YouSaid · the spoken record

Sékou Touré

lines on the record: 283
first: 1960-09-24
most recent: 1962-09-24
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

“The perfecting of legal rules and principles, the improvement of personal relationships and the development of relations between nations are all influenced by the struggle carried on by the peoples to free themselves individually or collectively from the practices of oppression and exploitation. This is why the struggles for freedom carried on by the peoples of Asia and Africa have made, and are continuing to make, a substantial contribution to the broadening of international justice, which implies equality between men and the strengthening of friendship between peoples. 87.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Yet, despite all this, attempts are made to convince us that the United Nations is independent of the opposing blocs and that it guarantees the same liberties and benefits to all peoples! 85. It is far too easy to admit that the political struggle transcends the principles of law. We wish, however, to proclaim in this speech that the political struggle influences the evolution of law and that a reactionary policy has the inevitable effect of dehumanizing the law. If each political regime can endow the law with nothing more than its own characteristics, then how can we hope to prevent the selfish interests of nations from bringing injustice and inequality into international relations? 86.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“To us, who assert that every people, no matter where or when, is fully and entirely capable of governing itself, the Trusteeship Council appears to be nothing else but the antechamber of colonization. 83. But what good is it listing one after the other all the instances in which the international organization falls short of the principles of justice, equality and democracy unless we are determined to improve it so that, it may become the vigilant guardian of international justice and security? 84. By dissociating the legal status of nations from the objective realities of their rights and international status, we arrive at the state of affairs in which 650 million Chinese are considered a mere abstraction while, in contrast, seats, and hence international power, are given to the Portuguese Government and the South African usurpers.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“If the majority of nations are disconcerted, nay, revolted, by the inability of the international organization to bring about the restoration of "Portuguese* Guinea and Mozambique to their peoples, to put an end to the heart-rending genocide which is raging in Angola or to eliminate the White dictatorship which reigns in South Africa, then what are we to say about those who are dying a hero’s death on the soil of their native land in their quest for justice? 82. What is to be said, too, about the Trusteeship Council, except that it is the incarnation of every legal possibility for multi-national colonization and is a refurbished version of the Treaty of Berlin?”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“It would be necessary to be blind to present conditions in order not to realize that the ending of colonialism and imperialism will restore equal responsibility In the conduct of international affairs to all peoples, and that only the actual exercise of this responsibility, Without any substitution or transfer of authority, can really start the evolution of the world towards a new humanism that will be commensurate with the aspirations and vast creative possibilities of world society. 81.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Such a choice involves a profound democratization of the whole structure of the international organization and complete respect for the principles of equality, liberty and solidarity which must determine the new nature of international relations. 79. The Security Council, in order to correspond with the obligations set forth in Article 26 of the Charter, must be reshaped not only in terms of the conditions of the present historical evolution, but also in terms of the prospects opened up by such evolution. 80.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In questions of international justice, the present structure of the United Nations makes it a restraining institution which, far from promoting and stimulating world progress, tends to perpetuate the factors impeding balanced development, by making co-operation a matter of politics or ideology. 78. It is not enough to say that the peoples of Asia and Africa have set their faces against everything which helps to keep relationships based on domination alive; we must make it clear that our action on the international plane is designed to modify the conditions of development of all countries, for unless this is done, there can be no hope of achieving true equality among peoples.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The world Organization, which for some States lacks sufficient authority while for others it is a sanctuary or instrument of value, is in danger of becoming the negation of the principles it represents. 76. The inability of the United Nations to adapt to the facts of international life the principles of equality, liberty and co-operation on which the Organization is based is due to its structural defects. Seventeen years after the last world conflict, it remains the supranational club of a few Powers holding the right of veto in the Security Council, which itself, despite the importance attaching to it, is constituted in defiance of the rules for the effective representation of all continents — Africa, indeed, is arbitrarily excluded from it. 77.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“I must state that, in our view, the latest United Nations actions in respect of the Congo are possibly a solution, but not a solution which will go to the root of the problem — since it is for the Congolese people itself, once it has been completely liberated and unified, to solve in its own best interests the problem of choosing the nature and, structure of its national institutions. Nor is it surprising that Cambodia has to resort to an exceptional procedure in order to obtain guarantees of the most inalienable and most sacred rights of a sovereign State. It is equally no matter for surprise that, from conferences to committees, from committees adjourned to conferences suspended, the problems of disarmament have ended up in a spectacular and menacing assumption of nuclear testing. 75.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“So far as practical action is concerned, we again call for a radical reform of the structures of the United Stations, which tend increasingly to make the world body into a meditation room for the majority of nations and an instrument of intrigue for a minority of States. 74. With this trend it is not surprising that the international Organization can make little headway with specific problems as simple, from the Juridical standpoint, as the settlement of the Congolese question.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“We take pleasure in affirming, here and now, that we shall never subordinate the interest of the African peoples to that of Guinea; on the contrary, we wish solemnly to reaffirm that the people of Guinea, fully conscious of the dictates of history, will ensure that its actions are always strictly in line with the higher interests of all the peoples which have had to suffer colonial domination and are fighting against everything that breeds injustice and indignity. 72. But at the same time we express the hope that the sister nations will look resolutely towards the future and, standing together in their legitimate aspirations for happiness and peace, will join forces in order to build, together, a new life based on justice, progress and the brotherhood of man. 73.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“We prefer to take action which is essentially positive and, by transcending the past conflicts of world society, broadens the channel of co-operation between peoples and accelerates the harmonious development of all nations. 71. At this period in history, the under-developed peoples, in particular must take vigorous action to bring about universal recognition of the interdependent destiny of mankind.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Our countries are kept, through the operation of the great economic markets, in a constant state of impoverishment which reduces the poorer nations to the status of suppliers of the highly developed ones. A multinational economic imperialism, as the successor to political imperialism, seeks to extend its domination over the economically undeveloped countries. Thus the continual deterioration of the terms of trade makes the technical assistance and co-operation which our countries receive quite inadequate, if not completely useless. 69. We must establish, against the neo-mercantile trends that are a feature of the international markets, a common front for the defence of our economic interests, with which the safeguarding of our independence and the social advancement of our peoples are intimately linked. 70.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The flagrant tendency to enlist the newly independent countries in one of the camps which dominate the international scene must spur us into redoubling our efforts to gain respect for our determination to remain the conscious servants of our peoples, with a rejection of any subordination or ideological or doctrinal domination contrary to the interdependent interests of all nations. 67. The aim of our activities must be to replace the negative struggle between different systems by a positive struggle for the speedy harmonization of development conditions, in all countries, with a view to abolishing the inhuman discrimination to which the peoples of the undeveloped countries are subject. 68.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“On the contrary — justice, equality and respect for nations must be built upon the framework of a new world, forever freed of subject nations, subjugated peoples and slave states. 66. While at the international level positive neutralism, which has been adopted by the majority of the African countries, is increasingly recognized to be the only outlook compatible with the preservation of nations' independence and with strict respect for the character of their peoples as the positive basis for their speedy development and complete emancipation, we cannot but note that the antagonisms and conflicts, both of interest and of prestige, which dominate the relations of the fully developed countries allow the aspirations of the undeveloped and under-developed peoples neither the hearing nor the place to which they are entitled in the concert of nations.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The international power of positive neutralism is that it promotes, independently of all external pressure, the free choice of peoples; in days to come, this power will be able to impose, on all nations, respect for the political choice of every people in the world. 65. But if this political power is to be brought into play, it is not enough for us to believe that justice will in the end triumph over injustice, that the use of force will give way to the use of reason, and that anti-popular regimes and usurped powers will eventually crumble away of themselves, corroded by their own incompetence. To believe this would be to cherish very Utopian illusions, for Which history provides no justification.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Liberty, sovereignty and neutrality for Africa — these three are incompatible with membership of any military, political, economic, financial or cultural group. We consider "defence" groupings to be as dangerous as military pacts, and no one will ever convince us that the interests of the people of the United States and of the people of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics end at Formosa, and Berlin respectively. We regard such theories as nothing more than an excuse for plans which cannot be avowed but whose main result is to poise over a number of peoples a potential threat of domination and over all nations the danger of a third, and perhaps the last, world conflict. 64.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In accordance with the Bandung principals, this unity should find expression, at the international level, in unity of action by the peoples of Asia and Africa, which have the duty of imposing, upon the narrow interests and selfish concerns of the nations with the greatest influence on the world's destiny, a new outlook that meets the standard demanded by the higher interests of world society, by the conversion of international relationships of subservience into relationships of equality, by respect for national character and for the peoples freedom to choose their political system and their trade procedures; and by a mutual guarantee involving the renunciation of all spheres of influence, whatever the pretexts employed to mask their purpose. 63.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“It matters little to us whether this unity is institutionalized, given organic structure and established in legal form. What is important is that the concentration of the activities of the African peoples should become a new and powerful instrument from which those peoples will all derive substantial benefit. 62.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Far from living in fear and despair, the young nations of Africa and Asia are living with firm hope and unshakable faith in the interdependent destiny of mankind; but our confidence in the future is accompanied by a fierce resolve to be active and informed participants in the building of a new world. Such an attitude and such conduct may appear precocious to some people, but they reflect our unanimous will to progress and our determination to hasten the changes which must take place. 61. Thus in Africa a new phase, which we regard as decisive for the progress and emancipation of the African peoples, has just opened; I refer to the phase of African unity, which is first and foremost a unity of interest that must lead to unity of action and to the pooling of our common efforts.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“That is why I venture, from this rostrum, to make a pressing appeal to. the peoples of Asia and Africa that Afro-Asian solidarity should go forward, gaining strength day by day, towards an ever more effective unity of action, mainly concerned to impose the latent conflicts of antagonistic ideologies — which are draining the strength of the highly developed nations — a new element, perfectly attuned to the higher and interdependent interests of world society. 59. We affirm, for our part, that the destiny of the world cannot depend on power that was usurped or on the arbitrary continuance of de facto situations brought into being in defiance of the will of the peoples, subjected to them. 60.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Those needs are infinitive; yet Africa will not barter for any assistance, for any friendship, however pure, or for any co-operation, however beneficent it may appear, one iota of its sovereignty or one token of its independence. 57. The positive neutralism adopted by the majority of the Asian and African peoples is now seen to be a major factor in the strengthening of world peace, and any attempt to minify its effect and import would be a most criminal one. We for our part believe that the peaceful coexistence of the different political systems, which remains the only way of preserving international peace, can be conceived and achieved only in terms of the principles enunciated at the Bandung Conference and of the positive neutralism which was to be the most logical outcome of those principles. 58.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“From the long series of disappointments, miseries and abuses of every kind inflicted on the young nations of Asia by foreign interference, the African people has learnt more than from ten centuries of diplomatic practice and exercise of sovereignty. Those who hope to take Africa by surprise in that respect will themselves bathe only ones to be surprised. Nor should African neutralism be taken to mean the neutralization of the African peoples. The peoples of Africa, it must be reaffirmed, are not passive; on the contrary, they are ever more forcefully committed by and for Africa, for world justice and for world progress. 56. Africa does not need philosophic formulae or doctrinal theories; it needs honest co-operation, disinterested assistance and sincere friendship.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“We must repeat that we shall never sanction the domination of one race by another, that we shall never agree to a foreign minority imposing its rule on a national majority. What matters, in our lives, is the interest of our peoples; it is not the interest of the East or the West, or the future of Portugal or Spain, still less of. the Afrikanders, which is at stake here; it is the future of the world, of all mankind. Can the needs, the demands and the hopes of humanity be weighed in the balance against the criminal obstinacy of Lisbon, the hesitations of London and the barbarity of Pretoria? 55. Let morbid hopes cease; there will not be another Congo in Africa. The tragedy of' the Congo has opened the eyes and illumined the understanding of Africa, which in future intends to settle its own problems for itself.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“It is this total world evolution that we desire to accelerate, in order to ward off the threat presented by a divided and dehumanized universe. 52. In this respect, however, there are certain preliminary conditions. First, the liberation of Africa must be completed. The process of decolonization must be speeded up by the liberation of Angola, Mozambique, so-called Portuguese Guinea, the Rhodesias, etc. 53. How can we endure that representatives of the most retrograde, barbarous and stubborn colonialism should join here in discussing and deciding the affairs of the world, that we should have among us those who practise the most shameful and degrading racialism, which defiles with equal impunity a civilization and a whole group of cultures? 54.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Hence, if we want to ensure that the wealth of certain nations is not submerged by, the poverty of the world, let us have the courage to look at the world as it really is, not allowing self-satisfaction to blind us to the dissatisfaction of others; let us draw up the balance sheet of universal inadequacies, defects and needs, possibilities and means. Is it not time to think of rebuilding the world and abandon the pretentious old building which has heretofore sheltered the privileged few? 51. Willingly or unwillingly, the world, in apparent discontinuity of historical evolution, is already progressing towards a higher stage, thus testifying to man's power of development and capacity for progress, notwithstanding the resistance and egoism of reactionary forces.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Let us not dismiss as mere rhetoric the hopes which inspire and guide the daily conduct and human conscience of nearly 2,000 million men, women and children. 49. I admit that the old-established peoples must make a great effort of imagination in order to grasp realities which are outside their experience. This difficulty of approach is the more tragic in that reality has in itself a strength and a will to live which are irresistible. Here the ordinary words in daily use have not the same meaning, for we cannot compare the hunger felt by some people at tea-time with the hunger from which other people suffer all their lives and it is often the case that whereas, to the former, comfort means an excess of refinement, to the latter it means the possession of the most elementary necessities. 50.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“While it has been recognized, more or less willingly, that the colonized countries may achieve political independence, apparently, in the eyes of most States of long-standing sovereignty, this important change need not alter the political structure of the world. Yet is it not obvious that the liquidation of colonialism is but the beginning of a new phase in international evolution, and that the liberation of the peoples of Africa and Asia is more pregnant with historic consequences than the changes which have followed the last two tragic world wars? Who can fail to see all the riches and all the promises of human progress and happiness offered to the world community as a result of the admission of the liberated peoples to the international family? Who can fail to understand that a new chapter of world history is being begun? 48.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In fact, although we express the same concern for the preservation international security as that which inspires all well-intentioned Governments of the earth, the means that we advocate may be very different, since they, are based on ideas peculiar to the underdeveloped peoples — ideas which correspond to our specific realities but which to the highly developed nations frequently appear to be empty phrases, outdated platitudes or demagogic arguments or even, possibly, demonstrations of subversive or evil intentions. 47. Quite apart from what remains in the way of survivals or after-effects of colonialism, and from the activities of neocolonialism and the misdeeds of imperialism which is not yet disarmed, the stage of legal decolonization has not so far been followed by psychological decolonization.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Domination — whatever form it may take, whatever its historical origin and whatever its apparent motives may be — inevitably entails the ruin of economies, the de-personalization of peoples, the degradation of nations and, finally, a world-wide imbalance which endangers world peace and threatens all the achievements and potentialities of world society. 46.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In conformity with this reality we place in the same group of negative and dangerous forces everything which obstructs, hinders, prevents or opposes the free development of nations and the social advancement of peoples; we place in the same retrograde category de facto imperialism and de lure imperialism, institutional and organic trusteeships, attempts at domination and domination itself, the determination to exploit and oppress, and all the feudalisms throughout the world which still impede human advancement and the democratic progress of peoples and men. 45.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“It is because we ourselves have suffered under the imperialist and colonialist regime of oppression and exploitation that we regard ourselves as particularly qualified to denounce all its horrors and all its tragic consequences. Our judgement and opinion of Governments are based on their attitudes rather than on their intentions, because we wish to remain in close contact with objective reality and the progressive trend in human history. 44.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The objective reality of our world is its division into free peoples and subjugated peoples. It is also, as a result of domination by imperialism and feudalism, the division of the earth into areas of abundance and areas of penury. In that connexion, I wish to offer the warm congratulations of the people and Government of Guinea to the new States which have just been admitted to the United Nations. I should also like to assure their representatives of the unreserved support from the representatives of Guinea on which they can count in making their just claims and defending their legitimate aspirations which are common to all peoples that have undergone foreign domination. 43.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“It is not only a world of space travel; it is also a world of villages buried in jungles and deserts. It is not only a world of the atom and of great human hopes; it is also a world of homes without fire or bread, of peoples without freedom and without sovereignty over the soil of their own countries, which are dominated by foreign Powers. 41. Century of wealth on the one hand and poverty on the other. Century in which human science and world resources are used far more for destructive than for constructive ends. The manufacture of war equipment and the upkeep of armies consume a total of material, technical, financial and human resources which is an affront to the starving peoples of the earth, an affront to humanity, which is yearning for peace, security and progress in fraternity and solidarity. 42.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In speaking today from this rostrum, we wish to appeal principally to the international personality of the Organization and, through it, to the conscience of the world. 39. The objective reality now governing the evolution of international history, and the quality or even the validity of the development of a universal society, are related not so much to antagonistic ideologies and conflicting political interests as to the vast inequalities which divide the world into poor and highly industrialized nations. 40. Our century is not merely that of over-production, of the perfecting of techniques, and of great scientific discoveries; it is also that of recurring famines, leprosy, record infant mortality rates, and ignorance. It is not only a world of space vehicles; it is also a world in urgent need of ploughs, wheelbarrows-and lorries.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The Assembly, which is assailed by the contradictory criticisms of those who accuse the United Nations of being an institution without authority and a forum for every sort of demagogue and of those who regard it as a despotic Organization which, in the name of solidarity of nations, restricts the authority and even the privileges of States, is nevertheless the only point where the ideas and interests of nation and the most varied State systems meet and sometimes clash. 37. According to whether the Assembly, is judged by the criterion of practical effectiveness or by that of moral influence, it is called upon to operate either in the field of tactics or in that of the international principles of the rights of peoples and individuals. 38.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“That is why at the present session of the General Assembly a new resolution should be adopted fixing 24 October 1963 — the eighteenth anniversary of the United Nations — as the final date for colonies' achievement of national independence. 34. We have already stated that the peace of the world calls for the complete decolonization of all peoples and that the liberation of a colony necessarily involves that of the colonizer. 35. Relationships between peoples must be on a voluntary and therefore a free basis, so as to strengthen international co-operation and lead to greater mutual understanding, both of which are absolutely essential for the safeguarding of world peace and security. 36.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“It will also enable the African peoples which are still colonized to recover their freedom speedily and to manage their own affairs independently, thanks to the more decisive support that their brothers who have already regained their sovereignty will be able to lend them. 32. While we all have reason to rejoice at the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly ox a resolution concerning immediate independence: for the African countries [resolution 1514 (XV)], we remain seriously concerned at the slowness with which some colonial Powers are implementing that resolution. 33. South West Africa, Angola, Mozambique, so- called, Portuguese Guinea, the Rhodesias, etc., remain under the yoke of foreign domination and no definite date has been fixed for the end of this humiliating situation.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“One of the major obstacles to the complete establishment of, this unity has, in the past, been the widespread conception that it had to be formed around a single State or a single man. Today, it has become evident that the political advancement and the social and cultural development of the African States require, - rather, united action on their part within the framework of a common programme, freely chosen by all Staff's corresponding to their interests and the dictates of equality and fraternity in practical solidarity. 31. On these lines, African unity will enable all the nations wishing to make an honest contribution to the peaceful development of Africa to help more effectively in promoting that advancement.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“On the contrary — all the Governments of our countries interpret it more, realistically, as signifying the establishment of an atmosphere of peace, confidence and fraternal and loyal co-operation between the African States. 29. Through the unity to which they aspire, all these Governments wish to achieve the pooling of certain resources of their States, with a view to protecting their reconquered freedom and their interests from any encroachment. They realize, moreover, that if they stand united it will be easier for them to shoulder more effectively, at the international level, their responsibilities as regards the safeguarding of Africa's legitimate interests and the enhancing of its personality and its material and human values. 30.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“It would be superfluous to speak overmuch of the positive significance we attach to African unity, for there is not one of our Governments, parties or women's, youth, workers' or intellectual groups that has not called for it and regarded it as the main guide-line in the process of decolonizing the frameworks and mentalities inherited from the colonial regime, and as a source of energy for the full attainment of the objectives of our peoples economic, social and cultural development. 27. We would stress that African unity cannot mean uniform institutions and frameworks for our States; still less can it mean the creation of a single African party or a single African super-State. 28.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“This legitimate and deep-rooted vocation of our peoples contrasted with the reasoning on which the colonial regime was based; and its effect was to spread ever wider, both at home and abroad, the influence of Africa, its civilization and its culture, to rehabilitate which the African peoples will have to be mobilized in the fight for economic and social progress. 25. Thus, in our countries' struggle for liberation, African unity has been one of the key slogans. It remains so in the eyes of our States, which are endeavouring to consolidate the national foundations of their newly won sovereignty as quickly as possible and, by inter-African co-operation, to improve their prospects of harmonious and peaceful economic, social and cultural development. 26.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“On the African plane, Algeria, having helped to hasten the de-colonization movement in the African countries, will continue to play a major part. Indeed, all the African States are anxious to consolidate their relations with the State of Algeria, within the framework of an African unity aiming to be free and dynamic. 24. Aspirations to African unity have been one example of the African peoples' awakening to full consciousness in their struggle to recover their freedom and ensure respect for their personality while safeguarding their own individual traits.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In particular we appeal to the French Government to provide full political, material and moral support for the action of the Algerian Government. 21. We are convinced that, following the Evian Agreements which constitute an act of political realism, the French Government will responsibly and effectively contribute to the rapid and happy development of the independent nation of Algeria. 22. The Algerian people has a very bright future before it. This future is founded on the unity and creative action of the working masses of Algeria, on the active fraternity and solidarity which will exist between Algeria and the African peoples, and lastly on the friendship and co-operation which will spring-up between the Algerian State and all other States of the world. 23.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“To this end the new Algerian scene must be speedily rid of all the conflicts of interest engendered by the colonial regime and of all irrational factors stemming from former feudal practices, so that unitary action, beneficial to the whole nation, may go forward. 19. Most fortunately, the programme of the Algerian Government is inspired by all these ideas, which will be the easier to translate into reality if the Algerian people remains fully "mobilized" and resolute in its will to emancipation. 20. We shall not fail, however, to urge all nations of the world to grant this newly fledged State their assistance, co-operation and friendship, all of which are indispensable for a young State if it is effectively to shoulder its national and international responsibilities.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“We are convinced that, just as it has succeeded in winning its independence despite all the obstacles presented, so it will fully succeed in achieving its legitimate aspirations. 17. Life itself is a constant struggle; but the struggle for progress requires an exact knowledge of the national and international situation, and a rational use of the creative energies of a people "set in motion". In this respect we have no doubt that independent Algeria will work to consolidate the foundations of its new-born sovereignty and to liquidate all the after effects of colonization, through radical transformation and effective adaptation of the structure of its State and of its people's mentality, outlook and methods. 18.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“I should also like to address our most fraternal greetings to the Prime Minister of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, our fellow-fighter and friend, Ahmed Ben Bella, whose political qualities, physical and moral courage and unwavering devotion to his country's cause provide an assurance that the Algerian revolution will speedily triumph over all the forces of evil. 14. For Algeria is indeed undergoing a revolution and this revolution results from the awakening of its entire people, which is resolutely engaged in a process of qualitative transformation aimed at the establishment of a popular and progressive State. 15. The Algerian people has given proof of its high degree of political maturity and patriotism. It remains an ardent champion of freedom, democracy and progress in Africa and throughout the world. 16.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“We have already emphasized the repercussions of the Algerian people’s struggle on the attitude of all parties and mass organizations in Africa, for which it has been a real leaven, producing in them greater awareness and stimulating them to greater efforts in the consolidation and expansion of the decolonizing process. 12. May I therefore, on this day of the Algerian people’s political and moral rehabilitation, pay a respectful tribute to the thousands of victims fallen on the field of battle, whose sacrifice has made it possible for the peoples of the world to hail this great event constituted by the presence, at this General Assembly session, of the Algerian delegation vested, in this high forum of the world's conscience, with the sovereign powers pertaining to free peoples. 13.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The people and Government of the Republic of Guinea, aware that their aspirations are identical with those of the Algerian people, have never confused illegitimate colonial interests with the interests of Algeria, which in their eyes are inseparable from the true interests of a world in a perpetual state of transformation, constantly moving towards greater freedom, greater justice and greater progress. 10. The heroic struggle of the National Liberation Front has been a dynamic — I would even say, the most dynamic — factor in the great struggle of the African peoples for liberation from foreign domination and its attendant exploitation, oppression and indignity suffered by our peoples for a period which has been truly one of eclipse, halting our historical development. 11.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Marking as it does the fulfilment of one of the deepest aspirations of those peoples, it will, we are all convinced, be hailed with joy by all nations which have justice and progress at heart. 8. For more than a century, including over seven years of frightful war, the heavy sacrifices bravely borne by the heroic Algerian people have paved the way for this historic moment in which the international community joyfully welcomes, in its midst, the qualified representatives of this martyred nation. 9.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)