A/1/PV.19 General Assembly

Dw anyone wish to speak au the report? 1 now put the report to the vote, on the understanding that, since no observation bas been made on the work of the Preparatory Commission in regard ‘to the subjects under discussion, the work of the Commission isc~cdas adopted. De&&m: The conclusions of the report were adopted. 36. MATTERS COVERED BY CHAPTER III, .SECTION lA, PABAGRAPH 4 (a), (cl BND te), PARAGEAPH 5 (a), PARC GWHS 1, 2, 3, 6 AND 7 AXD SEC- TION 1B OF THE &PORT OF THE PREP~R~TORY C~rkmissxoN: RE- PORT OF THE THIRD COMMITTEE ~J~UMENT A/171 qe PRESIDENT (Transfation from the Jrench) : The next item on OUI agenda h the qort of the Third Committee on certain secths of the Report of the Preparatory Coxnmjtir; aion (Annex 3). I cah upon the Rapporteur of the Third Committee, Mm Dalen, representative of Norway. “The G-ml Asrembly referred to the -Third Comm&e, for consideration and report, the matters covered by C&apter III of thc Report .of the Preparatory Comn&sion, section IA, paragraph 4 (o), (c) and (e) ~ncerningtheestabJJshmult,atthefiistscsaion of the Economie and Social Council, of a Commiasian on H~man Rights, a Tempo- 1 bave thc honour to report W after ? f$l.ltoT statement by SF Ramaswarm , ** Chaûma~ of thc TLu;d Committee of &ie Pieparatory CO mdsion, on the reasons which had prompted the Preparatory Commission to recommend the creation of these four Cm . ‘no9, the sections of the - Report under consideration were unanimously approved by the Committee. A numb-er of delegations took occasion to emphasize the importance of tbe work of the Conmision on Human Rights. T%e delegate for Cuba announced thrr bis dclegation proposed to s&mit to the Economie and Social Coud a working document of con~ern tû the Cd ap,Vm Bights. In the comxe of the discussion, several delcgations emphasized the importance which they attached to the work of the Demographic Commission and expresed the hope that it would be set up by the Economie and Social Council at the earlifst possible date.>’ I take pleasure in submit&ng this report to the General Assembly for its approval. The remainder of the report, which deals with the matters rcferred to the Joint Sub-Committee of the Second and Third Committees, was included in the report of the Second Committee ami bas already been approved. 1 &all not therefore engage the attention of the Members of the As- ,+xmbly by re-reading this last part of the report which forma the second part of the report of the Third Committee. I The PRESIDENT (Translation front the Prend) : 1 call upon Mr. Henderson, represntative of the United Kingdom. - Mr. HENDERSON (United Kingdom) : 1 desire to speak with special reference to the proposai for the establishment of a Commission on Narcotic Drugs. The problem of drug addiction is net only one of the most seriou social. problems in the world today, but it is also one of the worst scourges of mankind. The drug addict bemorally and mentally debased $ag;;; only to himself but As in other spheres, there may bc general agreement as to objectives. Disagreementa may arizwhenitcomeatothequestionofde&iing waysandmeana. : At the end of the la& war, in 1919, the con. ditions prevailing in many countrics favoured the rapid growth of the illicii drug trafEc, with theresultthattherewasanalam&gincrea8ein the number of drug addicts. In the Far East, opium smoking waa still rife. T&u&s, howcver, to the machinery created by the Lcague of Nation~ the picture, at the begimzing of thia war, WaS VUy different. An t$ikifM grstan of internathnd control had been set up, includlng a Thcse ruults were achieved through tbe medi\un of a number of iUtemati0nal~coIlVeIltlo~ @ed between 1925 and 1936, whrch were neg&ted on the advice of the League Advisory committee. Ail thgc conventions were ratied by a large mmher of Statcs, inchrding some wbich were net members of tbe Leaguc of Nation% By 1936, the League bad begun to tackle the last mmaining major problem, namely, the conti01 of the production of raw mate&&, but unfortunately it was unable to complete this task bcfore the outbreak of war in 1939. In spite, however, of wartime dif%ulties the international sptem of control continued to operate to a substantial oxtent in no fewer tban forty-nine metropolitan countries, and sixty-six colonial territories continued to furnish tbe necesxuy infbrmatio~ and statbtics to tbe League. It is genemlly rec- _ ogaizd that the work of the League in tbe field Of diUl@rGuS dl-U@ WaS VC2-y Slldld SO far as it had gone, and that in many ways it fumished an Obje%t lesson in in%?natio&l It is vitally ~necessary that international cooperation in this field bc continued by thc Uni& Nations Organization, but in this connexion it is important to consider wbether any changes in the -llal xkladky are deairable. The United Ringdom delegation considem that the work of the Advisory Committee of the ‘liague slrould be assumed by a correspond& body of the United Nations, and it, therefore, rtrongly supporta the proposai of the Chinese delegation that the Economie and Social Cou&l should establish a separate Commission on Narcotic Drugs. WC f&, however, that it would be au advantage, for the urpcees of effective discussion, if the memb elafl ‘p of the proposed Commis9ion were Bmitcd, say, to representatives of ‘meen Gov ernments. The membersbip of the League Advimy Committee was twenty-four, but arperience showed that tbis number was +uewbat un&ldy for its purpose. WC suggest that the countries selected should . itxlude those which produce raw materials, as WeU a &zo wbich manufacture the druga, and those which are exposed to illicit traffic. The -mpsd 00 mmission should be authorized to dah the assistance of experts, wbere required, ca =Y p$&lJar subjcct ul&r eo**. .~ we consider it will also be easential to provide for the wmk hithe~ ca&d out by tbe Penna- -t cahl Opium Board and the Supervisai y bdy- ‘I+ work could not have been The United Kingdom delegation, however, consih it turneto have two bodica performing rather similar functions, and wuuld SU~- gest that thc Economie and Social Council establish a aingle small body of, say, eight persans, in substitution for the Permanent Centrai Opium Board and the Supervisory Body. , We feel, nevcrtheless, that there should be no ~interruption of the work of these two bodies, si this would învolve a breakdown in the system of ivtemat.ional controh and for .this reason we considtr that it is necos;uy for the existing bodies to be enabled to carry .on until the future transactions of their work cari finslly be settled. One of the difhcultie3 in making progress in intenational co-operation arises out of the delay in ncgotiathg international conventions. An international conference bas first to be summoned, and when a convention bas been drawn up and adopted the prwm of securing its ratification may be long and sometimes dilatory. ,= .:. . . We feel, therefore, it would be a great advantage if this procedure could be simplified by authorizing the Commission to draft any convention or any amendment to an existing convention which may be necessary and to submit such a draft to the General Assembly for its approva!? and so avoid the need for a specifrc internatronal conference on the subject. - Perhaps the simplest way of considering therrc suggestions ,for the improvement of the intemational machinery would be to refer them for examination and report to the proposed Commission a8 mon as it is set up. One of the first tasks which the CO mnkion will havo to face will be the difhcult question of controlling the production of raw material:. for example, raw opium, coca leaves, and other drugs. l’his is really the essence of the problem, and one that rqulrea thespecisl attention of -this &embly. ~~ 1 need hardly say that the United Ringdom Government Will co-operate to the fullest extent in ail matters relating to the international control of the drug problem. In November 1943, the Government of the United Ringdom adopted the policy of total prohibition of opium smoking in the British and British-protected territories in tire Par Est, which were then under ,enemy occupation, and in accordance with thia poli ~~~ -~the opiun~monopolies formeriy in operation in those territories would not be re-established. 1 am bound to say, however, that the succe~ of the enforcement of prohibition will obviously depend upon the steps taken to limit and control the producticm of opium in other countries. :. The United Ringdom Govemmcnt vvill giv~ their warmest support to any action along these lines. ne hESK.GNT (Trutrslalion from the Fyench) : Does anyone wish to spcak on the report? If no one wishes to speak, 1 put to the vore tht: report of the Third Committee. If there is 110 opposition, 1 ahall regard the report as adopted, subject to thc same interpretation which I gave to the adoption of the previous report. Decis~on; The cot~lUnons Q] the repart were adopted. The meeting rose at 4.05 psn. .~ TwENTIETHPWNARYMEETlldG Friday, 1 February 1946 ut 5.45 ib,g. . _ CONTENTS 37. ,Rerorrd$ion -from the Security ncermug the Appomtment of the Secretary-General of the United Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 38. Appointment of the Se&etary-Gen.eral oftheUnitedNations . . . . . . . . . . . 304 Presideut: Mr. P.-H. SPMK (Belgium) . *3i'. REC~MMENDATDN FROM THE ~ECU- RITYCOUNCILCoNCERNiNGTHEAP- POINTMENT OF THE %RETARY- GENERAL OF TEIE UNSTEDNATLONS The PRESIDENT (Trunslution from thr Ftcnch) : On 31 January 1946, 1 received the following letter from the Prizident of the &crk rity council: “1 have the honour to inform you that the Security Council on 29 January 1946 decided to recommend to the General Asrembly that His Excellency Mr. Tr$ve Lie be appointed Secretary-General of the Unitcd Nations.” 1 call upos Mr. Makin, rcpresentativc of Ans- ‘tIaliR. Mr. MAKSN (Australk): .It givea me very great pleasure;as Preaident of the Security Gouncil, to support the nomination of His ExceIlency Mr. Trygve Lie, Foreign Minister of Norway, as Secrctmy-Geuergl of th.e Unlted Nations Organizaticn Under the Charter, as you ail know, the Secretary-General is appointed by the General Aa. sembly ,upon the rccommendation of the Secuity Council. New, t?zz Security Council bas not mcrdy recommen ded Iiqnhas the appointment of ML manimoudy recommended hii ap -pohment. This unanimity among permanent ad nonpermanent membera of the Security +-il 5, 1 submit, of great importance, parkularly l;d regards the appointment of the 6rsr Sf-wy-Gentrd. It is highly desimble that the Pe~nwhoisappointultothirveryhigho5ce