Question of Aden
- Author: UN General Assembly
- Document source:
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Date:
11 December 1963
XVIII. RESOLUTION ADOPTED WITHOUT REFERENCE TO A COMMITTEE
1949. Question of Aden
1. Approves 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, and endorses the conclusions and recommendations of the Sub-Committee on Aden;
2. Expresses deep regret at the refusal of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to co-operate with the Sub-Committee on Aden, particularly its refusal to allow the Sub-Committee to go to the Territory in pursuance of the tasks entrusted to it by the Special Committee;
3. Endorses the resolutions adopted by the Special Committee on 3 May[2] and 19 July 1963;[3]
4. Reaffirms the right of the people of the Territory to self-determination and freedom from colonial rule in accordance with the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples;
5. Considers that the maintenance of the military base in Aden is prejudicial to the security of the region and that its early removal is therefore desirable;
6. Recommends that the people of Aden and the Aden Protectorate should be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination with regard to their future, the exercise of that right to take the form of a consultation of the whole population, to be held as soon as possible on the basis of universal adult suffrage;
7. Calls upon the administering Power:
(a) To repeal all the laws which restrict public freedoms;
(b) To release all political prisoners and detainees and those who have been sentenced following actions of political significance;
(c) To allow the return of those people who have been exiled or forbidden to reside in the Territory because of political activities;
(d) To cease forthwith all repressive action against the people of the Territory, in particular military expeditions and the bombing of villages;
8. Further calls upon the administering Power to make the necessary constitutional changes with a view to establishing a representative organ and setting up a provisional government for the whole of the Territory in accordance with the wishes of the population, such legislative organ and government to be constituted following general elections to be held on the basis of universal adult suffrage and with full respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms;
9. Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Special Committee and the administering Power, to arrange for an effective United Nations presence before and during the elections referred to in paragraph 8 above;
10. Recommends that these elections should be held before the attainment of independence, which will be granted in accordance with the freely expressed wishes of the inhabitants;
11. Recommends that conversations should be opened without delay between the government resulting from the elections mentioned above and the administering Power, for the purpose of fixing the date for the granting of independence and the arrangements for the transfer of power;
12. Requests the Secretary-General to transmit the present resolution to the administering Power and to report to the Special Committee on its implementation;
13. Requests the Special Committee to examine again the situation in Aden and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its nineteenth session.
1277th plenary meeting,11 December 1963.
[1] Ibid., addendum to agenda item 23, document A/5446/Rev.1, chapter V. [2] Ibid., chapter V, appendix, para. 6. [3] Ibid., chapter V, para. 478.
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