Trusteeship Council reviews conditions in Pacific Islands.

Trusteeship Council reviews conditions in Pacific Islands

The Trusteeship Council on 11 July adopted its report to the Security Council on the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, in which it reiterated that "free association is an option entirely compatible with the Trusteeship Agreement, provided that the population concerned has freely accepted it". At the same time, the Council reaffirmed "the inalienable right of the people of Micronesia to self-determination, including the right to independence, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the Trusteeship Agreement".

The fifty-second session of the Council had begun on 13 May. The Council is composed of five members: the United States as an Administering Authority and China, France, the USSR and the United Kingdom, the other permanent members of the Security Council. China, however, does not participate in the Council's work.

The Trust Territory--also known as Micronesia--was the only one of the original 11 Territories under the Trusteeship System to be designated a "strategic area" under the Charter. Because of that status, the Trusteeship Council reports to the Security Council about the conditions in Micronesia, having been assigned that task by the Security Council.

The report (T/L.1245), which dealt with political, economic, social, educational, cultural and environmental issues, was adopted by a show-of-hands vote of 3 in favour (France, United Kingdom, United States), to 1 against (USSR), with no abstentions.

The Council also adopted, without objection, a resolution (T/L.1246) setting out the terms of reference for a United Nations Visiting Mission to the Trust Territory in 1985. Under the resolution, the Visiting Mission would visit the Trust Territory in July 1985, and would be composed of members of the Council wishing to participate, except for the Administering Authority, the United States, which would provide and escort officer.

Before adopting its report as a whole, the Council held a separate vote on the four sections comprising the conclusions and recommendations under the headings "Political Advancement", "Economic Advancement", "Social Advancement and Environmental Issues", and "Educational Advancement and Cultural Affairs". It also held a separate vote on a paragraph which recommended that the Council adopt the conclusions and recommendations set out in the annex and include them at the end of its report. The results of those votes were the same as that taken on the report as a whole.

The Drafting Committee for the Council's report was composed of France and the United Kingdom. The report stated that in the light of the general discussions in the Council on conditions in the Territory, the Committee had drafted a number of conclusions and recommendations which it considered as reflecting the opinions of the majority of the Council members.

Report

Concerning political advancement, the Council considered that the Compacts of Free Association, which involved a very considerable degree of autonomy, notably in the area of foreign affairs, were not incompatible with self-government. It also reiterated the view that to make it possible to bring the Compact for Palau into effect it appeared to be for the Governments of the United States and Palau to look for a solution to the problem of perceived incompatibilities between the proposed Compact and Palau's Constitution.

On international relations, the Council expressed pleasure that the international contacts by the Territorial governments continued to expand with the encouragement of the Administering Authority, and urged the Administering Authority to facilitate and encourage those governments to take up membership in organizations such as the Asian Development Bank and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) once the Trusteeship Agreement came to an end.

With regard to economic advancement, the Council requested the Administering Authority to encourage establishment of an economic development office for the whole Territory, and expressed the hope that efforts would be made to achieve a common standard for future statistical reporting by the four entities in the Territory.

The Council approved the levying of import duties on non-essential consumer goods in the Territory and requested the Administering Authority to ascertain whether the debts incurred by Palau in connection with the construction of an electric power station had reached an intolerable level.

Concerning international trade, the Council noted that the Territory continued to derive benefits from the Headquarters 3A Programme of the United States Tariff code and echoed the concern of the representative of the Northern Mariana Islands about the future of the clothing industry. It expressed the hope that the Administering Authority would ensure that certain taxes would be eliminated and the present quotas raised. The Council also requested the Administering Authority to encourage visits to the Territory by potential investors.

With respect to agricultural and marine resources, the Council strongly encouraged the Administering Authority to continue its aid to combat the effects of drought in the Territory, particularly with planting programmes, and to continue its technical assistance in order to develop and protect local fishing.

In the area of transport and communications, the Council noted that the satellite network was operational and that progress had been made in developing an airport infra-structure.

The Council expressed concern at the lack of roads on Babelthuap, the largest island in Micronesia, and at the congestion at the port of Saipan. The Council requested the Administering Authority to continue its assistance efforts for improving air service to the peripheral islands, to promote the use of the motor-powered sailboat WETAK II to improve maritime communications among the states, and to improve the port infrastructure in the Territory.

In the area of industry, construction and public works, the Council encouraged the Administering Authority to continue to aid the development of local industry and the training of a local labour force for construction, and to study the electrical power shortfalls in Saipan, the Northern Marianas and Palau, while researching and developing renewable sources of energy.

On the subject of tourism, the Council encouraged the Administering Authority to continue to promote the image of Micronesia abroad both among investors and individuals so that tourism might contribute to the Territory's economic development and to a better knowledge of its art and traditions.

With regard to social advancement and environmental issues, the Council noted with concern that the outer islandhs dispensary system in the Marshall Islands was still incapable of delivering an adequate standard of medical care. It noted that the Marshall Islands government had requested $700,000 from the Administering Authority to implement a plan designed to improve the situation.

The Council also noted with concern that the problem of unpaid war claims remained to be settled, and that it continued to be a matter of some aggravation in the Trust Territory, in particular in the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Council expressed pleasure at the amicable out-of-court settlement in respect of the clean-up of Bikini. It also noted that, according to statements by the Administering Authority and the representatives of the Territorial would receive an annual income of over $16,000 per family during the first 15 years of the Compact, and thereafter would have a trust fund of $65.5 million to address the needs of future generations.

The Council noted the fact that, according to the representative of the Administering Authority, the United States had no plans for the establishment of military bases on Palau or any other part of the Trust Territory. It also noted that the "military use" provisions of the separate agreement concluded pursuant to the Compact did not contemplate the United States taking title to any land; rather, they were overwhelmingly concerned with the use of land for temporary military activities such as training exercises.

In the area of educational advancement and cultural affairs, the Council noted that although progress had been made, the overall standard of education was lower than in schools in the United States. It asked the Administering Authority to consider the view of the representative of Palau that funding for the unified College of Micronesia system should come from outside the Compact of Free Association, and urged the Territorial governments to seek more places for their students at the University of Papua New Guinea and the University of the South Pacific at Suva, Fiji. It urged the Administering Authority to intercede on the Territory's behalf to persuade the Government's concerned to relax their foreign student quotas.

Concerning the dissemination of information on the United Nations, the Council stressed that in order to appeal to a wide non-expert audience, United Nations material sent to the Territory by the Department of Public Information (DPI) should concentrate on the general rather than the particular. The Council also urged the Administering Authority and the Territorial governments to remain sensitive to the fact that technological advance and modernization might at times clash with traditional island culture.

Statements

Commenting on the report, Vsevolod L. Oleandrov (USSR) said that conclusions and recommendations prepared by the Drafting Committee did not reflect the real situation in the Trust Territory and did not contain the true evaluation and analysis of what the Administering Authority had done there. The conclusions and recommendations were not objective, though the authors had tried to persuade an uninformed reader that they were made on the basis of the discussions which had taken place in the Council.

Those conclusions and recommendations, he said, served one purpose only: to cover up and to justify the policy of the Administering Authority aimed at the annexation of Micronesia. The Council was supposed to present objectively and in an unbiased manner its conclusions about the situation in Micronesia. An analysis of that situation showed that the people of the Trust Territory had not been given the possibility to exercise its inalienable right to self-determination and independence. The so-called "free association" was a cover-up for actual annexation of the Territory.

Because the Micronesian people were completely dependent politically and economically on the Administering Authority, nobody could speak about "free choice" by the people of the Territory, he said. The Administering Authority had done everything possible to impose upon the Trust Territory agreements on "free association" and "commonwealth". The conclusions and recommendations said nothing about the political situation in the Territory as a whole. He could not agree with that approach. A clearly-expressed bias in the report in favour of United States military-strategic policies showed that the Council was being asked to act as a rubber stamp to please the United States.

He said the conclusions and recommendations did not answer the question of what the economic situation in Micronesia was like, even though Council members knew that the Micronesian economy and agriculture were in very poor condition. Micronesia was totally dependent on the Administering Authority. In the conclusions and recommendations, instead of saying that the Administering Authority had not fulfilled its obligations under the Trusteeship Agreement and the Declaration on decolonization to promote the social and economic development of the Micronesian people, the Council had said that the responsibility for these matters rested with the Micronesian authorities.

With regard to the questions of social development and environment issues, the report had not presented the real situation, he went on. For many years the Council had heard statements about the unbearable social conditions, the lack of medical service and unemployment. Enormous sufferings had been brought to the Micronesian people by the United States, which had used the Territory as a nuclear missile springboard. However, the conclusions and recommendations did not give a fair evaluation of those United States activities.

He said the conclusions and recommendations in general were not the ones that should have been made, based on the real situation. They did not propose measures which should be recommended to the Security Council and the Administering Authority. The report reflected only one side of the debates that had taken place in the Council, and coincided with the view of the Administering Authority. The view of the Soviet delegation had not been reflected. The Soviet Union had not questioned the professional ability of the members of the Drafting Committee. It had questioned the political position taken by those delegations with regard to the situation in Micronesia. The views of those delegations were not acceptable to the Soviet Union.

Laurent Rapin (France) said that positive and important work had been done by the Drafting Committee in keeping with the Council's responsibilities. He did not accept the Soviet Union's position that the conclusions and recommendations had been devised to cover up the annexation of the Trust Territory by the United States through Free Association. The future of the islanders was not to be determined by the Council, but by the islanders themselves.

There had been no analysis in the report of the process by which Free Association was chosen because that process had already been analyzed earlier in the report of the Visiting Mission, which had observed the plebiscite. Members of the Drafting Committee did not go along with anybody, but had made their own decisions in keeping with the Council's role and with the expressed wishes of the inhabitants of the Trust Territory in mind.

Hugh Mortimer (United Kingdom) said it would be "marvelous" to criticize the Council from the position of total irresponsibility. The Soviet Union had not wished to join the Drafting Committee, which had worked diligently and had done its utmost. The report reflected what had been said in the Council by the representatives of the Micronesian people. It presented a balanced analysis of what had taken place in the Council during the discussions.

Harvey Feldman (United States) said the Administering Authority would treat the recommendations of the Drafting committee with utmost seriousness. He had never claimed in the Council that the Administering Authority was perfect, divinely guided, or divinely appointed. It was not required, as the Soviet Union had stated, that self-determination should lead to independence. The assertion that the plebiscites had been a sham or a confidence trick in which the Council and the United nations had participated, had been eloquently rebutted.

In reviewing the history of Micronesia since the Second World War, he said the Japanese islands which had been seized during that war had been returned to Japan. During the last four days of the war certain islands had been seized by the Soviet Union, and those islands were today heavily fortified and their inhabitants displaced. The Soviet Union had not held a plebiscite in those islands.

In response, Vsevolod L. Oleandrov (USS) said that in the absence of a sufficiently weighty argument, the representative of the United States had started talking about questions absolutely unrelated to the issue under discussion.

With regard to its agenda items dealing with self-government or independence, the Council decided to draw the attention of the Security Council to the conclusions and recommendations adopted during its current session concerning the attainment, in accordance with the relevant Charter provisions, and in particular Article 83, of self-government or independence by the Trust Territory, and to the statements made by Council members on that question.

Working paper

The Council reviewed the annual report (T/1871) of the United States as the Administering Authority of the Trust Territory, covering the period from October 1983 to September 1984, together with written petitions and communications from individuals and organizations concerned, and a working paper (T/L.1244) prepared by the Secretariat entitled "Outline of conditions in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands". The annual report covered the political, economic, agricultural and social developments in the Trust Territory during the year in question, along with information on medical, educational, governmental and military questions.

The working paper contained updated information on a number of points as provided in the Administering Authority's report. Concerning war and post-war damage claims, it stated that the Administering Authority had accepted responsibility for damages incurred to people and property resulting from its nuclear-testing programme with respect to the atolls of Bikini and Enewetak. The Compact of Free Association now under consideration by the United States Congress would provide to the people of Bikini, Enewetak and other affected islands long-term financial security as well as continuing health care.

The working paper also stated that during the period under review, the Administering Authority, had continued its efforts to transfer authority and responsibility to the constitutional governments of the Trust Territory.

On the subject of international trade, the working paper stated that for the period in question exports from the following areas were as follows: Northern Marianas, $500,000; Federated States of Micronesia, $1,632,000; Marshall Islands, $3,143,000; and Palau, $250,000. Imports to those areas during that period were: Northern Marianas, $131,450; Federated States of Micronesia, $8,868,000; Marshall Islands, $20,694,000; and Palau, $14,700,000.

Regarding tourism, the working paper said that the number of visitors to the Trust Territory was increasing as a result of improved transportation and the expansion of tourist facilities.

As for medical and health services, the working paper said that on 9 November 1984, the World Health Organization had declared Truk to be free of cholera after no confirmed cases had been reported for a number of months. The paper also detailed improvements in health care services in the Trust Territory during the period in question.

In addition, the working paper outlined information provided by the Administering Authority regarding crime prevention, family planning, job training, housing, fire prevention, the role of United States Peace Corps volunteers, education and teacher training.

Statements were made before the Council by a number of petitioners, officials of Micronesia's four administrative entities, the personal representative of the United States President in the Micronesian status negotiations, and the United States High Commissioners of the Trust Territory. The Council also took note of two reports of the Secretary-General relating to the Council's work. The first report (T/1873) dealth with the dissemination of information on the United Nations and the Trusteeship System in the Trust Territory, and the second (T/1874) concerned offers by Member States of study and training facilities for inhabitants of the Trust Territory.