Question of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland

XVII. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED WITHOUT REFERENCE TO A COMMITTEE
1817. Question of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland

The General Assembly, Recalling its resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 embodying the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples, and its resolution 1654 (XVI) of 27 November 1961 by which it established a Special Committee to examine the implementation of the Declaration, Having considered chapter V 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] relating to the question of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland, Having heard the petitioners, Noting that the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as the administering Power, has not yet implemented the Declaration in these Territories and has not taken steps to transfer all powers to the peoples of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland, Noting that the constitutional provisions now contemplated for these Territories and the electoral legislation in force are discriminatory, do not meet the wishes of the peoples and are not consistent with the Declaration, Deploring the particularly alarming economic and social situation prevailing in Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland after several decades of colonial rule, Expressing its profound concern at the declared intention of the Government of the Republic of South Africa to annex these Territories, and condemning any attempt to jeopardize the right of the peoples of these Territories to establish their own independent States, Taking note of the statement made by the administering Power to the effect that these Territories are politically completely independent of South Africa and that the United Kingdom Government adheres to this policy, and that there is no question of that Government agreeing at this stage to the transfer of these Territories to the Republic of South Africa,

1. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the peoples of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland to self-determination and independence;

2. Invites the administering Power immediately to suspend the present constitutional provisions and to proceed without further delay to hold elections in the three Territories on the basis of direct universal. adult suffrage;

3. Invites further the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to abrogate the present constitutional provisions and to convene immediately a constitutional conference with the participation of the democratically elected political leaders of the three Territories, with a view to setting, in accordance with their wishes, the date on which each of the Territories will attain its independence;

4. Considers that a serious effort should be made to provide economic, financial and technical assistance, through United Nations programmes of technical cooperation and the specialized agencies, in order to remedy the deplorable economic and social situation of the three Territories;

5. Urges the administering Power to take immediate steps to return to the indigenous inhabitants all the land taken from them, whatever the form of, or pretext for, such alienation;

6. Declares solemnly that any attempt to annex Basutoland, Bechuanaland or Swaziland, or to encroach upon their territorial integrity in any way, will be regarded by the United Nations as an act of aggression violating the Charter of the United Nations.

1196th plenary meeting,
18 December 1962.

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[1] Ibid., Seventeenth Session, Annexes, agenda item 25, document A/5238.