REPUBLICA POPULARA ROMINA RUMANIAN PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC MISIUNEA PERMANENTA PE LINGA NATIUNILE UNITE PERMANENT MISSION TO THE UNITED NATIONS 6 0 EAST 93 Ro STREET, NEW Y ORK 28 , N. Y. , f r ( I- -~ ' '- ,, Q 8 December 7, 1961. No. 5193. R 1ST .Y SECTION Mr. President, ~ 21 DEC 1961 On behalf of the Romanian Delegation, I would like to express our position with regard to the letter of the Permanent Representative of the United States and the attached statement of his Delegation, dated 25 November 1961 and distributed as General Assembly document A/ 4985. From the content of that statement it becomes obvious that the General Assembly is faced once again with an alre ady expose d mani:~.v\~ing used by the United States whenever the question of abolishing colonia ism is brought before the United Nations. As soon as the anti-colonial forces in the United Nations strive to focus the attention of the Assembly on the evils and dangers inherent in the colonial system with a view of geHing a decision on its immediate liquidation, the United States Delegation resorts to worn-out anti-Soviet and anti-Communist slanders with the manifest purpose of diverting the attention of the Assembly from the real issue - colonialism . .... l, .. 0 ++{<~"-' l i~ The United States Del'rfation tried tJ:-2-Hl~¢u~ ' at the 'Hlt h session and failed. It tried that manl u~ at this ~ession and again failed. ft- ' The overwhelming majority of Memberf States has recognized the\,,,;:,..,,-' actual motives of the1.,, /6:_American,;;i delegation and has flatly refused to c 9,operate with her. It "W:eTe' only the die-hard colonialists who spoke in that vein, thus confirming its real nature. Only by fo:i;:,ging the unity of the anti-colonial States in the ' - , ::\ General Assembly, i /was 1possible to adopt quasi-unanimously the historic Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples. And only by maintaining that unity against the dividing tactics used by the st; {;-s :tt:;5::, delegation, l ~J/ ~ ;~\ possible to adopt quasi-unanimously the recent iresolution on the implementation of that Declaration. It was the strength gathered around the _Ke solution by the common struggle of the anti-colonial States that made the ~ 1 dI~ gation reluctantly to vote for it. v.,,te a S .s / . I. H. E . Mr. Mongi Slim President of the Unite d Nations General Assembly .,, , . ... - 2 - uv- ~J s Le...lzs Thus, what actually disturbs the ~ delegation is the fact that whereas the socialist .fuates take always a firm, determined and consistent stand against colonialism in general as well as against colonialist actions in Algeria, Angola, Oman, Bizerte, South West Africa, Katanga, etc., the United States is vacilating between its commitments as the ally of the old colonial Powers, its efforts to pose as an anti-colonial Power and last._ but not leas½its struggle to maintain colonial possessions of its ~ own. That is indeed a difficult and painstaking job. Small wonder that the S c. • ~ • li:lelegation is getting uneasy and irate when the issue of colonialism require- her again to pe-r-fo-:rm. ct ,J-, - As to the assertions contained in the American statement, suffice it to say that they are old worn-out anti-Soviet and anti-Communist slanders. Therefore, it is senseless to refute these assertions one by one. History has already dealt quite successfully with such anti-Communist propaganda. It is only bankrupt politicians that still resort to such attacks and we feel no temptation to enter into polemics with them. I should be most grateful to you, Sir, for arranging this letter to be distributed as soon as possible as a United Nations document. \ ~dua zincescu ,.__;;_-- ~S Chairman of the Romanian Delegation UNITED NATIONS Distr. GENERAL GENERAL A/4985 ASSEMBLY 25 November 1961 ORIGINAL : ENGLISH Sixteenth session Agenda item 88 THE SITUATI ON WITH REGARD TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECLARATION ON THE GRANTING OF INDEPENDENCE TO COLONIAL COUNTRIES AND PEOPLES Letter dated 25 Novembe r 1961 from the Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations addressed to the President of the General Assembly I have the honour to request that the attached comments be circulated as an official document under agenda item 88, entitled "The ---situation with regard to the implementation of the Dec laration on the granting of independence to colonial 11 countries and peoples , which is being discussed at the present session of the General Assembly. (Signed) Adlai E. STEVENSON Permanent Representative of the United States of •.:.merica to the United Nations 61-28517 I ... A/4985 f English Page 2 CO:MMENTS BY THE UNITED STATES D:SLEG.ATION ON TBE SOVIET MEMORANDUM CIRCULATED AS TICCUMENT A/4889 The United States delegation regrets that the Soviet Union has been unable ,:t;o resist utilizing the United Nations forum to attack a number of :tv:ember States :in the most outragt;:,ous and misleading terms. Under the circumstances, however, the Un'ited States now has ;no choice but to reply, even though we had hoped to be able to continue to keep the cold war out of the 11 colonialismn debates during the current session. / }i 1· (, ·1 ~: Role of the United Nations The United Nations was created to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and -worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small. Anything which derogates from the inherent rights of mankind and of nations is a proper - and even essential - subj~ct for study and discussion by the General Assembly. The relationship between peoples and nations which we liave come to call colonialism or by its variants - neo­ colonialism or imperialism,., can constitute a denial of the rights of the individual, and of the principle of self-determination and as such has frequently 'r, ~ een the su,bject of our deliberations. Sine$ the formation of our Organization, the world community has devoted ;rnuch of its time, talent and energy to the search for a solution to the more pressing colonial problems in the world. The Fourth Committee of the General Assembly, the Trusteeship Council and the Committee on Information £rom Non-Self­ Governing Territories have debated and made useful recommendations on &multitude of specific and gen{;ral colonial problems. Other problems have arisen ahd have been discussed by other Comrni ttees and United Nations organs. Only a hostile propagandist could maintain that the United Nations has not done useful work in this field. Through careful, detailed study and qound recommendations on specific issues, the General Assembly and. other United N'a.tions organs have facilitated the movement of one people after another to full and untrammelled indepe1;1dence. t ,'M_·,, ';lie have seen the evidence of this development in the most concrete and ,r:__.,l'a meaningful termsj in the form of our membershi:p·, which has ;now more than doubled in the short lifetime of our Organization. • A/4985 <t. "' t ~' English Page 3 II', ,.. f\ v • This •bop1ful evolution• should not be cited to disguise the fact that much remains to bef done in the colonial and related human rights fields. There are some cases where repeated admonitions by ~he General _:,ssembly have proved ~ unavailing. A number Of items in this general area have remained on our agenda from year to year to serve as a. concret~ indi cation of our failure to find solutions. But we should not despair of our ability to find the answers to those ~ problems. There are many difficult items on the agenda of the sixteenth session of the General Assembly; others will 1e inscribed in years to come. With patience, goodwill and skill we will be able to solve them all in gocd time. United States ~osition on colonialism The United States is against colonialism - wherever and whenever it occurs. As a nation, we believe that man - a physical, intellectual and spiritual being, not an economic animal - bas individual rights, divinely bestowed, limited only by the obligation to avoid infringement upon the equal rights of others. We do not claim perfection in our own society and in our own lives, only that we seek it honestly and that the direction we take is always that of greater liberty. vle believe that justice, decency and lioerty, in an orderly society, are concepts which have raised man above the beastq of the field; to deny any person the opportunity to live under their shelter is a crime against all humanity. Cur Republic is the produce of the first successful revolution against ( colonialism in modern times. Our people, drawn from all the nations of the world, have come to these shores in the search for freedom and opportunity in a progressive society. We have never forgotten either our origins or the nature of the world we live in. As President Kennedy said in bis inaugural address: "We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch bas been passed to a new generation of Americans - born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage - and unwilling to witness or permit the I ... I A/4985 \ English Page 4 slow undoing of those human right~ to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at heme and around the world. "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty ••• " Soviet allegations against the United States In its frenetic effort ·to cover up its own dismal record in the field of colonialism and human rights, the Soviet Union has levelled two principal charges against the United States: (1) the United States is allied with colonialists and finances colonialist wars; and (2) the United States is itself a colonial Power.