S/PV.940 Security Council

On 16 February the Special Representative, Mr. Dayal, reportedto me about rumoUl'S that various personalities in Leopoldville had been deported to South Kasai. The rumours a180 indicated a possibility thatthe persons inquestion had been executed in Bakwanga. 1 requested immediately the fullest possible information and that protective steps should be taken so that no harm to the lives of the people concerned would occur. 3. Last Saturday night, 18 February, 1 received the report of the findings of the Special Representative [S/4727 and Add.1] , whichwasimmediatelycirculated. To the document are annexedthree letters, toMr. Iléo, 5. 1 bring this news to the kn.ûwledge of the Council with revoIt and shock. My words in the letter to Mr. Kasa-Vubu indicate my reaction, but in the light of what has now been brought out, 1 would use much stronger language. It should be inconceivable for personalities with whom the UnitedNations has to deal-in a country to which it has tried its utmost to bring assistance-to fIout in this way basic values upheldby the Organization. For the Organization, itself, it is humiliating and corroding to be confronted with such acts wherever they happen, but this reaction is reinforced when the Organizationhas alsoto recognize its powerlessness in the face of policies coldly disregarding its efforts and the principles on which they must be based. 6. It is for the Council to judge how this latest development, followlng the assassination of Mr. Lumumba and others, should influence United Nations action in relation to the Congo and the various groups in the Congo.

Inview ofthe Secretary- General's statement, 1 am sure we all x:ealize that the situation in the Congo has taken a new trend. Since this is essentially an African problem, 1 implore the members of the Security Council to afford me an opportunity to contact and consult with the representatives of the African countries here present, because 1 am sure we may wish to reconsider our position. 1 would therefore move that the meeting be .adjourned until 3 o'clock this afternoon.

The delegation of the United States agrees to the adjournment proposed by the representative of Liberia. My Government has instructed me to express its shock, its revulsion and its indignation at the news that we have heard f.rom the Secretary-General here this morning. This further example of the violence and of the barbaritythat afflict the political life of the Congo, and of the lawlessness that there prevails, emphasizes again the imperative necessity of early and effective action by the United Nations.

It is with feelings of profound shock and indignation that we have just heard the sad news which has been c.ommunicated to us by the Secretary- General 'and which shows that inthe Congo the Leopoldville authorities are still carrying out a truly dey 5ubsequently circulated as document 5/4727/Add.2. 10. 1 shall be speaking again on this subject later. 1 have no objection to the meeting of the Security Council being adjourned to this afternoon. 11. Ml'. ZORIN (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) (translated from Russian): The Soviet delegation is compelled to note that the worst fears which it expressed at the meeting of the Security Council on last Friday [939th meeting], when the proposal was made to adjourn the meeting to Monday, have beenrealized. 12. On Friday we said that every day of delay meant giving free rein to the régime of terror now existing at Leopoldville and inKatanga and constituted a serious threat to the very existence of the Congolese people and the cause of peace inAfrica as a whole. ProposaIs were made to defer a decision by the Security Council on the present agenda item. We said that every additional day of delay would result in a new threat and in new victims. Unfortunately that has againbeen confirmed today. 13. We are profoundly convinced that, li the United Nations maintains its passive position concerning the adoption of decisive measures against Belgianaggression and against Belgian henchmen, there will be new victims and a complete catastrophe in the Congo. We cannot agree with the idea of trying to effect a reconciliation with a régime which is carrying out a virtual extermination of the leading national figures of the Congo. We cannot acquiesce in seeing the United Nations flag stained any longer with the blood of the national leaders ofthe Congo. The Kasa-Vubu-Mobutu- Tshombé régime is a terrorist régime imposed by force by the colonialists, a régime with whichthere can be no reconciliation. Withoutthe immediate arrest of Tshombé and Mobutu, and the speedy withdrawal of the Belgian colonialists and their henchmen, there can be no peace or national revival in the Congo. 14. The proposaI submitted by the Soviet Government for the consideration of the Security Council [S/4706] is consequently the only way out li we wish to save the people of the Congo from extermination and li we wish to save the honour and prestige of the United Nations. What the Soviet Government said about the Secretary-General has, moreover, been confirmed by the events of the past few days. We are continually receiving from the Secretary-General news of killings and deaths, although the news is accompanied by fine phrases in favour of humanitarian action and the upholding of human rights. This does not, however, relieve the Secretary-General of heavy responsibility for this policy of the "fait accompli", which he was obliged to forestall on the basis ofthe earlier Security Council resolutions; nor can he in this case absolve himself from responsibility for the deportation and

The delegatiou of Ceylon would like to express its profound shock and indignation at the news that has just been confirmed by the Secretary-General. 17. We have, in our own way, been trying our best to find a solution, a just solution, which will have the widest possible support. But it appears that the difficulties are mounting still further. The uncivilized actions of the Mobutus, the Kasa-Vubus, the colonialists, the authorities in Leopoldville and Kasai, cOnfirm our worst fears. The gravity and the true character of the situation in the Congo are now even clearer. After due consideration, the United Nations must act quickly. Those who still have'any sympathy for the Belgians and their henchmen inthe Congo must think anew. 18. My delegation reserves the right to state our position more fully at a later stage. 19. We support the proposaI made by the representative of Liberia that the meeting should be adjourned until 3 o'clock this afternoon.

My delegation has learned with indignation of these new acts of violence which have just been brought to the attention of the Council. Once again we express our earnest concern-as we have already done to the Council on several occasions-that the human rights of all the inhabitants of the Congo shouldbe respected. Political considerations can never be an excuse for crime. 21. My delegation notes that the reasons advanced by the Liberian representative for adjourning the meeting to this afternoon are in accordance with proposaIs already made by other African representatives at this table, and we therefore accept this motion.

1 support the motion for adjournment made by the representative of Liberia. The purpose of that proposaI is to gain time for some consultations, and for that reason 1 shallbe extremely brief.

In my capacity as representative of the UNITED KINGDOM, may l say that my delegation, in common with others represented at this table, has been deeply shocked at the report from the Secretary-General which we have heard. l wish to express the profound regret of my delegation at this truly dreadful news. It is with the utmost revulsion that one observes the methods ofviolence which are at present the rule in the political life of the Congo. They can only serve to make still more difficult of attainment the peaceful and stable society which it is the wish of my delegation to see established in that country. 26. Unless l hear objection, l shaH adjournthis meeting until 3 0'clock this afternol)n. The meeting rose at 11.30 a.m. ISRAEL Blumstein's Bookstores, and 48 Nachlat ITAlY-ITAlIE Libreria Commissionaria Gino Capponi 26, Azuni 151A, Roma. JAPAN·JAPON Maruzen Company, Nihonbashi, Tokya. JORDAN-JORDANIE Joseph 1. Bahous Box 66, Amman. KOREA-COREE Eul·Yoo Publishing Chongno, Seoul. lEBANON-lIBAN Khayat's College 92.94, rue Bliss, LUXEMBOURG librairie J. Trausch·Schummer, Théâtre, Luxembourg. MEXICO·MEXIQUE EditorÎCJI Hermes, 41, Méxica, D.F. MOROCCO-MAROC Centre de diffusion B.E.P.I., B, rue Michaux·Bellaire, NETHERlANDS.PAYS-BAS N.V. Martinus Nijhoff, 9, 's·Gravenhoge. NEW ZEAlAND·NOUVEllE-ZElANDE United Nations Association land, C.P.O. 1011, NORWAy-NORVEGE Jéhan Grundt Tanum gustsgt. 7A, Oslo. EL SALVADOR.SALVADOR Manuel Navas y Cia., 1a. Avenida sur 37, San Salvador. ETHIOPIA.ETHIOPIE Internatianal Press Agency, P.O. Box 120, Addis Ababa. FINlAIIoD.F!NlANDE Akateeminen Kirjakauppa, 2 Keskuskatu, Helsinki. F!l:'NCE Editions A. Pédone, 13, rue Soufflat, Paris (V''). GERMANY-AllEMAGNE R. Eisenschmidt, Schwanthaler Str. 59, Frankfurt/Main. Elwert und Meurer, Hauptstrasse 101, Berlin.Schaneberg. Ore/ers and inquiries From countries not listed above mar be sent to: Sales Sedion, Publishing Sevice, United Notions, New York, U.5.A.; ar Salas Section, United Nations, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. Litho in V.N. Priee: $V.5. 0.35; 2/6 stg.; (or equivalent in other