134. My delegation welcomes your election to the presidency as a great honour which is not only a recognition of your five years of work in and for the United Nations, but also a demonstration of respect and appreciation for Tunisia and its President, Habib Bourguiba.
135. This honour extends to the Arab world of which Tunisia is a part; it is also shared by the African countries as a whole, for this is the first time one of their representatives has occupied the presidential chair, an event which marks the growing part played by Africa in our Organization, May I therefore congratulate you and above all thank you for helping to win for Africa and Tunisia so many marks of esteem and solidarity, which are particularly significant in the trials through which our country is going,
136. Permit me also to express my pride in seeing your name associated with the steps which will be taken in the course of this session to promote international peace and security. May God guide your steps and aid you in the arduous task which lies before you!
137. I should also like to express to Ambassador Boland, President of the fifteenth session of the General Assembly, my delegation's great appreciation of the authority and courtesy with which he presided over a particularly arduous session.
138. We have begun this session weighed down with deep sorrow at the tragic death of Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary-General of the United Nations, who died, a soldier of peace, while carrying out a mission of peace in the service of the United Nations. Fate willed it that this great statesman of exceptional gifts should meet his death in the very heart of that Africa which was at the centre of his preoccupations and to which he devoted part of his efforts and activities with intelligence and compassion.
139. The Tunisian people and Government, who vividly recall the two visits which Mr. Hammarskjold made to Tunisia—particularly the second, during the Bizerta crisis—bow with respect and sorrow before the great man's memory. The tragic death of Dag Hammarskjold has deprived the international community of one of its greatest servants and leaves a considerable gap in our Organization.
140. In order to be faithful to the memory of the great man who is gone, to ensure the continuity of his work and his spirit, to enable our Organization to function harmoniously, the first thing we must do is to find a replacement for the Secretary-General. The crisis precipitated by Dag Hammarskjold's death must be resolved without delay. My Government believes that the office of Secretary-General must be maintained in accordance with the provisions set forth in the Charter.
141. The retention of a single Secretary-General does not preclude reorganization of the Secretariat by a more equitable distribution of duties among persons chosen first for their competence and then on a more equitable geographical basis. The Secretariat must remain international and should not in any way reflect the ideological divisions in our Assembly, Impartiality and loyalty to the spirit of the Charter and its principles can only be guaranteed if we escape from this ideological strait-jacket which engenders mistrust and even paralysis.
142. The General Assembly of our Organization is met at a particularly critical moment for international peace. Under the shadow of the anguish and fear which besets the human race, the present session is called upon to examine grave problems which are a serious threat to international peace and security.
143. Never has the risk of a general conflagration been so great or so imminent; tension in the relations
between the two blocs has reached its peak; the arms race is placing in the hands of the opposed Powers means of destruction so powerful that their use would not only inevitably result in the destruction of the whole heritage of human civilization, but might also wipe out forever every trace of life from our planet.
144. The failure of the talks on the cessation and prohibition of nuclear tests, the continuation of such tests by France, the resumption of testing by the Soviet Union and then by the United States of America have all helped to increase alarm and apprehension.
145. The particularly serious turn taken by recent developments in the German problem and the Berlin affair cannot but aggravate international tension and further compromise the changes, already slender, of a peaceful settlement of these problems.
146. Confronted with this particularly grave international situation, our Organization must undertake a thorough and detailed analysis of the scene and seek out and destroy the real causes which make difficult or impossible both a constructive approach and the working out of an appropriate solution to the entirety of these problems.
147. In the opinion of my delegation, the basic problem is not that of judging the merits of one disarmament plan or another or the effectiveness of any given approach to the settlement of the German problem, but is first and foremost a psychological one. What we must do is to escape from the ideological strait- jacket and overcome the distrust engendered by the confrontation of the two blocs and by the cold war which has resulted from it.
148. In this regard the medium-sized and small Powers can make an appreciable contribution provided it is made in the framework of our Organization and in conformity with the principles of the Charter, and above all with its spirit of universality. These small countries, free from any commitment to one or other bloc and poorly equipped with destructive means and weapons, nevertheless represent a tremendous moral force; they are particularly well qualified to give sincere expression to the profound anxiety of a universal conscience racked and tormented by the tragic prospects of human destiny. They are in a position to make this voice heard and to bridge the gulf between the two great antagonistic blocs. They have no desire to constitute a third force, nor lay down the framework or to dictate the terms for the settlement of this or that problem, but it is their duty to keep reminding the great Powers that the values of civilization are the common heritage of all mankind and that no effort must be spared to safeguard these values and to set up an international order governed before all by the rules of law and morality.
149. This is the message which the Belgrade Conference^ of non-aligned countries wishes to address to the world and in the first place to the leaders of the two blocs whose decisions can hurl mankind to destruction.
150. This also is the purpose and the meaning of the approaches recently made to Moscow and Washington.
151. Distrust, hunger for power, the tendency to seek supremacy and to set up "spheres of influence", veritable game preserves, are all obstacles to international relaxation and the strengthening of peace.
152. Buttressed by the membership and support of the small and the weak who constitute the immense majority of the peoples of our planet, our Organization has a duty to bar the road that would lead humanity inexorably to self-destruction. It must do so if it is to preserve its authority and its place in the minds of men, and to escape the fate of the old League of Nations. It must do so in order to be faithful to its mission and the principles the permanent validity of which it has proclaimed in its Charter; finally, it must do so to remain in harmony with this universal conscience whose moral strength must prevail over blind material force, no matter how powerful.
153. It can only do so if it resolutely strives to realize the universal character which its own Charter prescribes. It can only do so if it takes effective action to further the settlement of the perennial problems which reappear at every session of our General Assembly. Positive action must be undertaken within the Organization or under its auspices to speed the talks on disarmament, consideration of which has been carried over from the fifteenth to the sixteenth session. The "Agreed Principles" recently signed by the Soviet Union and the United States (A/4879) are an encouraging sign. Efforts must be made to halt nuclear tests and to reach a definitive agreement on their abolition.
154. The German problem and the Berlin affair have overshadowed the international situation in recent weeks, and their resurgence has seriously aggravated tension, particularly in relations between the leaders of the two antagonistic blocs. Our Organization, true to its mission, could help the two great protagonists to overcome their distrust and to free themselves from the narrow ideological framework to which they have confined their action, so that they may make a constructive and "dispassionate" approach to these problems and work out a lasting settlement taking into account all legitimate interests, the most important of which is to safeguard peace in this critical area of Europe.
155. The Berlin Affair and the German problem are far from being the only threats to peace; dangerous and explosive situations are to be found in other parts of the world, unhappily numerous. They all, or nearly all, result from the survival of an outdated colonialism which refuses to give way to the irresistible tide of national liberation. Resistance to these young nationalist movements, the authentic expression of the awakening of peoples subject to foreign domination and exploitation and various forms of a dying colonialism, not only constitutes a grave threat to world peace and stability, but is also the source of grave differences and profound upheavals in the colonialist States themselves. The persistence of this threat is endangering the transformation of human relations and the resumption of normal relations between peoples. The repeated excesses of every kind, the flouting of fundamental human rights, the cruelty and cynicism of the methods of oppression and repression give these struggles a particularly horrifying aspect.
156. This is one of the most tragic crises mankind has known. The crisis of de-colonization is taking place amid the most catastrophic upheavals amid ever more violent clashes which spare neither the colonizer nor the colonized.
157. The Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples,§/ adopted by a massive majority of eighty-nine votes undoubtedly testifies to the tremendous moral concern which pricks the conscience of the Members of our Organization. Is the Declaration—which amplifies the basic principles of our Charter on this subject—to remain a mere statement of intention, a pious wish, backed by no effective action to translate it into reality? Is it too much to envisage the practical application of this Declaration, which met, so ready a response in the heart of peoples struggling for their liberation and their dignity?
158. In this connexion, we have before us, for the sixth year in succession, the Algerian problem. Although in theory progress has been made with the recognition by France of the necessity of decolonization and the right of the Algerian people to self-determination and independence, and more recently, it appears, the abandonment of French claims to sovereignty over the Sahara, in fact the war has been going on in Algeria for seven years, ruthless and murderous. The Algerian people is making the heaviest sacrifices for its freedom and dignity. It faces not only a large and very well equipped army, but also the onslaughts of the narrowest chauvinism and the most virulent racism on the part of the settlers and "pieds noirs", encouraged by the complicity of what are euphemistically described as the forces of law and order, and by the passivity of a colonial administration which is entirely at their command. The latest events in Oran and Algiers are an example of the crimes of genocide that are being perpetrated against a people which has risen in its towns and villages against colonial oppression and foreign domination.
159. The Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA), which genuinely represents the interests of the Algerian people in its struggle for liberation, conscious of its responsibilities to the Algerian nation and the international community, has once again invited the French Government to resume negotiations and pursue an honest search for a peaceful settlement, despite the failure of the Evian and Lugrin tables. In other words, it is asking the French Government to match its policy to its public statements on the Algerian problem and to take the action that that implies. In so doing, the GPRA is courageously and resolutely assuming the great responsibilities which the fighting Algerian people has entrusted to it; it means to put an honourable end to a war which its adversary was bound to lose, and to avoid irreparably damaging future relations between the two nations.
160. My Government, profoundly concerned at the course of the Algerian war, bent on a settlement that will guarantee the Algerian people its right to independence and dignity, has spared no efforts to help create conditions favourable to such a settlement and intends to continue its active solidarity and effective support for its Algerian neighbours and brothers, grievously afflicted by this war imposed by a colonialism that refuses to die.
161. In other regions of Africa another hot war is being waged with its train of atrocities and slaughter, imposing heavy sacrifices on peoples resolved to shake off the. colonial yoke. Angola is the bloody arena of one of these colonial repressions conducted with ferocity and savagery, despite the resolutions of
the General Assembly and the Security Council. The Angolan people must not feel that it is alone or defenceless in the face of an implacable adversary still bound to the imperial conceptions of another century. The report of the Sub-Committee on the Situation in Angola 6 set up by the General Assembly at its fifteenth session must be carefully studied with a view to action to rescue the Angolan people from the repression and the slaughter of which it is the victim. In particular our efforts must be directed towards ensuring to the Angolan people the exercise of its legitimate right of self-determination and independence.
162. Other African territories are winning their way to independence through suffering and bloodshed. Our duty of solidarity demands that we should help them and facilitate their transition to national sovereignty and independence.
163. The segregationist State of South Africa continues to trample the Universal Declaration of Human Rights underfoot and to flout the recommendations of the General Assembly. It is shamelessly pursuing its degrading policy of apartheid and discrimination against African populations. Many speakers in this Assembly have forthrightly and indignantly condemned this practice which constitutes a flagrant and persistent violation of all the values of civilization and of the fundamental principles of the Charter. In this field we must take , practical steps to bring this intransigent segregationist State to a proper understanding of its responsibilities.
164. In the Near East, in Palestine, in the very heart of the Arab world, an incontestable denial of justice, whose inhumanity and all-embracing character escapes nobody, has deprived more than a million Arabs of their hearth and home and condemned them for the last thirteen years to crowded refugee camps and reduced them to living on international charity. Furthermore, this denial of justice has resulted in the creation of what is in fact an imperialist base, a constant threat to peace and stability in this area of the world and a jumping-off point for colonialist enterprises of all kinds. No piecemeal solution of this or that aspect of the problem can put an end to this perpetual threat. On tile contrary, only a radical attack on the roots of the evil can wipe out the problem and thus restore security and re-establish stability in this sector of the world.
165. These are not the only manifestations of a colonialism at bay, resolved to go on fighting rearguard actions. In some areas colonialism is bent on maintaining enclaves on the territories of countries which have become independent. Elsewhere it maintains a colonial military occupation without any right or justification and against the wishes of the Governments and peoples of the country concerned.
166. That is the case of my country, whose sovereignty is still impaired and whose territorial integrity is still violated, six years after independence by the continuing colonial military occupation at Bizerta in the north of the country, and in the Sahara in the South. This situation resulted in a bloody conflict which pitted my country against France and was the subject of discussions in the Security Council and at the third special session of the General Assembly. At the end of its debate, the General Assembly adopted resolution 1622 (S-III) reaffirming the interim resolution of the
6/ Official Records of the Security Council. Sixteenth Year. Supplement for, July. August and September 1961, document S/4898.
Security Council 2 calling for a cease-fire and the return of all armed forces to their original position, and recognizing the "sovereign right of Tunisia to call for the withdrawal of all French armed forces present on its territory without its consent".
167. Since this resolution, the Tunisian Government has taken the initiative of inviting the French Government to carry out the withdrawal of its forces to their original position and to decide on the timing of the final withdrawal of its troops from the whole of Tunisian territory. General de Gaulle's statement of 5 September last and note addressed to the Tunisian Government give reason to hope that the situation may progress towards a reasonable and honourable solution of the conflict,
168. Basing its position on the positive and objective elements in these two documents, and in particular on the words "While declaring that it will be necessary eventually to negotiate the withdrawal of French troops
.from Bizerta", the Tunisian Government has sought to afford the French Government the opportunity of an honourable solution and a peaceful settlement.
169. My Government notes with satisfaction that the French forces have begun their withdrawal to their original positions in accordance with the proces-verbal signed on 29 September 1961, which details the movements that should result in the return of the French forces to their initial positions within a week. This preliminary operation can thus be regarded as implementing the second requirement of the interim resolution adapted by the Security Council on 22 July 1961. It remains now to tackle the substantive problem dealt with in the operative part of the resolution adopted by the General Assembly at its third special session, on 25 August 1961.
170. The Tunisian Government's goodwill should not be taken as a sign of weakness or surrender. Tunisia's willingness to make it easier for its partner to undertake phased operations leading to the total withdrawal of its forces from the whole of Tunisian territory is equalled by its determination to see that withdrawal shall in fact take place. If the Tunisian Government has reason to believe that the French Government has mistaken its true intentions, it will unhesitatingly resume the struggle and make every sacrifice necessary to secure the final liberation of the whole of its national territory from French military occupation, this last vestige of the colonial era.
171. Indeed, my Government could not accept any attempt to override or to ignore General Assembly resolution 1622 (S-III), which was passed by an enormous majority s«td with no dissenting votes. It will make every effort to ensure the resolution's full and scrupulous implementation. The Tunisian Government hopes to achieve this end by peaceful means and to find, on the part of the French Government, a desire for peace and a spirit of goodwill equal to that which we ourselves have unceasingly shown throughout the crisis.
172. I apologize for the length of my statement, but my Government is anxious that representatives should be informed of its true intentions in regard to this problem which engaged the attention of the Assembly at its special session in August 1961.
173. Against this dark background of shifts and upheavals in the African continent—which are but episodes in the drama of decolonization, decolonization
by those unwilling and unable to understand the significance of the historic changes in our world in this second half of the twentieth century, unwilling and unable to make the necessary adjustment and avoid violence and bloody clashes between the parties concerned—against this dark background, developments in the Congo justify a measure of cautious optimism, As a result of the intelligent action taken, the various political groups have sunk their differences and are resolutely embarked on the path of reconciliation and understanding. A government of national union, designated by the President of the Republic and invested by Parliament has assumed responsibility for the destinies of the Congolese people and has expressed its determination to devote the nation's full efforts to the reconstruction of the country and to the establishment of an administrative structure that will ensure peace and the safety of persons and property and promote the social development of the people and the economic advancement of the country. Aid should be given unstintingly for the accomplishment of this noble and inspiring task.
174. The ending of the Katanga secession, the reintegration of the Province in the Congolese nation as a whole and the elimination of foreign interference must be unremittingly pursued.
175. My Government, which has participated in United Nations operations in the Congo by supplying troops, technicians and experts, welcomes this encouraging development and will continue to make the contribution its resources permit to bring to a successful conclusion the efforts the United Nations has undertaken in accordance with the decisions and resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council.
176. Sierra Leone's accession to independence is another encouraging episode in the stormy drama of decolonization. I should like in this connexion to extend to the delegation of Sierra Leone in this Assembly, and to its chairman, Sir Milton Margai, our warmest congratulations and very best wishes on the occasion of Sierra Leone's admission to membership in the United Nations. In accordance with what is now a well established tradition Tunisia sponsored Sierra Leone's admission and joined with other Member States in submitting resolution 1623 (XVI). We look forward with pride and pleasure to Tanganyika's entrance into our Organization in December. The United Kingdom also deserves our congratulations for these examples of decolonization carried out without obstruction or violence. It would be most encouraging if the Powers still clinging to outmoded imperialist ideas would take the examples of Sierra Leone and Tanganyika to heart and change the old relations based on domination into relations based on co-operation in equality and friendship.
177. The United Nations must do more than simply welcome newly independent countries into its midst. It must also aid peoples struggling under the colonial yoke to free themselves from foreign domination. Only thus can it remain true to the principles of the Charter and give effect to the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples adopted by the General Assembly on 14 December 1960.
178. If it is to work usefully and effectively towards a solution of the many different issues requiring its attention, the United Nations which has over the years been strengthened by the admission of the new Members. must bring the composition of its various organs into line with its present membership. In particular, the membership of the Security Council and of the Economic and Social Council should be enlarged on the basis of a more equitable geographical distribution, The African continent is especially under- represented despite the presence of some thirty African countries in the Organization. On these various points my delegation will make positive proposals in the competent committees, and hopes that its action will receive the support of all Member States that wish to correct an imbalance which is prejudicial to the Organization as a whole and to the contribution new Member States could make to the maintenance of peace and the work of our Organization.
179. The imbalance I have just mentioned is aggravated by the exclusion of the People's Republic of China from this Organization. It is inconceivable that a country whose population represents one fourth of the world population should continue to be barred from the deliberations and work of our Organization.
180. My Government, which has hitherto remained on the sidelines on this issue, in the hope that an agreement would be reached between the parties directly concerned, feels that it must now reconsider its position and declare itself in favour of the participation of the People's Republic of China in the deliberations and work of our Organization.
181. I turn now to economic and social problems. The economic and social problems with which we are concerned in this Organization are of various types. In my delegation's view, some of them should receive our particular attention at the present session. Of all the problems confronting formerly colonized countries upon the achievement of independence, the problem of under-development is unquestionably the most serious. The newly-won, fragile independence of these countries will be in jeopardy until they succeed in overcoming the lag in their development and have secured for their peoples the minimum conditions for a decent life worthy of human dignity, until they have given their political independence a real economic and social content and have safeguarded their independence against the covert encroachment of neocolonialism. In this context the financial and technical assistance which must be given to under-developed countries to ensure their full development should be freed from politics and internationalized in order to eliminate the sometimes unduly onerous conditions involved in bilateral agreements. It is surely possible to envisage a programme of this kind carried out within the framework and under the auspices of our Organization, coordinated where necessary by its organs and specialized agencies. If the Organization found it possible to undertake such an enterprise, it would contribute significantly to improving the stability of the developing countries and hence to consolidating the peace.
182. In this same connexion, the problem of primary commodities and the fluctuations of commodity prices on the world market is a matter of serious concern to States which derive the bulk of their income from commodity trade. Moreover, most of the States are developing countries which devote a substantial portion of their "earnings from primary commodity trade to development programmes. Effective action to stabilize primary commodity prices and the markets would assure producing countries of a regular income and would thus lighten the financial burden assumed by the international community in assisting their development, Such action would be doubly profitable and would moreover promote the expansion and rationalization of international trade.
183. Finally, our Organization should be furnished with sufficient resources to ensure the successful implementation of the programmes of technical and economic assistance elaborated by its various specialized committees.
184. In these areas, international solidarity has an opportunity for practical application whose advantages are obvious to all and whose ultimate goal is the creation of a society in which justice, prosperity and happiness will prevail.
185. I should like to conclude by reaffirming our faith in the Organization and its mission.
186. Peace is a continuing creation which Requires constant vigilance. While the great Powers may be capable of unleashing a general conflagration, the maintenance of peace can be assured only with the help of the small and medium Powers. In the accomplishment of that great task our Organization has a special responsibility. This is the fervent hope in the hearts of millions of men and women beset by fear and anxiety.