gary to their obligations under the treaties; and held the question active on the agenda for its next session. There were 34 votes for the resolution with 6 against (the Slav Delegations); 9 members abstained.

The next phase of developments concerned the further efforts to put into effect the provisions of the treaties of peace with these three former enemy states. Under the pertinent provisions any dispute concerning the interpretation or execution of these treaties not settled by direct diplomatic negotiations should be referred to the three heads of mission of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.S.R. in Bulgaria, Hungary, or Rumania as the case might be. If such dispute is not resolved by the heads of mission within 2 months, it is to be referred to a commission composed of one representative of each party and a third member selected by mutual agreement of the parties. In the absence of such agreement the Secretary-General of the United Nations may appoint the third member at the request of either party. The decision of the majority of members shall be accepted by the parties as definitive and binding.

Having received unsatisfactory replies from the Governments of Bulgaria, Hungary, and Rumania to its notes requesting action to remedy the violations of the human rights clauses of the treaties, the United States proposed that under the procedure provided in the treaties the three heads of mission of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.S.R. meet in the three Balkan capitals to consider the disputes which had arisen between the United States and the three Balkan countries. Again the United Kingdom in association with Canada, New Zealand, and Australia took similar steps.

The Soviet Government refused to authorize its Ambassadors to meet with the United States and United Kingdom heads of mission on the ground that the three Balkan governments had not violated the human rights provisions of the treaties, but that on the contrary the measures complained of were taken in execution of the treaty provisions obligating the former enemy countries to dissolve organizations of Fascist type. Moreover, the Soviet Government asserted that these measures were within the domestic jurisdiction of the former enemy states.

The United States then requested the three Balkan governments to join in appointing the commissions provided for in the peace treaties for the settlement of disputes. The three governments rejected this request on grounds similar to those given by the Soviet Government as justifying its refusal to cooperate.

When the Assembly resumed the consideration of this question in the fall of 1949, its first step, on the initiative of the Australian Government, was to extend the scope of the question to include Rumania

as well. The debate reviewed the more recent developments in Bulgaria and Hungary and dwelt at some length upon conditions in Rumania.

The United States Delegate pointed out that the Rumanian regime had destroyed democratic political parties; converted the country's judicial system into an instrument of its suppressive policy; exercised the police power of the state in disregard of the basic civil liberties of the Rumanian people; denied freedom of press and publication; and subjected religious life to an unprecedented degree of control by the government. As a glaring example of restrictions on freedom of religion the United States Delegation pointed out that the Roman Catholic Church has been subjected to such persecution that at present none of its bishops was in a position to exercise his rightful religious functions, that the Uniat Church had been dissolved by government decree, and that oppressive measures had been taken against the Jewish religious community.

The Slav Delegations once more denied all charges against the three governments and accused the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom of interfering in the internal affairs of the three Balkan countries. They again affirmed the argument, already repudiated by the General Assembly, that the Assembly was not competent to deal with this matter and that the parties to the treaties alone, to the exclusion of any organ of the United Nations, had the right to interpret the peace treaties.

Reporting on the impasse reached in the efforts to enlist the cooperation of the Governments of Bulgaria, Hungary, and Rumania in the procedures under the peace treaties, the United States Delegation pointed out that the three governments had sought to justify their refusal to cooperate on the legal ground that the peace treaty procedures for the settlement of disputes were inapplicable. Although in the view of the United States Government this was an untenable position, the United States nevertheless declared its willingness to have the International Court of Justice determine this issue in an advisory opinion, which the United States would accept as binding. The United States Delegate expressed the hope that the three Balkan governments would also be willing to accept in advance the Court's opinion on this issue.

To give effect to this approach Bolivia, the United States, and Canada jointly proposed a resolution through which the General Assembly would request the International Court of Justice to render an opinion on the question of whether disputes existed which are subject to solution through the peace treaty procedures and whether the three governments are obligated to cooperate in carrying out these procedures and to appoint their representatives to the treaty com

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missions. Should the International Court of Justice give an affirmative reply and should this reply not lead to the activation of the treaty commissions, the Court was requested to say whether, even if one party failed to appoint its representative, the Secretary-General of the United Nations was authorized to appoint the "third member" of the treaty commission; and whether a treaty commission thus composed of a representative of one party and a third member appointed by the Secretary-General would constitute a commission competent to make a binding decision in settlement of the disputes.

The joint resolution also expressed the increased concern of the General Assembly at the grave charges against the three countries and provided for further review of this matter at the 1950 session of the Assembly.

The Slav Delegations opposed this approach. The joint resolution, however, was accorded overwhelming support in the Assembly. After it was amended to emphasize the increased concern of the Assembly occasioned by the refusal of the three governments to cooperate in the Assembly proceedings, the resolution was adopted by 47 votes. Only 5 delegations opposed it (the U.S.S.R., Ukrainian and Byelorussian S.S.R., Poland, and Czechoslovakia), and seven delegations abstained from voting.

F. Action to Uphold the Political Independence and Territorial Integrity of States

I. GREECE

The substantial elimination by Greece of Communist guerrilla activity, which since 1946 had been aided and supported by the states to the north, occurred during this year. On October 16, 1949, the guerrilla regime conceded the failure of its armed campaign to overthrow the Greek Government and announced cessation of its military activities. This coincided with the resumption by the Greek Government of effective control of the northern border districts and with the withdrawal of the bulk of the guerrilla forces into adjacent countries. Meanwhile the United Nations, acting through its Special Committee on the Balkans, continued its work of observation of the situation along the northern frontiers of Greece. The Special Committee also persevered, in the face of repeated rebuffs from Albania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia which still refuse to cooperate with it, in efforts to conciliate the differences between those countries and Greece and to lay a basis for the restoration of normal relations. The Special

Committee has been continued for another year by the General Assembly.

Work of the Special Committee on the Balkans. The United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans (UNSCOB) has functioned in Greece for more than 2 years under the terms of successive General Assembly resolutions. The original resolution, adopted by the General Assembly on October 21, 1947, was based on proposals by the United States which has brought the question of "Threats to the Political Independence and Territorial Integrity of Greece" before the Assembly. The resolution called upon Albania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia not to furnish aid to the Greek guerrillas, and recommended the early establishment of normal diplomatic and good neighborly relations among the four Balkan states. It further recommended that the three northern countries on the one hand, and Greece on the other, cooperate in the establishment of effective frontier control machinery and in handling refugee and minority problems. The Special Committee was directed to observe compliance by the four Balkan states with the General Assembly's recommendations, to render assistance to those states in the implementation of the resolution, and to keep the United Nations informed.

Nine states serve actively on UNSCOB: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Though chosen by the General Assembly to serve, Poland and the U.S.S.R. have refused to do so. Greece has cooperated with the Committee and has accorded it all necessary facilities. The Special Committee has repeatedly offered to make available its services to Albania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia to assist in conciliating their differences with Greece or to investigate their complaints against Greece for border violations, but these countries have obdurately refused to cooperate with it. Unable to carry out its observation program in the territories of the northern countries, the Special Committee has been limited to observing conditions and events along the northern frontiers from within Greek territory. This has been possible through the establishment of several observation groups, stationed at vantage points near the northern frontier. The United States has furnished a full share of the necessary observers for the past 2 years.

In 1948 UNSCOB informed the General Assembly that large-scale aid continued to be furnished the Greek guerrillas by the northern Communist countries despite the General Assembly's injunction. It also called the Assembly's attention to the plight of over 25,000 Greek children who had been removed, in numerous cases forcibly, by the guerrillas from northern Greece into neighboring countries. On November 27, 1948, the General Assembly adopted by a vote of 47 to 6,

with no abstentions, a resolution originally sponsored by the United States, United Kingdom, France, and China under which the Special Committee was continued and its terms of reference were improved. The Assembly also unanimously approved a resolution urging the earliest possible return to their homes of the Greek children who had been removed into countries of eastern Europe.

During the same session of the Assembly a Conciliation Committee was appointed, presided over by the president of the General Assembly, which met with representatives of the four Balkan states and endeavored to devise a formula each could accept as a basis for the restoration of normal relations and the regulation of frontier questions. These talks were continued during the second part of the third session at New York in the spring of 1949, but they fell short of agreement when Albania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia failed to accept the Conciliation Committee proposals, to which Greece had signified its

assent.

The Special Committee thereafter renewed its efforts to promote the establishment of normal relations between Albania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia on the one hand and Greece on the other. It repeatedly drew the attention of the governments in question to the recommendations made by the General Assembly. The Governments of Albania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia nevertheless continued to disregard them and refused to recognize UNSCOB in any way.

The Special Committee also continued its careful investigation of the nature and extent of the external support given the Greek guerrilla movement. It found that Albania and Bulgaria, by official declarations in the press and in radio broadcasts from governmentcontrolled stations and by other official and officially sanctioned activities, had directly encouraged and incited the Greek guerrillas in their attempts to overthrow the Greek Government. Its findings showed that both countries, and Albania most conspicuously, had provided large quantities of war material and other supplies; had allowed the guerrillas extensive use of their territories to escape from the Greek Army and for other tactical purposes; had actively assisted the guerrillas in the recruitment of Greeks in their territories; and had permitted the existence there of a system whereby guerrillas were returned to fight in Greece after treatment in hospitals and convalescent centers. The Special Committee concluded that the territories of the northern states were being used "as a base for the preparation or launching of armed action" in direct contravention of the General Assembly's recommendations. It further ascertained that there had been an increase in the support afforded to the guerrillas from certain states not bordering upon Greece, particularly Rumania. Existence of a highly coordinated system of support involving the latter country and other