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UNITED NATIONS T Trusteeship Cou neil Distr. GENERAL T/PV.l649 12 May 1988 ENGLISH Fifty-fifth Session VERBATIM REQ)RD OF THE SIXTEEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINTH MEETING Held at Headquarters, New York, on Wednesday, 11 May 1988, at 3 p.rn. President: Mr. GAUSSOT (France) - Dissemination of information on the United Nations and the International Trusteeship system in Trust Territories; report of the Secretary-General (T/1924) [Trusteeship Council resolution 36 (III) and General Assembly resolution 754 (VIII)] Examination of petitions listed in the annex to the agenda (T/1922/Add.l) - Organization of work This record is subject to correction. Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages, preferably in the same language as the text to which they refer. They should be set forth in a memorandum and also, if possible, incorporated in a copy of the record. They should be sent, within one week of the date of this document, to the Chief, Official Records Editing Section, Department of Conference Services, room DC2-750, 2 United Nations Plaza, and incorpora ted in a copy of the record. Any corrections to the records of the meetings of this session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of the session. 88-60564 4211V ( E) RM/3 T/PV.l649 2 The meeting was called to order at 3.20 p.m. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ON THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE INTERNATIONAL TRUSTEESHIP SYSTEM IN TRUST TERRITORIES; REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (T/1924) {TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL RESOLUTION 36 (III) AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 754 (VIII)] The PRESIDENT (interpretation from French): I call upon Mr. Mahmoud El-Said, representative of the Department of Public Information, to introduce the report of the Secretary-General (T/1924). He will give us an overview of the activities of the United Nations with regard to dissemination of information on the united Nations within the Trust Territory of the Pacifie Islands. Mr. EL-SAID (Department of Public Information): It gives me great pleasure to appear for the first time before the Trusteeship Council to introduce the Secretary-General's annual report on "Dissemination of information on the United Nations and the international Trusteeship System in the Trust Territory of the Pacifie Islands" (T/1924). Before doing so, I wish to express our deep appreciation for the Council's understanding and consideration in allowing the Department of Public Information to introduce its report at this stage rather than later. This report, like previous ones, is a hrief summary of the activities carried out by the Department of Public Information and other offices of the Secretariat in order to maintain the awareness of the people in the Territory of the activities of the United Nations with regard to this important issue. The report is self explanatory. However, I am glad to draw the attention of delegations to the fact that, in spite of severe financial constraints, the Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Tokyo was ahle this year to make a visit to the State of Yap, the Republic of Palau and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and to contact the media in Guam. RM/3 T/PV.l649 3 (Mr. El-Said) I would be glad to answer any auestions or to provide any further clarifications to the Council. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from French): Does any memher of the Council wish to comment on the report of the Secretary-General at this time? In accordance with our provisional programme of work, the Council will take up its consideration of the Secretary-General's report on the dissemination of information on the United Nations in the Trust Territory on Friday, 13 May. EXAMINATION OF PETITIONS LISTED IN THE ANNEX TO THE AGENDA (T/1922/Add.l) The PRESIDENT (interpretation from French): As we agreed at our meeting yesterday, the Council will now begin the hearing of petitioners whose reauests for hearing are contained in documents T/PET.l0/698, 701 to 704, 707 and 708, and 710 to 716. Those reauests were accepted earlier in accordance with rule 80, paragraph 2, of the Council's rules of procedure. I would suggest that today the Council hear the following petitioners: Ms. Sue Rahbitt Roff, Mr. William Butler, Mr. Pedro Tenorio, Mr. Benjamin Manglona, Mr. Pedro Guerrero, Mr. Pedro Atalig and Mr. Antonio Camacho. To facilitate the Council's discussions I would suggest that memhers who wish to ask auestions of the petitioners do so at the end of the meeting. As I hear no objection, it is so decided. At the invitation of the President, Ms. Sue Rabhitt Roff, Mr. William Butler, Mr. Pedro Tenorio, Mr. Benjamin Manglona, Mr. Pedro Guerrero, Mr. Pedro Atalig and Mr. Antonio Camacho took places at the petitioners' table. RM/3 T/PV.l649 4 The PRESIDENT (interpretation from French): I call upon Mr. William Butler of the Arnerican Association for the International Commission of Jurists, whose petition is contained in document T/PET.l0/713, to rnake his staternent. Mr. BUTLER: Thank you very rnuch, Mr. President, for having allowed me to corne here today to relate to you the resulta of a recent mission the International Commission of Jurists of Geneva, Switzerland, co-sponsored by the Arnerican Association for the International Commission of Juriste, held in January 1988. The International Commission of Jurists is a non-governrnental organization in congultative status with the united Nations and has been for many, many years. It is concerned prirnarily with the protection of the rule of law and the promotion of the independence of the judiciary everywhere in the world as an indispensable ingredient in the defence of hurnan freedorn. First, I think I should extend to you, Sir, the warrnest congratulations of the International Commission of Jurists on your election to the presidency of the Trusteeship Council. We wish you every success in your new endeavour. In the late autumn of 1987 the International Commission of Jurists was asked by sorne of its mernbers to look into a situation in the Republic of Palau. The circumstances of that inauiry arose from an opinion rendered by a Judge Hefner of the Trial Division of the Suprerne Court of Palau, which indicated that a certain lawsuit supported by 18 to 20 plaintiffs had been withdrawn because of intimidation of violence, because of violence itself and because of threats to the judiciary and to the legal profession in that Territory. On the basis of that prelirninary information the International Commission established a mission to go to Palau in January of 1988 to inauire into the apparent threat to the rule of law, to the judiciary and to the independence of the legal profession in Palau, and also an interference with the rights of Palauan citizens to test serious constitutional auestions hefore their duly elected courts. RM/3 T/PV.l649 5 (Mr. Butler) The mission was composed of the Honourable Michael n. Kirby, C.M.G., President of the Court of Appeals, Supreme Court of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; the Honourable George c. Edwards, for 25 years senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, sitting in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, and now a senior judge on that court, and myself, as Chairman of the International Commission of Jurists and President of its American section. RM/3 T/PV.l649 6 (Mr. Butler) Before I relate to the Council the conclusions of our investigation, in view of the testimony I understand was given here yesterday by a representative of Palau I should like to state certain basic facts concerning the conduct of our mission. The mission was received by the Chief Justice of Palau, Judge Nakamura, and when we arrived in Palau we had the following contacts and interviews with officiais of the Palauan Government. Our first interviews were with the three Justices of the Supreme Court of Palau who were in residence at the time of our arriva!: Chief Justice Nakamura, Judge Loren Sutton and Judge Arthur Hefner. We spent a few hours with them the first day we were there, but immediately thereafter we were received hy President Lazarus Salii and we had a long and intimate interview with him at the President's office. On the next day we had a series of appointments set up for us by officiais of the Palauan Government. We spent the morning with Speaker Ulechong, who, I am delighted to see, is sitting here today, and two of his associates on the Palauan national Congress. On 19 January, the next day, we had a long full-morning interview with four members of the Palauan Senate: Lucius Malsol, Joshua Koshiba, Haruo Esang and Tommy Remengsan. Later on that day we had a long, two-hour interview with the acting Attorney-General of Palau. So went the appointments throughout the rest of the week. we held long meetings with the Bar Association, its Chairman, Carlos Salii, the brother of the President, with Jonas Olkeriil, Dennis M. Coughlin and Philip D. Isaac. we also met with the furloughed workers who allegedly caused many of the disturbances in the community in 1987, in particular with John Tarkong, who is the lawyer and general counsel for the furloughed workers' association and the lawyer for the new political party which may emerge from that association, called Ta Relau, Inc. We RM/3 T/PV.l649 7 (Mr. Butler) also met with the legal services representatives, Clara Kalscheur and Yukiwo P. Dengokl. In addition, we met with the land management and public affairs officer, Daiziro Nakamura and, of course, with the Ibedul and many other segments of Palauan society, including Mr.