Foreign Relations of the United States, 1948, General; the United Nations, Volume I, Part 1

IO Files: US(P)/A/281

United States Delegation Position Paper

restricted

[Paris,] November 24, 1948.

Report of the Fourth Committee on the Question of South West Africa

1. United States Position

The United States should vote in favor of the Resolution on South West Africa (attached).

Under the provisions of this Resolution the General Assembly would note with regret that the Assembly’s previous recommendations concerning South West Africa have not been carried out, note the assurance given by South Africa that the proposed new arrangement for closer association of South West Africa with the Union does not mean incorporation or absorption of the territory, and recommend that the Union of South Africa continue to supply information on the territory for examination by the Trusteeship Council.

This Resolution is in conformity with the position paper on the question of South West Africa prepared by the Department and approved by the Delegation.

It should not be necessary for the United States to speak on this Resolution.

2. History in Committee¹

Two basic resolutions were presented to the Fourth Committee on the question of South West Africa—a draft resolution submitted jointly by the Delegations of Denmark, Norway and Uruguay, and a second draft resolution submitted by India. The joint draft resolution was subsequently revised by the three Delegations to take into account certain suggestions made by the United States and Greece. Although there were many points of similarity between the two draft resolutions, the resolution presented by India was in stronger language than the joint resolution and contained a number of recommendations which the Union Government was clearly unwilling even to consider. The joint resolution of Denmark, Norway, and Uruguay was drafted infirm but moderate language. Its principal objective is to obtain from the Union Government further reports on South West Africa for examination by the Trusteeship Council.

The Indian draft resolution was withdrawn and certain portions of it were put forward as amendments to the joint draft resolution. These proposed amendments included a suggestion for the appointment by the Trusteeship Council of a visiting commission to South West Africa. This proposal was rejected by the Fourth Committee by 22 votes against, 21 in favor, and 11 abstentions. An amendment proposed by Cuba, by which the United Nations would consider petitions from inhabitants of South West Africa, was withdrawn without being put to the vote.

The joint draft resolution in the revised form, submitted by the three sponsors (A/C.4/163/Rev. 1), was taken by the Fourth Committee as the basic document on South West Africa. All proposed amendments to it were rejected and it was adopted by the Fourth Committee by a vote of 36 to 1. The United States voted in favor of the resolution.

3. Possible Developments in Plenary Meeting

It is possible, although not considered likely, that amendments will be offered in the Plenary meeting, either with a view to placing more vigorous language in the Resolution or with a view to weakening the Resolution. The Resolution presented by the Fourth Committee, however, represents a sound middle-ground position calculated to obtain from the Union Government further reports on South West Africa without constituting a retreat by the Assembly from its previous action on this matter. Therefore, the United States Delegation should take the position in the Plenary meeting that no further changes should be made in the Resolution and should vote against any amendments which may be presented.²

[Annex]

Question of South West Africa

Whereas in its resolutions 65 (I) of 14 December 1946 and 141 (II) of November 1, 1947 the General Assembly recommended that the Mandated Territory of South West Africa be placed under the International Trusteeship System and urged the Government of the Union of South Africa to propose a trusteeship agreement for the Territory,

Whereas the Government of the Union of South Africa in a letter dated July 23, 1947 informed the United Nations that it had decided not to proceed with the incorporation of South West Africa in the Union but to maintain the status quo and to continue to administer the Territory in the spirit of the existing Mandate that it had undertaken to submit reports on its administration for the information of the United Nations and that consideration was being given to granting representation to South West Africa in the Parliament of the Union,

Whereas the representative of the Union of South Africa stated on 9 November 1948 the intention of his Government to form a close association between South West Africa and the Union by granting “representation of South West Africa in the Union Parliament”,

Whereas a report on the administration of South West Africa for the year 1946 was submitted by the Government of the Union of South Africa to the United Nations,

Whereas in its resolution of 1 November 1947 the General Assembly authorized the Trusteeship Council to examine the report on the administration of South West Africa for the year 1946 submitted by the Government of the Union of South Africa and to submit its observations thereon to the General Assembly,

Whereas on 4 August 1948 the Trusteeship Council, having examined the report on the administration of South West Africa for the year 1946 as well as the supplementary information furnished by the Government of the Union of South Africa in response to a request by the Council embodied in its resolution 28(II) of 12 December 1947, adopted observations thereon which are contained in the Council’s report to the General Assembly,

The General Assembly, Therefore,

Takes note of the observations of the Trusteeship Council on South West Africa as contained in the Council’s report, and requests the Secretary General to transmit those observations to the Government of the Union of South Africa;

Maintains its recommendations of 14 December 1946 and 1 November 1947 that South West Africa be Paced under the Trusteeship System, and notes with regret that those recommendations have not been carried out;

Takes note of the statement of the representative of the Union of South Africa that it is the intention of his Government to continue to administer South West Africa in the spirit of the Mandate;

Takes note of the assurance given by the representative of the Unoin of South Africa that the proposed new arrangement for closer association of South West Africa with the Union does not mean incorporation and will not mean absorption of the Territory by the Administering Authority;

Recommends, without prejudice to its resolutions of 14 December 1946 and 1 November 1947, that the Union of South Africa, until agreement is reached with the United Nations regarding the future of South West Africa, continue to supply annually information on its administration of the Territory;

Requests the Trusteeship Council to continue to examine such information and to submit its observations thereon to the General Assembly.

1. For the history of this question in the Fourth Committee and the relevant texts of proposed resolutions and amendments, see the report of the Fourth Committee on South West Africa in GA (III/1), Plenary, Annexes, pp. 405 ff.
2. The report and recommendations of the Fourth Committee on South West Africa were adopted by the General Assembly on November 26 after some discussion (the United States delegate did not speak); for the proceedings, see GA (III/1), Plenary, pp. 577 ff.