DISCONTINUANCE OF UNITED STATES PROCEEDINGS AGAINST BULGARIA RESPECTING THE 1955 AIRCRAFT INCIDENT: Order of the International Court of Justice, May 30, 1960 4

Czechoslovakia

"CONCERNED WITH THE FREEDOM OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA AND HER NEIGHBORS [THOMAS] MASARYK WAS OUTSPOKEN IN HIS ADVOCACY OF FREEDOM AND SELFDETERMINATION FOR THESE PEOPLES”: Remarks Made by the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Merchant) at Ceremonies Dedicating the Thomas Masaryk "Champion of Liberty" Stamp, Washington, March 7, 19601

UNITED STATES REGRETS CONCERNING CZECHOSLOVAK BARRING OF "INTERNATIONAL MAIL TO ADDRESSEES in CZECHOSLOVAKIA BEARING UNITED STATES POSTAGE STAMPS HONORING THE LATE PRESIDENT MASARYK": Note From the Acting Secretary of State (Dillon) to the Czechoslovak Chargé d'Affaires ad interim at Washington (Zantovsky), Delivered August 24, 19602

"THE MISREPRESENTATION BY THE CZECHOSLOVAK AUTHORITIES OF A TRIBUTE TO . . . AN OUTSTANDING CZECHOSLOVAK PATRIOT AS AN UNFRIENDLY ACT TOWARD CZECHOSLOVAKIA IS BEYOND COMPREHENSION": Note From the Secretary of State (Herter) to the Czechoslovak Ambassador at Washington (Ruzek), December 13, 19603

I.C.J. Reports (1960), pp. 146 ff. For background see American Foreign Policy, 1950-1955: Basic Documents, p. 2094, and American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1957, pp. 649–657.

1 Department of State press release No. 108; the Department of State Bulletin, Mar. 28, 1960, p. 494.

2 Department of State press release No. 487, Aug. 25, 1960; ibid., Sept. 12, 1960. pp. 414 415.

3 Department of State press release 696, Dec. 14, 1960: ibid., Jan. 2, 1961, p. 17. The Secretary's note was in reply to a Czechoslovak note of Nov. 6, not printed.

The "German Democratic Republic"

[See note, p. 359.]

Hungary

REMOVAL OF RESTRICTIONS HITHERTO APPLICABLE TO UNITED STATES PASSPORTS FOR TRAVEL TO AND IN HUNGARY: Announcement Issued by the Department of State, April 29, 19601

UNITED STATES REQUEST FOR INCLUSION OF "THE QUESTION OF HUNGARY" IN THE AGENDA OF THE FIFTEENTH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Letter and Explanatory Memorandum From the U.S. Representative at the U.N. (Lodge) to the U.N. SecretaryGeneral (Hammarskjold), August 20, 1960 2

154. UNITED STATES REVIEW OF THE NEED FOR UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONSIDERATION OF "THE QUESTION OF HUNGARY": Statement Made by the U.S. Representative (Morse) Before the U.N. General Assembly, October 10, 1960 3

3

In October 1956 the people of Hungary revolted against the oppressive Communist government and attempted to restore their lost liberties. They appealed to the United Nations for help.

Amid threatening signs of Soviet intentions to crush the Hungarian revolution and do it by force, the Security Council met to deal with the situation. The Soviet representative, Mr. [Arkady A.] Sobolev, assured the Security Council that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was about to engage in discussions with the then Hungarian government, including the question of withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary."

Only a few hours after that assurance, Soviet troops and armored columns attacked the Hungarian patriots and Soviet personnel seized 'Department of State press release No. 230; the Department of State Bulletin, May 16, 1960, p. 797.

U.N. doc. A/4447; the Department of State Bulletin, Sept. 12, 1960, p. 422. 'U.S.-U.N. press release 3526/Corr.1 (text as printed in the Department of State Bulletin, Nov. 7, 1960, pp. 727-729).

'See American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1956, pp. 462-463. 5 See U.N. doc. S/PV.746.

the officials of the government and established the present government of Hungary in its stead.

The Soviet Union then vetoed a resolution in the Security Council calling on it to withdraw Russian troops. An emergency special session was called, and the Assembly of the United Nations demanded that the U.S.S.R. withdraw its troops and that free elections be permitted in Hungary.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics defied this call of the General Assembly and continued its armed repression of the revolution, a repression which cost some 25,000 lives, it is estimated. As members of the Assembly are well aware, many times this number of people fled across the frontier to a haven in the West. Four years after the Assembly's call, Soviet troops are still the basis of Communist power in Hungary and there have been no free elections in the country.

A United Nations Special Committee on Hungary, composed of representatives from Tunisia, Ceylon, Australia, Denmark, and Uruguay, thoroughly examined the facts of the Hungarian revolution and the Soviet armed intervention during 1957 and produced a report 8 conclusively proving the popular nature of the uprising and the facts of Soviet military attacks upon the populace. I recommend the reading of that report to those who have not had the opportunity to read it. The General Assembly subsequently condemned the defiance of the United Nations by Hungary and the U.S.S.R.," and the Assembly has declined since 1956 to approve the credentials of the Hungarian representatives.

In April of 1958 Mr. Khrushchev visited Hungary and publicly expressed his approval of the repressive measures still being carried out at that date by the Hungarian regime. Against this background Moscow and Budapest announced simultaneously on June 16 the execu tion of Prime Minister [Imre] Nagy and General Pal Maleter and several other outstanding Hungarian patriots.10

This is the background of the situation we face today.

Many efforts have been made by many persons to obtain Soviet and Hungarian cooperation with the United Nations and compliance with its recommendations.

These began with efforts by the Secretary-General made at the request of the Assembly to go to Hungary. He was rebuffed."1

They were followed with further efforts to obtain Soviet and Hungarian compliance to the first Special Representative of the United Nations, Prince Wan of Thailand, a former President of the Assembly,12 and now to Sir Leslie Munro of New Zealand, also a former President of the Assembly.13 Both the U.S.S.R. and Hungary have

* See American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1956, p. 467, footnote 10a. 7See U.N. General Assembly Res. 1004 and 1005 (ES-II) of Nov. 4 and 9, 1956: texts ibid., pp. 468–471.

8 Text ibid., 1957, pp. 680–685.

9

10

By its Res. 1133 (XI) of Sept. 14, 1957; text ibid., pp. 702–704.

See ibid., 1958, pp. 662–663.

11 See ibid., 1957. pp. 657-659.

12 See ibid., pp. 705-706.

13 See ibid., 1959, pp. 818-819.

adamantly refused to deal with any of these representatives of the United Nations.

Last year the General Assembly asked the Special Representative to continue his efforts and specifically called upon the U.S.S.R. and Hungary to cooperate with him.14 Now the Special Representative has announced that his efforts to consult with the Foreign Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Hungary pursuant to his mandate have been rebuffed.15 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the present Hungarian authorities have thus continued to defy the appeals of the General Assembly, raising the question as to whether we are going to establish a world order based upon a system of international justice by law.

Mr. President, the intransigence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the present Hungarian authorities requires that this Assembly again consider this problem.

Attempts have been made to intimidate this and previous General Assemblies by the use of violent words, false charges, and bluster. Repeated reference has been made to the Hungarian question as though it were nonexistent. Obviously, Mr. President, the United Nations does not consider this question to be nonexistent.

Ever since the heroic Hungarian people rose up against a regime which had been installed and supported by the military forces of the Soviet Union, the members of the United Nations, first in the Security Council, then in emergency special session, and then at four regular sessions of the General Assembly have striven to ameliorate the plight of the Hungarian people.

The opponents of this item have argued that the General Assembly should sidetrack it in order to devote more time to seeking ways to relax international tensions and to discuss the problems of disarmament. In the opinion of the United States, Mr. President, the abandonment of the Hungarian people by the United Nations, in the face of the Soviet Union's and the Hungarian regime's defiance of its many resolutions, could not possibly contribute to a lessening of world tensions. On the contrary, such action would only serve to undermine the prestige and moral authority of the United Nations and encourage disrespect for its recommendations.

These are the reasons, Mr. President, which lead the United States to request the inscription of this item on our agenda again this year. We cannot pretend that the events of the past 4 years have never taken place, nor can we ever make progress toward reducing international tensions by turning our backs on the plight of oppressed peoples.

Freedom and peace are indivisible. The day of freedom must come, not only in Asia and Africa, where it has been arriving with dramatic suddenness, but also in those areas of Europe and Asia which have been subjected to the new domination of alien masters.

"See U.N. General Assembly Res. 1454 (XIV) of Dec. 9, 1959; text ibid., pp. 836-837.

For these reasons, Mr. President, my Government urges the inclusion of the Hungarian item on this year's agenda of the General Assembly.16

FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HUNGARIAN 1956 "ILLFATED AND HEROIC STRUGGLE FOR NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE”: Statement Issued by the Department of State, October 22, 1960 17

17

155. THE QUESTION OF HUNGARY: Report of the U.N. Representative on Hungary (Munro), November 28, 1960 (Excerpts) 18

The express terms of the General Assembly's resolution of 9 December 1959 " dictated that I should make a fresh approach to the Hungarian authorities. I therefore addressed the following communication to the Foreign Minister of Hungary on 1 February 1960:

"SIR:

"By General Assembly resolution 1312 (XIII) of 12 December 1958, I was appointed 'to represent the United Nations for the purpose of reporting to Member States or to the General Assembly on significant developments relating to the implementation of the Assembly resolutions on Hungary'. At the recent session, the General Assembly, by resolution 1454 (XIV) of 9 December 1959, requested the United Nations Representative on Hungary 'to continue his efforts', and called upon Hungary to co-operate with the United Nations Representative. "In pursuance of the General Assembly resolution, I addressed a letter on 19 January 1960 to the Permanent Representative of Hungary to the United Nations. In this letter, while noting the contention by representatives of Hungary that the General Assembly resolutions are an infringement of the domestic jurisdiction of Hungary, I recalled that the Chairman of the Hungarian delegation to the Assembly had observed, in connexion with the resolution then before the Assembly, that nobody consulted any competent representative of the Hungarian Government to find out what sort of solution could be admissible'. In my letter to the Permanent Representative, I also drew attention to my continued concern to pay a visit to Hungary in connexion with the resolutions of the General Assembly-a concern first stated in a communication to the Permanent Representative on 14 May 1959. In my recent letter, I reiterated the hope that the Government of Hungary would see fit to afford the necessary facilities for a visit on my part to Hungary in response to the terms of the General Assembly resolution.

"My letter was returned by the Permanent Representative to the SecretaryGeneral on 21 January 1960, accompanied by a note to the following effect :

16 The General Assembly voted 54 to 12, with 31 abstentions, Oct. 10, 1960, to include "the Question of Hungary" as item 81 in its agenda and agreed, Oct. 11, that the item should be considered in plenary. Other business prevented the Assembly's consideration of the item during its 15th session.

17

Department of State press release No. 606, Oct. 21, 1960; the Department of State Bulletin, Nov. 7, 1960, p. 720.

18

U.N. doc. A/4606, Dec. 1, 1960. The report was not made public until noon Dec. 2.

1 Res. 1454 (XIV); text in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1959, pp. 836-837.

20 Text ibid., 1958, pp. 683-684.