A/RES/40/50 GA

268 General Assembly-Fortieth Session Noting with satisfaction the statement of the administer- ing Power that it endorsed the policy that representatives of the Territory should participate in forums in which the Territory was the subject of discussion, A ware of the special circumstances of the geographical location and economic conditions of the United States Virgin Islands, and bearing in mind the necessity of diver- sifying and strengthening further its economy as a matter of priority in order to promote economic stability, Recalling the dispatch in 1977 of a United Nations visit- ing mission to the Territory, Mindful that United Nations visiting missions provide an effective means of ascertaining the situation in the small Territories, and expressing its satisfaction at the willingness of the administering Power to receive visiting missions in the Territories under its administration, l. Approves the chapter of the report of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implemen- tation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples relating to the United States Virgin Islands;26 2. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the people of the United States Virgin Islands to self-determination and independence in conformity with the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, contained in General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV); 3. Reiterates the view that such factors as territorial size, geographical location, size of population and limited natural resources should in no way delay the speedy exer- cise by the people of the Territory of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence in conformity with the Declaration, which fully applies to the United States Virgin Islands; 4. Reiterates that it is the responsibility of the adminis- tering Power to create such conditions in the United States Virgin Islands as will enable the people of the Territory to exercise freely and without interference their inalienable right to self-determination and independence in conform- ity with resolution 1514 (XV), as well as all other relevant resolutions of the General Assembly; 5. Reaffirms that it is ultimately for the people of the United States Virgin Islands themselves to determine their future political status in accordance with the relevant pro- visions of the Charter of the United Nations and the Dec- laration, and, in that connection, reaffirms the importance of fostering an awareness among the people of the Terri- tory of the possibilities open to them in the exercise of their right to self-determination; 6. Notes that the Select Committee, established by the Legislature of the United States Virgin Islands in 1983 to ascertain the views of the people of the Territory on their future status and to make recommendations in that regard, conducted public hearings from March to August 1984 and submitted its report to the Sixteenth Legislature in January 1985;27 7. Also notes that the Legislature endorsed the report, which included, inter alia, a recommendation that a refer- endum on the status issue should be held on 4 November 1986, in conjunction with the next general election, for people of the United States Virgin Islands to choose between a variety of status options including indepen- dence, statehood, free association, incorporated territory, status quo or a compact of federal relations;27 8. Further notes that the Legislature decided to appoint a new committee to continue the process of public hear- 26 Ibid., chap. XXV 27 Ibid., para. I 0. ings in order to ensure that the people of the United States Virgin Islands were fully aware of the implications of the various status options by the time of the referendum;27 9. Urges the administering Power, in co-operation with the territorial Government, to strengthen the economy of the Territory by taking additional measures of diversifica- tion in all fields and developing an adequate infrastructure with a view to reducing the economic dependence of the Territory on the administering Power; 10. Reaffirms the responsibility of the administering Power under the Charter to promote the economic and social development of the United States Virgin Islands; 11. Urges the administering Power, in co-operation with the Government of the United States Virgin Islands, to safeguard the inalienable right of the people of the Ter- ritory to the enjoyment of their natural resources by taking effective measures to guarantee their right to own and dis- pose of those resources and to establish and maintain con- trol of their future development; 12. Urges the administering Power to seek in the Car- ibbean Group for Co-operation in Economic Develop- ment a status for the territorial Government similar to that of other dependent Territories within the Group; 13. Calls upon the administering Power to facilitate further the participation of the United States Virgin Islands in various regional intergovernmental bodies and organizations, particularly in their central organs, and in other organizations of the United Nations system; 14. Urges the administering Power to continue to take all necessary measures to comply fully with the purposes and principles of the Charter, the Declaration and the rele- vant resolutions and decisions of the General Assembly relating to military activities and arrangements by colonial Powers in Territories under their administration; 15. Considers that the possibility of sending a further visiting mission to the United States Virgin Islands at an appropriate time should be kept under review; 16. Requests the Special Committee to continue the examination of this question at its next session, including the possible dispatch of a further visiting mission to the United States Virgin Islands at an appropriate time and in consultation with the administering Power, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its forty-first session. 99th plenary meeting 2 December 1985 40/50. Question of Western Sahara The General Assembly, Having considered in depth the question of Western Sahara, Recalling the inalienable right of all peoples to self- determination and independence, in accordance with the principles set forth in the Charter of the United Nations and in General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 containing the Declaration on the Grant- ing of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, Recalling its resolution 39/40 of 5 December 1984 on the question of Western Sahara, 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 Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples,28 Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General on the question of Western Sahara, 29 28 Ibid., Supp/emenl No l3 (A/40/23). chap. X. 29 A/40/692 and Corr I VII. Resolutions adopted on tbe reports of the Fourth Committee 269 Recalling resolution AHG/Res.104 (XIX) on Western Sahara,30adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity at its nineteenth ordinary session, held at Addis Ababa from 6 to 12June 1983, I. Reaffirms that the question of Western Sahara is a question of decolonization which remains to be completed on the basis of the exercise by the people of Western Sahara of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence; 2. Reaffirms also that the solution of the question of Western Sahara lies in the implementation of resolution AHG/Res.104 (XIX) of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity, which establishes ways and means for a just and definitive political solution to the Western Sahara conflict; 3. Again requests, to that end, the two parties to the conflict, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Frente Popular para la Liberaci6n de Saguia et-Hamra y de Rio de Oro, to undertake direct negotiations, in the shortest possible time, with a view to bringing about a cease-fire to create the necessary conditions for a peaceful and fair referendum for self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, a referendum without any administrative or military con- straints, under the auspices of the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations; 4. Welcomes the efforts of the current Chairman of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity and the Secretary-General of the United Nations to promote a just and definitive solution of the question of Western Sahara; 5. Invites the current Chairman of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity and the Secretary-General of the United Nations to exert every effort to persuade the two parties to the conflict, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Frente Pop- ular para la Liberaci6n de Saguia el-Hamra y de Rio de Oro, to negotiate, in the shortest possible time and in con- formity with resolution AHG/Res. l 04 (XIX) and the pres- ent resolution, the terms of a cease-fire and the modalities for organizing the said referendum; 6. Reaffirms the determination of the United Nations to co-operate fully with the Organization of African Unity with a view to implementing the relevant decisions of that organization, in particular resolution AHG/Res. I 04 (XIX); 7. Requests the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples to continue to consider the situation in Western Sahara as a matter of priority and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its forty-first session; 8. Invites the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity to keep the Secretary-General of the United Nations informed of the progress achieved in the imple- mentation of the decisions of the Organization of African Unity relating to Western Sahara; 9. Invites the Secretary-General to follow the situation in Western Sahara closely with a view to the implementa- tion of the present resoluticn and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its forty-first session. 99th plenary meeting 2 December 1985 30 For the text, see resolution 38/40, para. I. 31 01/icia/ Records of the General Assembl_v, Fortieth Session. Supplement No. 2.f (A/40/23), chap. VIII. 40/Sl. Informadon from Non-Self-Governing Terri- tories transmitted under Article 73 e of the Charter of the United Nadons The General Assembly. Having examined the chapter of the report of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implemen- tation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples relating to the informa- tion from Non-Self-Governing Territories transmitted under Article 73 e of the Charter of the United Nations31 and the action taken by the Committee in respect of that information, Having also examined the report of the Secretary- General on the question, 32 Recalling its resolution 1970 (XVIII) of 16 December 1963, in which it requested the Special Committee to study the information transmitted to the Secretary- General in accordance with Article 73 e of the Charter and to take such information fully into account in examining the situation with regard to the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, contained in General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, Recalling also its resolution 39/41 of 5 December 1984, in which it requested the Special Committee to continue to discharge the functions entrusted to it under resolution 1970 (XVIII), I. Approves the chapter of the report of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implemen- tation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples relating to the informa- tion from Non-Self-Governing Territories transmitted under Article 73 e of the Charter of the United Nations; 2. Reaffirms that, in the absence of a decision by the General Assembly itself that a Non-Self-Governing Terri- tory has attained a full measure of self-government in terms of Chapter XI of the Charter, the administering Power concerned should continue to transmit information under Article 73 e of the Charter with respect to that Terri- tory; 3. Requests the administering Powers concerned to transmit, or continue to transmit, to the Secretary-General the information prescribed in Article 73 e of the Charter, as well as the fullest possible information on political and constitutional developments in the Territories concerned, within a maximum period of six months following the expiration of the administrative year in those Territories; 4. Requests the Special Committee to continue to dis- charge the functions entrusted to it under General Assem- bly resolution 1970 (XVIII), in accordance with estab- lished procedures, and to report thereon to the Assembly at its forty-first session. 99th plenary meeting 2 December I 985 40/52. Acdvides of foreign economic and other inter- ests which are impeding the implementadon of the Declaradon on the Granting of Inde- pendence to Colonial Countries and Peoples 10 Namibia and in all other Territories under colonial domination and efforts to eliminate colonialism, apartheid and racial discrimina- tion in southern Africa The General Assembly, Having considered the item entitled "Activities of for- eign economic and other interests which are impeding the 32 A/40/629.

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