281. Editorial Note
The Security Council discussed the situation in the Congo at nine sessions between December 7 and 14. A Soviet draft resolution submitted on December 8 (U.N. doc. S/4579) called upon Secretary-General Hammarskjöld to secure the immediate release of “Prime Minister” Patrice Lumumba and other Ministers and deputies and take all necessary steps to ensure the resumption of the activities of the Congo’s “lawful Government and Parliament,” requested the U.N. [Page 622] Command to disarm “the terrorist bands of Mobutu,” and called upon the Belgian Government immediately to withdraw Belgian military, paramilitary, and civil personnel from the Congo.
Also on December 8, Argentina, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States submitted a draft resolution (U.N. doc. S/4578) expressing concern for the protection of human rights in the Congo. A slightly revised version introduced on December 13 (U.N. doc. S/4578/Rev.1) expressed the expectation that no measures contrary to recognized rules of law and order would be taken against any persons held prisoner or under arrest anywhere in the Congo, expressed the hope that the International Committee of the Red Cross would be allowed to examine detained persons throughout the Congo, and requested the Secretary-General to continue his efforts to assist the Congo to restore law and order and to adopt all necessary measures tending to safeguard civil and human rights for all persons in the country.
At an extended meeting of the Council which began on the evening of December 13 and ended at 3:45 a.m. on December 14, the Soviet Union proposed 5 amendments to the four-power draft resolution (S/4578). Subsequently, the Argentine Representative introduced the revised draft resolution described above (S/4578/Rev.1). The Council voted first on the 5 Soviet amendments, all of which were defeated. The four-power draft resolution received 7 favorable votes, 3 opposed (the Soviet Union, Poland, and Ceylon), and 1 abstention; thus it failed as a consequence of a Soviet veto. The paragraph of the Soviet draft resolution calling for the withdrawal of Belgian personnel was rejected by 6 votes to 4, with 1 abstention; the remainder of the resolution was defeated by 8 votes to 2, with 1 abstention.
The Polish Representative then proposed a draft resolution (U.N. doc. S/4598) requesting the Secretary-General to undertake the necessary measures to obtain the immediate release of Lumumba and other imprisoned members of Parliament. It was defeated by 6 votes to 3 with 2 abstentions.
For the records of the meetings, see U.N. docs. S/PV.912–920. The texts of the Soviet draft resolution and the revised four-power draft resolution are printed in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1960, pages 611 and 618. The text of a statement made by U.S. Representative James J. Wadsworth on December 9 is ibid., pages 612–616; the texts of statements made by Secretary-General Hammarskjöld on December 7 and 13 are in Public Papers of the Secretaries-General, volume V, pages 242–268.