S/PV.1080 Security Council

In accordance with the decision previously reached, l shall invite the representatives of Madagascar, Tunisia, Portugal, Liberia and Sierra Leone to take places at the Council table. At the invitation of the President. Mr. Albert Sylla (Madagascar). Mr. Mongi Slim (Tunisia). Mr. Vasco V. Garin (Por.tugal). Mr. Rudolph Grimes (Liberia) andMr. John Karefa.-Smart (Sierra Leone) tookplaces atthe CQuilCil table.

The Security Council has consenied toconsider today a letter of 13 November 1963 '[S/54601, submitted for itsattention by a large number of African countries, concerning a question which is near our hearts and which is understandably causing increasing anxiety to our broth,ers and friends. 3. l refer to the situation in the 'Ï'erritories administered by Portugal. That. country, in spite. of the lessons taught by the recent history of the development of· relations between colonlzed and cblonizing peoples and the expHmations which it has received, feigns .ignorance of the heed to comply with the soleron Declaration contained in resolution 1514 (XV) on the grantihg of independence to colonial countries and. peoples, adopted by·the General Assembly on 14 December1960,from which l quote the following: " . . • theprocess of liberation is irresistible and irreversible and ... , in arder to. avoid· serious crises, .an end IllU$t be put tocolonialism and aIl practices •of segregation and discrimination associated therewith." 4. This question is very familiar to the Council because it has already been debated at length both in the .General Assembly .•and in this. chamber. It is therefore. not my intention to recall aIl the discussions which have ta.ken place andall the decisions adopted. 1 would simply reIllind members that after examining the .situationin the Territories administered by Portùgal'as the representativesOf thirty-two African States .••·hadpresented it at that time, the. Security Gouncilat;lqptèd. on 31 July 1963,!./ the resolutionwhich statesthat tb.e situation in the Territories in question II Official R~cor.dsonb!'!~curityCouncil, Eighteenth Year,Supplem~ntJ~r Jùly,AIJWtstanciSeptèrrib~r196~,document5/5380. establi6.i'~d political institutions, and finally to grant independence, immediately thereafter, to all the Territories under its administration in accordance with the aspirations of the peoples. 1! 5. In paragraph 7 the Security Council: "Reo,uests the Secretary-General to ensure the implementa.tion ofthe provisions ofthis resolution, tofurnisb such assistance as he may deemnecessary... " Underhismandate, the Secretary-General, to whom my delegation is happy to pay tribute for his devotion and his faith in the virtues of direct dialogue as a means of bringing the peoples of the world together, arranged for the initiation of talks between the African States and Portugal. On behalf of my delegation, r sMuld like to thank him for his good offices and for his courteous mediation. 6. Contacts were thus established between, on the one . hand, the representatives ofthe AfricanStates, namely, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, and Madagascar, the Ministers for External Affairs of Nigeria and Tanganyika, and the Permanerit Representatives of Ghana, Guinea, and Morocco to the United Nations, and, on the other hand, Portugal, in the person of its Minister for Foreign Affairs accompanied by a number of high officiaIs and experts. 7. As you know, in spite of the goodwill which we showed, these contacts-and the Malagasy delegation deplores the fact-were not crowned with success for, in the words of the statement issued by the Aft'ican Group on 6 November 1963, Portugal had "nothing new to show with regard to the basic principles governing its colonial pcHicy" . 8. For uS Africans, therecan be no constructive and realistic dialogue except in the context of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) and of the Security Council resolution of 31 JÙ1y 1963. The dialogue must lead to the creation of the necessary cOnditions for direct negotiations between Portugal a.nd genuine representatives of the peoples under its administration with a view to' the attaiIUnent of their ind~pendence. 9. The A-frican States consider that togrant selfdetermination to the peoples of Angola, Mozambique and so-èalled Portuguese Guinea means to grant them the right to decide freely themselves the form of government which they desire for their respective Territories and the nature' of their new ties with Portugal. 10. Portugal' s co~ceptionof self-determination was defined thus by that country' s Minister'for Foreign Affairs: "Frankly, Portugal was opposed to a certain con- .cept ofself-determination which fs predetermin~d 11. In addition, Portugal stated thàt it was considermg the possibility of a plebiscite withl\n nlitional franiework,to enable the people to expr.ess their viewsonthe Government's overseas pplicy. 12. IIi theview of mydelegation, in keeping with the mandate entrusted to it by the thirty-two African States meeting at Adr.lis AbabaY , Portugal must take the necessary measures to bring about the immediate implElmentatlon of the. Declaration on the granting of independence tocolonial countries andpeoples. 13. There can be no question of our taking the place of the authentic representatives of the Territories. IIi 9l.lX view, Portugal cannotandmustnôtignore them but 'should, on the Gontrary, embark on direct talks with thèm. as :i:'apidlyas possible, withïil the Africa.'1framework anci not within anautdated national framework. BYitsin.transige~ceand its systematicrefusaltoface reâlities,Portugal thus compelledthe representatives .9fthe Africanstates to break off the talks. 14. Dothese contactsmean for Portugal that it must . Illaintain the status quo? 1 certainly hope not. On the contrary, it is highly· desirable that Portugal should begin .by .proving to us-and 1 stress, should begin by pr0ving ta us--its good intentions by implemérttingthe .recommendations contained in the Security Council résol\1tion of 31 July 1963. 15..•.. Portugalshould first, recognize that, like aIl the peoples oUhe world, those underitsadministrationin Africa and elsewhere ardently desire the abolition of coloniaUsm in aIl its manüestations and accession to indepeMe.ncEl in accordance with the. provisions of the lJnitectNations Charter; secondly, putanimmediateend to all.arIlieda(ltion and to aU repressive measures, of whateyer land; ·directed against dependent. peoples; ".thir<HY,. solemnly declare that.the patriotsof Angola, l\1:Qzalllbique, so-calledPortuguese. Quinea .and the ()tllerTerritoriesstillunderits administration are not rElbèls·but vaUd spokesmen aware oftheirresponsibility before history;and fourthly, proclaim its firm intention to enter inta a di:rect dialogue with the nationalïsts of the dependent Territories. 16. . Forthatpu:rpdse, the Malagasy delegation will notdElny portllgal its goodoffices-in sofar,naturally, aS. its mediation isrequested along with that of its African . partners-to facilitate the resumption of negotiations with theAiricanpatriots ofthe Territories UJlcier Portllguesè administration. . llSullunit (JoIlferenceof Independent Mri~n Stat'Js. held in Addis Ababà from22 to 25 May 1963. 18. The time has come when the neoessary realistic decisions must be taken to see that the Charter is respeeted, however difficultand painfulthese decisions may be. 19. We might envisage such concrete measures as a new soleron· appeal to Portugal for the immediate cessation of hOstilities against the nationalists, the liberation of an persons imprisoned for politioal reasons, and tlie initiation of talks with the aathentic representatives of the populations of the Ter,ritories still under Portuguese rule. 20. In addition, aU States could be requested to put an immediate end to the· delivery of weapons llsed against thepatriots of the dependentTerritories who have committed no other crime than that of believing in the dignity of man, in freedom and in equality. 21. In acting thus, the Security Council wiU restore to millîons of justice-lovingand peace-iovJi.ng human beings their faith in the United Nations •and in the 'unchangeable principles on which it is based. 22. Mr.KAREFA-SMART(Sierra Leone): TherBport of the Seoretary-General which ls before us [S/5448 and Add.I-3] contains the record of the steps which he was able to take, as requested by theSecurity Council to.ensure the implemeJ:ltation ofthe resolution of 31 July '1963 whichwas the result of theCouncil's meetings last July côncerning the territo:ries under Portuguese admini~tration in Africa. 23. Talks which began· in the presence of thé Secretary-General.between representatives of AfricaJ:l States and the Foreigb. Minister of Portugal yielded no positiv&.l'esults,according to the report, because, at the very beginning, the ForeignMinister of Portugal emphasized that his Government could'only interpret theright of self-determination....,the granting of which by Portügal to the territories under its administration in"Africa'was the primary objective of the resolution of the SecurityCouncil-in a manner whièhwas .entirelyunacceptable to the Africa~ States. 24. l'he Foreign Ministers of Liberia and Tunisia have already fullyexplained why the Portuguese interpretation is unacceptable to us, and Mr. Grimes partiClùarly has shown beyond any possible doubt how the POsition of t,he African States rests solidly on the historical development of the idea and the principle of self-determinati\Jn as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in aU subsequentconsiderationsby the various organs of the United Nations on~ the "It wa.s shown '" that for the African delegates the concept (of self-determination) would only be vaUd if ,circumstances were brought about which w01.l1d ,", in~vitably achieve the predetermined results .they intended,andonlythose. In other words, it was indicated,. without any doubt, that to the African people" self"'determination would only be valid ft resulted in the removal and destruction of the struct1.lre of the Portuguese nation, under terms establishedby the Mrican group." prêsent~ inévitablement les y l'ind,épendance. c'est peuple de fère tannique ment être 31. What the African States wish to emphasize and would ask the Security Council in. any resolution adopted to state precisely is that in the exercise of self-determination, no choice should be excludedand 1 wish to emphasize that phrase. To exclude the possibility that the people of Angolamightoftheir own free will choose to become a free, sovereign and independent State, is to predetermine and to railroad the results, two accusations levied by the Foreign Minister of Portugal against the African representatives, but accusations which more accuratelydescribe ·wh:at he and his Government are trying to do. 31. et préciser que, choix ces la souveraineté le sations Portugal mais lui-même 32. If the Foreign Minister of Portugal is prepared, here and now, to declare solemnly to the Security Council that any plebiscites which his Government plans toconduct in the African territories will include a question offering thè clear alternative of beconling free and sovereign States, that such plebiscites will only be conducted after an opportunity has been given for free explanation by African leaders ofthe possible alternatives and under the impartial observation of interested friends bath of Portugal and of the African natianalist leaders, then theAfricanStates stand ready, as they have always been, to offer any assistance which they can give to bring about a peaceful and orderly transformation in accordance with thefreelyexpressed wish of the people in the territories under consideration. 32. est lement que les territoires Etats déroulera l'occasion sibles partiale leaders seront à pour née habitants 33. In the absence of auch an assurance from the Government of Portugal, my colleagues and 1 have no alternative but respectfully to urge the Security Council again to demand from Portugal full compliance with the terms of the resolution of 31 July, as is expected of a Member of the United Nations, and to request the Secretary-Gelleral to do everything that he can to bring about such a compliance. It would be a major contribution towards the lessening of tensions on the African continent if the meetings of the Reads of African States in June 1964 could be held with the knowledge that the Secretary-General has been able to report to the Security Council considerable progress on the implementation of the Security Council resolutions on the question of territories under Portuguese administration in Africa. 33. nement pouvons sécurité conforme du l'Organisation Secrétaire cet réunir. Secrétaire des résolutions cains rait africain.

1 have no other speakers inscribed on the list for this afternoon. :As 1 said the other day, there will be a meeting of the General Assembly Monday morning. Therefore, if there is no 34. plus je séance CAMEROON/CAMEROUN: LIBRAIRIE DU PEUPLE AFRICAIN tG Gèrante, 8. P. 1197. Yaoundè. DIFFUSION INTERNATIONALE CAMEROUNAISE DU LIVRE ET DE LA PRESSE, Sangmelim., CONGO (Léopoldvme): INSTITUT POLITIQUE CONGOLAIS, B, P. 2307, Leopoldville, ETHIOPIA/ÉTHIOPIE: INTERNATIONAL PRESS AGENCY, P.O, Box 120, Addis Ab.ba. GHANA: UNIVERSITY BOOKSHOP University College of Ghana. Legon. Accra. KENYA: THE E.S.A. eOOKSPfOP, Bolt 30167, Nairobi. !-IBYA/L1BYE: SUDKI EL JERBI (BOOKSELLERS) P. O. Box 78, Istiklal Street. Benghazi. MOROCCO/MAROC: AUX BELLES IMAGES 281 Avenue Mohammed V. Rabat. NIGERIA/NIGfRIA: UNIVERSITY BOOKSHOP (NIGERIA) LTD University College, Ibadan. NORTHERN RHODESIA/RHODÉSIE DU NORD: J. BELDING. P. O. Box 750, Mufulira. NYASALAND/NYASSALAND: BOOKERS (NYASALAND) LTD. LOlltyre House. P. O. Box 34. Blantyre. SOUTH AFRICA/AFRIQUE OU SUD: VAN SCHAIK'S BOOK STORE (PTY.) LTD. Church Street. Box 724. Pretoria. TECHNICAL BOOKS (PTY.) LTD., Faraday HQuse P. O. Box 2866. 40 St. George's Street. Ci'lpe Town. SDUTHERN RHODESIA/RHODÉSIE DU SUD: THE BOOK CENTRE. First Street. Salisbury, TANGANYIKA: DAR ES SALAAM BOOKSHOP p~ O. Box 9030. Dar es Salaam. UGANDA/OUGANDA: UGANOA aOOKSHOP. P. O. Box 145. Kampalà. UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC/RÉPUBLIQUE ARABE UNIE: LIBRAIRIE "LA RENAISSANCE D'ÉGYPTE" 9 Sh. Adly Pasha. Cairo. AL NAHDA. EL ARABIA BOOKSHOP 32 Abd·el·Khalek Sarwart St., Cairo. ASIA/ASIE BURMA/BIRMANIE: CURATOR. GOVT. 800K DEPOT. Rangoon. CAMBODIA/CAMBODGE: ENTREPRISE KHMÉRE DE LIBRAIRIE Imprimerie & Papeterie. S.-à R. L•• Phnom·Penh. CEYLON/CEYLAN: LAKE HOUSE BOOKSHDP Assoc. Newspapers of Ce}'lon, P. O. 80x 244. Colombo. CHINA/CHINE: THE WORLD BOOK COMPANY, LTD. 99 Chung King Road. lst Section. Taipeh. Taiwan. THE COMMERCiAL PRESS, LTD. 211 Honan Road. Shanghai. HONG KONG/HONG.KONG: THE SWINDON BOOK COMPANY 25 Nathan Road. Kowloon. INDIA/INDE: ORI ENT LONGMANS Bombay. Calcutta. Hyderabad. Madras & New DelhL OXFORD BOOK & STATIONERY C;)MPANY Calcutta & New Delhi. INDONESIA/INDONÉSIE: PEMBANGUNAN, LTD. Gv.nung Sahari 84, Djakarta. JAPAN/JAPON: MARUZEN COMPANY. LTD. 6 Tori·Nichome. Nihonbashi, TokYo. KOREA (REP. OF)/CORÉE (RÉP. DE): EUL.YOO PUBLISHING CO" LTD. 5. 2·KA. Chongno. Seoul. PAKiStAN: THE PAKISTAN CO·OPERATIVE BOOK SOCIETY Dacca. East Pakistan. PU8L1SHERS UNITED. LTD., Lahore. THOMAS & THOMAS. Kar~chi. PHILIPPINES: PHILIPPINE EDUCATION COMPANY, INC. 1104 Castillejos. P. O. 80x 620. Quiapo. Manila. POPUlAR BOOKSTORE, 1573 Dorotea Jose. Manila. SINGAPORE/SINGAPOUR: THE CITY BOOK STORE. LTD•• CoUyer Quay. . THAILAND/THAïLANDE: PRAMUAN MIT, LTD. 55 Chakrawat Raad. Wat Tuk, Bangkok. NIBOND!{ & CO" LTD. New Road. Sikak Ph;'D Sri. 8angkok. SUKSAPAN PANIT Mansion 9. Rajadamnern Avenue. Bangkok. VIET·NAM (REP. OF)/VIÊT.~AM (RÉP. DU): LIBRAIRIE·PAPETERIE XUAN THU 185. rue Tu·do, 8. P. 283. Saigon. Import·Expo~t Division. Terazije 16/1.. Beograd. LATIN AMERICA/ AMÉRIQUE LATINE ARGENTINA/ARGENTINE: SUDAMERICANA. S. A•• BOLIVIA/BOLIVIE: lIBRERIA Casilla 972. La Paz. LOS AMIGOS DEL lIBRO Calle Perû esq. Espaf'ia. BRAZIL/BRÉSIL: L1VRARIA Rua México 98·B, Caixa Rio de Janeiro. LIVRARIA FREITAS BASTOS, Caixa Postal 899. Rio de LIVRARIA KOSMOS EOITORA Rua Rosario 135/137. Rio EUROPE ~~i~~~~~~L~ELPAcfFICO Ahumada 57. Santiago. lIBRERIA IVENS,Casilla COLOMBIAICOLOMBIE: lIBRERIA AMERICA. Calle LIBRERIA BUCHHOLZ Av. Jiménez de Quesada COSTA RICA: IMPRENTA Apartado 1313. San José. AUSTRIA/AUTRICHE: GEROLD & COMPANY. Graben 3I; Wien, l. GEORG FROMME & CO•• Spengergasse 39. Wien. Y. BELGIUM/BELGIQUE: AGENCE ET MESSAGERIES DE LA PRESSE, S. A. 14,22, rue du Persil. Bruxelles. BULGARIA/BULGARIE: RAZNOizNOS l, Tzar Assen. Sofia. Orders and inquiries from countries where sales agencies have not yet beenestablished Sales Section, United Nations, Palais Les C'ùmmandes et demandes de renseignements é'!lanant de pays où il n'existe ONU. New York (E.·U.)~ ou à la Section des