UN General Assembly
1963

69. The situation in Aden provides an equally glaring example of the violation of the principle of self-determination. Urgent action is required by the United Nations to deal with a potentially explosive situation. That was the conclusion of the Sub-Committee on Aden which was established by the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. In its resolution of 3 May 1963 the Special Committee recognized the right of the people of Aden and the Aden Protectorates to self-determination and freedom from colonial rule and recommended that an early opportunity be given to the people to decide their future under free and democratic conditions. It decided to send a Sub-Committee to the territory for the purpose of ascertaining the views of the population and holding talks with the administering Power, The United Kingdom, however, withheld its co-operation from the Sub-Committee and refused to permit it to enter the territory. The Sub-Committee, none the less, visited four neighbouring countries, heard scores of petitioners and received hundreds of written petitions.