5. My delegation is happy and proud to extend to you, Mr. President, its heartfelt congratulations on your splendid election to the presidency of the seventeenth session of the General Assembly. We are certain that under the guidance of a man of your culture, competence and vast experience of international affairs our work will proceed in an atmosphere of complete calm and with the maximum degree of efficiency.
6. Having ourselves been only recently admitted to membership of the United Nations, we are always very glad to see new independent States come to take their rightful place here. My delegation is therefore pleased to welcome Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Burundi and Rwanda. Like Togo, the two last-named States are former United Nations Trust Territories. The peoples of these States should be the first to be congratulated on their attainment of independence but we must also pay a tribute to the United Nations, which, together with the Administering Authority and through the operation of the Trusteeship System, has performed the difficult task of guiding them to independence. It gives us great pleasure to see that, as in the case of Togo, the hard work of the Trusteeship Council and the Fourth Committee has been crowned with success.
7. When I spoke from this rostrum exactly a year ago [1026th meeting], I referred to the problems on which the attention of the Republic of Togo was mainly focused because they were crucial for the peace and stability of our world, and I described my delegation’s attitude to each one of them. The maintenance of world peace, disarmament, decolonization and the economic and social progress of the under-developed countries: these are the matters with which we have been primarily concerned.
8. Since, these same problems are still the greatest source of concern to the General Assembly at this session, my first impulse is to sum up all I have to say in a few words: namely, that my delegation's attitude to these problems has not changed. In the circumstances, however, repetition is undoubtedly both useful and beneficial.
9. As we have, already said, and shall say again, there Can be no real peace unless it is based on law and justice. Is the situation in South Africa, Angola, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and other places an example of law and justice or a manifestation of bur genuine yearning for peace? is it in the interests of peace that territories are annexed against the will of their inhabitants and that certain States Members of the United Nations entertain expansionist designs and promote, organize and support subversive activities in neighboring sovereign States? Is it in the name or for the sake of peace that apartheid is still being practised in South Africa and that unspeakable acts of repression are being committed in Angola? The United Nations has indeed good reason to be concerned at the state of conflict and tension in the world.
10. Today more than ever disarmament is a matter of imperative and urgent necessity. All the speakers who have come to this rostrum, even the leaders of the two blocs, are agreed on this. Disarmament is necessary in order to relax international tension and reduce the danger of a hot war. It is necessary in order that the fabulous sums now being devoted to armaments can be used for the greater good of mankind. It is only on the means of achieving disarmament that there is any disagreement, and that is due simply to mutual mistrust. In this respect, my delegation feels that the Joint Memorandum of the neutralist countries at the Geneva Conference deserves further serious consideration by the two sides and thorough study by the General Assembly. We feel that this memorandum may serve as a basis for agreement and negotiation.
11. This brings us to the question of the halting of nuclear tests, which in certain quarters is being linked with the conclusion of an agreement on general and complete disarmament. My delegation still does not share this point of view. We say once again that, in the interests of mankind, nuclear and thermo-nuclear tests must cease. They must cease because of the harmful effects of radioactive fall-out on living beings on our planet. To this end the General Assembly must reaffirm the position it took last year and request that the moratorium should be reimposed pending the conclusion of a treaty by the nuclear Powers at the earliest possible moment.
12. The United Nations can feel heartened by the settlement of the Laotian problem through the formation of a Government of national unity and thanks to the international agreement guaranteeing the independence and neutrality of Laos. No doubt it can also feel satisfaction about the agreement between Indonesia and the Netherlands concerning West New Guinea [see document A/5170, annex], if only because the peaceful people of this area, the protection of whose interests has now become our sacred and collective trust, have been spared suffering and desolation. It must not, however, lose sight of the fact that there are still areas of dangerous tension in the world, such as Berlin with its wall, a permanent source of conflict, where the situation is most disquieting.
13. My delegation's position with regard to the German problem has not changed. We maintain that only the self-determination of the German people and really free elections to produce genuine spokesmen can bring peace and order back to this part of the world, and we hope that the allied Powers, which joined together for the very purpose of fighting for law and freedom, will not deny these rights to the German people.
14. Decolonization is, beyond question, another of the main factors of international peace and security. The Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples [see resolution 1514 (XV)] makes it incumbent upon all. the colonial Powers to grant independence to their colonies. My delegation takes this opportunity to express once again its satisfaction over the attainment of independence by the four new States admitted to membership of the United Nations at the beginning of this session, as also by Uganda and Algeria, which are about to join us, For the sake of the heroic Algerian people and of France, we particularly welcome the happy outcome of the armed conflict which had divided them for over seven years,
15. Unfortunately many instances of colonialism have yet to be liquidated. My delegation deplores the negative attitude of the colonial Powers which are still desperately trying to resist the current of decolonization, which is, however, irresistible. It is unthinkable that in this twentieth century African lands should still be consciously regarded as an extension of European metropolitan territories and that entire peoples should thus find themselves enslaved in their own countries. My delegation is therefore ready to support any draft resolution on decolonization which would recommend practical and realistic means appropriate for each case. The loyal and sincere co-operation of all Member States is, however, necessary to ensure that our joint decisions may lead to positive and tangible results.
16. Our attitude towards the inhuman acts of all kinds being committed in Africa and elsewhere is one of complete and unequivocal disapproval. Our position with regard to the situation in South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, so-called Portuguese Guinea and the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is, as we have just said, perfectly dear. It is to be hoped that Portugal will understand the situation and, in its own interest, realize that the sword is powerless against the spirit, and that the white minorities in the Rhodesias and Nyasaland will realize that they cannot dominate these countries any longer. My delegation counts on the effective co-operation of the United Kingdom with the United Nations so that the objectives set in our unanimously adopted resolution 1514 (XV) may be attained rapidly in these territories, in orderly and peaceful conditions.
17. With reference to South West Africa, my country had the honour to be appointed a member of the United Nations Special Committee for South West Africa. I must therefore dwell on this point at some length. In resolution 1702 (XVI) of 19 December 1961, the General Assembly "solemnly proclaims the inalienable right of the people of Southwest Africa to independence and national sovereignty" and, to that end, "decides to establish a United Nations Special Committee for South West Africa...". Under paragraph 2 of this resolution the Special Committee was expressly entrusted with certain urgent tasks which would pave the way for the granting of complete freedom to the people of the Mandated Territory of South West Africa, naturally in cooperation and consultation with the Mandatory Power.
18. Following upon'-all the well-known difficulties, the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the Special Committee were alone authorized by the South African Government to visit the Territory. The report of the Special Committee [A/5212], based on the report submitted to it by those two members, furnishes ample evidence of the unchanging nature of the situation in South West Africa. Paragraph 3 of the letter from the South African Government to the Special Committee reads as follows: "The record will also snow that where the South African Government was not prepared to adopt measures required by the United Nations, its attitude was dictated by its juridical position. The Government of South Africa cannot now be a party to any proposal or action which could imply a departure therefrom." [A/5212, paragraph 9.] This text, together with the statements made by that Government's spokesman from this rostrum a few days ago (1128th and 1129th meetings], constitutes the best corroboration of the report, which is a challenge to the conscience of the United Nations.
19. In the face of such an uncompromising and categorical stand, my delegation has no alternative but to endorse the Special Committee’s conclusions, in particular the following passage: "It is therefore imperative that the United Nations take a firm and resolute action on this question so ' that the South African Government willingly allows the United Nations to perform its legitimate supervisory function over the Mandated Territory.11 Ibid.. paragraph 81.]
20. As regards the Congo, my delegation is of the opinion that the Secretary-General' s plan, with its provision for a federal system, preserves the national unity and territorial integrity of the Republic of the Congo. We shall therefore support it.
21. For us newly independent States, the economic and social progress of our under-developed countries is a sine qua non for international peace and security. For this reason the Republic of Togo attaches particular importance to the United Nations Development Decade, which seeks to establish an equilibrium between the highly industrialized and the underdeveloped countries. We feel that the first objective along this path should be the establishment of fair prices for the commodities produced by the under-developed countries. Although the United Nations Development Decade may be a bold programme, we think that, if applied with specific objectives in view, it will give a mighty impetus to the economic and social progress of the under-developed countries. We realize that in Africa this progress depends partly on the efforts of the African States themselves. This is the reason why my country lays stress on large-scale inter-African co-operation in the economic, social, cultural and technical fields, within the context of the African unity to which all African States aspire. It is by organizing ourselves that we shall help to accelerate the pace of our economic and social development.
22. With regard to the various United Nations organs, we said last year that they should be adapted to the new circumstances. We still think that it is important, in the interest of the United Nations itself, to ensure fair representation for all the continents, particularly in the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council.
23. As far as the Security Council is concerned, as the present geographical distribution of the seats of the six non-permanent members is not based on any provision of the Charter, it should be easy to revise it, if not. to increase the number of those seats allotted to the African and Malagasy States, which, while numbering only two in 1955, today account for nearly one-third of this Assembly.
24. Before I conclude, may I explain my delegation's position with regard to two questions of vital importance to the United Nations.
25. Following upon the difficulties resulting from the tragic death of Mr. Dag Hammarskjold, our former Secretary-General, we unanimously elected an Acting Secretary-General, who within a relatively brief space of time has been able to prove to us how effective is the system of having one single capable and competent Secretary-General. We feel that this system of administration must be maintained, not only for the sake of the effectiveness of the United Nations but for its very survival.
26. The question of the expenses relating to the Emergency Force and the United Nations Operation in the Congo also seems to my delegation to be of paramount importance for the future of the United Nations, particularly in the light of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice [A/5161]. In our opinion it would be difficult to deny that these expenses, incurred under resolutions adopted by the General Assembly or by a United Nations organ as important as the Security Council, are expenses of the United Nations. My delegation therefore hopes that, in the light of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, the General Assembly will at this session speak out dearly on this serious problem.
27. In conclusion, and at the risk of repetition, my delegation wishes to express its profound conviction that international peace and security will not be truly guaranteed unless all of us, great and small, rich and poor, band together to wage war upon man's real enemies — poverty, hunger, disease and ignorance.