Decolonization Committee makes statement on New Caledonia, discusses Namibia, other territories.

Decolonization Committee makes statement on New Caledonia, discusses Namibia, other territories

The Special Committee ondecolonization on 17 March urged the Government of France, in consultation with the people of New Caledonia, and in co-operation with the Special Committee, to prepare the Territory for a free and genuine act of self-determination in accordance with United Nations principles and practices.

In a statement it adopted, the SpecialCommittee also asked the French Government to inform it, in detail, of any actions it proposed to take in that regard, and requested its Chairman to hold consultations with the representative of the administering Power at an early date on this and other issues relating to New Caledonia and report thereon to the Committee.

Also on 17 March, the Committeeconsidered recent developments in Tokelau and appealed to the international community to provide assistance to that Territory, which had suffered serious damage caused by a cyclone.

In opening the 1987 session of theSpecial Committee on 24 February, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar said that while much had been accomplished since the Declaration on decolonization was issued in 1960, the process of decolonization would not be complete until peoples in Territories still under colonial rule were able to exercise their right of self-determination.

He said it was unfortunate that developmentsrelating to the future of some of the Territories had given rise to confrontation and even conflict, and that he had no doubt that in formulating recommendations for such Territories, the Special Committee would proceed, "judiciously and with circumspection', as it had done in the past.

Referring to the delay in Namibia'sindependence, he said South Africa must be made to understand that its continued defiance of the repeatedly expressed will of the international community would in no way weaken the latter's resolve to bring about a just settlement.

Tesfaye Tadesse of Ethiopia, CommitteeChairman for 1987, said that of the 19 Territories for which the Committee was accountable, the question of Namibia remained the "most intractable issue'. Regrettably, even a modest attempt by the Security Council to adopt selective mandatory sanctions against South Africa had been frustrated.

Elected as Vice-Chairmen of theCommittee were: Oscar Oramas-Oliva (Cuba), Sten Stromholm (Sweden) and Bronislav Kulawiec (Czechoslovakia). Ahmad Farouk Arnouss (Syrian Arab Republic) was elected Rapporteur. Mr. Kulawiec was also re-elected as Chairman of the Committee's Sub-Committee on Petitions, Information and Assistance, while Ammar Amari (Tunisia) was re-elected Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Small Territories.

The Committee decided to considerdirectly in plenary the questions of Namibia, East Timor, Western Sahara, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Gibraltar, New Caledonia, the Special Committee decision concerning Puerto Rico, and information from Non-Self-Governing Territories.

Also included in the Committee'sagenda were items on activities of foreign economic and other interests impeding the implementation of the 1960 Declaration on decolonization; military activities and arrangements by colonial Powers in Territories under their administration; and visiting missions to Territories.

Indonesia expressed strong oppositionto the inclusion of what it called "the so-called question of East Timor' on the Committee's agenda. The people of East Timor, it said, had already exercised their right to self-determination and achieved independence by deciding to integrate with Indonesia.

During the session, the SpecialCommittee's Sub-Committee on Small Territories will review the political, economic and social situation in 13 of those Territories. It devoted its first three meetings in March to the consideration of the situations in Pitcairn, Anguilla and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The Sub-Committee of Petitions,Information and Assistance will consider items related to implementing the 1960 Declaration on decolonization by specialized agencies and international institutions associated with the United Nations; dissemination of information on decolonization; and the Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Namibia and All Other Colonial Territories, as well as Those in South Africa, Fighting for Freedom, Independence and Human Rights.

Photo: Tesfaye Tadesse of Ethiopia (right), Chairman for 1987 of the Special Committee on decolonization, said that Namibia remained the "most intractable issue' before it.