S/PV.259 Security Council

The Security Council will reean that, whenitlast discussed theIndonesian situation at its 256th meeting on 26 February 1948. it was considering the Canadian draft resolution, which is set forth in docwnent S/678, together with the amendment .submitted by the representative of Colombia, which is set forth in document S/682, ~nd the am~ndment submitted by Australia, which IS setforth ID document S/681. Wit1;l regard to the proposaI of the Australian representative, the Security Council will recall that under rule 38 of the rules of procedure, th,at proposa.! may be put to a vote only at the request of a representative on the Security Council. l'anglais): du mistice GeneralR6MULO (philippines): From a reading of the proceedings of the Security Council, 1 :lind that the truce agreement. [document S/649, appendix Xl] has been higbly commended by In chapter IV, paragraph 38, of the interim report of the Committee of Go0cl Offices [document 8/649] 1 find the following statement. "The Netherlands delegation informed the Committee., for transmission to th.e Republic.an delegation, that an unequivocal reply as to acceptance or otherwise of these proposals was required by noon, 13 January, and that every qualified acceptance or acc.eptance with reservations would he considered as a rejection. In the same way the Netherlands delegation made it clear that, in the event of rejection "-1 repeat, <t in the event of rejection ,,_<t it would no longer be bound by the proposaIs and would then have to ask its Government for further instructions, indicating that there was reason to believe that its Government· would decide to resume its freedom of action ". It is not difficult to read between the lines of.the report that pressure was brought to bear on the Republic. The Republic was made to agree to a. demarcation line which gave the Netherlands control of territo!}' acquired-how? It was acquired by force of.arms in violation of the Security Council resolution of 1 August [docum~t8H5~. In the politica1 agreement, the Republic had to give up its claims fora sove:::.ign independent S~te and agree to become part of a federation of States. Such a federation, no matter how strong on paper-I repeat. on· paper-could .easily be transformed into a Ioose union of small States, easily controlled, individuaUy, by the use of either militar-y or economic. sanctions or both. 1 can foresee. that dwindling influenc~ of the Republic and the rise of numerous scattered independent States. 1 can foresee a weak and ineffectiçe central government of the United States of Indonesia which would ultimately be subjected to the enhanced power and authority ofthe Netherlands. This is a technique as old as ancient Rome, and no one here can' be so naïve as to believe that it will not be used in the present instance to achieve the aU too familiar objective of " divide and rule ". 1 agt'ee with the representative of China, who so ably spokehere the other day [256th meeting], when he stated that he foresaw the possibility of separatistmovements being sponsored or permitted by public authorities even before the projected.plebiscite. The representatives of Indonesia. [256th meeti'!g] and Australia [252nd meeting] have already reported on the existence of such so-called «popular" movements· in West Java. An attempt has already "een made in West Java, as 1 have mentioned before, to vitiate the agreement, deniais to the contrary notwithstanding. The existence of such movements, doubtless encouraged by the Netherlands authorities, has been CI warmly welcomed ", to use the phrase of Mi'. van Mook, who is quoted in a recent despatch of the Aneta news service. If tms development is permitted to continue, the, influence of the Republic of Indonesia in Indonesian affairs may he diminished to a point wbich would nullify the whole basis of the agreement. The Govemment of the Republic of Indoneqia, whatever may be saia against it, is at least composed ofIlidonesians who are answerable to their own people alone and not to a foreign Power. The political agreement provides tbat freedom of speech;assembly and the Press will he ensured. But it would be illogical to invoke these freedoms on behalf of separatist movements which would tun counter ta the principles embodiedin the political settlement between the Republic of Indonesia and the Netherlands. 1 fail to understand the concern of the Netherlands'Govemment, as explained by ils representative [256th' meeting], for the freedom from coercion and pressuxe during the elections and plebiscite tobe' heM in Indonesia. As it is now, practically all the areas under dispute are under the 'control of Netherlands authorities. The Nètherlands,hagundoubtedly-hepeat,undoubtedly--the stronger military and polil:e forces. Who can deny that? ,The Republic haspractically no armed forces to speak of which may be used for' coercion or pressure. If any èoercion or intinndation will, therefore, be used, it is more Jikely to come from some source other tlian the Republic, for the simple reason that it is powerless ta wield any. That· this .concernshould beexpressed by a party to the agreement, and particularly by the party most capable of exerting pressure byreason of its we-alth and armed forces is,' to me, disquieting. m~ndationsof Mr. Justice Kirby and the represenrerais donc que les recommandations de M. Kirby ta!lVeS ofColombia and China, to give the CO:plet iID.tî:ee greater powers, includingthe maximum use l' la ofpublicity and the 'power tOarbitrate differences .pouvoirs'accrus ,et fiction~ no one else couldhave better defended the interests and the hopes of the peoples wno inhabit the islanQs of Sumatra, Java and Madura. 1 therefore beüeve that Tc can inal1 tranquillity cast my vote in approval of what has been done up to now, and 1 state again that theindependence of.these peoples is wor.th. much more than any. alIeged theoretical advantages which they might have obtainedby submitting themselves to the whims of foreign Powers whiëhare p"t .always without selfish interests. . . . Mr. Justice KIRBY (Member ofCommittee of Good Offices): 1 am grateful for this opportunity to make a forther short statement to the Security Counéil. 1 wish to do so becalise of certain other statements· which have been made here. In their statements to the Security Council, the representatives of France and the Netherlands used words which might be taken to imply that 1was the only member oftheCommitteeof Good Offices who· was of the opinion that that Committee.should ~ave dis~r~tion toactin the manner sliggested In my ongmal statement. As a matter of record 1must state that such an implication isincorrect. . My distinguished colleague, Mr. Graham, who 18. present here .with me, agreed and does· agree WIth me that the Committeeshonld have discretion so.to act. Mr. van Zeeland, who is absent, discussed this matterwith Mr. Graham and me before his departure and never in any way indicated dissent from our view. On thecontrary, the only point we -thethreemembers of the Committee .of Good Offiees-discussed was whether a resolution of the ··~6Curity ConncR. was necessarY or.desirable tOglve us suchdiscrètion. Before his departure, 1 should like to emphasize that it was merely n matter of discretion for the Committee in the fu~urc. It was in. no sense ever suggested or meant to he s~ted by me that the Security Couneil should, œther formally by resolution or otherwise, urge that the Committee shou1d act in a particular way; it was merely to make it clear that it did have a disoretion to act in thnt wny, should the cir.. cun'lstances so require in the opinion of the Committee. Mf. SASTROAMIDJOJQ (Republic of Indonesia): 1am grateful to the Presfdent for this opportunity to address the Security Couneil again. At the 256th meeting, the representative of the Nether.. lands attempted to deny certain fects which 1 presented to the Security Couneil earlier that day. ln order to portray the conditions under which the three West Java conferences were held, 1wish to place stress on the following. The Netherlands colonial warresulted in an exodus of thousands of Indonesians from West Java to other Republicu areas. Mr. van Kletrens' comment was, that there had been nothing of the kind. He would have us be1ieve that while the Netherlands wns waging full.;gca1e war with artillery, tanks and planes, the population stayed put. 1 wiU not take up the time of the Security Couneilinœbutting thi~ and other suchstatemcnts of the Nether1ands œpresentative. 1 simply ask that the Security Couneil should take up Mr. van Kleffens' suggestion and calIupontbe Committee of Good Offices to œport speedily on the cîrcumstances surrounding the creation of the States of West Java·and Madura. Such a IepOrt would establish, among other things, the· depopulation of which 1 !mvc spoken. It WQuld also establish the factthat the West Java confeœnces had little or no value as indications ofpublic opinion. Many nationalistleaders are stillbeing detained in gaol by·theNetherlands East fumes Govemmen~ white ~thers have been expelled from and forbiddenwœtumtoWestJava. Mr.YcmKIetrens' :repIy to.this was,." There aIe no moœ political prlsoners m thatœgion; there are only people who have been found guilty ofordinary crlminal ofi'c:nœs." What Mr. "ian. Kletrens omitted to· teU the SecurityCouncil was that theNetherlands Indics CriminalCode doesnot distingliÏshbetween politic:al and criminal offenœs. Our national leaderswillbearwitncssto thîs. PresidentSukarno, Vtœ Pn:sident HaUa and Mr. S1.ltan Sjahrit,who appeami befoœ theSecurity Couneilin August Perhaps the representative of the Netherlands is right when this question is looked upon from the formalistic p3int of view, because the Netherlands Criminal Code does not make a formaI distinction between political offences and ordiLary criminal offences. We Indonesian nationalists are Mt at aIl surprised to hear such a reply, because in our country it is only too common to find many of our youth who struggled for the freedom and bdependence of their country indicted 'by the Netherlands authorities as "criminals". 1 should like·to ask Mr. van Kleffens whether, in aIl honesty, he is of the opinion that the forty.,six Indonesians in Netherlands custody who were transported from Bondowoso to Surabaya, and who suffocated in c10sed fre~ght cars, should be considered ordinary criminals. It was also stated by Mr. van 'K1effens that "...certain elements who made trouble there from a political point of view were sent across the demarcation line some time ago and have been askednot to return". First, 1 venture to say that the term " from a politlcal point of view " seems to me vague and cloudy, to put it mildly. From whose political point of view, may 1 ask? At first glance, the statement of the representatiV{; of the Netherlands reads as though those people were politely requested to go to the demarcation line and cross it, and then respectfully asked not to return. But the reality deviates considerably from that picture. To give the Security Couneil an exampJ~ wbich is directly connected with the question ofWest Java, 1shoold like to cite the case of twelve West Java leaders who are very infiuential in tbis area, âmong whom 1may mention Mr. Suwirjo, ex..Mayor ofJakarta; Mr. Abu Hanifah, leader of the •Masjumi in Sukabumi(West Java); and Jusuf Jahja, a prominent leader in Jakarta. These twelve pe0l'lewere arrested on 21 Joly 1947, at the beginliing of this colonial war.They were removed on 3 November to·aconcentration camp. in Tangerang and were transported on 24· November to Semarang.lhey were released on the demarcation line near Parakan, a town in Central Java situated more than 250 miles from Tarigerang. Mr.•van Kleffens says that thesepeople were "asked not to return." The plain fact isthat they were prohibited from remmingin a decn::e bytheNetherlands authorities based on the so~call~dextraordfuary riglits which prevail even now and whichare often ~oeing applied. Mr. van Kleffens aIso denied emphatically that martiallaw isstiU in existence in West Java. He stated .that there is only partial martial law because perpetratorsof the attack with hand grenades in Batavia in September 1947 have appeared before· a civilian judgeand not before a court martial.. This, too, is onlyahalf-truth, because Mr. van Kleffens apparently forgot to say fuat, according.to the. official Dutch .news ~gency, Aneta, the .. aforementioned" civilian Judge " in ,Batavia, who sentenced six of the sô- 1 also feel ahliged to state that even in Batavia, ,although the cit)' is located far from the demarcation 1in~, even civilians are subject to curfew .regulatiol\s. There is freedom neither of the Press nor of assembly up to this day. The oost illustration is the ban.nifig of the daily newspaper Berita Indonesia in Batavia on 27 January 1948 because of the publication of an open letter from a certain Mr. Gambiro, who attendedthe second West Java Conference as a reptesentative of the Madjalengka regency. In that open letter, he expressed criticism of the· West Java Conference which he was not aUowed to state at the Conference itselt . . Mi. van ·K1eifens .said thàtnationalism isnot a monopoly of the Republic. We. agree wholeheartedly.Nationalism is. the birthright ,of aU IndonesianS, Republicansor non-Republicans, and it is manifesting itself in each and every island of .the .archipelago.In sQme.places, it. merely awaits favourablec-onditions for self-expression; in others, as in East Indonesia, it is a potentJorce. The Republiç has"recogniz~ ~~t Indoliesi~ as a sister State. and the two have agreed ta march shoulderio shoûlderinthe creation of atree, soveieign.an~fuU~-illde~d~tIndonesia in th~ $hortest pt)sSlblCiti1'Pe~ .. . Let us considet the caseofMr. Bllc;liardjo. .chairman ofthe ~'plebiscitemovement'"ch~ged with· theresponSl'bilityo( .preparing,·· the .. people for.thé fonhcoDÛllg plebiscites. R '\Vas histaskto explain thet meaning ofthtLplellootes and the -eifect they couldhavC\ Qnthe futul'e ofIndonesia. de pas risent de Mr. VAN KLEFFBNS (Netherlands): 1 shaU not go into aU thedetails which have just beenbrought up by the representative of the Republic of Indonesia. l think that the Sècurity Couneil should stick, to. the main lines of this problem andnot lose itself inaUkinds of details. The'only reasoJl why 1 asked to be heard bnefiy isthat lwish to 'calI the attention' of thë representatives ,Gonseïl of the Security COURcil to the tendentioUs way "cieuse in.which racts have again.been presented on the part. of the Republic. May 1 again give a few brief examples. In thefirstplaee--and 1 have the text of bis ·remarks, before me--Mr. Sastroamidjojo said that l hadstated that " there ig only. a partial martial , 1. See The Political Events in.the Reptlblic of Indonesia, Netherlands Infon,natioq Bureau. New York, page 34. Sinc~ that time, this so-called minor magistrate has been given power, in accordance with the normal criminal code, to impose, if circumstances warrant it, with aIl the guarantees the criminaI code gives, a sentence of dea.th. ,This wa~ not an exceptional power, nor was it an exceptionaI tribunal. It was normality-what has always existed since the Japanese occupation came to an end. 1shall not multiply !bis. Mr. Sastroamidjojo said: te Never was my Govemment consulted regarding this West Java Conference." That may he so; 1 cannot help it. We did not organize the Conference and if the Republic hadanycommunications to make to that Conference, thel'e were many ways at its disposaI to do it. There is an accusation-at leastit, alm:ost süunds 'as if 'ft· were il~ accusation~that·We interpret principles unilaterally. It sooms to me that that accusation i5 levelled at us whenever we happen not quite to agree with the interpretationôfthe Republic of Indonesia. 1 submit· that that is not a sm. It :only shows that there is still a job to be done by the Committee of Good Offices.That wc allknow; it is nothingnew. ' That is aU 1 have to sayat this present juncture. 1 personally donot regard this matter of West Java and Madura to be a Mere detail.l think it is a matter of the greatest importance. There have been accusations and explanations. It would not be weIl for the ::ecurity Council to pronounce judgment on that question. It is not informed. Therefore, it sooms to me that it is essential that; the Sëcurity Councilshould get an. impartial picture of the developmentsin West Java aJ1.d Madua.Accordingly, 1 beg tomove-and the motion bas been mimeographed, a~d. ~ . now being distribut~ the.·following .draft resolution [document Sj68.9]:graphié MI. TSIANG(China): ln my last intervention in ~e debates of the Security Council, l called its attention to the serious nature of the speech of the representative of Indonesia in regàrd to the developments in West Java and Madura [256th meeting]. 1 expressed the hopethat the representative of the Netherlands would -reply in detail and in clear terms. Although we have heard Mr. van Kleffenson that subject, 1 regret to say· that l .foundhis reply tobenot so clear as l had hopedit would he., 1 am particularly anxious to find out the following: Who participates in thesc conferences'1 How are they elected? Whom do they represent'1 Is there freedom of speech inside the conferences '1 Is tliere freedom to speak against the conferences and their resolutions'l Are the conferences in the nature of political education in preparation for the plebiscite, or are they intended to forestall and bypass the plebiscite'l That ~s the kind of information that 1 should like to have about the developmentsin West Java and Ma4ura. 1 should like to stress that my draft resolution has not the slightest intention of prejudging the case. On a matter of suchimportânce, the Security Council should have accurateand impartial information. ' Mr. AUSTIN (United States of America): The Renllille principles provide tbree re.quirements witn regardto West Java. One principleprovides that there must not have been and that there must not be any stiiling of popularmovements. ' . Another priilciple provides tIult there must have been and there must at all times be fieedom of'doit assembly, of speech and of the Press..There is no limitation or. specification as to time; it is for aIl tîme. Six months.ta one year after the signing of the political agreement, ~ plebiscite must be held for the self-determination by the people whether they wish to be in the Republic or inanother State in the future United States of Indonesia. That is a third doctrine of the Renvilleprinciples. 'respectées. It is the viewof my Govenûnent that any new States temporarily fcrmed in Java, Sumatra and Madura, Dl,ust be the results of.actua! popular movements, and that there must be.at. aU times freedom .of assembly, of speech and 'of the· Pre~s. Wh~ther the situation at any time in West Java meets 01' violates tbese requirements may be a question of facto , It is, of course, clear fromtheagreellilent that whatever provisional govemmentsmay arise in these areas will be subject tothe freeexpre!lsion of popular will; expressed .through plebiscites held'in, .accord..nce with the Renville Agreement. ~e'dnwhile, it would be expedient for the Comnuttee of Good Offices on the spot t6 send reports to the Security Council, whenev~r necessary, on whether the requirements {If lireedom of assembly, of speech and of the Pr6:i3 have been and are being met in West Java, .phra~e "at frequent intervals" should 'be inter-' .preted 1>Y th~ Committee ofQçod Offices. 1 do not speeifywhethér it should report once a weekor' ,once a' month. The diaft resolution,' simply' expresses our wish to have the very latest information. If there should be no liC.W development and no change in the.situation,there would benotbing 'forthe Cotnmittee to teU us and therewoù1dbeno reasonforitto'submita report. Itwas myintention ;to leave ample discretion to the Committee of 'GoodOffices. Mr. NrsoT:(BelgiUlIl)' (tranSlated lrom French): The i4ea.ofthç ,represent?tive, of China, agrees withmine.,1 think, it wOuldbe sufficient if the.crols, intetpretation wbich,he:has justgiven of bÏS,draft resolution. were included in the' record. " Mr. JustiœKmBY (Memb~r ofCommittee of Good Offices): Since the time the îeprèsentative .of China 'submitted bis ,<kaft resolutioD., 1 h.ave discusseditstermswithlIlyçoUeag"de,Mr.<sraham, :andl thought it proper th.at Ishould say that, fuI, :the op~onof ly~~nrahâmz.nd myself, th.~ draft:!' resolution sUDnutted by the representative cf! :China, isaproperand timely one,andwl} wo'\ùd " , 'Nevertbeless,l,prefer the phrasing used m,my ,draft resolutiôil to express our eagemess to obtain ufi-to"<Jate ~ormation. :Wè~come its,adoption.' . '. .:~. a-ICHoum ,(Syrîa):> In.the-:discilSsion Gfl.M. . this problem laetyear, wewere givento understand' Mr.L6PE~!: (Colombia): TherJ is a great deal of confusion in my mind as to where we stand in this debate, how we are going toproceed, and in what order we aregoing to. yotron these various pr~posals. If1 remember correctly, the P:t:esifient saxd at one ofol.U' previous meetings that we wbuld discuss the powersoi the*Committee. of Good Offices. 1 do not know when we are going to do that; but! wlsh to say now that 1 welcome the Chïnese draft resolution and that the Colombian delegation isupp6rt:sit. We could not do otherwise, 1.shall not go into the'merits of that accusation now, becauseit is a very serious one.1 shall merely stress the point that it is necessary for the Security Counci1 tohave sufficient,direct information from the Com:mi.ttee of Good Offices as to what is happening in Indonesia, and! amvery glad that that fàèt appears ta have been established beyond all possible dispute•.'1 shall dea1,· withthatat greater length when the time arrives for us to discuss the Canadian and Colombian 'draft rèsolutiorn:. What 1·should like t~ knownow is whether ornotwe are to vote on the Chinese draft resolutionfirst. Ifwe are to do that,1shaU,ask the President for permission to speak at a later stage.

Thereptesentative of.C'l\lombia bas askedme what subjects are beingdiscussed by the Security Counci1 at the present, .time.. He has aIso asked me to state the intentions of the Ptesident"Withregardto thepomt at which the. draftresolution .proposea by·the representative of China Will be dea1t with. .. ,', . .:..: . ,. . .-'., ". Therecor4 of my remarks at the ppening of tl:üsm~ting willshew, that· Idrew th~~ttentio:g, of the Security Counci1 to the faet t4at. the Canadian draft resolution, which iS set forjh in document 8/678, ·together with the .amendment submitted by the representativeof Colombia, which isset forthin document 8/682, and the amen:dmentolthe Australian delegation,which is setforth in', document 8/681, were the subjects which·wereunderdiscuSsion., In tl:.e course ofour discussion sincc that time, thedraft resolution oftherepresentative of Chiliahas bg:en submitted and, as<matters bave gone, the attention of the Securïty Counciheems toh~.ï1e b~. concentrated Ollthat particu1al;:"~oltr:.i,o!.l. ~bjection, to ~oncentrate the discussion "n the <traIt resolution submitted by the rapresentative of China cUld, if possible, to bring il. to a vote. Mr. VAN :Ku3FFBNs (Netherlands): We are prepared to accept the idea expressed by the representat;.ve of China because we desire clarity as to the facts, and aIso because we do not see in his draft resolution any extension of the powers of the Committee of Good Offices. glais): exprimées voulons soit pas extension des pouvoirs de offices. J '?rojets me passer Mr. NISOT (Belgium) (translated Jrom Freneh): We bave devoted numerous meetings to the discussion of the various draft resolutions which have been submitted to us. 1 wonder whether the time has not come to vote without further delay. personne de Chine,

As no one·wishes to speak further on the drail resolution suburltted by the representative of China, we shall proceed to a vote Qn n. l'anglais): faveur gation arguments Conseil férence 25 officiel Pays-Bas; Java, General RÔMULO (philippines): My Government warmly welcomes thedraftresolution submitted by the Chinese representative and, if supporting argument is needed to clinch its approval, lshould liketo read a short newS item from Aneta, the Dutch news agency, about the West Java Conference, datelined Bandung, 25 February: "The West Java Cônference,overriding procedurai objections by a group of Republican delegates, today asked. recognition Jrom the Netherlands Indies Government a~ a provisionaI parliament .for the new State. Radaa Djuarsa, the. Conference Chainnan, said inf(umal .talks after yesterday's rece,ssing of the par}ey .had 100 to a comprômise ~endment. providing that the formation of the West Java Statè would be so iIl.terpreted, that the provisional governmtmt would have· the.characterisÛês of a Stàte. He said, however, that SÎllce the Statehad already been recognized by letter read this moming by Hilman se~téespii.f a daisesde Pm;lement Djuarsa, que après compromis formation interprétée provisoire déclaré dâns· par l'ouest de Java nommé dement ne suivant parolt:. levée Djajadiningrat~ Netherlands-appointed· Governor of West Java, the Republican amendment offered by Radan Sujoso, Batavia, was out of order, and turned to the nem pomton the. agenda.Sujoso asked. an opportunity to speakbut was refused, and the meeting adjourned unill tomoITow." -

The maft resol11tion submitted by therepresentatlve of China reads <lsfôllows: de dt' " Requ!!sts the C~rtunittee.of Qood.'Offices· to pay particular attention to the poIi{ical develop- mentsin western Java and Madura. and. to repÇ>rt to the CounGil thereon at frequent ititetvals." une situatlori. Jaya fréquemtitent projet Ifthere are no.objections to this draftresolution, Ishall consider i~approvçd. _ .. , Mr. ARCE (Argentina) (tfmtslatedfrom Spanislz): 1 aIso should have no objections to the draft resolution of the. representa1ive of China were it not tbat itappears to me necessary to ascertain the status of the Committee of Good Offices on the Indonesian questio~, inasmuch as it is not laid down in the text. 1 wish to point out. however. th.at from our manner ofproceedingit would appear that, having estabUshed ~ committee of good offices. we now want the Security Council to become a committee of bad offices the purpose of which would he to confuse the issue, because it is clear ifuat a commit- tee of good offices has a right to report on this matter and on anything else which it considers proper. For this reason,as 1 agreeto the Com- mittee's reporting as often as it thinks fit. and as 1 do not want to transform the Committee of Good Offices into a body to carry out our own particular desires, since· it should perform. the functions of·a committee of good offices-ati institution. long known in international·law and with wen-defined rights and dulies-for these 1e8Sons, thercfore, ~llse 1 do not want to fonow this tendency of the Security Councll to tutn i~iuto a committee of bad offices, 1 shall abstain. )Al". Lô..1t.BZ(Colombia): 1 donot feel that.the o~k fer wha~ we !me doing is rœ1ly asbad as the repœsentati'if;o)tArgentina be1ieves. Although we are approac1ùng thetime when we should adjoum for luncheon, 1 should like to feel sure thatwe aregoing to have enough time to ~ress ourideas,on the other proposaIs, and not simply vote on them becausethe hout is getting late. In.connexion·with the Chinese proposaI, 1 have a1ready said that Iam going to support it, and !bat the Colombian delegation will. vote for it. But 1. should like to caU the 'lttentionof the Security Council to the fact that this is a request to the Committee of Good Offices ..to pay particu1ar attention to the politica1 developments in western. Ja:Wl and Madura and to report to the eouncil thereon at. frequent intervais". As the members .of the eommitt-ee of.Good' Offices are present in t1lls chamber, 1 should.like to lmow whether we aregoing to wail until they go back to Madura before weget their reports~ or whether we sball expectthemto giveus the benefi.tuftheir The conditions in West Java, about which we have neard this morning and about which we have aIse heard from de cabled report read by the reprellentative of the Philippines, are becoming so critical that 1 would Velnture to express the apprehensioD, mthout any disrespect to' anyon~, that ifwe delay matters until a later time, we shan soon he very much in the position of a machine for registering accomplished facts. The other day, on 26 February, we had two meetings [256th and257th] ofthe Security Council. One of them was for the purpose of hearing a report on the Junagadh sitt.:ltion, and we found that the plebiscite in Junagadh which we were i\bout to discuss had a1ready taken place. The ot.'ter meeting was for the Plil'Pose of hearing a repllrt on the Indonesian case, and with regard to this poIitical settlement, of which we know very little although six months have elapsed in bringiD6 it about, we heard serious qoubts on that very é:ay ::.s to how that settleml,}ntwas going to he deux à cours de a allait seconde sujet de l'accord politique, de nous divergences l'égard et discuté avons au création implem~nted,how it was going to wm:k out, what would happe:! to the interpretation ofthe arrange- ment. and what the powers of the Committee would be. In fact, the sitUation is that we have been having discussions since that time; we have had three or four meetings, and we now hear that there is about to be a new State in Java. 1 believe that tbis is a very serious situation for the Security Council to be in, and we should not wonder if the prestige of the Organization is onthe wane, and rightly so, because developments of thi!j kind follow too closely one after another. The PREsIDENT ~ In view of the remarks made by the last twO speakers, before calling on' the repî'e-sentative of the Netherlands, 1 should like to direct the attention of theSecurity Council to chapter III) "Other phases of the Committee's work", of document S/649, the fust interim report of the Committee of Good Offices, which reads in part as follows: de du se trop les deux parole attirer sécurité intitulé mission la docUttlent "Pursuant to requests from the parties, thê Committee, in accordance with its policy regard- la ing en.quiries as set forth in the previous para- avait adoptée graph, sent observation teams to Mauura and au Rawahgedah. The reports of these observation d'observation ieams (documents S/AC.I0/85, S/AC.I0/85/ rappoï'ts de ces groupes d'observation (documents Add. 1, and S/AC.I0/86) have been submitted S/AC.IO/85, !o the Comnrlttee and are available for inspection ont ID the office ofthe Department ofSecurity Council. consulter Atrairs of the United Nations Secretariat." '1 du Unies.» Mr. VAN K1.B1lFENS (Netherlands): 1 feel that, thiough the President's kind intermediary, Iowe glllis): , ~ ., , 1 ~ reply to th~ representative of Syria, who asked du If1 could give information with regard to when de the Conference w~s caUed, its composition, de et cete.ra. position, I~bink Mr. el~Khouri was not present at the meetmg of theSecurity COlmcil of 26 February vrier when 1 stated precisely whni he asks me tQ say demande. now.IfMr. el-Kbouri does notobject,Ishould like procès-verbal tlo refer bim ta the record of the 256th meeting. sécurité. can only'add'tbat l,have no fresh information précisions to add.' 1 ~gïÙze(i'as .a poJitiqûu.nitto~ organ.i;zed a.s a Nagara "-aspecialState-" by a decree c;1ated 20 FeptuarY of;acting Govemor General ofthe Indiesr HubertusJ. yan M()ok." .. The PREsmENT:We shall now vote on the draft resolution submitted by the representative, of Chinà. . .' A vote was taken by show of·hands,awJ. ,he Tf!Sol'ution WQS. .adopted.by8. votes,in lavoll1', wjth 3abs'fintions. . J'otes fOI":. Belgium, canada,Chïr..aJColombia" France, Syria;United Kingdom, Unite-'i· States of America.' ".' . ".Abstentions:',. Argelltimi,..', lJ1a'ainïan. S~yiet ~ocialist Republic~. Union of SovietS'oclalist·Re- publics. . . '.' ThePIœSn>i3NT:We.shannow returIl.·to con;. sideration of the draft resolution submittedby the Canadia~. delegation,toS,C~her.."'-Ïth .the amendments •proposed hy the. 4~legationll. of Colombia mtd. AllSttaIfa.. .... . : Mr.FoRSYrH(Australia}: In VÏewof thestatet.M. mentsrelàting tOc thé.! Austrâliàaamendment nUuie. by the Chairman of the COmmittee of GOod Oifices thismônlingand ·b~· the·tepresen.tativc ofChina<at the,,256th meetÎIàBof the SecUrity Couneil, andin. viewoftheJaçt that.thestatement of the representative of· ClUU1a MS .not bcen questioned byany member ofthe Security Couneil, 1 donot feelit necessaryto urgeadop.tiQnof th~ amcndmtmt 1 have proposed. d'autre représentant vue en délégation indiqué [2496 la par directement d'accord pourrait du reconnais entièrement parties. lors reprise Office~ has so far functioned successfully in its a task; of cop,ciliation by proceeding on the basis sante, of'agreeinent between the two parties, it ismy parties. conviction that, in resuming its work, t1)e CQma - s0D: mittee should continue on t~e same basis, using s~ its discretioll as to the methods wbich would be méthodes qui lui sembleraient les plus appropriées most useful in facili~atiD.g agreement between.the pour Govemment of the Netherlands and the Govern- des Pays-Bas 1D.ent ofthe Republic of Indonesia,. it being étant understood that these methods must be. appro.,. doivent ·êtré priate to a committee of good offices. 1 believe de thatthis statemenLaccords with the view which beaucoup has beenso forcefully and clearly expressed by M. Mr. Justice Kirby. .. Je examinera par Speaking now as PREsIDENT, 1 ehould like to state that the Security· Council will now consider the Colombian amendment wbich is set forth in document 8/682. Mr.L6PEz (Colombia): As' 1 haye aIready .stated; there is a great deal of confusion in œy mind regarding ibis debate, and 1 shall therefore ..,-- +he Security Council's indulgence if. in tryÏlllg Ainsi plexe indulgence. débat, de vient étant Commission mais membres derniers les leur oêcidentaL légitime que possède cette Commission. là pour a, :chinoîsesens éC, vlarify the matter, 1 proceed backwards from the Cmnese· draft· resolution, which. has been adopteu. l should: liike to say, in the fust place, that 1 am unati1e to understand· why, if the deputies of the Committee .of Good Offices are in Indonesia, and now·that we have the privilege of having the ~~mb~rs with us, they should not·. be invited to gtve us whatever information they deem advisable ~nd whatever views they have on the situation ln westéLUJava. r think thàt is aperfectly legiti- mate requestwbich in no way l!.ttempts to extend thepowers of theCommittee of Good Offices. The Committee is here to inform us. The members of theCommittee have been there acting on , !'ehalfofthe Security Council. A situation.of such nnportance has arisen that the Security COlmeil hasseeri .fit· to pass the resolution submitted by

May 1interruptfor one moment to remind the representative of Colombia that the amendment to whichhe is referring was withdrawn. In consequence, remarks directed to it are.out of order. Mr. I..6PEZ (Colompia): Of course, 1 should 310t like todc anything but abide unconditionallyby the niling of the President, but the President will find, as 1 have already said, that 1 was gôing to make a' relevant remark. l do not wish to make it in any circuitous way. 1 am very willing to abide by the decision of the Président, but 1 am afraid it will take a little more time to make my point; and ~.. ~,hall not fail ta make it, if 1 have the opportunity. Will the President allow me to make one remark. about the Australian proposaI '1

1 would remind therepresentativeofColombia thatrules of procedure are made fortheconvenience ofthe Security Council and for the properdiscussion of its affairs, and that it behoves the representatives on the 'Security Council to pay attention not only to the strict lett~r of the mIes, but also to their spirit. . Having made these remarks, 1 am sure that vie can rely on the courtesy of the representative of Colombia. Mr. L6PEZ (Colombia): 1 need not assure the President aS to how loath 1 am to do anything that he may,propcrly call out oforder, and to which hemay caU. my attention,the more so when Ifeel that there is no doubtin bis mindnot only ofmy highest respect but aiso of the fact that.we ha~lehad an extraordinaryexampleof efficiency in the l;:onduct of our business while he ha.s been ~arge extent, to the ability and faimess with which :the President has conducted our deliberations -during the month of February. 1 am very glad .10 have this opportUIlÎty to say so. reux Coming back to this point, 1 can take it bath ways. 1 can mst discuss what the Netherlands Je representative said, and then make mention of tout what the Australian representative suggested, but par ï tbought it would be more in order to mention que the Australian proposaI fust; :as 1 said, l was mais going backwards. 1 shall do now as tllePresident d'abord wishes. reculons. me ce soit. du été très frappé, une faites 256 dois aux qui Unies. M. "fait, sens. Je difficmté s'exprime nelle. très tait avoir amendement abord; ce genre de résolution.» M. sécurité ceci: sion pas elle offices, nom. constatée l'Assemblée ne titue de Nations 1 do not wailt to be cri~çal, nor even to appear -eritieal, of anytbing. 1 am by nature and education mast uncritical. Notwithstanding',hat, 1 must ~ay that 1 was very greatly impressed .by the statement pf the Nethe),"lands representative at the 256th meeting. If 1 may use a familiar expression, 1 would say that 1 was terribly impressed. But although 1 am not critical, 1 am becoming increasingly sensitive to what is actua11y happening toour Organization which, as 1have said, is rather unfortunate,in my opinion. In closing bis addre~s; the Netherlands representative referred to my statementand said that he could not understand what it meant;! regret that. 1 tried to be Clear. But anyone speaking a foreign'language is handi- -capped by not being able to be c1ear when he tries to be so.' • However, Mr. van Kleffens then saici that my statement did not contribute' anything new, that my amendment was supertluous and that he had the impression that there was more in· it than meets the eye at fust sight. He concluded: ..... 1do not like that kind .of a proposaI:' Shortly before that he was telling the Security Council: .. If the 'Council gave the Committee of Good Offices rights which it does not already possess as a -committee<of good offices, it would cease to be acommittee of good offices, even if the Council were then, however wrongfully, to rt'...,;HJ. the name.".He doesnot want that. 1 believc:, ~;'m.f:. -ms attitude,so often expressed in the Security t;~"d1cil :andinthe General A~s,~mblyby statementssuch as "1 do'not want that" or .. 1 do not llke that "; has mucn to do with the present situation of the United Nations. MI:. van Klefféns gave us 'bis ratber detailed opinion. as to what, according to ms urider,; standing,' the Comtirittee of'Good Offices should do ,and should not do. He gave )\1S 'as restrictiv~ an mterpretation of the powers of a con:unittee of good offices as 1 believe it is possible to imagine. 1 do not know whether he ~ad in mind only my proposaI or aiso the" proposaI of the'Australian representative .which, as 1 have aIready said, refers tothe discretion of the Coinmittee of Good Offices, in submitting proposaIs andpublisJrlng ~hem at -its discretioil., . nï()n; offices, fourni prétation s'il position laissée soumettre publicité Committ~ of Good Offices in an invidious p.o .. Siti.·on i.f ..the im.pressl.·o .. n w.ere.. created t.hat .t'he C~mmittee favours a course of action which is not agreeable to both parties.'" . . 1 am notditlcussingthe functions and. po 'ers of the Committee,but the position of the Security Couneil vis-à-vis these' statements. AIl tbis has a familiar ~';ng in my ears. It is the saIne attitude that we havt; hadformulated inother words when parties to othet disputes; have come befort'l the Secmity· Couneil and have ·said, "This is the maximumthatwewillaceept. This isas far as we cango. If the Security Councilmovesa Utile futther, weshallbe placed ina verydifficult position/' And actually.they go on and leave the .Security.Couneil' and the General Assembly with ashining record of resolutions and recommendations that have notbeen complied'with. Once tbey take the position that theyareaproudcountry, tliat· theyarevei"j indepe'ldent, andthat the matterswe are discussing are their domestic business, to be handIed as they like; then wehave to be..ye:nr cqnçiliatory and very .diplotnatic. in ~yeQT()ne pf oùr propo~als andgradually, but u.'nfàili. "n.g1.y-,andunfortunately....;.wea,ccept that situation..' . . ' That is the.position today, andit gives mevery~ very great concern.We.téad a gooddeal inth!i' Press about the United Nations~waning"prestige. D.i1!ing the last few days, wehave been. told' that the United Nations is following in the· footsteps of the League of Nations, and 1 believe that therè rai~on? de à Français, 1 believe there are many reasons, but one that has considerable actualit.y is the tendency to discuss and settIe the most important issues, if 1 May be allowed to borrow a familiar French expression, en petit comité. . It is said that the Commiüee of Good Offices, consisting of three colonial Powers, shollid not make suggestions before it receives a request from bath parties, o! at least that before making thern, it should make quite certain beforeha,nd that the suggestions it. has ~ mind are agreeable to the parties, and that it should do ~ts work atcording to those conditions, so tha~ every tiJne it has settIed a situation and we have a. new accomplished fact, the Con:n.nittee sbould come to .the S~urlty Council to give us the highly praised privilege. of acting like critical his~orians of what has been done. 1 ~lieve that is not strÏctly j,nac\~ordance with the intention, the spirit or the letter .ofthe Charter forme as regards the Security Council. Again. 1 taise the âe . point as towhether. the Committee of Good Co:mmissionde représentants. devrait avant d'être rablement accueillies par les deux parties. Ensuite, chaque placerait accompli, .ne réservant à n~mment Offic~S-:-itmay be good ofijces, but 1 am not now:commission de bons discussing the scope of the Committee of Good. les Offices.....,.is a committee of the I)ocwity Council Cbnseil or a committee of the nations represented in it. sommes en présence d'une commission des nations Ifit ismade c1ear to me that it isa committee of qui the Member nations represented in it and notbing Conseil more, then 1 shall apologize for having wasted the en tim.e of .the Security C.o.uncil Wl·th these rema.rks., sont But if it is a committee of the Security Council, plus 1d9 not care whether it is acommîttee of investiexcuses gation or arbitration or good offices, for it has une t9 act as a co~ttee of the Security 'Council, soit and aIl the members of th~ SecurityCouncil d.'arbitrag~, may feel properly entitled to calI fot information ime from it. . ' ~om.mesen 1 do not see that my proposaI is so vague or so difficult to understand as Mr. van· Kleffens rept.:e~ paraît. sented it to be, butJ: admit that 1 may bewrong Kletfens. and.that· 1 may have been· much less-clear, unmoins wittingly~ tban 1 intended. 1 am ratter inclined to Mais thînlc, of course, that this isnot the trouble with quiembatrasse the proposal~ the/trouble with the proposaI is barrasse; that it does not conform to the wishes of Mr. vân désir Kleffens and the interpretationthat he has gi'ven donner. regarding the way Ïil which theCommittee of Good Officesshould aet. . . . The amendmentgoes a litt1e further and states: « sionde entière. des.principes, 'déjà. acceptés d'un semble·.déplaire KIeffens: Commission Il To direct their efforts, with the assistariceof theCommittee· of 6000" Offices,. toward the early and fun impliementation of the bases for a political settlement already a.greed ùpon; and",..-î;lilrds what Mr. van Kleffens pàrticularly objècts to-" toavailthemselvesof the Com- ~ttee'sservices fQr the solution of ânydiffer~nces The question we have to discuss· is not exactly that sitll~ation. The question which·we are discus'" sing is that the Netherlands and Indonesia had an agreement called·the Linggadjati Agreement, and during a situation in which there was discussion as to how the agreement should be interpreted or applied, a war came about with a11 its attendant consequences of killWg and destruction of property. Then the matter was brought to the attention of the Security: Council. Thel1l. after very lengthy discussions, they .have reached the present agreement, The very least we can do, 1 submit, is to make sure that, once again, we are not going to' have the preventable, foresœable difficulties over the interpretarion and applicati«.>n of this agreement. Unfortunately, just as soon as the agreement is brought before the SecurityCouncil, we are told that those difficulties, those differences of interpretation, have akeady .arisen: 1 believe °that this pones a very grave question: whether we want to d\f something to make sure thât we will not have te w'iÙt several months without 1t'êa:ring anytbing about the fndonesian: affair l~ntil we héar that sometbing eIse in the nature of an accomplishêd fact hasgot to be discussed by the Soourity oCouneiL , Ml': PARODI (France) (translated [rom French): When Ispoke for the mst time on the Indonesian question [2518t meeting]-ap.d up to now 1 have sp()k~;:onlyonce~and so m~yappealto theSecurity Council's patience and ask it, in spite of the lateness of the.hour,:tQ ·a11ow:me ~o make a few more remarks-I expressed the fear that the discussions which were beginning n1ight be such as to make the task of the Committee of Good Offices more diffic~lt. 1 am obliged to say that at tbisstage, whén oUr discussions are approaching their conclusion, lliy impression has been strengthened; 1am afraid that~üéhoilhasbeen thrown onto il me which was in process..of dying.out. . It w9uld be regrettable if·the discussions we have had were to obscurewhat· was originally very clear and what .remains the ;~ssential factor To sum up, by a procedur~ which, as 1 have already said, was not spectacular bu", which was effoo1Ïve, the Committee has provided the'Conncil with a report which, there is no doubt, is the most auspicious and one of the mostcreditable to the United Nations which any Committee established by us has for a long time prodnced. It would therefore be regrettable if we should spoil or compromise here the results obtained by the Committe~. Two amendments have been presented to us. one of which has been withdrawn. The discussion on it, however, h~s been reopened, and 1 therefore consider myself entitled to say something about it. ln my opinion the Committee of Good Offices is empowered to make suggestions. As for the publicity to be given to those suggestions, the normal method seems to me to draw up· a report to the Secnrity Conncil. Besides, that is the methodwhich will give the maximum of publicity to the suggestions. In addition to the Australian amendment which has been withdrawn, wehave before us an amendment submitted by the representative ofColombia. 1shall not be able to vote for that amendment. It is indeed drawn up in.moderate terms, but it. follows statements which have not been moderate, and 1 confessthat 1 can scarcely see where the adoption of that amendment might lead us, Ofthe texts which we have before us, the text of the draft resolution which the President him~ self fust submitted as representative of Canada seems, to me most likely to strengthen the Committee's authority and to allow it freedomof action along the lines which it has itse1flaid down and which have proved to be the most.effective. After these few explanatory remarks, 1 hope we may be able to reach the voting stage, and declare myself in favour of the text submitted in the name of the Canadian delegation. Mr. EL-hoURI .(Syria): ln reviewing the ~endment proposed .by the CQlombian delegation, 1 find. notbing, either'in international law or in the intentions of the Security Council when the Committee of Good Offices was created, which snrpasses the limits ofthe fnnction assigned to the Committee of Good Offices. For this reason,.1 think 1 should be in favour of voting for Vote~' against: Belgium, Canada. détaillées repOlier faites nous répondre surcepointdans Étant représentant nécessaire poser de dans':huit jours que nouvel n'a trouve pouvoir, de sécurité, donner l'assurance

1 tbink it is qw.te obvious from the context that the second paragraph refers to the two parties who are engaged in the controversy; it co:uld not be otherwise. Mr. EL-KHoURI (Syria): Refore adjourning, l think it is necessary to refer to the statement made by the representative of the NetherIands with regard to the·questions which were submitted. today by the representative of China and by me as to the constitution of thé West Java Conference and its competence. ae said that in my absence at the 256th meeting, he had given a full explanation with respect to these questions. On reviewing bis statement at that meeting, 1 find that there is nothing in it which applies to the questions we submitted. Therefore, we expect that he will, in the .near future, .jJÏ.ve the Security Council. full information regarding the qu~stions we have submitted. Mr. L6PEz (Colombia): ln view ofthe statement of the representative of the Netherlands, 1 think it i3. necessary to have it clear1:r understcod whether,if there is another State set upin West Java before the nex! meeting of the Security CouDcil on this subject, which May take place in about a week or so, tbis proposaI that we have adopted today applies to West Java. Once a new State i5 carved out of Indonesia, according to the statement that we have just heard, everytbing we have done isruled out. . The PREsIDENT: Speaking as the Presidentofthe SecurityCouncil, 1think 1 cau give the representa.. tive of Colombia the assurance in the name of the Security Council thatno such situation will arise. The meeting rose at 2.45 p.m. TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTIEm MEETING Argentine, Held at Lake ·Succeas, New York, on Tuesday, 2 March 1948, at 2.30p.m. President: Mr. T. F. TSIANG (China). Present: .The representatives of the following countries: Argentina; Belgium, Canada, China,