General Assembly Had the Relevant Documents, Would Take the Floor in Order to Adopted on 12 October 1970 in Its Resolution 2621 (XXV).·
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United Nations FOURTH COMMITTEE, 1946th GENERAL MEETING ASSEMBLY Monday, 8 November 1971, at 3.25 p.m. TWENTY-SIXTH SESSION Official Records NEW YORK Chairman: Mr. Keith JOHNSON (Jamaica). refute the petitioner's affirmations or clarify certain points. He associated himself with the representatives of India and the other delegations in asking that Mr. Carlson's statement be widely distributed through the agency of the Office of AGENDA ITEM 66 Public Information and the Unit on Apartheid. Question of Namibia (continued) (A/8388, A/8423/Add.l, 4. The CHAIRMAN drew the attention of the Nigerian A/8423/Add.3 (parts I and II), A/8473, A/C.4/735/ representative to the fact that the South African repre Add.4, A/C.4/738 and ..\dd.l, A/C.4/740) sentative was not present at the meeting. With regard to his second point, the Secretariat had taken careful note of the HEARING OF PETITIONERS (continued) original request and would take action on it. At the invitation of the Chairman, Mr. Joel Carlson Mr. Joel Carlson withdrew. (A/C.4/735/Add4) took a place at the Committee table. AGENDA ITEMS 66, 67 AND 68 1. Mr. ABDILLEH (Somalia) thanked Mr. Carlson for the very interesting statement he had made at the preceding Question of Namibia (continued) (A/8388, A/8423/Add.l, meeting, with its clear picture of the situation in that part A/8423/Add.3 (parts I and II), A/8473, A/C.4/736, of the world. After the Second World War, the Nazis had A/C.4/738 and Add.l, A/C.4/7 40) answered before the Nuremberg tribunals for their crimes against humanity. He asked the petitioner whether he Question of Territories under Portuguese administration thought it would be possible for the United Nations to (continued} (A/8348 and Add.l, A/8403, chapter XIII compile a register of such crimes committed in South (section A); A/8423/Add.l, A/8423/Add.4, A/C.4/736) Africa, thereby making it possible to bring the authors of those crimes to justice at a later date, and if so, how the Question of Southern Rhodesia (continued) necessary information could be obtained. The fact of (A/8423/Add.l, A/8423/Add.2 (parts I and II), A/C.4/736) having a register at the United Nations would perhals dissuade the South Africans from committing further HEARING OF PETITIONERS (continued) crimes. At the invitation of the Chairman, the delegation of the 2. Mr. Joel CARLSON found the Somali repre~entative's World Peace Council (A/C.4/736) took places at the suggestion very interesting. As he had already pointed out, Committee table. the backing for the South African Goverwnent's racist policy of apartheid came, in contradistinction to nazism, 5. Mr. Romesh CHANDRA (Secretary General of the not from the majority of the population but only for a World Peace Council) expressed appreciation of the oppor white minority which was on the defensive; another notable tunity, afforded the World Peace Council of explaining its point, incidentally, was that that Government was at views to the Committee and, through it, to the General constant pains to justify its actions. In those circumstances, Assembly and to the Governments of all countries. The there was no doubt but that the South Africans would be United Nations had just taken a vital step towards achieving sensitive to pressure applied along the lines suggested by the universality, but other urgent measures were necessary in Somali representative. An international commission or that direction. The United Nations could not truly be called international tribunal could be set up which would keep a by that name so long as 30 million people had still not register of crimes against humanity, using the files on the arrived at national independence and were not represented political trials staged in South Africa, the statements by in the Organization. prisoners concerning the injustices done them and tortures they had undergone, and so on, so that the criminals could 6. The World Peace Council was in a position to take be later arraigned. The International Commission of Jurists, particularly effective action in the field of decolonization of which he himself was a member, could assist that because of the fact that its membership included many of commission or tribunal in collecting information and trying the leaders of the liberation movements. The international the criminals. movements represented in the World Peace Council were at present concentrating on winning public support for the 3. Mr. ISHAN (Nigeria) hoped that the South African programme of action for the full implementation of the representative, who had been absent during the hearing of Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial the petitioner but who had doubtless now had time to read Countries and Peoples which the General Assembly had the relevant documents, would take the floor in order to adopted on 12 October 1970 in its resolution 2621 (XXV).· 173 A/C.4/SR.1946 174 General Assembly- Twenty-sixth Session- Fourth Committee 7. Two very important international conferences had been achieved independence in Africa in recent years, General organized by the World Peace Council in support of the Assembly resolutions 1514 (XV) and 2621 (XXV) were still colonial peoples at Khartoum in 1969 and at Rome in not being fully implemented, as was also the case with 1970. The World Peace Council was working in close resolutions 2649 (XXV), 2704 (XXV), 2707 (XXV) and collaboration with the Organization of African Unity 2708 (XXV) on decolonization. There were thus problems (OAU), and had recently established closer links with the to be resolved at three levels: firstly, the United Nations Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the resolutions must be complied with by the Member States Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of directly concerned, namely, Portugal and South Africa; Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, a dele secondly, the United Nations resolutions must be complied gation from which had participated in the World Peace with by the other Member States, which should cease to Council's recent Assembly at Budapest. provide Portugal and South Africa with economic assistance or send them arms and aeroplanes, helicopters and other 8. Yet it had to be stated that despite all the efforts made means of transport; thirdly, the United Nations itself, and by the United Nations, especially by the Special Com its organs and specialized agencies, must take action in mittee, the preceding few years had been marked by a support of independence and the liberation movements. It slowing down in the pace of decolonization, as the was at the level of positive action, specifically, that the Secretary-General had pointed out in the introduction to World Peace Council had a part to play. his report to the twenty-sixth session of the General Assembly on the work of the Organization (A/8401/ 12. With regard to the Territories under Portuguese Add.l ). The hoped raised by the adoption of the Decla administration, the fact was that nearly one third of the ration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial territory of Mozambique, more than one third of that of Countries and Peoples had been dashed again and again, and Angola, and the major part of that of Guinea (Bissau) had it was regrettable to fmd some people becoming more and been liberated and were administered by the liberation more resigned to that state of affairs. The World Peace movements. Opposing the peoples fighting for their inde Council, for its part, refused to accept the existing pendence, the Portuguese army was waging a ferocious situation, with all its perils. Not only were 40 million struggle, with the aid of NATO armaments, as was proved peopled enslaved, in defiance of all the United Nations by such detailed evidence as that presented by the White resolutions, but the peace and security of the neighbouring Fathers of Mozambique. The situation in the Territories States were threatened, as was proved by the recent attacks occupied by the Portuguese army should be examined, of which Guinea, Senegal and Zambia had been victims. incidentally, in conjunction with the situation in Zim The parties responsible for that situation were the United babwe, in South Africa, in Namibia occupied illegally by States of America, the United Kingdom, France, the the South African Government, and in the Caprivi Strip, Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, Israel and the other where a particularly dangerous military base was stationed, allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as was evidenced by the recent incursion into Zambia. which were providing Portugal, Southern Rhodesia and South Africa with military and economic assistance not 13. The Frente de Liberta9ao de Mo9ambique withstanding the United Nations resolutions. To cite a case (FRELIMO), the Movimento Popular de Liberta9ao de in point, the United States had decided to import chrome Angola (MPLA), and the Partido Africano da Indepen from Southern Rhodesia despite the protests made by the dencia da Guine e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) exercised sovereign Special Committee at its 828th meeting. authority in the liberated areas and had a considerable influence over the population of the other areas. In the 9. The World Peace Council whole-heartedly supported liberated areas of Guinea (Bissau), a national assembly was the United Nations efforts to mobilize world opinion on to be elected shortly. Portugal, on the other hand, did not behalf of the national liberation movements and urged exercise authority over the whole of the Territories and in recognition of those movements as the only genuine any case did not exercise it in the interests of the African representatives of the colonial peoples.