The resolution rejecting the 1967 referendum was UN Resolution 2353 (XXII), which refers to Resolution 1514 (XV) - in particular paragraph 6, which states:
- 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.
It also refers to Resolution 2070 (XX) and 2231 (XXI), in which the General Assembly (including both the UK and Spain) invited the two countries' governments first to enter into, then to continue, talks "with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples". The later resolution also calls upon the UK to "expedite, without any hindrance and in consultation with the Government of Spain, the decolonization of Gibraltar, and to report to the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples".
According to the 1967 UN Yearbook, the UK submitted a draft resolution to this committee, which would;
(a) recall the General Assembly's request of 20 December 1966
to take into account the interests of the people of the
territory;
(b) note the declared intention of the administering
power to consult the people of the territory about their views as to
where their interests lay by means of a referendum to be held on
10 September 1967; and
(c) note the statement by the
administering power that, in accordance with the requirements of the
General Assembly's resolution of 20 December 1966 on the
question of Gibraltar,
However, this resolution was rejected by the committee by a vote of 3-10, with 11 abstentions. The arguments presented against the holding of the referendum were as follows:
- The representative of Spain maintained that
the provisions of the Assembly's resolution of
14 December 1960 containing the Declaration
on the granting of independence were applicable to Gibraltar. That resolution had set forth
the principles of self-determination and had
embodied the principles of national unity and
territorial integrity of all countries. Neither the
Special Committee nor the General Assembly,
the Spanish representative said, had specified
that the principle of self-determination should
apply to the civilian population of Gibraltar.
The condition laid down by the United Nations
for the return of Gibraltar to Spain was that
the interests of the inhabitants should be
respected; the Spanish Government had offered
to respect those interests and had made a
number of suggestions to the United Kingdom
as to how they might be safeguarded.
- Spain considered that the continued British
presence on a portion of Spanish soil was tantamount to the dismemberment of the national
unity and the territorial integrity of Spain; as
long as such dismemberment persisted the colonial situation in Gibraltar would also persist.
By its resolution of 20 December 1966, the
General Assembly had requested the United
Kingdom to expedite, without any hindrance
and in consultation with the Government of
Spain, the decolonization of Gibraltar. The
United Kingdom had interrupted the negotiations for the decolonization of Gibraltar and
had decided to hold a referendum in the territory without previous consultations with Spain.
This decision not only violated the Treaty of
Utrecht of 1713 but also the United Nations
resolutions.
- The representative of Uruguay said that the referendum decided
upon by the United Kingdom represented a departure from the
system of bilateral negotiations called for by the Assembly's
resolution of 20 December 1966 on the Gibraltar question.
Another reason for objecting to the referendum was that,
according to the Treaty of Utrecht, Spain was to have
preferential option to recover the territory should a change of
status be contemplated. Any referendum organized by the British who
inhabited the territory was devoid of legal value.
- Mali and Tunisia
expressed support for the Spanish position, in particular with
regard to the proposed referendum.
- The United Republic of
Tanzania said that the General Assembly had called upon the
administering power to enter into consultations with Spain to
ensure not only decolonization, but also the type of decolonization
and the process followed. The proposed referendum would defeat the
purposes of the Assembly's resolution of 20 December 1966 on the
Gibraltar question.
- The representative of Tunisia said that his
delegation was opposed, not to the holding of
a referendum as a means of determining the
views of the population, but rather to the
manner in which it was being organized by the
administering power.
Instead, a revised resolution sponsored by Chile, Iraq, Syria and Uruguay was passed by a vote of 16-2 with 6 abstensions, which would eventually become Resolution 2353 in the General Assembly.
