YouSaid · the spoken record

Bomboko

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS BOMBOKO

lines on the record: 115
first: 1961-09-24
most recent: 1966-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“By these hasty reforms in its colonial laws, and in particular by its promulgation of the legislative decree conferring Portuguese citizenship on Angolans, the Portuguese Government has ipso facto recognized the justice of our claims, and has itself destroyed the lie that Angolans were fully-fledged Portuguese citizens before September 1961. 212. Yet while the Portuguese are publishing these reforms to the world they are continuing to bomb and destroy indigenous villages and massacre the population, The provisional count of all these massacres, since these events began, amounts to more than 50,000 men, women and children killed. 213. As may be seen, the Portuguese are granting the Angolans citizenship by massacring them. 214.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“But these measures are in flagrant contradiction with the true facts of the situation—in the first place, in the sense that the Portuguese Government, in refusing as it always has done to furnish information on the political and social advancement of the peoples under its domination, has done so on the pretext that they were independent and enjoyed Portuguese citizenship rights, whereas they were actually subject to a different statute, called the "Acto colonial", which governed the status of the indigenous inhabitants. We know that the Portuguese took these measures, on the very eve of the re-convening of the United Nations General Assembly, only to deceive world opinion once again.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Is not Angola the home of the Angolans, and is it not Portugal which is seeking to perpetuate its domination, and which, unfortunately, imagines that it will maintain that domination for long years to come without any real reform in its policy? 210. On 28 September 1961 the Portuguese Government, through its Colonial Minister Mr. Adriano Moreira, declared that all natives of Portuguese colonies were to become fully-fledged Portuguese citizens and to enjoy the same political rights as the Portuguese; that at the forthcoming elections Angolans and Mozambicans would vote on equal terms with the whites to elect Angolan and Mozambican deputies to the Portuguese National Assembly. 211.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“The Sub-Committee has nevertheless been able to carry out a direct and impartial inquiry among the refugees who have been given asylum in the Republic of the Congo (Leopoldville). 208. Portugal has delayed taking any measures designed to make significant changes in its colonial policy. It merely invokes its alleged rights over what it calls its overseas provinces, and makes charges of foreign interference in Angola. In this connexion, it constantly accuses my country of having supplied arms to the Angolan fighters. 209. But even supposing that we had in fact intervened, which of us, the Congo or Portugal, is the foreigner in Africa? Is it not in fact Portugal which is the foreigner, in Angola in particular and in Africa in general?”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Since April 1961, refugees have been arriving in our country every day. On 1 September the number of such refugees was 131,000; today we have more than 150,000. These figures cover only registered refugees in receipt of relief from one of the appropriate organizations. The Portuguese representative, of course, minimizes the size of the Angolan exodus to the Congo—while nevertheless admitting a figure of 100,000 refugees—in order to conceal the seriousness of the general situation. It remains true none the less that oppression and repression of varying degrees of brutality have assumed a scale which is a disgrace to human dignity. The Portuguese Government denies this, but is very careful to see that no one can go to determine the facts on the spot. It has refused to permit the Sub-Committee on the Situation in Angola to enter Angola.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“The history of Angola and Algeria is no different from that of the rest of the continent. We have suffered deportation, slavery and economic spoliation together. But the peoples of Africa, peoples which less than a century ago had been reduced to slavery, have become free and independent States and members of the community of nations. The wind of African nationalism has enveloped the entire continent, Angola and Algeria not excepted. Nothing can now stop the march of history, just as nothing can stop the determination of our brothers in Angola and Algeria to win the right of self-determination. There have been many experiences of this kind in Africa. 207. Despite the resolutions adopted by the Security Council, to which the question has had to be referred, mass murder and repression are continuing in Angola.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“At its fifteenth session, the Assembly saw fit to devote a considerable part of its proceedings to this problem, and adopted by a large majority a resolution [1514 (XV)] calling for decolonization and the liberation of the peoples under foreign domination. Since then, Sierra Leone has acquired its independence as planned, and in 1961, again as planned, Tanganyika will become a sovereign State. Marked progress has been achieved in other parts of the African continent, progress which we note with satisfaction. 205. But no progress has been made, in particular, in Angola and Algeria, and the Assembly is again being obliged at this session to take up these problems and adopt appropriate measures for their solution. 206. Neither France nor Portugal appears to realize or to accept the undeniable evolution which is taking place in Africa.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“And if, thanks to the principle of self-determination, it has proved possible to bring independence to nations which have till now been the victims of colonialism, then the same principle should also apply to all the peoples of the earth, who have the right to choose their own form of government. My Government, appreciating as it does the value of these principles, believes that they should be the key to the Berlin problem, as to all problems threatening the peace of the world. It trusts that its appeal will be heard by all those who today in point of fact hold the destinies of the world in their hands. 203. The problem of disarmament, with all its implications for the Berlin crisis, is closely bound up with the problem of another scourge which still afflicts' mankind: colonialism. 204.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“On the contrary, the problem can be solved only by rational and dispassionate study, provided that each side is prepared to place the interests of the world as a whole above the ephemeral satisfactions of ill-placed national pride. 202. Since it was found possible in the past to conclude international agreements on the subject of Berlin, there is no reason why it should not be possible to revise them by mutual consent, if new circumstances make such a revision necessary. Pending that time, any mobilization of nuclear arsenals should be prohibited, for the threat it raises far transcends the sphere of the relations between the hostile blocs; it also affects other countries, which while they have no desire to be parties to the conflict, will undoubtedly be the victims of any conflagration it may cause.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“One cannot speak of the problems of disarmament and of colonialism without thinking at once of the question of Berlin and of the reunification of Germany. The dangers of war seem to be intensifying, and the difficult problem of Berlin is becoming one of the causes of the aggravation of international tension. In demonstrating its firmness, each antagonistic bloc may well drag the world, by some hasty action, into an atomic conflict. 201. On behalf of the Congolese nation, my Government fervently appeals to the Heads of Government of the two blocs to desist from the arms race. There is no problem, however difficult, which cannot be settled by means of a negotiated solution, and threats and war preparations will certainly not bring such a solution nearer.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“The peoples represented at San Francisco were resolved to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. It was not until after they had met that the first atomic bomb was to be exploded. Today it is our duty, it is the duty of all Member States, to find the means most suited in present conditions to protect mankind from fear and to save it from the destruction which threatens it. The only possible effective guarantee is the participation in such a convention of all States of the world, whether or not they manufacture or possess nuclear weapons, or produce or transport nuclear raw materials. 199. Until such time as the procedure I have suggested comes to a successful conclusion, the Assembly should take a decision providing for the suspension of nuclear weapons testing and the prevention of their wider dissemination. 200.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“The United Nations should no longer regard this problem as the private preserve of the great Powers. On the contrary, our Organization—in practice, the General Assembly—should take the initiative of going beyond a treaty to be signed by the great Powers alone and should resolve on the conclusion of an international disarmament convention. In view of the importance of this question, and of the desire of the United Nations to protect the world from the danger created by the accumulation of nuclear weapons, such a convention would as it were be a second United Nations Charter, signed by all the States of the world. It would be drafted in the spirit of the United Nations Charter and would set up a new specialized agency to provide the machinery of control and inspection.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“It is the duty of the United Nations to do everything in its power to promote the cause of disarmament and thereby to reduce the dangers of the annihilation of mankind. Its first step should be to bring about the prohibition of nuclear weapons testing and of the manufacture of nuclear armaments, and to ensure the destruction of all existing stocks. 197. The destruction of nuclear weapons and the prohibition of their manufacture should not wait upon the other stages of general disarmament. This first step should be taken even if the time-limits for putting an end to the use of other modern weapons have not yet been fixed. The urgent need for a treaty prohibiting the testing of nuclear weapons, subject to effective international control, is obvious. And such a prohibition should also extend to the manufacture of these armaments. 198.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“It is our profound conviction that all the nuclear Powers have contracted, as it were, a moral obligation to the world and to mankind to arrive at an agreement on the reduction of armaments. It is a fact that the problem of disarmament changes from year to year. Hitherto, the task has in essence been to induce the nuclear Powers to give up their weapons. Today, the problem is also to prevent prospective nuclear Powers from manufacturing or acquiring such weapons. 196. We are convinced that a practical programme of armaments reduction can be achieved, provided that it lays down measures to be taken by all interested States simultaneously, and that it ensures the security of each.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“On the contrary, quite apart from the resumption of nuclear testing, the adversaries have announced their intention to increase their respective military potentials. East and West have failed to reconcile their positions on the cardinal questions connected with the machinery of control and inspection. To fear espionage is to show a lack of trust and sincerity and to hasten the destruction of mankind. 195. In our eyes, disarmament is a means to an end— the avoidance of war. What we desire is not only disarmament, that is the limitation of armaments or of a certain category of armaments, but a world without war, a world from which war has been banished once and for all as the sole means of resolving differences.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“But there are also other problems on the agenda: the Algerian question, the situation in Angola, the economic development of the newly-independent countries or in 16/Committee on Arrangements for a Conference for the Purpose of Reviewing the Charter. general of all countries struggling for their independence—all these problems require us to dedicate ourselves more fully than ever to the United Nations and try to endow it, whatever its imperfections, with universally recognized and unchallenged authority and prestige, so that the world may be saved from the disastrous consequences which would result from its weakness, ineffectiveness or disappearance. 194. Little progress has been made in the field of disarmament.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“We hope, moreover, that the Committee set up in connexion with the review of the Charter^/ will be able to suggest any adjustments which the United Nations may need to adapt its organs to the new situation created by its increasing membership and the greater diversity of the problems it has to deal with. 193. Such changes, however, can in no way call in question the United Nations itself. The experience of the Congo has demonstrated that the existence of an integrated, strong and, above all, effective international Organization is a matter of necessity and interest to the small and medium-sized States.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“My delegation is therefore opposed to the division of the United Nations into three blocs. It is still more opposed to dividing up the executive organ of the United Nations on the basis of the idea of a triumvirate. 191. For the Congolese experience has given us a conclusive argument against the proposals to transform the office of Secretary-General into an organ having power to exercise some sort of veto over the execution of the Organization's decisions. Such a veto would have made any practical decision in the Congo impossible and would have reduced the Organization's executive to unprecedented impotence. The Congolese crisis would still be in existence. 192.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“In the spirit of the purposes and principles proclaimed in the Charter, we regard the United Nations as a dynamic instrument, as an Organization in which the Member States are united to maintain international peace and security, which they use not only to seek the conciliation necessary to that end but also to devise forms of practical action aimed at averting conflicts or settling them once they have arisen. 189. Any division of the United Nations into ideological groups would be tantamount to a negation of the principles laid down in the Charter. For the purpose of the United Nations is to serve as a centre in which all our efforts should be focused on promoting more harmonious international relations, on the basis of the principle of the equality of all Member States, large, medium-sized or small; weak or powerful. 190.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“In the light of the Congolese Government's policy of non-alignment and of what may be called political realism, my delegation cannot accept the division of the world into hostile camps and coalitions of interests as final and inevitable. The United Nations, in our view, is not a piece of static conference machinery whose function is to resolve differences of interest or ideology. Consequently, the composition of its various organs cannot be decided on the basis of any apportionment of interests or ideologies. 188.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“We are determined to spare no effort to put an end to the mutual fears of the rival blocs and to restore trust between the great antagonists. 186. The international Organization must act as guarantor of this trust, by virtue of the force of public opinion it wields in its task of preventing armed conflicts. The current session of the Assembly is not just one session among many. Seldom if ever has the Assembly been confronted with so many problems of such importance and consequence. It is meeting in an atmosphere of increased tension. We are faced with a general deterioration of international relations, and particularly of relations between the great Powers; and the protracted negotiations on disarmament have borne little fruit. The recent resumption of nuclear testing bears sufficient witness to the dangers threatening all mankind. 187.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“In endorsing the Belgrade principles, our intention was not to create a new bloc of neutral or uncommitted States, for that would inevitably amount to playing a game of bloc politics which could only add to the division of an already divided world. 184. The principles adopted by the Belgrade Conference are eminently praiseworthy ones, and enjoy our full and absolute support. The same applies to the guiding principles followed by the Conferences of Independent African States held successively at Accra, Monrovia, Addis Ababa and Leopoldville. 185. Such meetings enable those participating to find common ground on problems of world concern, and do a great deal to strengthen a most natural and useful solidarity.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“That is why the Congo is continuing to follow a policy of strict, but at the same time active neutralism. That is why We took part in the proceedings of the Belgrade Conference and endorsed the recommendations it adopted. 182. In the eyes of the Congolese Government, non-alignment is a political attitude which guarantees the freedom of all countries to approach international problems as sovereign States and solve them by means freely discussed in an atmosphere devoid of any political coercion. 183. The Congolese Government will adhere to that line of policy in relation to the two blocs as to all countries of the world.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“It was for that reason that my Government felt it necessary to proclaim solemnly, in its declaration of 2 August 1961, its intention to defend the Congo's independence vigorously, by a policy of non-alignment, against any outside interference. Its foremost concern will be to contribute by all possible means to the maintenance of world peace. My Government will defend all international organizations which have set themselves peaceful goals. Our sole desire is to ensure that all mankind, irrespective of race, sex or ideology, should enjoy greater social justice and achieve political and moral progress. 181. On the other hand, my country is convinced that peace cannot be achieved as the product of a passive neutralism; that would be equivalent to the abandonment of the struggle for peace.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“After this analysis of a number of questions of specifically Congolese interest, I should now like to take up some other problems of a general nature— which my delegation considers just as important. 179. First let me say that in the Congo's view the main obstacle to the solution of international problems and to the achievement of a real world peace is the continuance of the cold war, the main feature of which is the division of the World into two hostile ideological blocs, each suspicious and fearful of the other and each vying in the recruitment of new adherents. The small countries of Africa are often quite pressingly invited by various means to embrace one or another ideology. The Congo believes that to espouse either ideology would be to render ill service to the cause of peace. 180.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Until a general plan has been drawn up and put into effect, the time will be usefully spent in improving the operation of the public services, in restoring the Congo's infrastructure and in creating the atmosphere of work and discipline which are essential if the vital forces of the nation are to be mobilized, at last, for the successful achievement of the plan. 177. However that may be| my Government intends to see that technical assistance becomes a factor for reconciliation in the Congo, and not for subversion, as some States would desire. Africa's lack of political and technological background must not be exploited to enslave it, or in particular the Congo, by the malicious imposition of an ideology, whatever it may be. 178.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Once such a plan has been worked out and approved, once it has been decided to put it into effect, over the next five, seven or ten years, it will be easier to tell how much assistance will be needed, from year to year, to restore the Congo's economy and help it to overcome the tremendous difficulties still confronting it. Moreover, private capitalists, knowing our targets and our programmes, will find in such a plan the security they require to invest their capital and thus make a significant contribution to economic recovery and the reduction of unemployment. Lastly, we shall then be able to integrate bilateral assistance into the multilateral assistance contributed by the United Nations on the basis of balanced and coherent projections. 176.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“For the country now has a legal Government; all its institutions have again been given the power to play their part in political, administrative and economic life. The time has therefore come to take stock, to consider the length of its convalescence and to decide what remedies to administer to it in the months and years to come. And it is to the study of these remedies, to the formulation of a plan of economic, financial, social and administrative national health, that my Government would like the United Nations to give priority. 175.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Never before, perhaps, have international solidarity and co-operation been so spontaneously and so massively manifested. 173. The technical assistance we have been given up to now has been very much in the nature of an emergency relief operation; when a patient's life is hanging in the balance there is little point in debating his future activities. Such assistance as we have been receiving over the past year may perhaps have been somewhat make-shift, hasty or un-adaptable; it has nevertheless had the great virtue of being there, of having retrieved the Congo from the chaos into which it was sinking; and for that reason it has fully justified the hopes universally placed in it. F74. What has to be done now is to see that technical assistance is more carefully planned and co-ordinated.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“The collapse of law and order resulting from the Belgian aggression, the sudden departure of thousands of Belgians who had till then enjoyed a virtual monopoly of all posts requiring administrative and technical knowledge and, finally, the secession of the province of Katanga heralded a steady deterioration of economic and social life—rendered precarious already by the recession. 172. Thanks to the United Nations intervention, however, the Congo survived. The Congolese Government can only express once again its deep gratitude to the world Organization and to the Member States which hastened to its aid, either by sending troops to the Congo, by making technical personnel available to the Government or by contributing financially to United Nations operations.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Whatever mistakes in detail and on specific points critics may ascribe to the Organization in the highly complicated situation in the Congo, it is to be hoped that they do not lead Members to revise the basic rules which guide the United Nations activities in such situations, as laid down in the first report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on the Congo question, which the Council, a year ago, found reason, unanimously, to commend." [A/4800/Add.l, pp. 7 and 8.] 171. When it acquired its independence, the Congo found itself faced with almost insuperable difficulties. Very few Congolese had received the training and education necessary for the smooth running of the public services and technical facilities of a modern State.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“In fact, what was achieved by Parliament early in August may be said to have done so with sufficient clarity. It is a thankless and easily misunderstood role for the Organization to remain neutral in relation to a situation of domestic conflict and to provide active assistance only by protecting the rights and possibilities of the people to find their own way, but it remains the only manner in which the Organization can serve its proclaimed purpose of furthering the full independence of the people in the true and unqualified sense of the word. "The United Nations may be called upon again to assist in similar ways.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“In doing so, the Organization has been put in a position in which those within the country who felt disappointed in hot getting the support of the Organization were led to suspect that others were in a more favoured position and, therefore, accused the Organization of partiality, and in which, further, such outside elements as tried to get or protect a foothold within the country, when meeting an obstacle in the United Nations, made similar accusations. If, as it is sincerely to be hoped, the recent national reconciliation, achieved by Parliament and its elected representatives of the people, provides a stable basis for a peaceful future in a fully independent and unified Congo, this would definitely confirm the correctness of the line pursued by the United Nations in the Congo.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Therefore, the Organization, throughout the first year of its work in the Congo, up to the point when Parliament reassembled and invested a new national Government, has refused— what many may have wished—to permit the weight of its resources to be used in support of any faction so as thereby to prejudge in any way the outcome of a choice which belonged solely to the Congolese people. It has also had to pursue a line which, by safeguarding the free choice of the people, implied resistance against all efforts from outside to influence the outcome.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“They have therefore, naturally, held strong views on the direction in which they would like to see developments in the Congo turn and—with the lack of political traditions in the country and without the stability which political institutions can get only by being tested through experience—the doors have been opened for efforts to influence developments by supporting this or that faction or this or that personality. True to its principles, the United Nations has had to be guided in its operation solely by the interest of the Congolese people and by their right to decide freely for themselves, without any outside influences and with full knowledge of facts.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Let me therefore cite, in this connexion, a passage from the Introduction to the Annual Report of the Secretary-General [A/4800/Add.1], completed not later than 17 August 1961 and written in the light of the unfolding of the Congolese crisis—a passage which contains ideas fully endorsed by my Government. 170. This introduction, as a distinguished speaker has said in this Assembly, has become a veritable political testament. We read in it the following passage: "Different interests and Powers outside Africa have seen in the Congo situation a possibility of developments with strong impact on their international position.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Though there have been some mistakes, what the United Nations has done in the Congo has been salutary; and if some have on occasion spoken of the failure of the Organization, if the most serious criticisms have been levelled against the Secretary-General or his representatives, the reason has not been any weakness in the Organization or in the principles laid down in the Charter. No; on the contrary, the real underlying cause of the difficulties the United Nations has encountered in the Congo are to be found in the failure of Member States to abide by the resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly—indeed, by the principles of the Charter. 169.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“We venture to hope that the Secretary-General did not sacrifice his life in vain, and that Mr, Tshomb6 now understands the true reasons for the United Nations intervention in the Congo. 168. Over the past year, United Nations activities in the Congo have met with much criticism. There can be no doubt that the Congolese affairs has marked a new stage in the evolution of the world Organization. I have no wish to expatiate at length on these activities, or to analyse them in detail. Generally speaking, my Government endorses the Secretary-General's annual report [A/4800] in so far as it concerns "The situation in the Republic of the Congo".”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Sooner or later the Katangese adventure, if it continues, will end in the isolation of Katanga's leaders and the inevitable ruin of the province. 166. I am convinced that Katanga's present leaders do not wish to reduce their province to those straits, and that they love it too much to allow it to be plunged into chaos and war. 167. Only too much blood has been shed. The Secretary-General himself has perished in this tragic adventure. The Congolese Government does not wish to state its views on the circumstances of his death until the results of the investigation are known. It hopes, however, that the investigation will not bring to light some new intrigue engineered by unscrupulous imperialists.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“It will be unable to do so, however, unless President Tshombe makes a solemn and public statement declaring his recognition of President Kasa-Vubu as Head of the Republic of the Congo, of which the province of Katanga is an integral part. 164. I repeat once again: however great the Congolese Governments desire for conciliation, it can in no circumstances give way on this question of principle. 165. Accordingly, the Congolese Government is making a last appeal to provincial President Tshombe. The hour is grave. Katanga's stubbornness in turning its back on the rest of the Congo can only result in its ruin. No State in the world has recognized, nor can it recognize, the self-styled State of Katanga.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“It is for that reason that we repeat to our brothers of Katanga that while we maintain the greatest firmness in upholding the principle of Congolese unity, we are also ready to give understanding and sympathetic consideration to any sincere effort which they may make to draw closer to us. 162. We are prepared to work out a system for the distribution of revenue which will give every province its rightful due in the resources of the various regions of the country. But it Is in Parliament, and in Parliament alone, that the delegates of the various regions of Katanga will be able to discuss these problems with us. 163. We repeat: the Congolese Government is ready to enter into such discussions in a spirit of broader understanding.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“The Congolese Government well understands how difficult it may be for the Katangese leaders to repudiate certain positions they have adopted, It knows and understands the legitimate aspirations of the peoples of Katanga province to enjoy some measure of decentralization. The peoples of Katanga, Incidentally, are by no means the only ones to have expressed this desire; the Congolese Government is bound to pay attention to these aspirations, and it will pay attention to them, provided of course that they are expressed with due respect for order and by legal means. 161.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“That being so, the Congolese Government wishes to reaffirm, clearly and solemnly, the principles of its policy with regard to Katanga. The Congolese Government is determined to put an end to the secession of Katanga at the earliest possible date. The Congolese Government is founded on the will of the people and on respect for law. In no circumstances can it tolerate the presence in the territory of the Republic of a rebel and illegally constituted Government; to do so would be to disavow itself. On this point, the will of the Government is and will remain unshakable, 160. But, as a Congolese proverb has It, "Anger is a stranger which cannot be entirely trusted11.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Is that not a flagrant violation of the Security Council's resolutions? 156. The stubborn resistance of the Katangese gendarmerie, still officered by a mercenary soldiery of the most vile and criminal character, has resulted in the dramatic stalemate which we all know. 157. In order to put an end to fighting encouraged by certain financial powers—fighting which was claiming as its victims both our Katangese brothers and the soldiers of the United Nations—Mr. Hammarskjold decided to authorize a cease-fire. And that is where matters still stand. 158. The situation, as you see, is worse and more dangerous than ever. None of the parties involved is fully satisfied, and the position remains explosive, endangering the future of Central Africa and the peace of the world. 159.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Certain countries have not only tolerated and facilitated the recruitment of mercenaries by allowing recruitment offices to be opened in their territory, but have extended their collaboration so far as to supply Katanga with heavy armaments and fighter aircraft. 154. It is normally difficult even for a sovereign State to obtain fighter aircraft, since the producer countries place severe restrictions on their export. Cannot the United Nations tell the world which countries are involved in the sale of Fouga aircraft to Katanga—countries which may be held responsible for the damage caused in the Congo and for the tragic death of the Secretary-General? 155 There have been reports in the world Press of other aircraft and armaments delivered in the last few days to Katanga through Rhodesia, a United Kingdom territory.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“If the United Nations is unable to authorize its representatives in the Congo to detain the arrested persons, then nothing can prevent the Congolese Government from acting on its own initiative to detain, try and sentence to severe penalties any foreigners who, in defiance of the Congo's laws, are organizing an irregular army in our territory and taking part in subversive and terrorist movements. 152. The situation is serious. Either we solve these problems once and for all or we allow this farce to continue and as a result wilfully expose the lives of United Nations soldiers and civilian officials to grave danger. My Government cannot accept responsibility for such a policy. 153.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“As these refused to leave of their own accord, the United Nations, as a last resort and with the full agreement of the Congolese Government, decided to use force to remove them. 150. The United Nations resolutions calling for the withdrawal of the mercenaries and for control also solemnly called upon Member States to prevent the return of the mercenaries to the localities from which they had been expelled. 151. There has been a deliberate attempt to make a farce of these resolutions. Dozens of mercenaries expelled from Katanga have come back and resumed their vile work of hatred and destruction. My Government cannot tolerate this situation.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“No, for where there are interests involved no contradictions can arise. What they want is not to support the people of the Congo or their cause, but to seize their ore and keep their copper, 149. Knowing how much the industrious people of Katanga had suffered for several months at the hands of a conscienceless and greedy minority; knowing how the naivete of the gendarmerie is being exploited by the mercenaries, the Government decided that the time for vacillation was past; what was needed was specific action. As is known, many mercenaries left the Congo towards the end of August and early in September; however, there were still several hundred left at Elisabethville and in other parts of Katanga.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“At the end of August, after having endured President Tshombe's tergiversations for several weeks, the Government requested the United Nations to expel from Congolese territory the foreign officers and mercenaries recruited by the self-styled Katangese Government to sustain the secession of the province. For it is a matter of common knowledge that the Katangese gendarmerie officered not only by undesirable Belgian reactionaries but also by a rabble of soldiers of all kinds who have already been indulging in murder and robbery in Algeria for eight years, by Rhodesians, by South Africans—by those very men whose hatred of the man of colour is well known to the whole world. Is there not a patent contradiction between the attitude of these men elsewhere and the eagerness they display to serve the black man in Katanga?”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Africa must not be a theatre of discord but the continent of world reconciliation. 146. We can bear our Katangese brothers no ill will for their errors, for we know well that they are not responsible for them. I wish to make it clear to this Assembly, however, that the Congolese Government has decided to use force to put an end to the Katangese secession only after having exhausted all means of settling the problem by peaceful means. 147. For more than a year, the Leopoldville authorities have spared no effort to bring the Katangese back to the great Congolese family by means of talks or negotiations. 148.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)