77. I should like first of all to join with the preceding speakers in extending to Mr. Belaúnde, on behalf of my Government and my delegation, our warmest congratulations on his election to the presidency of the fourteenth session of the General Assembly. The unanimous tribute of the Members of this Assembly is addressed at one and the same time to the man who has won respect and esteem for his great experience in international affairs, and for his exquisite courtesy in his relations with his colleagues of other delegations, to the great jurist, who is a worthy representative of South American tradition, and to the man who proudly accepted exile and banishment rather than endorse any infringement whatsoever of freedom or any violation of justice. My delegation is sure that, under his high authority, in this particularly decisive phase of international life, the debates of the Assembly will be conducted with clear-sightedness and efficiency.
78. I should like also to pay a warm tribute to the untiring devotion of Mr. Dag Hammarskjold, our distinguished Secretary-General, who has been successful in his efforts to strengthen the moral authority of this Organization and to gain it an increased audience among nations and peoples.
79. The fourteenth session of the United Nations General Assembly is opening under favourable auspices, which give us reason to hope for a relaxation of international tension and to anticipate a consolidation of peace and a strengthening of international security in the near future. Although the international conferences held at Geneva in the last few months have not succeeded in solving the problems dominating international life — the Berlin question, German reunification, disarmament, the cessation and control of nuclear tests — they have nevertheless opened up some hopeful prospects and have made it easier to find a constructive approach towards the stabilization and normalization of international relations.
80. These hopes are confirmed and strengthened by the visits exchanged between Heads of State and Heads of Government, particularly by the visits that have taken place or are planned between the leaders of the two greatest Powers in the world, Mr. Eisenhower and Mr. Khrushchev. The warmth of direct human contact and the appraisal at first hand of the living conditions and activities of each people will open the way to better understanding and will produce the constructive elements that will make for a thaw in the cold war and a relaxation of international tensions.
81. Although these conferences or meetings have not actually been held under the auspices of the United Nations, the latter can nevertheless claim to have created the psychological and political conditions for their development and to have contributed to a large degree to their success. In so doing, the United Nations is putting into effect the precepts of the Charter and is working for the triumph of its principles and the attainment of the purposes which it has set for itself.
82. The peace-loving nations, desirous of establishing an international order in which good understanding and co-operation in justice and equality prevail, cannot but applaud and encourage such initiatives. This peace, which is the hope of millions and millions of human beings, is, however, very fragile and requires constant vigilance and the most attentive care on the part of all.
83. This peace is threatened in several parts of our planet. The anguish that wrings mankind is as great as the unprecedented catastrophe which threatens to overwhelm it if, by misfortune, all the means of destruction which man's genius has been able to conceive were to go into action and remove from the face of the globe not only every trace of civilization but also every trace of life. That is why all efforts should be united to achieve a reduction and controlled limitation of conventional weapons and the absolute prohibition of nuclear and thermo-nuclear weapons.
84. Various projects have been submitted to the Assembly and to the committees concerned. My Government considers that all these projects deserve careful consideration in that they may lead to the preparation of an agreement on disarmament acceptable to all the Powers.
85. Everything possible has been said — and by the most authoritative voices — about the dangers which nuclear and thermo-nuclear weapons harbour for mankind. It would be idle and presumptuous to recall them to this great Assembly. I should simply like to stress the welcome which was given to the decision of the Powers possessing nuclear weapons to suspend all tests until the completion of the work of the Geneva Conference on the discontinuance of nuclear tests. That is an important step, a prelude to the decision for the final cessation of such tests, which would be fervently and gratefully welcomed by all mankind.
86. Unfortunately, in this encouraging context a discordant note has been heard and has aroused anxiety in a number of countries, particularly the African countries. The French Government is persisting in its intention to carry out nuclear tests in the Sahara.
87. My country is directly involved, as are all the other African countries, in the project announced by the French Government. At the last two conferences of the independent African States, held at Accra in April 1958 and at Monrovia in August 1959, the resolutions adopted protested vigorously against any nuclear tests in Africa, particularly in the Sahara.
88. Mr. Ako-Adjei, my good friend and eminent colleague from Ghana, has quoted at this rostrum the main parts of these resolutions [807th meeting]. I wish to affirm solemnly that the Tunisian Government and people, like all the African Governments and peoples, wish to live in peace and to keep the African continent free from atomic contamination and poison.
89. An attempt has been made to interpret the consent of some Heads of State within the French African community as a moral guarantee of the projected experiments. With your permission, I shall mention the public stand taken by a number of these leaders.
90. The Head of the Mauritanian Government made a strong protest, against these experiments in an interview granted to the Paris newspaper Le Monde. on 6-7 September 1959, and I quote: "The possibility of -French atomic experiments is also causing us a great deal of anxiety.” And he added: "I have already made my views known to the responsible parties."
91. The Government of the Mali Federation, comprising Senegal and Western Sudan, instructed its permanent delegation in Paris to issue a statement affirming that the Mali Federation had never agreed to a nuclear test in the Sahara. That statement was published in the same Paris newspaper, Le Monde, in September 1959.
92. These are the leaders of African countries bordering the Sahara which are directly affected by the French Government’s projects; in spite of their situation, they have felt it their imperative duty to express publicly their concern and anxiety with regard to the grave danger threatening the life and health of their people.
93. Moreover, it should be borne in mind that the delimitation of frontiers in the Sahara, far from being exact and final, is the subject of disputes and claims, particularly on the part of Tunisia and Morocco.
94. My Government, for its part, has made two solemn representations to the Government of the French Republic to inform it of its serious concern and to persuade it to give up the projected tests in the Sahara. It is most regrettable that the French Government has not seen fit to take the representations made by my Government into consideration and has treated them in exactly the same way as it treated the representations made by other African Governments.
95. May I add that this threat, far from being limited to the African continent, may be of concern to other territories, which might receive some atomic fallout: for example, the islands of the Mediterranean, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia. The anxiety felt by the people of these regions and the concern of atomic experts in these countries are highly significant.
96. It is essentially against the choice of the Sahara as the site for the explosions planned by the French Government that my Government strongly protests, in complete agreement with all the other African States and in the knowledge that it is expressing the anguish of all the African peoples.
97. In any case, at the very moment when the atomic Powers are deciding to suspend their tests and are negotiating an agreement for their complete discontinuance, it is very distressing, to say the least, to see another Power seeking to enter into nuclear competition and thus giving rise to serious disturbances and creating an unprecedented danger for the populations of the area involved. The United Nations cannot remain indifferent in the face of such a danger and should earnestly recommend that these projects should be abandoned.
98. Instead of being expended dangerously in the field of nuclear armament, these gigantic technical and financial efforts would be of much greater value if they were diverted to peaceful ends, thus contributing to the progress of human civilization, to the betterment of living conditions and to the prosperity of mankind. That is the wish expressed by my Government and I take this opportunity to pay a tribute to the action taken by the International Atomic Energy Agency, under the stimulus of this Organization. The Agency is showing us the path of wisdom and reason and it constitutes the best guarantee for the protection of mankind, for the true values of human civilization and for the possibilities of peaceful co-operation among people s and nations.
99. At a time when human genius has been able to cross interplanetary space with devices of its own manufacture and to reach other planets, it is our duty within this Organization to do our utmost to ensure that the competition in this field is solely peaceful and contributes to the advancement of human knowledge. We should also organize, under the sponsorship and control of this Organization, the utilization of this new triumph of human genius.
100. The United Nations is the chosen form for exchanges of views and for efforts for the peaceful settlement of disputes, particularly through negotiation. My Government, for its part, has always been careful to abide by this principle, even in the most crucial and decisive phases of its national life. It is glad that it has always advocated negotiation and has seen that method produce satisfactory results. For that reason, while solemnly reaffirming its fidelity and loyalty to the principles of the Charter, my Government will work unremittingly for the triumph of the principle of settlement of disputes between nations and peoples through peaceful negotiation. Imbued with these principles and conscious of its responsibility as a member of the international community, my country has, since the beginning of this year, entered upon its duties as a member of the Security Council, a responsibility which the Assembly has entrusted to it for two years.
101. In the same spirit, and with a view to consolidating international peace and security, my Government agreed, together with the Governments of Argentina, Italy and Japan, to serve on the Subcommittee on Laos established by the Security Council at its 848th meeting on 7 September 1959.- My Government hopes that this Sub-Committee will help the Security Council to perform its task in the delicate question brought to its attention and to eliminate the threat of an armed conflict in that part of the world.
102. The international situation is weighed down by the tragic problem of the refugees, a source of anxiety and concern to many Governments in many parts of the world. Masses of human beings, driven from their homes and their countries by war or persecution, are living in conditions degrading to human dignity and incompatible with the moral and spiritual principles of all faiths and all civilizations. The United Nations has made the most praiseworthy efforts to lessen the sufferings and misery of these refugees, but international solidarity, no matter how broad, cannot solve this poignant problem, and the deterioration of a situation which, in some cases, has lasted for more than ten years increases international tension and constitutes a major obstacle to the restoration of understanding and harmony among nations. Nearly a million of our Arab brothers, driven from their homes and their property in Palestine, are stagnating in tragic and poignant circumstances, waiting year after year for an appropriate settlement of their situation.
103. After reading the Secretary-General's report [A/4121], my delegation feels that UNRWA should continue its humanitarian work for the time being and that the repatriation of these refugees and the restoration to them of their property is the only basis for an acceptable settlement and the beginning of a much- desired relaxation of tension in that particularly sensitive area, the Middle East.
104. It is the duty of the United Nations to ensure that its decisions and resolutions calling for the return of the refugees to their homes are carried out. Pending the rapid implementation of those decisions, conservatory measures could be enacted. For example, the property of the Palestine Arab refugees could be temporarily placed in international custody. In that way the United Nations would be taking a most constructive step and creating an international jurisprudence for a legal problem which might arise elsewhere.
105. My Government notes with satisfaction the positive suggestions in the Secretary-General's report regarding the continuation of United Nations assistance and the need to avoid any steps unacceptable to the refugees themselves, but it cannot agree that the economic development of the area should be linked with the refugee problem, for that development is within the exclusive competence of the countries concerned.
106. On that subject, my Government is at one with its brother Arab States and unreservedly supports the joint plan for the settlement of the Palestine Arab refugee question [A/4236].
107. In North Africa, nearly 300,000 Algerians have abandoned their homes and property and have taken refuge in the two neighbouring countries, Morocco and Tunisia. My country is now sheltering nearly 180,000 of them. With the help of national and international agencies it is endeavouring to provide for their needs and to alleviate their suffering, in strict conformity with the provisions of the International Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. The end of the Algerian war and its settlement on a basis acceptable to the parties will be the dawn of hope for those tens of thousands of old people, women and children who have been uprooted from their native land and their homes and will enable them to return to their homeland.
108. It has been rightly said that the past year has been an African year. I think I may add that Africa remains the focus of international concern owing to the profound changes which have taken place or are about to take place and which will alter its whole aspect as well as its political and economic structures. The African peoples, desirous of recovering their individual and national dignity and of attaining sovereignty and independence, are being swept by a great wave of emancipation. That is a phenomenon characteristic of this second half of the twentieth century and it is to the credit of the United Nations that it has included among its principles that of self- determination and respect for the natural desire of peoples held under colonial or imperialist rule to, determine their own future. It is a particularly telling illustration of the universality of the Charter principles, which can be of one dimension only, a moral dimension that applies to all peoples on all continents, in all latitudes, regardless of their faith, the colour of their skin or their social system.
109. That is why we await, with sympathy and keen Interest, the forthcoming admission of Nigeria, the Cameroons, Togoland and Somaliland to membership of the United Nations. Those States will strengthen the side of freedom and will, I am sure, make a valuable contribution to the activities of the United Nations. While we may feel pleased with the progress achieved in this respect, we should also draw a lesson from it and appreciate its high significance. The accession of these States to independence and sovereignty is part of an irreversible historical process and represents the triumph of the principles of justice and freedom over the law of the jungle, domination and hegemony. It definitely eliminates a cause of discord and conflict between nations and thus helps to strengthen international peace and security. It also opens the way to free and fruitful co-operation among the peoples and nations of the different continents, and, strangely enough, between erstwhile colonial Powers and their former colonies. Together they can rediscover the road to understanding, co-operation and friendship by rejecting any idea of hegemony and exploitation and by establishing relations based on equality and mutual respect.
110. In that connexion, I should like to recall that, on 2 March 1959, our President, Mr. Habib Bourguiba, appealed to all nations to hold a round-table conference for the purpose of discussing decolonization. That initiative was prompted by altruism and an ardent desire to help to strengthen peace. The appeal evoked a favourable response and was given careful and sympathetic consideration quite recently, at the Inter-Parliamentary Conference held last August.
111. Africa comprises vast areas and many peoples still living under an obsolete colonial administration out of pace with modern times. Of the 180 million who inhabit the continent, only 60 million are at present free and independent, 40 million others are in the process of becoming so and will achieve Independence and sovereignty between now and the end of the next year, but the remaining 80 million are still held under colonial rule. There are equally disturbing situations in Asia and elsewhere. For example, the situation in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula and the incidents that have occurred in Oman have caused serious concern in my country and in world public opinion. A courageous people devoted to its traditions was forced in an armed struggle to defend its national dignity and its national entity. The aspiration of all these peoples to dignity, sovereignty and independence cannot be ignored or frustrated; the colonial Powers should take account of present-day realities, adapt themselves to the course of history and determine, together with the peoples concerned, the stages and time-tables which may prove necessary for the attainment of those objectives. Negotiation or any other appropriate means might have brought about a just and equitable solution without arousing resentment, violence and hatred, for violence engenders grief, tears and rancour, and everything should be done to prevent the colonial peoples from being driven to resort to violence in order to recover their dignity and independence.
112. Moreover, the African continent is outraged by the practices of racial discrimination and segregation which still flourish in many territories. They represent a continuing defiance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, in short, of morality. Whoever he may be and wherever he may be, a man is entitled to respect and cannot be made subject to other laws than those applicable to all. The United Nations has consistently and forcefully denounced these shameful practices and has time and again called upon the Administering Powers to put an end to them. It is lamentable that all its appeals have remained unheeded. It is the responsibility of the United Nations to take appropriate action to eradicate these degrading practices.
113. The situation in South West Africa, too, is still causing us serious concern. The international status of this territory should be defined and the Mandatory Power has no right to alter it without the consent of the United Nations. Did not the International Court of Justice reaffirm in 1956 that the obligations of the Mandatory Power remained in full force, the only difference being that the supervisory powers exercised by the Council of the League of Nations must now be exercised by the United Nations? The Mandatory Power should set a date for the termination of its trust and should make preparations, in close collaboration with the United Nations, for the evolution of the Territory towards self-determination or independence. The arguments put forward by the Union of South Africa are a serious violation of the spirit and letter of the Charter, and the refusal of that country to co-operate with the Good Offices Committee is highly regrettable. It is the duty of Member States to put an end to this outrageous situation and to place this Territory under the relevant provisions of the Charter.
114. The Algerian war, which has been going on for nearly five years in the heart of Africa, on the very frontiers of my country and at the gateway of the Mediterranean, is the most acute and dangerous problem of the hour. This implacable war, with the resentment, hatred, tears and mourning which it brings, is taking a high toll of human life on both sides and causing widespread destruction and. depredation. Hundreds of thousands of Algerians are being uprooted from their homes and confined in concentration camps known as "regroupment centres". Instead of allowing itself to be forced into the impasse of war, France could have anticipated the legitimate aspirations of the Algerian people and could have settled the problem through peaceful negotiation, in honour and dignity.
115. The war has been a matter of constant and most serious concern to my Government. Tunisia has suffered and is still suffering the consequences of the overflow and extension of the war. I need not recall certain incidents and certain facts which are still fresh in everyone's mind. Nevertheless, my Government has always endeavoured to keep passions down and to induce the French leaders to take the path of negotiation and agreement. The President of the French Republic has now taken a stand. The declaration of 16 September 1959 must be closely and carefully studied in all its aspects. From the outset, my Government is happy to note the intention, solemnly proclaimed by the Head of the French State, of enabling the Algerian people freely to determine their future.
116. The recognition of the right of the Algerian people to self-determination is a decisive and important step. My Government sincerely hopes that this decision will be speedily and faithfully put into effect. It is all the more pleased to note this decision in that more than two years ago, speaking through the most authoritative voice in the country, that of President Bourguiba, it upheld the right of the Algerian people to self-determination, in a speech made over the National Broadcasting Corporation on 17 August 1957: "Recognition by France of Algeria's right to independence, or at the very least to self-determination, is still the only way in which an agreement may be reached between France and Algeria. France should take the initiative with, a sort of political declaration. I am sure that, if France made a statement to that effect, the Algerian nationalists of the National Liberation Front would agree to negotiate the stages and details of the way leading to self- determination, which should be given theoretical recognition in a definite statement."
117. How many human lives might have been spared, how much devastation and destruction avoided and how much hatred and bitterness saved, if the path of reason and wisdom advocated by President Bourguiba had been followed at the time. There would have been no vain attempt to stem the tide of history, and no drifting, for months and years, along the blind path of war.
118. There are, however, many points in the French declaration which are still obscure and need clear and precise definition. First of all, the pacification of hearts and minds, the cease-fire which is essential for a return to conditions in which a valid and authentic vote can be carried out, should be negotiated by the parties. Logic and common sense demand that the adversaries still locked in combat should negotiate between themselves the conditions for the restoration of peace, the essential prelude to a genuine consultation of the Algerian people. The Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic, guardian of the interests of the Algerian people now fighting for their dignity and emancipation, is the obvious partner in any negotiations on the conditions for an immediate restoration of peace in Algeria.
119. In addition, the necessary safeguards for the authenticity and validity of the proposed consultation must be likewise discussed and decided upon by the two partners. The same is true of the transitional period which is to precede the voting, during which the psychological and political conditions for a true expression of the will of the Algerian people must be brought about.
120. If the decision is for independence, there can be no question of secession or of an abrupt and final rupture of all the ties that bind two equally proud and valiant peoples, who have lived side by side through so many vicissitudes for more than 130 years and could never part finally from each other. On the contrary, with independence constraint will give place to free co-operation, hatred to friendship, and bitterness to reconciliation. Fruitful relations based on sincere mutual respect in equality and honour must be established between two adult and sovereign peoples brought together by so many affinities.
121. From the wider point of view, the continuation of the war in Algeria is a tremendous obstacle to the realization of the regional association of the great Arab Magreb, responding to the profound wishes and aspirations of the people of the region and in conformity with the dictates of history and the requirements of modern times. In this respect, a settlement of the Algerian conflict would hasten the establishment of the great Magreb and would open the door to fruitful co-operation, rich in promise, between France and the States of this region of Africa.
122. In my speech to the General Assembly at its thirteenth session [760th meeting], I drew attention to the effect that the Algerian situation was having on relations between my country and France, and I emphasized the difficulties to which the persistence of such a dangerous situation in North Africa was giving rise. There again, a happy settlement of the Algerian conflict would clear the horizon and remove a heavy threat. It would enable France and Tunisia to establish normal and stable relations and to find a solution, in friendship and co-operation, for the problems which are still pending between them.
123. Thus everything militates in favour of a peaceful and just settlement, and my Government hopes that the two parties concerned in the settlement of the Algerian affair — the French Government and the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic — will establish contact and agree jointly upon the arrangements and safeguards necessary for the implementation, as soon as possible, of the principle of self-determination which the Head of the French State has solemnly proclaimed to be the right of the Algerian people.
124. My Government, which noted with satisfaction the positive step taken by the Head of the French State in recognizing the right of the Algerian people to self-determination, notes with equal satisfaction the proclamation published by the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic on 28 September 1959 and the reaffirmation of its intention of entering into conversations with the French Government with a view to establishing the military and political conditions for a cease-fire and the methods and safeguards for the implementation of self-determination.
125. This is a most encouraging development and it is not unreasonable to hope that very soon the two parties will approach each other and agree on a settlement of all the points raised in the respective declarations of the two Governments.
126. In the speech he made scarcely twenty-four hours ago, President Bourguiba analysed the phases of the Algerian problem and made a pathetic appeal to both sides to overcome the difficulties and resentments of the moment and to come together in constructive and fruitful discussion, with their sights set firmly on the future.
127. President Bourguiba, for his part, reaffirmed his constant readiness to join in any effort to bring the two sides together. I should like to quote a few words from this important speech. Speaking of the respective French and Algerian positions, President Bourguiba said: "Where does the difference lie? What is it that prevents contact? It is all a matter of guarantees and suspicion. It is suspicion which justifies the demand for guarantees. The French must be able to understand this concern and to regard it as reasonable and legitimate." He added: "To sum up, we have General de Gaulle, on one side, saying that he is ready to accept the wishes of the Algerian people if they opt for independence, and, on the other, Ferhat Abbas and Krim Bel Kacem declaring themselves willing to withdraw, if the Algerian people choose integration. But is this enough without guarantees, and, first and foremost, a guarantee that General de Gaulle’s policy will be accepted and carried out by those who have the power and who openly oppose it, regarding it as a policy of treason, and maintain that nothing can be done without their consent?" Further on, he said: "Suppose that an agreement is reached on these guarantees and that the Algerian people are able to make their wishes known by means of a consultation. That important operation would alter the terms of the problem so much in the eyes of the world that the partial difficulties involved in the movement would be solved within the same framework because they too depend on the new situation." He ended with these words: "All the peoples of the world demand that this chance for peace shall not be neglected or lost for reasons of prestige or protocol, now that the decisive stage has been reached."
128. The United Nations could by appropriate action play a most important part; it could contribute in a constructive way to bringing the views of the two sides together, make the intermediate stage easier and help to ensure that the consultation takes place in conditions which offer all the necessary guarantees. A stirring task awaits us. We have the chance to extinguish, once and for all, a hotbed of war. International peace and security would emerge greatly strengthened. Friendship and reconciliation would take the place of hatred and bitterness.
129. Such are the reflections which, on behalf of my Government, I have been led to formulate on some aspects of the international situation. It is by working together to achieve the Purposes and Principles of the Charter, by securing a fairer distribution of goods and wealth among men, by banishing fear, want, ignorance and disease and by adhering more closely to the high spiritual and moral values which we have inherited from all human civilizations that we shall help to bring about a better society and the worldwide reign of peace and harmony.