the French Unon; then to the more lberal "lo-cadre" whch transformed what had been a colony nto a terrtory already enjoyng broad self-government, wth ts own Parlament and Government; and fnally to the recent proclamaton of the Gabon Republc and the ultmate accolade of our country,s admsson to ths Organzatoff. quate ndustral sector. We know that we should move away from the sngle-product type of economy, whch s partcularly vulnerable, and try to secure more equtable terms of trade so that our nternatonal dealngs do not go aganst us. We know all that. 68. But we know also that our countres are underdeveloped, and that we are n great need of captal equpment. Furthermore, untl natonal personnel can be traned, we badly need nternatonal techncal assstance, whether blateral or multlateral under the Unted Natons. As we lstened to some representatves, however, we receved the mpresson thatthese needs were sometmes overlooked, and that the provson of assstance to under-developed countres lke ours was sometmes regarded as a manfestaton of neo-colonalsm n that t crystallzed the nequalty between the country assstng and the country asssted. I therefore wsh to state, on my country's behalf, that economc ad or techncal assstance of any knd, rendered wth no thought of domnaton, that s to say on an equtable bass and n respect for our freedom and ndependence, cannot be dubbed neo-colonalsm. 69. My country decded to assocate tself wth the submsson of the draft resoluton on decolonzaton [A/L.323 and Add.l-6], and thatwas a perfectly natural step to take. Gabon, proud of ts ndependence and mbued wth the prncples of freedom, cannot but wsh all peoples wthout excepton, not only n Aÿfrca but on all contnents, to enjoy the supreme benefts of freedom and ndependence. 70. I also felt t my duty, however--and I thnk the Assembly wll share my feelng--to stress the needto avod exposng ths ndependence to the scourges that arse from mprovsaton. True, we mstrust those enemes of freedom who always tend to thnk t too soon to make the necessary changes. The trend to emancpaton s rreversble. But we should not wsh our brethren n Afrca or elsewhere who are stll lvng under foregn tutelage to be thrown wthout preparaten or resources nto the formdable tasks that confront young States. Such a polcy of the worst way out Would mean n practce that they would pass from foregn domnaton to the tyranny of anarchy, nwhch all freedoms and prospects of well-beng persh together. The process of lberaton, then, mustbe speeded up; but so must the nstallaton of the personnel and machnery n whose absence the freedom granted would be merely nomnal and would founder n chaos; for we well know that the confusonthus created would deprve the recently emancpated peoples of the benefts they are enttled to expect, and gve free ren to the least acceptable nfluences. Mr. Lu (Chna), Vce-Presdent, took the Char. 71. Mr. ILLUECA (Panama) (translated from Spansh): The delegaton of Panama voted, both n the General Commttee of the Assembly and n the plenary meetng, to place on the agenda tem 87, concernng the declaraton on the grantng of ndependence to colonal countres and peoples. Our atttude reflects a poltcal vew whch the Republc of Panama has constantly mantaned, ever snce the foundaton of the Unted Natons--the vew that all peoples should effectvely enjoy the rght of self-determnaton, respect for ther ntegrty and ndependence and all fundamental human rghts and freedoms, and that colonalsm should be abolshed by peaceful means. In ths I need recall that Panama was the

8 1182 General Assembly--Ffteenth Sesson- Plenary Meetngs country whch had the honour to submt to the San Francsco Conference the frst draft unversal declaraton of human rghts consdered by the Organzaton. 72. An outstandng featurÿ of the hstory of Latn Amerca s the struggle for one of the fundamental deals advocated by the Lberator, SmSn Bolvar. Ths deal was the safeguardng of the poltcal ndependence and terrtoral ntegrty of Amercan States, whch entaled the condemnatbn of the so-called rght of conquest. Thsqueston of safeguardng the terrtoral ntegrty and poltcalndependence of Amercan States was dealt wth n the Treat'/of Perpetual Unon, League of Perpetual Confederaton, conceved at the Congress of Panama convened by Bolvar n That treaty lad the foundatons of our present Amercan regonal system and antcpated ths world Organzaton. 73. The vews of the leaders of our regon were expressed at the Internatonal Conferences of Amercan States, whch began towards the end of the last century. I shall quote a few examples. The resoluton adopted on 18 Aprl 1890 by the Frst Conference, held n Washngton, declared that "the prncple of conquest shall not,... be recognzed as admssble under Amercan publc law" and that "all cessons of terrtory... shall be vod f made under threats of war or n the presence of an armed force". 74. The Seventh Internatonal Conference of Amercan States held at Montevdeo n 1933, lad down a fundamental doctrne of Amercan publc law n artcle 11 of the Conventon on the Rghts and Dutes of States. That artcle provdes as follows: "The contractng states defntely establsh as the rule of ther conduct the precse oblgaton not to recognze terrtoral acqustons or specal advantages whch have been obtaned by force whether ths conssts n the employment of arms, n threatenng dplomatc representatons, or n any other effectve coercve measure. The terrtory of a state s nvolable and may not be the object of mltary occupaton nor of other measures of force mposed by another state drectly or ndrectly or for anymotve whatever even temporarly." 75. We also thnk the thought of Bolfvarwas accurately expressed n resoluton XC I of the Tenth Inter- Amercan Conference [Caracas, 1-28 March 1954], whch reaffrms the rght to self-determnaton of peoples and declares that t s the wll of the peoples of Amerca that colonalsm and the occupaton of terrtores should be defntvely ended. 76. It s aganst ths background that mycountry comes to ths rostrum to reaffrm ts democratc fath and, through ts representatve, to declare that t Intends to contrbute, to the best of ts ablty and wthn the Unted Natons system, to the achevement of the ams of the Organzaton's Charter, n order that the countres and peoples stll under colonal " domnaton may obtan ther ndependence. Webeleve sncerely that those countres and peoples could become a benefcal nfluence and could help to brng about the condtons of peace, harmony, goodwll and confdence, whch the modern world needs ff t s to move towards a creatve peace that wll put scence to work for the progress, securty and well-beng of manknd n every part of the world. 77. In ths endeavour we can.look towards a more promsng future, n whch the threat of war and nÿ ternal struggles wll dsappear and, n ther Place, we shall sea' strengthenng of the ndependence of States great and "small whch, exercsng the prncple of soveregn equalty, are prepared to co-operate n a sound and well-drectednternatonal effort to solve the grave and dstressng.economc and socal prob. lems whch afflct great masses of people n varous parts of the world. 78. Ths debate, wth all ts vcsstudes and c.ontro. verses, must serve constructve purposes. There s no denyng that colonalsm, as a system of poltcal and economc domnaton, has lost ts hold. The greatest contemporary hstorans go so far as to say that, n the not too dstant future, natonalsm, whch s the latest stage but whch now seems very deeply rooted, wll also gve way to a new system of world government, n whch fronters and poltcal boundares wll dsappear. 79. I do not ntend to dgress nto hstorcal or phlosophcal consderatons and shall therefore confne myself to a few bref remarks on the tem we are dscussng. One cannot generalze on the subject of colonalsm, a system whch has nfluencedthehstory of many peoples. Impartalty requres us to consder each case separately. Some metropoltan Powershave evolved a wse polcy, whch, n the course of tme, has led to a voluntary and harmonous assocaton between former colones and the metropoltan country. Ther contrbuton to the nternatonal communty cannot be gnored. There are other Powers, however, whch n the course of hstory have used an utterly repugnant knd of colonalsm as an nstrument of represson, cruelty and explotaton, and have left no pleasant memores n the lves of colonal peoples. Yet cultural and relgous forces have played a sgnfcant part n the restoraton of harmonous relatons between the ndependent peoples and ther former oppressors. 80. It s fttng that we should recognze the mmense value of the work done by the Unted Natons n furtherng the poltcal, economc, socal and educatonal advancement of the nhabtants of the dependent subject terrtores and ther gradual development re. wards ndependence. The mportant role whch the Unted Natons Trusteeshp System has played n ths connexon, n spte of ts lmtatons cannot be overestmated, as the results t has acheved demonstrate. A large number of ndependent States, whch are now seated wth honour and dgnty n ths Assembly, acheved ther ndependence through the Unted Natons Trusteeshp System. 81. We are therefore extremely surprsed that the draft declaraton on the grantng of ndependence tot colonal countres and peoples [A/4502], submttedfor the consderaton of the Assembly by the Charman of the Councl of Mnsters of the Sovet Unon, Mr. Khrushehev, states, nter ahaÿ the followng" "The trusteeshp system has not justfed tself anywhere and should be bured together wth the entre colonal system, whch s an anachronsm." 82. As far as the Trusteeshp System s concerned, my delegaton does not beleve that ths volent state" ment s justfed ether by the facts or by any argu" ments. For the last ffteen years the Sovet Unon has been a permanent member of the Trusteeshp Coun

9 a ma0re c and n- Lr place, dence of prncple perate n t to solve al prob, a varous d contro. There s poltcal :?he great-- say that;: : ch s the [y rooted, d govern.ÿ ares wll [or phlo- ÿ m we are subject of ÿÿ ehstory ) consdeÿÿ )wershaveÿ m of.ave lea n01ÿ 1 peoplesÿ eda s ormer ons n opment.* whch Lot be e,vet now,g tfed mr wth 3 olent y et eshp s therefore aware of the tasks successfully out by that body, not only wth ts partcpawth ts vote and ts co-operaton wth the States, the Unted Kngdom, France, Chna and,er States. The Trusteeshp System cannot be bured wth a re sentence, however resoundng tmaybe. To bury s to nter somethng dead or to stfle somethng g. If what s the the enclng Sovet Unon and abolton proposes of n the ts Inter- draft.ÿlara.tÿ ÿ.steeshp System and ts removal fromthe 0nÿl xÿ_ÿ... d Natons t should resorÿ ÿ ctllre el tle unlÿ " r XVIII of the Charter, whch deals wth chapte to that nstrument, We are apparently 938th meetng -- 6 December 1960 wth a contradcton, snce t has not yet proved to alter the membershp of the Securty Counand the Economc and Socal Councl, owng to, one of the great Powers, whose negatve amounts to a veto of any attempt to do so., The day s not far off when all dependent court-. es nd a eoules P ÿ - wll have --'ÿ ÿters acheved XL XII ndependence. and XIII of nl the wÿ,ÿr --ÿ Oo oo0 aoply and the Trusteeshp Coun- Se cnarÿz,-... no reason to exst, wll dsappear m oo ac- or 0v,ÿ-C ÿe any Admnsterng Authortes, Trust Terrtores r trusteeshp agreements. However, untl the deal of has been acheved by all peoples, we strengthen the Unted Natons system n order,acheve the hghest purposes of the Charter. The experence obtanedby the Trusteeshp Counsuggests that we should strengthen rather than the Unted Natons system as far as the Non- Terrtores and the Internatonal Trus- System, referred to n Chapters XI and XII the Charter, are concerned so that, as stated n Afrcan-Asan draft resoluton[a/l.323 andadd.1- steps are taken, n Trust and Non-Self-Governng or all other terrtores whch have not yet ndependence, to transfer all powers to the of those terrtores, n order to enable them enjoy complete ndependence and freedom. There s no doubt that Chapter XI of the Charter led to heated controverses snce t was adopted San Francsco. The declaraton regardng Non- Terrtores whch s emboded n the means that the colonal Powers accepted general oblgatons to promote to the utmost of the nhabtants of Non-Self-Govern- Terrtores under ther admnstraton and to assst n the progressve development of ther free nsttutons. There was, however, one defect the draftng of the provsons of the Charter, not rbecause t dd not specfy the meansby whch the Powers' oblgatons were to be made but because t dd not defne the functons the Unted Natons wth regard tothe fulflment of assumed by Member States. In ths connexon t mght havebeenusefutto take account the recommendatons of certan experts, Professors Grenvlle Clark and Lous B. Sohn. the second edton of ther book ÿvorld Peace World Law", publshed by the Harvard Un- Press n 1960, they propose to amend Artcle order to clarfy the oblgatons accepted by states as to Non-Self-Governng Terrtores ther admnstraton, and completely to revse Artcle 87 so as to broaden the responsblty and authorty of the General Assembly and the Trusteeshp Councl n respect ofmanynon-self-governngterr- ) tores other than Trust Terrtores. '; 88. I would now lke to turn to the draft resoluton whch the representatve of Honduras has submtted r consderaton[a/l-324]" Perhaps the Honduran for ou... ÿ ÿefore the Assembly by a draft, whch has oeen ÿ - soveregn country nspred by sound motves, ams to gve the Unted Natons greater nfluence n the process of emancpaton of the Trust and Non-Self- Governng Terrtores. Although we apprecate our Honduran colleague's good ntentons, my delegaton erves the rght to make certan comments on hs res -- -*ÿtement f crcumstances maaÿ draft' n a mmre ÿ ths advsable. 89. Paragraph 5 of the draft declaraton submtted by the Afrcan-Asan countres [A/L.323 andadd.l-6] reads as follows: "5. Immedate steps shall be taken, n Trust and Non-Self-Governng Terrtores or all other terrtores whch have not yet attaned ndependence, to transfer all powers to the peoples of those terrtores, wthout any condtons or reservatons, n accordance wth ther freely expressed wll and desre, wthouÿ any dstncton as to race, creed or colour, n order to enable them to enjoy complete ndependence and freedom." 90. My delegaton wonders what mmedate steps should be adopted n accordance wth the Afrcan- Asan draft. The document does not say. It says, of course, that all powers should be transferred to the peoples of those terrtores n accordance wth ther freely expressed wll and desre. Butwhatlegalmeans are to be used to determne the peoples' choce? Is that to be a matter exclusvely wthn the nternal jursdcton of the Admnsterng Authorty, or s the Unted Natons to exercse nternatonal supervson over the method of consultaton? All these are problems whch wll have tobe consdered, andpresumably they cannot be settled mmedately through the power of some mraculous phrase. Objectve analyss s requred f practcal steps are to be taken to enable the Unted Natons to promote efforts to secure the ndependence of Trust and Non, Self-Governng Terrtores. 91. My delegaton s aware of the complexty of the queston we are consderng and realzes that a declaraton of ths knd cannot cover all the practcal aspects of attanment of ts objectves. We must recognze that ths declaraton by tself wll not be enough, and that we shall have to contnue to work wthn the framework of the Unted Natons for the freedom of' subject peoples, through apeacefulprocess whch s of the greatest nterest to the whole nter" natonal communty. 92. My delegaton cannot support the Sovet draft resoluton ÿ&/4502] n the form n whch t has been submtted o ths Assembly, as t contans certan elements whch would make t dffcult to fnd harmonous and peaceful settlements. We are opposed to njecton of a controversal, hostle and harmful cold war atmosphere nto amatter of such great mportance- 93. I have already sad on a prevous occason that the small Powers should become a real force for medaton and understandng between the great op-

10 , ",' I184 posng blocs. For ths reason we vew wth consderable favour the jont draft resoluton submtted to ths Assembly by the Afrcan-Asan delegatons. General Assembly -- Ffteenth Sesson -- Plenary Meetngs Mr. Illueoa (Panama), Vce-Presdent, took the Char. 94. Mr. NIMNANHEMINDA (Thaland): t affords me much pleasure to note that the General Assembly has unanmously accepted [903rd meetng] the proposal made by the Unon of Sovet Socalst Republcs to dscuss the vexed queston of colonalsm n the plenary meetng nstead of referrng ths most momentous subject to the Frst Commttee. On ths pont I am happy to note that for once the vew of my delegaton' s n perfect accord wth that of the Unon of Sovet Socalst Republcs. The matter s rpe to be brought before ths Assembly so that wholehearted attenton can be pad to t. 95. My delegaton wshes to put t on record that we ' unreservedly support the draft resoluton [A/L.323 and Add.l-6], submtted by Afghanstan, Burma and other Member States, and that we shall vote for t and for all that t stands for. 96. Ours s one of the very few natons n Asa that somehow or other succeeded n eludng the clutch of colonalsm or mperalsm, eastern.as well as western, durng the last 700 years of ts dstnctve exstence, after the Tha people had fnally settled n ts present terrtory. I am sure that our past experences both n dodgng and n temporzng wth evl-- and I thnk that everybody agrees that colonalsm s evl--when such evlbeeame nevtable, may prove robe of nterest to some of us here today n dealng wth the evl aspects of colonalsm that theymay come across, now or n the near future. 97. As you know, my country s called Thaland n Englsh. In our language, We call t "Pratate ThaH or "Muang Tha", whch means "The Land of the Free". The mnd of our people, as ts name mples, s always actvely conscous of the dea of freedom and ndependence, and t always arouses our sympathy to observe that so many of our fellow bengs are stll deprved of ther brthrght, the rght to be free and to be master of ther own destny. The fact that we always have been free makes us all the more sympathetc to the yearnngs and aspratons of our less fortunate fellow bengs. In our contact wth many,peoples, we are constantly beng asked onwhat day we celebrate our ndependence, and we are always at a loss to answer ths query. We have no Independence Day; every day, to us, s always our Day of Independence. 98. Perhaps by ths tme you must be thnkng that I am carred away by emotonal feelngs, so let me make my poston clear. Our past efforts n defendng our ndependence and n eludng and evadng foregn domnaton or colonalsm, entaled an almost nfnte amount of hardshp, prvaton, self-restrant plus no less an amount of self-renuncaton andpersonal sacrrce. We had often to exercse nfnte patence.and to pocket our prde n the face of great and rrtatng provocatons. 99. It s my thess, however, that whlst t s not beyond human effort and endeavour to acqure freedom ' and ndependence, t s defntely more dffcult, once complete freedom fromenslavng colonalsm has been acqured, to mantan and preserve ths ndependence ntact for future generatons. Crcumspecton as Well as wsdom and correct self-apprasal must be vgl, antly kept n mnd, or elsewemayfall nto another and greater evl Let me cte an example of how we managed to evade and then to temporze wth the expansonsm and mperalstc drve from our then powerfulÿand stll no less powerful now--neghbour of the North Towards the mddle of the thrteenth century of the Chrstan era, the greatmongol Emperorwho ruled over Chna, Kubla Khan, ordered hs nvncble army to attack the early Tha prncpaltes of Nan Chao, or what s now known as the Chnese Provnce of Yunnan. Instead of submttng'tamely to the Chnese yoke and acceptng the colonalsm whch they abhorred, the Thas of varous branches preferred to mgrate elsewhere where they could breathe the ar of freedom as far from Chnese contact as was then possble. Some of them moved nto pres ent-day Assam Provnce, n Inda; a large group callng themselves "The Major Thas" settled down n the Shan States of Burma; some mgrated nto present-dayvet-nam; whle the largest group managed to move farther south nto present-day Thaland and Laos In spte of all these mass mgratons, the great Kubla Khan's terrtoral appette was not completely satated. He later on sent envoys nto these new colones or terrtores to demand trbute and acknowledgement of hs suzeranty. Smlar envoys were also sent to Shlkhotha, the then captal of Thaland. There s a Tha proverb whch says "Do not attempt to break the handle of a chopperwthyour own knees", meanng, of course, that one should not attempt the mpossble and hurt oneself at the same tme. Kng Ram Kamhaeng of Thaland, therefore, for the frst tme, put nto practce what s known as personal dplomacy by personally travellng to Pekng to-make better acquantance wth Kubla Khanhmself, andpad hm due respect n vrtue of hs Senorty n rank as well as age. By ths gracous gesture, he found favour wth the Emperor who ntated, for the frst tme n our hstory, a techncal assstance programme, sendng back wth Kng Ram Kamhaeng a group of experts on pottery, who taught our people the art of glazng pottery by settng up klns at Sangkaloke and Sukhotha for turnng out Sangkaloke ware whch found ts way to dfferent markets as far apart as Borneo and Persa Not more than two and a half centures after havng settled n the country, we began to receve attenton from the outsde world; frst, from early Portuguese adventurers, envoys and Roman Catholc prests of that natonalty. Theywere always welcomed wth warmth and tolerance naccordance wth the teachngs of Buddhsm. Land was gven to them on whch to buld ther camps and ther churches and many of them were taken nto the Kng's servce as gunners The advent of the Dutch some tme later weakened the hold of the Portuguese and lessened ther arrogance. After havng consoldated themselves frmly, the Dutch began to exercse pressure on us. As a result of a treaty sgned n 1664, we granted the Dutch monopoles n varous commodtes and n the shppng of our produce to neghb0urng countres. They n turn were responsble for the ntroducton nto Thaland, for the frst tme, of that obnoxous and subsequently much abused practce of extraterr" toralty. / 0[ 13u by n eÿ c( 0".' S' 8 f c t

11 /!ÿ 938th meetng -- 6 December ble qan -ÿovlce e Chnes, ey 'ed to the ar was [ayassam! temselves Lan States the hese and ttempt ;nle. the Lg n st tme nd ts ad.res Lo rom.n e wth o them rches servce Fndng the presence of, and pressure from, the well-ngh ntolerable, the Thas sought relef addressng themselves to the French and enterng dplomatc relatons wth Lous XIV, who exseveral ambassadors wth our Kng, Phra there agan, we soon foundthat the French dd not much dffer from those 0fthe Dutch, that there were far more French troops n the country. It was only by means of atmely Tha verson of the famous Sclan Vespers that we were atjle to stave off the frst attempt to plant a French colonal empre upon us. From that tme onwards untl the fall of Ayudhya n 1767, our relatons wth western countres were chefly confned to a small amount of tradng carred on by prvate traders from the West, 106. In 1833, less thhn sxty years after the Amercans had dscarded ther colonal yoke and made ther presence felt n the commerce of Asa, and twenty years before Commodore Perry's forcble openng of Japan to other natons n addton to the Dutch, the Thas entered nto dplomatc relatons wth the Unted States of Amerca. From 1855 onwards, treates of frendshp and commerce were concluded wth the Unted Kngdom, France and other Western Powers Although we freely opened our country before forcble measures were taken aganst us, ths does not mean that we have come out of the eolonalstc game unsulled and unscathed. In order to avod total extncton, we had to submt to the concluson of a seres of one-sded, unjust and nqutous treates wthout any termnatng clause, thereby perpetuatng hat odous eÿtraterrtoral practce and the lmtaton mposed on our fscal autonomy, whch precluded us fromlevyng dutes on exports ormports over and 3 per cent ad valorem. Furthermore, our borders were also subjected to perodcal grabbngs, known euphemstcally as "rectfcaton of fronters" To the Tha people, extraterrtoralty was both humlatng and unjust. Fscal lmtaton prevented us from embarkng upon several necessary reforms through want of essental revenues. Before Thaland's assocaton wth colonal Powers, the area of the country exceeded 350,000 square mles, or 900,000 square klometres. After 1907, ts area was reducedtobarely 200,000 square mles, or just over 500,000 square klometres.!09. Throughout the whole of the nneteenth century, and for many years after, the keynote of Tha polcy was that t was better to lose a certan part than to lose the whole country: half a loaf seemed better than I thnk that a well-known Russan story wll our polcy at that tme very graphcally. A certan Russan gentleman went on a busness trp n a carrage drawn by four horses. Onhs way home, he was pursued by a pack of hungry wolves. The gentleman drove hard, yet the pack managed somehow to overtake hm after some tme. To save the stuaton, he cut loose one of the horses to dstract the wolves from pursung hm, at any rate for a bref respte. After that horse had been made short work of, the howlng pack rushed after hm agan. He repeated ths wth a sec end and a thrd horse, untl fnally he reached a post of safety wth but one horse. I need not pont out the moral of ths fable, nor trouble you wth the denttes of those bg bad wolves Now we can more or less breathe freely seeng that the brazen type of land grabbng andthe naked and shameless type of colonalsm have become thngs of the past. In Thaland we deem that we managed to escape from "the mouths of the tgers and the bears" wth the skn of our teeth. We are proud of the wsdom of our forbears n havng chosen the better part so as to preserve our ndependence to ths very' day. We adhere, as good Buddhsts, to our Lord's teachng, whch says: "Hatred ceaseth not wth hatred, hatred ceaseth only wth non-hatred, ths s an old law." Thus sad the Buddha. We adopt a realstc vew of the world. We refuse to lve n the past, nor wll we keep lookng backward to the past all the tme. We deem t a waste of tme to cry over splt mlk, but we shall take care not to spll any more mlk. It s our am and our objectve to lead our people to the goal where regn freedom from fear, from hunger, from dsease and from gnorance. I. Colonalsm of the old days s dead, and n ths Assembly we are drvng home the nals nto ts coffn. But lke the phoenx of old, whle land-grabbng colonalsm s no longer wth us, out of ts ashes a new type of colonalsm s arsng. It s far more dangerous, because t s cyncally nsdous; lke the Kngdom of God, t seldom comes wth observaton; t often comes under the guse of lberaton; t preaches a new gospel of salvaton; t heralds a new mllenum; and t comes n sheep's clothng. In my delegaton's opnon, t s far more dangerous because of ts deceptve deologcal attracton. When t enters by one door, freedom fles out of the other. I thnk the case of present-day Tbet s an example whch Clearly llustrates my pont Now, may I put one queston: Whatshallt proft a country to gan complete ndependence only to lose ts own soul? The meetng rose at lo.ss p.m.!,! ened on ;ranted and n September ,225