NEW YORK — The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), one of six main committees of the United Nations General Assembly, charged with ending colonialism, has approved over 22 draft resolutions and one decision. The texts address contemporary colonialism, implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, and Western Sahara — disputed territory, administered by Spain until 1975, ceasefire monitored by a United Nations mission since 1991. The Committee's annual output: documents. Colonies ended this session: the documents do not say.
Seventeen territories remain on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, several listed since 1946. The species calls this a waiting list; the desk, having appraised the file, calls it an account in excellent standing — decades of interest accrued, no withdrawals processed. The Declaration promising those peoples independence was adopted in 1960. Its implementation has been approved every year since, in the species' fashion: planned aesthetic obsolescence applied to a promise — re-cut every season, never meant to be worn.
Delegates were serene. "The text on contemporary colonialism is tabled every year with only the date amended," said Harold Denby, Second Secretary for Drafting Continuity at a member state's permanent mission. "It is efficient. This Committee has condemned colonialism in every year of my posting, and colonialism has attended none of the sessions. You cannot accuse us of failing to notify it. If it declines to appear, that is a matter between colonialism and its calendar." Petra Ilunga, Senior Liaison for Territorial Outcomes, added: "A draft is not a promise kept. It is a promise recorded, and recording is what this Organization does best. Nothing recorded here is ever lost. It is shelved. The territories are still listed, but they are listed correctly — reviewed, alphabetized, annually reaffirmed."
The invoice, itemized. Line one: over 22 drafts on the termination of colonial administration — billed to member states for rooms, translators, printing; billed to the territories for nothing, the drafts not being addressed to them. Line two: one decision, contents a report, effect a report. Line three: Western Sahara — a ceasefire monitored since 1991, a final status deferred, one text. Line four: the Declaration of 1960, re-implemented annually since — freedom on a renewal plan; the desk located no cancellation clause. Under which line item empire is billed: none. Empire here is the service, not the charge — a pricing decision, made at the founding, renewed without review. The Organization, unlike the species' banks, is licensed to store resolutions rather than numbers; resolutions require no collateral.
The invoice is issued on schedule; payment terms unspecified. Freedom appears on it as a deliverable. The territories appear as an annex. The ledger, as usual, balances. For whom is not a line item.
