A/41/PV.61 General Assembly

33.  POLICIES OF APARTHEID OF THE OOVERRoIENT OF SOUTH AFRICA (a) REPORT OF THE SPECIAL Q)MMITTEE AGAINST APARTHEID (A/41/22 and Md.l. and Add .l/Corr ..1) (b) REPORTS OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (A/41/506 and Add.1-3, A/41/638, A/41/69O) (c) REPORT OF THE SPECIAL POLITICAL COMMITTEE (A/41/779) (d) DRAFT RESOLUTIONS (A/41/L.24, A/41/L.25 and Corr.l, A/41/L.26 and Corr.l, A/41/L.27 to A/41/L.31) Mr. KORHONEN (Finland): The condemnatiun of apartheid 8S an inhuman and intolerable creation of the South African white minority has become universal. Demands for its total elimination have penetrated deeper and deeper the international community. The actions - and non-action - of the South African Government, however, clearly reflect the lack of understanding of the need for urgent change. SOme time ago we were offered token ·cosmetic· reforms as a promise of thing. to come. Lately, all that SOuth African leaders have been offerinq is the reimposition of a state of emergency - which now covers the whole country - an~ an information blackout by invoking censorship of the press and news media. What conclusion can we draw from this arrogant disrespect for world opinion? There are hardly any new visions or avenues the international community could propose to the , reluctant Government to follow. The violations ~f human rights and fundamental. freedoms in SOuth Africa are un~que and exceptional - as are also the measures eKpe~ted of each dnd everyone of us, individually and collectively, firmly and resolutely to convince the South African regime to aboli~h apartheid without any fur ther delay. Pinland has demanded that mandatory sanctions be imposed by the security Council under Chapter VII of the Charter, aa the most effective means of bringing about a peacefUl change in the country. Although the international climate has changed and pressure to that end h5s accordingly increased, sanctions have not yet proved feasible. We strongly urge those permanent members of the sp.curity Council who, through the exercise or the threat of veto, have obstructed the impolition of sanctions, to reconsider their position carefully. There are a number of recent national, regional and intergovernmental measures that point in the right direction. It is to be hoped that, pending mandatory sanctions, these mea.ur~A will be incorporated as recommendations in Security Council resolutions, thereby encouraging all ~ountrie8 to comply with them. Security Council and General Assembly resolutlnnA on cnncerted lntp.rnat:llln~l action tor the elimination of apartheid offer a solid and workable haAi~ fnr international pr•••ure. 'l'his year Finland, acting on hehalf nf the Nordir. countries, co-operated with the African countrieB and thp. Special Committel" .l'lo1in:n Apartheid in drafting the resolution on concerted actinn aqainst o1(?Clrtheicl. Wl' look forward to the wid.st polIBible support for this resolution, which endp'l3vourn to combine the various elements of mobilized and cnncl!rted actinn aqainflt ~C)uth Africa that are acceptable to all and would not sacrifice thp. ef£lciency an~1 message of the :esolution. The Nordic countr ies have implemented all the above-mentlnned Un i ted Nations recommendations. Furthermore, in 1978, they had already adopted a .Toint Nordic Programme of Action against Apartheid. In October 1985 this Programme was revised and extended ~y ~~e Nordic ror.i9n Ministers. My delegation considers the measures (Mr. Korhonen, Finland) incorporated in the new expanded Programme - which we regard as a dynamic ongoing process - to be an example to all other countrie~. We urge them to adopt similar measures to increase international pressure on the SOUth ~frican Government. Finlan~ has implemented internally all the measures agreed upon between the Nordic countries. Finland's scanty trade, economic and cultural connections with South Africa have, during reee~t months, been subjected to new concrete restrictions. On a gov~rnmental level we have introduced a new Act on measures against South Africa; it came into force on 1 January of this year and further curtails trade and economic relations with that country. Today, trade between Finland and South Africa has virtually ceased to exist. The international community has a special responsibility to increase its moral and material support to the victims of apartheid. One of the main ways of rapidly expanding co-operation with the neighbouring and front-line States within thp. framework of the Southern Africa Development Co-ordination Conference, is to increase their economic strength and thus reduce their dependence on South Africa. If South Africa were to resort to any reprisals against neighbouring States - and, as we know, some of these measures have already been carried out - it is thp. responsibility of the entire international c~mmunity to take the necessary steps to mitigate their effects. The argument about the hardships that sanctions might create for the blacks in SOuth Africa, Namibia and neighbouring States should - and could - not be an acceptable pretext. This year, in particular, Finland increased its contributions to the United Nations Southern Africa Funds, and is their largest contributor. Our direct humanitarian assistance to liberation movements, mainly the African National Congress (ANC) and the Sou~h West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), has also been increased substantially. It is anticipated that this trend will continue in the coming year. (Mr. Korhonen, Finland) The malaise i~ South Africa, apartheid, has been described once again accurately and thoroughly in the report of the Special Committee against ARartheid under the able guidance of its Chairman, Joseph N. Garha of Niqeria. Thp. findings of the World Conference on Sanctions aqaiost Racist South Africa, held in PariR last June, concur with this report. The task of the United Nations as a whole, the General Assembly and the Security Council, is to agceeon an effective creatment which would cowpletely eradicate the disease of 8eartheid from the world. Mr. DOS SANTOS (Mozambiaue): Although my Foreign Minister has already extended our congratulations to you, Sir, on your election to the hiqh office of President of the forty-first session of the General Assembly, as this is the first time 1 have had occasion to speak in the course of this 3ession, I cannot help hut express my own personal appreciation for the manner in which you have guideG our work. On behalf of the Government of the People's Republic of Mozambiaue, I wish to expr.ess my heartfelt gratitUde and appreciation to all deleqations here present for the comfort and sympathy extended to us on the occasion of the tragic event that claimed the life of our beloved president, Samera Moises Machel. Without your, support, our sorrow and grief would have been unbearahle; the mantle of our sorrow would have been even heavier. I thank you all for your support and solidarity as we go about transforming our qrief into redouhled strength and determination to defend our independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. (Mr. Korhonen, Finland) It gives ne great pleasure to announce that the C~ntral Committee has elected Nr. Joaquim Alberto Chissana President of the PRBLIMO Party and consequently President of the People's Republic of Mozambique. Upon him lies the responsibility of leading the Party and the people in the process of building the society of our . dreams, the dreams of samora Machel, the dreams of Mondlane. It is to him that has fallen the noble and historic duty of holding the fallen gun of Samora Machel, to continue to lead us in the combat against our enemies. It is to him that we shall all turn for guidance, courage, confidence and inspiration, for, like Machel, President ~oaquim Alberto Chissano was born and steeled in our struggle for national indepen~ence. With him the Mozambican people continue to tread the path of peace, to defend their motherland and to consolidate their independence. The General Assembly is once again seized of the question of the apartheid policies of the South African regime. My past e~perience of the debate on this iss~e and familiarity with the practice of the United Nations, authorize me to foresee the scenario of our discussions this year as follows. Statements will be made, indeed many have already been delivered, condemning the apartheid regime for its inhuman and barbarous policies. As usual, the tone of these condemnations will range from strong, meaningful and genuine to ritualistic or formal, depending on the nature of the commitment of those that utter them to the struggle for the total eradication of apartheid. We are certainly going to hear from certain Governments more declarations of intent to consider taking some action in a non-specified future. Some Governments vill recall in this Assembly the actions they have taken against the regime. Of course, they will be commended for that and encouraged to take further and effective actions. The Assembly will naturally deplore the continued collaboration with and support for the apartheid regime by some Governments of States Members of our Organization. At the end of the debate, some draft resolutions will be introduced (Mr. Dos Santos, ft:)zambique) under the item and the General Assembly will be called upon to take action on • them. The over¥helming majority will vote in favour of those draft resolutions, a few will abstain on one or other draft resolution and an extremely isolated group will vote against some uf them. Needless to say, we shall hear explanations of vote both before and after the voting. We shall hear the eternal counselling, which is: no to violence, no to sanctions, no to statements of fact - or, in other words, mention of those that collaborate with the regime - and so on and so forth. We shall ~e told that the apartheid regime is undergoing a metamorphosis, that it ia reforming itself. We have seen thls scenario repeated time and again. We have seen it for the last 10, 20 or more year~. Now that I have attempted to sketch the scenario of the debate on the apartheid policy during this forty-first session of the General Assembly, let me turn to South Africa and examine what the regime has been doing while we have s~t here, session after seBsion, to discuss and adopt successive resolutions on apartheid. In other words, what has been the impact of our decisions and resolutions on the apartheid regime? The question of apartheid has been with us for a very long time. To attempt to go back to that distant past and describe how the racist regime has responded to our resolutions, declarations and appeals would not be very helpfUl at this point. I will therefore limit myself to the period between the fortieth session of th~ General Assembly and the present session. At the fortieth session the General Assembly adopted nine resolutions under this item. (Mr. Dos Santos, Mozambique) In the course of this year, 1986, two Conferences o~ particular importance were held in Paris and Vienna, respectively. A special session of the General Assembly was devoted to the question of Namibia. The World Conference on Sanctions against Racist south Africa, held in June, adopted an important declaration. A~ ,equally significant document was adopted at the end of the International Conference on the Immediate Independence of Namibia. All those resolutions and declarations can be summed up as unequivocal condemnation of SOuth Africa's apartheid for its nazi-like polieies, and the demand that it immediately abolish the apartheid system. How has the regime reacted to this persuasion? Let us look into the facts. In May 1986 the regime carried out yet another act of aggression &nd destabilization against neighbouring States. Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe were raided. It should be noted that these acts occurred at the very moment when men and women of honour, the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group, were in South Africa on a goodwill mission with the aim of finding a peaeeful solution to the problems of the region. On 5 June 1986 the port of Namibe in Angola was attacked. Delegations will recall that last year the apartheid regime uttempted to sabotage the Cabinda oil installations in Angola and invaded Botswana. In June 1986 the regime reimposea the state of emergchcy in South Africa. The state of emergency, as it is well known, literally meant that the police, including the railway police, the armed fotces and any white civilian were invested with powers to arrest, detain, torture or kill the opponents of the regime. These measures also included a provision prohibiting the press from reporting on events inside the territory. As might have been expected, this led to an increase in the incidence of callous arrests, torture and the massacre of innocent and defenceless people. (Mr. Dos Santos, Mozalllbique) As we sit here today, the state of e-ergency is still in force in South Africa and continues to claia many innocent lives. Forced removals to arid, impoverlshed lands have been pursued with strenuous vigour. The police and the armed forces shoot at random peaceful demonstrators and mourners at funerals of those who have fallen victim to apartheid's genocidal fury. The regiQ6~sponsored death squads and the s~alled vigilantes are operating in South Africa, killing and terrorizing people. South Africa has intensified its acts of aggression and destabllization against the countries of the region. The regime has further escalated its acts of terrorism, mainly through the use of armed bandits trained, equipped, financed and commanded by it. Hordes of bandits and mercenaries have been dispatched into my country and Angola. These bandits are responsible for causing indiscriminate death, sorrow and misery in our countries, and they destroy economic and social i.nfrastructures. Tne regime has openly imposed economic sanctions against the countries uf the region and attempted to destroy the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC). It ia clear from these facts and others that the apartheid regime has no respect at all for the decisions and resolutions adopted by this body or any other international forum. This, however, is not a new finding on our part. Indeed, for quite some years now the regime has been correctly defined as an inte,national outlaw and its policies and practices a crime against humanity and a threat to international peace and security. The fact that South Africa'S participation in the General Assembly has been suspended attests to this fact. (Mr. Dos Santos, MOzambique) It would seem, therefore, that the challenqe facing the Assemhly is to make its decisions relevant to the apartheid r~imeo However correct and far-reaching . . they may be, they will not lead to the desired results unless we ensure that they are fully implemented and complied with. How does the united Nations go about overcoming these difficulties, particularly with respect to the questions of Namibia and South Africa? That, it seems, is the crucial issue we have to deal with, and deal with urgently. That is the direction in wbich our minds, strength, imagination and ingenuity should be working. The fundamental task of the United Nations, namely, to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, is of such a magnitude, so noble and so vital to humankind that the United Nations cannot afford to become irrelevant, whenever and wherever it is needed most. The apartheid r~ime, which is the nazism of our times, is threatening to trigger a conflict of unforeseeable conseQuences. Terrorists - recruited, traineri, organized, directed, financed, supplied and transported by South Africa - attack the front-line States, in particular my country, MozambiQue, and the People's Republic of AngQ1a. They massacre our peoples, they loot, they pillage, they burn down our villages, homes, schools, hospitals, churches, mosaues, buses and trains; they sabotage the railways, roads, dams and bridges. Over the last few weeks the racist regime has unleashed a campaign of accusations and threats against the People's Republic of MozambiQue and has concentrated its forces along the border of my country and zimbabwe. Commando units have also been infiltrated into MozambiQue to carry out acts of banditry and terrorism. It was in these circumstances that our beloved Pre~ident met his untimely, tragic death. (Mr. Dos ~antos, MozamhiQue) The international community, particularly the United Nations and its individual Member States, can help to reverse the situation in southern Africa if it is determined to do so. It was with that in mind that the Heads of State and Gnvernment of the front-line States, meeting in Maputo on 12 Octoi~r 1986, made an urgent appeal to the peoples and Governments of the world, specifically the members of the Security Council - itA permanent members, in particular - the members of the European Economic Community, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and the Or9~nization of African Unity to use all means at their disposal tQ safeguard peace in southern Africa and block South Africa's race towards generalized W~~. I believe that this is the time for our Organization to respond to that appeal, in keeping with the purposes and principles of the Charter. The response has to ~ forceful in nature, global in scope and urgent in its timing. Too much blood has been flowing over the lands of southern Africa. The people of Namibia have had to consent to untold sacrifices, even death, for the liheration of their motherland. In South Africa, hlood is being shed. It is the blood of the oppressed people who are being massacred for demanding their inalienable rights - the right to eauality, freedom, justice and democracy, the right to participate in shaping the destiny of their motherland; the riqht to he rec~nized and treated as human beings. In the region in general, blood is being shed hecause South Africa is waging an undeclared war against the neighbouring countries, particularly Angola and Mozambiaue. We have said time and again that the apartheid regime - and that regime alone - is responsible for what is happening in the territory. The apartheid regime has chosen a path of terror. Now it is reaping the fruits. The people of South Africa no longer fear the regime's repressive apparatus. With bare han~s they march and face the police and the army. The people of South Africa refuse to (Mr. Dos Santos, Mozamhiaue) be treated as aliens in their own land. They refuse to be dumped into the dump-sites: the bantustans. The reqtme can no lonqer manage the critical, indeed volatile, situation in South Africa. South Africa has become ungovernable and uncontrollable. The more acts of genocide the regime commits, the more it intensifies the people's fury and resolve and their detestation of apartheid. The solution to the problems in South Africa has to come from South Africa - and that solution is the total abolition of the apartheid system, the root-cause of the prevailing situation inside the territory. Neither the massacres of the black population nor the unleashing of direct and indirect attacks against the front-line States will save the regime. No power or force unde~ the sun can diminish the resolve of the people of South Af.rica to free themselves from the tyranny and genocide of apartheid. Peace is our sole objective. That i~ why we have time and again reaffirmed our desire and readiness to work together to huild a free southern Africa, where all people, irrespective of their differences, can co-operate in the construction of a common prosperity. We dream of a southern Africa that is free from apartheid, racism and colonialism, and from conflicts, violence and destruction. We want our reqion to assert itself as a model ~f peace. We do not want southern Africa or our continent to be the source of armed conflicts. We do not want, in particular, to he the ones to trigger a confrontation on a world-wide scale. Our struggle for national independence was a struggle to achieve peace, because colonial occupation and exploitation were a negation of that ohjective. Therefore, our independence is very dear to us and our freedom and liberty are sacred. Peace, freedom, is what we stand for. It is what we are fighting for. We are anti-colonialists, anti-imperialists, anti-apartheid, and we extend our support and solidarity to all those who are fighting these evil systems. (Mr. Dos Santos, Mozambiaue) It is that principle that nourishes our long-standing support for and s~lidarity with the African National Con9r~s8 of South Africa and the South West Africa F,)le's or~anization. the authentic representatives of the peoples of South Africa and Namibia, respectively. Just is their cause and legitimate is their struggle. A luta continua. (Hr. Dos Santos,_ Mozamhiquf!) Mr. URIBE VARGAS (Colombia) (interpretation from Spanish): The item on apartheid reflects one of the aspects of the world situation which is becoming ever more tragic. From the very inception of the united Nations Colombia has taken part in the debates, in the General Assembly and in the specialized agencies, to seek more direct action against racism, in particular to condemn South Africa for the discriminatory regime that it still maintains in the face of universal opinion. Our delegation has in a number of statements declared that respect for human rights has the status of ius cogens and, therefore, is a pre-emptory norm in the international order. It cannot be denied that the South African Government's persistence in ignoring united Nations injunctions has aggravated the situation to such a degree that today it is a serious threat to 'oorld peace. As has been said on several occasions, the problem of apartheid is not how to change it but how to abolish it. The conscience of the international community is unanimous in rejecting such a policy which not only violates universally accepted principles but also, because of the violent events in South Africa perpetrated for a long time and repeated during past weeks - has demonstrated that racial discrimination is the most blatant violation of the principles that inspired the United Nations and threatens the security of the whole region. The only way to prevent the excessive use of force that has taken place and the repetition of shameful acts of violence against human rights is by mobilizing, through the organs of the United Nations and the Governments of its Members, public opinion on all continents so that the rejection of apartheid as a crime against humanity admits no benevolent tolerance or interpretation. The positive results achieved at the World Conference on Sanctions Against Racist South Africa must be highlighted. That Conference, prepared by the United Nations with the assistance of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the non-aligned countries, was held in Paris at the Headquarters of i;he United Nations Educational, SCientific and Cultural Organization (~~OO) last June. During the Conference's deliberations reports were heard from numerous delegations on the increase of mass repression and the growing number of victims which the dis~riminatory policy has claimed. It must be noted that, with regard to such a sensitive matter, the majority of United Nations Members have taken a strong stand which has undoubtedly helped - thanks to the communications media - to unify rejection of the Pretor~a regime's criminal policy. However, the fundamental aim of the United Nations Charter will not he achieved until the discriminatory policy in South Africa has been abolished and it has become morally impossible to introduce it elsewhere. OUr delegation, reflecting the democratic will of the Colombian nation and its rejection of all forms of racial discrimination, supports resolutions which, interpreting world solidarity, demand and impose in South Africa a regime of justice and full respect for human rights. Mr. HUCKE (German Dev.ocratic Republic): Allow me at the outset to extend my delegation's most cordial congratulations to the delegations of the Union of Soviet Socialist RepUblics, the Byelorussian soviet Socialist Republic and the Ukrainian Soviet SOcialist Republic on their National Day - the sixty-ninth anniversary of the Great OCtober Socialist Revolution. The date of 7 November 1911 marked the beginning of a new era for mankind - an era free from slavery, exploitation and oppression. Thus that anniversary also has a direct bearing on the agenda item which is at present under discussion here in the United Nations. (Mr. Uribe Vargas, Colombia) The issue of the policy of apartheid pursued by SOuth Africa is the subject of a particularly heated debate at the forty-first session of the General Assembly. The Unite~ Nations has proclaimed 1906 the International Year of Peace, and it should be recall~~ that world peace is indivisible. The hotbed of c~i~lict 1n southern Africa poses an increasing threat to thp ~~eservation of peace, the most valuable treasurr of mankind. Responsibility for that lies with the apartheid regime and its growing number of crimes perpetrated against the majority of the population, together with the escalation of its policy of aggression and destabilization against sovereign neighbauring States, and with the continued illegal occupation of Namibia. New evidence is given every day that the racist regime's only answer to the growing democratic and anti-apartheid movement is brutal violence. According to incomplete data more than 2,000 persons have fallen victim to the terror of the police, the army or hired assassins since the proclamation of the so-called new constitution. In 1905 alone more than 200 children were killed and more than 500 injured. The renewed nation-wide imposition of the state of emergency on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the SO'tl "0 upr ising made all fighters aga inst institutionalized racism fair game for the repressive apparatus of Pretoria. Impressive, shocking facts are contained in the report of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid in document A/41/22. At this juncture we should like to express our deep appreciation to the Committee and in particular its Chairman, Mr. Joseph Garba, the Permanent Representative of Nigeria, for their committed and consistent work in the struggle against apar~heid. (Mt. Hucke, German Democratic Republic) '","" ~ conceal their crimes the South African rulers even resort to the use of paid agents proYocate~ against the masses of the people in revolt. By resorting to such detestable means the regime ie attempting to split the battlefront again~t apartheid and fraudulently convert its own campaign of murder and terror into a so-called civil war within the black population.· * Mr. Moushoutas (Cyprus), Vice-President, took the Chair. The world public, however, cannot be deceived. The que~tion of guilt has long since been clarified. Crimes made possible the establishment of the racist white minority rule in the south of Africa, and crimes have been the basis of its anachronistic existence to this very day. The limited reform measures enacted by the Botha Government by no means change this indisputable fact. The liquidation of the notorious pass laws and the installation of an alleged uniform South African citizenship yielded no political rights whatsoever for the majority of the population. Now, as before, South ,Africa's 2S million blalc:k inhabitants can take their choice only between life in an impoverished bantustan or life in an overcrowded suburban ghetto. The escalation of violence in South Africa is accompanied by an aggravation of the conflict in the entire region. State terrorism inside and outside the country - that is the very nature of the apartheid regime. By means of violence it seeks to halt or reverse the independent development of African States and to establish its hegemony in the region. To the independent States in southern Africa that policy causes economic damage to the amount of more than $2 billion annually, not to speak of the untold human suffering of the peoples of those States which are affected by the acts of aggression. The long chain of SOuth African raids a~ainst its neighbours is being added to by more and more examples. For that reason, the Security Council has convened over 30 times since July last year and has adopted seven resolutions. However, that does not prevent Pretoria from again threatening Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and other States with so-called retaliatory measures. Likewise, it is continuing the illegal occupation of Namibia, and seeks by all means available to thwart the United Nations plan for the independence of Namibia and to preserve that country as an object of exploitation and a springboard for further aggression. " At the fourteenth special session of the General Assembly the Foreign Minister of the German Democratic Republic explained our position on that issue, and when we come to the relevant agenda item my delegation will comment again on the question of Namibia. As I mentioned earlier, the explosive situation in southern Africa increasingly endangers world peace. For that reason, three significant conferences have dealt with that problem in this International Year of Peace - the Paris Worl~ Conference on sanctions against Racist South Africa, the Vienna International Conference for the Immediate Independence of Namibia and the General Assembly special session on Namibia. They showed both the causes of the conflict in the region and ways to settle it on the basis of valid internationel law. The conclusion drawn at those conferences was unequivocal: the apartheid regime, with all its adverse consequences for the peoples of the region, can keep itself alive only with the backing of some imperialist States. Their collaboration and that of transnational corporations with the racists goes on unabated, regardless of world-wide protests. The main imperialist Power continues its policy of support for Pretoria, the policy of so-called constructive engagement. Furthermore, by rendering what has now become official assistance to the UNITA criminal bandits, it is attempting, in conjunction with South Africa, to topple the legitimate Government of Angola. This fact caused the non-aligned countries at their eighth summit meeting in Harare to call that policy an act of aggression against the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the entire Non-Aligned Movement. In addition, the co-operation between the Central Intelligence Agency and the South African civil services in spying on the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC), which became known, has sparked off justified indignation among the world public. There is unity among certain imperialist Governments in their rejection of wbat has by now become a world-wide demand for comprehensive mandatory sanctions against the apartheid regime. The United States and th~ United Kingdom, by misusing their right of veto, have so far prevented the Security Council from taking decisive steps to that end. tn view of the seriousness of the situation, the opponents of comprehensive mandatory sanctions against the apartheid regime are called upon to reconsider their position and no longer to block such measures. As is well known, the majority of non-aligned countries and the socialist States have fo~ long maintained no relations whatsoever with racist South Africa. We note with interest that a number of Western States have also taken the first concrete measures aimed at the isolation of Pretoria. However, we do not consider them to be SUfficient. It is necessary to help the South Africa people to victory in its ever more powerful struggle for national liberation by launching universally observed comprehensive mandatory sanctions against the racist minority regime. At their recent meeting in August this year the Chairman of the Council of State of the German Democratic Republic, Erich Honecker, and the President of the ANC, Oliver Tambo, paid tribute to the courage and determination, the readiness for sacrifice and the growing fighting strength of the oppressed South African people in its hard struggle for freedom. Erich Honecker declared that the inhuman apartheid regime, which is hostile to peace, must be abolished. Only then can the policy of open aggression and State terrorism against sovereign African States and the brutal oppression of the South Africa and Namibian peoples be overcome, and peace, security and co-operation, as well as development for the peoples and States of that region, prevail. (Mr. Hucke, German Democratic Republic) On behalf of the German Democratic Republic, the Chairman of the C~uncil of State ~xpres8ed the entire population's sympathy with, and support for, the struggle of the ARC and all patriots of the country aimed at a democratic, united and non-racial South Africa. (Mr. Hucke~ German Denrocr~ Republic) Mr. NOWORYTA (Poland): Let me also express my sincere congratulations to t~e d~legations of the USSR, the ayelorussian SSR and the Ukrainian SSR on thp. occaRion of their national day. Our dehate on the apartheid policies of the racist Pretoria regime is a continuation of the discussions that took place at a Reries of important international gatherings earlier this ye~r devoted to problems of Africa. They were the special session of the General Assembly on the critical economi~ situation in Africa, the World Conference on Sanctions against Racist South Africa, held in Paris, the International Conference on Immediate Independence for Namihia, held in Vienna, and the special session on the auestion of Namihia. tmportant decisions were taken also at the summit Conference of non-aliqned countries held in Harare and t.he summit meetings of the Heads of State and Government of the front-line States in Luanda and Maputo. The main theme of all those meetings and e',ents was growing concern over the dangerous development of the situation in southern Africa. We are witnessing an escalation of tension in the region which, if not contained, could lead to an explosion in South Africa itself and to the serious endangering of peace and security not only in the immediate neighbourhood of South Africa hut in the reqion as a whole. Developments over the past several months clearly show that the situation in and around South Africa has dramatically changed. At the same time, when not only the overwhelming majority of the population in the Republic of South Africa but the world as a whole - as has been uneauivocally confirmed by the aforementioned international meetings and conferences - demand the elimination of apartheid as an anachronism and a crime against humanity, the racist regime, in contempt of world opinion, is continuing its bloody suppression of th~ hlack population and terrorint attocks against its neighbours. The terror, both inside and outside South Africa, is being escalated. We have all been shocked to hear of still more detentions, more arrests, more disappearances, more tortures, more deaths. That is the response of the racist reqime to the just aspirations of the majority of South African society and the population of illegally occupied Namihia. It is an illusion that this regime can he reformed. There has been no sign that collaboration with the racist regime - in regard to which some of the Western partners of South Africa still harbour great expectations - could alleviate or even limit the criminal practices of that regime. The so-called constructi~~ engagement policy failed; the negotiations of the contact group regarding Namibia failed; various attempts by its Western partners to influence South Africa failed; and the selective sanctions introduced by some Western countries against ~outh Africa met with arrogance and even threats on the part af the Pretoria regime. Those policies proved ineffective. We had warned against such policies, hut to no avail. What is more, those policies created a protective umbrella for the South African Government against the pressure of world opinion, made it possible for the racist regime to undertake more brutal and hloody actions against its own society and its neighbours and, through economic co-operation, entrenched the apparatus of repression. It is high time the Western partners of South Africa drew the proper conclusions. It is evident that the more the racist regime resists change the more violent becomes the struggle of the legitimate inhabitants of that country for their rights and aspirations. Nowadays that struggle has assumed different aualitative dimensions as far as its scope, objectives, level of organization and, unfortunately, the number of ~ictims are concerned. A new situation in South Africa has developed which can be resolved only by the dismantling of apartheid, by granting full political rights to the black majority and recognizing the organizations representing that majority as legal partners in negotiations. Any further delay or any make-believe attempts which disregard the demand3 and the existence of the liberation movements, especially the African National Congress, which has for decades heen engaged in a heroic struggle against apartheid, can only result in more tension wit~in South Africa, endanger peace in the region and cause dangerous international repercussions. The Western partners of South Africa, especially the United States, hear great responsibility for the future development of the situation in South Africa. Racial s~gregation in South Africa, bloody and ruthless, the blocking of Namibia's independence, no less bloody and brutal, and acts of destahilization and aggression a9ainst its neighbours, constantly repeated, in violation of the hasic norms of international law, represent three directly interlinked aspects of !partheid policies. This means that favourahle ~evelopment of the situation ~~ the whole region is closely dependent upon a change in South African policies, upon the elimination of apartheid. It will he possible only when the struggle of the African population for its rights in South Africa and Namibia, together with the resistance of the front-line States against aggres~ion, is coupled with more international presBu~e on the Pretoria regime. Therefore we consider that a very impnrtant mechanism to fOlce the regime to depart from its policies would be the imposition of comprehensive mandatory sanctions against South Africa under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. We have always been in favour of that means of pressure. We supported such measures at the Paris Conference, and we demand their introduction novo Arguments put forward by some Wester~ countries that economic sanctions are undesirable because they could hurt the oppressed people are fraudulent and should be firmly contested. The oppressed people not only have urged the international cORmunity to end all collaboration with the racist regime but by their heroic struggle have forced foreign economic interests to reassess their involvement with it. Poland expresses its full solidarity with the anei-apartheid struggle in ~outh Africa and Namibia and its support for all United Nations resolutions which are aimed ~t the speedy elimination of apartheid and the erariication of tensions in southern Africa. (Mr. NOWOr~'!.f.;'~, Poland) Mr. ~UTOVOY (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) (interpretation fr.om Russian): Today our country and ~lillions of our friends throu9hout the world ate celebratin9 our most important national holiday, the momentous 69th anniversary of the Great OCtober Socialist Revolution. Onl behalf ~f the dele9ations of the Soviet Union, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist R~public and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic I should like to express our 9ratitude to those delegations Which, on the occasion of our national holiday, have conveyed to the Soviet delegation their warm greetings and best wishes for further successes to the people of ~~r country. The powerful revolutionary impact of Great OCtober set the general course for the entire process of international development and made it possible to adopt a r~~ approach to the problem of war and peace which V. I. Lenin had regarded, as long ago as the beginning of this century, as the corner-stone of -all policie'- all countries of the world, as a question of life and death for scores of m' ~ of people-. It is quite logical that the peoples of the world should link their nopes of achievin~ ~ lasting peace and ridding present and succeeding generatio~s from the threat of nuclear war with the new social system born with the October Revolution and with the peace-loving foreign policy of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. The Great October Revolution also created the conditions necessary for resolving the nationality question in our country. It imparted a powerful impetus to the national liberation struggle which led to the collapse of the colonial system. Since the Great October Revolution there has been a profound change in the political map of the world. Dozens of independent States have become fully fledged Members of the United Nations. This is a source of great satisfaction to us. But it is also true that colonialism and neo-colonialism, racism and racial discrimination continue to disfigure the face of the eacth. Racism is apparent in its most concentrated and cynical form in the system of apartheid in South Africa, where it remains an essential component of the State structure and the social system and permeates that country's foreign and domestic policies. The system of Sta~e-sponsored racism poses a grave threat to international peace and security. This is not the first time that the General Assembly is compelled to come to grips with the problem of apartheid in South Africa. This is not the first time that resolutions ate being adopted condemning the apa~theid system and demanding its eradication. Yet the system of apartheid, recognized by the international community as a crime against humanity, continues to exist, the aggressiveness of the apartheid regime"continues to increase and the occupation of Namibia continues simply because the apartheid regime still finds some influential protectors among the Western countries, above all in the United States of America. They do not shrink from holding forth, even from the rostrum of the United Nations, on human rights and humanitarianism while conniving with the regime which has turned its country into a vast prison, where the overwhelming majority of the population are deprived of their fundamental human rights and freedoms only because of the dark colour of their skin. The racist regime of SOuth Africa is stepping up its bloody repression against broa: segments of the population which are demanding the abolition of the apartheid system. This repression has recently assumed particularly large proportions. Six months ago a state of emergency was once again introduced and continues in force despite the United Nations Security Council's appeal that it should be lifted. Any dark-skinned African can be thrown behind prison bar~ without a trial, without an investigation, without any charge. At present more than 200,000 prisoners are languishing in South African torture-ehambers and their number continues to grow. Pr.etoria is stepping up its repressions using army units to fight opponents of the regime. Its troops occupy and patrol the settlements where the dark-skinned African population lives. Intensive use is being made of so-called death squads, hired killers and provocateurs to intimidate the population and physically destroy the opponents of apartheid. Pretoria's racists are trying to set some ethnic groups against others. The fundamental elements of apartheid, such as the PopUlation Registration Act, the Resettlement by Racial Groups Act, the ·homelands· peli.cy, the discriminatory Bantu education system, the segregation of people in providing them with medical and other State-sponsored services, all remain in effect in that country. The racist regime rejects the one man-one vote principle. The SOviet Union vigorously cond~mns the policies and practices of apartheid, "bantustanization", constitutional reforms, repression, punitive actions and terror which are being used by the racist regime of South Africa against the black population of the country and its national liberation movement. In spite of the state of emergency and extensive crackdowns, the opponents of apartheid inside South Africa itself are stepping up their struggle, demonstrating in practice that what is happening in this apar!heid State in all spheres of social and political life is a natural consequence of the profound internal contradictions in the outmoded and vicious system of apartheid, and not the result of something introduced from outside. The apartheid regime is experiencing a profound internal political crisis. The distinctive feature of the current stage of the struggle against apartheid is the greater organization of the participating forces and the broader involvement of the population. The South African trade union movement is growing stronger and taking a more active part in the political struggle. New social organizations are emerging in the country and uniting various segments of the population, including whites who favour the abolition of the apartheid system. Representatives of the Church are becoming increasingly involved in the anti-apartheid struggle. These are all positive developments in the political life of South Africa. Speaking in the general debate at the forty-first session of the General ~ssembly, Eduard Shevardnadze, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Central committee and Minister for FOreign Affairs of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, stated that: ·were it not for the racist regime of Pretoria the black, white and coloured people in South Africa would have long ago found a common language - a language of equality, concord and racial peace. The dividing line is drawn not by ethnic differences but by the cruel policy of apartheid, which is hostile to everyone, irrespective of the colour of the skin. To fail to see that is to encourage, wittingly or unwittingly, genocide against the majority of the South African people.· (A/41/PV.6, p. 57) The policy of State terrorism pursued by the apartheid regime against the majority of its own people, the murders, torture, arrests and other acts of violence, committed by their security forces and army units - all are being strongly countered by various means, including weapons, by the dark-skinned popUlation of So~th Africa and its vanguard, the African National Congress CANC). Those actions on the part of African patriots have met with the understanding and the support of the world community of States and its organizations. In that connection, the Soviet delegation would like to note the contribution being made by the Special Committee against Apartheid under the representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, Ambassador Garba, in mobilizing international efforts in the struggle to eliminate apartheid. CMr. Kutovoy, USSR) The conclusion of the Special Committee against Apartheid that the people of south Africa and their liberation movements - primarily the African National Congress - have the right to use against the apartheid regime every means at their disposal, inclUding armed struggle, is indeed relevant. Member States of the United Nations have repeatedly from this rostrum made urgent appe~ls to Pretoria to lift the state of emergency in the country, to end its bloody repressions, release the political prisoners including the eminent fighter against apartheid, Nelson Mandela, lift the ban on the activities of political organizations and sit down at the negotiating table. It is important that the General Assembly adopt an appropriate resolution to that effect. The continuing policies and practices of apartheid confirm the important. conclusion of the international community that the apartheid regime cannot be reformed. None of the so-called constitutional reforms undertaken by the apartheid regime, will result in changing its essential nature. Apartheid must be immediately and totally eliminated and eradicated in all its forms and manifestations. The international community has repeatedly condemned the criminal nature of the foreign policy of racist South Africa. Acts of armed aggression, State terrorism, subversion and economic destabilization against the neighbouring independent African countries - such are the ingredients of Pretoria's foreign policy strategy. Apartheid is a grave and constant threat to peace on the African continent, a threat to international peace and security. Military adventurism is an inherent feature of the Pretoria racist regime. Faced with growing resistance to the apartheid system in aouth Africa itself and the ever-growing liberation struggle of the Namibian people, the South African rulers are trying to find a way out by means (Mr. Kutovoy, USSR) . of external aggression. In the past decade southern Africa has become a flashpoint of armed clashes caused by the aggressive actions of the racist regime of Pretoria. For over 10 years now, the South African military have been ceaselessly staging acts of eggression against the People's Republic of Angola. Last 3une South Africa carried out yet another raid against Angola. That time the target was the port city of Namib. On 10 August this year, Angola was again subjected to aggression by Pretoria, which continues to occupy part of Angolan territory and, together with the United States, is providing assistance to the UNITA anti-government group. We support the statement of the non-aligned countries at their eighth summit conference in Karare that the occupation of the southern part of Angola by the racist Pretoria regime is to a large extent facilitated by the pol\cy pursued by the United States Administration in the region, particularly its support for armed criminal gangs of UNITA and its policy of so-called constructive ehgagement. The apartheid regime and the propaganda machine of those who support it are trying to mislead the international community by repeating over and over again the idea that by means of constructive engagement it will be possible to achieve a settlement of the problems of southern Africa. However, no one can possibly be misled by such statements any longer. The whole world can now see clearly that the only result of that policy is the continuing existence of apartheid and the desire to break the international isolation of the apartheid regime. The Declaration of Heads of State or Government of the Member States of the Organization of African unity quite rightly points out that the financial and military assistance provided by the current United States Administration to the bandits in Angola is a serious violation of the 1970 United Nations Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, and of the (Mr. Kutovoy, USSR) The South African racists are carrying out armed banditry against other front-line States as well. For example, since 19 May this year South Africa has staged armed attacks against Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and here again the Security Council failed, because of the positions of the United States and the United Kingdom, to adopt a ~esolution imposing selective mandatory economic sanctions against South Africa under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. There is no end to the acts of subversion against the People's Republic of Mozambique. In defiance of the Nkomati Treaty, which prohibits support for the bandit units of the so-called Mozambique national resistance, South Africa continues to supply them with arms and munitions. TOgether with open acts of aggression and support for anti-government units in neighbouring countries, the South African ra~ists are making extensive use of measures of economic pressure to promote their political ends. There continues to be a serious threat to the independent nations of Africa posed by Pretoria's occupation of Namibia. South Africa is using Namibian territory also as a base for acts of aggression against Angola and other front-line States. A serious threat to the independent countries of southern Africa is posed also by the military build-up in South Africa and particularly by the creation of a nuclear potential there. This has become possible because major Western countries, along with Israel, are co-operating with South Africa in developinq its military industr~ and creating the racist State's nuclear capability. The report of the Special Committee against Apartheid cites numerous instances of collaboration by those countries in developing new types of weapons in South Africa. These facts cannot fail to cause concern and call for vigorous counter-action on the part of the United Nations. In this connection, the Soviet Union resolutely supports the (Mr. Kutovoy, USSR) adoption by the Security Council of measures to prevent South Africa from acquiring nuclear weapons. It is also necessary fot all States to implement the embargo on shipments of arms to South Africa and on the import of South African weapons, imposed by the Security Council. For many years now, the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of African Unity and other international forums, including the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on Namibia held in September this year, the Paris World Conferunce on Sanctions against Racist South Africa and the 1986 Vienna International Conference for the Immediate Independence of Namibia, have been demanding that mandatory and comprehensive sanctions be imposed on South Africa in accordance with Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. Unfortunately, the United States and the United Kingdom have throughout stubbornly prevented the Security Council from applying such sanctions a~ainst the racist regime. It is high time for the proponents of constructive engagement to align themselves with the just position of the whole world community, which demands that the United Nations Security Council introduce comprehensive mandatory sanctions against the racist Pretoria regime. As far as the Soviet Union is concerned, it is our firm conviction that only comprehensive mandatory sanctions against the Pretoria regime will make it possible to eliminate ~eartheid. The adoption of such sanctions against the racist regime of South Africa would be an effective step towards the early elimination of the shameful system of apartheid and would help to establish peace and stability in the interest of all the peoples of the region, including the white population of South Africa. Flirting with the racists cannot produce any good results. (Mr. Kdtovoy, USSR) I should like to conclu~e my statement by quoting from a message of the Chairman of the union of Soviet Socialist Republics Council of Ministers, Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov, to participants in the World Conference on Sanctions against Racist South Africa: "The Soviet Union believes that the explosive situation in southern Africa requires an immediate political settlement. The course for intensifying collective efforts to find ways of defusing the conflict situation in southern Africa is the course of the twenty-seventh Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. We are prepared for such an intensification. However, the Pretoria authorities must abandon their current policy and at long last grant independence to the Namibian people R • The Soviet Union is firmly convinced that the full settlement of the crisis situation on the African continent must be based on the complete cessation of acts of aggression conu~itted by the "Pretoria regime against independent African States, on the immediate granting of independence to Namibia, and on the earliest possihle elimination of the apartheid system in South Africa. The total elimination of colonialism in all its forms and manifestations is one of the major pre-conditions for safeguarding peace and assuring world security. We are confident that at its forty-first session the General Assembly will adopt clear-cut and concrete decisions aimed at eradicating colonialism, racism and apartheid in southern Africa. Mr. WIJEWARDANE (Sri Lanka): Let me thank Mr. Garba, the Chairman, and the members of the Special Committee against Apartheid, for their most comprehensive report on the situation in South Africa and the apartheid policies of the South African regime. The racist white Pretoria regime, by the exercise of terror within South Africa, and aggression against the front-line States, has sought to condemn generations to suffer indignity and death merely because of different colour pigmentations. Since the General Assembly last considered this item, the situation in South Africa has reached a critical stage. A seeming paradox presents itself. On the one hand, the acts of repression against the majority have become more ruthless. On the other, the resistance of the majority has spread nationwide, giving rise to greater hope that the end of aparthe~ is at hand. TWO factors emerge from this apparent paradox. First, the minority regime has reached a stage of desperation. Its responses have been extreme and the exercis~ of its State power has been harsh and vicious. The report of the Special Committee and its Chairman's introduction indicate that during the two states of emergency in the period under review imposed by the minority regime, about 750 have been killed, with thousands more, including children, detained. Members of the front-line States, who have already spoken before me in the debate, have described in detail the murders, arrests, bannings, torture and harassments to which the minority regime has subjected the majority. Secondly, despite such a ruthless campaign, the hopes of the black majority have been bouyant, their struggle more hopeful and their resistance more courageous and resolute. The political network established by the national liberation movements has been strengthened, organizing and channelling the resistance against racist domination. The trade union movement, particularly since the establishment of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, and its highly successful general strike of June this year, played a major role in developing the principle of non-racialism to break down the white monolithic power of apartheid. popular agitation has been co-ordinated and mobilized, bringing together not only the trade union movement, but also uniting in opposition to minority rule, churches, journalists, students, community groups, women's organizations, intellectuals and others of all races into a powerful juggernaut for freedom. Credit must be paid to the African National Congress, which next yeat celebrates its seventy-fifth anniversary, for its mature leadership of- the South African people. Concomitant with the surge of national aspirations within South Africa, the world at large has focused greater attention on developments in South Africa. The World Conference on Sanctions against Racist South Africa held in Paris in June this year symbolized the rising international consensus against apartheid and the evil philosophy of racial domination which is its perverse rationale. One hundred twenty-eight countries participated in the Conference representing an eloquent index of international opinion on South Africa. The Conference concluded by reiterating: •••• its conviction that the most effective peaceful means available to the international community to end apartheid is to enforce comprehensive mandatory sanctions against the ,acist regime of South Africa. The alternative to sanctions is escalating violence and bloodshed. The situation brooks no delay. The time for concrete, immediate action has come. This is the call of this Conference." (A/41/434, para. 101) A similar conclusion was reached by the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group which, after careful study, concluded: "It is not sanctions which will destroy the country but persistence of apartheid and the Government's failure to engage in fundamental political reforms." My delegation agrees with the conclusion reached by this Group. Sanctions by themselves are useful only to the extent of putting sufficient and effective pressure on Pretoria now that diplomatic persuasion has failed. I am happy that a number of countries throughout the world have taken decisions imposing voluntary sanctions on South Africa. That these meac-ures are already having their effect can clearly be seen in South Africa itself. M~ny transnationalcorporations, which had lent their considerable financial support to the.e~0~~omy of SOuth Africa, have announced that they will be pUlling back from that country. These measures are in support of the call that has gone out from various forums, including many non-governmental groups, that the slur of aparthe~ on humanity must be erased and banished for all time. The South African regime, if it is honest with its supporters, must recognize that it no longer can be carried on the back of the majority black community. It has ignored the opportunity offered to it in Nassau, Paris, Harare and elsewhere, to take basic steps, such as releasing Nelson Mandela and Zephania Mothopeng; lifting the ban on the African National Congress of South Africa, the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania and all other political parties; and relaxing the Internal Security Act. While the attainment of freedom in South Africa is primarily a process to be achieved py the efforts of the South African people themselves, the message of the international communitY,has had an unmistakable impact on South Africa's morale. It has reacted in desperation with greater violence. Apart from the violence which the regime visits on the people of South Africa, the regime has also launched repeated acts of aggression against its neighours, violating their sovereignty and territorial integrity, and bringing death and destruction in its wake, to Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. I will not deal with South Africa's illegal occupation of Namibia which my delega~ion will deal with under the appropriate agenda item. South Africa has attempted to build up minority dissident groups in several of its neighbouring States in order to destabilize their Governments. In Angola, South Africa continues to support UNITA; in Lesotho, South Africa continues to support the so--ealled Lesotho Liberation Army; and in Mozambique, it continues to support the (Mr. Wijewardane, Sri Lanka) so-called Mozambique Resistance Movement. Heads of State or Government of non-aligned countries at the Summit Conference held in Harare condemned South Africa's increasing acts of aggression against, and destabilization of, neighbouring independent States. The Summit Conference also reaffirmed the view that apartheid is the root cause of conflict in the region which has already jeopardized security and peace in the sub-continent and poses a grave threat to international peace and security. In conclusion, when we pay a tribute to the front-line States, I am reminded once again of the words that my President, His Excellency Mr. Jayewardene, used to describe one of its most valiant sons, the late President Samora Machel. He said: "President Machel was a fearless fighter who led his country to independence from the colonial yoke after a long struggle. His leadership in Mozambique since independence has resulted in the progress and development of the country to attain its present status as a leading nation of Africa and of the non-aligned mOvement." For our part, let me categorically state that we stand firm with the front-line States in their call to impose mandatory sanctions on South Africa as the most effective peaceful means available to the international community to bring down apartheid. We are convinced that apartheid cannot be reformed but must be totally eliminated and replaced by a non-racial democratic society based on universal franchise. Anything less would only bring greater tragedy to the people of South Africa as well as the entire region. Mr. de KEMOULARIA (Fran~e) (interpretation from French): The French delegation is speaking today before the General Assembly to give expression to the profound disquiet it feels at the situation in South Africa. Day after day that situation continues to deteriorate, causing ever greater suffering to the peoples. And yet, the South African Government persists in refusing to take the real decisions required. The measures which have been announced so far have not touched the heart of the matter. It is therefore not surprising that they have not put an end to the spiral of violence and repression. The reimposition last June of the state of emergency, this time covering the whole of the territory, demonstrates the impasse in which the Pretoria authorities now find themselves. Thus, 10 years after the tragic events of Soweto, the future appear. increasingly threatening: frustrations are accumulating, violence is increasing and the list of victims continues to grow without respite. I should like to pay a tribute here to those who have paid with their lives or their freedom to achieve their legitimate aspiration to human dignity. Unfortunately, the situation is the logical outcome of a policy, that of apartheid, an intolerable system of institutionalized racial discrimination. Like the whole of the international community, France is convinced that thi$ system cannot be reformed, but must be abolished as soon as possible. In the statement made during the celebration of the International Day of SOlidarity with the Struggling people of South Africa, tn Paris during the World Conference on Sanctions against South Africa, Mr. Malhuret, Secretary of State for Human Rights, declared on behalf of the French Government: "Apartheid must disappear. France has constantly condemned the system without reservation, because it is an unacceptable system. It is unacceptable because of its very principle, indeed, because of its 'philosophy'. It is unacceptable because, as can be seen every day, it can be maintained only by force." My Government wishes to contribute to the search for a solution. In the course of the past year contacts have been maintained with the political movements in South Africa, the Chairman of the Special Committee against Apartheid and the Chairman of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group, and recently our Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean-Bernard Raimond, held in Paris a constructive exchange of views with the ministerial delegation from the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries. The dismantling of apartheid is the goal that we wish to achieve. France advocates that to this end pressures be exerted on the South African Government to persuade it at last to establish a dialogue with all the forces opposed to (Mr. de K~moularia, France) apartheid. That dialogue is indispensable, because it is the last chance for the non-violent transition of SOuth Africa to a democratic, non-racial society. The conditions for an authentic national dialogue are known: the unconditional liberation of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners, the lifting of the ban on, in particular, the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, and the abolition of all forms of restriction on the activities and free expression of the anti-apartheid movement. So far the South African Government has refused to adopt this course. It is wrong. It is in this context, in the view of my Government, that the problem of sanctions against South Africa must be considered. France has taken several initiatives, at both the multilateral and the national level. Immediately after announcing the suspension of all new investment in South Africa, thu French Government, it will be recalled, advised the Security Council, which adopted resolution 569 (1985). That resolution urges Member States to adopt a series of measures against SOuth Africa. The Government of my country went even further by deciding, shortly after that, not to renew coal contracts with South Africa. Those measures are extremely costly for our economy. Within the European community a programme of positive measures has been adopted following a French proposal. That programme should make it possible to develop assistance ftom the Community and on a national basis to the black community and the political victims of apartheid. With regard to the restrictive measures, France does not object to extending the scope of their application and will support the adoption by the 12 member States of the European Community of new sanctions whenever we believe such action to be appropriate. However, we are opposed to the adoption of comprehensive mandatory sanctions. The question of sanctions is a very complex problem which France wishes to consider without dogmatism and dispassionately, with a precise goal in mind: to exert effective pressure on the Government of South Africa while keeping the chance of dialogue open and avoiding overwhelming human and social repercussions for both the population of South Africa and the population of neighbouring countries. In conclusion, I should like to appeal once again to the Government of South Africa and to show political courage and the necessary foresight in the search for a solution and ~~ begin to take the only possible course - that of the abolition of apartheid. (Mr. de Kemoularia, France) Mr. SLAQJI (Morocco) (interpretation from French): ~ince it was founded, the united Nations has been dealing with the situation resultinq from the policy of apartheid institutionalized by South Africa. ~hat policy, hased on the alleged superiority of the white race and the denial of the fundamental rights of the black population, has been universally rejected and condemned, in terms both of its principle and of its manifestations. The General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and ~ocial Council, the Commission on Human Rights: all those organs, and others, have ,unanimously and clearly repudiated the system of apartheid, because it violates not only the principles of the Charter and fundamental human rights, hut also the laws of international morality and ethics that unite us all, whatever our ideological, political or religious differences. Much ground has been covered since 1946 hy the United Nations in informinq international. opinion in all continents about the tragedy of the oppressed peoples of South Africa and in calling upon the largest numher of Governments to take the measures against the Pretoria reqime that are needed to make it put an end to this shameful system of apartheid. In that context, we must congratulate the Special Committee against Apartheid on the outstanding work it has done in making people more aware of the real nature of the policy of apartheid, its pernicious conseauences and the danger it poses to international peace and security. Those efforts have been rewarded by the decision of an increasing number of Governments to strengthen and supplement the measures designed to isolate the South Af.rican regime and deprive it of the means to consolidate its system of apartheid. The Kingdom of Morocco welcomes also the measures taken by leqislative bodies, municipalities, u~iversities and other institutions that have done so much to promote decisions for disinvestment in South Africa and the ending of co-operation in certain spheres that are of strategic importance to the South African economy•.. The effective application of these measures and their adoption by all States remains the most effective means of swayinq the intransigent Pretoria regime and of contributing to the restoration of the diqnity of the black population of South Africa. But that cannot be done if South Africa does not recognize and quarantee the right of all the segments of the population of South Africa to exercise - without discrimination as to race, colour or political opinion - the political, social and economic rights and the fundamental freedoms laid down in the Charter and the 1966 Covenants. We cannot but note, however, that instead of heedinq the repeated appeals by the international community to abandon the policy of apartheid and open the way to the establishment of a democratic and non-racial society, the South African Government is maintaining and stepping up its measures of repression, imprisonment, torture and murder of all those opposed to the abhorrent practices of the apartheid system. Faced with that situation, the South African people have intensified their resistance by all the means available to them, in spite of the proclamation of the state of emergency and the manoeuvres by South Africa to sow discord and hatred among the black people. In this legitimate strugqle that they are waging to recover their freedom and diqnity, the black people of South Africa have every right to expect the material assistance necessary to hasten the end of apartheio. The strengthening of South Africa's military power and nuclear potential, thanks to decisive foreign assistance, remains a source of concern to the international community, because of its conseauences both inside and outside South Africa. Indeed, despite the general condemnation by the international community, the racist regime has abandoned neither the brutal repression of the South African black population nor the illegal occupation of Namibia, which it is using as a spflngboard for its many acts of agqression, subversion and destabilization directed against the neighbouring African States. The international community must now, on the one hand, adopt the most appropriate measures among those recommended by the World Conference on SanctionR against Racist South Africa, held in Paris in June 1986, and, on the other, increase that Government's isolation and thereby prevail upon it to put an end to apartheid. The Kingdom of Morocco has always unamhiguously expressed its strong condemnation of the apartheid system and has supported the right of the hlack population of South Africa to freedom, justice and dignity and to huild ~ democratic and non-racial society. On the basis of that position of principle, Morocco continues to make its modest contrihution to the united Nations Fund for South Africa, designed to prOVide legal assistance to persons prosecuted under discriminatory laws, and to subsidize the education of such persons and their families. Furthermore, the Kingdom of Morocco was among the first countries to sign the International Convention against Apartheid in Sports, which has now joined other, similar international instruments to which my country is already a party. Finally, the Kingdom of Morocco will support any international action that could lead the South African Government to ahandon its immoral policy of apartheid, to remove the remaining obstacles to the immedi~te and inevitahle independence of the Namibian people and to respect the sovereignty and territ~rial integrity of the African States of the region. Mr. TEP KHUNNAL (Democratic Kampuchea) (interpretation from French): More than 40 years ago the international community rid itself of nazism by ending the Second World War and estahlishing the United Nations. One of the fundamental purposes enshrined in the Organization's Charter is to achieve international (Mr. Slaoui, Morocco) co-operation in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. But racism and racial discrimination persist in various parts of the world, hampering social progress and the estahlishment of better livinq conditions and endangering international peace and security. Having endured indescrihahle SUffering and humiliation, the peoples of the world are entitled to demand that racism and racial discrimination be rapidly eradicated throughout the world; they are anachronistic and shameful in our times. (Mr. Tep Khunnal, nemocratic Kampuchea) The most odious fotm of tacism is the policy of apartheid of the Pretoria regime in South Africa where the political and social system is based on skin colour and gives all privileges to a white minority at the expense of millions of blacks who live in poverty and are denied their fundamental rights. According to the Pretoria regime's inhuman legislation, any black African can be artested, expelled or hanged without trial or sentence. Furthermore, the tegime rema~as in a state of emergency. Not a day goes by without a black African being tortuted, arrested or killed. From September 1984 to last August alone almost 3,000 persons were killed as a result of military violence committed against the indigenous population. The number of innocent victims continues to increase daily. An unprecedented campaign of terror is being carried on throughout the country. In fact an undeclared war is being waged by the advocates of the apartheid regime against the overwhelming majority of the South African population, whose only crime is to want to establish democracy, justice and equality in the land of their birth. Everywhere - be it in South Africa, Namibia, Afghanistan or in Kampuchea, my own country - oppression prompts resistance. Despite the bloody brutality perpetrated by the Pretoria regime, the proclamation of a state of emergency throughout the whole country, and the adoption of other unprecedented draconian measures, the oppressed and exploited South African people continues its obstinate and heroic struggle in all forms that is continually increasing in scope. Faced with the intransigence of the apartheid leaders who continue to turn a dead eat to the initiatives taken by a number of States and organizations aimed at a negotiated, peaceful settlement of the problem and who stop at no crime, however monstrous, the South African people has no choice but to fight with every weapon it has, to regain its legitimate right to human dignity and to survival. Indeed, this is a legitimate struggle of self-defence being waged by the south African people. (Mt. Tep Khunnal, Democtatic Kampuchea) The people of Kampuchea and the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea, are also struggling for their sacred right to self-determination now being trampled underfoot by the foreign occupying forces, as everyone is aware, and they welcome the encouraging development of the struggle being waged by our South African brothers and sisters under the leadership of their legitimate and authentic representatives. The struggle is progressively becoming a people's war, despite savage repression, and beginning to undermine the power of the military and police forces of the apartheid regime, which has itself admitted that this struggle is now spreading rapidly. The struggle is being aided by vigorous and co-ordinated action by black workers, students, churches and other community organizations against the iniquitous apartheid systemJ furthermore, the people's resistance against apartheid has been intensified throughout the country. This determined struggle is clear proof of the resolve of the oppressed and exploited South African people to make whatever sacrifice is needed in their fight to bring about justice, freedom, equality and human dignity. While popular resistance is growing, the lethal brutality of apartheid has aroused the condemnation and anger of the whole world. The policy of apartheid has long been condemned by the General Assembly as a crime against humanity and a direct challenge to the United Nations. FOr more than 25 years the General Assembly and the Security Council have called on the Pretoria regime to end it~ criminal policy of apartheid and racial discrimination. In its resolution 569 (1985) the Security Council has strongly condemned that anachronistic system and reaffirmed that: "only the total elimination of apartheid and the establishment in South Africa of a free, united and democratic society on the basis of universal suffrage can lead to a solution". Faced with the increased popular resistance and the world's verdict, the Pretoria authorities have resorted - as could be expected - to tricks and intimidation both inside and outside the country. The Pretoria regime has announced that it is prepared to improve racial relations through constitutional reforms. It even declared last August that apartheid was gradui ly disappearing and that it would abolish the pass laws. But, while carrying out those false reforms, the Pretoria authorities announced that in future the citizens of the so-called independent homelands would need authorization to work in South AErica. That is tantamount to a new pass-law system. These changes are simply delaying tactics aimed at allaying world indignation and thus perpetuating and even consolidating apartheid. It is only normal and completely understandable that the black population of South Africa rejects those cosmetic changes, which do not meet their deep-rooted and legitimate aspirations. What they have called for and what the international community consistently calls for are the dismantling of apartheid, the abrogation of all segregation laws, the abolition of Bantu education and the establishment of a multiracial, democratic and united society. The evils of apartheid extend beyond South Africa's frontier into Namibia, where the Pretoria regime continues, despite world condemnation, to maintain its illegal occupation and its unbridled exploitation of that territory's population and natural resources. Those evils have spread to the neighbouring States, the front-line States accused of giving aid, support and sympathy to the black population of South Africa fighting apartheid. In the v ,n hope of stemming the irresistible tide of popular resistance, the Pretoria regime has stepped up its acts of aggression, subversion and destabilization against those States, thus increasing tension in southern Africa and threatening international peace and security. (Mr. Tet Khunnal, Democratic Kampuc ea) My delegation wishes to reaffirm here the fraternal solidarity of the Kampuchean people with the peoples which are the victims of Pretoria's criminal acts, and vigorously condemns the violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of those States. The Kampuchean people and its Coalition Government joins the international community as a whole in welcoming the initiatives and praiseworthy efforts of the States members of the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference, and will do all they can, within their modest means, to support this just and valiant fight. Experience increasingly demonstrates that the arrests, arbitrary detentions, changes in tactics, attempts at reforms - and even less the acts of aggression against the front-line States - can never solve the problem. Only the complete elimination of apartheid and the establishment of a non-racial, democratic society in a united SOuth Africa can provide a solid basis for a just and lasting solution to the problems in the region. The continuing intransigence, the intensification of the reign of terror, and the total contempt for the principles and rules of international law shown by the Pretoria authorities require the international community to co-ordinate and redouble its campaign for the imposition of comprehensive mandatory sanctions, which is the only available means not only to end apartheid, but to free Namibia and maintain peace and stability in that part of the world. (Mr. Tep Khunnal, Democratic Kampuchea) Indeed, as Nelson Mandela said in 1962, -The very centre and corner-stone of the struggle for freedom and democracy in South Africa are to be found in South Africa itself-. But the active support - moral, political, economic and diplomatic - of the internwtional community can contribute to the speedier eradication of apartheid. In this connection, my delegation welcomes the holding in Paris of the World COnference on Sanctions against Racist South Africa, and fully endorses its final Declaration. We also welcome the adoption of the Declaration against apartheid of the Eighth COnference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held in Harare, Zimbabwe, in September. Aware of its moral and historic obligations, Africa has firmly committed itself to the heroic, stubborn struggle against the inhuman, despicable system of apartheid. The Organization of African Unity (OAU) has on many occasions reaffirmed its unshakeable determination in that regard. The international community as a whole is convinced of the imperative need to take the most effective concrete measures to end the inequitous system of apartheid. We must all, responding to the Declarations of Paris and Harare, support the determination and courage of the oppressed and exploited South African people struggling heroically for democracy, justice, equality and human dignity, which are the goals of our Charter. I do not wish to conclude without paying a well-deserved tribute to Mr. Joseph N. Garba of Nigeria, Chairman of the Special Committee against Apartheid, for his clear report and statement, which are a valuable contribution to our debates, and for his untiring efforts to reach a consensus in favour of comprehensive mandatory sanctions against the Pretoria regime. We also reiterate our deep satisfaction over the untiring, dedicated efforts of the (Mr. Tep Khunnal, Democratic Kampuchea) Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, in carrying out the mandate entrusted to him under the Char~:er, particularly in defence of the noble ideals of peace, justice and equality throughout the world, and especially in southern Africa. Mr. MOUSHOUTAS (Cyprus): The question of racial discrimination in South Africa has been before the United Nations since 1946 - that is, since the creation of our Organization. Racial discrimination and apartheid have been unanimously held by Member States to be in violation of the Charter as well as of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all other international instruments on human rights. Yet the South African regime continues to defy the United Nations and the international community, to the extent that it has created a war situation in South Africa and in the region. The situation created by the apartheid regime has been steadily deterio[ating. Unable to govern the struggling people of South Africa under ordinary laws, the Pretoria regime has twice in the past two years imposed a state of emergency. Equipped with draconian powers given them under the emergency, the so-called security forces have detained thousands of opponents of apartheid, including leaders and activists of trade unions and grass-roots organizations opposing apartheid, a system which has been declared by the united Nations to be a crime against humanity. Over 2,000 of the political detainees were children. Many of the detainees were tortured, and some have even died as a result of torture in police custody. The use of widespread torture on political detainees has been attested to by prison doctors and others. In their frantic efforts to suppress the rising resistance to apartheid, the security forces have, arbitrarily and with impunity, shot and killed protesters and demonstrators against apartheid. The army has been deployed in and around black townships, curfews have been imposed and press freedom has been heavily restricted to conceal the regime's brutal repression from world public opinion. Yet the news of oppression has managed to come out in one way or another. The repressive and vengeful character of the racist regime's measures against opponents of apartheid 1s exemplified by what ~~ppened just a few days ag~, when Mr. Oscar Mpetha, a 77-year-old black nationalist, who is in prison suffering from diabetes, and with one leg amputated, was refused permission to attend his wife's funeral.· Treason charges, disappearances and missing children have become commonplace in South Africa. Freedom fighters are being severely sentenced and even executed. Many opponents of the system are being SUbjected to political trials. Measures of suppression against the people's struggle have intensified. The regime has recently declared the huge grass-roots organization known as the United Democratic Front an affected organization, in order to prevent it from receiving funds from abroad. But this unprecedented level of repr~ssion has failed to suppress the freedom struggle. On the contrary, resistance to apartheid has grown to new heights. The struggle has begun reaching white areas, and incidents of armed action against the regime have greatly multiplied. Unless the apartheid regime begins to dismantle the evil system and talk to the true representatives of the oppressed and struggling people, violence is bound to escalate. This is precisely what the international community has all along wanted to avoid. It was also the goal of the recent initiatives of the Commonwealth and th~ European Community. The international community's ~ardict is that apartheid is the cause of the evil and should go. There can be no peace in South Africa so long as apartheid is maintained. The acts of aggression, sabotage and destabilization committed by South Africa against the neighbouring African States also emanate from apartheid. There is no doubt that the sharing of politio~al power by blacks in South Africa is inevitable. *The President returned to the Chair. Yet, instead of heeding the calls of the ~nited Nations and the international community, South Africa has sunk deeper into a posture of defiance. It is resorting to every trick and manoeuvre to maintain apartheid and to delay Namibia's independence. The so-called reforms which the regime has proposed in South Africa are clearly too little and too late. 'rhe changes are in fact designed to perpetuate, not to eliminate, apartheid. The regime has caused worldwide dismay with its persistence in maintaining the pillars of !parth~id, such as the homelands policy, the Group Areas Act, the population Registration Act, the Separate Amenities Act and segregated educ~tion. Even the policy of forced population removals, which the regime same time ago promised to discontinue, still goes on. The illegality of apartheid has internation~l legal consequences. It creates international legal responsibilitie~ for States. The United Nations has an obligation to take action to end apartheid. Article SS of the Charter provides that the united Nations ·shall promote ••• ·universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.- And under Article 56, all Member States ·pledge themselves to take joint and separate action in co-operation with the Organization for the achievement of the purposes set forth in Article S5.- Moreover, under Article 2, all Member States must fulfil i~ good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the Charter. We do have a responsibility towards the oppressed people of South Africa who are struggling for their basic human rights. We should not go down in history as an inactive and ineffective Organization in this matter. we must be on the side of humanity, not of oppression. In view of the apartheid regin~'s continued defiance, the United Nations has no alternative but to take the strongest possible action to compel it to comply. As concluded by many international meetings and conferences, particularly by the recent World Conference on Sanctions against Racist South Africa, comprehensive and mandatory sanctions against that re~ime would be most appropriate. It is indeed very encouraging that sanctions are being increasingly adopted against South Africa by many Governments and organizations~ but there is a crying need fer our Organization to take stronger action against a Member State which has long been Violating our Charter. This Assembly should once again call upon the Pretoria regime in the strongest possible terms urgently to lift the state of emergency, release all political prisoners and detainees and enter into meaningful talks with the true representatives of all sections of the population with regard to the future of the troubled country. The sooner the apartheid regime heeds the calls of the United Nations, the better for all concerned. The people of Cyprus, themselves victims of invasion and occupation, express their brotherly solidarity with and support for the people of South Africa in their struggle against apartheid. (fir. Moushoutas, CYprus) Dame Nita BARROW (Barbados): One week from today the representatives in this Assmbly will elect new members to the International Law Commission. As we follow the accustomed political ritual that attends such events we are apt to forget that this election is one of a most solemn significance. It addresses the fundamental principles from which emerged the United Nations system; the principles which provide the legal underpinnings of the Organization and without which all that we do here would be rendered useless. It is an irony tha~ these foundations were laid in one of the darkest hours known to modern man, a period in which one State took upon itself the right to remove from this earth an entire race of people whose only crime was their ethnicity and their religious belief. It is now 40 years since the commencement of the Nuremberg trials, when those responsible for the atrocities which some now call the holocaust were made to assume responsibility for their heinous acts. The Nuremberg Tribunal reiterated the principle that no State, on the claim of sovereignty, held the right to treat its citizens as it chooses and that to do so would be a crime against humanity, an international crime. It is an even greater irony t~~~.. almos~ before the books of Nuremberg were closed there arose another regime whose doctrines and laws were identical with those which shaped the behaviour of Adolf Hitler's Third Re1ch. Perhaps worn out by war, the world in 1948 seemed unable to nete the public commitment to racial terror that was proclaimed by the Nationalist Party of SOuth Africa. Or perhaps it was disbelief, a refusal to accept that the horrors of Europe, so vivid in all minds, would not serve to discourage a repetition of the same. We now know better. Not since the fall of ~e Nazi Eotablishment has the world witnessed such boundless cruelty as that now in~titutionalized by the rulers of SOuth Africa. In defiance of the outraged opinion of all civilized people, the Government in Pretoria continues its policy of systematically dehumanizing its captive black citizens, as has been reiterated more than once in this chamber. We hear every day reports of black men, women and children murdered by the agents and enforcers of apartheid. But apartheid aims at more than the destruction of bodies; its aim is to break the human spirit. Black people cannot decide now where they will live; they cannot choose where th~y will work; where their children will go to school. They are now not even allowed to bury their dead with reverence. In such a scheme as this human life loses its worth. But there comes a time when men will lose the lives they have for greater living. It seems to us that that time has come to South Africa. The indignities with which they have been forced to live have now forced black South Africans to take up arms against their oppressors. While the Government of Barbados applauds the courage of those who are now prepared to sacrifice their lives for freedom, we nevertheless regret the tragedy of this waste of scores of young men and women whose efforts should have been channelled into the building of a country. The tragedy is reflected not only in quantity, but in the quality of life wasted. No one who has sat face to face with Nelson Mandela can help being inspired by the qualities of leadership with which he has been endowed and by the vision he holds of a trUly sovereign South Africa whose citizens, regardless of their race, enjoy in freedom the resources of their land. Mine was the privilege, in early 1986, of meeting and talking with Mr. Mandela. I saw a man whose statesmanship and vision would, if allowed free rein, transform South Afr.ica from the pariah of the world into a State which would be a paragon of multiracial harmony. (Dame Ni ta Barrow, Barbados) The Commonwealth Group of which I was a member travelled throughout south Africa in the hope of initiating a productive dialogue between the rulers in Pretoria and the obvious leaders of the African people. But the idea of fraternity has not yet impressed itself on the rulers of Pretoria. Instead of fostering brotherhood among the several groups which comprise the population, the south African Government deliberately sets group against group in a wicked scheme to perpetuate the system of minority rule. The policy of provocation is not confined to the borders of SOuth Afr ica. The Government in Pretoria h&s embarked on a programme of deliberate destabilization against neighbouring States. In a desperate reaction against growing economic pressure to end apartheid, South Africa, like a contemptuous bully, is using force in its many forms against what we have come to know as the front-line States. The leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement at their eighth summit meeting, held in Harare, this year took a decision to establish a fund to assist those States in surviving the consequences of South Africa's threats to blockade access to their entry ports. We wish to appeal to the international community to join the Non-Aligned Movement in taking all the steps necessary to ensure that the people of the front-line States are not starved and destabilized as a result of SOuth Africa's ~anton misuse of its power and of its strategic position in southern Africa. (Dame Nita Barrow, Barbados) In this regard we are heartened by the generous provisions of those States which have assigned financial assistance to the Southern African Development Co-ordination Confe~ence (SADCC), the African National Congress (ANC) and the South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). The Government of Barhados wishes to note the courage of those States which have taken economic measures against South Africa and exhorts them to continue this pressure by ensuring that the people of Botswana, Zimhabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, Tanzania, Angola and Mozambiaue will not stand alone in their determination to rid their continent of the poison of apartheid. This would indeed he fitting tribute to one who devoted his life to the eradication of the politics of exploitation and oppression. I speak of none other than the late President Samora Machel of Mozamhiaue. There is no auestion that, whatever the circumstances, his untimely death is directly attributable to the politics of apartheid. Let us here resolve that his life should not have been given in vain.