350/8–1050
The Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs ( Hickerson ) to the Ambassador of the Union of South Africa ( Jooste )
My Dear Mr. Ambassador: In accordance with our conversation of August 7, I am transmitting to you our views regarding the types of machinery which might be established by the United Nations to review reports on South West Africa submitted by the Union pursuant to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice. I am certain that you will appreciate that our thinking on the various types of machinery is only in a preliminary stage and that the following suggestions are merely of a tentative nature. We should be glad, however, if you would consider the various alternatives and let us know your reactions to them, together with any additional suggestions which you might have.
Perhaps the most obvious body which might review the reports would be the Trusteeship Council. Consideration of the reports by this body would in our opinion have several advantages, the most important of which derives from the Council’s balanced membership of six administering and six non-administering states. It might meet to consider the reports on South West Africa under special rules of procedure conforming as closely as possible to the Mandates Commission.
Other alternatives for the examination of the reports would include the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly or a new committee of the General Assembly especially established for the purpose of examining the reports on South West Africa. The first of the foregoing would not have the advantage of the balanced membership of the Trusteeship Council. Moreover, it is possible that a new committee [Page 479] of the Assembly established for the purpose of reviewing the reports would not contain an equal number of administering and non-administering members.
The remaining possibility of a committee of experts composed of persons chosen for their individual competence in the field of colonial administration by the General Assembly or the Trusteeship Council, and reporting to one of these bodies, might have much to commend it. It is our belief that such a procedure would more nearly approximate that of the League of Nations system and would thus be in consonance with the opinion of the Court.
I hope that the foregoing information regarding the possible types of United Nations machinery which might be established to examine reports from South West Africa will be useful to you. I appreciated your courtesy in calling, and the frank and friendly way in which you received our comments on this difficult issue.
Sincerely yours,