Trusteeship Mission reports on Palau voting.

• Position: Plebiscite on the Compact of Free Association with the United States

A five-member United Nations Visiting Mission, which observed a plebiscite in Palau, has reported that 60.8 per cent of those voting now favoured the Compact of Free Association with the United States, that the referendum was conducted freely, fairly and in accordance with the rules, and that its results reflected "the freely expressed wishes of the people of Palau".

The plebiscite was held on the island of Palau on 6 February, with separate plebiscites taking place in off-island Palauan communities on 4 February. During an 11-day visit (31 january-10 February) to Palau, the UN Mission-composed of representatives of France, United Kingdom, China, Fiji and Papua New Guinea-observed the political education campaign, polling arrangements, the casting and counting of ballots, closure of voting and the declaration of results.

The Trusteeship Council on 8 January, at its twentieth special session, decided by a vote of 4 (China, France, United Kingdom, United States) to I (USSR) to dispatch the Mission.

The Soviet Union, citing the previous plebiscites in Palau, said that every time the United States did not obtain the results it wished, it pressed for yet another referendum to secure agreement to the Compact at all costs" The assertion that the people of micronesia had been given an opportunity freely to exercise their right to self-determination was completely groundless", it said.

The "so-called covenants and compacts" regarding various parts of the single Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands had been elaborated "behind the back" of the United Nations, in circumvention of the Security Council, and had been imposed in violation of the 1947 Trusteeship Agreement. They therefore could not be regarded as valid. Only the Security Council could alter the status of the Trust Territory or put an end to the terms of the Trusteeship Agreement. The United States said the freely expressed will of the people always had been and always would be its sole guide". The Mission's purpose was to observe that the people of Palau were freely determining their own future. It was regretful that the Soviet Union had chosen "to distort the situation in so anachronistic a manner". Mission report

In reporting to the Trusteeship Council T/1942), which is to meet in May 1990, the Mission concluded that the poll had been conducted fairly and in...