C.P.(Gen)Doc.1.S.1.

Article 17, paragraph 3

The Governments of the U.S.S.R., U.K., U.S.A. and France, after having ascertained the wishes of the inhabitants of these possessions, shall frame recommendations for the final disposal thereof in consultation [Page 735] with the Governments of those States which contributed with substantial forces in Africa to the liberation of the said possessions.

These recommendations shall, within one year of the coming into force of the present Treaty, be submitted to the States signatory thereto for final decision.

Explanation.

In submitting the above redraft of Article 17, paragraph 3, of the draft Peace Treaty with Italy, the South African delegation considers:

1.
That the Article should be self-contained and should not refer to the joint declaration to which all Governments represented at the Paris Conference were not parties;
2.
That suppression of the reference to the joint declaration makes it necessary to stipulate expressly for consultation with the inhabitants of the ex-Italian possessions and with certain States envisaged by that declaration;
3.
That the above redraft does not preclude the U.S.S.R., U.K., U.S.A. and France from seeking a solution by way of one or more of the alternatives suggested in the declaration and in fact enables them to seek a solution along different lines, if appropriate;
4.
That inasmuch as the countries which are at war with Italy are drafting recommendations for inclusion in the Peace Treaty and by their signature and final ratification will determine the conditions on which the state of war with Italy will come to an end, the same States, and not UNO, should accept the responsibility for determining the final disposal of the Italian colonies, which should naturally form a substantive part of the Treaty and on which the U.S.S.R., U.K., U.S.A., and France have not yet been able to frame a recommendation.