1. It is a great honour and at the same time a formidable duty for me to state the views of the Royal Government of Morocco at this highly important session, in the debate which my predecessors at this rostrum have begun and in which they have particularly and rightly expressed their concern for the destiny of mankind. The problems of peace, prosperity, the equitable distribution of wealth and the fight against poverty, disease and ignorance have been mentioned by a succession of distinguished speakers at this rostrum. Some of us, perhaps even many, have been overcome by feelings of helplessness before the dangers of war and poverty. They think that our common action, whatever echo it may find in the spirits and hearts of men of goodwill and however great a number of nations may join in support of it, has had but little effect on the course of events, which are decided at a level that is becoming increasingly inaccessible to us.
2. Should we then rebel? Should we then be discouraged? Should we give up the struggle? Let it be remembered that barely ten years ago many of us were not yet independent and that the struggle for decolonization begun at the end of the Second World War could not assume its full scope and bear fruit until only a few years ago.
3. Let us remember also that about ten years ago the conception of under-development was being analysed and studied by only a few experts. A long period of study, observation and reflection was necessary before the under-development of the third world began to be defined in its tragic meaning and hideous form and finally to impose itself on the world’s conscience as a stain which it is incumbent upon all of us to try to erase.
4. Certainly, we are only at the formulation stage; the real struggle against under-development has not yet started, but the problem has nevertheless been raised: it has been pointed out to mankind and to the conscience of the great nations. We think that we have come some way towards preparing the phase of the conception and formulation of programmes capable of helping us to reach the goal of wealth and wellbeing. That is a positive step, which enables us to take up an active role, to fight consciously and effectively against the material and moral inadequacies that weigh heavily on nations.
5. There is accordingly a considerable process of reflection and action to go through. One might say that this process makes for the rapid accumulation of a certain number of moral principles, progressively improving both in quality and in quantity, in the consciences of nations and peoples. By believing in these principles and practising them, individually or nationally, we are making progress towards the light, towards tranquillity„ towards a greater awareness of our responsibilities. It is thanks to this great House, the United Nations, that these principles have in large measure been affirmed. We have no other alternative but to continue the struggle in this direction; we have no other alternative but to arm ourselves with patience, determination and fervour in order to impose rules of conduct which have as their paramount object the preservation of the human race and its protection from any catastrophe lurking behind the accumulation of those formidable means of destruction, whether conventional or thermonuclear.
6. The cohesion, solidarity and determination of the overwhelming majority of nations not possessing those means of destruction, if better organized, could to some extent to assuage our fears.
7. Far be it from me to consider those nations which possess unlimited means of destruction as being inspired by bellicose and aggressive intent but it is worth remembering that inherent in the possession of unlimited power are reflexes which can, in certain cases, lead the possessor away from reality. Those infinitely powerful nations need, more than any other nations, great self-control in order to bridle their passions and avoid endangering the fate of the human race by their conduct.
8. It is urgent, concomitantly with raising the level of mankind’s conscience and affirming the great principles of peaceful coexistence, that the United Nations should possess, besides this moral arsenal, practical means for making the application of these moral principles effective. We can hardly make progress unless these means are put at the disposal of the United Nations. The choice between the management of international affairs by the great Powers and the universality of the authority of the United Nations is daily becoming more imperative. We, for our part, are for strengthening the authority of the United Nations. We want to see the United Nations able to play its part as arbiter in the great international conflicts, but as an arbiter possessing the necessary ways and means of carrying out its verdicts.
9. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, to whom I should like to express the high esteem and regard of my Government, has expressed better than anyone mankind's imperative need to see the United Nations take a leading role in safeguarding world peace. We understand the soul-searching that has faced U Thant. We have also made our appreciation of the great difficulties that would certainly arise if our distinguished Secretary-General were indeed to leave us. We venture to hope that new developments will allow the Secretary-General to have at his disposal the necessary means to influence the course of events and direct them towards peace and also to find a justification for a new decision on his part, one which would put him in a position to remain, with his same high authority, his great integrity and sharp sense of fairness and justice, at the head of our Organization's Secretariat.
10. At present the drama which is arousing the gravest concern to mankind is that of the military operations taking place at this time in South-East Asia. We should not like to believe that the fighting there, in itself a veritable tragedy, contains the seeds of a general conflagration. More than ever we feel that the destiny of the world is one and the international tension, in whichever geographical area it occurs, concerns the entire planet.
11. My Government, anxious to see the Organization represent all nations, has for several years consistently voted in favour of admitting the People's Republic of China to the United Nations. If this position is based on a concern for equity, it is intended also to be realistic. For if the representatives of the People's Republic of China were seated among us, they would be better able to hear our concerted voices calling for peace and a solution of the war in Viet-Nam.
12. Peace in Viet-Nam, although it depends to a certain extent on the will of Hanoi, of the National Liberation Front and of Saigon, depends also on that of the People's Republic of China, the greatest nation in Asia, which has a special interest in everything that happens in that part of the world. We have noted with some relief that the great majority of speakers, particularly those who have much influence on events in Indochina, remain faithful to the 1954 Geneva Agreements. Those agreements, because of the principles laid down in them, remain a valuable framework for assuring the foundations of peace in Viet-Nam. But first, in order that the Geneva Agreements can be of positive value, the fighting must stop. We ardently hope that the parties involved will as quickly as possible find the hoped-for compromise, so that the bombing, the foreign intervention and the infiltration of troops may come to an end.
13. We believe that a meeting-ground does exist and that the time is already ripe for the desired compromise, particularly as all parties to the conflict admit that a solution by force of arms is neither possible nor desirable. Peace will be greatly facilitated if, on the one hand, the fundamental principles contained in the Geneva Agreements — self-determination and non-interference in the internal affairs of States — and, on the other hand, the maintenance of the provisions concerning the fixing of the demarcation line on the 17th Parallel, are scrupulously observed by all the parties concerned.
14. During this session several peace plans have been put forward. They all have much in common. Their motives are noble, for their object is a return to peace. We should like to believe that all the voices which have been heard in this Hall will at last find a favourable response from those directly or indirectly involved in this conflict.
15. The problem of under-development, which has for many years rightly held the attention both of experts and of Governments, has been authoritatively considered here by the representatives at this Assembly. It is indeed comforting to note that, if the international community wants to set in motion the economic development of the third world, the problems involved are better than they were in the past. The industrialized countries, like the developing countries, are in agreement on the causes and extent of the economic lag and on the disastrous political and social consequences of prolonged under-development. They have agreed also on the means and procedure for the first phase — stopping this economic decline — and for the second phase — concrete action to start the difficult climb towards development. But what is the present situation?
16. The vast majority of the world's people continues to enjoy only a meagre annual income, in the region of $100 per head.
17. The developing countries produce only a limited number of primary commodities; the world market prices of those commodities are undergoing a steady decline.
18. A third fact, as little encouraging as the first two, is that the rate of population growth in the third world remains tragically high.
19. Similarly, the debt of the developing countries to the developed countries is constantly growing, entailing increasingly heavy obligations which dangerously jeopardize our countries' balance of payments.
20. Lastly, the food balance in the developing countries, particularly in the case of cereals, is increasingly precarious. In certain geographical regions the spectre of famine already threatens, nullifying all the efforts and energy expended in establishing a coherent development programme.
21. It is because the human conscience is now largely informed and seriously alerted to these structural inadequacies that it was decided to launch a United Nations Development Decade, starting in 1961.
22. With a view to undertaking very large-scale action, the United Nations decided to mobilize all its machinery and institutions. It asked the specialized agencies to make an intensive effort in support of the Development Decade. It decided also, in order to meet its continually increasing responsibilities in the field of development, to create the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [resolution 1995 (XIX)].
23. Five years have passed since the hopeful beginning of the United Nations Development Decade. At the end of those five years the results recorded in the admirable report of the Secretary-General cannot inspire optimism. The targets set for this Decade included the following two. First, a minimum annual growth rate of 5 per cent was to be imposed on the economies of the developing countries. Unfortunately, it has been found that the growth rate, which reached a maximum of about 4 per cent, has for a year been declining. Secondly, in order to sustain that growth rate of 5 per cent, it was considered necessary that, in addition to the efforts of the developing countries themselves, the economies of the developing countries have to receive a sizable support in the form of credits from the developed countries. This aid was to run at the rate of 1 per cent of the national income of the industrialized countries. We note that in 1964 the rate was hardly more than 0.66 per cent, although there was admittedly a slight improvement in 1965, when a rate of 0.69 per cent was reached. As can be seen, the target is still a long way off.
24. Such are the disappointing results which, translated into facts, mean that a large and daily increasing part of mankind continues to suffer the terrible anxiety born of the precariousness of its material and moral lot. Yet this great part of mankind has made a considerable effort for itself, to understand its situation better, to appreciate its potentialities better and to determine its shortcomings and weaknesses in order to make better use of its resources and remedy its imperfections.
25. It has prepared better structures for the reception and utilization of the aid necessary to its development. In Africa and elsewhere regional economic organizations have taken shape. Many countries, by dint of great efforts, have put their financial situation on a healthy basis and devised new approaches to development, adapted to their material and technical capacities. Such is the case of my country.
26. But the hope for appropriate external aid, both in capital and in technical assistance, has been only partially satisfied. It is depressing for us to recall that many rich nations have been won over by the selfish ideology known as Cartierism.
27. What remedy should we advocate to correct this grave shortcoming on the part of the rich countries? What moral or material pressure should we exert in order to secure a better distribution of the world's wealth?
28. My Government sees no way out except in a still stronger affirmation of the authority and power of the United Nations. We shall never tire of repeating that a real budgetary contribution, related to the capabilities and means of the rich countries, must be made to the United Nations, which will manage these funds with a view to bringing more active, decisive and substantial aid to the poorer countries.
29. It is Utopian or unrealistic to think that one day reason, solidarity and fraternity among men will take some of the barrenness and selfishness out of international relations and impart to them a sincere enthusiasm for better co-operation in the service of mankind?
30. Within the framework of the work of decolonization in Africa I should like to mention some problems of close concern to my country, which, ten years after its accession to independence, still has a vast amount of territory in contention with Spain. Part of that contested territory is under consideration by this Organization. The question of Ifni, of Seguia El Hamra and of Rio de Oro has in fact been examined by the Fourth Committee and by the Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Various resolutions, particularly that of 16 October 1964 adopted by the Special Committee and the resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 16 December 1965 [resolution 2072 (XX)] called upon the administering Power to free those Territories from colonial domination and to enter into negotiations on the problems of sovereignty they presented. We should like to take this opportunity of paying a tribute to the action taken by the various United Nations organs that have been dealing with the painful tragedy of these Territories still under colonial domination.
31. While affirming the common destiny of those regions and my own country, a destiny forged during long centuries of common national life interrupted by the Spanish occupation, while recalling also that those Territories have race, language and religion in common with Morocco, not to speak of geographical unity, the Moroccan Government has constantly acted in co-operation with the United Nations in respecting the principles of the Charter in order to ensure, above all, the decolonization of those Territories and their restoration to their inhabitants. If the Spanish Government has just agreed to act within the framework of the United Nations in promising to prepare those Territories for the exercise of free self- determination, it is our duty to inform the Assembly of the action taken by the Madrid Government, both in regard to the policy of settlement and installation of military bases and in regard to the constitutional and administrative integration of those Territories with Spain, an action which in practice is aimed at maintaining those African Territories under the de facto domination of Spain — and for traditional colonialist reasons, namely, the maintenance of military bases and the exploitation of the mineral wealth recently discovered in those areas.
32. Vitally interested as we are in the status of these Territories, for the reasons already explained, we are warning the Assembly, in order that the policy of deliberately organized mass settlement of a Spanish population in these areas may be rapidly brought to an end. Similarly, it is urgent that Spain should cease developing its military installations there.
33. If Spain really wishes to implement the policy set forth in its letter of 8 September 1966 addressed to the Chairman of the Special Committee on Decolonization, it should act in such a way that the apprehension felt by Africa at the implementation of Spanish people and sizable military forces — rendering illusory the application of the principle of self-determination — may be dispelled.
34. My Government, which advocates immediate independence, does not reject the application of this principle; but it is anxious that all the necessary guarantees be provided in order to ensure the sincere expression of the principle, in conformity with the real aspirations of the peoples in these Territories.
35. It is therefore time to prepare for the operation of self-determination, if the Assembly so decides, with the necessary care, precautions, prudence and vigilance to ensure authenticity and sincerity. My Government proposes that, before there is any consultation with a view to the application of self-determination, the following measures be taken; first, the withdrawal of all Spanish military forces from these Territories; secondly, the maintenance on these Territories of such police forces as the United Nations deems necessary to ensure public order; thirdly, the withdrawal of the Spanish administration from these Territories; fourthly, the free repatriation of refugees from these Territories.
36. Once these preliminary conditions have been fulfilled, the referendum can be organized either directly under the authority of the United Nations, or under the joint supervision of the Moroccan and Spanish authorities acting in collaboration. Spain and Morocco would be able to co-operate in a work of peace and friendship. As our Ambassador, the Permanent Representative to the United Nations, stated at Addis Ababa on 7 June 1966 before the Special Committee on Decolonization, my Government would have preferred, instead of this procedure of self-determination, that the independence of these Territories be proclaimed directly. Accession to independence, the final result expected from self-determination, would have spared the Organization a number of operations, complicated in themselves, which will delay achievement of the objective assigned to decolonization by the Charter of the United Nations.
37. We should make it clear that, in our view, it should be a question of genuine independence, which will put the future of these Territories into the hands of their own nationals who, in their wisdom and restored to full freedom, will be able to decide their destiny.
38. My country, which during the closing years of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth, was the object of imperialist covetousness and finally succumbed in 1912 to French and Spanish domination, waged a fierce struggle to recover its liberty. Although it acceded to independence in 1956, many portions of its territory remained, unhappily, outside the exercise of its national sovereignty.
39. We firmly believe that, within the framework of the principles underlying the Charter of the United Nations and by employing peaceful methods of negotiation and persuasion, with the help of the international conscience and strong in our inalienable rights, we shall recover our territorial integrity and so wipe out the injustice of which we are at present the victims.
40. It has become customary to come here every year and repeat the litany of Palestine before you. Through the concerted action of colonialism and Zionism, an entire people has at a stroke been deprived of its fatherland, its possessions and its dignity. This is an injustice unparalleled in the recent history of mankind. We shall not cease to support and uphold the just cause of the Arab people of Palestine. This support is not only the expression of Arab solidarity and brotherhood; it draws its true and deep justification equally from the refusal to submit to injustice or to accept aggression and spoliation. More than a million Palestinian Arabs are today deprived of their homes and of territorial support. Their lot is tragic; their moral and material sufferings are infinite. While we should, all of us, be relieving that suffering, while we should be assuaging the pain of that exile, which we hope will be very short, we see a trend towards reducing the assistance given by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. What are we to think of this trend?
41. Think of it what we may, this trend is unacceptable; it seems to express the will of certain countries to bury the problem of Palestine and the claims of the Palestinian Arabs, as well as those of the Arab nations. Moreover, such an attitude is likely further to accentuate tension in the Middle East and to increase — as if that were needed! —the disturbing factors threatening peace in that sensitive area of the world.
42. Certain parts of the African continent, particularly Angola, Mozambique, so-called Portuguese Guinea, Rhodesia and South West Africa are still under colonial domination, still subject to racial discrimination in its most hideous form — apartheid. The maintenance of this expression of a certain form, which we had thought outmoded, of relations among nations — that of domination, the rule of force and violence — still persists as a challenge to our conscience and our reason. The last verdict of the International Court of Justice on South West Africa filled us with bitterness. Our disappointment is equaled only by our refusal to admit the justification of that verdict.
43. We are certain that the Assembly, conscious of its responsibilities towards the peoples under foreign domination, will undertake the process of decolonization for South West Africa by solemnly reaffirming the international status of South West Africa and by working to take away from South Africa a mission of which it has proved itself altogether unworthy. That would be the starting point for a process which would prepare this Territory for national sovereignty under the direction and responsibility of the United Nations.
44. In another part of our continent, Rhodesia, Ian Smith continues in outlawry, imposing his dictatorship, outside all legality, on 4 million Africans. The United Kingdom, having assumed the administration of that Territory before the international community, should not permit a minority of Whites, drunk with racism and hate, to turn authority and the direction of affairs to its own profit. There has been talk of economic sanctions in Rhodesia; there is still such talk. It is mere justification to salve the conscience and the Assembly cannot accept it. We are waiting for the United Kingdom to assume all its responsibilities before the international community. Whatever happens, Africa will not tolerate all these humiliations. It will find within itself the necessary energy to root out the last vestiges of colonialism from its soil.
45. In conclusion, Mr. President, I should like to convey to you the very sincere congratulations of my Government on the high distinction conferred upon you. This high distinction is a fitting crown for your great humanitarian and patriotic qualities. For many years you have put those qualities at the service of the United Nations. We know that you will continue, in your present high post, to serve the international community with courage and success.
46. Permit me also to pay a tribute to the great qualities of your predecessor, Mr. Amintore Fanfani, who acquitted himself of his task with nobility and intelligence. We take this opportunity of repeating to him the expression of our esteem and high consideration.
47. This year our Organization is the richer by the admission of a new Member, Guyana. On behalf of my Government I welcome Guyana and I am sure that it will make its full contribution to the common task.
48. We rejoice also at the accession of Botswana and Lesotho to independence and we wish them good luck now that they are recovering freedom and independence, particularly as they have very dangerous neighbours. We hope that the United Nations, because of those neighbours, will, if the need arise, give these young nations assistance and protection.