I am anxious to assure the Assembly that in contributing these comments here, or in adopting certain stands during our discussions in the Committees, the delegation of the Republic of the Sudan is animated by a keen desire to promote peace and international co-operation. Our reaction and our positions derive solely from loyalty to convictions and principles of objectivity and non-alignment which have always been our guiding star and our source of inspiration. We believe that the practical manifestation of this policy is the eradication of all the causes of the cold war which endanger the fate of humanity at large.
2. The people and the Government of the Sudan cherished high hopes that the Summit Conference which was to have been held in Paris In May 1960 would be a sign of "rapprochement” and understanding leading towards easing the tension and removing the warlike eruptions which contaminate the atmosphere of peace. Unfortunately these hopes were short-lived, but we still look forward to the future with optimism and faith. In no period of history has the world been so in need of understanding as it is now. The whole existence of mankind and civilization is at stake. A spark may lead to a conflagration devastating all.
3. The present session will ever remain a landmark in the history of the United Nations. The admission of the newly independent States, which was the outcome of the wave of liberation in Africa and the close of a chapter of imperialism and domination, is indeed a historic occasion, and a great move towards the universality of this Organization. It has never happened before that fifteen States have in one year gained their independence and become Members of the United Nations. Therefore, to us, members of the independent African States, this is a memorable gathering. We welcome most heartily our new brothers from Africa and Cyprus and wish them every success. Africa is no longer a dark continent. This light which has illuminated the greater part of the continent will have no artificial boundaries and no force can resist its diffusion. The newly independent States, I am sure, will be a dynamic force in this international organ, enhancing its position and prestige, maintaining the spirit of the Charter and furthering the cause of justice, peace and security.
4. The delegation of the Republic of the Sudan would like to stress the role the United Nations is playing and can play in this field. We voice our firm trust in the capacity of the United Nations to lead the world out of its political, economic and social difficulties and to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, to establish conditions under which justice and human dignity are maintained and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, peace and prosperity. Such noble purposes and principles are clearly stated in Articles 1 and 2 of the United Nations Charter.
5. Despite almost fifteen years of continued negotiations on the question of disarmament, it still remains the most difficult and most threatening problem facing the world today. The issue has been further complicated, one year after another, by the production and stockpiling of larger quantities of the materials needed for a nuclear war, the development of modern weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery through outer space, threatening the total annihilation of mankind and civilization.
6. Reviewing the development towards achieving international peace and putting an end to the armaments race, we noted last year with satisfaction the General Assembly unanimously expressing the hope that measures leading towards the goal of general disarmament be worked out in detail and agreed upon in the shortest possible time [resolution 1378 (XIV)]. Earlier this year our hopes were pinned on the discussions of the Ten-Nation Committee on Disarmament in Geneva, which was stopped without yielding the expected results.
7. We do not intend to go into the causes that led tc the failure of the Summit Conference and to the discontinuation of the discussions in Geneva. We do not intend either to analyse the details of the differences between the major Powers regarding disarmament. Whether at present or on previous occasions the major Powers have repeatedly declared a firm desire for peace and disarmament and that none of them would be first in bringing about a world catastrophe.
8. The dangers of the armaments race are too obvious to be stressed or reviewed by the delegation of the Republic of Sudan. The consequences of an armed conflict would be fatal to all of us without exception. The world would be better off if the huge sums spent on armaments could be made available for technical assistance and economic advancement of the less developed countries of the world. With this continual threat of the armaments race, no nation can disregard the dangers to its existence and attend to the pursuit of the happiness and welfare of its people.
9. Therefore, we sincerely hope, in view of the urgency of the problem, that continued efforts will be made for the earliest possible resumption of negotiations to achieve a constructive solution of the question of general and complete disarmament, together with an effective international control.
10. We genuinely believe that all of us here share the same love of peace and security, and that we all wish to save the coming generations from the panics and disasters of a devastating war. But the cause of peace cannot be served effectively through the United Nations when one-fourth of the world's population is unrepresented. We are convinced, therefore, that representation of the People's Republic of China not only would be a recognition of the legitimate rights of the Chinese people and Government but would surely enhance the effectiveness of the Organization. Today the United Nations can rightly pride itself on securing the effective participation of most countries of the world. A good number of these have already recognized and established’ relations with the People's Republic of China. We sincerely hope that the General Assembly will find it possible to reconsider this question.
11. As an African country, the Sudan has been greatly concerned with the grave events that are taking place in that continent, as well as with the problems which its peoples are facing. These events, disturbing as they may have been, have helped to bring together the independent African States in an effort to realize their common aspirations and objectives and to lend a helping hand to those unfortunate members of the community who are still striving to shake off the remnants of foreign domination and assert their full independence. However, African society is being subjected to unjust and outmoded philosophies which can no longer stand up to the new consciousness and political awakening of the African people,
12. One of the tragedies of human dignity and self-respect is the "apartheid" policy of the Union of South Africa, a policy which has received the condemnation of world public opinion. "Apartheid" is abominable. It must be defeated, not on South Africa's account only but on account of us all. My Government has already taken a clear stand on this matter, and, acting on the resolutions passed by the Conferences of Independent African States, we have boycotted South Africa — its goods and its economy — and made a small donation to the victims of this action. Nevertheless, we are still prepared to take further measures to defeat the immoral policies of "apartheid".
13. But the Union of South Africa's contempt for Africans goes beyond its own boundaries. South West Africa is a ward of the international community. That did not save it from the unnatural, unwarranted policies of the Union of South Africa. We shall be failing in our responsibilities if we do not make it known to the world that a country which has caused so much misery to its own nationals is hardly fit to help others. The Union of South Africa must cease to administer South West Africa, and the United Nations must take over for a specific period and prepare the country for independence in a manner worthy of its high ideals and achievements.
14. Another part of Africa, the Republic of the Congo (Leopoldville), is being torn by turmoil and unrest. Our desire is, and has always been, to safeguard the national independence and the territorial integrity of that country and to bring about the disappearance of any form of external interference whatsoever in its domestic affairs. Upon this issue my Government will never compromise. The structure of the government and the personnel of that government are questions for the Congolese themselves to decide, according to their own free will.
15. We support the work started, maintained and still being done by the United Nations under the supervision of the Secretary-General, in whom we have full confidence. This confidence in the United Nations and the commendation of its actions were given clear expression in the third resolution of the meeting of African Foreign Ministers in Leopoldville under the presidency of Mr. Lumumba. The United Nations should undertake this international obligation until the voice of the Congo, as a free and independent Member State of this Organization, is heard from this rostrum. We object to any intervention, whether military, political, or in any guise or shape, outside the framework of the United Nations. The Congolese issue should be absolutely insulated from any unilateral action and, in particular, from the effects of the cold war.
16. With the President's permission, I now turn to the question of Algeria, the familiar tragedy which the United Nations has had before it for six years now, and for which the United Nations has so far failed to find a satisfactory solution in conformity with the Charter.
17. When I spoke from this rostrum on 1 October 1959 [817th meeting] I did not dwell at any length on this greatest catastrophe of the day, because I had then perceived a ray of hope radiating from General de Gaulle's declaration of 16 September 1959 in which he solemnly recognized the right of the Algerian people to self-determination. I contented myself then with a candid appeal to the conscience of France and to the descendants of the French revolution to solve the Algerian problem in conformity with the United Nations Charter and on the basis of the principles of "liberty, equality, fraternity" — fundamental principles, we believe, in the life of every French man and woman.
18. A year has now passed since I spoke to you. It was a cruel year for Algeria, and a most distressing year for the human conscience everywhere. The war in Algeria is raging more furiously than before. Loss of life — whether it be French or Algerian — is mounting with every day that passes. More than one-fourth of the population of Algeria is held in prisons and internment camps where it is subjected to the most cruel and humiliating treatment. This last aspect of this inhuman war was shockingly revealed in a report of the International Committee of the Red Cross published in December 1959, and was the subject of a strong protest addressed to the Secretary-General by twenty African and Asian Members of the United Nations on 10 February 1960.
19. This was the tragic result of the French Government’s not abiding by President de Gaulle’s recognition of the right of the Algerian people to self-determination. The behaviour of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic since President de Gaulle’s declaration of 16 September 1959 has consistently been characterized by a sense of responsibility, political maturity, statesmanship and peaceful intentions.
20. In its declaration of 28 September 1959, in response to General de Gaulle’s declaration, it agreed with the French position that the right of self-determination should be the basis for a solution of the Algerian problem. It also agreed with the French Government that recourse to universal suffrage as a means of determining the political future of Algeria cannot be had without the return of peace. They asked only for an opportunity to discuss with France the political and military conditions for the cease-fire and the conditions and guarantees for the application of the principle of self-determination. This was a natural demand. But, from what has transpired during the year since President de Gaulle's declaration, France seems to insist that any discussions regarding the cease-fire or regarding the conditions and modalities of any meeting between France and representatives of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic should be unilaterally decided by France, We have ample proof of this from what took place at Melun between 25 and 29 June 1960. The conditions and modalities of a meeting between French and Algerian delegations were described by a former French Prime Minister, Mr. Mendès- France, as "conditions so humiliating that they were equivalent to a demand for capitulation".
21. But the valiant Algerian people, who have fought so long and so courageously for an honourable cause, will not capitulate to the weight of French armour, because they have right on their side and right will ultimately win. France is not likely to win a military victory in Algeria, and if it does, it will not be a victory of the brave.
22. The Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic has always given proof of its peaceful intentions and of its belief in a negotiated settlement of this tragic conflict that has lasted only too long. In spite of the disappointment handed out to them at Melun, their Foreign Minister, Mr. Belkacem Krim, affirmed on 10 August 1960, "We are ready to re-open negotiations with the French Government at any time". Thus the choice lies with the French Government — either to continue a policy of war and colonial domination or to accept the principle of real negotiation.
23. We believe that the United Nations has a responsibility which it cannot lightly abdicate. The French argument that the Algerian issue is an internal matter and outside the competence of the United Nations is a cruel delusion. This argument cannot be accepted while a brutal war goes on with all its ugly consequences and while thousands of people lose their lives every week. The claim of the French Government that Algeria is part and parcel of Metropolitan France is a farce by any standard of logical reasoning. Algeria is a separate entity historically, ethnologically and geographically. If the French argument had been applied to former dependent territories none of them would have been here with us in this Assembly. This is a consideration basic to a happy solution of the Algerian question, and we strongly urge the French Government to revise its thinking in this regard,
24. As further evidence of good will and as further proof of its love of peace, the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic is asking the United Nations that consultations of the Algerian people take place by means of a referendum organized and controlled by the United Nations, and it is our earnest hope that the United Nations will not fail it again.
25. While speaking on Algeria, I have emphasised the responsibility of the United Nations for finding a just solution to the problem. The United Nations has also an equally great responsibility towards another problem, that of Palestine and the Palestine Arab refugees. The United Nations particular responsibility in this case stems from the fact that the problem was of its own creation, resulting from the fateful resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947 which decreed the partition of Palestine against the will of its people. When we consider that at the time of the adoption of that resolution the Arabs accounted for two-thirds of the entire population of Palestine, we realize that that decision was not only unconscionable but also illegal, since it contravened the principle of self-determination of peoples, a principle consecrated in the Charter.
26. The Palestine refugee problem is not a normal refugee problem of the type with which our century is familiar. It is the problem of an entire nation uprooted from its ancestral land and consigned to torturous and undignified exile. It is a tragedy without parallel in modern times. Well over a million Arab refugees — a highly prolific population — have for over twelve years now been living in the frustration and agony of camp life, with no security in life except the United Nations ration card and nothing to sustain them but a hope of return to their homes, their fields and their orange groves across the border, which they see but cannot reach. As the Director of UNRWA said in his report to the fourteenth session of the General Assembly: "Of all the refugees the young people reaching maturity are, without doubt, facing the most distressing plight ... each year some 30,000 young people reach maturity with little hope of earning a living or establishing homes in a normal way." [A/4213, para. 10.] Will the United Nations allow this tragedy to continue and gain greater dimensions as time marches on?
27. An approach to the solution of this problem based on a recognition of the so-called political, realities of the situation is a disguised support of aggression and therefore is totally unacceptable to my Government. The situation in which the Palestine Arabs find themselves today is the result of gross injustice and a flagrant breach of the dictates of the Charter. Until 14 May 1948, Palestine as a whole was under a League of Nations Mandate. According to the principles of the Charter and the Mandate under which Palestine was administered, it was the duty of the United Nations to see to it that the people of Palestine exercised in freedom their right to shape their own political destiny before the termination of the Mandate. What happened in the case of the Palestine Arabs was that their fate was decided for them by others acting from motives repugnant to the letter and spirit of the Charter.
28. Any solution, therefore, which ignores the original facts of the problem is void and cannot be accepted by my Government. Any search for a just solution should start at the point where the wrong was committed, that is to say, immediately before the termination of the Mandate on 14 May 1948.
29. The refugee problem, since its inception, has always had a profound effect on the maintenance of peace and security in the turbulent Middle East. All the incidents and turmoil that have been plaguing that area in the last thirteen years can directly or indirectly be traced back to the persistence of this problem. In this connexion I may pertinently quote the Director of UNRWA who, in his report to the fourteenth session of the General Assembly, had this to say: "It is no exaggeration to state that every aspect of life and human endeavour in the Near East is conditioned and complicated by the Palestine refugee problem. Its psychological, political and social repercussions are of no less significance than its economic and humanitarian aspects. Any solution of the Palestine refugee problem must take these aspects into account." [Ibid., para. 11.] Therefore, we believe that there will be no real peace in the Middle East unless a just and satisfactory solution of the Arab refugee problem is found.
30. In bringing to the notice of the General Assembly issues that are continuing to cause tension in our world, our delegation cannot fail to mention the tense situation obtaining in some part of the Arab world, with specific reference to Oman. We are keenly desirous that efforts should be made to achieve the aspirations of the people of those areas and that their right to self-determination should be respected. We believe that the cause of peace and the maintenance of friendly relations will be served if approaches consistent with the spirit and letter of the Charter are brought to the settlement of the issues involved.
31. One of the direct causes of the present international tension and disharmony, in our view, is the division of the world into very rich and very poor, into very highly industrialized countries and producers of primary products with very primitive economies and into those nations with skills and technical abilities and potentialities and those with no skills and little knowledge or know-how. It is very distressing to see that this gap is growing in magnitude and dimension, and that despite the years of prosperity in Europe and America there has been no significant movement of capital to the poor countries, nor has there been any substantial increase in the level of assistance to the under-developed countries. It is our earnest belief and hope that serious efforts will be made to strengthen and broaden the basis Qf the participation of the less developed countries in international trade. This could be done by effective co-operation and consultation among nations, and by the method of multilateral trade and payments.
32. The Sudan is a great believer in free trade. Our commercial set-up has been built on a strong tradition of liberal trade policies. We adhere to a multilateral pattern of trade and payments regardless of political divisions, and with no preferential treatment or discrimination against countries or commodities, in the belief that it is the best way for the expansion of world trade and prosperity. With this background in mind, we are bound to view with great concern any development of regional economic groupings that are designed to use trade as a political weapon or that are restrictive and discriminatory. We should like to voice our sincere hope that such groupings as the European Common Market and the European Free Trade Association will not only concern themselves with the expansion of trade and payments within their groups, but that they will also implement all policies that strengthen and broaden international trade and economic co-operation. It is our belief that world economic co-operation can contribute a great deal toward the achievement of international peace and stability.
33. The latest report of the Economic and Social Council [A/4415] makes it clear that the responsibility for policies of economic growth are not exclusively a national concern but indeed a collective one. In this world of interdependence, no country can afford to stay in isolation. It is hoped that the recognition of this fact will provide us all with an increased awareness that there is an international responsibility for raising standards of living in the under-developed areas.
34. We should not let the opportunity of this historic fifteenth session of the General Assembly pass without noting with emphasis and with a sense of real urgency the crucial importance of the fact that the eyes of the world are now focused on the African continent. We must all appreciate the magnitude of the political, economic and social problems which we and our newly independent sister African States have to face and solve before we can play our full part in the community of nations in the establishment of lasting peace and prosperity. It is a fact of history that no under-developed country can hope to solve its problems unaided. My delegation submits that the sooner we are helped by the community of nations to help ourselves, the better it will be for mankind.
35. We believe that the United Nations has a vital role to play in Africa, and we regret the fact that it entered the African field much later than it entered other regions. It is therefore only just and reasonable that Africa’s share in the new and uncommitted funds of the United Nations should be such as to redress the balance in the allocation of funds. The Africans are facing all sorts of complex problems while suffering a serious shortage of. trained administrators, technicians and professionals. Africa very badly needs the right weapons with which to fight its militant enemies of poverty, ignorance and disease. The peoples of Africa are struggling for a better life in larger freedom and are anxiously hoping to receive international co-operation and understanding in this struggle. So they look forward to receiving assistance in all fields, assistance which does not spring from a sense of charity or one that is motivated by the self-interest of the donor, but assistance that man extends to man in a true spirit of brotherhood and partnership. This should be done in good time, before the African States, faced with their urgent problems, take decisions of policy which are expedient in the short run but detrimental to their balanced economic growth and development.
36. It gives me great pleasure to see that the central theme of the discussion in thirtieth session of the Economic and Social Council held at ministerial level was General Assembly resolutions 1414 (XIV) and 1415 (XIV) recognizing the necessity of United Nations assistance to newly independent and emerging countries, with special emphasis on those in Africa. There was no dissident voice regarding the necessity and urgency of dealing with this problem, and means of realizing these aims that must be provided immediately. The recent events in the Congo and the speedy action taken by the United Nations have lent great strength to the arguments for such assistance.
37. The Sudan delegation to the thirtieth session of the Economic and Social Council had the honour to present, on behalf of twelve countries, a resolution which was carried without any opposition, that the OPEX programme be placed on a permanent basis and be given a larger budget to expand its useful and constructive activities.
38. In concluding my statement, let me entertain the hope that the deliberations of this historic session of the General Assembly will not go down in the record as mere expectations and wishful thinking of expressions of good intention. That is not what we have gathered here for. Let us translate the words into deeds, the intentions into meaningful actions and the premises into facts of history.