S/PV.1514 Security Council

I am sure that all of us greatly appreciate the words of the representative who has joined us, and we particularly look forward to working with him in future. Provisional agenda (S/Agenda/l514) I, Adoption of the agenda. 2. Letter dated 23 September 1969 from the President of the General Assembly addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/9462). Adoption of the agenda The agenda was adopted. Welcome to the representative of Algeria Letter dated 23 September 1969 from the President of the General Assembly addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/9462) 1, The PRESIDENT: Before we proceed with our meeting, I should like to say that I am very happy that it falls to me to welcome to this Council the distinguished representative of Algeria, Mr. Mohamed Yazid. He has been well known here in the United Nations in the past and returns to us now witb. an enviable reputation, a reputation for bravery and leadership. I am sure that I speak for all members of the Council when I say that we welcome him warmly and look forward keenly to working with him in the Council and outside it. I should like also to pay my special respects to Mr. Hadj Azzout, who has ably held the fort and endeared himself to us all, None of us who had the privilege of working with Mr. Tewfik Bouattoura will cease to mourn the tragic accident which robbed us of one of the most admired and best loved members of this Council. We shall not forget him. It is in the high tradition set by Mr. Bouattoura and maintained by Mr, Azzout that Mr, Yazid comes to US. We are most fortunate to have him with US.

It will be recalled that, by letter dated 23 September 1969 addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/9462),1 the President of the General Assembly informed the Council of the inclusion by the General Assembly of an agenda item entitled “Amendment to Article 22 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice (Seat of the Court) and consequential amendments to Articles 23 and 28”. 7. Article 69 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice provides that: “Amendments to the present Statute shall be effected by the same procedure as is provided by the Charter of the United Nations for amendments to that Charter, subject however to any provisions which the General Assembly upon recommendation of the Security Council may adopt concerning the participation of states which are parties to the present Statute but are not Members of the United Nations”.

Mr. President, I should first of all like to thank you for welcoming me and tell you how honoured and happy I feel to be sitting for the first time under the Presidency of one whose high moral and intellectual gifts are so highly appreciated by my delegation and my country and who represents a country with which we have fruitful and co-operative relations. 8. As members of the Council are aware, Liechtenstein, San Marino and Switzerland are parties to the Statute, but are not Members of the United Nations. In accordance with the provisions of Article 69 of the Statute, the Security Council may wish to recommend to the General Assembly for adoption provisions concerning the participation of 3. On behalf of the Council, I shall make it my duty to communicate to the family of my young friend, Tewfik Bouattoura, the thoughts expressed here. These feelings will help his family to face the tragedy of which it has been a victim for nearly a year. 10. I therefore wish the Council to pronounce itself on the document which has been circulated in its fmal form, but before going further I shall call on the representative of the Soviet Union.

Mr. President, since this is the first open meeting of the Security Council in October, may I, first of all, in the name of the Soviet delegation, welcome you on your assumption of the high and responsible position of President of the Security Council, There is no doubt that your very great political and diplomatic experience will serve as a guarantee that your activities as President of the Council will be effective and successful. We know this from past years when you presided-over the work of the Council, and even on the basis of this month which is already drawing to an end. In short, Mr, President, we consider that, with you in the chair, the Security Council is in reliable hands. Were I bold enough to try to emulate you in a field in which your talents particularly excite our admiration-namely the field of poetry-I would even try a Russian rhyme and say “When Lord Caradon is at the helm, law and order always prevail”. 12. I should also like to take this opportunity to welcome, on behalf of the Soviet delegation, the new representative of Algeria in the Security Council, Ambassador Mohamed Yazid, an outstanding diplomat and representative of his country, and should like to add that the memory of our dear friend, Ambassador Tewfik Bouattoura, who was the victim of such a sad tragedy, will of course always remain with US. We would ask all our Algerian friends to transmit the expression of our deepest condolences to the family of Tewfik Bouattoura. 13. The Soviet delegation has had the opportunity of studying the draft resolution before the Security Council on the question of the participation of some States non-members of the United Nations in the procedure for effecting amendments to the Statute of the International Court, In connexion with the consideration of this draft resolution, the Soviet delegation would like to make the following remarks. 14. In view of the Soviet Union’s firm and consistent Position in support of the strict observance of the United Nations Charter and the Statute of the International Court of Justice, which is an inalienable part of the Charter, the delegation of the Soviet Union considers that States which, at the present time, are parties to the Statute of the International Court but which, for various reasons, are not 15. It goes without saying that, in agreeing to the draft resolution relating only to the procedure for allowing States which are parties to the Statute but are not Members of the United Nations to take part in the consideration of the item concerning amendments to the Statute-included in the agenda of the General Assembly-the Soviet deIegation is in no way prejudging its position on the substance of that item. 16. As we are now considering a concrete case of the participation of non-Member States of the United Nations in the work of the General Assembly, the delegation of the Soviet Union cannot fail to draw the attention of the Security Council and all its members to the continuing discriminatory practice against several sovereign socialist States, at the instigation and under the constant pressure of some Powers. 17. To this day, because of the efforts of these Powers, a discriminatory formula is regularly inserted in the resolu. tions of the Security Council, the General Assembly and other organs of the United Nations which unjustifiably limits the number of States that can take part in Ulnited Nations activities only to States that are Members of the United Nations, or members of the specialized agencies, the International Atomic Energy Agency and parties ta’ the Statute of the International Court of Justice, The applica. tion of this formula, which is contrary to the spirit o!F the United Nations Charter and runs counter to the principle of universality of our Organization, makes it possible for non-member States of the United Nations, such as the Federal Republic of Germany, South Korea and even South Viet-Nam, to take part in United Nations activities while, at the same time, it prevents socialist States, such as the German Democratic Republic, the Korean People’s Democratic Republic and the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam from taking part in such activities on the same basis. 18. We know what harm was done by the application of this discriminatory practice to the cause of fair economic co-operation and to the economic development of the developing countries when, after the twenty-third session of the General Assembly, an illegal decision was ta.ken concerning the membership of the Preparatory Committee for the Second Development Decade. A capitalist countrY, the Federal Republic of Germany, a non-member of the 19. Let us take a simple and typical case from the work of the United Nations, the distribution of documents of various States as official documents of the Security Council. It is well known that neither the Security Council nor the General Assembly has ever adopted any decision that documents of such and such a State cannot be distributed as official United Nations documents. Such a decision could not have been taken, since either it would be utterly absurd and run counter to common sense or would legitimize discrimination against some States as compared with others, which would be in contradiction to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, 20. However, quite recently, in September of this year, when the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the German Democratic Republic despatched a cablegram to the President of the Security Council in connexion with the question of Namibia, it was distributed as an official document of the Security Council, as document S/9455,2 with an arbitrary footnote reading “Circulated at the direction of the President of the Security Council”. Why, may I ask, is it necessary to distribute as an official document of the Security Council a cabIegram from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the German Democratic Republic on an item on the agenda of the Security Council with a footnote drawing the attention of the members of the Council to the fact that this is being done “at the direction of the President of the Security Council”? Why? What purpose is served? It is known that even without such a footnote that official documents of the Security Council are always distributed on instructions of the President of the Security Council? 2 1, But that is not all. Yesterday, on 22 October 1969, an official document of the Security Council, document S/9486,3 was issued. It consists of a letter from the Permanent Representatives of France, the United Kingdom and the United States, in which a rather peculiar attempt is made to cast doubt on the fact that that letter from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the German Democratic Republic was distributed on the instructions of the President of the Security Council. In the letter of those three representatives it is stated that document S/9455 “was circulated at the request of the Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union, who was President of the Security Council for the month of September”. 22. I wish to tell the representatives of France, the United Kingdom and the United States that document S/9455 was distributed like any other document of the Security Council, not on the instructions of some delegation or other, but on those of the President of the Security Council, and there was no need to give any special indication of this fact. The fact is that the President of the 2 Ibid., Supplement for July August and September, pas 1% 3 Footnote 1, pages 95-96. 23. There lies the crux of the matter: the President of the Security Council did not tolerate any discrimination against the cablegram of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the German Democratic Republic, but the representatives of France, the United Kingdom and the United States, it appears, would very much have liked to see the German Democratic Republic discriminated against in connexion with the circulation of its documents. Why? For the very obvious reason that this troika does not like the socialist regime in the German Democratic Republic. This troika continues to live in a world of illusions, asserting in its letters, including the one from which 1 have just quoted, that there is only one German State in the world, the Federal Republic of Germany. This illusion was invented by the politicians of some countries in the years of the cold war. But it was unrealistic even then. Now, that the German Democratic Republic has existed and flourished for two decades, this idea nurtured by the troika is not even an illusion, it is fiction. There was a time when one of the States members of that troika existed for sixteen years in such a world of fiction, not noticing the existence of the Soviet Union, But realities compelled that State to give up this illusion in regard to our country. Is this not a clear enough lesson of history? 24. I repeat once again that neither the United Nations Charter nor any other United Nations document deterrnining the procedure of work of United Nations bodies contains or could contain any provision justifying discrimination in the circulation of documents emanating from any State as official documents of the United Nations. 25. The delegation of the Soviet Union, firmly supporting the principle of the sovereign equality of all States, large and small, and consistently defending the universal nature of international co-operation as reflected in the Charter of the United Nations, cannot and will not countenance the arbitrary and discriminatory practices pursued by certain countries against specific socialist States. The delegations of all countries truly interested in developing and strengthening friendship and co-operation among peoples, in the collective strengthening of general peace and security, and in the normal operation of the United Nations must understand our position and do all in their power to put an end to this intolerable situation. 26. Those are the remarks which the Soviet delegation has deemed it essential to make in connexion with the consideration of the item on the agenda of the Security Council,

I do not propose at this stage to comment on the substance of the speech to which we have just listened, but I should like to thank the representative of the Soviet Union for his very kindly poetic reference to myself. In the past, as all of us will recall, we have had to 29. I should also like to join in the welcome which you addressed to our new colleague from Algeria, Mr. Mohamed Yazid. I can say that I have very special r’easons for appreciating Mr, Yazid, a man who is exceptionally capable, because I have been able to note this on many occasions in the past, at a time when our relationship was more on a visual than on a speaking level. I am indeed glad that that is no longer the case today. As you said quite rightly, Mr. President, we shall not forget our former colleague, Mr. Bouattoura and he and his family are very much in our minds. Finally I would say that Mr. Yazid’s predecessor, Mr. Azzout, will carry with him our best wishes and our friendship in all the posts he will occupy in his career, which has barely begun. 30. Your have asked us, Mr. President, for our opinion about the text which has been put before us, and more particularly about the final draft resolution which you have circulated. 31. Although my knowledge of English is far from perfect, I should like to make a few remarks on that text. First of all, I do not understand very well the amendments which are being proposed. We have been told that there is no need to say what is already known, but since you have spoken of proverbs, I shall quote an old French one: “Cela vu suns dire mais chest encore mieux en le disanP.4 That is the way I feel about this matter. You have found a very elegant formula for saying the same thing in a different form, but since this new form has been found and since it meets with the agreement of the Council, I should like to say, on behalf of my delegation, that I am quite prepared, to give my consent. 32. Our Soviet colleague brought up a matter which was not qn the agenda of the Council, I listened to him very attentively, and I was somewhat taken aback on being described as a “member of a troika”, since I am under the impression that I am not a very good trotter, especially at my age, but I think that coming from him, it was meant as a compliment. I do not intend to comment today on the statement he made, since it concerns an item which was not actually on our agenda and to which I have not prepared a reply, I should simply like to say that my silence on this point does not mean that I agree with the point of view he put forward. 4 That goes without saying, but it is even better to say it. 34. I wish also to say that we join our colleagues on the Council in welcoming back to our midst Ambassador Yazid. He is no stranger to these halls. During his previous long stay here, from 1955 to 1961, as Minister of Information in the Provisional Algerian Government, he was one of the best known figures in the United Nations, despite his then unofficial capacity. Now that he is back among us as the representative of his country, we look forward to renewing our association with him, and, on behalf of my delegation, I want to assure him that we look forward to a friendly and fruitful co-operation with him and his delegation. 35. With regard to the agenda before us, I would simply support the remarks made by the representative of France. We too find ourselves in agreement with the proposed amendment, that is to say, the slight modification or paragraph 2 of the draft resolution before us. 36. I would also concur in the statement of the representative of France with respect to another issue raised by the Soviet representative, which was not on our agenda, and we would reserve our right to revert to it at a later time.

As no other speakers have asked to address the Council this afternoon, first of all, I should like to express to our colleague, the representative of France, my very sincere personal gratitude for the complimenls which he addressed to the President. He represents a country which is skilled in compliments and can c:onW them with a distinction which is unique, and I particularly appreciate words from him. I remember that when I first saw this Security Council many years ago he was a distinguished ornament of the Council, and I always feel when he is here that our deliberations will be maintained at a very high level. I thank him for the words he addressed to me. 38. I would now go on to say, speaking as President, that I have listened to the representative of the Soviet Union and to the representative of France on the question of the document before us. I would say to the representalive of France that it was not at my initiative that the change was made, but I thought it was in the interest of speed and in accordance with the wish of the Council that we should proceed to finality today. I am grateful to both representatives for their kindness in agreeing that the document InaY go forward with our approval. I shall, therefore, commuflicate to the President of the General Assembly, if there is IN objection raised in the Council, that this document is acceptable to us. It was so decided. 40. Speaking again as PRESIDENT all I would say at the moment is this: that it is the clear and compelling duty of The meeting rose at 5 p.m. HOW TO OBTAIN UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATIONS United Notions publications may be obtained from bookstores and distributors throughout the world. Consult your bookstore or write to: United Nations, Sales Section, New York or Geneva. COMMENT SE PROCURER LES PlJtXlCATlONS DES NATIONS UNIES Les publications des Notions Unies sont en vente duns ler libroirier et ler agencer d4poritairer du monde entier. Informez-vour auprba de volre librairie ou adrersez-vow 6: Notions Unies, Section des ventes, New York ou GenBve. COMO CONSEGUIR PUBLICACIONES DE LAS NACIONES UNIOAS Los publicociones de lar Nocioner Unidor erttin en venta en libreries y coso~ dirlribuidoros en todos parter del mundo. Consulte o su librero o dirijose o: Nocioner Unidos, Secci6n de Ventos, Nueva York o Ginebro. Litho in United Nations, New York Price: $U.S. 0.50 (or equivalent in other currencies) 82255-December 1972-2,050