FOURTH COMMITTEE HEARS STATEMENTS ON SITUATIONS RELATING TO GUAM, GIBRALTAR, NEW CALEDONIA, WESTERN SAHARA
Press Release
GA/SPD/84
FOURTH COMMITTEE HEARS STATEMENTS ON SITUATIONS RELATING TO GUAM, GIBRALTAR, NEW CALEDONIA, WESTERN SAHARA
19961007New Zealand Says United Nations Decolonization Efforts Should More Closely Address Needs of Small Territories and Current Realities
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) this morning resumed its consideration of decolonization matters, on the report of the Special Committee on Decolonization. It heard statements from the Foreign Minister of Papua New Guinea, and the representative of New Zealand. There were also statements relating to the situations in Guam, New Caledonia, Western Sahara and Gibraltar. The representative of the Frente POLISARIO addressed the Committee. Representatives of France and Morocco spoke in right of reply. The Committee elected Walid Doudech (Tunisia) as its Rapporteur. Gibraltar's relations with Spain were marked by friction and mistrust, Peter Caruna, the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, told the Committee. He said Spain had subjected Gibraltar to a "sustained campaign of psychological, economic and political pressure". Peter Rider (New Zealand) said that although United Nations decolonization efforts were well-intentioned, the Organization sometimes appeared remote, and driven by agendas that did not address the needs of small Territories. A new approach to decolonization was needed, in which present realities and concerns were taken into account. In a statement on behalf of the Speaker of the Legislature in Guam, Ronald Teehan, Chairman of the Guam Landowners Association, said the survival of the Special Committee on decolonization was of great concern to the people of Guam. If the Special Committee were to be eliminated, the United Nations would be unable to address economic, political and cultural colonialism. The representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el- Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO), Boukhari Ahmed, said Morocco was interested in the resources of Western Sahara. Access to those resources, he said, should be based on a framework of cooperation in which the sovereignty of each people would be respected. The POLISARIO wished to continue its dialogue with the Moroccan Government, and requested the active presence of the United Nations in the process. The Committee will meet again on Wednesday, 9 October, at 10 a.m., to continue its review of decolonization issues.
Committee Work Programme
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met this morning to continue its consideration of decolonization issues. (For background information see Press Release GA/SPD/83 of 1 October 1996.)
The Committee has before it Part VI of the Report of the Special Committee on Decolonization (document A/51/23) which contains an omnibus draft resolution on the situation of the 12 Non-Self-Governing Territories: American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena, Tokelau, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the United States Virgin Islands.
By the draft resolution, the General Assembly would call on the administering Powers to facilitate political education programmes to increase people's awareness of their options. The administering Powers would be requested to keep the Secretary-General informed of the wishes of the people regarding their future political status, and invite United Nations visiting missions to monitor the Territories. Reaffirming their responsibility to promote economic and social development, the administering Powers would be requested to protect the Territories against environmental degradation and to counter problems related to drug trafficking, money laundering and other offences.
The second part of the draft resolution addresses conditions in each Territory.
In the section of the draft on American Samoa, the administering Power would be called upon to continue its assistance in the Territory's economic and social development, including strengthening the functions of the territorial Government.
Regarding Anguilla, the draft would call for the administering Power and all countries, organizations and United Nations agencies to continue to assist the Territory in social and economic development.
By the draft's section on Bermuda, the administering Power would be requested to elaborate, in consultation with the territorial Government, development programmes aimed at alleviating the economic, social and environmental consequences of the closure of military installations in the Territory.
Under the section of the draft on the British Virgin Islands, the administering Power, specialized United Nations agencies and all financial institutions would be requested to continue providing development assistance, bearing in mind the vulnerability of the Territory to external factors.
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Regarding the Cayman Islands, the terms of the draft call for continued cooperation between the administering Power and the territorial Government to counter problems related to drug trafficking, the smuggling of funds and other related crimes, and money laundering. Continued cooperation would also be requested in the expansion of employment programmes for the local population, particularly at decision-making levels.
In the section on Guam, the draft's provisions would call on the administering Power to facilitate the people's exercise of self-determination, as endorsed in the draft Guam Commonwealth Act. The administrative Power would be requested to continue working with the territorial Government to transfer land to the people of the Territory and safeguard property rights. Recognizing the political rights, as well as the cultural and ethnic identity of the Chamorro people, the administering Power would be requested to respond to concerns about the immigration issue. It would also be requested to promote the sustainable development of economic activities by the Chamorro people, and support the territorial Government's efforts to promote growth in commercial fishing, agriculture and other activities.
Regarding Montserrat, the administering Power, specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations, as well as regional and other organizations, would be called upon by the draft to provide emergency assistance in alleviating the consequences of the volcanic eruption.
The draft would request Pitcairn's administering Power to continue its assistance for the improvement of economic, social, educational and other conditions in the Territory.
By the section on St.Helena, the administering Power would be requested to conduct a constitutional review of the Territory and continue, with relevant regional and international organizations, to address the socio- economic development of the Territory.
Also by the text, the administering Power of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and other relevant regional and international organizations, would be called upon to continue to provide assistance for the improvement of social and economic conditions in the Territory. The administering Power would be further called upon to cooperate with the territorial Government to counter problems related to money laundering, smuggling of funds and related crimes, and drug trafficking.
In the section on the United States Virgin Islands, the administering Power would be requested to continue to assist the territorial Government in its political, economic and social goals. It would further be requested to facilitate the Territory's participation in organizations, especially the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States and the Caribbean Community.
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The Committee also has before it Part VIII of the report of the Special Committee on decolonization on the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) (document A/51/23, Part VIII). The report contains the text of a resolution, adopted by the Special Committee on 22 July 1996, requesting the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom to resume negotiations on a peaceful solution to the sovereignty dispute on the future of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).
Also before the Committee is the report of the Secretary-General on Western Sahara (document A/51/428), regarding consultations of the Secretary- General and his Acting Special Representative, Erik Jensen (Malaysia), from 5 October 1995 to 30 September 1996, with representatives of the Governments of Algeria, Morocco and the Frente Popular para la Liberacion de Saguia el-Hamra y de Rio de Oro (Frente POLISARIO). Consultations were held pursuant to General Assembly resolution 50/36 and Security Council resolutions 1033 (1995), 1042 (1996) and 1056 (1996).
The Secretary-General's report covers efforts to restart the registration process of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). That process came to a standstill at the end of 1995. In his 19 January 1996 report to the Security Council, the Secretary- General wrote that both sides had confirmed their commitment and continuing desire to hold free and fair referendum. However, each side insisted that there was no room left for additional concessions on its part.
In its resolution of 29 May 1996, the Security Council extended the mandate of MINURSO until 30 November 1996. In his report to the Security Council of 20 August 1996, the Secretary-General wrote that the last staff members of the Identification Commission had departed and that the civilian police component had been reduced from 44 to seven. The number of military personnel would be reduced from 288 and would reach 232 by the end of September.
In assessing the accomplishments of MINURSO, the Secretary-General writes, "The maintenance of the cease-fire had been a major achievement of MINURSO". Additionally, since its start in August 1994, more than 60,000 persons had been identified and over 77,000 convoked. The military component of MINURSO continued to monitor and verify the cease-fire that had held for nearly five years. Its presence had contributed to regional security, and the countries of the region felt that its withdrawal could result in instability with serious consequences for all concerned.
The Secretary-General also reports no significant progress on the implementation of other aspects of the plan, such as release of political prisoners, the exchange of prisoners of war, the reduction of Moroccan forces and the confinement of Frente POLISARIO troops.
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Also before the Committee is a report from the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) (document A/51/440) which notes revised cost estimates of MINURSO for the period from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997 of $31.9 million (gross) -- representing a 39 per cent decrease from the original cost estimates.
Statements
KILROY GENIA, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Papua New Guinea, said that because his country's close neighbour Palau had completed its exercise of self-determination, thereby discharging the Trusteeship Council's duty under the Charter, the responsibility for fulfilling the commitment of the United Nations to the remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories rested with the Special Committee.
Although there had been some criticism of its work, the people of the Territories welcomed the Committee's interest. It should begin looking beyond formal decolonization to the sort of issues addressed in the Declaration of Barbados and the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.
He said the situation in New Caledonia was one of the most complex to come before the United Nations. Negotiations between the principal political actors there had been restructured to give the Kanaks greater say in local affairs. There had been progress, but the overall changes introduced since the Matignon Accords of 1988 had not completely redressed the long-standing injustices of inequalities in access to paid employment, opportunities for self-advancement and power.
One concern was the fear that the French Government might allow voters only two choices in the referendum due to be held in 1998: continued French rule or abandonment, including the threat of an end to French aid. A recent regional seminar on New Caledonia had proposed to the Committee of 24 a possible fact-finding mission to New Caledonia.
Turning to other South Pacific Territories, he said that with the end of nuclear testing in the region, and accession of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (the Treaty of Rarotonga), France had been readmitted as a post- forum dialogue partner. He expected France to monitor the effects of the tests on French Polynesia, to make public its findings and to repair any damage and limit any further adverse effects. He said it was important that the people of French Polynesia be provided alternative sources of income now that the testing programme had ceased.
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On Guam, he said that his Government supported the current decolonization process for Guam, under the United States Administration. It was important that the rights of the indigenous Chamorro people be taken into account in the self-determination process.
PETER RIDER (New Zealand) said Tokelau sought assurances from the Special Committee and the United Nations that future neglect would not be the price for greater self-reliance. Local resources could not cover the material side of self-determination, and this could apply equally to other Non-Self- Governing Territories seeking self-determination.
He said New Zealand was fully committed to the principles of the United Nations, but also understood the perspective of the Territories. The Organization could be seen as indifferent and remote, an insensitive bureaucracy, driven by agendas that did not address the needs of small Territories. To ensure successful decolonization, the peoples of the Territory, the administering Power and the United Nations must all work together, he continued. New Zealand fully endorsed the need for more informed debate among all concerned; comparative experiences were relevant, and other authorities, such as academics, should be consulted.
He said his country offered a plan for future consideration of the issue of decolonization: the administering Power would commit to cooperating with the Organization on the basis of an innovative and pragmatic approach; the United Nations would elaborate this approach, and would work towards improving its image with the peoples of the Territories. He said there was a need to restore confidence that the Organization was not seeking confrontation or the implementation of solutions no longer appropriate. The United Nations should consider each of the Territories according to its needs. There should be full cooperation with the reporting requirements of the Charter, direct input from the peoples of the Territories, and a multilateral review of all materials presented.
The major work of decolonization was over, he added. Only minute vestiges of the colonial era remained. In the contemporary world, new concerns, such as threats to security, were now to be considered. The United Nations should move away from the idea of imposed solutions and towards the engagement of dialogue.
PETER CARUNA, Chief Minister of Gibraltar, said the rights of the people of Gibraltar derived from the fact they were a cohesive people that had been, since 1704, a colony of the United Kingdom and not part of Spain. Like any colonized people, they had the inalienable right to self-determination. Spain, however, claimed sovereignty of Gibraltar, and had subjected Gibraltar and its people to a "sustained campaign of psychological, economic and political pressure". This had led to a relationship marked by friction and mistrust.
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Gibraltar sought meaningful dialogue with the United Kingdom and Spain, he said. The position of Spain was that decolonization could be achieved by integration of Gibraltar into Spain; both Gibraltar, as a colonized people and the United Kingdom as the administrative Power rejected that view.
In order that, ultimately, normal and friendly relations could prevail, it was preferable that Gibraltar's future status should be one with which Spain could live, he said. He proposed that the Committee include in this year's resolution on Gibraltar, which traditionally called upon the United Kingdom and Spain to enter a dialogue, a reference to the right of the colonized people to have a separate voice at talks between Spain and Gibraltar.
ROBERT TEEHAN, on behalf of Don Parkinson, Speaker of the Guam Legislature, expressed support for the current United Nations resolution relative to Guam (document A/AC.109/L.1843). He requested that the Fourth Committee support the sending of a visiting mission to Guam at the earliest possible date. The people there were concerned with the increasing pressure to close the International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism without accomplishing decolonization for the remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories. There were efforts by industrialized nations and allies to dilute resolutions relative to Guam, even those which accurately reflected wishes of the Guam people.
Efforts to amend this year's resolution should be resisted, he said. The people of Guam had not exercised an act of self-determination. The Guam Commonwealth Act, drafted by the people of Guam in 1987, delineated an interim political relationship with the administering Power, pending the eventual exercise of self-determination by the Chamorro people. The Act should not be misinterpreted by the United Nations as a final act of self-determination.
Certain world Powers, he continued, were trying to dismantle the apparatus of decolonization either by removing the remaining Territories from the Organization's list, or by eliminating the Special Committee on decolonization itself. The attempt to dismantle the decolonization apparatus, on the ground of financial concern, was ironic when the highly industrialized countries urging such action were willing to spend greater sums of money if it served their interests. There were hidden reasons why certain Powers were trying to dismantle the decolonization process.
He said the survival of the Special Committee was of deep concern to Guam which supported its continuing existence; two resolutions passed unanimously by the Guam legislature had stated Guam's desire to remain on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, and Guam's support for the Special Committee.
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CHRIS PEREZ HOWARD, Staff Assistant, speaking on behalf of Senator Hope Alvarez-Cristobal, Chairman of the Committee on Federal and Foreign Affairs of the Guam Legislature, said he was a descendant of the "native inhabitants" as they had been identified in the Treaty by which the United States acquired Guam. "We only know ourselves by one name -- Chamorros", he said.
There were "problems in paradise", he added. The United States had been keeping the Chamorro people ignorant as to their rights. Time was running out for the Chamorro people and they faced extinction. Due to the policy of the administering Power maintaining an "open-door policy", Chamorros were now less than 50 per cent of the population.
He read a statement of Senator Hope Alvarez-Cristobal who said she had attended a "so-called consultation meeting" between representatives of the United States Government and representatives of Pacific indigenous peoples in Honolulu, on 21 August. The preliminary statement of the United States on the "Draft United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples" had confirmed her suspicion, she said. The United States did not support the rights of its indigenous peoples. It had feigned support in numerous documents and on numerous occasions.
She said the term "indigenous persons" had been substituted for that of "indigenous peoples", and that change represented the greatest obstacle to advancement in relations between the Chamorro people and the United States Government. What had happened to the United States since 1946 when it drew up the lofty principles of the United Nations Charter? she asked. She was confident, however, that the American people, with their sense of fair play and justice, would not allow their Government to act improperly. She was also confident that Guam would never be solely an island of American individuals; it would be the homeland of the Chamorro people.
She said she hoped Guam would receive concessions in its march to Commonwealth status. However, 3,200 acres of land held by the military had been promised to the people since 1977, but the Department of Defense had opposed the "Guam Land Return Act" now before the United States Congress.
The Committee, she went on, should encourage the administering Power to fund and conduct a thorough educational campaign on the topic of self- determination and the available status options. The United States should invite a mission to Guam to obtain current first-hand information. It should accept the Guam Commonwealth Act as the will of the people of Guam, and should also encourage the return of land to the Government of Guam.
EL HASSANE ZAHID (Morocco) said he had requested the Secretariat to clarify matters reported in paragraph 3 of the Secretary-General's report on Western Sahara (document A/51/428). In that paragraph it was stated the Secretary-General had made a proposal on 8 September 1996. In fact, the
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reference was to the proposal contained in the Secretary-General's 27 October letter to the President of the Security Council, regarding consultations. That proposal differed from the 8 September proposal. Morocco had subsequently championed the latter proposal. The issue was not technical but substantive. Assurance was required that the correction to the document would be made.
ALOUNKEO KITTIKORN (Lao People's Democratic Republic) said he was certain that the Secretariat would take appropriate action.
Mr. ZAHID (Morocco) said he hoped that the Chairman would be able to report the Secretariat's response at the Committee's next meeting.
JARAT CHOPRA, Research Associate and Lecturer, Brown University, said that abandonment by the United Nations would be a tragedy for Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, because the fate of a people and a territory were at stake.
In Western Sahara, the consequences of United Nations failure might be greater than in Cambodia or Somalia, he continued. Morocco was militarily stronger, yet the tactics of the Frente POLISARIO did not require the same kind of strength. In the event of renewed hostilities, it was likely that the conflict would be protracted. Such conflict might also spark a regional explosion.
Morocco had arrested deployment of MINURSO in 1991 and regularly violated the cease-fire throughout 1992. Identification had been halted. Many countries and observers had called for direct talks between POLISARIO and Morocco as the most effective means for reaching an agreement on the conditions for holding a referendum. Yet, once the United Nations had become fully involved, issues had been addressed through indirect talks through the Special Representative. The MINURSO had divided rather than united the parties.
Mr. Chopra recommended that talks between POLISARIO and the Government of Morocco be convened in the presence of Member States, particularly those from the Security Council. Both parties would agree in advance to the agenda and to the members of the delegations. "Passive observers" could be present but would not participate, and "individual petitioners" could address the meetings in their own capacity. Following each meeting, Member States would report the results to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council.
Mr. ZAHID (Morocco) said Mr. Chopra's testimony was not impartial. Morocco had never been a colonial Power, and therefore Western Sahara should not be called Africa's last colony. Following the Madrid Agreement, Morocco had simply recovered part of its territory.
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The main impediment to completion of the identification process was the fact that POLISARIO had refused to participate in the identification of certain groups and individuals. Morocco had agreed to the referendum endorsed by the Security Council. All Saharawis who could prove they came from the Saharan region should have a right to participate in the referendum. The Secretary-General had said that MINURSO was obliged to consider all those who applied to participate in proper form.
The situation in Western Sahara should not be compared with that of Somalia, Mr. Zahid continued. The population in Western Sahara lived in peace, as could be attested by all who lived in the region. The Identification Commission had withdrawn from the region after POLISARIO refused to participate in the identification process, but the United Nations still maintained activities there.
He said the latest report of the Secretary-General named the other party, not Morocco, as the violator of the cease-fire. By concentrating on only the oldest reports, Mr. Chopra seemed to exhibit a lack of impartiality. Mr. Chopra had stressed the importance of dialogue, but had not mentioned what such dialogue should address, Mr. Zahid said. He hoped the two parties could adhere to the settlement plan.
DOUGLAS K. DRYDEN, of the Sam Houston University in Texas, who had petitioned to appear before the Committee, said that the United Nations was entering the sixth year of what had been defined as a six-month process at a cost of millions of dollars a month. While the political solution languished, Morocco enjoyed possession of the region's phosphate deposits and rich fishing grounds of the Atlantic coast. Thus, time was on Morocco's side; any delays worked to its benefit.
He said there had been serious problems in the way the lists of eligible voters had been compiled by Moroccans, with evidence that Morocco had substituted voters for those who were allowed to register with the Identification Commission. Efforts at voter identification were hampered by the fact that access to and from United Nations offices was tightly controlled by the Moroccan side. Other delays were created for the most specious of reasons.
The atmosphere at MINURSO Force Headquarters in Laayoune was practically a siege mentality. There was tampering with mail; telephones were tapped. The Mission was not allowed to function independently. Because MINURSO
personnel could not grant protection to any United Nations employee, any testimony about Mission shortcomings would be at the risk of one's career.
He said King Hassan II had provided a major service to the cause of peace between Israel and the Arab world. He was wise and experienced. Such a
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leader, if made aware of the serious abuses of the process in Western Sahara, would take concrete steps to correct those mistakes. A solution must exist that would take the concerns of both sides into account. A serious revamping of the United Nations process was needed.
NINA MAY, Chairman of Renaissance Foundation, said the current impasse regarding the referendum in Western Sahara could be resolved by recognizing that the current process was not working. Why was the authority of MINURSO being undermined and its presence minimized? she asked.
The fact that one country had virtually held another country hostage for more than 20 years seemed to have escaped international scrutiny. Observers deemed the conflict solvable, but their access to the regions and peoples had been limited. Negotiations appeared one-sided in favour of the invading country. It was difficult to believe that it had taken more than five years to identify approximately 100,000 voters in an accessible and secluded country. About $5,000 per month was being spent on the referendum process. The Human Rights Watch Report had indicated that members of MINURSO were fired for reporting their unbiased observations, and foreign journalists were kept from official United Nations headquarters guarded by Moroccan forces.
She questioned the Moroccan claim that Western Sahara had always been part of Morocco. If that were true, why had Western Saharans embraced liberation from Morocco at the end of the Spanish control? The Moroccan Government was doing everything in its power to weight the referendum. Given a choice, the Saharawis would choose freedom, independence and democracy. Regardless of the outcome of a referendum, if it were held, a negotiated settlement was necessary that would take into account the future of the people of Western Sahara. Unless the climate for an election was one of inclusion, rather than intimidation, then a referendum would be irrelevant. For the election to occur, the people must feel free.
Rights of Reply
Speaking in exercise of the right of reply, the representative of Morocco said that it was possible that, in her remarks, the previous speaker had been suggesting that restrictions had been placed on visas, rather than passports. Every time that a visa had been requested, it had been granted. She had spoken of the need for democracy, but the Frente POLISARIO did not support democracy.
NINA MAY, Chairman of Renaissance Foundation, said that during her remarks she had not been speaking of passports. She had spoken of people living in Western Sahara who were unable to leave.
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The representative of Morocco asked whether she was referring to people living in the refugee camps.
Ms. MAY said she understood there were people living in occupied Western Sahara who were not permitted access to their families and were not permitted to leave.
The representative of Morocco said there would be a speaker from Western Sahara at the Committee's next meeting who would tell the Committee whether or not residents were allowed to leave.
Ms. MAY referred the representative to the report of the United States State Department regarding human rights in Western Sahara.
Statement
BOUKHARI AHMED, of the Frente POLISARIO, said Western Sahara was at a crossroads which could lead either to peace or to war. It was untenable to tell the Saharawi people that self-determination was not possible and that illegal occupation must be accepted. The fate of a people, peace in the region, and the credibility of the United Nations were at stake.
In numerous ways, Morocco had thwarted the identification process, he contended. The Identification Commission had been faced with "a fraudulent plan of scandalous proportions" when Morocco submitted 181,000 applications for participation in the referendum. The POLISARIO was dedicated to the peace process but Morocco had supplied ample evidence that it did not intend to cooperate with the efforts of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) or the United Nations towards a just solution of the conflict.
Suspension of the self-determination referendum was a severe blow to the prospects of a peaceful solution in Western Sahara, he said. The POLISARIO had contributed earnestly to the efforts of the United Nations and the OAU, and was prepared to continue doing so. A return to war was not desirable for either party. The POLISARIO wished to continue and intensify direct dialogue begun recently with the Moroccan Government as a means to overcome the impasse. The decisions to be adopted by the Committee would make a decisive contribution in bringing about a definitive peace.
Rights of Reply
Speaking in exercise of the right of reply, the representative of France objected to the statement of the Minister of Papua New Guinea concerning the Territory of French Polynesia. He said those Territories had repeatedly shown they wished to become a part of France.
The representative of Papua New Guinea said that the normal process of circulating petitions should be respected.
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