Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, The Geneva Conference, Volume XVI

396.1 GE/7–2154: Telegram

The United States Delegation to the Department of State

secret
niact

Geneva, July 21, 1954—1 a.m.

Secto 698. Repeated information Saigon niact 85, Paris 115, Hanoi niact 1, Tokyo 7, London 20, Moscow 9, Vientiane 2, Phnom Penh 7. Department pass Defense. Tokyo pass CINCFE. Following is clear text final conference declaration as translated by British delegation and issued by six nation secretariat:¹

“Final declaration, dated the 20th July, 1954, of the Geneva conference on the problem of restoring peace in Indochina, in which the representatives of Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, France, Laos, the People’s Republic of China, the state of Vietnam, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America took part.

1. The conference takes note of the agreements ending hostilities in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and organizing international control and the supervision of the execution of the provisions of these agreements.

2. The conference expresses satisfaction at the ending of hostilities in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam; the conference expresses its conviction that the execution of the provisions set out in the present declaration and in the agreements on the cessation of hostilities will permit Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam henceforth to play their part, in full independence and sovereignty, in the peaceful community of nations.

3. The conference takes note of the declarations made by the Governments of Cambodia and of Laos of their intention to adopt measures permitting all citizens to take their place in the national community in particular by participating in the next general elections, which, in conformity with the constitution of each of these countries, shall take place in the course of the year 1955, by secret ballot and in conditions of respect for fundamental freedoms.

4. The conference takes note of the clauses in the agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Vietnam prohibiting the introduction into Vietnam of foreign troops and military personnel as well as of all kinds of arms and munitions. The conference also takes note of the declarations made by the Governments of Cambodia and Laos of their resolution not to request foreign aid, whether in war material, in personnel or in instructors except for the purpose of their territorial defense and to the extent defined by the agreements on the cessation of hostilities.

5. The conference takes note of the clauses in the agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Vietnam to the effect that no military base at the disposition of a foreign state may be established in the regrouping zones of the two parties, the latter having the obligation to see that the zones allotted to them shall not constitute part of any military alliance and shall not be utilized for the resumption of hostilities or in the service of an aggressive policy. The conference also takes note of the declarations of the Governments of Laos and Cambodia to the effect that they will not join in any agreement with other states if this agreement includes the obligation to participate in a military alliance not in conformity with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations or with the principles of the agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Indochina or the obligation to establish bases on Cambodian or Laotian territory for the military forces of foreign powers.

6. The conference recognizes that the essential purpose of the agreement relating to Vietnam is to settle military questions with a view to ending hostilities and that the military demarcation line should not in any way be interpreted as constituting a political or territorial boundary. The conference expresses its conviction that the execution of the provisions set out in the present declaration and in the agreement on the cessation of hostilities creates the necessary basis for the achievement in the near future of a political settlement in Vietnam.

7. The conference declares that, so far as Vietnam is concerned, the settlement of political problems, effected on the basis of respect for the principles of independence, unity and territorial integrity, shall permit the Vietnamese people to enjoy the fundamental freedoms, guaranteed by democratic institutions established as a result of free general elections by secret ballot. In order that the restoration of peace may have made sufficient progress and that there may be present all the necessary conditions to permit the free expression of the national will, general elections will take place in July 1956, under the control of an international commission composed of representatives of the states which are members of the international commission for supervision and control provided for in the accord on the cessation of hostilities. Consultations will take place on this subject between competent representative authorities of the two zones after July 20, 1955.

8. The provisions of the agreements on the cessation of hostilities intended to ensure the protection of individuals and of property must be most strictly applied and must, in particular, allow everyone in Vietnam to decide freely in which zone he wishes to live.

9. The competent representative authorities of the northern and southern zones of Vietnam, as well as the authorities of Laos and Cambodia, must not permit any individual or collective reprisals against persons who have collaborated in any way with one of the parties during the war, or against members of such person’s families.

10. The conference takes note of the declaration of the French Government to the effect that it is ready to withdraw its troops from the territory of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, at the request of the governments concerned and within a period which shall be fixed by agreement between the parties except in the cases, where by agreement between the two parties, a certain number of French troops shall remain at specified points and for a specified time.

11. The conference takes note of the declaration of the French Government to the effect that for the settlement of all the problems connected with reestablishment and consolidation of peace in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, the French Government will proceed from the principle of respect for the independence and sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

12. In their relations with Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, each member of the Geneva conference undertakes to respect the sovereignty, the independence, the unity and the territorial integrity of the above-mentioned States, and to refrain from any interference in their internal affairs.

13. The members of the conference agree to consult one another on any question which may be referred to them by the International Supervisory Commission, in order to study such measures as may prove necessary to ensure that the agreements on the cessation of hostilities in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are respected.”

Smith

1. For the approved text of the Final Declaration, Indochina Document IC/43 Rev. 2, July 21, see p. 1540. The Final Declaration was also printed in the Department of State Bulletin, Aug. 2, 1954, p. 164.