The Rotary Balita no. 782 (October 13, 1955)

Introduction
The 24th of October 1955 — UNITED NATIONS DAY — will mark the tenth anniversary of that day in 1945 on which the United Nations Charter came into force as world law. The Charter, adopted unanimously at the San Francisco Conference, can be summed up briefly as a guide to action for a better world. The Charter sets forth in its Preamble a general declaration of high intention; it defines purposes and principles which make up a code of conduct between nations; and it describes the machinery needed — the different organs of the United Nations — for their government.

The United Nations is not a world government: it is a voluntary organization of 60 independent, sovereign nations. It is not an institution set apart from and above the governments. It offers a meeting place, a moral impetus and an institutional framework for the cooperation of these governments in programs of common benefit. The degree of its effectiveness is not determined by the framework, but by the manner in which the Member governments act, or fail to act, inside that framework.

The Members of the United Nations work together in the full light of publicity in order to find common lines of approach that will reduce frictions and create more effective means for peaceful progress. In that effort there is no easy way to success and there is no shortcut to progress. The United Nations has to build slowly and solidly with careful preparation, truthfulness, precision, patience, impassivity and modesty. It acts by persuasion and common consent, not by compulsion. Yet the moral power exerted through the United Nations can be very great indeed; already, on some occasions, it has influenced the course of history.

The United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco in the closing days of the Second World War. A weary and war-sickened humanity longing for a peace that would last, quite naturally tended to mistake what was essentially a statement of high purposes for the achievement of those purposes. It is true that the hopes of 1945 have been tempered by a fuller understanding of the obstacles that still bar the way to lasting peace. Yet the lapse of time finds the broad aims and objectives of the Charter as sound as ever, and ten years of day-to-day application of United Nations principles have shown that the machinery devised at San Francisco can work, and can be made to work better in the future, with the steadfast faith and patient effort of Member governments and the peoples they represent.

The aims of the United Nations are, among other things, to maintain international peace and security; to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors; to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger free. dom; to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, and in the equal rights of men and women; to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples; and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained.

As we look back on the first ten years of the United Nations, we can see many ways in which it has worked for these aims with constructive results, despite disappointments and setbacks.


I. How is the United Nations Working to Maintain International Peace and Security?

Despite being handicapped by political differences among the major world Powers, the peace machinery of the United Nations has already proved its value as a conciliating and mediating force. For the first time in history, action recommended by an international organization hurled back a military aggressor. Disarmament studies are continuing. and an international technical conference on the peaceful uses of atomic energy is to be held in Geneva in August 1955 under the auspices of the United Nations. A world-wide collective security system based on the United Nations is gradually being built up. The following are examples of the way in which the Organization is working for world peace:

a. Palestine

For many years Palestine had been the scene of disorder and bloodshed. The General Assembly after having been requested by the United Kingdom (the Mandatory Power) to consider the problem, sent a special committee to study the situation and on 29 November 1947, recommended a plan for the partitioning of Palestine into an Arab, State, a Jewish State, and, under a special international regime the City of Jerusalem — the three to be linked by economic union.

Conditions in Palestine continued to deteriorate after the Assembly's recommendation to partition it. A special session of the Assembly was called, Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden was appointed United Nations. Mediator and given the task of using his good offices to promote peace in Palestine.

The new State of Israel was proclaimed on 14 May 1948, immediately after the United Kingdom terminated its Mandate over Palestine, and the Arab States intervened in support of the Palestinian Arabs. The Security Council called upon the parties concerned to cease hostilities.

The Mediator was able to bring about a temporary truce. While working on plans for a permanent peace, he was shot and killed in Jerusalem on 17 September 1948. Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, a member of the United Nations Secretariat, was immediately appointed Acting Mediator and continued the efforts of his predecessor. The General Assembly on 11 December 1948 established a Conciliation Commission for Palestine and instructed it to assist the Governments and authorities concerned to achieve a final settlement of outstanding questions.

As a result of United Nations mediation efforts, general armistice agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt on 24 February 1949, Israel and Lebanon on 23 March, Israel and the Hashemite Jordan Kingdom on 3 April and Israel and Syria on 20 July. Israel was admitted to membership in the United Nations in 11 May 1949.

The Conciliation Commission continues to facilitate the economic development of the area, as well as the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of Arab refugees from Palestine.

A United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, established by the Security Council, observes the maintenance in Palestine of the cease-fire. It also assists the parties to the armistice agreements in the supervision of the application and observance of the terms of those agreements. The Chief of Staff of the Truce Supervision Organization reports to the Security Council on the observance of the cease-fire in Palestino, and keeps the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine informed of matters affecting the Commission's work.

A number of complaints concerning violations of the armistice agreements have been considered by the Security Council. The Council, for example, after considering an Israel complaint, in September 1951 asked Egypt to lift its restrictions on international shipping through the Suez Canal and to cease all interference beyond that essential to the safety of shipping and the observance of international conventions. Subsequently, after a further Israel complaint, the representative of Egypt, at a meeting of the Security Council on 4 January 1955, informed the Council of the release of the crew of the Israel ship Bat Galim on 1 January and of the intention of the Egyptian Government to consider arrangements for the release of the ship and cargo.

The Security Council in November 1953 found that retaliatory action at Qibya, Jordan, taken by armed forces of Israel in October 1953 and all such actions constituted a violation of the cease-fire provisions of the Security Council resolution of 15 July 1948, and were inconsistent with the parties' obligations under the Jordan-Israel Armistice Agreement. On 29 March 1955 the Security Council condemned the Israel attack on the Gaza strip of 28 of February 1955 as a violation of the cease-fire provisions and as inconsistent with the obligations of the parties under the Egyptian-Israel Armistice Agreement.

In connection with general conditions on the armistice demarcation line between Egypt and Israel and tension there which had been reported on by the Chief of Staff of the Truce Supervision Organization, the Council on 30 March 1955 called on Egypt and Israel to cooperate with the Chief of Staff with regard to proposals he had made to them for preserving security in that area. The Council also asked the Chief of Staff to continue consultations with those two Governments with a view to introducing practical measures to that end and to keep the Council informed of the progress of his dis-[omitted].

b. India-Pakistan Question

A situation between India and Pakistan, involving the State of Jammu and Kashmir, was first brought to the attention of the Security Council in January 1948 by India. India charged that hostile tribes from outside the State were receiving aid from Pakistan in their invasion of Jammu and Kashmir, creating a situation dangerous to peace. Pakistan denied the charges made by India, and, among other complaints, questioned the legality of Kashmir's accession to India.

The Security Council on 17 January 1948 called upon both India and Pakistan to do everything within their power to lessen the possibility of war there. Three days later the Council established a United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan. This Commission persuaded the two Governments to order a cease-fire to take effect on 1 January 1949. Full agreement was reached on 27 July 1949 on a cease-fire line in Kashmir. The Commission was later liquidated and a United Nations Representative for India and Pakistan assumed the Commission's functions.

c. Indonesia

The situation resulting from hostilities between the forces of the Netherlands and of the Republic of Indonesia was brought before the Security Council on 30 July 1947 by Australia and India, individually. On 1 August 1947 the Council called upon both parties to cease hostilities. It asked the consular representatives of its members to keep it informed of the position, and established a Committee of Good Offices to help negotiations. As a result of negotiations conducted under the auspices of the Committee, the Netherlands and the Republic signed a truce agreement on 17 January 1948, on board the U.S.S. Renville, and at the same time agreed to certain political principles as the basis of a permanent settlement.

Hostilities broke out anew in December 1948, when the Netherlands denounced the Renville Agreement and began military operations in Indonesia. The capital of the Republic of Indonesia and many other towns and cities in Java and Sumatra fell to the Netherlands forces, and all the important Republic leaders were imprisoned by the Dutch. The Security Council called upon the parties to cease all military operations and guerrilla warfare. The Netherlands was called upon to release, immediately and unconditionally, all political prisoners arrested since the renewal of hostilities. The Council recommended the establishment of a federal, independent, and sovereign United States of Indonesia at the earliest possible date. It renamed the Committee of Good Offices the United Nations Commission on Indonesia and asked it to assist the parties in carrying out its recommendations.

The Netherlands and the Indonesian Republic began discussions on 14 April 1949 at Batavia. During these discussions, which were held under the auspices of the Commission and which lasted through 1 August 1949, agreement was reached, among other things, on the return of the Republican Government to the capital of Indonesia, the taking of measures to halt guerrilla warfare and to restore peace, the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and the holding of a round. table conference to devise arrangements for hastening the transfer of sovereignty. The Indonesian Republic leaders returned to their capital on 6 July, following the evacuation of Dutch troops and the occupation by Republican forces, under the observation of United Nations military observers.

A Round Table Conference for the settlement of the Indonesian question met at The Hague from 23
August to 2 November 1949. As a result of the Conference, the Netherlands on 27 December 1949
transferred full sovereignty over the whole of the territory of the Netherlands Indies, with the exception of Netherlands New Guinea, to Indonesia. Indonesia on 28 September 1950 became a Member of the United Nations.

d. Greek Question

The question of guerrilla warfare in Greece was brought to the attention of the Security Council by Greece on 3 December 1946. At that time Greece stated that the support by Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia to Greek guerrillas fighting against the Greek Government was leading to friction with these countries. The Security Council on 19 December 1946 appointed a Commission of Investigation, and the General Assembly on 21 October 1947 set up a United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans, which observed the situation on the spot. Assembly body was later replaced by the Balkan The Sub Commission of the Assembly's Peace Observation Commission. The northern borders of Greece were progressively pacified and open conflict did not occur. Because of the trend of relations, the number of United Nations military observers in Greece, was, at the suggestion of the Greek Government, limited on 21 December 1953 to four, and on 1 August 1954, the United Nations Observer Mission in Greece was discontinued.

e. Iranian Question

On 19 January 1956 Iran informed the Security Council that USSR interference in its internal affairs might result in international friction. Eleven days later, after discussion, the Council took note of the readiness of the parties to negotiate and asked them to inform it of the result of their negotiations.
On 6 May Iran reported the withdrawal of Soviet troops except from the province of Azerbaijan, and fifteen days later, apparent evacuation from there as well.

f. Syrian and Lebanese Question

On 4 February 1946 Lebanon and Syria brought to the attention of the Security Council the continued presence there of British and French troops. A resolution expressing confidence that the troops would be withdrawn as soon as practicable was not adopted because of the negative vote of the USSR, but France and the United Kingdom nevertheless stated that they would give effect to the majority view.

The withdrawal of French and British troops from Syria was completed during the first two weeks of April 1946. On 9 May Lebanon expressed satisfaction with the outcome of negotiations in which France agreed to withdraw all but a small group of its troops by 31 August, and the United Kingdom its troops, except a small liquidation party, by 30 June 1946.

g. Complaint of Burma

Burma on 25 March 1953 complained that "Kuomintang" troops in Burma had refused to submit to disarmament and internment, and that engagements had taken place between them and the Burmese army. The hostile acts of these forces against Burmese troops and their depredations against the civilian population, Burma charged, amounted to aggression. After considering the matter, the General Assembly on 23 April 1953 condemned the presence of foreign forces in Burma and their hostile acts, and declared that these forces must be disarmed and either agree to internment or leave Burma. All States were urged to assist Burma, on its request, to facilitate by peaceful means the evacuation of these forces from Burma.

Foreign forces began to be evacuated on 7 November 1953, and the Assembly on 8 December 1953 urged that efforts be continued. The Assembly on 29 October 1954 noted with satisfaction that nearly 7,000 persons had been evacuated from Burma, and expressed its appreciation to the United States and Thailand in helping to bring about this evacuation. All States were urged to take all necessary steps to prevent the furnishing of any assistance which might enable foreign forces to remain in the territory of Burma or to continue their hostile acts against that country. Burma was invited to report to the Assembly as appropriate.

h. Berlin Blockade

An incident which threatened to break out into an armed conflict was the so-called "Berlin blockade," resulting from the imposition of restrictions on transport and communications between the Western Zones of Occupation in Germany and Berlin. After several months of United Nations efforts at conciliation, the lifting of the blockade was brought about in May 1949 through discussions by the United Nations representatives of France, the USSR, the United Kingdom and the United States — the four Powers concerned.

i. Korean Question

The problem of the independence of Korea was brought before the United Nations General Assembly for the first time by the United States in September 1947. The Assembly in November 1947 established a United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea. This Commission observed the May 1948 elections in South Korea (the only part of Korea open to it) and reported to the Assembly. After considering the report, the Assembly in December 1948 declared that there had been established a lawful government (the Government of the Republic of Korea) having effective control and jurisdiction over that part of Korea where the Temporary Commission was able to observe and consult and in which the majority of the Koreans resided. It stated that this Government was based on elections that expressed the free will of the electorate of that part of Korea and that this was the only such Government in Korea. The Assembly recommended that the occupying Powers withdraw their forces from Korea as early as practicable and established a Commission on Korea to lend its good offices to bring about the unification of Korea.

An attack by North Korean forces on the Republic of Korea on 25 June 1950 was called to the attention of the Security Council by the United States representative, and was reported on the same day by the United Nations Commission on Korea. The Security Council met immediately and, deciding that a breach of the peace had occurred, called for a cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of the invading forces. It asked Members to assist the United Nations in executing the resolutions and to refrain from assisting the North Korean authorities. Two days later, noting that its previous recommendation had not been carried out, the Council recommended that the Members of the United Nations furnish to the Republic of Korea the assistance necessary to repel the armed attack and restore peace in the area. On 7 July the Security Council authorized the formation of a Unified Command under the United States and recommended that all Members providing military forces and other assistance under its previous recommendations make them available to this Command.

The resolutions of 25 and 27 June 1950 were recommendations, not orders, and the move was unprecedented. It was the first time that collective military measures had been undertaken by a world organization. Fifty-three of the 60 Members expressed general support of the stand taken by the Council; 41 nations sent materials and supplies to Korea and the following 16 Members provided armed forces in addition to those furnished by the Republic of Korea itself: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, the following five nations provided medical units: Denmark, India, Italy, Norway and Sweden.

During the first weeks of fighting, the initial Communist offensive forced the United Nations forces into a small beachhead perimeter in the Pusan area, where the United Nations lines stiffened. In September 1950, the United Nations forces took Inchon and attacking out of the Pusan perimeter. The United Nations forces soon regained most of the territory of the Republic of Korea and in the process largely destroyed the North Korean army as an effective fighting force. In early November, the United Nations Command reported that Chinese Communist forces had intervened in the Korean conflict. In later November, the United Nations troops were forced by a Chinese Communist attack to withdraw southward. The Communist offensive was stopped south of Seoul in January 1951.

The General Assembly, after considering the new situation, on 1 February 1951 stated that the Gentral People's Government of the People's Republic of China, by giving direct aid and assistance to those who were already committing aggression in Korea and by engaging in hostilities against United Nations forces there, had itself engaged in aggression in Korea. The determination of the United Nations to continue its action in Korea to meet the new aggression was affirmed. In March 1951, the United Nations Command took the initiative in the fighting, and by June of that year had succeeded in advancing to a line across central Korea. The fighting front was stabilized more or less along the 38th parallel.

Agreement on an exchange of sick and wounded prisoners, to begin 20 April, was reached on 11 April 1953 at Panmunjom by representatives of the United Nations Command and of the North Koreans and Chinese. On 8 June, United Nations Command and Chinese-North Korean truce negotiators signed an agreement on the exchange of prisoners of war. The agreement provided, inter alia, that no force or threat would be used against prisoners. The United Nations Command had opposed forceful repatriation of all prisoners of war, while the other side had insisted on repatriation of all prisoners, by force if necessary.

An armistice agreement between the United Nations Command and the Commanders of the Korean People's Army and the Chinese People's Volunteers was signed on 27 July 1953 — after over a year of fighting, and after two years of determined and often frustrated negotiations. Fighting was thus stopped in Korean area which had become the proving ground for collective action against aggression.

Connected with the Korean question was an item proposed by the United States as the Unified Command regarding eleven members of the United States armed forces under the United Nations' Command captured by Chinese forces in January 1953. The General Assembly in December 1954, after considering the item, declared that the detention and imprisonment of the airmen and the detention of all other captured personnel of the United Nations Command desiring repatriation was a violation of the Korean Armistice Agreement. The Secretary-General was requested, in the name of the United Nations, to seek their release.

As a result of the request, Secretary-General Hammarskjold held a number of personal meetings with Mr. Chou Enlai, Prime Minister of the State Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, in Peking in January 1955. While there were no immediate tangible results, the Secretary-General declared that he would continue his contacts in order to seek the release of the men in question.

j. Collective Security System

The United Nations Charter provides that Member States are to place armed forces and other facilities at the disposal of the Security Council for use as needed to enforce peace. Because of differences between the USSR and the other big Powers, agreements on this have never been negotiated.

In the meantime, however, several regional and collective self-defence pacts against aggression have been concluded by Member States in accordance with provisions of the United Nations Charter.

The outbreak of hostilities in Korea on 25 June 1950 resulted in yet another important step in building a world-wide collective security system based on the United Nations. When the Republic of Korea was invaded, the recommendation for collective United Nations action against aggression was made by the Security Council, the eleven member body where the negative vote of a permanent member, the so-called "veto", could have prevented a decision. As a result of decisions taken later that year, such a recommendation can now be adopted just as well by the General Assembly, where all Members have a seat and where there is no veto power.

These alternative arrangements were established by the General Assembly's "Uniting for Peace" resolutions of 3 November 1950: if, because of a veto by any one of its five permanent members, the Security Council fails to act on an apparent threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, the Assembly itself may take up the matter immediately — in emergency special session I called at 24 hours' notice if necessary — and recommend collective measures, including the use of armed force. While the Assembly may only recommend, its recommendation can be effective if the Member Governments are willing and able to make it so.

Meanwhile, a Collective Measures Committee is planning principles and methods of collective action, and a Peace Observation Commission stands ready to observe and report on any dangerously developing situation.

All Member States, the Assembly has recommended, should maintain within their national armed forces elements so trained, organized, and equipped that they could promptly be made available for United Nations action to restore international peace and security.

k. Disarmament

From its beginning the United Nations has made continuous efforts to achieve disarmament so that the money, materials and human effort now devoted to arms and armed forces should be used for the betterment of mankind. Up to 1951, two United Nations commissions were engaged in preparing separate recommendations the Atomic Energy Commission established in 1946 and the Commission for Conventional Armaments established in 1947. The latter Commission had the task of formulating plans for the general reduction of arms and armed forces.

The task of the Atomic Energy Commission was mainly to work out a plan under which nations would agree to place the production of atomic energy under international control to ensure its use for peaceful purposes only and to bring about the total prohibition of atomic and all other weapons of mass destruction — i.e., destruction comparable in effect to that of the atomic bomb.

The Atomic Energy Commission adopted a plan based on one initially proposed by the United States under which an international agency would control the production of atomic energy, would own all source materials for its production, grant licenses to nations for the operation of non-dangerous facilities and inspect territories of all nations to detect violations or secret atomic production. This plan was rejected by the USSR which held that before there was agreement on control an agreement should be made prohibiting atomic weapons and providing for the destruction of existing ones. It also objected to the ownership of all atomic facilities by the agency as that would amount to infringement of national sovereignty.

The General Assembly in 1948 approved the plan adopted by the Commission but progress was made in achieving agreement between the Western Powers and the USSR which proposed that the Commission prepare two draft agreements, one on the control of atomic energy and the other on the prohibition of the atomic weapon, both agreements to come into force simultaneously.

Similarly no progress was made by the Commission for Conventional Armaments whose plan for making an inventory of the armaments (excluding atomic arms) and armed forces of the State Members of the United Nations was rejected by the USSR in 1949. The USSR held that there should be prior agreement on the principle of one-third reduction of armaments and armed forces by the permanent members of the Security Council and that the atomic weapons should be prohibited.

In 1951, the General Assembly established a new Disarmament Commission combining the functions of both Commissions; the two previous Commissions were abolished. Great Power differences, however, prevented substantial progress. Nevertheless, at the close of 1954, prospects for progress seemed brighter. The General Assembly in November 1954 agreed unanimously on a procedure and framework for renewed five-Power negotiations — by Canada, France, the USSR, the United Kingdom and the United States, the five nations principally involved — in regard to disarmament. A Sub-Committee of the Disarmament Commission, consisting of those States, which had previously met without success, and which was reactivated, convened in London in February 1955 to seek in private an acceptable solution.

Failure to obtain agreement on the international control of atomic energy made it difficult for the United Nations to do much to encourage the use of atomic energy in the cause of peace. However, on 8 December 1953, the President of the United States, in an address to the United Nations General Assembly, proposed that the Governments principally involved "begin now and continue to make joint contributions from their stockplies of normal uranium and fissionable materials" to an international atomic energy agency to be set up under the aegis of the United Nations. The main task of the agency, President Eisenhower stated, would be "to devise methods whereby this fissionable material would be allocated to serve the peaceful pursuits of mankind."

On 4 December 1954 the General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on international cooperation in developing the peaceful uses of atomic energy. After recalling the initiative of President Eisenhower, the Assembly noted that negotiations were in progress and expressed the hope that an international atomic energy agency, to be tied in with the United Nations, would be established without delay "to facilitate the use by the entire world of atomic energy for peaceful purposes, and to encourage international cooperation in the further development and practical application of atomic energy for the benefit of mankind."

In the course of the discussion in the Assembly which preceded the adoption of the resolution, the United States announced on 15 November 1954 that it was ready to give 220 pounds of fissionable material ("enriched U-235 fuel") to serve as fuel in experimental reactors to be erected in various countries — enough for perhaps fifty such reactors. The United Kingdom announced the next day that it had earmarked 44 pounds for a similar purpose, to be made available as required.

The Assembly also decided that an international technical conference of Governments should be held not later than August 1955, under the auspices of the United Nations, "to explore means of developing the peaceful uses of atomic energy through international cooperation and, in particular, to study the development of atomic power and to consider other technical areas — such a biology, medicine, radiation protection and fundamental science — in which international cooperation might most effectively be accomplished."