THE Bermuda delegation at the meeting of the UN's Special Committee on Decolonisation (UNSCD) on February 17 heard UN Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fr?chette encourage the Committee to "explore ways to accelerate the decolonisation of the 16 remaining territories".

Eleven members of the UNSCD arrive here on Sunday, to gather and provide information and to offer assistance to Bermuda's Independence Commission (BIC).

Addressing the opening session of the UNSCD, Ms Fr?chette, a Canadian, acknowledged the importance of ensuring that "the peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories are kept fully aware of the political status options available to them: free association, integration with another state, or Independence".

She also spoke of the need for the Committee to "step up efforts to inform the peoples of the Territories of their right to determine their own future freely" and "to work with the peoples of the Territories concerned to develop decolonisation plans on a case-by-case basis, so as to implement UN decisions and complete the decolonisation process".

However, she began her speech to the Committee and visiting delegations, including Bermuda's, by noting that "the success of the decolonisation process has had an enormous impact on the political shape of the world and the membership of the United Nations.

"But it is an unfinished business. You still need to explore ways to accelerate the decolonisation of the 16 remaining territories."

The Bermuda delegation in attendance comprised BIC chairman Bishop Vernon Lambe, committee member David Rowntree, and Government liaison Philip Perinchief.

Ms Fr?chette was only echoing the views of the UN as a body, and of Secretary General Kofi Annan.

"Despite the UN's achievements in the field of decolonisation, the job remains incomplete," he told the Pacific regional seminar of the UNSCD last year in Papua New Guinea.

At the February 17 session, Committee chairman Dr.Julian Hunte, Ambassador of St. Lucia to the United Nations, reminded the Committee and visitors of "the decades-old Assembly mandate for a transfer of powers to the territorial governments ? a call that still resonated from many of those governments in recent constitutional processes", according to a UN press release.

He called on the UN to "put in place a sustainable approach to the attainment of the full measure of self-government for the remaining 16, mostly small-island Territories".

He said "those issues have been with us for too long" but told the Committee that he would "keep uppermost in his mind that self-determination meant the ability of a people to determine their own future and to govern themselves, without external interference". He sought the support of his colleagues in taking the Committee in "a new and more pro-active direction".

St. Lucia, with a population of about 165,000, an annual budget of about $140 million and GDP per capita of $5,000, maintains an embassy in Washington and consulates in Miami and New York, in addition to the UN embassy.

A former leader of the ruling Labour Party in St. Lucia, Dr. Hunte, recipient of an honorary doctorate from England's Sheffield University, served as President of the 58th session of the UN General Assembly.

Fayssal Mekdad, the Syrian representative, was "proud that Timor Leste (East Timor) was part of the Committee". He "welcomed the delegation of Bermuda, and he respected the choice that country had made in co-operating with the administering Power (UK)."

Exactly one month later, after the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, allegedly by Syrian agents, the UN Secretary-General called for the "full withdrawal of all Syrian troops, including the intelligence apparatus and military assets" from Lebanon, for whose full Independence Syria appears to be unenthusiastic.

The Cuban vice-chair, Orlando Requeijo Gual, also welcomed the Bermuda delegation, and said that "the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories had placed trust in the Committee, which must discharge its commitments to them".

An argument could be made that the people of Cuba are not self-governing, but the diplomatic hypocrisies sometimes required by membership of SC-24 were perhaps best displayed by the Indonesian representative, who, in welcoming new Committee member East Timor, noted that his country "had a long history with its neighbour"; a history marked by invasion, brutal colonisation, violent opposition to that former Portuguese colony's attempts to gain Independence from Indonesia, and an orgy of destruction as the East Timorese won their war for Independence.

The representative of new member Dominica called on the administering powers to co-operate with the Committee, was "very pleased at the presence of Bermuda's delegation, and hoped that the Committee could assist it in evolving a more comprehensive perspective as it moved forward in the quest for self-determination".

He expressed solidarity with the remaining 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories, and hoped his membership "would contribute to their aspirations".

The Bolivian representative, Sr. Ortiz, said it was not possible to continue with "business as usual; the decolonisation process must be accelerated", because of the Committee's obligation to "answer the aspirations" of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories.

The UN press release said that "he welcomed Bermuda's delegation, which he hoped, along with Tokelau, would depart the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. Those would be splendid examples of what could be done."

In her introductory remarks, Ms Fr?chette called for the Committee to pursue an open and transparent exchange of views, but in early March, alleged that she was less enthusiastic about transparency within the UN.

"Four years into the seven-year (Iraq) Oil-for-Food programme, with graft and mismanagement by then rampant," alleged "Fr?chette intervened directly by telephone to stop UN auditors from forwarding their investigations to the UN Security Council."

The UN "Special Committee of 24" lists 27 members and includes, along with seven Caribbean island nations, such representatives of democratic openness and transparency as China, Cuba, Indonesia, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Congo, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone.reported that Ms Fr?chette, currently in Africa, was unavailable for comment.

Bishop Vernon Lambe was unable to respond by press time.