Question of the Comoro Archipelago

XXVIII. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE FOURTH COMMITTEE
3161. Question of the Comoro Archipelago

The General Assembly, Having considered the question of the Comoro Archipelago, Having heard the statement of the administering Power,[1] Having also heard the statement of the representative of the Mouvement de libération nationale des Comores,[2] Taking note of the Joint Declaration on the Accession to Independence of the Comoro Archipelago, containing the text of an agreement reached on 15 June 1973 between the Minister for Overseas Departments and Territories of the Government of France and the President of the Government Council of the Comoro Archipelago,[3] 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, Convinced of the vital importance of sending a visiting mission to the Territory as a means of securing adequate and first-hand information in regard to the political, economic and social conditions therein, Noting with regret the failure of the administering Power to participate in the related work 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, Mindful of the responsibility of the United Nations to render all help to the people of the Comoro Archipelago in their efforts freely to decide their own future,

1. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the people of the Comoro Archipelago to self-determination and independence in accordance with General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV);

2. Approves the chapter 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 question;[4]

3. Takes note with interest of the statement by the representative of France that the French Government has affirmed "the readiness of the Comoro Archipelago for independence" and "its intention to respond faithfully to the aspirations" of the Comorian people, and has stated that the Comorian Government can request independence for the Territory at any time;[5]

4. Affirms the unity and territorial integrity of the Comoro Archipelago;

5. Requests the Government of France, as the administering Power, to ensure that the unity and territorial integrity of the Comoro Archipelago are preserved;

6. Calls upon the administering Power to take all necessary measures to ensure the full and speedy attainment of freedom and independence by the people of the Territory, on the basis of their freely expressed wishes, in accordance with the objectives of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples and in conformity with the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations;

7. Requests the administering Power to extend its co-operation to the Special Committee in the discharge of the tasks entrusted to it by the General Assembly with respect to the Territory, in conformity with the relevant United Nations resolutions, in particular by enabling the Special Committee to send a visiting mission for the purpose of securing adequate and first-hand information on the situation obtaining in the Territory, as well as on the wishes and aspirations of its people as regards their future status;

8. Invites all States to render all the necessary help to the people of the Territory in their efforts to achieve the objectives of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples;

9. Requests the Special Committee to keep the situation in the Territory under continuous review and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its twenty-ninth session.

2202nd plenary meeting,
14 December 1973

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[1] Ibid.: Twenty-eighth Session, Fourth Committee, 2064th meeting. [2] Ibid., 2065th meeting. [3] Ibid., Twenty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 23 (A/9023/Rev.1), chap. XI, annex, appendix II. [4] Ibid., chap. XI. [5] Ibid., Twenty-eighth Session, Fourth Committee, 2064th meeting, paras. 22 and 27.