DOCUMENT 2. The Final Declarations of the Geneva Conference July 21, 1954.
1.The Conference takes note of the Agreements
ending hostilities in Cambodia, Laos, and Viet-Nam and organizing
international control and the supervision
of the execution of the provisions of these agreements.
2.The Conference expresses satisfaction at
the ending of hostilities in Cambodia, Laos, and Viet-nam; the Conference
expresses its conviction that the execution
of the provisions set out in the present Declaration and in the Agreements
on
the cessation of hostilities will permit Cambodia,
Laos and Viet-Nam henceforth to play their part, in full independence
and sovereignty, in the peaceful community
of nations.
3.The Conference takes note of the declarations
made by the Governments of Cambodia and of Laos of their intention
to adopt measures permitting all citizens
to take their place in the national community, in particular by participating
in the
next general elections, which, in conformity
with the constitution of each of these countries, shall take place in the
course
of the year 1955, by secret ballot and in
conditions of respect for fundamental freedoms.
4. The Conference takes note of the clauses
in the Agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Viet-Nam prohibiting
the
introduction into Vietnam of foreign troops
and military personnel as well as all kinds of arms and munitions. The
Conference also takes note of the declarations
made by the Governments of Cambodia and Laos of their resolution not
to request foreign aid, whether in war material,
in personnel or in instructors except for the purpose of the effective
defence of their territory and, in the case
of Laos, to the extent defined by the Agreements on the cessation of hostilities
in Laos.
5. The Conference takes note of the clauses
in the Agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Viet-nam to the effect
that
no military base under the control of a foreign
State may be established in the regrouping zones of the two parties, the
latter having the obligation to see that the
zones allotted to them shall not constitute part of any military alliance
and shall
not be utilized for the resumption of hostilities
or in the service of an aggressive policy. The Conference also takes note
of
the declarations of the Governments of Cambodia
and Laos to the effect that they will not join in any agreement with
other States if this agreement includes the
obligation to participate in a military alliance not in conformity with
the
principles of the Charter of the United Nations
or, in the case of Laos, with the principles of the Agreement on the
cessation of hostilities in Laos or, so long
as their security is not threatened, the obligation to establish bases
on
Cambodian or Laotian territory for the military
forces of foreign powers.
6.The Conference recognizes that the essential
purpose of the Agree-ment relating to Viet-nam is to settle military
questions with a view to ending hostilities
and that the military demarcation line is provisional and should not in
any way
be interpreted as constituting a political
or territorial boundary. The Conference expresses its conviction that the
execution of the provisions set out in the
present Declaration and in the Agreement on the cessation of hostilities
creates
the necessary basis for the achievement in
the near future of a political settlement in Viet-nam.
7. The Conference declares that, so far as
Viet-nam is concerned, the settlement of political problems, effected on
the
basis of respect for principles of independence,
unity and territorial integrity, shall permit the Vietnamese people to
enjoy
the fundamental freedoms, guaranteed by democratic
institutions established as a result of free general elections by secret
ballot. In order to ensure that sufficient
progress in the restoration of peace has been made and that all the necessary
conditions obtain for free expression of the
national will, general elections shall be held in July 1956, under the
supervision of an international commission
composed of representatives of the Member States of the International
Supervisory Commission, referred to in the
Agreement on the cessation of hostilities. Consultations will be held on
this
subject between the competent representative
authorities of the two zones from 20 July, 1955 onwards.
8. The provisions of the Agreements on the
cessation of hostilities intended to ensure the protection of individuals
and of
property must be most strictly applied and
must, in particular, allow everyone in Viet-nam to decide freely in which
zone
he wishes to live.
9. The competent representative authorites
of the Northern and South-ern zones of Viet-nam, as well as the authorities
of Laos and Cambodia, must not permit any
individual or collective reprisals against persons who have collaborated
in
any way with one of the parties during the
war, or against members of such persons' families.
10.The Conference takes note of the declaration
of the Government of the French Republic to the effect that it is ready
to withdraw its troops from the territory
of Cambodia, Laos and Viet-Nam, at the request of the governments concerned
and within periods which shall be fixed by
agreement between the parties except in the cases where, by agreement
between the two parties, a certain number
of French troops shall remain at specified points and for a specified time.
11. The Conference takes note of the declaration
of the French Government to the effect that for the settlement of all the
problems connected with the re-establishment
and consolidation of peace in Cambodia, Laos and Viet-nam, the French
Government will proceed from the principle
of respect for the independence and sovereignty, unity and territorial
integrity
of Cambodia, Laos and Viet-nam.
12.In their relations with Cambodia, Laos and
Viet-nam, each member of the Geneva Conference undertakes to respect
the sovereignty, the independence, the unity
and the territorial integrity of the above-mentioned States, and to refrain
from any interference in their internal affairs.
13.The members of the Conference agree to consult
one another on any question which may be referred to them by the
International Supervisory Commlssion, in order
to study such measures as may prove necessary to ensure that the
Agreements on the cessation of hostilities
in Cambodia, Laos and Viet-nam are respected.
SOURCE: Gravel (ed.), Pentagon Papers, Vol. 1, pp. 279-282.
DOCUMENT 3. The American Response to the Geneva Declarations, 3 July 21, 1954.
Declaration
The Government of the United States being resolved to devote its efforts
to the strengthening of peace in accordance with the
principles and purposes of the United Nations takes note of the agreements
concluded at Geneva on July 20 and 21, 1954
between (a) the Franco-Laotian Command and the Command of the Peoples
Army of Viet-Nam; (b) the Royal Khmer Army
Command and the Command of the Peoples Army of Viet-Nam; (c) Franco-Vietnamese
Command and the Command of the
Peoples Army of Viet-Nam and of paragraphs I to 12 inclusive of the
declaration presented to the Geneva Conference on July
21, 1954 declares with regard to the aforesaid agreements and paragraphs
that (i) it will refrain from the threat or the use of
force to disturb them, in accordance with Article 2(4) of the Charter
of the United Nations dealing with the obligation of
members to refrain in their international relations from the threat
or use of force; and (ii) it would view any renewal of the
aggression in violation of the aforesaid agreements with grave concern
and as seriously threatening interna tional peace and
security.
In connection with the statement in the declaration concerning free
elections in Viet-Nam my Government wishes to make clear
its position which it has expressed in a declaration made in Washington
on June 29, 1954, as follows:
In the case of nations now divided against their will, we shall continue
to seek to achieve unity through free
elections supervised by the United Nations to insure that they are
conducted fairly.
With respect to the statement made by the representative of the State
of Viet-Nam, the United States reiterates its traditional
position that peoples are entitled to determine their own future and
that it will not join in an arrangement which would hinder
this. Nothing in its declaration just made is intended to or does indicate
any departure from this traditional position.
We share the hope that the agreements will permit Cambodia, Laos and
Viet-Nam to play their part, in full independence and
sovereignty, in the peaceful community of nations, and will enable
the peoples of that area to determine their own future.
SOURCE: Neil Sheehan and others (eds.), The Pentagon Papers, pp. 52-53.