Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, United Nations Affairs, Volume III

320/11–1752: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Department of State

New York, November 17, 1952—6:17 p.m.

Delga 208. Re approval by 4th Committee of GA of requests for hearings. The SYG UN has officially informed USUN that 4th comite approved on Oct 22, 1952 requests for hearings submitted by the Meru Citizens Union (Tanganyika), the “Union des Populations du Cameroun” (Cameroon under French administration) and the all-Ewe Conference (Togoland), and on Nov 6 approved requests for hearings submitted by the Somali Youth League (Somaliland), the Unione Nazionale Somala (Somaliland), the “Assemblee Traditionnelle du Peuple Douala” (Cameroon), the “Parti Socialiste Camerounais” (Cameroon) and the “Groupements Musulmans du Cameroun” (Cameroon). On Nov 4 approved request of Togoland Congress (Togoland).

The SYG UN has also advised of the designation of reps by the following orgs: Union des Populations du Cameroun (Ruben Um Nyobe), Somali Youth League (Abdullahi Issa), Unione Nazionale Somala (Sallah Scek Omar) and Groupements Musulmans du Cameroun (Duala Manga Bell). It is understood that these reps have applied or will apply for visas to come to New York. Reps of Meru Citizens Union and Togoland Congress are presently in New York. The SYG UN has informed USUN informally that Um Nyobe has advised of difficulty in securing visa Paris and that Issa has advised of failure obtain visa Cairo despite visa application Oct 20. According to Stavropoulos (UN legal dept) it is UN position that 4th comite approval of requests for hearings constituted invitations by UN and that designated reps of above-mentioned orgs entitled admission US under provisions sec 11 (5) of Hdqrs Agreement.¹

Acheson

1. The Headquarters Agreement between the United States and the United Nations, June 26, 1947, defined the relations between the two in terms of the rights and obligations of the United States as the host state and the United Nations as an international organization situated within territory under U.S. sovereignty For documentation on the negotiation of the agreement, see Foreign Relations, 1947, vol. i, pp. 22 ff. For documentation on questions arising between the United States and the United Nations under this agreement, see ibid., 1948, vol. i, Part 1, pp. 34 ff.; ibid., 1949, vol. ii, pp. 38 ff.; ibid., 1950, vol. ii, pp. 46 ff.; and ibid., 1951, vol. ii, pp. 46 ff.

   In telegram Delga 272, Nov. 26, 1952, 8:16 p.m., the Mission at the United Nations informed the Department that the Fourth Committee expected to begin oral hearings of petitioners from trust territories on Nov. 29, beginning with the Wa-Meru petitioners (320/11–2653). All in all, the Fourth Committee granted eleven oral hearings concerning four trust territory problems: the Wa-Meru land problem in Tanganyika, the Ewe and Togoland unification problem, the Cameroons unification and other problems, and certain general problems in Italian Somaliland. Although oral hearings were granted to representatives of five African political organizations in the French Cameroons, only two of the groups actually sent spokesmen: the Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC), which sent Ruben Um Nyobe, and the Parti Socialiste Camerounais, which was represented by Charles Rene Okala.