have been put forward especially by the LDCs. Their concern has been for a generalized equitable sharing of a resource characterized as the province of mankind. Their position is consistent with the res communis principle of international law. They accept the common ownership of the space resource. They seek to share in the resource as a result of community decisions. 3.5 Sovereign Claims to the Orbit Resource: The Bogota Declaration of December 3, 1976 On December 3, 1976 eight equatorial States, namely, Brazil, Colombia, Congo, Ecuador, Indonesia, Kenya, Uganda, and Zaire signed in Bogota a document, now referred to as The Bogota Declaration, containing their conclusions relating to the use of geostationary orbits by space objects. Colombia had previously taken the initiative on this subject. In 1975 it had made a presentation to the First Committee of the General Assembly in which it claimed that since the geostationary orbital arc is a national natural resource that sovereignty could be exercised over it by subjacent States. A similar statement of policy was also made in 1976. Since the Bogota Declaration advances positions in conflict with the 1967 Principles Treaty, the relationship of these States to the Treaty should be recorded. Brazil, Ecuador, and Uganda were bound by it on January 1, 1978.5$ Indonesia and Zaire were signatories but are not U.N. Doc. A/C.1/PV.2049, pp. 43-46, October 13, 1975. Treaties in Force, U.S. Department of State Publication 8934 (1978). The Declaration is set out in Appendix B. Appendixes D through J provide detailed information concerning States parties to all relevant UN and ITU international agreements.
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