UN Journey From Trusteeship to Independence

 The elaborate Trusteeship system reached full bloom in a period of about 15 years, from 1948 to 1963. By the end of 1949, the General Assembly had approved 11 trust agreements. All of them have since achieved independence. The Trusteeship Council and the General Assembly have tried to encourage the decolonisation process by repeatedly urging that target dates be set for independence. The Trusteeship Council has since formally suspended its operation. 

     Till recently the only remaining Trust Territory in the Pacific . (Micronesia) were three groups of islands: the Marshalls, the Carolines and the Marianas. They were formerly German territories that were placed under Japanese administration after World War I. The United States took over their administration after the defeat of Japan in World War II. 

   

 

        

On December 23, 1990, the Security Council voted overwhelmingly to dissolve the 43-year-old UN trusteeship over the strategic Northern Marianas, Marshall Islands and Micronesia. 

      The federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands pressed for termination so that their Governments would become more independent and gain worldwide diplomatic recognition, especially from Great Britain and Europe. The two semi independent nations have diplomatic ties with several South Pacific countries and china .

Palau, the only remaining entity under UN Trusteeship gained independence in December, 1994.

Other Non-Self-Governing Territories 

 The elaborate provisions of the Trusteeship system applied to only a few dependent territories. The vast majority of colonial and similar lands were related to the United Nations through less far. reaching arrangements spelled out in Chapter XI than was required under the Trusteeship system. Nevertheless, one provision of the Charter, Article 73(e), opened the way for the General Assembly to concentrate on colonial situations. Under this article, governments administering non-self-governing territories submit reports that can become the basis for criticism, suggestion and comment. In a series of resolutions, the General Assembly established a procedure and specified what the reports should contain. Despite opposition from some of the colonial powers, it also insisted that it had the right to examine the reports and make recommendations about them. It has done so with great vigour, whatever the wishes of the administering powers. Moreover, the General Assembly claims the right to decide when the duty to transmit reports on a given territory ends, which is equivalent to deciding when a territory  become  self governing.

As early as 1948, the General Assembly clearly implied that the end of colonialism ought to be hastened. It set up a committee to examine in detail, reports on the economic, social and educational situation in the non-self-governing areas and to report its findings. Five years later, the General Assembly made its aims more explicit. The committee was instructed to try to develop moral and civic consciousness among the subject peoples and enable them to accept more responsibility in conducting their own affairs, to raise the standards of living by helping them to improve economic productivity and health, to promote social progress, taking into account basic cultural values, and to extend the intellectual development of the peoples of the regions. 

While information on colonies steadily arrived at the office of the Secretary-General, some administering states, such as Portugal and for a time France, claimed that their overseas territories were an integral part of their states and therefore not covered by the reporting requirement. Against this background, 

the General Assembly studied the principles that should guide members in deciding whether or not an obligation to transmit information existed. In 1960, it decided that, on the face of it, information had to be submitted about any territory that was geographically separate and distinct, ethnically or culturally, from the administering state. 

Declaration on Granting of Independence 

Altogether, 30 former non-self-governing and trust territories became independent between 1945 and 1960. The African and Asian states became increasingly impatient about setting dates for the independence of the remaining territories. This led to the General Assembly adopting in 1960, a ”Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples’ (Resolution 1514 (XV )). This rather lengthy document proclaimec the need to end colonialism quickly. It claimed that alien subjugation of people denied human rights to them and violated the UN Charter. It demanded immediate steps to transfer powe to the people of non-self-governing territories on the basis of th right of self-determination. It also directed its fire against an attempt to disrupt the national unity of the territories, through policy of ”divide and rule” by the colonial powers.