UN General Assembly
1953

31. Thirdly, these so-called reforms are in fact composed of three main elements which I should like to mention. In the first place, these reforms consist of provisions which render the favoured French colonials in Tunisia and Morocco the real masters of these countries to the detriment of the peoples of Morocco and Tunisia. The sovereignty of these countries is thus virtually destroyed. Where is there here that consent of the governed about which, in another context, the United States Secretary of State, Mr. Dulles, used his innate ability to speak? Where is the right of self-determination proclaimed in the Charter? Secondly, with the French colonials enjoying the exercise of real sovereignty in Moroccan and Tunisian affairs, together with the French Resident-General, Morocco and Tunisia are pushed against their will into what is virtually a form of annexation to a French empire; or call it, if you prefer, a form of forced union in a colonial system, which system is to be kept away from United Nations vigilance behind a curtain, not of iron but nevertheless a thick curtain of domestic jurisdiction. I request my fellow representatives to read the text of these reforms attentively and to see whether they could find in them any substance beyond what I have submitted. Thirdly, these reforms, as they stand, are a retrogression from the treaties of Bardo and Fez, called the Treaties of Protectorates, both of which have at their very basis another act of force.