QUESTIONS OF American Samoa, Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Guam, Montserrat, New Hebrides, Pitcairn, St. Helena, Seychelles, Solonom Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands and United States Virgin Islands

XXVII. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE FOURTH COMMITTEE
QUESTIONS OF American Samoa, Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Guam, Montserrat, New Hebrides, Pitcairn, St. Helena, Seychelles, Solonom Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands and United States Virgin Islands

The General Assembly, Having considered the question of American Samoa, Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Guam, Montserrat, New Hebrides, Pitcairn, St. Helena, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands and United States Virgin Islands, Having examined the relevant chapters of the report of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples,[1] Recalling its resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, containing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, and its resolution 2621 (XXV) of 12 October 1970, containing the programme of action for the full implementation of the Declaration, Recalling its previous resolutions relating to those Territories, in particular resolution 2869 (XXVI) of 20 December 1971, Deploring the intransigent attitude of the Governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and France, in contravention of the provisions of the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, and their persistence in refusing to co-operate with the Special Committee in its examination of the Territories under their administration, Deeply deploring the policy of those administering Powers which continue to maintain military bases in some of the Territories under their administration, in contravention of the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, Deeply deploring also the attitude of those administering Powers which continue to refuse to allow United Nations missions to visit the Territories under their administration, Bearing in mind in particular the positive results achieved as a consequence of the visits by United Nations missions to other colonial Territories and reiterating its conviction that the dispatch of visiting missions to the above-mentioned Territories is indispensable for securing adequate and first-hand information in regard to political, economic and social conditions in the Territories and to the views, wishes and aspirations of the peoples therein, Deeply concerned about the adverse effects of continued nuclear atmospheric testing in the South Pacific on the life, welfare and environment of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories situated therein, and affirming that those peoples have the right to be free of the hazards to their lives, welfare and environment caused by such tests, Mindful that the Territories listed above require the continued attention and assistance of the United Nations in the achievement by their peoples of the objectives embodied in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, Aware of the special circumstances of the geographical location and the economic conditions of those Territories,

1. Approves the chapters of the report of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples relating to the Territories listed above;

2. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the peoples of those Territories to self-determination and independence in accordance with the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples;

3. Calls upon the administering Powers concerned to take all the necessary steps, without further delay, to ensure the full and speedy attainment of the goals set forth in the Declaration with respect to the Territories and, in that regard, to establish, in consultation with the freely elected representatives of the people, a specific time-table for the free exercise by the peoples of those Territories of their right to self-determination and independence;

4. Reaffirms its conviction that the questions of territorial size, geographical isolation and limited resources should in no way delay the implementation of the Declaration with respect to the Territories concerned;

5. Strongly deprecates any attempt aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity and territorial integrity of colonial Territories and the establishment of military bases and installations in those Territories, as being incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV);

6. Once again calls upon the administering Powers concerned to reconsider their attitude towards the receiving of United Nations visiting missions to the above-mentioned Territories and to permit access by such missions to Territories under their administration;

7. Calls upon the administering Powers concerned to participate in the relevant proceedings of the Special Committee relating to the Territories under their administration arid, in particular, to report to the Special Committee on the implementation of the present resolution;

8. Requests the organizations of the United Nations system to assist in accelerating progress in all sectors of the national life of those Territories;

9. Calls upon the administering Power concerned, in view of its responsibility towards the welfare of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories in the region, to discontinue any further nuclear atmospheric testing in the South Pacific area, in order not to endanger the life and environment of the peoples of the Territories concerned;

10. Invites the Secretary-General, having regard to the mandate entrusted to him in General Assembly resolution 2909 (XXVII) of 2 November 1972, to pay particular regard to the need to intensify widespread dissemination of information on the process of decolonization in respect of the Territories listed above;

11. Requests the Special Committee to continue to give full consideration to this question, including in particular the dispatch of visiting missions to those Territories, and to report to the General Assembly at its twenty-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

2110th plenary meeting
14 December 1972


[1] Ibid., chaps. XI, XV, XVII, XVIII and XX to XXIII.
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