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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Commonwealth documents from 1968 released to public

1 February 1999

The Commonwealth Secretariat today placed in the public domain formerly classified files from the year 1968. It is the third consecutive year that files have been made public since the organisation adopted a 30-year secrecy rule for all Commonwealth shared records in 1997.

Some 70 files from January to December 1968, including a few pre-dating this which by oversight were not released last year, will now be added to those already available to scholars and students of Commonwealth affairs. This year's documents deal with preparations to send an observer team to the 1967 Gibraltar referendum, the first poll to be witnessed by Commonwealth observers and one heavily lobbied against by the Spanish Government. The papers also include the Minutes and Memorandum of the 1968 Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting, which followed devaluation of Sterling by Harold Wilson's Government and subsequent problems in the Sterling Area.

A full list of files with related papers can be viewed on the Commonwealth Secretariat's web site at: www.thecommonwealth.org

In summary, the files released this year are:

1. Shared Commonwealth Records, pre-1968

Minutes of the High Commissioner meetings on the economic work of the Secretariat
Files and background information on the Gibraltar referendum, 1967
2. Shared Commonwealth Records, 1968

Meeting of Commonwealth Finance Ministers, Minutes and Memoranda
Meeting of Commonwealth Ministers and senior officials attending the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD II)
Meeting of Commonwealth Health Ministers and Commonwealth Medical Conference, Minutes and Memorandum
Minutes of Rhodesia Sanctions Committee
Documents relating to the Fourth Commonwealth Education Conference
Report and background papers for the Commonwealth Conference on Mathematics in Schools
3. Papers of Arnold Smith (first Commonwealth Secretary-General)

Background papers on Gibraltar Referendum, UNCTAD II, the European Economic Community and North American Free Trade Association, and Sierra Leone.
The files are available for viewing in the Secretariat's library at Marlborough House. Appointments may be made with Mr David Blake, the Librarian, who may be reached at: +44(0)20-7-747 6164 (telephone); +44(0)20-7- 747 6168 (facsimile) or by E-mail: d.blake@commonwealth.int


Issued by the Information and Public Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat,
Marlborough House,
Pall Mall,
London SW1Y 5HX,
United Kingdom.
Tel: 0207-839 3411;
Fax: 0207-839 9081;
Telex: 27678

99/07 1 February 1998

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ISSUED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION
Commonwealth Secretariat Marlborough House Pall Mall London SW1Y 5HX United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 6385/6 Fax: +44 (0)20 7839 9081
Email: info@commonwealth.int