The main features of the trusteeship system are outlined in the = chapter on=20 the Trusteeship Council. What follows here is a brief description of the = territories originally placed under UN trusteeship in 1946.
Three types of countries became part of the UN's trusteeship system: = (1)=20 territories still administered by a nation under a League of Nations = mandate,=20 (2) territories detached from enemy states as a result of the Second = World War,=20 and (3) territories voluntarily placed under the system by states = responsible=20 for their administration. All 11 territories that were placed under the=20 trusteeship system in 1946 have since achieved the goals of the charter, = either=20 as independent states or as parts of independent states.
Following is a list of the territories that have achieved = independence. The=20 territories are listed under their administering powers.
Nauru (coadministered with New Zealand and the United = Kingdom). The=20 territory became independent on 31 January 1968, in accordance with a = 1965=20 General Assembly resolution setting this date as the target for = accession to=20 independence.
New Guinea. The trust territory of New Guinea was administered = by=20 Australia together with the non-self-governing territory of Papua until = the two=20 were united and became the independent state of Papua New Guinea in = 1975.
Ruanda-Urundi under Belgian administration. In a special = session=20 convened in June 1962, the General Assembly approved separate = independence for=20 the two territories, which were established on 1 July 1962 as the = Republic of=20 Rwanda and the Kingdom of Burundi.
Togoland. In 1958, with the agreement of France, the UN = supervised=20 elections, and the territory became the independent state of Togo on 27 = April=20 1960.
Cameroons. Following a notification in 1958 by its legislative = assembly of the desire of the territory to become independent and acting = upon=20 the recommendation of the Trusteeship Council, the General Assembly, in=20 agreement with France, resolved that on 1 January 1960 trusteeship = status would=20 end and the territory would become independent as Cameroon.
Somaliland. In union with the dependency of British = Somaliland, the=20 territory became the sovereign state of Somalia on 1 July 1960.
Western Samoa. In agreement with the administering authority, = the UN=20 conducted a plebiscite in May 1961, following which the territory = attained=20 independence on 1 January 1962.
Togoland . To ascertain the freely expressed wishes of the = people as=20 to their political future, the UN, in agreement with the United Kingdom, = conducted a plebiscite in 1956. As a result of the plebiscite, the = territory=20 united in March 1957 with the former Gold Coast to form the independent = state of=20 Ghana.
Cameroons . Both the northern and southern sectors of the = territory=20 were administered as part of the federation of Nigeria, a British = dependency.=20 Following a plebiscite held under UN supervision in March 1961, the = northern=20 sector became part of newly independent Nigeria on 1 June 1961. = Following a=20 similar plebiscite, the peoples of the southern sector joined the newly=20 independent state of Cameroon on 1 October 1961.
Tanganyika. Following negotiations between the United Kingdom = and=20 African leaders, the territory attained independence on 9 December 1961. = It=20 united with Zanzibar in 1964 to become the United Republic of Tanzania. =
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. By the end of 1975, = only the=20 Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands remained under the UN trusteeship = system.=20 It was administered by the United States under an agreement approved by = the=20 Security Council. Because it is a "strategic" trust territory, it was = under the=20 ultimate authority of the Security Council rather than the General = Assembly.=20 (See the chapter on the Trusteeship Council.)
The Pacific Islands, collectively known as Micronesia, include the = former=20 Japanese-mandated islands of the Marshalls, the Carolines, and the = Northern=20 Marianas (except Guam, which was ceded to the United States by Spain in = 1898).=20 In 1975, a covenant for political union with the United States was = approved by=20 the people of the Northern Marianas. In February 1976, the United States = Congress gave final approval for granting commonwealth status to the = Northern=20 Marianas. The Commonwealth Covenant with the Northern Marianas came into = force=20 on 3 November 1986.
In a referendum held on 12 July 1978, Kosrae, Ponape, Truk, and = Yap=E2=80=94in the=20 Caroline archipelago=E2=80=94approved and ratified a draft constitution = for a proposed=20 Federated States of Micronesia. The four districts subsequently held = elections,=20 and the Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia was inaugurated = on 10 May=20 1979. The Compact of Free Association with the Federated States of = Micronesia=20 also came into force on 3 November 1986.
On 21 December 1978, the Marshall Islands Constitutional Convention = approved=20 a draft constitution, and in a referendum held on 1 March 1979, the = voters of=20 those islands adopted it by a substantial majority. Legislative power in = the=20 Marshall Islands was vested in the Nitijela (legislature); the first = general=20 election under the new constitution took place on 10 April 1979. The = Compact of=20 Free Association with the Marshall Islands came into force on 21 October = 1986.=20
On 2 April 1979, the Constitutional Convention of Palau adopted a = draft=20 constitution, which was approved by a referendum on 9 July. Elections = were held=20 on 4 November 1980, and the new constitution came into force on 1 = January 1981.=20 However, since its constitution required a 75% majority for the approval = of the=20 Compact of Free Association with the United States, Palau was unable to = obtain=20 approval for the compact in seven different referendums over the next 10 = years.=20
In November 1992, Palau held a constitutional amendment referendum = and=20 changed the requirement for approval to simple majority (50% plus 1).=20 Thereafter, the eighth plebiscite was held in November 1993 and the = compact was=20 approved by 68 per cent of Palauans voting in favor. In January 1994, = the United=20 States informed the Trusteeship Council that its government and the = government=20 of Palau intended to implement the compact as soon as practicable. = Planning for=20 the smooth transition to Palau's new status was under way. In late 1994 = the two=20 countries implemented the Compact of Free Association and with it came = the=20 official end of Palau's status as a trusteeship territory.
The delegates attending the 1945 San Francisco Conference, at which = the UN=20 was founded, included many spokesmen for anticolonialist sentiment. As a = result=20 of their efforts and generous proposals by Australia and the United = Kingdom=20 (which possessed the world's largest colonial empire at the time), the = charter=20 incorporates a pledge on the part of the colonial powers to assume = certain=20 obligations toward the peoples of their dependencies.
The pledge takes the form of a declaration regarding = non-selfgoverning=20 territories that is embodied in Article 73, Chapter XI, of the charter. = Under=20 Article 73, all UN members "which have or assume responsibilities for = the=20 administration of territories whose peoples have not yet attained a full = measure=20 of self-government recognize the principle that the interests of the = inhabitants=20 of these territories are paramount, and accept as a sacred trust the = obligation=20 to promote to the utmost, within the system of international peace and = security=20 established by the present Charter, the well-being of the inhabitants of = these=20 territories, =E2=80=A6" This general obligation is then divided into = five specific=20 obligations:(a) to "ensure, with due respect for the culture of the = peoples=20 concerned, their political, economic, social, and educational = advancement, their=20 just treatment, and their protection against abuses"; (b) to "develop=20 self-government, to take due account of the political aspirations of the = peoples, and to assist them in the progressive development of their free = political institutions, according to the particular circumstances of = each=20 territory and its peoples =E2=80=A6 "; (c) to "further international = peace and=20 security";(d) to "promote constructive measures of development =E2=80=A6 = "; and(e) to=20 "transmit regularly to the Secretary-General for information purposes, = subject=20 to such limitations as security and constitutional considerations may = require,=20 statistical and other information of a technical nature relating to = economic,=20 social, and educational conditions in the territories for which they are = respectively responsible=E2=80=A6."
Today, when so many of these people have claimed and won their = independence,=20 the obligations contained in the declaration may not seem very = far-reaching. For=20 example, nothing is said about preparing non-self-governing territories = for=20 actual independence=E2=80=94indeed, the word "independence" appears = nowhere in the=20 declaration. Although due account is to be taken of the "political = aspirations=20 of the peoples," all that is explicitly acknowledged is the obligation = to=20 develop "self-government," which does not necessarily imply = independence.
However, the validity of the declaration must be considered in the = context of=20 its era. Few people at the San Francisco Conference foresaw how intense = or=20 universal the desire of colonial peoples for full political sovereignty = would=20 be. All told, the obligations included in the declaration probably = represented=20 the maximum that reasonably could be expected from colonial countries at = that=20 time. Moreover, in the circumstances then prevailing, the agreement by = the=20 colonial nations, under paragraph (e) of Article 73, to submit = information to an=20 international body concerning their own territories=E2=80=94in effect, = to yield up a=20 degree of their sovereignty=E2=80=94was a considerable concession.
TERRITORIES COVERED BY THE DECLARATION The somewhat unwieldy = term=20 "non-self-governing territory" was chosen primarily because it was broad = enough=20 to include the various constitutional designations given by = administering powers=20 to their dependencies=E2=80=94colony, protectorate, and so on=E2=80=94as = well as all stages of=20 political development short of actual self-government or independence. = The=20 declaration includes all those territories "whose peoples have not yet = attained=20 a full measure of self-government." However, the precise meaning of the = phrase=20 "a full measure of self-government" was not specified in the charter, an = omission that left the door open for subsequent dispute and controversy. =
At the outset, it was considered the responsibility of the eight = colonial=20 powers that were UN members to identify the dependencies they regarded = as=20 non-self-governing within the meaning of Article 73 of the charter. At = its first=20 working session, in 1946, the General Assembly adopted a resolution = enumerating=20 74 non-selfgoverning territories that the administering countries had = identified=20 as falling within the provisions of the declaration. The eight colonial=20 countries were Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, New = Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The combined = population of=20 their dependencies=E2=80=94which ranged from tiny Pitcairn Island, with = a population of=20 100 persons, to the Netherlands Indies, with 73 million=E2=80=94was = estimated at 215=20 million. The dependencies of Spain and Portugal could not be included in = the=20 1946 list, since these two colonial powers were not UN members at the = time. (For=20 the non-self-governing territories listed by the General Assembly in = 1946 and=20 subsequently, see Table 1.)