non-self-governing territories within the meaning of Chapter XI of the UN Charter. In addition, the Security Council has often debated the subject. In the past, the concern was almost entirely with the territories in Africa. However, following the military coup in Portugal in April 1974, the new Portuguese Government embarked on a program of rapid decolonization. As a result, UN attention in 1975 focused almost entirely on Portuguese Timor. The island of Timor is located at the tip of the chain of islands forming the Republic of Indonesia. The western part of the island is part of Indonesia; the eastern part, two smaller islands, and an enclave on the northwest coast constituted Portuguese Timor. GENERAL ASSEMBLY The Fourth Committee of the 30th General Assembly considered the agenda item on the Portuguese territories at eight meetings between December 2 and 11. The Committee's debate took place against the background of the civil war being fought on the island of Timor among several political parties that aspired to leadership following the imminent termination of Portuguese administration in the island. On November 28, just prior to Committee consideration, FRETILIN, one of the political parties, unilaterally declared independence, proclaiming the establishment of the "Democratic Republic of East Timor." This move was staunchly opposed by four other Timorese political parties-APODETI, 87 KOTA, 9 UDT,10/ and Trabalhista, which favored the inclusion of the territory within Indonesia. On December 3 Malaysia introduced a draft resolution, eventually sponsored by nine Asian and Pacific states (including Indonesia), which would have, inter alia, (1) reaffirmed the inalienable right of the people of Portuguese Timor to self-determination; (2) appealed to the political parties in Timor to respond positively to the efforts of the administering power to find a peaceful solution through talks between them and the Government of Portugal; and (3) expressed the hope that the talks would bring to an end the political strife in the territory and lead toward the orderly exercise of the right of self-determination by the people of Timor. 7 Frente Revolucionária Timor Leste Independente. 8/ Associação Popular Democrática Timorense. 9/ Klibur Oan Timor Aswain. 10/ União Democrática de Timor. On December 7 armed troops from Indonesia arrived in Timor to help the pro-Indonesian parties in their fight against FRETILIN, and on December 8 the cosponsors submitted a revised draft resolution which took note of "the recent developments in Portuguese Timor," called on all states to respect the right of the people to self-determination, and reiterated most of the key points of the previous draft. Another draft resolution, sponsored by Algeria and five other African and Latin American states, was submitted on December 9, and the nine-power draft was withdrawn. The six-power draft reiterated many of the points of the earlier draft resolution, but it also (1) strongly deplored the military intervention of the armed forces of Indonesia in Portuguese Timor; (2) called upon the Government of Indonesia to desist from further violation of the territorial integrity of Portuguese Timor and to withdraw its armed forces from the territory without delay in order to enable the people of the territory freely to exercise their right to self-determination and independence; and (3) drew the attention of the Security Council to the critical situation in the territory of Timor and recommended that it take urgent action to protect the territorial integrity of Portuguese Timor and the inalienable right of the people to self-determination. India, on December 10, introduced another draft resolution, sponsored by seven Asian and Pacific states, which was intended as a compromise text, but which was not pressed to a vote. Thailand, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines unsuccessfully sought to amend the Algerian draft. On December 11 the Committee approved the Algerian draft by a rollcall vote of 69 (Portugal) to 11 (Indonesia), with 38 abstentions (U.S.). In a statement after the vote, Ambassador White explained that the United States had abstained because it objected to the wording of the paragraphs deploring the Indonesian military intervention and calling on Indonesia to desist from further violations of Portuguese Timor's territorial integrity and to withdraw its armed forces without delay. Ambassador White stated that the United States hoped that efforts to produce a more balanced text would be successful before the question was considered in the plenary. The same resolution, however, was adopted in the plenary on December 12 by a recorded vote of 72 (Portugal) to 10 (Indonesia), with 43 abstentions (U.S.). SECURITY COUNCIL In response to the General Assembly's resolution, the Security Council began meetings on December 15 to consider the situation in Timor. The representatives of Portugal, Indonesia, and the Timorese political parties addressed the Council during its debate. On December 22, the U.K. Representative, acting as President of the Council, introduced a draft resolution that had been prepared in the course of prior consultations among Council members. The resolution, inter alia, in preambular paragraphs (1) expressed grave concern at the loss of life, (2) deplored the intervention of Indonesia's armed forces, and (3) regretted that the Government of Portugal had not discharged fully its responsibilities as administering power in the territory under Chapter XI of the Charter; and in operative paragraphs (4) called upon all states to respect the territorial integrity of East Timor and the right of its people to self-determination, (5) called upon Indonesia to withdraw without delay all its forces from the territory, (6) called upon Portugal to cooperate fully with the United Nations to enable the people of the territory to exercise freely their right to self-determination, (7) requested the Secretary General to send urgently a special representative to East Timor for the purpose of making an on-the-spot assessment of the existing situation and of establishing contact with all the parties in the territory and all states concerned in order to ensure the implementation of the present resolution, and (8) further requested the Secretary General to follow the implementation of the present resolution and, taking into account the report of his special representative, to submit recommendations to the Security Council as soon as possible. The resolution was adopted the same day by a unanimous vote. On December 29 the Secretary General announced the appointment of Vittorio Winspeare Guicciardi, Under Secretary General and Director General of the UN Office at Geneva, as his Special Representative to East Timor. SPANISH SAHARA In 1974 Spain had announced its intention of holding during the first 6 months of 1975, under UN auspices, a referendum in Spanish Sahara (or Western Sahara) so that the inhabitants of that territory might exercise their right of self-determination. During the Fourth Committee's consideration of the territory, however, a legal controversy arose over the status of the territory at the time of its colonization by Spain. The Assembly, therefore, on December 13, 1974, adopted a resolution (1) requesting the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on the status of the territory at the time it was colonized by Spain, (2) urging Spain to postpone its contemplated referendum until the General Assembly decided on the policy to be followed in order to accelerate the decolonization process, and (3) requesting the Committee of 24 to keep the situation in the Sahara under review, sending a visiting mission to the territory for that purpose, and to report thereon to the 30th Assembly. During 1975 the question of Spanish Sahara was considered by several UN bodies--the International Court, the Committee of 24, the General Assembly, and the Security Council. COMMITTEE OF 24 VISITING MISSION The Visiting Mission was headed by the Ivory Coast Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Siméon Aké, and included representatives from Cuba and Iran. It decided that its duty was to assist the Committee of 24 in the discharge of its tasks by securing firsthand information on the situation prevailing in the territory, including information on political, economic, social, cultural, and educational conditions, as well as on the wishes and aspirations of the people. The Mission visited Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and the Spanish Sahara between May 8 and June 8, 1975. In its report to the Committee of 24 in October, the Mission emphasized the desire of the political representatives within the territory for independence to be achieved through self-determination, although political refugees interviewed in neighboring countries often favored integration with the host country. The Mission stated that a lasting solution must be worked out with the agreement and participation of the administering power, the governments of the countries adjoining the territory, and the representatives of the Saharan population, including those who were living outside of the territory as political exiles or refugees. The Mission reported that the following conditions for holding any "popular consultation" in the territory had been set by the governments of the countries adjoining the territory, the political movements of Spanish Sahara, and the spokesmen for the Saharan political exiles and refugees: (1) withdrawal of Spanish forces and administration, (2) return of political exiles and refugees, and (3) a period of transition during which a UN presence would assume responsibility for the administration of the territory. The Visiting Mission concluded its report with the hope that the General Assembly would take steps to enable the population of the territory to decide its own future in accordance with the provisions of relevant General Assembly resolutions. On November 7 the Committee of 24 adopted the report of the Visiting Mission and endorsed its observations and conclusions. The prospects for a peacefully negotiated Spanish withdrawal from the Sahara did not improve during 1975. On the contrary, nationalist sentiment in the territory was stimulated and the conflict among Morocco, Mauritania, and Algeria gradually sharpened. On May 23, 1975, Spain informed the Secretary General that it did not want its withdrawal from the territory to leave a vacuum, and it wished to transfer power to those who were to assume responsibility for the administration of the territory as a result of decolonization. However, it had publicly declared its decision to end its presence in the territory and, assuming the concerned parties could not harmonize their positions, the Spanish authorities would be obliged to set a deadline for the transfer of their powers. OPINION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE On October 16 the International Court of Justice delivered its opinion on the status of the territory at the time of colonization. It concluded that there were legal ties between the territory and Morocco and Mauritania, but that the ties were not of such a nature as might affect the right of the people to exercise their right of self-determination. (For a fuller statement of the Court's opinion see Part IV, p. 319.) Neither the International Court nor the Visiting Mission called for a referendum in the territory. SECURITY COUNCIL King Hassan of Morocco hailed the Court's opinion that there were legal ties between Morocco and the territory and immediately announced a peaceful march of 350,000 civilians into the Sahara to attest to Moroccan territorial integrity. In response to the King's announcement, Spain on October 18 requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council to consider the situation. The Council met five times between October 20 and November 6. Spain suggested that the Council dispatch a special mission to determine what the Government of Morocco intended to do with regard to its recent announcement that it would march on the Sahara, and it expressed the hope that the Council would direct an urgent appeal to the King of Morocco to refrain from carrying out the march. After considerable negotiation, the Council on October 22 adopted by consensus a resolution that |