S/PV.421 Security Council

Before discussing the item on the agenda, I should like to know whether the Council has any objection to our sending a telegram to the United Nations Commission for Indonesia requesting :0- formation on the general situation in ]ogjakarta. As there is no objection I take it that the suggcs-- tion is approved. On the invitation of the P.resident, Mr. Hood, nprescnfative of Australia; Mr. VOlt Lalll]el1hwe, ".cprc.untativ'l of BrlgiU'm: [J Ra MaltI!-[], representative of Burma; Mr. Sen, representative of India; Mr. '1:an Roijen, representative of the Netherlands; Abdur Rahim Kllml: ,·epresenlatjue of Pakistan; Ge1ltral RO}I~1,lo, repnsentative of the Philip,pines; and Mr. Polar, representative of Indonuia, took their plnus at the Securit.'Y Council table. The PRESTDENT (tratlSlated from Spanish): As usual, the interpretation will be consecutive for the spe,:ches of memb!::rs of the COlllJcil, and simultaneous for the speeches of representatives who have been invited to participate in the meeting. General McNAUGHTON (Canada): l\ number of questions have been raised at the last three meetings of the Security Council by several tep~ resenlatives with regard to my stntement in the Council on 11 March (417th met'titlg], and I should like to take this opportunity to provide the further development of that statement which is apparently desired by members of the Council and by the representatives of other States who are participating in this debate. In the first place, I wish to make it clear that the suggestion embodied in the Canadian state~ ment of 11 March was put forward in the hope that it might represent a practicable course of actio:I acceptable to the Council and which would lead to the resumption of direct negotiations between the two parties. In advancing the suggestion for exploratory discussions, I pelt forward an idea, not the final te.x' of a proposal, because I fully recognize that the text of any final proposal could not appropriately be drafted until we had had the benefit of the discussions in the Cottncil to indicate a consensus of the members' opinion. In the t!lree meetings which have been held since I made my statement, the debate h,1S revealed that the suggestion, as it was originally advanced on 11 March, has secured tlle support of a number of delegations; Gn the other hand, there are some representatives who, while expressing general support for the idea of pre1iminary discussion~, under the auspices of our Commission, have 1lrged that the first and fOremost sub- 2. Adoption de l'ordre du jour 3. Suite de la discussion sur la question indonesienne Le PRFSTOENT (tmdl/it de J'espagnol) : Avant de continuer l'examen des points inscrits al'ord!'e du jour, je voudrais demander aux rnem- bres du Conseil s'ils ne voient pas cl'objection a ce que la Commission des Nations Unies pour l'Indonesie soit invitee par tl~lt~grc.mme a foumir des renseiguPlnf'nts S11r la situation generale a. Djokjakarta. CommE il n'y a pas d'objection, je considere que ma proposition est approuvee, Sur rinvitalion du. President, M. Hood, -repre- sentallt cle l'Australie; M. vatJ Lon[]enhove, repra- sentant de la Bel,qique j U Ba Maung, representant de la Birmaniej M. S(!n, representa1lt de l'!nde; M. '1:an Roije11, representant des Pa.ys-Bc..r; Abdur Rahim Khan, representant dll Pakistan; le gen6- ral Romulo, representant des 'PMlippines, et M. Palar, representant de la Rtpublique dJJndo~ nesie, prennent place d la table dl' CorJJeil. Le PRESTDENT rtraduit de l'e,~pC1,qnol).: Comme d'habitude, I'interpretation sera conse~ cutive pour les interventions des membres du Conseil et sinlL11tanee pour celles des representants invit~s a participer aux clebat~. Le general McNAUGHTON (Canada) (traduit de l'anglais): Au cours des trois dernieres seances dll Conseil de securite, plusieurs representants ont .';(Itl[('ve un certain nombre de questions a-propos de ma declaration du 11 mars [417eme seance] et, pour repondre, je crois, all desir des membres du CODseil et des represenl:aots des autres Etats qui participent a nos debats, je vOl1drais profiter de l'occasion qui m'est offerte pour expliquer celtt> (leclar;uion de fat;on plus cletaillte. Tout d'abord, je voudrais preciser que nous avons presente la suggestion contenue dans notre declaration du 11 mars dans I'espoir qu'elle pour- rait condtlire a des mesul·es pratiquement execu- tables que le Conseil pourrait accepter et qui meneraielll a la reIJrise des ncgociations directes entre les parties, En suggerant que les parties. prcnnel1t contact all cours de conversations preli- minaires, j'ai emis une idee, et non pas un texte definitif ele proposition, car j'estime qu'it n'est possible de n~diger comme il convient le texte llefillitif d'une proposition que lcrsquc lHJltS avons pu profiter des discussions au Conseil pour nous faire une iclee de }'opinion genera1e de ses membres. Des debats qui se sont deroules au cours des trois seances qui ant ell lieu depuis mOl Jecla1'2tion il ressort que cette suggestion, telle que je l'ai emise pour III premiere fvis le 11 mars, a obtenu l'applli d'uIl certain nombre de dHegations j d'au- tres, en revanche, tout en approl1vant en principe l'idfe de canvel'sations preliminaires sous les aus- pices de la Commission du Canseil, ant tenu a faire ressor!ir que la premiere et la plus impor_ pa.rttc~ to the Indonesian dispute inclUding of course, qualified representatives ;f the Gov~rn­ ment of the Republic of IndOnf'.~ift, .1 do .not thi.nk that any real difference exists on thlS ~omt whIch rnig-nt preYent the Council from reaclllng a consensus of opinion. Indeed the principal object of my remarks on 11 March was to suggest a procedure by which Ottr Commission in Inconesia would be able to take the ir.itiativt in an endeavour to remove the present obstacles which exist to the attendance of Republican rep- r~sellt<1tives at. the conference at The Hague. Clearly, the chief obstacle to the attendance of these repl"esentativc5 is the question of the return of the Government of the Republic to Joajakarta and itS rc-establish:nent as an effective ~dminis~ tration. To put it briefly, our position is this. We welcome the Netherlands' o:l'er to seek early agree- ment for tIle transfer of sovereignty over IndoM nesia to the United States of Indonesia, ilnd the stlgge.c;tion that a conference should be held at The Hague to negotiate this agreement, provided arrangements arc made to ensure that this con- ference takes place with the ,agreement "-lid co· operation of all parties directly concerned, In order to enable this conference to take place it must be regarded as a practical)le and acceptable procedure by all the parties concerned in tlle pro- posed negotiations. and to this end the United Nations Commission 101" Indonesia should, in the first instance, seek, withic; the powers conferred ttpon it lJy mu resolutiuII of 28 January [S/1234], a way of bringing n.bout an aeceptable and volun- tary agreement between the representatives of the Netherlands and of the Republic which woulc enable the latter to participate in the conference in T~le Hague as one of the parties to be nego- tiations leading to the transfer of sovereignty ir, Indon~sja. The principal cbsmc1e to the participation 0: the Repnblic in the conference is the question oi implementing paragraph 2 o~ the operative part of our resolution of 28 January calling upon the Netherlands Gove,nment "to facilitate the imme- diate retlml of officials of the Government of the Rev,tblie of Indonesia to Jogjakarta". !'-n en- deavour should therefore be made, With the assistance of the United Nations Commission lor Indonesia and without prejudice to the Council's resolution of 28 January-including paragraph 2 -to seck agreement on the manner in whid1 this restoration 5hould take place, and also on the time and conditions for holding the proposed cor,· ierenee at The Hague. reo~~~~nement ~e .Ia Repub1iqlle d'InclDTIesie. Ces p ntant~, s: Je COfllPlI;UUs bien, wnt d'avis que, ,une fDlS Iaccord obteou sur ce point on c~am.lnera;t au c?urs de ces conversa:ions pren- m1nalf~S 1; questIOn de savolr quand et comment po.unalt etre accept~ l'heureuse initiative qll'a prlse le 00uvernement cles Pays-Bas er. propOsant qUe se benne a La Haye une conference reunis- sfn~ des .repn~:,e,ntants de to:.ites les parties nu d ffe:end mdo:1,eslen, y compris bien cntendu des represe~tants qualifies du Go~vernej.]ent de la Repubhque d'Indonesie. d,Je ne crois ilas qu'il y ait sur ce point de n~el1es ,lvergences de yues qui pourraient empecher I acc~rd de se, falfe au sein C:U Conseil. En fait, mOn !otervention ~u 11 mars tendait avant 1011t a su.gg"e:-er nne prDcedure permetlant a ~lOtre ComM ffilsSlOn en Ir.doncsLe de prendre l'ini:iative cl'un effort tendantaecarter les obs:ac1es qui s'opposent ac.tuellen;ent ac,e ,que le~ repre~entants de la Repu- bhque d Indonesle asslstent a la conference de L:'l Haye. De totlle ~vidence, le principal (1(' rps obst~c]es est la questIon du retour a Djokjaknna dll Gouvernement de la RepL:blique e: de sa res- tallration comme administration effective, Voici, en .l:esume, que] est notre pDin! de mc, Nous accueLlons avec faVe.:tr 1'0ffr~ hite par 1es Bays-Bas de rechercher allssitot que possible un accord sur la question du transfer: aux Etats- Unis d'Indonesie de la souverainete :teerlandaise sur J'Indoncsic et 1[1 proposition de tenir a L;:t Haye unc conference pour negocier ClOt nccord, bant entendu que toutes dispositions seront prises pour s'assurer que cette conference aura lieu avec l'assentiment et la cooperation de tOlltes les parties directement interessees. Pour que cette conference puisse avoir lieu, il faut ql:e toutes 1es parties interessees aux negodations qu'on se propose c:'en- gage~ la considerent comme un moyen possib:e et acceptable. A cette fin, la Commission des Nations Unies pour l'Il1donesie devrnit tout d'abord, dans le cnure du nandat Cjui lai a ~te confere pal" notre resolution du 28 janvier (S/1234], rechercher comment on pourrait parvenir a un accord qn'ac- cepteraient vo1ontairement les representants des Pays-Bas et ceux de la Re?ubJique, et qui per· mettrait it ces demiers de prendre pa~t ala confeM rence de La Have en tant -:tue !'une des pnrtics aux negociations "tendant alt transfert de la souve~ rainete en Indonesie. !--e p,rincj~:l.l obstacle a la partic:patiol1 de 1~ RepLlbhque 11 la conferenCe de La Haye est la question de :a mise en applica.tic:n du paragr~phe. 2 du dispositif de notre resolution du 28 ,1~:1VI~r qui invite le Gouver.n~ment d~s '.fays-Bas 11 faCI- liter le reto:\r immedlat a DJolqakarta des fonc- tionnaires du Gouvernemcnt de la Republique d'Ir.donesie". I1 faudrait done s'efforcer, avec l'aic.e de la Commission des Nations Unie~ pour l'Indonesie et sans s'ccarter de la reso1utlOn du 28 ~anvier - y compris le paragraphe 2 de cette resolution _ de recherche; t'l'l.ccord sur b ma· niere dont ce retour devrait s'effectuer et egaleM rnent sur le point de savoir ql1and et dans queUes conditions pourrait se tenir, comme on se le propose, la conference de La Haye. V,le welcome the acceptance by the Netherlands Gover-lUllent of our suggestion ;n the general terms in which I pt1t it forward, and wc also welcome the statement made by the rcpresen:ative of the Netherlands On Wedne!'.day, 16 March [419ih weetingJ, when, in referring to th.:- Chinese and Canadian statements, he said: "We realize that thl; implemelltation of their .<;ugges:lons \vill r~qt1ire concessions from both parties". On 14 March [418th 11Iectitl9j the repre:;(:nta~ !lve of the Republic of Indonesia raised some ql1esdon~ w,th regard to the prClpo.<;al made in my statel1.1er.t of 11 March. I hope that weat I have said tod:ly will. serve to dispel any misconception which might bavc: arisen at that time. A notre avis, les conversations prelimim..ires cn Indonesie, que plusieun: rnctubres du Conscil et moi-merne avons suggerees, ne sont pas seule~ ment souhaitables.: elles sont absolumen~ essen- tielles. Avant que le Conseil ;JUi~~e sanc.tionne;- la presence, a la conference de La Haye, de l.a Commission des Nations Unies poUr l'Indonesie, il fnut que nOllS sachions que nutre Commission elle-melne a acquis la certitude que les Pays-Bas ont donne it lelJr proposition nne lorr:le telle, qU'OD puisse en attendre d'utilts progr-cs vc:s le regle:nent final oe la question. De toute evidence, il faudrait aussi que 1es Gouvernements des Pays-Bas et de la Republique d'lndonesic pa.r- tagent cette comiction; it faud,ait en outre, avad que la c::mference de La Haye puisse se re..mir, que ces Gcluvernemenls tiuie::Lt parvenu3 a un accord concernr..nt les conditions et stipulations dont ils estiment respectivement que l'observation doh etre garantie. In our view the pretnunary Jiscusl;ions in Indonesia, which I and ofllers in this CO'Jnd have suggested, are not only desira.ble but absolutely essential. Be'fore this Council could ~anction the presence of the United Nations Commission for Indonesia at the conference at The Hague, we should need. to know that our Commiss;Clr. itself was satisfied that the proposal of the Netherlands Goyernment had been developed into one from which the COlllluission believed soml.' t1f<'",fu! prog- ress towards eventual settlement would result. It would clearly be necessary for the. Netherlands Government and the Government of th~ Republic of Indonesia also to be satisfied on this point, and, in addition, they should be mutually agreed re- garding the respecti,·c conditians or Htipulations on whith they felt they would need assurance be- fore the conference cou:d assemble. Il est evident, pour la delegation du Canada _ et j'espere que d'autres ml.":mbrcs du COnseil souscriront a ces vues - qu'it serait peu pra- tique qt.:.c le Conseil lui-meme essaye d'indiquer en Mtai: les conditions et la procedure qui ?otlr- raient pertllettre aux. parties cl'entreprenclre de La Haye des negociations directes, comtne le pro- pose le Gouvememel1t des Pays-B~~. Ce sont I:i des questions qui, a notre a.vis, devraic:nt etre regle.'es au coms des conversations preliminaires avec l'aide de nolte Commission agissant en Vf'.rtu de la resolt:tioll du COlJseil en date du 28 janvier et clans le cadre du mandat qui lui a et:~ confere par ladite resolution. Anx terrnes de ce mao(ht, It is clear tu the Cann.dian del~gation, and I hope other members of the Council win agree, tl11l.t it wculd be impracticable for the Council itself to attempt to specify in d(!tai1 the conditions and prvcedure which n:ig~t enable the parties to undertake direct negotlatLons at The Hague as proposed by the Netherlands Govemment. These are. questions which, in our oJ:linion, shoulC: be worked out in the preliminary discl:ssions and with the assislance of our Commission, acting- by virtue of the Cound's regol1..ltion of 28 January and with the J:lowers c:m-ferre:d upon it by that resolution. These powers include the duty of making recommendations to the partie5, as wdl as d'~t.l:I,. c·est que le C:0n,Seil, agissant }Jar !'inter- medlalre de sa Comm1sslOl1, aide le Gouyernement des Pays~Bas et le Gouvemement de la Republique d'lndonesie a elaborer Un <Icco;d concernant. la mise e:l a?pllcation des parties de la resolutian qui sor.t, esser;:ielles si l'on veut qu'il soit possible de proceder a de nouvelles negotiations direcles entre toutes les parties interessees au difIerend indonesien en vile d'un reglernent pacifique grace auquella souverainete pourrait etre transfereedu GouveTllement des Pays-Bas allx Eta.ts.Unis d'Indonesie. Nous accueillor.s avec faveur l'aceeptation, par l~ GOl.:vemement des Pays-Bas, de notre sugges- tion, dans les termes generaux OU je l'ui presentee, et nOllS accueillolls egalement avec faveur la declaration f13ite par le representant des Pays- Bas q:1i, le rncrcredi 16 mars l419bne sta1ICt), faisant allusion aux declaratior.s de la Chine et clu Can<lda, a dit: "NO:1S nous rcndcns con:pte que la mise en ceuvre de leurs suggesliol1s cxi- gera cles concessions des deux parties". Le 14 mars [418eme seanceJ le repl"escntant de la RepubEque d'Indones:e a souleve certa:nes qu~stions concerr.ant la proposition eontenue cans rna declaration du 11 mars. J'e~p,he que cc que j'ai dit aujourd'hlli servira it dissiper taus les mJ,lentend1.1s qui q.uraient pu se produire cl ce moment. The representative of the Republic d Indonesia raised anot~er question with regard to my state- ment ot 11 March when he suggested f1at the Canadian proposal wa~ founded 011 t:1e rristaken impressioll tlmt the aims of the Netherlands Governement, as set forth in its proposal of 26 Febrtla:;r were identical with 'the aims of the Security Council and of the Republic of Indonesia. The representative of the Netr.erlands has already replied twin' to this C]uestion regnl'd- ing the ultimate objective of Netherlands policy on the transfer of sovereignty, Or. 14 March [4J8th meeting] he declarerl: "I should now like to state most emphatically that the trans:er, according to the Ron'l,ille Agree1T\~nt [S/f,49, Appendices XIII and VIII]. will be real, com- pl.ete a~ld unconditional," More:JYer" if there is any difference between the Government of the Netherlands and the Governmen: of the Repu':llic of Indonesia regarding :hc manner in. which this objective is to be attained, the place to clarify the matter is in the cor.ferellce between the ~wo parties which, itS a result of the preliminary dis- cussions we have proposed,. we hope may take place subsequenly at Tile Hague. In s?eaking again today] have been prompted by the thought that the President might feel it appropriate that I, having taken the respoll.~;l)i1ity of bringing before this Council a suggestion for a prelimimry discussicn under the auspices of the United Nations Commission for Indonesia, should summarize my suggestiolls regarding the t~rms in wbid: he, as President of the Security Council, might comn1t1:1icate with Oll! Commis- sion. I propos~ that the President, on behalf of the Council, might communicate the following message to the Commission: "It is the sense of the Security Counci: tha: the United Nations Commission for Indonesia, in accordance w:th the Council's resolution of 28 January 1949, and without preju&cing the rights, claims and positions of the parties, should assist the parties in reaching agreement as to (a) tl-:e ilr.plementation of the Council's resolution of 28 January, and in particular paragraphs 1 and 2 of the operative part thereof; and (b) the time a'l<1 conditions for holding the proDo.~eJ confer- ence at The Hague, to the end that the negotia- tions contemplated by the resolution of 28 Janu- ary may be held as soon as possible. It is further the sense of the Council that, if sl1ch an agree- l1lt:llt is n:ached, the holding of such a conferenC'.e and the participation by the United N ation~ Com- mission for Indonesia in acconlance With its terms of reference, would be consistent witfr the ptHpc,ses and objectives of the COClncil's resolu- fan of 28 Jallllary 1949." I might add that, ia view of the many com- ments which have been made in the; Council on m}' original statement, and .as my proposal rep- reSen';;; action aris:ng out of the Council's resolu- tion of 28 January 1949, I have sought:he advice of those members of ,he Council who supported that resolution; and that the ~ext which I have .proposed carries their assent. Ce qui n:';'\ ir:dte a re?rendre la parole a1.1jo'.1r- d'hui, c'est l'idee qtle le Presider,t pourra:t juger ban (Jue, puisque j'ai pris l'initiative de nggerer au Conseil l'idee de conversations pre1iminain:~ sous les auspices de la Commission des ;;rations Unies pour l'Ir.donesie, il m'appartenait de resu- mer mes suggestions concernant les tennes clans If'squels, en tant que President du Conseil de securite, il pourrait el1Voyer a notre Corrmission une communication. Je propose que le President, atl nom du Conseil, fas3e ~rvenir a la Comnis. sion le messng~ SUiV211t: "Le Conseil de :;ecul-:tc est d'nvis que la Com~ m:ssion des Nations Unies pour l'Indonesie, con· fcrmement ala resolution adoptee par le Conse.il le 28 j:l.llviel' 1949, et sans prejugcr les dro,its, revendications et position~ des parties, devrnit aider ces derni~res aparveuir a. un accord concer. nant: (1.) la mise en app~ica~on de la res?h:t.ion du Conseil en date uu 23 Janvler et, en partlctlher, des pal'agraphes premier et 2 de ladite resolution, et, b) le moment DU et les conditions dans les- quelles aurait Iiett la confemice qU'Ull ;;1'. p:oPOJc de tcnir a La I-Iaye, afin que les negoctahOns p:'evues par la l'esolution du 28 i.anvier puisse~t etre entreprises <.It1ssitCt qtle pOSSIble. Le CoaseLI ~stime en outre que, si l'nccord se fait sur ces points, il serait conforme aux buts :vi.se~ pal" la resolution du Conseil en date du: 28 fanVler 19~9 qu'une tel1e ccnferen~e ait lieu ,et que.l~ Comml~­ sion des Nations Dme; pour lIndollesle y paTtl- cipe d;:ms le cadre de SOl: mandat." Je pourrais aiollter q?e, eta~t .don~e les. nom- breuses suggestions qUI Dnt et~, pres~ntees, atl Conseil a propos de ma premiere ~e~lardlOn; etant donne egalement que ma proposltl?n po.rte sllr des mesures 11 prendre all titre de l.a resohtl<l,n du Conseil en date dl1 28 janvier 1949, je me SUlS inforl11e de l'opinion des membres du Conse:! qui ont appllye cette resolution, et que le texte que je viens de proposer a obtenu leur accord. Mr. VAN ROIJEN (Netherlands): I should be glad to conforr.l to the reql1est of the Presider.t, and shall be as brief as possibl~. What I have to soy here todfly does 1I0t consti- tute .my re~di011 to what General McNat:ghtoll has JHst saId, and 1 s1:oulC. like to ma:,e it verv clear th~t it is not a reply to !lis new sltggestio~ co.nc:ernmg the mess8ge whl<:h the President mIght ;Ir1dres~ to the Uniteo Nations Commission f 0 ~ Indonesia. The last time I spoke before the COHnd) r419th m~eting1 I said tr..at, ?WiEg in particular to the wISe and constructive :nterventiom of the repre- sc:ntatives of Canada and China, the debate on the Indonesian question had taken a more positive turn. whicJ. held 0I1~ the :lopef1.11 prospect nf ;l solutJcn. After havmg sat throt1gh htrtheT dis. c.t1ssions in the Security Council, I m'lst ~egret­ full}' state that a. number of speakers have dOlle their utmost to disturb lh~s atmo:;phere Lv el:J- le5s repetition of recriminations, nod by new a.ccusations. Any impartial observer who attends these meetings-and I am .'1ot speaking now espe- ciallyas the representative of the Nctherlands- must inevitably feel a question arise within him. self: What is the purpose of these debatzs? Is it t? ~nd a sohlt1on for a COlllplicated problem, 0:' 15 ~t to .render .the problem. still more compli- cated. Is It to bung the partIes together, as :he purpcse and aim of ":he United Nations sho~lld be, or is it to an:n.gonize the par:ies stilI mO:'e? Is it to find objectively the trnth a::ld the solution, or is it to find as much fault as possible with one rarty and ab~oJv(' the other? " T~.es.e are qllestions wh'ch <l.re being asked with mcreaslng -urgency, not only 111 my own country but by all those mi11ions who put the:r hope and hith in the United Nations. Is it <:.11y wonder that, .as has ·:leen stated by several speakers, the preshge of the Security Council ;s rapidly de- clining? I warned t:1e Council a long time ago th<ll lhis would be the result of its ~aking ltp a matter which it was ::lOt entitled to deal with, but this result has been aggravated beyond necessity by the attitude taken by certain celegations. The course of events dGTmg this session hOls been symptomatic of that regrettable trend. Now what arc the facts? Fuel number one: After the ac1optior: of the Sccllrity Council's reSolution of 28 Jdnuary, the Netr.crlands made it clear that it would carry Oltt that resolution to tl:c uimost extent co:npatible with its ~esponsj)ilities. On 26 Febnlary the Re· publican leaders in Bangka were inforned that they were free either to go abroad or to reside :n a:J.y part of Indonesia, ,vith :he exceptio:l of lhe still restricted aret!. of Jogjakarta. It was 3.dded that the Netherlands authorities would grant transportRtion facilities if reql1ired. The M. VAN RorJEN (PaIS-Bas) (trarfuit de fa71~ glais): Pou:· me conformer au degir du President, je serai aussi bref que possi1Jle. Je ne vais pas exposer aujourd'hui mon point de vue au sujet de la dedaraf:on Gue ,'ient de faire le 1jeueral McNaughton. Je ne CepQndl'a~ p;l" non plus, je tiers a le preciser, i la nouveJle sttg- gestion que le geneml v:ent de faire au sujet du message. que le President pOl.1rra;t aclresser a la Commission des Nations Udes ?our l'Indonesie. La derniere fois que j'ai eu l'c,ccasion de pren~ dre id la parole, [419e.me seance], j'ai dit que le debal St:.r la qt1~.stion d'Indonesil'l avnit pris, notamment a la sl.:te des interventions sages et juCicieuses des represe:1tan:s du Canada et de la Chine un earaetere plus positif qL1i permettait d'esperer que I'on parviencrait it une su1ution. Apres avoil' ~ssiste a de nouvelles discussions, j'ai le :,egret de COllstater que de ncmbreux ora~ teurs se sont ,.ffmds de trottbler cet::e utmo· sphere en reprenant sans cesse leurs ac:usations anlerieures et en en formulant de nouvelles. Un observateur impar(al assistant a ees seances - et je ne park pas specialcmcnt en tant q\te repre~ sentant de:; Pays~Bas - doit, sans nul doute, se poser les ql\estions suivantcs: Qud est le but du decat? S'agit-il d'apporter t:ne solution a un probleme complexc:, ou bien s'Clgit-il de cornpli~ quer encore ee proLleme? S'agit-il, confonnement aux: buts de I'Organisation des Nations Unies d'<'l1ler:er un l'appr"chemen: entre les I:urties en enllse ou bien s'agit-il de rendre plus violent en:or~ 1eu!" antagonisme? Vcut~on, dans un esprit objeetif, decQuvrir la verite et unc so:ution du prohH~me, ou 1.Jitll ve·.lt-on rejeter adant {JtH' possible la faute sur rune des parties et absoudre l'autre? Voila Jcs questions que. ~e p()sent, d'une maniere chaque jour plus pressante, non settlement roes cornpatriotes, mais des millions de gens qui ont foi cn l'Organisation des Nations Units et fondent sur elle leurs espoirs. Et si - diffcrents Ol·atetW~ I'unt ohserve - le prestige du Conscil de secLlrite decline rapidement, peut~on s'en etor.ner? rai avprti If' ConseiL il y a Jc.ngtemps, que c'est ce qui se produirait s'il se saisissait d'une question. qui n'est pas de sa competence; mais cette sittla- tion est devetlue plus grave encore en raison de 1'<Lllitude qu'ont prise certaines deJeg.<lt;ons. Cette tendance I"egnttable .s'est manifestee d'une fa~on part.iellliereme:1.t ndte au eoU~s de la presente SCSSlOn. Quels sont done les {aits? Vo:ei Un premier fait; Lorsque le ConseiL a adoptc sa resolution d't 28 janvier, les Pays~Bas O:1t declare sans 'ltllbigu"ite qL'ils app:ique.raient cette resolution dans toutc la meSUl"e ou elle est compatible avee :es l·esponsabilites (]u'ils assu- mellt. Le 26 fevrler, les chefs repr.:blicains a Banka. ant ete informes qu'ils etaient libl"es de partir P0lt! l'etranger DU hen de resider dans tlne dgim lluelcOl1que de l'Indon~sie, a l'exception de la zone de Djokjakarta oit des restrdions sont encore er: viglleur. Le;; autorites neerlanc1aises se