1410610445

3. The pfovisio*v> coauincd m paragraph 1 shall not appS* to oblgarions terminalni by ehe Pocę Treaty with luk of 10 February 1947 or by the Resolotion adept ed by tbe United Kation* General Assembly on 29 Jantary 1952.

Aniele 95

Rettntio* of ofjiójlt im offke.

Administracje officials and judicial officials whrthcr Fcderal nationaK or noc, holding cffice when the

Coosńcorion enters into fotce, ihall contmuc in off»:e. Thcy may be dismiased ooły on three months nonce.

Arndt 99

Term ofthe fint AttembJy

The Assembly ropwtible for sdopcmg the Coasb-tutioo shall ezcrcise che powers of the Assembly as p:^ vidcd in the Comcitution for a period of four ycars after che Cocuritution enters into force.

Documcnt 10

Report of the Covernmenl of the United Kingdont concerning the jdministration ofEritrea for the period front December 19S0 to September 19S2 (excerpt)

• A/2233,27 Oaobtr 1952

CHA7TTJU

United Natśons Resolution No. 390 (V) of 2nd December, 1950

Oritin of the United Kation* Ruolution

1.    The United Kations Resolution No. 390 (V) of 2nd December, 1950, conuined che recoerunendacions of the Gener j! Assembly for the finał disposal of che former Iialian colony of E/iuea and so propounded a solucion for a ma ner which had remained in suspensę sińce the estry into /orce, on 15th September, 1947, of the Tceaty of Peace with luly.

2.    Artścle 23 of chat Tceacy, after recording the abandonment by luly of all righc and ińlc co her formę/ African colonie*, stipulatcd in hs third paragraph thac the finał disposal of these te/ricocies should bc determined jointły by the Gmcmir.encs of che Soviet Union, the United Kingdo/n, the United Sute* of America, and France, within one ycar frorn the datę of Corning into force of the Treaty. The following additiooal proróion was appcndcd as paragraph 3 of Anncjc XI:

“If with respect to any of these tmttories the Four Powers are unaWc to agrcc upon their disposal within one year from the coming into force of the Treaty of Peace wkh luly, the mactcr shall bc cc-ferred co che General Assembly of the United Natśons for a rccommendacion, and the Four Powers agi cc to accepe the rccommendacion and to givc effeer to il*

3.    After considciabic enquiry and dcCbcratśoA, which induded the despateh to the ccrricory of a fan-finding dclcgiiion, known as the Four-Power Commb-sion of Invcstigation, the Goremmenc* concerncd faikd to reacb igr cement by the eapćry of the term appointed. Accordmgly, the Four Powers in a lener dated 15th Sep* tember, 1948, tdc:red the maner co che General Assm-bly of the United Nations for a rccommendacion.

4.    By Resolution No. 289 A (IV) of 21st Novem-be/, 1949, the Cene/al Assembly appointed a United Nations Commisiion for Eritrea composcd of repre-senurives of Burma, Cuatemala, Norway, Pakistan and the Union of South Africa, the ducics of which wcrc to scudy and, by ISth Junt, 1950, co report on the problem of Eritrea, at the same timc submining a proposal oe proposals appropciatc for a solucion of che problem. Having visited the cerritory and having consulced a miro-ber of intereseed Govcrnmemt, the Commistion on Ith June, 1950, approved a finał report to che General Assembly which conslsied of rwo separate and dif/crir.g memoranda, fumished by che dclegations of Burma, Noc-way and the Union of South Afrka on the one hand and by che delegations of Cuatemala and Pakistan on tbe other.

5.    The submission of thh report to the Interim Committcc of the United Nations and łater co the General Assembly ac its Fifth Session gave rise co procracted discussion and ncgoiiations whkh culmiruced, on 2nd December, 1950, in the adopcion by 46 votcs to 10 of Rcsdution No. 390 (V), the finał implemcnution of which is the subject of this report. This Resoluiion pro-vidcs for che fcdcracion of Eritrea and Ethiopia under thr

146 TUZ UN7TED NA7TONS AND TWI INDEfENDINCl OF UJTRIA

łottrtipty of the Ethiopian Gm«\. Irnal pmvrr% hcin* g/antcJ to che Eritrean Sute in the fidJ of domestk affairs, whilłt gjving the propoted Fcderal Govcmment jurudiaioo over defence. foratji affairs. currency and fajnee. foreign and inierstair commercc and cxterrul and imeistate communicacion*. indudmg poru. The Resolution pcovidcd chat a conscituóon for Ericrea was to be drafted by a Commtssioner appointed by the United Nations and submitted co a reprcscmative assembly of Eritrons, chosen by the pcople. to be convokcd by the Br itish Adminiscracion in consdration with the Commis-

i . , SKKItf.

‘ £    6. Da ring the cransicion period of preparation for

; federation, noc co catcnd bcyond 15th September, 1952, .* the Adcnimstering Authoriry was co continue co cooduct the affairs of che territocy. A number of other imponant , - dutics. which are the subjea of the ensuing-chapters of this report, including in partkular che organisation of an -y. E/itrcan Adminiscrarion sod the cventua1 transfer of — power to the apptoprtate suceessor authorities, were .:    placed upon the shouiders of the Adminmering Aothor*

7 iry. The text of che Rcsoharion, the fiut seven paragraphs . 7 of which comprise the Fcderal Act, for ms Annex A to / (his report (not reproduced here].

Sature of the United Sationt Resolution

7. In the course of the enquir ics and .dehberations, in Eritrea and clscwherc, oudined above the futurę sutui cf Eritrea had become the subtcct of widcly di/fcring vicws ind aspiratioru Appraisa) of the qucstton by the / wious panies engaged in its trudy, and the strong local feclingi, had resuhrd in proposals for every concehable 'ft form of senkmenc, ranging from fuli union with Ethiopia to outnght isdependeoce chrough interrening gradu-Jj anons of trustecship oc temporary administracjo, in-duding a de ma rui lot particioo of the fcrriiory. Thcse ^ differing concepeions had by December 1950 bcen re-sol red for practkal puiposes, inco the two ckar-eut and ut' opposing demands, for independence, immediate or uki-matę, oa the one hand and complctc union with Ethiopia •’ ©o the oiher. In face of this fundamcncal division, which * rem Eritrea pobtkally from the top to the bonom, ic ęj bccamc elear chat only a compt omisc between these two citrrmes had any chance of success.

,- S. The pro;cct of fcderal union wich Ethiopia with - domestk a u tonom y for Eritrea formulaced after pro-traocd and ddicace negotiations was the incnuble pcod-• ua of this reaksation. U was cssentially a middle-way V:    solution, and in this qualiry lay both its scrength and

wcakocst. k was a weti balanccd composium of those conflicting view-pomcs which hid hicherto rcstitcd apet-mcm, and k ma/ried the two fundamenta) principles of Eihiopian sortrcśgnty and Eriucan autonomy. 2c had noc

kvn propo^d hy any politkal piny in Kmrea anJ Jid not thereby mvuc oppoticion soldy on that aca»unc from the ochers. Its surcessful appiicacioo in ihc country for which it was designed therefore would bc dependent upon the circumspcction. tact and trchnical c/hcictwy with which its aim> wtre pursucd in praetke by ihc United Nations Commissioncr and by the Administering Authoricy, w*vcfally and jctncly, in the fulfilmcnt of their respcctne tasks.

Spcciil difficuliict cottfronturg the Admńńtterini Authorit)

9.    The grcacest handicap in gising fuli eficet to the

Resolution was the »homvr>s of the timc illowcd in which co do ic. The deadline of lith September, 1952, by which federation had co bc effeerire, pemśded onk cwenty months in which cocarry out a usk of some magnitude. The work of che Admirsistucion was ovcrsh*do*cd ihroughouc by this knowjedgr.    *

10.    Politically ic was an cnbouraging sign chat the* adopcion of che Resolution was at oncc grecced in Eritrea • by pubhc exprcsiior\s of appcoval, one of them ulcing the character of a formal pledge of unity by the leader* of all policical panies ac a pubiic mecting, and co*operarion in making federation effeciisr. Howcvtr, in the circum-stances p*evail«ng ac che timc, such manifestacions were linie morę chan dcmonstrations of satisfaaion ac che actainment at long la« of a firm decision, the fuli impli-catiotu of which were no$ then apparcnc.

11.    The cooflici ol view referred to in paragraph 7 aboee had decp roocs in Ericrea. The twin theses of 'ndepcndence and union were the artkles of fańh of contcndirg polickaI partie* and had sown birer politkal and racial dissension among the populacion. The denund from the Western Provinee for separadon froa the rtst of Eritrea was stilJ strong and would not bc lightly abandoned. There was ther cforc the dangtt chat although ihc no: i on of federation, ncw in kseU, which went somc way co sacisfy all partie*, would be accepted in prindple, the old concroversy of independence vtnus union would continue to bc foughc out within its scopc. Moreo^r, the years of uncenainry as co the country*! politkal futurę had produced unrest and pamsan animositics whidi could noc be capeaed to ghre way immediately co na rional harmony. U was cvident that both the Commiuioner and the Ad minister ing Power would have co concemratc in che discharge of cheW dutics upon abanng the poUtkal temper in che councry by showing chat federation was not only a workablc compromise but a desi/ablc and peaeti-caUe conception in its own right.

12.    The British Administrarionol Ericrea therc/oee had co play its pan in errating condkiont of administra-tive Jtabdky and policka! calm in whkh national unity.

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