Mr. AKLILOU wished to comment briefly on the agenda of the fourth session of the General Assembly.
128. General Romulo, President of the General Assembly, had expressed the hope (220th meeting) that the current session might later be called the “Peace Assembly”, and it was indeed a fact that the Assembly was meeting in an atmosphere of greatly relaxed tension.
129. It should nevertheless be noted that among the problems before the Assembly there were several which had been on its agenda for several sessions already, problems which it had unfortunately been unable so far to solve, which had left a legacy of discontent and which were disturbing international relations. There was no need to enlarge upon the nature of those questions. It was sufficient to glance at the agenda of the First Committee and the Ad Hoc Political Committee to realize the little progress so far achieved. It was therefore most important to put the atmosphere of relaxed tension to good use and to see how the Assembly could catch up with its arrears and complete its work,
130. The Brazilian representative had stressed (222nd meeting) the meagre results achieved by the Security Council after innumerable meetings, the lack of activity of the International Court of Justice and the fact that, in attempting to solve concrete problems — in most cases physical problems — the main questions were lost sight of. He said that that was like taking care of the body and forgetting the soul.
131. The Ethiopian delegation fully endorsed the view so ably expressed by the Brazilian representative. It also appreciated his very true remarks concerning the excessive number of bodies established by the United Nations; they had been allowed to proliferate to the point where they hampered the work of the General Assembly. There appeared to be a tendency on the part of the United Nations to shirk its responsibilities by dividing them among a multitude of other bodies.
132. A similar development had taken place in the days of the League of Nations. Could anyone have forgotten the time, immediately preceding the end of its work and of its very existence, when that organization had set up a great number of organs, committees of inquiry and sub-committees ?
133. Mr. Aklilou recalled in particular the numerous committees which had been set up .to deal with what had been in fact an extremely simple matter, namely, the fascist aggression against Ethiopia. It was indeed on account of that proliferation of meetings and committees that the world had accused the League of Nations of spoliation by procedure.
134. The same tendency was unfortunately becoming apparent at the moment in the General Assembly. The agenda of the fourth session of the Assembly comprised no less than sixty-six items, only eight of which could be considered as political. Yet it was evident from a glance at those eight political questions, namely, the questions of Palestine, Indonesia, Greece, Korea, atomic energy, disarmament, observance of human rights and the former Italian colonies, that not one of them was new. They were all on the agenda because so far the General Assembly has been unable to solve them although it had set up in each case study committees and committees of inquiry. The Assembly would never be able to hope for any solution if it continued to shun its own responsibilities by referring the questions to other organs. Was the conclusion, as the Syrian representative had observed (222nd meeting), that the defects which had brought about the bankruptcy of the League of Nations were reappearing in the United Nations and were liable to bring about its end? The work of the fourth session must prove the contrary.
135. If, as everyone maintained; there was a real relaxation in tension, it was most important for the Assembly not to delay any further in facing its own responsibilities in solving those problems and completing its agenda.
136. Those remarks were particularly true as far as the question of the former Italian colonies was concerned. In that connexion no one could possibly deny that the Assembly had a direct and irrefutable responsibility. Regarding that matter, it was sitting, so to speak, as a court of appeal. The Council of Foreign Ministers of the four great Powers had failed and, in accordance with article 23. of the peace treaty with Italy, it had referred the question to the General Assembly and had bound itself in advance to abide by the latter’s recommendations.
137. It should moreover be noted that, among all the various questions appearing again on the agenda, the matter of the former Italian colonies was certainly the one which had been most studied and which was ripest for solution. It had been studied by the twenty-one countries most concerned at the 1946 Peace Conference in Paris, For several months it had been considered by the Council of Foreign Ministers. That Council had had at its disposal studies carried out by the Four Power Commission of Investigation, which had spent almost a whole year in reaching its conclusions. Furthermore the countries most concerned had been requested on several occasions to state their views before the Four Power Commission. The Assembly had itself fully discussed the matter during the six weeks of the second part of its third session after having listened carefully and for a long time to the statements of the various non-governmental groups. So far, a total of no less than ten commissions had already studied and gone into the matter, which was nevertheless a simple one. If it were remembered that the twenty-one countries represented at the Peace Conference had referred the problem to the four great Powers for a solution and that they in turn had referred it after long study to the General Assembly, it would be clearly understood why, after the matter had been passed from one group to another, it was necessary to settle such an urgent problem without further delay.
138. Fortunately the General Assembly had resolutely rejected the various solutions involving a postponement of adjournment of a solution and, when it had been presented with the minimum and essential claims of Ethiopia, it had found a solution supported by six-sevenths of the members of the First Committee. That partial solution had, however, been defeated for wholly extraneous international political reasons.
139. The Assembly therefore had the duty and the possibility of finally settling the matter. As the United States Secretary of State had so rightly said in his speech (222nd meeting), the fact that by express prior agreement the responsible parties had enabled the United Nations to reach a settlement, gave reason to hope that henceforth the Organization would grow in influence. That was a precedent which might be taken as a basis of settling some political problems by special advance agreement to accept the recommendations of the General Assembly or of the Security Council.
140. By proceeding without further delay to a settlement of the urgent and distressing matter of the former Italian colonies, an atmosphere Would be created which would favour the solution of the other political problems which had been on the Assembly’s agenda for so long and the way would thus be cleared for reconstructing, after so many years of conflict, international friendship and co-operation on a solid basis.