A/38/PV.84 General Assembly

I now call on the Rapporteur of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, Mr. Mohamed Farouk Adhami, to present the report of the Special Committee. 2. Mr. ADHAMI (Syrian Arab Republic), Rapporteur of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples: I have the honour to present to the General Assembly the report of the Special Committee covering its work during 1983 [A/38/23]. The report, which relates, inter alia, to item 18 ofthe agenda, is submitted in accordance with paragraph 12 of resolution 37/35, by which the Assembly requested the Special Committee to continue to seek suitable means for the immediate and full imple- Hlentation of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), containing the Declaration on the Granting of Independ- ence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, in all Territories that have not yet attained independence and, in particu- lar, to formulate specific proposals for the elimination of the remaining manifestations of colonialism. 3. An account of the Special Committee's examination of the situation in individual Territories is set out in chapters VIII to XXVIII of the report. An account of its consideration of the other specific items referred to it in the relevant General Assembly resolutions is set out in chapters I to VII. 4. Having met between May and September and held both official and unofficial consultations among members throughout the period, the Special Committee gave ade- quate consideration to, and submitted recommendations on, all the items on its agenda. S. In the course of its work during the year, the Special Committee, bearing in mind in particular the specific request addressed to it by the General Assembly in reso- lution 37/35, reviewed the implementation of the Decla- ration, as well as the various United Nations resolutions relating to the remaining Territories. On the basis of the review, and in the light of developments, the Committee for'llulated recommendations for the application of fur- ther measures by States, by competent United Nations organs and by specialized agencies and other organiza- tions within the United Nations system, with a view to NEW YORK accelerating the pace of decolonization and to facilitating the political, economic, social and educational advance- ment: of the peoples concerned. 6. During the year, the Special Committee continued its study of the activities of foreign economic and other interests whiCh are impeding the implementation of the Declaration in Namibia and in all other Territories under colonial domination and efforts to eliminate colonialism, apartheid and racial discrimination in southern Africa. 7. In the light of the relevant decisions and resolutions of the Assembly's thirty seventh session, the Special Com- mittee continued its consideration of the military activi- ties and arrangements by colonial Powers in Territories under their administration which might be impeding the imp!ementation of the Declaration. 8. Further, under the terms of the relevant provisions of resolution 37/32, the Committee continued its exam- ination of the implementation of the Declaration by the specialized agencies and the international institutions associated with the United Nations. 9. On all these items, the Fourth Committee has en- dorsed the related recommendations of the Special Com· mittee, on which the Assembly will take action at its meeting tomorrow. 10. As members will have noted from the relevant chap- ters of the Special Committee's report, the Committee also devoted considerable attention during the year to the decolonization of the small Territories and approved a number of concrete recommendations and proposals con- cerning individual Territories. The Fourth Committee also approved these recommendations, which I hope will be endorsed fully by the Assembly tomorrow afternoon. 11. In the same connection, the Special Committee once again noted with satisfaction the continued readiness of the administering Powers to receive visiting missions of the Committee. It is the firm view of the Committee that these missions constitute an invaluable method of secur- ing first-hand information on the situation prevailing in the Territories concerned, as well as on the aspirations of the people regarding their future. 12. Within the context of the question of the list of Ter- ritories to which the Declaration is applicable, the Com- mittee took up separately an item entitled "Special Committee decision of 4 August 1982 concerning Puerto Rico". In this regard, the Committee, following the hearing granted to representatives of a number of organ- izations, took a decision on the item [ibid., chap. [, para. 67], in which it, inter alia, reaffirmed the inalienable right of the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination and independence in conformity with General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) and the full applicability of that resolution with respect to Puerto Rico. 13. Finally, the Special Committee carried out a number of other tasks entrusted to it by the General Assembly in various resolutions, as well as those arising from its own previous decisions, including specific activities relat- ing to the questions of the publicity to be given to the work of the United Nations in the field of decolonization. 14. Subject to any directive it may receive from the Assembly in this connection, the Special Committee 72. In the political declaration adopted at the meeting of the Political Consultative Committee of the States Parties· to the Warsaw Treaty held at Prague on 4 and 5 January this year, the States parties reaffirmed their conviction that "it is essential, in the interest of remov- ing the causes of many conflicts, to eliminate once and for all every vestige of colonialism and racism, and to renounce the policy of neo-colonialism, oppression and exploitation of other peoples" [see A/38/67]. Therefore the speediest possible implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples must be pursued as a matter of the highest priority. Hence, the Plan of Action for the Full Imple- mentation of the Declaration adopted by the General Assembly in resolution 35/118, must be put into eff<.:ct without delay.

Most of the Members of the United Nations have felt the effects of colonialism, as colonizers or as colonized. The states of the United States began their history as colonies, like the other nations of this hemisphere. Ours was one of the modern world's first struggles for independence. Between 1775 and 1783 the 13 colonies from New Hamp- shire to Georgia fought a war of independence against the nation that has since become our close ally, the United Kingdom. We also had a brief experience with being a colonial Power when, at the end of the nineteenth cen- tury, the United States acquired a small number of territorial possessions, the most populous of which, the Philippines, acceded to independence in 1946. 74. I began with these brief comments upon the extremes of the United States experience with colonialism because I hope that they illustrate one basic fact, often lost amidst the highly charged ideological posturing on the matter to which we are too frequently subjected here. That fact is that the United States has close political, cultural and human ties with both the colonizer of our experience, the United Kingdom, and the colonized, the Philippines. Although both experiences left scars not easily healed, in each instance those statesmen who saw the irr.;>ortance of the mutual ties created during the colonial era tri- umphed over those who sought to perpetuate prejudices born of the colonial e:~perience. 75. This, then, is the first critical question which both colonizers and those who have been decolonized should ask themselves as we emerge from the first modern colo- nial era. Should we allow those nostalgic for an earlier era, or demagogues anxious to prey upon the resent- ments of the past conflicts, to prevent the construction of healthy relationships? Or should we take advantage of the common overlapping languages and destinies provided by the colonial period? Countries throughout Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean and Pacific have answered these questions with the Commonwealth, the Lome accords and a variety of associative statuses. I believe experience shows overwhelmingly that those countries which seek to build upon the ties of the past rather than annihilate th~m are enjoying the highest rates of economic growth and have the best opportunities for the bright social and economic future their peoples seek. penden~ Brunei, with a population of 147,000. New Zea- land has one, with a population of 1,572. The fourth member of this band of "reactionary imperialists", Australia, has one, with a population of 546. The only other so-called Territories on the list are East Timor, Western Sahara and Namibia, of which only Namibia retains a colonial character. 77. So, excepting Namibia, we are talking about a "vast" colonial empire retained by the "imperialist coun- tries led by the United States" with a total population of 519,118 throughout the world. This is, by way of comparison, about two thirds of the population of Lat- via's capital of Riga, occupied by the Soviet Union in the wake of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, and approxi- mately the population of metropolitan Kabul, Afghani- stan, occupied by the Soviet army against the will of a people struggling to re-establish its independence. 78. In view of these numbers, which reflect the reality of the winding-down of the first colonial era, why is it that the Soviet Union and its allies continue to prattle on about the "imperialists"? The Soviet Union is, as we know, the only contemporary empire with areas of the world firmly integrated into it. But colonialism is out- dated. Peoples in our times desire to govern themselves. The winds of freedom which swept over Africa and Asia after the Second World War have also swept over Eastern Europe in the last three decades. But while the countries of the West responded in the areas they controlled by granting independence to countries whose combined pop- ulation now exceeds a billion people, the Soviet Union responded by maintaining, and in some cases strengthen- ing, its mechanisms of repression. By fomenting the illusion, with relentless propaganda and name-calling, that there is a vast Western-dominated empire, the Soviet Union seeks to distact attention from its own manifestly imperial conduct in Europe and elsewhere. The Soviet Union has realized that appeals to anti-colonialism pro- vide it with a rallying cry in this forum, under the cover of which it seeks to build majorities for whatever anti- Western cause it is pushing at the moment. It is thus crucial for Soviet purposes here to sustain the image of a larger-than-life "imperialist" menace for its own pur- poses, having nothing to do with the welfare of the world's half-million people, again excepting Namibia, living under colonial administration. 79. The draft resolutions which we are to consider are an excellent illustration of the phenomenon I have been describing. Let us first consider the draft resolutions which the Fourth Committee has passed on to the plenary Assembly. The report on foreign economic interests is a demagogic attack upon multinational companies under the guise of an appeal for independence for Namibia and other Territories. I doubt that more than a handful of countries in this body would allow its shrill, distorted characterization of the activities of multinational corpo- rations to affect their own relations with these companies. The accompanying report on military facilities allegedly impeding independence of colonial Territories is a gra- tuitous, one-sided attack upon Western defence installa- tions, with the most transparently feeble link to the WO. It is urgently necessary for the United Nations and its competent organs to take the measures provided for in the Charter to thwart the efforts of the United States to turn Micronesia into its own colonial possession. It is essential to guarantee the unimpeded exercise by the people of Micronesia of its right to genuine freedom and independence. 101. In this connection, I should like to touch on the remarks of the previous speaker, who tried to introduce issues wholly unrelated to the problem we are discussing, which is the implementation of the Declaration on decolo- nization. Our delegation rejects these attempts to divert the Assembly from the important questions of substance which it must resolve. Despite the arguments advanced by some, resolution 1514 (XV) is fully applicable to all the colonial and Non-Self-Governing Territories, and it is a most important obligation of the United Nations to ensure the use of all possible ways and means to guarantee to the colonial peoples the opportunity to exercise their inalienable rights to self-determination and independence. 102. In conclusion, our delegation pays a tribute to the Special Committee for the immense amount of work done under the leaderhip of the representative of Sierra Leone,· Mr. Koroma. Our delegation hopes that the Special Com- mittee will in the future continue to make it~ significant contributions to ensuring the full implementai.ion of the Declaration on decolonization. t~nate in giving independence to all the remaining colonial Territories? 127. The answers to all these questions are known to the international community. The blame should be appor- tioned-and rightfully so-to those who bear the com- plete responsibility for this state of affairs; imperialism and the imperialist States. The responsibility is theirs to bear, and no one can, at this stage, absolve them of it. 128. It has often been said that colonialism is an anach- ronism in the present-day world. It is not this designation of the phenomenon that is to be condemned, but rather those forces which today sustain that anachronism and which covertly and overtly defy the right to self-deter- mination and independence of colonial countries and peoples. 129. The United Nations, the international community and the world as a whole must not and cannot compro- mise either with the principle of, or the right of colonial countries and peoples to, self-determination and inde- pendence. This certainly does not come very close to endorsing terror and murder, as one of the preceding speakers said today. It actually comes closer to endorsing the inalienable right of colonial peoples to self-determi- nation and independence and entitling them, in the face of adamant racist, colonialist and imperialist opposition, to achieve that right by using all the means at their disposal. 130. As a member of long standing of the Special Com- mittee, my country, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, has always made and will continu.e to make its contribu- tion to the immediate and unconditional implementation The meeting rose at 12.55 p.m. NOTE JSee Report of the International Conference in Support of the Struggle ofthe Namibian Peoplefor/ndependence, Paris, 25-29April 1983 (A/CONF.120/13), part three.