S/PV.79 Security Council

We have oruy two items on our agenda. First, the adoption of the agenda, aJ.ïd secondly, the proposaI made by the repre- :rentative of Poland at the seventy-eighth meeting of the Security Council to de1ete the Spanish question from the list of matters of which the Council is seized. Uruess 1 hear any objection, 1 shall assume that the Council adopts the agenda. 81. Proposai of Poland to delete Spanish question from Security Council agenda Mr. LANGE (Poland): We have a resolution on the Spanish question which was discussed in this Council. It has been adopted by the COWlcil and reads as follows: "Whereas the Security Council on 29 April 1946 appointed a Sub·Committee to investigate the situation in Spain, and Whereas the investigation of the sub-committee h~\S fully confirmed the facts which led The Security Couneil decides to keep the situation in Spain under continuous observathn and mamtain it upon the list of matters of which it is seized, in arder that it will he at an ùm~ ready to take such measures as may become necessary to maintain international peace and security. Any member of the Security Couneil may bring up the matter for consideration by the Couneil at any time." During the general discussion in the General Assembly, great interest wa~ shown in the Spanish question and a number of delegations, including our own, presented resolutions on this question. The Charter provides that as long as the Couneil exercises its function, the. General Assembly may not make any recommendations. However, in view of the widespread interest which has arisen in the General Assembly, our delegation is of the opinion that it would be appropriate to remove this matter from the list of subjects with which the Council is seized, in order to give the General Assembly freedom to pass any resolution.. it might consider advisable as regards Spain. ln view of this, 1 want tQ propose to the Council the adoption of the following resolutian: "The Security Council resolves that the situation in SpaiL. be taken off the list of matters of which the Council is seized, and that all records and documents of the case be put at the disposa~ of the Genêral Assembly." 1 understand that the adoption of such a resolution will not in any way affect the general rights and priweges of the Security Council. Whenever any member of our Council wishes to raise the matter in the Council, he will always be free to do so, and all we need to do is to put it back on the agenda. Consequendy, without any prejudice to the rights and privileges of the Security Council, we may take the matter off the list of subjects with which we are seized and let the General Assembly exercise its rights and duties. ln my resolution, 1 have aIso added that all ll"ecords and documents of the case be put at the disposal of the General Assembly. A quantity of records has been accumuIated. We have the report of the Sub-Conunittee which investigated the Spanish situation; we have the records of our own debates on the subject, and finally, 1 understand that the Secretariat has received many communicatioro from non-governinental sources. 1 suggest that the Secretary- General be requested to put all such records and documentation at the disposai of the General Assembly. Mr. !..ANGE (Poland): Your interpretation of my proposaI is correct. Mr. VELLOSO (Brazil) (translated trom French): The reason 1 asked ta speak was that 1 wanted ta trv ta clarify·our discussion. In particular, when 1 came here 1 did not see precL~y what formula we could ad,opt ta give effect to the proposaI of the representative of Poland. 1 wondered whether we were going ta revive the old report of our SubwCommittee of Enquiry and submît it once more ta the vote of the Couneil, with, on tlùs occasion, the assurance that the unanimity rule would not he employed, or whether we were going ta accept a proposaI that the Security Couneil shouId decide not ta proceed with the matter, sa that the General Assembly could study it without infringing the provisions of the Charter. The representative of Poland anticipated my perplexity when he explained the import of the draft resolution he had just read to tU!, whereby the Security Couneil would decide not ta proceed with the Spanish question and would place at the disposaI of the .Assembly all the necessary documents ta enable it ta rli'lClllN the matter fully and thoroughly. 1 should be glad ta have the opinion of my .colleagues on the Polish proposaI, which calIs for no speciaI observation from me. 1 would mere1y add that, as aIl my colleagues, 1 am anxious that the Assembly should be able ta exercise fully and freely its right to discuss this matter, just like any other, and that 1 am ready to co-operate with my colleagues in seeking a solution-he it the adoption of the Polish proposaI or any other-which, while in no way derogatory ta the dignity of the Security Council, would help ta bring this matter to a close. Mr. HASLUCK (Australia): The Australian delegation will vote in favour of the Polish resolution. There is, however, one remark that 1 would wish to make, wlùch does not deaI with the merits of the resolution before us, but rather with the generaI procedure which we are foIlm-, ing. When the Spanish case was last discussed by this Couneil, a resolution, which obtained a large measure of support, was moved by the Australian representative. It obtained the support of the majority of the memhers of this The United States representative then pointed out that if the Council wished to free the General Assembly at any rime, so that it could make recommendations with regard to a particular matter which had been brought ta its notifica- :...on, it would be very simple f.!:lr the Council k -drop that matter from the list of those questions being dealt with, and to advise the General AssembJy accordingly. It is true, of course, that although the Security Council is seized of the Spanish case, the Security Council is not in fact actively considering the case in the sense that it is being discussed at this time, or that the Security Council's action is presently in prospect. Accordingly, a recommendation by the General Assembly would not have an adverse effect on the Security Council's consideration of the case, nor would it intedere with the prerogatives of the Security Council which Article 12 was designed to protect. The United States delegation, therefore, supports the proposal made bythe representative of Poland, and believes that it is entirely proper for the Security Council to. take such action as may he necessary, ta enable the General Assembly to make recoIr.lmendations on the Spanish case, if the General Assembly wishes to do so. 1'0 follow up the suggestion made by the representative af Australia, the United States dele~ gation believes that in the future it would be wise for the Council to consider a rule of procedure providing, in effect,that at the time of the Secretary~Gei1eral'snotification ta the Geu. Mr. PARODI (France) (tmnslated tram French): The proposai submitted by the repre!entative of Poland seems to me in keeping with the views expressed by the vast majority of the members of the Security Council when the Spanish question was pnder consideration. By a majority of nine, 1 think, we proposed ta reler the Spanish matter, under certain ronditions, to the Assembly of the United Nations. It was not possible to convert that proposaI into a decision. The proposal now before us is completely in line with the views of the majority of us at the time and this being the case, 1 think it is an extremely useful and expedient suggestion. It aIso has the effect of eliminating any possible objections based on Article 12 which might prevent the Assembly from dealing with the Spanish question. Without embarking on a legal discussion of the kind ta which our Australian colleague has referred-which could, 1 think, be entirely ruled out-I would say that the Polish proposal fully respects the rights of.the Assembly, since it leaves the way .open for it. levons We know that the Assembly has already had before it proposaIs that it should consider the Spanish question. The Polish delegation's proposaI therefore seems ta me opportune, useful and perfectIy correct, having regard ta the attitude which the General Assembly can adopt, and fo~ these reasons, on behalf of the French delegation, 1 wish ta support it. Mr. GROMYKO (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) .(translated trom Russian): The repw resentatives of Australia and the Uni.ted States touched on a question which is not directIy connected with the subject under consideration. If we go into details and a discussion, it will lead us too far from the subject which we are considering. Article 12 of the Charter of the United Natiom says: "While the Security Council is exercising, in. respect of any dispute or situation, the functions assigned to it in the present Charter, the General Assembly shall not make any , recommendation in regard to that dispute or Mr. PJ'IDILLA NERVO (Mexico): l will vote in favour of the draft resolution presented by the Polish representative. 1 would like to say in this respect, that 1 do not think this resolution is really identical with the one which was rejected by the Security Council when the Sub-Commîttee on Spain presented its report. The Mexican delegation at the Security Couneil would have preferred that the Security Council send directIy to the General Assembly a positive recommendation similar to that of the Sub-Committee; in fact, that it recommend to the General Assembly that the United Nations break off diplomatie relations with the Franco regime. The Security Council could not agrf'~ to the recommendation we really favoured namely that it adopt a resolution 2ldvocating tl le breaking off of diplomatie relations with th\ Franco regime. This was not possible, since it would n)w appear that the opinion of 'the Security Council is not to make a direct recommendatiOl· to the Assembly, or request the Assembly to n.'ake a recommendation without taking the ma.~er from the agenda, although it is possible to do 50 according to Article 12. Article 12 stipulates that the Assembly will not make recommendations on a matter that is being dealt with by the Security Council unless the Security Council so requests: the Security Council could now study the matter and request the General Assembly to make a recommend~tion on this subject without the Security Council having to drop the . matter {rom its agenda. But that does not seem ta be the general opinion of the Security Council. Although 1 recognize that the matter should not he discussed now, 1 think it is approln regard ta the interpretation of Article 12, it may weIl be that there is a case for an elucidation. Quite clearly, we cannot take a decision on this today and 1 do not think that a proposal to thiseffect has been made. If any member wishes to suggest that the Council should examine that question, it is open ta him to do sa in the ordinary way and at the.proper time. HASSAN Pasha (Egypt) (translated trom French): The Egyptian delegation is particularlyinterested in the legal aspect. It considers that since the Security COlmcil is not dealing actively with the Spanish question, there is no reason why this question should not be removed from its agenda and brought before the General Assembly.

There are t'wo poinG 1 should like· to make. 1 should like, in the first place, to ask the representative of Poland, whether, for the sake': of fonn, he would not add a sentence to hj,r; draft resolution to this effect: "The Security Council requests the &:cretary- General to notify the General Assembly of this decision." 1 suggest that simply because the Secretary- General has, in accordance with bis obligations, already sent in to the President of the Assembly a list of those matter8 with which the Security Council was still dealing, and those with which it had ceased to deal. If we adopt this resolution, 1 think it wouid be necessary for him to make a supplementary communication to the President of the Assembly. The other point that 1 was going to raise relates to a remark which the representative of Poland made in bis opening statement to the effeGt that he assumed that this resolution, if passep., wouid not in any way impair the rights of the Security Council, that is to say, that it would he possible for any member, with a vaUd reason,to put the question back .on the Security Council's agenda. 1 expect the Council will confinn that that is its understanding of the position. Speaking as the representative of the United Kingdom, 1 can say that my Government supports the Polish resolution. Mr. I...ANGE (Poland): 1 shall be glad to add this sentence to my molution and 1 ask the members of the Council to consider it as containing this additional sentence.

If no other representati'le has any further observation to make, 1 will put the Polish resolu1;ion to the vote. The resolution is in the following tenns: ·~e Security Council resolves that the situation in Spain is to be taken off the list of matters of which the Council is seized, and that all records and documents of the case he put at the disposaI of the General Assembly. The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to notify the General Assembly of this decision." Will those who are in favour of the resolutioD. please hold up their hands? It is carried unanimously. 1 want to recaIl to other members of the Council that whatever were the differences of opinion as to the measures to he applied with regard to the Franco Government, there was never any difference of opinion as to the condemnation of the origin, nature and activities of that Government. And 1 take it that our unanimous action today is a further siep toward the presentation of a common and united front of all United Nations against the Government which is a survival of the fascist Axis which has fought against the countries which now fOIm our Organization. The PRESIDENT: We have exhausted our agenda for today, and unless 1 hear any objections 1 propose to adjourn the meeting. The meeting rose at 4.15 p.m.