RETRO: April 1955

From 18 to 24 April 1955, the representatives of the free and independent states of Africa and Asia in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Representing thirty countries and colonies, who between them account for over half of the world's population, the topic of this conference--the first of its kind--was the promotion of Afro-Asian economic and cultural cooperation, and the opposition of colonialism and neocolonialism.

After much discussion and deliberation over the course of the week, the assembled delegations agreed on a final communique to the world covering the topics discussed at the conference. Its scope was broad, ranging from calls for economic and cultural cooperation between the participants on the basis of mutual interest and respect for national sovereignty; condemning racialism as a means of cultural suppression (and the racialist system of government in South Africa in particular); declaring support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the principles of self-determination of peoples and nations; declaring colonialism "in all its manifestations" as an evil and a denial of fundamental human rights contrary to the United Nations Charter; and voicing its support for the positions of Indonesia and Yemen on West Irian/Papua and Aden and the South Arabian Protectorates, respectively.

The most notable item included in the communique, though, was the final ten point declaration on the promotion of world peace and cooperation, known informally as the Bandung Declaration. Adopted unanimously by the thirty nations present, the declaration called upon the nations of the world to practice tolerance and develop friendly cooperation on the basis of the following principles:

1) Respect for fundamental human rights and for the purposes and principles of the charter of the United Nations

2) Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations

3) Recognition of the equality of all races and of the equality of all nations large and small

4) Abstention from intervention or interference in the internal affairs of another country

5) Respect for the right of each nation to defend itself, singly or collectively, in conformity with the charter of the United Nations

6a) Abstention from the use of arrangements of collective defense to serve any particular interests of the big powers

6b) Abstention by any country from exerting pressures on other countries

7) Refraining from acts or threats of aggression or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any country

8) Settlement of all international disputes by peaceful means, such as negotiation, conciliation, arbitration or judicial settlement as well as other peaceful means of the parties own choice, in conformity with the charter of the United Nations

9) Promotion of mutual interests and cooperation

10) Respect for justice and international obligations

The Bandung Conference and its final communique paint a vision of a promising future--one in which the nations of Africa and Asia, newly free from their colonial masters, might work together to create new pathways to economic and cultural development free of the economic hegemony of Europe and the Americas. Whether this future will ever truly come into being, or whether it will remain a dream, remains to be seen.