Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949, The United Nations; The Western Hemisphere, Volume II

IO Files: SD/A/C.1/250²

Position Paper Prepared in the Department of State for the United States Delegation to the Fourth Regular Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations ³

restricted

[Washington,] August 25, 1949.

Proposed United Nations Field Service and United Nations Panel of Field Observers

problem

The problem is to determine the U.S. position with respect to the resolutions concerning the proposed United Nations Field Service and United Nations Panel of Field Observers, recommended to the General Assembly by the Special Committee on the United Nations Guard.

recommendations

I. Substantive: The United States delegation should support the adoption of each of the draft resolutions (see annexes A and B).

Comment:

The two resolutions, noting the Secretary-General’s intention to establish a systematized field service and requesting him to set up a panel of field observers, were recommended to the General Assembly by the Special Committee on the U.N. Guard as a result of its deliberations during the past summer. The breadth of the resolutions’ terms and the tenor of the Special Committee’s report represent an almost complete affirmation of the U.S. views upon the revised U.N. Guard proposal, as set forth in our position paper for the U.S. representative on the Special Committee (SD/A/C.1/220⁴). Consequently the U.S. should give solid support to the adoption of both resolutions as workable, relatively inexpensive, and yet substantial steps toward systematizing the Secretary-General’s services for U.N. field missions.

II. Tactical: Carrying forward the position maintained in the Special Committee, the United States, although warmly supporting the Special Committee’s recommendations, should not assume the leading role in advocating adoption of the draft resolutions.

Comment:

The Field Service-Observer Panel proposal, as revised by the Secretary-General and formulated by the Special Committee, should command almost universal support on its merits. If the United States were to appear as an ardent protagonist, it might unnecessarily lend color to the constantly repeated, though unwarranted, Soviet claim that the Secretary-General and various members of the U.N. have acted as mere tools of the U.S. in presenting and supporting the proposal for systematization of services.

III. Procedural: If it is proposed by some other delegation that this item be assigned to Committee 5 rather than to Committee 1, the U.S. should not object to such an allocation.

Comment:

In its present form the Field Service-Observer Panel proposal is primarily a Secretariat matter, involving more budgetary and administrative than political questions. Justification exists, consequently, for assignment of this item to Committee 5, and such a step would aid in relieving Committee 1’s crowded agenda. Yet the U.S. delegation should guard against any implication or suggestion that the U.S. is reluctant to have the subject discussed by the Political Committee. Some of the political problems inherent in the Special Committee’s report and recommendations, particularly the contention of the representatives of the U.S.S.R., Poland and Czechoslovakia that the proposal contravenes the Charter, have not yet been thoroughly discussed in the Assembly. The U.S. is entirely willing, therefore, to discuss the subject in one of the Political Committees, although the substance of the proposal indicates that Committee 5 may be a more appropriate forum. In any event the administratve and budgetary questions will be subject to consideration in Committee 5.

Annex A

Draft Resolution^*

“The General Assembly

“Having considered the report of the Special Committee established by General Assembly resolution 270 (III) of 29 April 1949,

“Being of the opinion that the United Nations Field Service, as proposed by the Secretary-General in document A/AC.29/1 and modified by the report of the Special Committee (A/949), will contribute to the more efficient operation of United Nations missions,

“Considering that the Secretary-General has authority to establish the United Nations Field Service, subject to budgetary limitations and the normal administrative controls of the General Assembly,

“Takes note of the intention of the Secretary-General to establish this proposed unit as modified by the observations contained in the report of the Special Committee.”

Annex B

Draft Resolution^†

“The General Assembly,

“Having considered the report of the Special Committee established by General Assembly resolution 270 (III) of 29 April 1949,

“Desirous of facilitating the work of the United Nations in the pacific settlement of disputes under the provisions of the Charter,

“Being of the opinion that the proposed United Nations Panel of Field Observers will contribute to this end,

“Taking note of the intention of the Secretary-General to undertake the administrative arrangements for the proposed Panel with due regard to the observations contained in the report of the Special Committee,

“Requests the Secretary-General to establish and maintain a list of persons qualified to assist United Nations missions in the functions of observation and supervision, such persons to be called to service in response to a specific resolution by a competent organ of the United Nations; such list shall be known as the United Nations Panel of Observers and shall be established and maintained with due regard to the observations contained in the report of the Special Committee and based upon the principle of equitable geographical distribution.”

2. Short form for the master files of the Reference and Documents Section of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Department of State.
3. For documentation regarding the composition and organization of the U.S. Delegation, see pp. 12 ff. The General Assembly was in session from September 20 to December 10.
4. Not printed. This document is in the IO Files.
5. Text as given in the Report of the Special Committee on a United Nations Guard, A/959, 24 August 1949. [Footnote in the source text.]
6. Text as given in the Report of the Special Committee on a United Nations Guard, A/959, 24 August 1949. [Footnote in the source text.]