Special Committee on Decolonization

On 27 November 1961 the General Assembly created the precursor to the Special Committee by Resolution 1654 (XVI), which established a Special Committee of 17 members to examine the application of the Declaration and to make recommendations on how to better implement it. The original members were:[8]

On 7 December 1962, the General Assembly added seven seats to the committee, bringing the total number of members up to 24.[9] The number increased again in 2004, 2008 and 2010.[10] The number 24 continues to be used when describing the Committee even though it now has 29 members.

In 1990, the General Assembly proclaimed 1990–2000 as the International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism by Resolution 43/47, with the ultimate goal being the full implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. The General Assembly adopted the report of the Secretary-General dated 13 December 1991 as the Plan of Action for the Decade.[11][12]

On 8 December 2000, the General Assembly proceeded to proclaim the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, lasting from 2001 to 2010 via Resolution 55/146. The Resolution called upon Member States to redouble their efforts to implement the Plan of Action during the Second Decade.[13]

On 10 December 2010, the General Assembly proclaimed 2010–2020 as the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism via Resolution 65/119. The Resolution called upon Member States to intensify their efforts to continue to implement the Plan of Action during the Third Decade.[14]

Territories with independence movements are disputed for their qualification as colonial countries and their admission for decolonization. Various current and previous members on various occasion have disputed and blocked the admission and re-admission of their respective territories for decolonization.[33]

• Indonesia has disputed and hindered the re-admission of West Papua, and the admission of Minahasa for decolonization.[34][35]
• China has blocked the admission of Hong Kong, Inner Mongolia, Macao, Tibet, and Xinjiang as non-self governing territories. China considers Hong Kong and Macau as territories forcibly ceded to European powers, the territories are possessions rather than colonies, and that China enjoys sovereignty over these territories. China claims that these regions are currently self-governed and are generally not considered as colonial holdings.[36] However, invasion of Tibet and Xinjiang led to their current status as territories of China, and there have been various accounts of forced sterilization and abortion in Tibet and Xinjiang, forced labor and internment in Xinjiang, and forced assimilation, political control, and stripping of political representation to people of all these regions.[37][38][39][40][41][42]
• Russia has disputed at least 26 territories as colonial countries from admissions for decolonization. Among these Russian territories are Chukotka, Khanty-Mansi, Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets, Adygea, Altai, Bashkortostan, Buryatia, Chechnya, Chuvashia, Crimea, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Karelia, Khakassia, Komi, Mari El, Mordovia, North Ossetia-Alania, Sakha (Yakutia), Tatarstan, Tuva, and Udmurtia.[43][44] Historically, forced ethnic migrations have been conducted to retain control over certain territories.[45] Though these territories enjoyed varying degrees of self-governance through sovereignty pacts reached with the Russian Federation, these pacts have since expired, and regional autonomy has gradually eroded.[46][47][48]
• The United States retains Puerto Rico as an unincorporated territory, which the committee has deemed insufficient in providing them self-determination.[49] However, its Commonwealth status compelled the committee to remove it from the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories in 1952. And despite the U.S. Virgin Islands being on the list of Non-Self Governing Territories, 81.60% of voters in 1993 voted to remain as a U.S. territory with only 13.44% wanting "integration with the U.S." and 4.96% preferring independence in a 1993 United States Virgin Islands status referendum that was albeit invalidated due to less than half of eligible voters turning out.
• The United Kingdom has hindered the British Indian Ocean Territory from decolonization by detaching the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius. The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 2066 on 16 December 1965, which stated its belief that this detachment of part of the colonial territory of Mauritius was against customary international law as recorded earlier in the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples of 14 December 1960. This stated that "Any attempt aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity and the territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations".

Various organizations including British delegates claimed that the committee is 'no longer relevant' to United Kingdom Overseas Territories as many of its members are colonizers themselves, controlling various territories wanting independence.[50][51][52]