Several members of the Commission proposed a draft convention on the nationality of married women based on the principles of equality adopted by the Commission in 1950. Since the International Law Commission (ILC) is studying the overall problem of nationality, the United States favored ILC consideration of the proposed principles on the nationality of married women along with other aspects of nationality. The Commission recommended that the proposed draft convention on the nationality of married women be circulated to governments for review and comment, and the Economic and Social Council approved this recommendation. The United States, which is already a party to the Montevideo Convention on the Nationality of Women, similar in principle to the proposed draft, supported this action but at the same time reserved its position regarding the proposed draft convention.

World War II Prisoners of War

The General Assembly at its eighth session considered for the second time the pressing problem of World War II prisoners of war still unrepatriated or unaccounted for. This problem was first submitted to the Assembly at its fifth session in 1950 by the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom in view of clear evidence that the U.S.S.R. had failed to repatriate or otherwise account for hundreds of thousands of German, Japanese, and other prisoners of war and after repeated diplomatic representations to the Soviet Government on the question had achieved no fruitful results. Over Soviet-bloc opposition, the fifth Assembly had provided for the establishment of an expert Ad Hoc Commission to collect and evaluate information submitted by governments on prisoners of the Second World War and to take measures to assist in their repatriation. The U.S.S.R. and its satellites, however, have completely disregarded the Commission's appeals for information, and the U.S.S.R. is the only country invited to attend the Commission's sessions that has failed to send representatives. In its September 1953 Progress Report to the Secretary-General, the Commission (which is composed of J. G. Guerrero of El Salvador, Vice President of the International Court of Justice; Countess Bernadotte of Sweden; and Aung Khine, Judge of the High Court of Burma) described the Soviet attitude towards the Commission as "the main obstacle through which its best efforts have been frustrated."

The Secretary-General, after consultation with the chairman of the Commission, placed the question of World War II prisoners of war on the provisional agenda of the General Assembly's eighth session. On September 17 the Assembly, again over the opposition of the Soviet

bloc, approved the inclusion of the item on the agenda by a vote of 51 to 5, with 1 abstention.

The Assembly's Third Committee first adopted a resolution sponsored by eight Latin American countries and opposed only by the Soviet bloc inviting representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, and Japan, none of which is a member of the United Nations, to state the views of their Governments on the prisoner-ofwar question. German, Italian, and Japanese representatives, in statements to the Committee, then gave information on prisoners of war from their countries who were still unrepatriated or otherwise unaccounted for by the U.S.S.R., the Chinese Communist regime, and others in the Soviet bloc. They appealed to the detaining governments and authorities to repatriate and furnish full information on these prisoners and stressed the importance of continued United Nations interest in the problem.

The Committee then debated two draft resolutions. One of these, sponsored jointly by Australia, Brazil, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, reiterated the Assembly's "grave and continuing concern" at the evidence that large numbers of World War II prisoners of war have not yet been repatriated or otherwise accounted for and urgently appealed to all governments and authorities still holding such prisoners to give them an unrestricted opportunity of repatriation. The draft also requested the Ad Hoc Commission to continue its efforts to assist in a solution of the problem; noted with concern that certain governments and authorities have so far refused to cooperate with the Commission; and urgently appealed to all such governments and authorities to give the Commission their full cooperation. A new paragraph was later inserted to take account of an amendment that had been suggested by Iraq. This paragraph noted with satisfaction that some progress had recently taken place in the repatriation of prisoners of war and expressed the hope that those governments and Red Cross societies that have contributed to that progress would continue their efforts.

The second draft resolution, introduced by Byelorussia, stated that by virtue of article 107 of the United Nations Charter the problem of World War II prisoners of war was not within the Organization's competence and that the activities of the Ad Hoc Commission were being used "to sow hatred and hostility between nations." The draft called for the discontinuance of the Commission.

The large majority of members participating in the debate supported the joint draft resolution and opposed the Byelorussian proposal. The Soviet-bloc representatives, however, continued to insist that consideration of the question by the United Nations was illegal despite the fact that the Assembly had rejected this argument on previous occa

sions by overwhelming majorities. They maintained that the purpose of bringing the question to the Assembly was to wage a propaganda campaign against the Soviet Union. They even charged that the Commission had collected falsified information and that it was the United States and others rather than the U.S.S.R. that were still detaining World War II prisoners.

Governor James F. Byrnes, the U.S. representative, urged the adoption of the draft resolution sponsored jointly by the United States and others. He described the World War II prisoner-of-war problem as one of the most tragic before the Assembly and stated that the United Nations owed it to the prisoners and their families to make every effort to solve the question. He noted that the failure to carry out a plan that afforded prisoners an unrestricted opportunity of repatriation and also the failure to account for all prisoners taken in the course of hostilities constituted serious violations of international law. He gave a comprehensive account of the specific agreements concluded by the Allied Powers with respect to the repatriation of German and Japanese prisoners of war and of the failure of the Soviet Union to live up to these agreements. Governor Byrnes summarized the clear evidence that the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, and Italy had obtained regarding the numbers of prisoners that remained to be repatriated or otherwise accounted for. While noting that the Soviet Union had recently returned some World War II prisoners, he stressed that the Soviet leaders must go much further and fully account for hundreds of thousands of others as well. He stated that, if the present Soviet leaders were sincere in their desire to alleviate world tension, the problem of World War II prisoners of war offered them one excellent opportunity to prove their sincerity and appealed to the U.S.S.R. and other Soviet-bloc countries to give their full cooperation to the Ad Hoc Commission.

The Third Committee adopted the joint draft resolution on December 3 by a vote of 44 to 5 (Soviet bloc), with 5 abstentions, and rejected a Soviet proposal that the Byelorussian draft be put to vote. On December 7 the Assembly adopted the Committee resolution by a vote of 46 to 5 (Soviet bloc), with 6 abstentions.

Dependent Territories

IN many of the more than 70 non-self-governing territories throughout the world where some 200 million people live who have not yet attained full self-government, the inhabitants are giving increasing expression to their political, economic, and social aspirations. Problems reflecting these aspirations claim more and more attention in various organs and committees of the United Nations under chapters XI, XII, and XIII of the charter. Chapter XI, the Declaration Regarding Non-Self-Governing Territories, sets forth the responsibilities of members administering non-self-governing territories, to promote the well-being of the inhabitants of these territories. Chapters XII and XIII establish the United Nations trusteeship system, which provides for special international supervision of the administration of those non-self-governing territories known as trust territories. Though subject to the jurisdiction of the administering authorities, trust territories are not under their sovereignty. There are now 11 such territories inhabited by more than 18 million people. The United States plays an active role in this significant field. The international responsibilities of this country with regard to dependent territories arise both from its membership in organizations concerned with these territories and from the fact that the United States itself administers a number of non-self-governing territories, including one trust territory. During 1953 the United States participated in the work of the Trusteeship Council and several of its committees, the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly, the Assembly's Committee on Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories, and two ad hoc bodies of the Assembly-the Ad Hoc Committee on SouthWest Africa and the Ad Hoc Committee on Factors to be taken into account in deciding whether a territory is or is not a territory whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government. As an administering authority, the United States reported to the United Nations on the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, as well as on Alaska, American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, and the Virgin Islands of the United States. In addition, the United States was able to report that Puerto Rico had achieved a full measure of self-government as

a result of the establishment of the Commonwealth on July 25, 1952, and therefore no longer fell within the category of territories on which information was to be transmitted to the United Nations.

The United States also participated in the Caribbean and the South Pacific Commissions. These two regional international organizations, while not integral parts of the United Nations system, are similarly concerned with the economic and social advancement of the dependent territories in their respective areas.

TRUSTEESHIP SYSTEM

In 1953, owing to a change in its schedule for the examination of annual reports on the 11 trust territories administered under the International Trusteeship System, the Trusteeship Council met in only one regular session. At this, its twelfth session, the Council examined reports on Somaliland under Italian administration and the four trust territories in the Pacific, including the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands under U.S. administration. After discussing each report and obtaining supplementary information by questioning a special representative from each territorial administration, the Council adopted detailed conclusions and recommendations designed to promote the advancement of the particular territory concerned. In this connection, the Council also took into account the reports of its second visiting mission to the trust territories in the Pacific. In addition, the Council considered 294 petitions relating to conditions in the trust territories and discussed a number of special questions referred to it by the General Assembly.

The Trusteeship Council's conclusions and recommendations were considered by the eighth session of the General Assembly which, in turn, adopted nine resolutions on trusteeship matters.

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

Some 98 island groups comprising the Marshalls, Carolines, and Marianas (except Guam) make up the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. These island groups have a total population of some 55,000 and are scattered over 3 million square miles of ocean. Formerly a League of Nations mandate under Japanese administration, these islands were occupied by U.S. military forces during World War II. On July 18, 1947, a trusteeship agreement entered into force between the United States and the United Nations Security Council, which

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