General Assembly

United Nations FOURTH COMMITTEE, 1571st GENERAL MEETING ASSEMBLY Monday, 29 November 1965, at 10.20 a.m. TJf/E,,'TIETH SESSIO;'' Official Records NEW YORK CONTENTS AGENDA ITEMS 69 AND 70 Page Question of South West Africa: reports of the Special Requests for hearings (continued) Com"nittee on the Situation with regard to the Requests concerning Oman (agenda item 73) lmiJiementation of the Declaration on the Granting (continued) . • . • . 331 of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (continued) (A/5690 and Add.1-3; A/5781, A/5800/ Agenda items 69 and 70: Rev .1, chap. IV; A/5840, A/5949, A/5993, A/6000/ Question of South West Africa: reports of Rev.1, chap. IV: A/6035 and Add.1-4) the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Special educational and training programmes for Declaration on the Granting of Independence South West Africa: reports of the Secretary-General to Colonial Countries and Peoples (continued) (continued) (A/5782 and (orr .1, Add.l and Add.lj Special educational and training programmes Corr.l; A/6080 and Add.l and 2) for South West Africa: reports of the GEl"ERAL DEBATE (continued) Secretary-General (continued) General debate (continued). • 331 4. Mr. G. E. 0. \VILLIAMS (Sierra Leone) said that he would like to express his delegation's satisfaction Agenda item 73: at the announcement made at the previous meeting that Question of Oman: report of the Ad Hoc Com three South West African polit\cal parties would unite mittee on Oman to further their cause. General debate. • . • . • . • • . • . 338 5. During the previous twenty years, many resolutions adopted by the Fourth Committee, the Special Com mittee on the Situation with regard to the Implementa Chairman: Mr. Majid RAHNEMA (Iran). tion of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, the General Requests for hearings (continued) Assembly and the Security Council. as also by regional organizations such as the Organization of African Unity, had sought to prove conclusively to the Republic REQUESTS CONCERNING OMAN (AGENDA ITEM 73) of South Africa that it was wrong in refusing to agree (continued) (A/CA/643/ADD.l) that the Mandate granted by the League of Nations had automatically passed to its successor, the United 1. Mr. BROWN (United Kingdom), referring to the Nations, and that it should therefore comply with request for a hearing concerning Oman (A/CA/643/ United Nations resolutions with regard to South West Add.l), said that his delegation had already made it Africa. It was of no use to pay lip-service to the clear, both at the 159th meeting of the General United Nations Charter and at the same time fail Committee and at the 1518th meeting of the Fourth to comply with the preamble to that Charter by denying Committee, that it did not consider that the question the people of South West Africa their fundamental of Oman should be discussed in the Fourth Committee, human l'ights. South Africa's argument that the since Muscat and Oman constituted a sovereign and question was an internal one was untenable, since independent State. The question was not one of a the sacred rights of human beings were being violated. demand for independence by a colonial Territory, but of rebellion against the legal Government of an 6. The League of Nations had entrusted the Territory independent sovereign State. to South Africa with the clear understanding that its people should be brought to nationhood and in 2. Mr. ABDEL-WAHAB (United Arab Republic) said dependence, not subjugation or annexation; that the that there was no doubt that Oman was a colonial people should be helped towards economic develop problem. It was a Territory dominated by the United ment, not robbed of their wealth; that the land should Kingdom and for that reason the General Committee be rehabilitated, not plundered; and that the various had decided to refer it to the Fourth Committee. tribes should be integrated into a nation, not divided by the introduction of disharmony, hatred, violence 3. The CHAIRMAN said that, if there were no and apartheid. further comments, he would take it that the Committee 7. Much had been said of the amounts spent on the decided to grant the request for a hearing appearing indigenous inhabitants of South West Africa, but it in document A/C.4/643/Add.l. might be interesting to have a comparative table of what was spent on other groups. Although the Odendaal It was so decided. Plan (see A/6000/Rev.l, chap. IV, paras. 15-22) had 331 A/C .4/SR.1571 332 General Assembly - Twentieth Session - Fourth Committee not yet been put into effect, areas had been delimited per cent of the extraction of minerals in South West and apartheid had been accelerated: the Whites, who Africa, was owned by United Kingdom, United States owned all the rich land, including the mining areas, and South African shareholders. There was a close were the overlords and the status of Africans was relationship between the situation in South West tantamount to that of slaves. Foreign companies Africa and that in the rest of southern Africa, namely established in the Territory were condoning such Angola, Southern Rhodesia and the Republic of South discrimination by paying immorally low wages to Africa. As was stated in the report, the overwhelming African workers and by being a party to the type majority of mining companies were controlled by of contract which Mrs. Kerina, one of the petitioners, financial interests in the United Kingdom, the United had described at the 1566th meeting. Foreign States and South Africa. The opposition of some companies and their Governments had a responsibility permanent members of the Security Council to any to the people of South West Africa and their duplicity effective measures proposed against South Africa was distasteful. could therefore be attributed to their financial interests 8. The time had come for the United Nations to draw in that part of Africa. up its own plan for South West Africa and to take steps 12. The report confirmed that the activities of the to ensure that it was put into effect if South Africa foreign companies constituted one of the main obstacles proceeded with the Odendaal Plan. United Nations to the development of the Territory towards in resolutions appeared to fall on deaf ears and the dependence and impeded the social, cultural and Organization must be ready to take action if, as economic development of its people. The activities seemed likely, a crisis arose as soon as the Inter of the companies strengthened the racist r~gime in national Court of Justice handed down its judgement the Republic of South Africa and encouraged its in the case brought against South Africa by Ethiopia policy in South West Africa; their rapid exploitation and Liberia. of mineral resources would leave the Territory with out wealth or raw materials in the future; their 9. His delegation would support any plan to liberate surplus profits were not reinvested in the Territory South West Africa and any resolution which en but went abroad; most of the revenue from those deavoured to promote the implementation of the companies was used to assist the European settlers Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial in the country; and the foreign monopolies were not Countries and Peoples with regard to South West interested in the development of South West Africa Africa. but merely in the high profits to be derived from it. 10, Mr. ABDEL-WAHAB (United Arab Republic) said The foreign companies which had considerable capital that it was a disgrace to the present generation of the investment in South West Africa shared with South twentieth century, which had seen the proclamation of Africa the responsibility for the sufferings of the the United Nations Charter andtheUniversalDeclara people of the Territory, and theStateswhosenationals tion of Human Rights, that the worst fears of degrada owned those companies shared that responsibility in tion, oppression and exploitation were being suffered defying the numerous resolutions of the United Nations by the people of the Mandated Territory of South concerning South West Africa. West Africa. The people of South West Africa believed in the United Nations and its principles and had always 13. The implementation of the recommendations looked to it to assist them in achieving independence. of the Commission of Enquiry into South West Africa The United Nations had setup committees, had explored Affairs, known as the Odendaal Commission, would all peaceful ways and means of persuading South lead to the partition of the Mandated Territory into Africa to honour its international obligations under the two parts, one for Africans and one for Europeans, Mandate and had recommended that all military forces and to its complete annexation by South Africa. Only should be withdrawn, all racial laws repealed and 40 per cent of the total area of the Territory was to be allocated to the Africans and that included none political prisoners released, and that preparation should be made for elections. The South African of the areas in which the most important economic Government, however, had done nothing to comply activities were concentrated, The so-called homelands with those recommendations. The United Nations would merely provide cheap labour for European therefore had no alternative but to consider ways and enterprises. The implementation of the plan would means of forcing South Africa to respect and honour entail the removal of thousands of Africans from their its international obligations. own localities, a process which had already begun. The General Assembly had requested South Africa to 11.

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