| Date | 17 December 2007 |
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Agenda item 40
Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples
Report of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) (A/62/412 and Add.1)
The President
We will first take action on the recommendations contained in document A/62/412. The Assembly has before it five draft resolutions recommended by the Special Political and Decolonization Committee in paragraph 24 of its report and a draft decision recommended by the Committee in paragraph 25 of the same report.
We will now take a decision on draft resolutions I to V and on the draft decision, one by one. After all the decisions have been taken, representatives will again have the opportunity to explain their vote.
We turn first to draft resolution I, entitled "Question of Western Sahara". The Special Political and Decolonization Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?
The President
Draft resolution II is entitled "Question of New Caledonia". The Special Political and Decolonization Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?
The President
Draft resolution III is entitled "Questions of American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the United States Virgin Islands". This draft resolution is in two parts. Part A is entitled "General". Part B is entitled "Individual Territories". The Special Political and Decolonization Committee adopted draft resolution III without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do likewise?
The President
Draft resolution IV is entitled "Dissemination of information on decolonization". A recorded vote has been requested.
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Draft resolution IV was adopted by 175 votes to 2, with 2 abstentions (resolution 62/119).
favour=175 against=2 abstain=2 absent=13
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
The President
Draft resolution V is entitled "Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples".
I now give the floor to the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic.
Mr. Ja'afari (Syria)
I am taking the floor in my capacity as Rapporteur 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.
As the Assembly is aware, the people of Tokelau, a non-self-governing territory administered by New Zealand and within the purview of the Special Committee, held a second referendum in October 2007 on self-determination. That referendum fell just short of producing the two-thirds majority of valid votes cast required for a change in Tokelau's status as a non-self-governing territory.
In that connection, I would like to propose the following amendment to paragraph 6 of draft resolution V, contained in the report of the Fourth Committee to the Assembly (A/62/412). The current paragraph 6 should be replaced with the following text:
"Commends the professional, open and transparent conduct of both the February 2006 and the October 2007 referenda to determine the future status of Tokelau, monitored by the United Nations".
I hope that this amendment can be adopted without a vote.
The President
The representative of the Syrian Arab Republic has submitted an oral amendment to operative paragraph 6 of draft resolution V. In accordance with rule 90 of the rules of procedure, the Assembly will first take a decision on the amendment submitted by the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to adopt the oral amendment submitted by the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic?
The President
Since the oral amendment submitted by the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic has been adopted, we shall proceed to take a decision on draft resolution V, as orally amended. A recorded vote has been requested.
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Draft resolution V, as orally amended, was adopted by 176 votes to 2, with 2 abstentions (resolution 62/120).
favour=176 against=2 abstain=2 absent=12
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
The President
We turn now to the draft decision, entitled "Question of Gibraltar". The Special Political and Decolonization Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?
The President
The Assembly will now take action on the recommendation contained in document A/62/412/Add.1. The Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Special Political and Decolonization Committee in paragraph 9 of its report. We will now take a decision on the draft resolution, which is entitled "Question of Tokelau". The Special Political and Decolonization Committee adopted it without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?
The President
I now give the floor to the representative of Spain, who wishes to speak in explanation of position on one of the resolutions just adopted.
Mr. Virella (Spain)
With regard to resolution 62/118 just adopted, entitled "Questions of American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the United States Virgin Islands", the delegation of Spain would like to make the following statement. Spain joined the consensus on resolution 62/118. Spain supports the application of the principle of self-determination to the territories included in this omnibus resolution.
At the same time, my delegation recalls that the principle of self-determination is not the only relevant principle for achieving the decolonization of non-self-governing territories. There are certain cases in which we must apply the principle of territorial integrity in line with the doctrine established in various General Assembly resolutions. One of those cases is that of Gibraltar, which is the object of a specific decision that has just been adopted by consensus.
Mr. Virella (Spain)
In that regard, I would like to point out that in the decolonization process for that territory, Spain, in line with the mandates of this Assembly, is prepared to make progress without delay towards a final solution, which can only come about through negotiations with the United Kingdom, which is the administering Power, within the framework of which the interests and aspirations of the people of Gibraltar are taken into account.
The Acting President
I now give the floor to the representative of the United Kingdom, who wishes to make a statement in exercise of the right of reply.
Mr. Johnston (United Kingdom)
In response to the statement we have just heard, I would like to refer briefly to the right of reply that we gave during the discussion on this item in the Fourth Committee and to underline in particular that the United Kingdom does not accept that the existence of a sovereignty dispute overrides the principle of self-determination. That remains our position on this issue.
The Acting President
May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 40?
