A/RES/71/113
Question of Guam
Cognizant of the importance of the administering Power continuing to
implement its programme of transferring surplus federal land to the Government of
Guam,
Noting that the people of the Territory have called for reform in the
programme of the administering Power with respect to the thorough, unconditional
and expeditious transfer of land property to the people of Guam,
Aware of the deep concern expressed by civil society and other parties
regarding the potential social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts of the
planned transfer of additional military personnel of the administering Power to the
Territory,
Recalling the statement made by the Speaker of the thirty-third Guam
legislature before the Fourth Committee at the seventieth session of the General
Assembly that the most acute threat to the legitimate exercise of the decolonization
of Guam was the incessant militarization of the island by its administering Power,
and noting the concern expressed regarding the effect of the escalating United States
military activities and installations on Guam,
Recalling also its resolution 57/140 of 11 December 2002, in which it
reiterated that military activities and arrangements by administering Powers in the
Non-Self-Governing Territories under their administration should not run counter to
the rights and interests of the peoples of the Territories concerned, especially their
right to self-determination, including independence, and called upon the
administering Powers concerned to terminate such activities and to eliminate the
remaining military bases in compliance with the relevant resolutions of the General
Assembly,
Recalling further its resolution 35/118 of 11 December 1980, and conscious
that immigration into Guam has resulted in the indigenous Chamorros becoming a
minority in their homeland,
1.
Reaffirms the inalienable right of the people of Guam to selfdetermination, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and with
General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), containing the Declaration on the Granting
of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples;
2.
Also reaffirms that, in the process of the decolonization of Guam, there is
no alternative to the principle of self-determination, which is also a fundamental
human right, as recognized under the relevant human rights conventions;
3.
Further reaffirms that it is ultimately for the people of Guam to
determine freely their future political status in accordance with the relevant
provisions of the Charter, the Declaration and the relevant resolutions of the General
Assembly, and in that connection calls upon the administering Power, in
cooperation with the territorial Government and appropriate bodies of the United
Nations system, to develop political education programmes for the Terr itory in order
to foster an awareness among the people of their right to self -determination in
conformity with the legitimate political status options, based on the principles
clearly defined in Assembly resolution 1541 (XV) and other relevant resolutions and
decisions;
4.
Welcomes the convening of the Guam Commission on Decolonization for
the Implementation and Exercise of Chamorro Self-Determination and its ongoing
work on a self-determination vote, as well as its public education efforts;
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