fN'TED
NATIONS
D1otr.
~;
GENERAL
r;ENERAL
A/AC.'5/SR.223
~SSEMBLY
10 May 1960
ENGLISH ORIGINAL:
FRENCH
•
COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION FROM NON-SELF-GOVERNING TERRITORIES Eleventh Session
SL1V.MJI.RY RECCRD OF 'IRE TWO
hl.MHED
AND TWENTY-THIRD MEETING
Held at Headquarters, New York, on Tuesday, 12 April 1960, at 10.50 a.m. CONTENTS Approval of the reports to be submitted to the General Assembly:
60-11043
(a)
Special report on the progress achieved by Non-SelfGoverning Territories in pursuance of Chapter XI of the Charter (A/AC.35/L.324 and Add.1-3)
(b)
Special report on economic conditions (A/AC.35/L.325, L.327 and Add.l)
(c)
Report on the general work of the Committee (A/AC.35/L.326)
/ •••
A/AC.35/SR.223 English Page 2 PRESENT: Chairman: Rapporteur: Members:
Mr. QUAISON-SACKEY Mr. BACON Mr. ORTIZ de ROZAS Mr. CURTIS Mr. GIBSON BARBOZA Mr. WIJEGOONAWARDENA Mr. DIPP GOMEZ Mr. de CAMARET Mr. DADZIE
) Mr. JBA Mr. RASGOTRA) Miss KAMAL Mr. GOEDHART Mr. WATT ~.r. CASTON Mr. SPALDING
(Ghana) (United States of America) Argentina Australia Brazil Ceylon Dominican Republic France Ghana India Iraq Netherlands New Zealand United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland United States of America
Representatives of specialized agencies: Mr. KHAN International Labour Organisation Mr. ACHARYA Food and Agriculture Organization Mr. AKRAWI United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Health Organization Dr. SACKS Secretariat:
Mr. KUNST
Secretary of the Committee
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A/AC·;.i5/SR.22~
English Page .3
APPROVAL OF THE REPORTS TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY: (a) SPECIAL REPORT ON THE PROGRESS ACHIEVED BY NON-SELF-GOVERNING TERRITORIES IN PURSUANCE OF CHAPTER XI OF THE CHARTER (A/AC.35/L.324 and Add.1-3) (b) SPECIAL REPORT ON ECONOMIC CONDITIONS (A/AC.35/L.325, L.3~ and Add.l) (c) REPORT ON THE GENERAL WORK OF THE COMMITTEE (A/AC.35/L.326) Mr. RASGOTRA (India), Chairman of the Sub-Committee, reporting on the
work of the SUb-Committee, said that it had devoted twenty-six meetings to the study of the report on the progress achieved by Non-Self-Governing Territories, six meetings to the drafting of the report on economic conditions in the Non-SelfGoverning Territories and one meeting to the discussion of procedural questions and the establishment of a programme of work. In drafting documents A/AC.35/L.324 and Add.1-3, the Sub-Committee had been guided both by the instructions given by the Chairman of the Committee and by the prOVisions of General Assembly resolution 1461 (XIV). It had thought that the best procedure would be t~ make a summary of the progress report and then to add its own observations and recommendations, on the basis of the opinions expressed by the members of the Committee and by the General Assembly. Since the progress report covered a period of ten years, the Sub-Committee ~d also repeated when appropriate the Committee's earlier observations and recommendations on economic, social and educational conditions. Generally speaking, the SubCommittee had dealt with the questions in the order in which they had been taken up in the progress report, but sometimes, in order to emphasize its conclusions, it had grouped together some points which had been discussed se~arately in the report. With regard to the special report on economic conditions (A/AC.35/L.325), the Sub-Committee had taken note of the statements made in the Committee by the various representatives and of the supplementary information given by the experts and advisers attached to the delegations of the Administering Members. In view of the many other problems which the Committee and the Sub-Committee had to consider, the scope of the three-year report was necessarily somewhat limited. MOreover, since some delegations had touched upon the question of the association of certain Non-Self-Governing Territories with the European Economic Community
/ ...
A/AC.35/SR.223 English Page 4
(Mr.
Rasgotra, India)
and the possible consequences of that association on the Territories concerned, the draft report also took their views into account. The Sub-Committee had been composed of an equal number of representatives of Administering Powers and of non-administering Powers.
~he
draft report
was not an expression of the views of individual delegations or of grcups of delegations, but a reasonable and constructive compromise which gave impartial treatment to the opinions expressed by the members of the Sub-Committee and of the Committee.
He therefore hoped that the report would be adopted, if not
unanimously, at least by a large majority.
Mr. CASTON (United Kingdom) said that he thought that it had been a considerable achievement for the Sub-Committee to produce a unanimous report.
He
pointed out that, while there were some differences of opinion among delegations with regard to timing and methods, the members of the Committee were none the less in agreement on the objectives to be sought and the
~rinciples
to be applied.
Accordingly, although the United Kingdom delegation had reservations with regard to some passages in the draft report it would vote for its adoption as a compromise acceptable to all and hoped that the other members of the Committee would do likewise.
Mr. CURTIS (Australia), after recalling that his delegation had not been represented on the SUb-Committee, said that the draft report submitted to the Committee was a very good attempt to reflect the various opinions which had been expressed. the
The report was evidence of a spirit of co-operation which had enabled
Sub-Ccrr~ittee
to do useful work.
The i\ustralian delegation had a number of reservations regarding certain parts of the reports, but did not intend to go into them in detai1.
Its vote in
favour of the draft report did not imply an abandonment of positions it had deemed it right to adopt in the past.
Mr. JHA (India) congratulated the COffimittee on the admirable work it had accomplished during the session. Ccrr~itteets
work.
The Indian delegation took a keen interest in the
Like other delegations, it believed that when, in the near future,
the Trusteeship Council had successfully concluded the important task which had been entrusted to it, the
Co~ittee's
work would ineVitably become increasingly
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A/AC.35/SR.223 English Page 5
(Mr. important.
Jha, India)
It was extremely encouraging to note that despite the limitations
o~
its work fixed by its terms of reference - limitations which derived from the Charter itself - the Committee had so far accomplished its task with remarkable effectiveness. As the representatives of the United Kingdom and Australia had already pointed out, the draft reports before the Committee were the outcome of compromise on various points.
Admittedly all the ideas and recommendations expressed in
it could hardly receive the unanimous approval of all representatives;
that was
why the Indian delegation too would refrain from making the reservations suggested to it by a perusal of the report, since, as a whole, it was an excellent document. He wished, however, to state his views on the problems which the Committee would be called upon to tackle in the future.
The number of Non-Self-Governing
Territories had decreased from seventy-four in 1946 to fifty-five in 1959 and their total population from approximately 215 million to about 113 million. That result, on which, in the first place, the Administering Members were to be congratulated, was also due to the efforts of the Committee on Information and to the harmony which had always characterized its debates.
If, however,
the present rate of development were to continue, it would be twelve or thirteen years more before all the Territories had attained either independence or complete self-government.
That was too long in view of the irresistible
forces at present at work over the entire world.
Very grave events might occur
unless everyone was fully aware of the urgency of the problem:
it was important
for the Committee to be aware of it, and to act accordingly. Referring to the part of the progress report entitled "Introduction and General Survey" (A/AC.35/L.324), he noted that paragraph 25 stated that the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories would be entitled to choose some form of full self-government if they preferred it to complete independence.
In
that connexion he errphasized that if a people, in complete freedom, chose any solution other than complete independence it should later be free at any time to reconsider its decision and to choose independence.
India considered that
any arrangement under which a people accepted a form of self-government which deprived it of any portion of its sovereignty should lapse whenever that people expressed such a desire.
/ ...
A/AC.35/SR.223 Engli'sh Page 6
(Mr.
Jha, India) With regard to the future work of the Committee, he thought that it should
make a study of economic and social conditions, not in the Non-Self-Governing Territories as a wLole, as had been done in the past, but in the Territories which were situated in certain areas or which had similar problems to contend with.
Such a study, which would of course have to take due account of the
irresistible movement which was pushing the Territories towards independence, would help the new countries to solve more rapidly the serious difficulties arising from such factors as the lack of administrative staff and qualified personnel.
Those problems and problems connected with the organization of
secondary education and technical training could be solved only if there was close co-operation between the Territories and if help from international organizations W9.S
forthcoming.
The Committee should also undertake an exhaustive study of
the racial discrimination which still existed in certain areas.
In the past
attention had been concentrated too narrowly on the juridical and legislative aspects of the question rather than on its social and economic aspects, which frequently helped discriminatory practices to. survive in spite of the legislative measures adopted for the purpose of putting an end to them.
At its future sessions
the Committee might therefore decide to set up working groups or sub-committees to study and report separately on each of those various problems. In the final analysis, whatever method was adopted, the Committee should not lose sight of , the rapid changes which the world was witnessing and allow itself to be outdistanced by events.
(a)
SPECIAL REPORT ON THE PROGRESS ACHIEVED BY NON-SELF-GOVERNING TERRITORIES IN PURSUANCE OF CHAPTER XI OF TEE CHARTER (A/AC.35/L.324 and Add.1-3)
Document A/AC.35/L.324 The CHAIRMAN invited the members of the Committee to submit their observations on document A/AC.35/L.324.
Mr. CASTON (United Kingdom) suggested that the exact titles of the members of the United Kingdom delegation mentioned as "experts" in foot-note 2 on page 3 of the document should be communicated to the Secretariat so that the foot-note could be duly amended. It was so decided.
A/AC.35/SR.223 English Page 1
Mr. de CAMARET
(~uce) said that in his view none of the sections of
the report before the Comm1tte~ should be considered to have been approved until they had been put to the vote, in accordance w1 th the procedure followed by the Committee at its earlier sessions. His delegation, for reasons which were well known to the Committee, intended to abstain in the voting on document A/AC.35/L.324. Mr. JHA (India) observed that the Committee was now examining the various sections of the draft report so that those who wished to do so might submit their observations on each of them separately. The vote should be taken after that, unless the French representative insisted on a vote on each section as the Committee completed its consideration of it. The CHAIRMAN said that he had proposed the examination of each section separately because that procedure seemed to him the most practical- In his view the report constituted a single whole on which the Committee should vote after its members had had an opportunity to make their observations on each of its main sections.
Mr. de
~f
(France) said that he had no objection to the adoption of that procedure as long as the report as a whole was put to the vote when the Committee had finished examining it. Document A/AC.35/L.324/Add.l Mr. CURTIS (Australia) pointed out that in rega~d to Papua, paragraph 52
did not mention, as it did in the case of other Territories, the considerable progress made in technical and vocational training. Perhaps a sentence could be inserted after the reference to the Territories administered by the United States indicating that facilities for technical training were being expanded in Papua, where a broad apprenticeship scheme had been put into effect following the promulgation of the 1951 Apprentices Ordinance. Mr. JHA (India), speaking on behalf of the Chairman of the SUb-Committee,
said that the Australian representative's suggestion would be taken into account in the final version of the report.
/
...
A/AC.35/SR.223 English Page 8 Documents A/AC.35/L.324/Add.2 and Add.3
Mr. CURTIS (Australia) said t~at he was concerned lest the first ~entence of paragraph 100 of document A/AC.35/L.324/Add.3 might give th0 impression that forced labour was practised in Papua. He wished to make it clear that forced labour did not exist in the Territory either in theory or in fact. However, regulations did provide for compulsory cultivation of food crops in areas declared to be in danger of a food shortage - in other words, in certain of the
exceptiona~
circumstances for which allowance was made in the 1930 ILO Convention. that the first sentence of paragraph 100 might be amended to read: existed in a few Territories (Belgian Congo,
Be~huanaland,
He
thou~ht
" ••• still
Gambia, Kenya, Uganda,
Fiji and Papua), where it was confined by legislation to one or more of the 'forms of compulsory labour •••• which, under the terms of the 1930 ILO Convention might be used ••• ".
Mr. JHA (India) said that in the opinion of the Chairman of the SubCommittee there was nothing in the text of the paragraph as it stood which might imply that forced labour was actually practised in Papua.
Furthermore, the
proposed amendment would spoil the balance of the paragraph.
Mr. CURTIS (Australia) snid that he wished to avoid any possible misunderstanding about the policy followed by his Government in Papua but that he would not insist that the text of paragraph 100 should actually be amended. The CHAIRMAN put report A/AC.35/L.324 and Add.1-3, as a Whole, to the vote. The special report on the progress achieved by
Non-Self-Govern~ngTel
-ories
in pursuance of Chapter XI of the Charter (A!AC.35!L.324 and Add.1-3) was udopted by 12 votes to none, With 1 abstention.
Mr. de CAMARET (France) explained why he had abstained in the voting. At the Committeets previous session his delegation had stated that the ten-year report could be nothing more than a summary of the information transmitted to the Committee during the past ten years.
The observations set forth in
document A/Ac.35/L.324, however, were of a political nature and thus considerably exceeded the Committee-'s terms of reference.
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A/AC.35/SR.223 English Fage 9 (b)
SPECIhL REPORT
or
ECONOMIC CONDITIOl'T~~ (A/J\C.35/L.325, J\/AC.35/L.327 and Add.l)
Mr. CURTIS (Australia) noted that paragraph 2 of document A/J.C.35/L.325 Itentioned "conditions" in the Territories and said that he would prefer the wording used in the past, namely:
"economic, social and educational conditions".
Faragraph 10 stated that in Papua, under Australian administration, there had been a rise in "exports of products of indigenous agriculture".
It would be more
correct simpl:r to say "exports of agricultural products" since that part of the report concerned the economy of the Territory as a whole rather than any of its farticular aspects.
Mr. JHA (India) said that the Australian representative's observation concerning paragraph 2
~ould
be duly taken into account.
With regard to
faragraph 10 he thought that it would be well to mention the progress of indigenous agriculture and suggested that the phrase in question might read: "of agricultural products, including indigenous agriculture".
Mr. SPALDING (United States of America), referring to the draft reso:ution (A/AC.35/L.327 and Add.I), said that he was happy to be one of its sponsors.
It was obviously impossible to reflect in the text of the report all
the opinions expressed in the debate; for example, no reference was made in the report to the comments made by the United States representative in the in support of the EEC. and impartial
s~ary
Sub-Co~ttee
He believed, however, that the report represented a fair of the views expressed on the subject covered by the report.
Mr. de CAIvT..hRET (France) said that he would be glad to vote in favour of the draft resolution, but wished to know whether the report in d0cument A/AC.35/L.325 would also be put to the vote. informat~on
He considered that the
given in paragraph 21 of the report, concerning the
.trad~
of the
T@rritories under French administration, was not entirely in accordance with the facto. ~ 0HAI~AN explained that the vote on draft resolution A/AC.35/L.327
would be also a vote on the report in document A/AC.35/L.325o The draft resolution (A!AC.35/L.327 and Add.l) was adopted by 12 votes to none, with 1 abstention. The meeting rose at 12.20 p.m.