S/PV.1081 Security Council

In accordance with the previous decisions of the Council, 1 shaH invite the representatives oÏ Madagascar, Tunisia, Portugal, Liberia and Sierra Leone to take places at the Council table. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Albert Sylla (Madagasoar), Mr. Mongi Slim (Tunisia), Mr. Franoo Nogueira (pprtugal), Mr. Rudolph Grimes (Liberia) and Mr. John Karefa-Smart (Sierra Leone) tookplaoes at the Counoil table.

The first speaker inscribed on my list for thisafternoon is the Foreign Minister of Po:rtugal, to whom 1 shaH now give the floor.

Mr. President, l wish to express to you and to the Council, through you, my appreciation of the opportunity which wasgiven to my delegation to participate in this debate and of the invitation which was ~lxtended to that effect. 4. There was a time when a meeting of the Security Council would draw the attention of public opinion everywhere. There was a time when the mere convenmg of the Security Council would arouse the anxieties and the expectations and the interest of the whole world. There was a time when a meeting of this Council would be regarded with great fears by sorne, with great hopes by others, with great r~spect bY aU. Such a time is no more. But the fact that such a time is no more should be for aH of us a matter of regret. It should also be a thought-provoking matter because it seems essential that we should find out what brought about this unfortunate situation. 5. The answer to this question, in my view, does not lie very far or very deep. If we look at the record of the 8ecurity Council during 1963, we shaH find the answer there. ,It is enough to recaH that this very afternoon, the Security Council is holdingits fifty-fifth meeting this year. Of these fifty-five meetings, the Council devoted forty-three to problems which were not related in any way to questions for which the Council was givenspecific competence by the Charter. That is to say, the Council has devotedforty-three meetings to problems other than those ofpeace and s~(}u:rity. . This is serious enough. But what ts more serious casts a dark shadow on the future of this Organi- 8. The Council has erected an ivory tower and apparently enjoys living in it because it is easy, and more pleasant to live there than to be obliged to deal with the hard facts of life. AIso, 1 submit that it is safer becausethe Counci1, by acting as it does. is sure not to touch upon or to offend the interests of the powerful. while the weak sustain the costs. 8.. heureux plus vie. en intérêts 9. de mêmes, nous comprenons en car de sait sont l'ONU de respect plus 9. What 1 am saying may be unpleasant and some of us May not like it. But in oui'hearts, and li we consult our innermost thoughts, we aU know that what 1 am saying.is the truth. If wefail ta realize it, li we refuse to face the truth. then at least let us not deceive ourselves, because world public opinion is very much aware of these facts and we may be sure that mankind is also very much aware of the fact that its real problems are left behind or brushed aside by the Seeurity Council-indeed by the United Nations. And tbis has only brought harm to the prestige of the Organization. to its effectiveness. to its authority. to tbe respect which it should command, but does not any more, in the world at large. 10. principaux l'Organisation naux semblée 10. Those who use and misuse this Council have to bear the greater part of the responsibility, as well as tbose who by-pass the Organization when it comes to their vital national interests which they are not willing to hand over to the General Assembly for decisions by the majority. 11,_ raisons notre convoquer ou en bien Secrétaire délais par réuni maintenant, 11. Once again thisCouncil is meeting, and once again it meets for reasons which substantiate the views which 1 have just outlined. We find only two Possible reasonsfor convening the Counci!. at the present moment. One could be the need 01' the desire to consider the report·of the Secretary-General of 31 October 1963 [S/5448 and Add.1-3]; the other. the request of the African countries[S/5460]. Now.the Secretary-General duly presented his report within the time prescribed. and if the Council has been prompted by the urge to consider that document, tben it shoùld have met at once; but it did not. It is meeting a month and a half later. 12. We have to rea.ch the conclusion. therefore, that the Council has been convened to meet the demands 12. a 13. The firstpart of the statement of the Foreign Mbûster of Liberia was devoted to extensive quotations from the report of the Secretary-General, and ta this,·of course, nO objection canbe raised.. But then he' went on to refer.to paragraph 13(~) of theSecretary-Gèneral's report andtothereference to "people", andheinferred that the word was used by us to refer to Eui'opeans only. and not to Africans. Ido not know how he reached such an interpretation, but in any case 1 Wish ta deny and to state categoricaIly' that the word' "people"means aIl the population, aIl the inMbitants, irrespective of everything elase. -,- . ~ 14. Then Ml'. Grimes dealt at great length with Chapter XI and Article 73 of the Charter. The Foreign Minister of Liberia seems to be very keen on this point, and in July 1963 [1040th meeting] he· devoted a large part of hisstatement to this same subject. 1 canassure the Council that 1 myself could speak :f"orendless hours on Article 73, but 1 believe it would beentirely .useless and entirely iinmaterial because the .' proble:m does not l'est any more. with the interpr~tatio~ ()f Article 73 of the Charter, and 1 will therefore confine myself to two remarks. 15. Firstofall, when the ForeignMinister ofLiberia stated that .."it would be ridiculous; almost bordering on the.' absurd, even to think that aIl of the other administèring Powers are wrong and only Portugal is right",he kneW thathe was stating somethingwhich iS.not accurate. He knows that Portugal, when admitted to>the Dnit(ild· Nations, placed on Article 73 precisely thesamè înterpretation as did the vast majority of the .Asselllbly. .In fact, portugal merely went along with theothers, and did not have its own individual interpretation. This is a fact which Ml'. Grimesknows; itis.a fact that no one disputes. 1 wonder why the Foreign MinisterofLiberia persists in ignoring such facts and tries toçonvey the impression that Portugal simply deVis.ed a.special, a peculiar and a tendentious interpretation .of 1tr~lé~7.3 for ulterior motives, as opposed to the Interpretation given by everyone else'. 'fl:11sisnot so, ll.Ild 1 hope that this is the last timl~ tO!1t.IllYdelegation hasto make this point. 16•• My second.relllark is thefoIloWing. A discussion of. Article 73 could lead toa fine legal d.6oate, but Article 73.b!1s~become a ghost, and a ratheroldfashioned. ghost at that, bec!1use everyone ignores it an~' brushes .ft. aside~ In' tbe .opinion •of" the represelltat!ve of Lilleria,Portugaldisrespects ft, and the Asser.nbly itselfhas. by-passed Article .73 and has adopted -resolutions whichin fact beaJ.' ho connexion wi~h .that .provision and which abrogate it. Finally, even if we are alone in our view-which is Dot the case"':'are we not entitledto have our own ·beliefs and oPinions? 18. invité théorique crètes prévoit la des philosophie Toute remise l'Assemblée les mais censées 18. This is very serious because the Council will be called upon to deal in abstractterms with a theoretical and political problem. not with concrete questions of peace and security, as is provided by the Charter. If. therefore, we have to follow the line which the Foreign Minister of Liberia seems to have in mind, then the philosophy inspiring the United Nations will have to be revised. The whole structure of the Organization would have to be reconsidered and, in fact, we would be placing·the solution of political proble:ms not in the General Assembly by means of recommandations,but in the Security Council whose resolutions are supposed to be binding andwhichare subject to the veto. 19. a lui-même est paix la s'agit d'un ou viole l'espoir se pas retourne 19. Even the Foreign Minister of Tunisia recognized only last Friday that this Council is mainly responsible for the maintenance of peace and security. not for the solution and definition of political problems. Today, this :may concern Portugal, but tomorrow it may concern Liberia or some other African country, or any other country, small or big. And· when we disregard the law and when we consistently violate it to bring harm to others, in the hope that we will be immune, it always happens that such hopes prove to be fallaciousand that contempt for the process of law does notpay. indeed, it backfires. 20. l'intervention de que de crive exprimé très. de délégations. aveuglément. et plus 20. But l will now turn briefly to the speech of the Foreign Minister of Tunisia. Mr. Slim.'s speechstated in a.nutshell that he regretted that Portugal was not in full agreement with what is requested by some African countries. <Lad that Portugàl does not subscribe one hundred per cent to the views which have been expressed by Tunisia, among others. Indeed, this is very revealing because it clearly shows the frame of mind of the Tunisian delegation. along with others. Their views have to be blind1y accepted. and any other position has no merits whatsoever and should be rejected. l will be making observations on this point later. 21. At the moment, in regard to the statements of the Foreign Minister of Tunisia l merely want to stress a few points. Mr. Slim statedthat"the situation still thl,;>atens international peace and security" [1079th meeting, para. 69]. This is very grave, and l would ask Mr. Slim to supply evidence to substan.. tiate sucha view. Were we to accept Mr. Slim's opinion, then we would have to believe that Portugal isnot only threatening peace and security in Africa. but in the whole world as weIl. l ask this Council: does anyone here sincerely believe. does anyone present honestly believe that Portugal is constantly threatening the peace of the world, that the very security of mankind. indeed, its very survival are· at stake because of Portugal? Does this Council believe that mycountry is more dangerous to· the peace of the world than situations such as those l mentioned at the outset? . 21. quelques Ministre a dit: la 69.] à M. allégation. il faudrait ment du suivante: ment. tinuellement même jeu que monde début 23. __ ButMr. SUm kept referring to it, and he seemed to _be very keen >on it. He made an issue-of it in July last,aIld hehasonce again brought the subjectto the attention_ of the Council. But 1 am sure that Mr. SUin himselfrealizes how poor, -how weak js his argwnent.':ro. match his _grandiose argument thatwe ~ethreateQingthe peace and security of the whole wol'1d,hehasfoundnothing better and nOthing more soUd d\l;rtng> tbese yearsthan to -menti9n the same, Single _incident, >which, afterall. did not _take place. B\lt _this time he added anotheraccusation, that the Portugqese Government plans to sil'lk three ships at the mouth of the Congo River so ~s to obstruct it. 24. Now, Mr. President, this is a mostserious charge and 1 -- do challenge the Foreign Minister of Tunisia to producebeforè this Council, here and now, the re- ~red-evidence to sUbstantiate his charge.1 challenge Mr.SUmto stllte when, where, how and under what form -has the PortugùeseGovernment-or any responsible member -_thereof madé any statement to that effect,officially orotherwise. B,~t the ForeignMinistér--of -Tunisia does -hot seem te' ,~el any limita.tions. He stated: "The situation ••• which has&6ready beencharactelizedasseriously disturbing international peace aIldsecurity, hasonly deteriorated, and gravely son [1079th meeting, para. 76]. AÇa111,tÎûSisaverygi'l1'vestatement. How does the F()reign Minister.of_tunisia propose to prove it? _The sitUaUon _has •bn1yseriously. worsened sinee _when? Andi,n whatway is itworse? Butthegist of the speech bytherepresentative of Tunisia is contained in its last!laragrllph: " "Itisfor the SèeurityCouncil, which haspnmary :t'esponsibility for. the maintenance ofjnternational peace> and _seCUrity, to consider active anli effective measureS whichare likely to bril'lg the Portuguese Qovernmentto •a healthy understanding of its obligationsunder the Charter-•••" [ibid., para. 78J. 25. Here weélearly see the viciouscircle in which s6ttlèwant ta pla~'e_.the_SecurityCouncil. Those who trytodo -so _areperfectly aware thllt theproblem is -political. Therefore,it presented itself as a prob" lemoutside the -scopeof theCouncil. 56 they"just arglled_ that there is a threat to the peace on account ofsuch a pqrelypolitieal problem;and InAhat way theY forcetheCounciltotake noticeofit even though ~o>proof Jsfurnished of anythI'eat to thepeaceand S:~cui'ity. -Perhaps those who devised such aprocedure are' -very .pleaseclwith-It. •But the-world_ at large Is increasinglyawarEl ofhow artificial and tendentious iS'sucha device. 27. As for the statement of Mr. Karefa...Smart. 1 am sure the' Council has noticed the fact that the Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone rejects any responsibility of the African States for the interruption of·the conversations betweentheir representatives and Portugal. And he suggests why: because portugal did not accept the demands which were made. 1 am summingup what the Foreign Ministerstated; lam not quoting him. 28. If this is his view~ then 1 am inclined toagree with him. although we ourselves took no action to suspend the ta.1ks; we certai~ly did notissueany communiqué simUar to that issued by the African Group. 28. être nous-mêmes entretiens; communiqué africain. 29. entre portugal; Secrétaire hommage. devoir. tivité entretiens', Secrétaire 1963 y faites un nous qu'il 29. "During a fortnight there were conversations between the representatives of nineAfrican countries and portugal. Weheld' the talks under the auspices of the Secretary-General, to whose intelligence. sense of duty. tact, unfailing courtesy. impartiality and objectivity 1 am glad to pay tribute. As a result, we have before us the reportwhichthe 8ecretary-General submitted to the Council by 31 October 1963 [S/5448 and Add.1-3]. The report makes extensive and accurate quotations, eUher from statements which were made by my delegation in the course of the conversations, or from a paper which we handed to the 8ecretary";General on some politiCal problems for bis information and use, at his discretion. 30. 1 bring upa.11 these details merely to say that Iconfirm and reiterate herebefore thisCouncil.what my delegation stated. during the ta.lks 1 am referring to. On tbis point the report of the Secretary-Generàl speaks for Uself and there i~ no ne~d for me to go over the same ground llgain.But there. are other aspects of the Octop~r conversations' which are not considered in the report and which my delegation feels necessary to place befora the 8ecurity Council. 30. pour le de taire besoin.de certains n'ont dêlégation au 31. As the CouncU is aware. 1 had the honour to represent my Government at those talks. 1 then suggested .to my African colleagues that we might divide ou:rtalks into three different chapters: first. investigation of conditions prevailing in Portugueseoverseas territories;secondly,questions relatingtopeace lfJld securit-nand thirdly,political problems. That was my suggestion,and that wasalso the priority -1 p:roposed,basedon the fact that many accusations and. IIJ.any allegations against Portugal. level1ed by the African countries, were related to problems pertaining either to the first or to the second groups Qi questionl:1. or to both; and thoseaccusations and allegations, in turn, had a beariIlgon the consideration of political problems. 31. mon suggéré entretiens de mer;· et Tene je et africains tenaient questions, part,. l'exalll~n 32. Therefore, my delegation thought that if we could clearthe ground in respect of the factual conditions eXisting inPortugueseoverseas terI'itories and in regard toquestions· ofpeace and secudty, that would 32. extrêmement de de ·fait 33. 1 have to report to the Council that no interest whatever was shown by the African representatives -at least, suèh wastheir official attitude-in connexionwith these very impOrtanl matters. 1 deeply regret· tohave to say that economic, social, educational' and. political conditions existing in the Portuguese overseas territories raised, no curiosity, stimulated no' desire for investigation on the part of my African colleagues. To he sure, the African nations are, entitled todiscard these questions. But, having refuseQ, to info:rm themselves of the facts, then they are not entitled to make violent and slanderous accusations based on alleged facts whichthey stubbornly refusé toinvestiga~e., 34. "AIso,quest1onsof peace and security were broshedasidé.. and no interest was shown in ascertainingwhethér or not anything in Portuguese territories constitutes a threat to international peace and security.Again,I say that itistherightof the African countries to take such an attitude. But havingcon- Je~ptuously decl1ned to examine such questions, then ~$arenot entitled to COPiehere,beforethis Council, and, throw.at us ,the.accusations which we have. heard. They, are.tnoral1y'andpOlitically prevented from con- ,tlnuing toindulge in making the same allegation: that we ~. a,threat to thepeaceand sec1.11'ity of the world. Enher the Africancountries accept to •consider.,. the pl'()b1ems.and. questions 1 am referring to-or else, they should refrain trom accusing and s1andering Portugal.' . 35., Arid this 1eads meto mention another aspect closely~ed with the, previous ()nes•. The Afric~ de1egatiolls' seem to,believe that they Can •say what théyp1èase, •as theyplease, .when, they please; that theYDlay 'insultin accordance with their whims; that thE;y<~aY"Slanderandhurtusat will and in harmony \Viththeirfanèy; ~andhaving dQne 8011- that, then ,they ~kusformOder-atil)n,unQerstanding anQ co-operation. j\l'0UJldthetable ofthisCouncila measure,()ffor- ~aioanceJUldCo1.11'tesymayhaye prevailed; butin thefloorbelo",.,in theFourthCommi~e,vilifièation .of .:portuga1a.lld.arbitraryIirocedure:have reached a le'Ve1beY9nd)themost fertile imagination. Also. at 'lIl~etingspfinte:rnati()nàl organizatiol.\/3and special1zeQ agencles•• the .I!lost ,offellsive "statementshave ,~n maQe..J\. fe",QaY/3a.go. in: !:Rome~ atthe me~tingof ".~~"iF'~:flJlc:l~gl~culture'.Organi?'ation.·of the ,UJlited N'a.t1Qns.·' a;nMri~delega.tion Qalm1y,.stated, ,and ·serious1yaskedth60the,rst.o believe.tliatthe autho;rio~~siA~ola.wereimpiementlnga.p1anmaccordance .\Vj~'·'Yll.l'chthey '.",ere·.••lQ.l,linganAfricaJlc;hild.eVel'Y l11illuté.P() theM1i.c~<le1ega.tiolls meas\ll'e",hatthey ,say.()rdOthey,thiDkthattheYlll~:vespecia1privi1eges? Ql'tbattb;eiQthel's,,11iJ.ye nl) sellSi~illty? ·'36.iAli'tldsl~Ve1'Y'SeriOus.,but~ha.t!$'m()re sel'i9~s "I~th~lthe ,Airic@. delegatiQns'.•dakn0wthatwhatttéy. ~t~~8.Ild.,tl1ea.c(lUs~4Qnsther1l1I:Ute~renottl'l1e.and .',~;ltthere;is.·:notthel:!lightelilt ,1QuncllltionfQ'1'cthem. ,~P,.Af~can.~eai:t QfstatewhovisiteQtheUnitedNatibns . 'Iiç'~(Jgà.~~EJ"QJIringth(3>cours~ofthep~sentsession 37. This is why those delegations now want to have everything in accordance with their own way. in utter disregard of the views and rights of others. They ask for the respect of the law provided that they are the lawmakers; they calI for the Implementation of the Charter on the condition that they are allowed to amend and alter the· Charter altogether through an endless process of single majority votes. When they speak of peace and security. they mean their peace. they have in mind their security. tenant et la condition un Quand veulent 38. Only a few days age a resolution was adopted by this Council in accordance with the wishes of the African delegations. calling on a Member State to establish a multiracial society. presumably on the assumption that that was the right thing to do. with the United Nations bemg read~ to extend a helping hand. But today in this same Council these very same delegations are accusing Portuguese policy. which i5 based on the very concept of a multiracial society, which we pioneered. as constituting a threat to the peaceand security of the' world. The threat, of course, has not and cannot be proved. but then we still have our ears ringing from the dl'claration made in July last by a member of this COUDcil to the effect that if a threat did not actually exist yeti then the African countries would see to it that such a threat would be created. une tions une c'était Unies au accusent fondée nous une Naturellement, être la du pas en 39. But what l have Just sai4 is only an exarnple. among many others. of the double standard applied by tMs Organization. l do not wish to tax the patience of the Council,but Imay cite afew more instances. The establishment of military camps and bases for the. training of foreigners against Portuguese territories and people is legal andvery muchin accordance with the Charter. Should we permit the same thing to. he doneby the thousands of foreign refugees who cOQtinuously takeshelter in our territories from political persecutionby their Governments. thatwould he illegal and branded as an aggression. Governments rnay .allow their territories to be used freely against us, but if we take any action or measurein selfdefencethat would be aggression; even though such . aQtions or measures might only imply the merewithdrawing of any helpor the cellsingof any co-operation. which at thismoment we may stillbe giving of our own free will without any legal obligations. . 39. parmi l'Organisation pas citer camps d'étrangers tugais Si de nos tiques que Des toire action puissions' s'il une moment. droit. 40. Whatever we do ls wrong if we. do. notbowto foreign imPQsition•. Whatever we do ls insufficientif we donot meet the demandswhich are presented againstus__and then thosedemands changefrom·day today. First. we were told to accept a certain interpretation of Article 73. Thenwe wereaskedtoabide .bysOJ;ne relSolu:tions which violated thatArticle. We 40. notre gère. 'si nous On prétation 41. No objection Can be raised against solidarity and unity for valid and legal objectives. But those principles are being applied and they are used as excuses for other purposes, and li no safety is felt by Africari countries unless there is identity of political structure and development everywhere in Africa, then 1 say that we are following a most dangerous path. Very soon anY republican State may claim to feel threatened wbile there exist monarchies and vice versa. and very soon any human society may claim to feel threatened while there is any other human group organized differently. 1 say aU this just to show the absolute confusion into which this 01'- ganization has been 100 and the dangers that may lay ahead. 42. Speaking before the General Assemblyandbefore this Council, my delegation and myself have had the opportunity, on more than one occasion, to make clear what our overseaspolicy is; 1 shall not repeat it now. However, 1 shaH draw the attention of the Security Council to the report ofthe Secretary-General where new information can be found on Portuguese policy. There we have supplieQ concrete indications of what we are doing and of what we intend to do. We are perfectly aware that others may have other methods, but that is not the question. Forus the"question is whether oU!' methods are legitimate, whether our goals are honourable, whether we are acting in accordance with the best"interests of the people and with their wishes. On aH these points, we have no doubts in our minds. Admittedly, we are not acting in harniony with artüicial slogans, with political expediency, with large and powerful foreign interests which are alien to the continent of Africa but which wish to have a lion's share tna new partition of it. 43. And here 1 should say that the action taken by this Council has not been very helpful either. 1 can assure the Council that it has not actedin accordance with the best interests of the populations concerned, nor has it been instrumental in fulfilling the purposes of the Charter, but rather in preventing and delaying development and progresse But this is a tragedywhich we find aU over Africa. A struggle has been pursued vlith relentless vigour for the sake offurtheringhuman 45. AlI those who know Africa also know that the criteria in the procedures set forth by the United Nations, in recent years, as the only possibility for expression of a vaUd and real self-determination are not justified or realistic. Furthermore, we aU know that there is a close interdependence between the level of economic and social evolution of a human group, and its politicai structure. To do otherwise is to invite chaos or to lay the foundations for the continent d Mrica to come under the ruth1ess rule of a new colonialism of the worst type. 46. It has been suggestedby someMricandelegations that Portugal is not willing to co-operate with the United Nations. Of course, when they speak of coop~r~tjon they simply have in mind any one-sided co-operation which may ensure the concessions they are after in the fulfilment of their goals. However, 1 think it useful to recaU the many forms of cooperation which we have offered to the UnitedNations, so as to set the record straight. 47. Last year when we wholeheartedly accepted the United States proposaI for the appointment of two international rapporteurs with a view to finding out the actual situation in Portuguese overseas territories. the African countries turned dO\"iIl the proposal.- In replying to the Special Committee,}j 'iVe made the following proposaIs: first, that meetingsshouldbe held between the Portuguese Government and the African Governments of contiguous territories; secondly, that matters of common interest should be discussed; thirdly, that non-aggression agreements should he negotiated with the necessary guarantees. On thislast question 1 may point out that it seemed--and indeed it is-very peculiar that coùntries thatclaim to be the victims of alleged aggression should flatly refuse to negotiate a non-aggression pact. Then on 6 June 1963 my Government invited African Governments to send whatever quaUfied representatives or leaders they might name to see for themselves the conditions in thePortuguese overseas territories. On 12 July 1963 those invitations were reiterated and' a frank and constructive dialogue with the interested African countries was suggested in order to clarify the issues and problems of mutual interest. Wereceived no response, we receivedno positive reaction•. Then on 24 J\lly1963 we invited the Foreign Ministers of 11Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implemen... tation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to ColonHû Countries and Peoples. l'appliçationde etaux 48. Then we invited the Secretary-General. or his personal deputy. to go to Lisbon for discussions on certain matters within the competence of the 8ecurity Counc:m. We were happy that this was accepted. As a result of such discussions the 8ecretary-General suggested that conversations should take place at United Nations Headquarters between Portugal and some. African countries. We at once accepted the Secretary-General~s suggestion; As the Council is aware. the African countries decided to break off those talks for reasons of their own. 49. Now. on behalf of my Government, 1 amprepared to make a further offer. As 1 mentioned earlier. accusations are still made against us regarding factual conditions in the Portuguese overseas territories and in respect ofproblems of peaèe and security. which we are alleged to threaten. We want to dispose of such.groundless allegations, andtherefbre 1amhereby inviting the Secretary-Generàl offlcially to go and visît Angola and Mozambique at his discretion and convenience, on the understanding thatwe shall accord to him an facilities required for him to carry out those visits.· 1 do hope that the 8ecretary-General will find his way clear to accepting this invitation, extended.· as it is. in a spirit ofgoodwill, co-operation and goodfaith. '. 50.. Mi'. QUAISON-SACKEY (Ghana): The Foreign Minister of Portugal hal;, trledto playdownthe present ~eeting of the Security Council. As you know. Ml'. 'President. the Council is master of its own agenda and arbiter of its own procedures, and 1 would like you, Sir, as President, to point this outto the Foreign Minister•.that we here cannot be living in an ivory tower. In any case. my delegation is always happy to live in a humble dwelling. andneverinan ivory tower. 51. .As fOr the truculent att'ack against African dele- ,gations.and in particulaI' those of us who took part in.the conversationsWith the Portuguese, we reserve our :t'ights to intervene .at .a later .stage to answer in kin,d. But 1ln,ight say that when we talkabout a multiracial society~ we do not mean that any part of Africa s:hould be part of Portugal. Continental pride alone would neverallow us to accept this Portuguese concept ofamultiracia.1 society. 52. The Co1.1Dcil has before it for consideration a ~eportby the 8ecl'etary..;,General [S/5448 andAdd.I-3] 10110wing the .adoption of the resolution on 31 July 1963.Y Inparagraph 7 of that resolution, this Coùncil ,·requested the Secretary"'General: "••• toensu.re the implementation of the provisions ofthisresolu.tion. to fûrnish such assistance as :he tliay deem necessary and to reportto the Security Council by 31 October 1963". '''y'&tïCÏlil RilCQrds of theSecurityCouncil.Eigt.~eenthYea!.", SUI?: plementlor JUly,. Augu~ and S!lptember 1963.dQcwne(,: S/5380. 55. In spite of all these vague attempts to restrict the "conversations", the representatives of African States feIt that a direct confrontationinthe quiet of the Secretary-General's office and under his auspices would perhaps be rewarding. After all, Portugal, unlike South Africa, had made a gesture, however halfhearted, to respond to the calI of the 8ecurity Council and we feIt that any refusaI on the part of the African States to talk with the Portuguese would be misinterpreted. 56. But, as will be seen in the Secretary-General's report, the talks did not produce the resuIts expected by us. In any case, there is no mention anywhere in the report that the Portuguese authorities have tried to implement the resolution of 31 July, andthe Sl;lcretary-General himself expressed guarded optimism as regards the QonversationS1){;}tween the portuguese representatives and therepresentatives of African States. Of course, for good reasons, my delegation, which was privileged to take part in the conversations with the Portuguese representatives,cannot share even this guarded optimism of the Secretary- General's, at least, not in the light of the Portuguese thesis on.self-"determination. What. ismore, in spite ofthe conversations, therewasno reason why Portugal should .not have·shown sOlIle good :faith by implementing even part of paragraph 5. "(Q) The promulgation of anunconditionalpolitical amnesty and the establishment of conditions that will allow the frae functioning of political parties; "@ Negotiations. on the basis of the recognition of the rightto self-determination. withtheauthorized representatives of the political parties within a..'ld outside the Territories with a view to the transfer of power to political institutions freely elected and representative of the peoples. in accordance with resolution 1514 (XV); "@) The granting of independence immediately thereafter to all the Territories under its administration in accordance with the aspirations of the peoples;".11 58. The delegation of Ghana considers this paragraph so vital that we feel that any attempts to by-pass it should not be countenanced by this Council. IfPortugal takes positive steps to implement this paragl'aph. we are sure that the problem confronting the Councilwill be solved. 59. Meanwhile. of course. the war in Angola and Guinea .is .still raging and Portuguese military forces are still employed in the repression of the Angolan and Guinean nationalists. Thereis. moreover. a steady exodus ofrefugees from these t~r:ritories into the neighbouring states and this alone constitutes a situation pregnant with unpredictable consequences. 60. There has been no announcement of "unconditional" nor in fact even "conditional" amnesty for African politicalleaders. and no conditions have been created to allow for the "free functioning of truly representative political parties". Furthermore. there has been no indication of any intention on the part of the Portuguese authoriti.es to start l1ègotiations with the African nationalists struggling for the liberation of these territories. 61. We now coine to the crux ofthe matter: the question of self-determination which. the ForeignMinister of Portugal has admltted. is "the burning question". As the Seoretary-General has stated in section V of his report: WItwould seem ••• thatthe Portuguese GQvernment is not opposedto the principle ofself-determination as eInbodied in the Portuguese concept of the term and within its context." [S/5448. para. 14.] This Portuguese· concept .of self.-determination is clearly defined in· the·SècretarY-General's report as follows: "'To Portugal. I:lelf-determination meant the consent of the people.ta a cElrtainstructure andpolitical orgal1ization. It came aboutby participationin ad... .•r:ninistration and by participation in political life.· 62. détermination sens que demeure nationale Aux dans 73, que indifférente et 62. Obviously. this interpretation of seIf-determina-:. tion by Portugal does not correspond with the universally-accepted meaning of the term. It appears that there are stilliurking in the minds of the Portuguese authorities sorne doubts about the prtnciple of international accountabilityfor all Non-Self-Governing territories. In the view cf the Ghana delegation. the inclusion in the Charter of Chapter XI. especially Article 73. is a conclusive admission that the United Nations cannot remain indifferent to the fate of millions of people in Africa and Asia at the time under foreign rule. 63. longues des le avait discuter -' l'Inde, M. 63. The whole of Chapter XI was not written withou~ great deliberation and without influence from the League of Nations days. During the existence of the League of Nations. international control through the mandate system had been accepted. but there was no question of discussing the problems of. say. the Gold Coast-which is now Ghana-Nigeria. or India as such. which were colonies. In fact, as Mr. Franco Nogueira puts it in his book: "It may be said. therefore. that in spite of being internationallzed the colonial phenomenon was not viewed by the League of Nations in a spirit of anticolonialism. and that as a result of the equilibrium sought by the Powers a colonialism emerged which was based more on their common than their conflicting interests. ,,~ 64. ment faisait être de secteur nouveau - 64. This League of Nations thinking naturally influenced thinking at San Francisco. but there was no doubt that the colonial question could not be shelved any longer and that the Atlantic Charter could not be restricted to only one section of the human race. Regarding this complaint I quote M:v. Franco Nogueira again: "If. at the outset. self-determination was understood as the free·choice of governments and institutions for peoples who had previously been independent and organized nations. very quickly the concept was amplified andits application claimed by peoples who had never been independent. had no national structure of any kind and were ignorant of the meaning of 'nation'." §J J'ai étrangères parfaitement est Charte soustraire en dique bique. Portugal. I have been at pains to quote the Foreign Minister of Portugal to prove that he knows full well that the principle of self-determination is implicit in Chapter XI of the Charter and that his Government tried to .escape from what he calls the "meshes" of that Chapter by clothing its colonial policy with legal fiction and by attempting to make Angola. Mozambique. Guinea and Cabinda part of Portugal. 65. être 65. To be sure. the architects of Chapter XI·could not he explicit. but there was no doubt as to the intery Franco Nogueira. Th~ United Nations and Portugal. London, Sidgwick and Jackson, 1963. p. 18. .&1 Ibid.. p. 19. Arthème "Although it is nowhere explicitly stated, there follows naturally from aU this a very strong presumption that independence or political autonomy of the territories must be the final aim of the powers responsible for them. Any idea of perpetuating the colonial phenomenon, or integrating the colonial territory in the colonizing state, is ruled out in principle." §.I 66. Permit me to tell Mr. Franco Nogueira thathe 18 right that any idea of perpetuatingthe colonial phenom,.. enonorintegratingAngola, Mozambique and Guinea into Portugal is :ruled out. Surely there is· no difference between Mozambique and Uganda, or between Angola and Congo (LeopoldV'ille), or Gabon or Liberia or Ghana or, for that matter,any other African State. Therefore. why should Portugal, against the overwhelming odds, facts and realities, refuse to recogni~e the right of the peoples of the territories under its administration to self-determination and independence? Why should Portugal hedge, when it knows that the course which it is following is the wrong one? 67.. 1 have always admitted that the proV'isions under Chapter XI are not as far-reaching as those under Chapter XII dealing with Trust Territories. As far as the Qovernment of Ghana lS concerned, colonial or dependent territories are whatthey are, whether theyare called Trust Territories or Non,..Self-Governing Ter- ~!!~ri:_~~~hey.are colonial territories per se. 68. The architects of the United Nations were careful to. qraw a distinction between the territories belonging to theV'ictorious Allied powers and those of the defeated Axis .:powers. They called the colonies of the V'ictoI'ious Allied Powers Non-Self-Governing Territories, and the colonies of the Axis Powers Trust Territor~es. But it is the same thing. 69. We can onlY surmise, therefore, that if Portugal had fought on the side of the Axis Powers its territories automatically V/ould have come under international trusteeship, and they: are very lucky thatthey didnot. Even if this had not been the case, the universal I.l.cceptance of the principle of international accountability has been reflected in the Charter and in thevaluable work of the Committee on Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories which has considerably quickened the pace of decolonization. 71. In view of the facts I have adduced. my delegation finds it difficult to understand the attitude of the portuguese Government with r~gard to the liberation of its dependent territories, which is entirely out of step with modern progressive thinking on colonial problems. We would, therefore, like to make it quite ckar that the present position of the Portuguese Goyernment, unless abandoned, will constitute an insuperable barrier to a just and a peaceful solution of the vexed question. 72. portugaise ne seule droit été dans 72. We submit that there canbenoPortuguesedefinition of self";determination, nor can therebeanAfrican definition, but only one definition accepted in the United Nations and international jurisprudence. This universal concept has also been clearly affirmed in General Assembly resolution1514 (XV) inthefollowing terms: "1. The subjugation ofpeoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, is contraryto the Charter of the United Nations and is an impediment to the promotion of world peace and co-operation. "2. AlI peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. " "5. Immediate steps shaH be taken. in Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories or aIl other territorieswhich have not yet attained independence, to transfer aIl powers to the peoples of those territories, without any conditions or reservations, in accordance with their freely expressed will and desire, without any distinction as to race, creed or colour, in order to enable them to enjoy complete independence and freedom. " 73. la cadre des Unies, générale pendance 73. It is clear from aIl this that the Portuguese Government's concept of self-determination and of the context of its operation a:ri: fundamentally at variance with those laid down by the United Nations and, in partieular, in the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples as set out in the General Assembly resolution. 74. We are forced toconclude, therefore, that Portugal does not intend to give to the peoples of the territories under its administration a free choice to determine their future. We feel that the genuineness 74. Portugal des leur 75. TlleAfricari States have nointention ofdestroying ~and 1 am qu()ting the Foreign Minister of Portugal~ th~ "structureofthePortuguese nation under terms establishe~ by the Afri.cangroup" as the Foreign Mfnister averred at his press conference. in Lisbon ()n28 November1963. Whatis self-determinationbut the freechoiceof a people asj~o their future status? Why are the nationalists fighting in Angola or Guinea? They are n()t·fighting for.fun. ·They want only freedom aM> independe~ce. and none can stop them. 76. The responsibilityof the Council is to leave Portugal in·nO doubt as to .the m~aning of self-determinationandto request to start negotiations "with theauthorized representatives of the political parties Within ,andoutside the territories". The Foreign Ministers of Liberia. Madagascar. Sierra Leone and Tunisiahavedeclared their intention of helping to briIig •aboutsuch negotiati()ns. We support their declai'èd intentions. 77. .The CO\Uleil should reaffirII1 the defihition of self-determlnationas laid down by the· General Assembly iIi order toconvince Portugalthatits definition ofs~lf-determinatjonis asnebulO1,lS asitisirrelevant. It .is •our .hope tllat such. a reaffirmation Will help Portug~l. for it may have been honestly mistaken in its archaic view.of independence. There should be a change iIi Portuguese intentiollsand attitudes before the" next Conference of African Heads of State and Govérnments next June and we feel thatthe Secretary- General should make vigorous efforts to ensure the complianèeby Portugal with the decisions of the SeCurity CO\Ulcil. 78.Mr. Mong! SLIM· (TuniSia) (ti'anslated from' French): l am not in the habit of replying at such short notice as Iam today. But the portuguese Prime Millister has. hurled a challenge at. me which 1 must take up immediately; he has challenged me to produce any evideIice that Portugal threatened· to block the mouth of the Congo River. 79•. 1 shall takeoIilyone source of information. namely. the newspaper Le Soirwhich, to myknowledge. is not an African paper and ispublished in Brussels. The issue of 8 .October1963-thenews item is from Luanda and dated 7 October-hasthis to say: "Portuguese militaI'y sources haveunoffiCially confirmed reports that three vessels could be .scuttled at San Antoni() do . Zaire so as to block the channel at th~ mouth oftheC()ngo River. thus cutting the main lineo!communicationbetweenMatadi and Leopoldville•... Furthermore. the Portuguesenaval authorities have revealed at a press confe~ence.that theyhave sufficient ships in Angola .. to maintain such a blockade. The source of the report fs apparently Lieutenant Colon~lcastroAscençao. Deputy Head of the Portuguese General Staff in Angola." 81. lution sécurité. lution 81. In this connexion, l would refer him to the resolution adopted by the Security Council on 31 July 1963. Operative paragraph 4 of that resolution is as follows: Autant et n'importe trouble "Determines that the situation in the Territories under Portuguese administration is seriously disturbing peace and security in Africa". As far as l am aware, the disturbance of peace and security in any country and in any continent is considered as a disturbance of international peace and security. 82. du nous qu'elle Conseil lettre 29 signature portugal: 82. Furthermore, the Portuguese Foreign Minister apparently does not deny that the question now before us is a most serious one, and that it comes under the special jurisdiction of the Security Council. In that connexion, l would refer him to his letter of 29 August 1963 to the Secretary-General from which l quote the following words, above the signature of the Portuguese Foreign Minister: Il••• The Portuguese Government has the honourto state that it is prepared to give to the Secretary- General aIl its co-operation for the clarification of some problems which were raised during the said sessions of the Security Council, and whichinterms of the Charter may be legitimately considered to be matter within the specific competence of that Organ." [S/5448, para. 6.] 83, de particulière intéressant du de 83. Furthermore, as far as l am aware, Article 24 of the Charter states that matters affecting peace and security, either under Chapter VIol' Chapter VII of the Charter, come under the particularjurisdiction of the Security Council. 84. je de j'y pas pas le Philippines France, pays Conseil constaté, gravement 84. That is not an African conception. As l have just demonstrated, it is the conception of the Security Council, and if l exa.mine the membership of the Council l find the United States of America (a non- African State), the Soviet Union (a non-African State), two countries in Latin America, Venezuela and Brazil, two countries in Asia, the Philippines and China, three countries in Europe, France, the United Kingdom and Norway, and only two African countries. But it was the Council as a whole which, in the operative part of its resolution of 31 July 1963 determined that the situation is seriously disturbing peace and security.

There are no further speakers on my liste Although one or two members will he ready to speak tomorrow morning, l should like to suggest that we leave tomorrow morning open for consultation and communication with our capitals and that we meet tomorrow afternoon. Perhaps with some time for such consultation, we could resolve our differences about a resolution and conclude this item 85. des du prendre de sultations après-midi. perm~ttent It was so decided. The meeting rose at 4.55 p.m. CAMEROON/CAMEROUN: LIBRAIRIE DU PEUPLE AFRICAIN La Gèrante. B. P. 1197. YaQundè. DIHUSION INTERNATiONALE CAMEROUNAISE DU LIVRE ET DE LA PRESSE, Sangm.hm•• CONGO (Léopoldvllle): INSTITUT POLITIQUE CONGOLAIS. B. P. 2307. LèQpoldvills. ETHIOPIA/ÉTHIOPIE: INTERNAT';')NAL PRESS AGENCY. P. O. BQX 120. Addis Ababa. GHANA: UNIVERSITY BOOKSHOP University CQllege Qf Ghana. Legon. Accra. KENYA: THE E.S.A. SOQKSHOP. Box 30167. Nairobi. L1BYA/L1BYE: SUDKI EL JERBI (BOOKSELLERS) P. O. Box 78. tstiklal Street. 6enghazi. 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