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A/RES/31/59 GA

Question of French Somaliland : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly

31
Session
117
Yes
0
No
19
Abstentions
Draft symbol A/RES/31/59
Adopted symbol A/RES/31/59
Voeten Topics
P5 Positions
Russia United States ~ United Kingdom ~ China France
UN Document A/RES/31/59 ↗

Vote Recorded VoteA/31/PV.85 Dec. 1, 1976

— Abstain (19)
Absent (10)
✓ Yes (117)
Full text of resolution OCR extract — may contain errors
VII, Resolutions adopted on the reports of the Fourth Committee 129 missions and to permit access by such a mission to the Taking note of the solemn declarations of the leaders of the delegations of Ethiopia and Somalia before the Territory; Council 0 ( Ministers of the Organization of African 8. Urges the administering Power, with the co- Unity at its twcnty-,eventh ordinary session, held at operation of the Government of Guam, to sa_feguard Port Louis from 24 June to 3 Julv 1976, and before the inalienable right of the people of the ~erntory. to the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly,68 the enjoyment of its natural resources by takmg effective affirming that their respective Governments would measures which guarantee the rights of the people to recognize, respect and honour the independence, sov- own and dispose of those natural resources and to ereignty and territorial intcg_rity of S?-called_ French establish and maintain control of their future develop- Somaliland (Djibouti) after its accession to mdepen- ment; dence, 9. Requests the administering Power to continue to Taking note also of the resolution on the question enlist the assistance of the specialized agencies and of so-called French Somaliland (Djibouti) adopted by other organizations within the United Nations ~ystem _in the Conference of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Non- accelerating progress in all sectors of the national life Aligned Countries, held at Lima from 25 to 30 August of Guam; 1975,69 and of that part of the Political Declaration 10. Requests the Special Committee to continue to adopted by the Fifth Conference of Heads of State or seek the best ways and means for the impleme!ltation Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Co- of the Declaration with respect to Guam, mcludmg the lomho from 16 to 19 August 1976, regarding the ques- possible dispatch of a visiting mission in consultation tion,70 with the administering Power, and to report to the Having heard the statement of the representative of General Assembly at its thirty-second session on the France, as the administering Power, 71 in particular the implementation of the present resolution. expressed commitment of his Government to lead the 85th plenary meeting Territory to independence in 1977, J December 1976 1. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the people of so-called French Somaliland (Djibouti) to self-determi- 31/59. Question of French Somaliland The General Assembly, Having considered the question of so-called French Somaliland (Djibouti), Having examined the relevant chapter of the report of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Grant- ing of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peo- ples,60 Recalling its resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 containing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, Recalling also its resolutions 222,8 (XXI) of 20 December 1966, 2356 (XXII) of 19 December 1967 and 3480 (XXX) of 11 December 1975 on so-called French Somaliland (Djibouti), Having heard the statements of the representatives of the liberation movements, the Front de liberation de la Cote des Somalis61 and the Mouvement de liberation de Djibouti, 62 Having also heard the statements of the President of the Government Council of the Territory,63 as well as those of the representatives of the political parties, namely, the Ligue populaire africaine pour l'indepen- dance,64 the Union nationale pour l'independance65 and the Mouvement populaire de liberation,66 and of a petitioner, 67 so Ibid., chap. XIV. 61 Ibid., Thirty-first Session, Fourth Committee, 14th meet- ing, paras. 60-109, 17th meeting, paras. 44-49, and 21st meet- ing, paras. 22-34; and ibid., Fourth Committee, Sessional Fas- cicle, corrigendum. 62 Ibid., 17th meeting, paras 18-43. 63 Ibid., 14th meeting, paras. 22-58, and 20th meeting, paras. 5-15. 64 Ibid., 17th meeting, paras. 72-94. 65 Ibid., 20th meeting, paras. 35-60. 66 Ibid., 17th meeting, paras. 52-69. 67 Ibid., 20th meeting, paras. 63, 64, 68-70, 78, 79 and 84-87. nation and independence; 2. Reaffirms also its unqualified support of the right of the people of so-called French Somaliland (Djibouti) to immediate and unconditional independence in ac- cordance with the Declaration on the Granting of Inde- pendence to Colonial Countries and Peoples; 3. Calls upon the Government of France to imple- ment scrupulously and equitably, under democratic conditions, the programme for the independence of so- called French Somaliland (Djibouti), as outlined by the representative of France in his statement before the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly, 71 within the indicated time frame, namely, the summer of 1977; 4. Urges the leaders of the Government Council of the Territory, as well as the representatives of the liberation movements. the Front de liberation de la Cote des Somalis and the Mouvement de liberation de Djibouti, and of the political parties and groups to enter into the broadest possible discussions on neutral grounds, under the auspices of the Organization of African Unity, with a view to resolving their differences, and to agree on a common political platform before the holding of a referendum, in conformity with the resolution adopted by the Council of Ministers at its twenty-seventh ordinary session72 and subsequently ap- proved by the Assembly of Heads of State and Govern- ment of the Organization of African Unity at its thir- teenth ordinary session; 5. Also calls upon the Government of France to co-operate fully with the Organization of African Unity in its effort to convene. in accordance with the decision of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, a round-table conference for the speedy implementation of the request contained in paragraph 4 above; 68 / bid .. 20th meeting, paras. 92-146 (Ethiopia); 14th meet- ing, paras. 110-130, and 17th meeting, paras. 13-17 (Somalia); and ibid., Fourth Committee, Sessional Fascicle, corrigendum. 69 A/10217 and Corr.I, annex I. resolution I. 70 A/31/197, annex I, para. 37. 71 Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-first Ses- sion, Fourth Committee, 14th meeting, paras. 1-20. 72 A/31/196 and Corr.], annex, resolution CM/Res.480 (XXVII). 130 General Assembly-Thirty-first Session 6. Requests the Government of France to consider the result of the referendum in its totality, thus respect- ing the territorial integrity of the future State; 7. Demands that the Government of France with- draw its military base from the Territory without delay; 8. Further calls upon the Government of France to allow and facilitate the return to the Territory of all refugees who are bona fide c\tiz~ns of the T_erritory, _in accordance with the Organization of African Umty Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa of 10 September 1969 and the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951 ;73 9. Requests the Government of France, in order to ensure the implementation of the request contained in paragraph 8 above, to set up an ad hoe committee in accordance with the recommendation of the Fact- Finding Mission of the Organization of African Unity;74 10. Reaffirms its resolution 3480 (XXX); l l. Endorses all resolutions adopted by the Organi- zation of African Unity on the question of so-called French Somaliland (Djibouti), in particular resolu- tions CM/Res.431/Rev.1 (XXV) 75 and CM/Res.480 (XXVII) ,76 as well as the declaration adopted by the Organization of African Unity Co-ordinating Commit- tee for the Liberation of Africa, as approved by the Council of Ministers at its twenty-seventh ordinary ses- sion and the Assembly of Heads of State and Govern- ment at its thirteenth ordinary session, and welcomes the solemn declarations by the leaders of the delegations of Ethiopia and Somalia before the Council of Min- isters of the Organization of African Unity and before the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly that their Governments would recognize, respect and honour the independence and sovereignty of so-called French Somaliland (Djibouti) and its territorial integrity after its accession to independence; 12. Calls upon all States to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of the Territory and to abstain from any action likely to impede or adversely affect the current process of the country's accession to indepen- dence; 13. Welcomes the statements by the representatives of the people of so-called French Somaliland (Djibouti) in which they declared that the Territory would become a member of the United Nations and of the Organi- zation of African Unity immediately after indepen- dence; 14. Endorses the decisions of the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations to send represen- tatives to observe the referendum and all subsequent stages of the independence process to ensure that the principle of self-determination in the Territory is car- ried out smoothly and in the most democratic manner;77 73 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 189, No. 2545, p. 137. 74 See Organization of African Unity document CM/759 (XXVII), 1976. 75 See A/10297, annex I. 76 See A/31/ 196 and Corr. I, annex. 77 The Secretary-General subsequently announced (A/32/ 66) that, in accordance with the understanding reached when resolution 31/59 was adopted, he had carried out the necessary consultations with the parties concerned and had appointed Norway, Sri Lanka and Venezuela as members of the United Nations Mission to Observe the Referendum and Elections in French Somaliland (Djibouti), and that the three Member States concerned had designated the following persons to rep- resent them on the Mission: Mr. Ignatius B. Fonseka (Sri Lanka), Miss Maria Clemencia Lopez (Venezuela) and Mr. Tom Eric Vraalsen (Norway). 15. Urges all Member States, the specialized agen- cies and other organizations within the United Nations system, in co-operation with the admi1;1isteri~g Power, to render all possible moral and material assistance to the people of the Territory. 31/146. 85th plenary meeting I December 1976 Situation in Namibia resulting from the illegal occupation of the Territory by South Africa The General Assembly, Having examined the report of the United Nations Council for Namibia7R and the relevant chapters of the report of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples,79 Having heard the statements of the representative of the South West Africa People's Organization, who participated in an observer capacity in the consideration of the item by the Fourth Committee, 80 Recalling its resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 containing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, Recalling, in particular, its resolutions 2145 (XXI) of 27 October 1966 and 2248 (S-V) of 19 May 1967 and subsequent resolutions of both the General Assem- bly and the Security Council relating to the question of Namibia, as well as the advisory opinion of the Inter- national Court of Justice of 21 June 1971, 81 delivered in response to the request addressed to it by the Coun- cil in its resolution 284 ( 1970) of 29 July 1970, Taking into consideration the relevant resolution adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity at its twenty-seventh ordinary ses- sion, 82 and subsequently endorsed by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity at its thirteenth ordinary session, held at Port Louis from 2 to 6 July 1976, Also taking into consideration the relevant part of the Political Declaration and the resolution relating to Namibia adopted by the Fifth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Colombo from 16 to 19 August 1976,83 Reaffirming that the Territory and people of Namibia are the direct responsibility of the United Nations and that the Namibian people must be enabled to attain self- determination and independence within a united Na- mibia, Strongly deploring South Africa's continued refusal to comply with the resolutions and decisions of the 78 Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-first Ses- sion, Supplement No. 24 (A/31/24). 79 Ibid., Supplement No. 23 (A/31/23/Rev.1), chaps. I, II, IV-VII and IX. BO !hid., Thirty-first Session, Fourth Committee, 30th and 45th meetings. 81 Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) notwithstand- ing Security Council Resolution 276 (1970), Advisory Opinion, I.CJ. Reports 1971, p. 16. 82 A/31/196 and Corr.l, annex, resolution CM/Res.SOO (XXVII). s3 A/31/197, annex I, paras. 52-55, and annex IV, sect. A, resolution 3.
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UN Project. “A/RES/31/59.” UN Project, https://un-project.org/votes/resolution/A-RES-31-59/. Accessed .