unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (08/14/89)
UN PRESS: DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE RECEIVES DRAFT RESOLUTION
ON NEW CALEDONIA QUESTION
A draft resolution which would have the General Assembly invite the
parties to the question of New Caledonia to continue promoting a framework for
the peaceful progress of the Territory towards self-determination was
circulated this afternoon in the Special Committee on decolonization as the
Committee continued its debate on the question of Namibia and other issues.
The proposal, sponsored by Fiji, would also urge the parties to maintain
their dialogue and refrain from acts of violence.
Statements in this afternoon's debate were made by the representatives of
Afghanistan, Bulgaria, China, Chile, Ethiopia and the Soviet Union.
In addition to the question of Namibia, speakers addressed the military
activities of administering Powers, foreign economic and other interests
impeding decolonization, and the decolonization work of the specialized
agencies and other United Nations bodies.
When the Committee meets again at 10 a.m. on Monday, 14 August, it will
conclude its debate on those items and begin consideration of the situations
in Western Sahara and East Timor.
The Special Committee on decolonization met this afternoon to continue
its consideration of the question of Namibia. It also discussed the
activities of foreign economic interests in dependent Territories, military
activities and arrangements by colonial powers and the decolonization
activities of the specialized agencies. (For background, see this morning's
press release GA/COL/2697.)
MOHAMMED WASIL MEHNAT (Afghanistan) said that in spite of repeated urging
by the General Assembly and the non-aligned movement, colonial Powers
continued to maintain military bases and installations in a number of
Territories, namely Namibia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands,
Guam, Bermuda and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The military
activities of South Africa in Namibia constituted the major obstacle to the
implementation of Security Council resolution 435 (1978).
Turning to the economic sphere, he said foreign economic interests had
intensified their exploitation of natural and human resources in such
Territories as the Turks and Caicos Islands, Anguilla, Bermuda, Montserrat,
the United States Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands. Taken together, the
foreign economic exploitation of Territories and the military presence of
colonial Powers in Territories constituted a serious impediment to the General
Assembly's 1960 Declaration on decolonization, the thirtieth anniversary of
which was approaching. Such activities should stop. Colonial Powers should
also end the deployment and testing of nuclear weapons, as well as the dumping
of nuclear wastes in Territories under their administration.
ALEXANDER SAVOV (Bulgaria) said Namibia was a clear example of the
destructive impact upon colonial territories of the activities of foreign
economic and other interests. A potentially rich country, the Territory had
an unbalanced infrastructure not oriented towards the well-being and
development of the majority of the Namibian people. The plunder of the
natural resources of colonial Territories by those foreign economic interests
had continued unabated.
He said the activities of those interests had also strengthened the
nuclear and military potential of South Africa and had enabled the racist
regime to preserve its abhorrent policy of apartheid and to persist in its
destabilization of countries in the region. Administering Powers should
comply with appeals of the General Assembly to withdraw their military bases
and installations from colonial Territories, he stated, adding that such
action would facilitate the decolonization process and promote world peace and
security.
DING YUANHONG (China) expressed the hope that all parties concerned in
the Namibian independence process would honour their commitments and refrain
from actions that might undermine or compromise the process, including the
forthcoming general election. China supported the role of the
Secretary-General and the people of Namibia in their just struggle for
national independence. Referring to the people of other non-self-governing
Territories, he said it was China's view that they had an inalienable right to
self-determination and independence and that the administering Powers should
respect their will in making a free choice of their future status.
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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