Questions of American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands,
the Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena,
the Turks and Caicos Islands and the United States Virgin Islands
A/RES/69/105 A-B
within the framework of their respective mandates, with the aim of exchanging
information on developments in those Non-Self-Governing Territories which are
reviewed by those bodies;
16. Also requests the Special Committee to continue to examine the question
of the Non-Self-Governing Territories and to report thereon to the General
Assembly at its seventieth session and on the implementation of the present
resolutions.
64th plenary meeting
5 December 2014
B
INDIVIDUAL TERRITORIES
The General Assembly,
Referring to resolution A above,
I
American Samoa
Taking note of the working paper prepared by the Secretariat on American
Samoa8 and other relevant information,
Taking note also of the statement made by the representative of the Governor
of American Samoa at the Pacific regional seminar held in Nadi, Fiji, from 21 to
23 May 2014 that, while the Territory enjoyed a great deal of self-government, its
current legal status was seen as an anachronism that exposed the Territory to
situations beyond its control and needed to be remedied,
Noting the constitutional amendment, approved in 2014 and to be put to the
vote at the end of the year, that would give the Fono, the Territory’s legislature, the
authority to override the Governor’s veto,
Noting also, in that regard, the announcement of a voter education process
ahead of the constitutional amendment poll,
Aware that, under United States law, the Secretary of the Interior has
administrative jurisdiction over American Samoa,9
Recalling the position of the administering Power and the statements made by
representatives of American Samoa at regional seminars inviting the Special
Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on
the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples to send a visiting
mission to the Territory,
Aware of the work of the Future Political Status Study Commission, completed
in 2006, the release of its report, with recommendations, in January 2007 and the
creation of the American Samoa Constitutional Review Committee, as well as the
holding in June 2010 of the Territory’s fourth Constitutional Convention,
_______________
8
A/AC.109/2014/13.
United States Congress, 1929 (48 U.S.C. Sec. 1661, 45 Stat. 1253), and Secretary’s Order 2657,
Department of the Interior, United States of America, 1951, as amended.
9
6/16