TNAG-1461-FCO40-1987-Future-of-the-Dependent-Territories-Hong-Kong--Gibraltar-and-1986 — Page 56

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back before 1945). In particular, Article 73 of the Charter

stipulates that these administering States recognize the principle

that "the interests of the inhabitants of these (non-self governing)

territories are paramount" and accept inter alia to "promote to the

utmost...the well-being of the inhabitants"

to ensure their

"political, economic, social and educational advancement... "and to develop self-government" (underlining added). The UK is also

obliged, under Article 73(e) of the Charter to "transmit regularly

to the Secretary-General. statistical and other information of a

technical nature relating to economic, social and educational

conditions" in the territories for which it is responsible. This

information is examined by the Special Committee on the Situation

with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting

of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (Committee of 24)

which was established after the adoption of General Assembly

Resolution 1514 (XV) in 1960 on this question.

Policy

4.

Successive UK governments have subscribed to the principles set

out in the Charter which have been reflected in the long established UK policy of giving every help to those dependent territories which

wished to proceed to independence, while not forcing it on those

which did not. Ministers have, since the mid 1960's, stressed in

public the principle that the wishes of the people concerned must be

the main guide to action. The transition from the Article 73

language of "interests" to "wishes" can be illustrated by the

example of Gibraltar at the UN in the early 1960's: the debate on

the question of Gibraltar in 1963 was not conducted in terms of the

language of Article 73. What was considered important was the

principle of equal rights and self-determination (stemming from

Article I of the Charter) which could be considered to imply that

the wishes of the peoples of non-self governing territories are

paramount but, at the least, implies they should be take into

account. Thus from the beginning of the debate, the UK felt committed to take the wishes of the people of Gibraltar into

However, once the UN accepted the Spanish thesis that

account.

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