actly the same rights as individuals born in the Virgin Islands or on the mainland.

*

...

*

Press Release USUN-53 (74), May 20, 1974.

On August 20, 1974, Mr. Immerman made a statement to the Committee of Twenty-Four on the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam. These territories had been the subject of Reports by Subcommittee II of the Committee of Twenty-Four, which in all three cases reaffirmed "the inalienable right of the people of the [territory concerned] to self-determination and independence in conformity with the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, contained in General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960." Mr. Immerman said, in part:

My government, in conformity with the obligations it has undertaken under the Charter, has given very careful consideration to the reports of Subcommittee II and appreciates the seriousness which went into the Subcommittee's preparation of them. With respect to the three territories, my government is firmly committeed to increasing self-government and to giving paramount attention to the welfare of the indigenous population. There will be elections in Guam and the United States Virgin Islands this November which will once again provide the people of those territories the opportunity to express their political will at the polls. On Guam, the Political Status Commission established by the Guam legislature has begun the first in a series of public hearings on future political status alternatives for the Island. Alternatives which are being considered include:

The general public has been invited to participate in these hearings. As these hearings indicate, the people of Guam share the view of the United States Government and several members of this Committee that the right to self-determination involves a free choice among alternatives. My Delegation therefore would have preferred to see this view stated in the reports under consideration and, in its absence, wishes to record its reservations with regard to the formulation which now appears under conclusions and recommendations in these reports.

*

Press Release USUN-109 (74), Aug. 20, 1974. The Report of Subcommittee II on the U.S. Virgin Islands is at U.N. Doc. A/AC.109/L.955, June 21, 1974; the

Report on American Samoa and Guam is at U.N. Doc. A/AC.109/L.960, July 19, 1974.

On Dec. 13, 1974, the General Assembly adopted Res. 3289 (XXIX) by a vote of 117-0-17 (U.S.) on the question of Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. On the same date, Res. 3290 (XXIX) was adopted by a vote of 111-1-20 (U.S.) on the question of American Samoa, Guam, New Hebrides, Pitcairn, St. Helena and the Solomon Islands. The operative portion of Res. 3290 is as follows:

Aware of the special circumstances of the geographical location and the economic conditions of the 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 of American Samoa, Guam, New Hebrides, Pitcairn, St. Helena and Solomon Islands;

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

3. 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;

4. 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 timetable for the free exercise by the peoples of the Territories of their right to self-determination and independence;

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. Calls upon the Government of France and the United States of America, as the administering powers concerned, to reconsider their attitude towards receiving United Nations visiting missions and to permit access by such missions to Territories under their administration;

7. Calls upon the Government of France, as an administering power, to participate in the relevant proceedings of the Special Committee concerning the Territory of the New Hebrides and, in particular, to report to the Special Committee on the implementation of the present resolution ;

8. Calls upon the administering powers concerned to take all possible measures to diversify the economies of the Territories listed above;

9. Urges the administering powers to safeguard the inalienable right of the peoples of those Territories to the enjoyment of their natural resources by taking effective measures which guarantee the rights of the peoples to own and dispose of those natural resources and to establish and maintain control of their future development;

10. Reiterates its deep concern at the testing of nuclear weapons which continued to take place in 1974 in the South Pacific, despite the strong opposition to such testing as evidenced in General Assembly Resolution 3156 (XXVIII) and in the relevant chapters of the report of the Special Committee, and as expressed by the peoples of the South Pacific, including those of the Non-SelfGoverning Territories in the region;

11. Requests the organizations of the United Nations system to assist in accelerating progress in all sectors of the national life of the Territories listed above;

12. Invites the Secretary-General, having regard to the mandate entrusted to him by the General Assembly in its resolution entitled "Dissemination of information on decolonization", 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 and, in particular, to consider intensifying the activities of the information centers concerned;

13. Requests the Special Committee to continue to give full consideration to this question, including in particular the dispatch of visiting missions to the Territories, as appropriate, and to report to the General Assembly at its thirtieth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

The operative portion of Res. 3289 is essentially the same, except that it does not include the substance of paras. 5 and 10 in Res. 3290. Operative para. 5 of Res. 3289 "Calls upon the Government of the United States of America, as the administering power concerned, to reconsider its attitude towards receiving a United Nations visting mission in the Territory concerned."

On December 14, 1974, Ambassador Barbara M. White, Alternate U.S. Representative to the United Nations, gave a statement to the U.N. General Assembly on self-determination and Puerto Rico. Ambassador White said, in part:

My government voluntarily acknowledged Puerto Rico to be a non-self-governing territory under the purview of Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter on August 19, 1946, in a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Subsequently, however, Puerto Rico exercised its right to self-determination.

On March 3, 1952, the people of Puerto Rico attained self-government by freely and fully participating in a referendum. They voted in that referendum to establish a Commonwealth of Puerto Rico freely associated with the United States and they adopted the Constitution for that Commonwealth.

In 1953 the eighth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations recognized Puerto Rico's attainment of self-government by adopting Resolution 748 (VIII). Operative paragraph 5 of that resolution

"Recognizes that, in the framework of their Constitution and of the compact agreed upon with the United States of America, the people of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico have been invested with attributes of political sovereignty which clearly identify the status of self-government attained by the Puerto Rican people as that of an autonomous political entity;". Operative paragraph 6:

"Considers that, due to these circumstances, the Declaration regarding Non-Self-Governing Territories and the provisions established under it in Chapter XI of the Charter can no longer be applied to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;". Operative paragraph 8, dealing with the transmission of information on Non-Self-Governing Territories to the United Nations,

"Considers it appropriate that the transmission of this information should cease;".

By rejecting a proposal to include Puerto Rico in its agenda, the General Assembly at its twenty-sixth session, in 1971, in effect reaffirmed its previous decision that Puerto Rico is self-governing.

My delegation would also like to bring to the attention of the Assembly the following facts. In general elections in 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968 and 1972, as well as in a 1967 referendum on status, the people

of Puerto Rico freely chose to retain their relationship with the United States. On six separate occasions they have reaffirmed their original decision. Repetition of falsehoods to the contrary cannot and does not change these facts. The future of Puerto Rico will continue to be shaped by the will of the majority of the Puerto Rican people as expressed in regularly scheduled elections in which all shades of political opinion are free to participate.

It is the people of Puerto Rico who, through universal adult suffrage, have decided what their status and their form of government should be. They have acted within both the spirit and the letter of the United Nations Charter. The United Nations General Assembly has so recognized.

Those are the facts. I only regret that it has been necessary for me to take the time of the General Assembly to repeat them today. U.N. Doc. A/PV. 2319, Dec. 14, 1974, pp. 3-4.

Section 50 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-559; approved December 30, 1974) sets forth a congressional statement of policy with respect to the independence of Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau. Section 50 provides:

(a) (1) Congress finds that the Government of Portgual's recognition of the right to independence of the African territories of Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau marks a significant advance toward the goal of self-determination for all the peoples of Africa, without which peace on the continent is not secure.

(2) Congress finds that progress toward independence for the Portuguese African territories will have a significant impact on the international organizations and the community of nations.

(3) Congress commends the Portuguese Government's initiatives. on these fronts as evidence of a reaffirmation of that Government's support for her obligations under both the United Nations Charter and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

(b) Therefore, Congress calls upon the President and the Secretary of State to take the following actions designed to make clear United States support for a peaceful and orderly transition to independence in the Portugese African territories:

(1) An official statement should be issued of United States support for the independence of Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau, and of our desire to have good relations with the future governments of the countries.

(2) It should be made clear to the Government of Portugal that we view the efforts toward a peaceful and just settlement of the conflict in the African territories as consistent with Portugal's obligations under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization partnership.

(3) The United States should encourage United Nations support for a peaceful transition to independence, negotiated settlement of all differences, and the protection of human rights of all citizens of the three territories.

(4) The United States should open a dialog with potential leaders of Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau and assure

them of our commitment to their genuine political and economic independence.

(5) The economic development needs of the three territories will be immense when independence is achieved. Therefore, it is urged that the United States Agency for International Development devote attention to assessing the economic situation in Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau and be ready to cooperate with the future governments in providing the kind of assistance that will help make their independence viable. In addition, the United States Government should take the initiative among other donors, both bilateral and multilateral, in seeking significant contribution of development assistance for the three territories.

(6) In light of the need of Angola, Mozambique, and GuineaBissau for skilled and educated manpower, a priority consideration should be given to expanding current United States programs of educational assistance to the territories as a timely and substantive contribution to their independence.

(c) Reports should be submitted to the Congress on the implementation of the proposals set forth in subsection (b) and Congress should be kept fully informed on developments in United States policy toward the independence of the Portuguese African territories.

On the admission of Guinea-Bissau to the United Nations, see this Chapter, § 1, supra, pp. 8-9; on the recognition of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau by the United States, see this Chapter, § 3, supra, p. 14.

On February 19, 1974, Mr. Philip E. Hoffman, U.S. Representative to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, made a statement in support of a proposal for the appointment of a special rapporteur to undertake a study of the subject of self-determination. The following is the U.N. summary of a portion of his statement:

colonialism, which still existed in some cases, had left memories which still rankled. The United States which had perhaps been the first to shake off that yoke understood the strong resentment of its latest victims. When it was characterized by the domination of one race by another and when that domination was justified by a doctrine like apartheid, colonialism was shown in a new and particularly odious light.

However, the United Nations resolutions directed against colonialism and alien domination were not intended to apply only to overseas colonies and Southern Africa. Indeed, alien domination was no more acceptable, no more commensurate with the principle of self-determination and no less a violation of the United Nations Charter when it was not based on difference in the color of the dominator and the dominated. His delegation believed that the rapporteur should not overlook that aspect of the question when drawing up his work schedule.