S/PV.1128 Security Council

The Council will now continue the discussion of the item on its agenda, but before giving the floor to the first speaker on my list 1 should like to inform the Council that 1 have just seceived a messagefrom the President of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, Mr. Ahmed Ben Bella, which Will be circulated as a Security Council document. u

Since the introduction of the draft resolution [5/5752] at yesterday’s meeting, the co-sponsors of the draft resolution have had a number of conversations with other members of the Security Council. 3. We also thought it right to ascertain the views of a11 the representatives of countries who have been admitted to take part in the current discussion; and, in the light of a11 these considerations and of the views of a number of representatives who felt that the draft resolution could be materially improved, we decided to make some changes, none of which affects the substance of the problem before us. We have thus made some slight changes and with the President’s permission 1 shall read them out. 4. In the first preambular paragraph, at the end of the last sentence, after the word Vestrictionsn we have added the words: “for having opposed the policy of apartheid”. In operative paragraph 1 (b) we have VL ater circulaced as document S/5759 (see Officia1 Records of the Security Council, Nineteenth Year, Supplement for April, May and June B). “Invites a11 States to exert a11 their influence to induce the South African Government to comply with the provisions of this resolutiontt. The rest of the draft resolution remains unohanged. 5. As 1 said just now, +e have madethese changes in a spirit of co-operation and with the sincere desire that our draft resolution may receive the unanimous support of members of the Security Council. As 1 emphasized in my statement yesterday, we believe that the sponsors of this draft sesolution have chosen the expressions which are the most appropriate and the least likely to give rise to opposition, We have also referred to resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council which reoeived very wide support in the votes that took place at the last session of the General Assembly and at the Security Council meetings held in August and December 1963. 6. We therefore feel justified in hoping that a11 our colleagues Will give particular attention to this draft resolution. The problem to which it relates is an extremely serious one. It is not merely a political problem; it is also a humanitarian problem, and what we are asking of the Security Council is simply what has been requested by a11 the leading moral and political authorities throughout the world on behalf of these political detainees who are expecting, at any moment, a tragic end after having been arrested solely for their political opinions and for their opposition to the racial policies practised in their countxy , policies which the whole world has more than once had occasion to condemn. 7. We hope therefore that this draft resolution Will present no difficulties for Africans, since we have submitted it with the certainty that its adoption Will encounter no difficulties at the hands of members of the Security Council.

1 should now like to speak as representative of the IVORY COAST. 9, The joint draft resolution submitted by Morocco and the Ivory Coast [S/5752/Rev.l] has been most eloquently introduced by the representative o%Moroc- CO. As one of the sponsors of this document, 1 feel bound not to discuss my own proposa1 but rather to associate myself with the appeal, just made to the Council, that this draft resolution be adopted without a prolonged debate and in a calm atmosphere. 10, In its preamble, the draft resolution simply re- CallS the resolutions which have already been adopted, either in the General Assembly or in the Seourity Council, by a more or less identical procedure, and, in each case, without any opposition. While this draft reSOlUtiOn notes with deep concern the resumption of the Rivonia triai, and its possible consequences involving Mandela, Sisulu and a11 the leaders of the en tout cas sans opposition aucune. Si, aux termes de ce projet, le Conseil note avec une grande inqui8- tude la reprise et les conséquences possibles du pro&s de Rivonia, dans lequel sont impliques Nelson 11. The Council therefore has a right to demand of South Africa that it renounce the execution of the persons sentenced to death, end the trials which are in progress and grant an amnesty to the persons who have been imprisoned. The Council must also utilize every means to save these innocent ,people, inviting States to use their influence to prevent something which would be irreparable. 1 use the word “innocent” with conviction, and, in case it is necessary, 1 shall explain rnyself by touching briefly on the subst&nce of the question; but I do net do SO to convince ycu of the justice of the cause, for Iknow that 1 ati preaohing to the converted. 12. In less than a year, there have been more than forty death sentences in that country, 384,499persons have been condemned to deportation or forced labour, and 743 have been sentenced to prison terms totalling 4,724 years. Al1 these group prosecutions, these arrests by the thousand, these imprisonments without tria& these tortures, these repressions, these death sentences, these humiliations and these sufferings are the outcome of a whole series of laws: the Bantu Laws Amendment Act, the Criminal Law Amendment Act, the General Law Amendment Act, the sabotage acts, and SO on, Al1 these laws are ccnsidered by the world consoienoe to be arbitrary. Al1 the world’s jusists, of whatever ideology, have oondemned them as contrary to univessal concepts of law, contrary to the universal legislative conscience and without origin in the creative source of law. The Commission on Human Rights has found that these laws violate human rights. The United Nations has declared them inoompatible with the purposes of the Charter. 13. More than once the Security Council has condemned apartheid, These laws are the product of that odious system and are designed to protect it, and the least one cari say is that they are equally to be condemned. 14. Al1 the world’s theologians, inolucling some from South Africa, regard these laws as contrary to reason. As Pope John XXIII said in Pacem In Terris: “Human law has the true nature of law only in SO far as it corresponds to right reason”; in the oontrary event, it cannot “be binding on the consciences of the citizens “. 2/ 15. This legislation, in the opinion of ail, has not the true nature of law; it is not binding on the ccnsciences of the citizens. The carrying out of death sentences under this legislation is therefore, “murder”, Thus, morally and legally, no one cari be justified in tolerating, on the pretext that the affair is a domestio one, the murder of a human being, whatever his colour or race, 16. May I bring to the Council’s attention certain passages from the moving statement of Nelson Mandela: 9, . . . we believed that as a result of government policy, violence by the African people had beoome 22 On establishing universal peace in truth. justice, charity and liberty, Vatican Polyglot Press, 1963. Nelson Mandela, the champion of non-violence, driven to desperation, is still trying to canalize the blind violence which leads to terrorism, and he falls fou1 of the Qabotage actH, while the White who runs a school with the motto “If you want to survive, be reacly to kill”-and which teaohes the art ofkilling for $16.80-is not affected by the act because the teachers and pupuls are white. Nelson Mandela, 2 bout, aveugle qui aboutit le qui dirige “Si vous voulez survivre, enseigne pas sous le coup de la loi parce les @lèves y sont blancs. Mandela ad&: Mandela ajoute: “1 have cherished the ideal of a democratio and free society in which a11 persons live together in harmony with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which 1 hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which 1 am prepared to die”. 17, 1s a mari, in our Century, liable to a death sentence b.ecause he strives for human brotherhood and for the ideals of the United Nations Charter? God would never permit such a sacrilege, If we do net rescue Mandela and his companions from the hands of their executioners, the irreparable Will have happened. In such a case, the great Powers, particularly the Western Powers, Will assume a heavy responsibility. It is impossible to defend both the criminal and the victim. A choice must be made. 17. condamnation ternit6 de la Charte pas un tel sacrilDge. et ses l’irréparable puissances, occidentales, On ne peut victime. 18. We have a11 declared, roundly and deliberately, that we condemn the principle of apartheid. It is only logical that our acts should conform to our declaratiens. As Henri Bergson said: “Throughout the animal kingdom, conscience appears to be proportional to the .power of choice which the living creaturepossesses.” 18. haut que nous reprouvions En pure nos “Dans apparaft choix dont l’être 19. The very thought that the crimes of which we a11 know cari be committed in cold blood in the Republic of South Africa in the name of apartheid is enough to make us hope that this draft resolution not only Will be formally and unanimously adopted but Will be implemented, and that the great Powers which are permanent members of the Council and have special responsibilities Will spare the lives of these great leaders and their companions, 19. froidement l’apartheid, conscience, le projet et B llunanimite, grandes et gneront compagnons. 20. Gentlemen, 1 am sure that this appealfor a purely humanitarian act will not be in vain, 20. ne vous purement

Both the Seourity Council and the General Assembly have previously addressed apPealS to the Government of the Republic of South Africa in an effort to save people who are persecuted for their opposition to the policy of apartheid, In the communiqué from the last regular meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the five Nordic countries, which took place in April in Copenhagen, the Ministers sup- 21. Le Conseil déj& République ceux la politique a l’issue tres qui s’est POrted these urgent appeals to the South African 23. The Government of the Republic of South Africa, in order to enforce its abhorrent policy of apartheid, is having to resort to incressingly stringent and inhuman methods of oppression. New restrictive laws and practices are continually being introduced. My Government condemns this ruthless persecution carried out in arrogant disregard of international appeals and expressions of concern by the major part of the rest of the world. 24. The recent additional restrictions on movement imposed upon the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Albert Luthuli, is an example of these degrading practices, and it is against the background of these conditions that there is a wide spread fear that the banning of a11 forms of non-violent means of opposing apartheid may force the oppressed Afrioans to opt for violence, If this should happea, the consequences wouldbe grave indeed for the future of the South African society. 25. These are the reasons why, as I have already stated, my Government has instructed the Norwegian delegation to join in the appeal bythe Security Council to the Government of the Republic of South Africa that it cesse its dangerous policy of oppression.

The Bolivian delegation finds that everything revolves around a sole desire: to save the lives of those being tried at Rivonla. This is a moral obligation of a profoundly !~umanitarian kind. Those of us who have been able to read about the Rivonia triats here in the United Nations know how moving the facts are, ald that this is one of the most dramatic and important political trials of our time. 27, We feel that the draft resolution now before the Security Council may contain some dr&ing imperfections; nevertheless the Bolitian delegation Will support it. We believe that this is neither the place nor the time to comment on its drafting. We have no hesitation in giving our support ta it, because we are convinced that this support is right. Moreover, there is a particular reason for my country’s position: in Bolivia the death penalty has been abolished. 28. In conclusion, the Bolivian delegation cherishes the hope that the South African Government Will heed the voice of this group of countries gathered in the Security Council, which are reacting in a situation that is stirring the conscience of a11 the peoples of the world, 29. Mr, BAJEK (Czeohoslovakia) (translated from French) : This is not the first time the Security Council 30, In taking this action, the Security Council was attempting to bring the South African leaders to heed the voice of reason and common sense. The new wave of repression and terror launched by the racist Government against the African patriots and exemplified by the Rivonia tria&, among other things, net only continues and exacerbates the barbarous oppression of the overwhelming majority of the South African population by the dominant strata of the white minority, but at the same time constitutes a challenge to the United Nations and its Charter and to previous decisions and resolutions passed by United Nations bodies; it makes the situation in South Africa more dangerous to international peace, 30. En agissant ainsi, le Conseil de &curit& a cherché 2 amener les dirigeants sud-africains B écouter la voix de la raison et du bon sens. La vague nouvelle de r8pression et de terreur dechafnee par le gouvernement raciste contre les patriotes africains et qui se manifeste, entre autres, par le procès de Rivonia, ne constitue pas seulement la continuation et l’exacerbation Ecrasante de la population sud-africaine par les couches dominantes de la minorit8 blanche; elle est en même temps un défi B l’Organisation des Nations Unies, a Pa Charte, aux dkisions anterieures en Afrique du Sud plus dangereuse pour la paix internationale. 31, It is for these reasons and for humanitarian motives that the Czechoslovak people, with democratic opinion throughout the world, are in many ways spontaneously expressing their indignation st the polioy of apartheid and their sympathy for the victims of racist repression. The President of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic voiced their sentiments in acldressing an appeal to the South African President. 31. C’est pour ces raisons et pour des motifs humanitaires que, d’accord avec l’opinion democratique du monde entier, spontanément, par de nombreuses manifestations, son indignation au sujet de la politique d’apartheid et sa sympathie & l’dgard des victimes de la repression raciste. Le Président de la RBpublique socialiste en adressant un appel au Prtkident Sud. 32. C’est dans ce sens que notre délegation donne son appui au projet de résolution pr8sent8 par les délégations de la C&e-d’ivoire votera donc pour ce projet. 32, It is in this spirit that our delegation Will give its support to the draft resolution submitted by the delegations of the Ivory Coast and Morocco. We shall vote in favour of this resolution. 33. Cela dit, notre délegation se &Serve le droit d’intervenir inscrite a l’ordre du jour, 33, This said, our delegation reserves the right to speak in the debate on the substance of the item on the Council’s agenda, 34, The PRESIDENT (translated from French): The Cout%il Will now vote on the draft resolution submitted by the Ivory Coast and Morooco [S/5752/ Rev.11. Jî 34. Le PRESIDENT: Le Conseil va maintenant pro- &der au vote du projet de rBsolution S/5752/RevJz. A VO& was taken by show of hands. d’ivoire, socialistes sovi&tiques. In fZVoUr: Bolivia, China, Czechoslovakia, Ivory Coast, MOTOOCO, Norway, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Agains t: None. Abstaining: Brazil, France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America. Grande-Bretagne d’Am&ique. jet de résolution est adoW. The draft resolution was adopted by 7 votes to none, with 4 abs ten tiens. 3/ .$ee Officia1 Records of the Security Council, Eighteenth Year, année, SflPPlmwn for July, August and Septemher 1963. ’ Ibid.. Sugplement for October, November and December 1963. Y ~--- sécurité, bTte text as S/S7bl (see Offictal Records of the Security Councd, IQaetsenth Year. Supplement for April, May and June lY64). 36, The United States Government is profoundly concerned with the situation created by the South African Government’s policies of apartheid, United States officia1 spokesmen have made clear, both within the United Nations and outside it, that my Government considers that South African polieies of apartheid are inconsistent with the principles of the United Nations and are charged with potential danger not only for the people of South Africa but also for a11 peoples throughout the world who seek racial harmony. 37. The United States Government believes that the South African Government should examine its actions with the greatest tare in order to avoid those which would result in increasing tensions. The United States Government made its views known as to the tria1 of persons whose only offence was their opposition to the policies of apartheid when it voted for the Security Council resolutions of 7 August 1963 and 4 December 1963, and General Assembly resolution 1881 (XVIII), In the latter instance, however, the United States abstained on the second operative paragraph which dealt with the triais. In explaining the United States vote at that time, 1 said: Il 1.. the United States is uncompromisingly and irrevocably opposed to legislation such as the legislation under which these defendants are being tried, which permits incarceration without hearing and without trial, an extended inoarceration, which puts on the defendant the burden of proving himself innocent. There remains the fact that any country does have the right and the duty to defend itself, its oitizens, its Gomen and its children against criminal violence as Such, provided the defence is under proper iegislative safeguards for the accused. We question whether any Member State here represented would feel that it was appropriate for any other State or for any international organization to interfere with its own sovereign right to conduct, under proper legislative safeguards for the prisoners, its defence against criminal violence that Will hurt a11 its citizens.“& 38. The tria1 of several well-known African politioal leaders and other opponents of apartheid is still in -! Se Officia1 Records of the General Assemhly, Ell;hreenth Session ------’ Plenary Meetings, 123Xth meeting, para. 80. 39. 1 assure you, that my Government Will continue to examine carefully the circumstances and study a11 opportunities to assist in steps looking towards a humane and just solution of these pressing andpainful problems. 39, Je tiens gouvernement circonstances de contribuer ces problémes 40, Sir Patrick DEAN (United Kingdom): We have heard yesterday and today severalpowerful and strong apyeals to tbis Council to take most urgent action to intércede with the South Afrioan authorities on behalf of those political leaders who are the defendants in the Rivonia trial. My delegation fully understands and respects the sincerity of these views and the strong humanitarian motives which inspired your delegatipn, Mr. President, and the representative of Morocco in tabling the draft resolution on which we have just voted. 40. l’anglais]: plusieurs invitaient mesures africaines au banc dél&gstion sinc6rit6 humanitaires Monsieur sentant nous 41. We agree whole-heartedly with those who have condemned the repressive legislation enacted by the South African Government and we share their abhorrente of the provisions of the Sabotage Actunder which the defendants at the present tria1 have been tried. 41. primbes répressive africain les dispositions tage en vertu de Rivonia passent 42. voté en faveur sembl6e dernière. 6tions de cette resolution, de la RBpublique tés arbitraire 42. It was for this reason that my delegation supported resolution 1881 (XVIII), adopted by the General Assembly on 11 October of last year. It Will be recalled, however, that we abstained on operative paragraph 2 of that resolution, which requested the Government of the Republic of South Africa Yo abandon the arbitrary tria1 now in progress “. 43. étranggres, pref6r8 arbitraire”, fond6 sur des lois arbitraires”. 43. AS Mr. Thomas, the Minister of Statefor Foreign A%irs, explained on that day,7/ we would have preferred not to use the term “arbitrary trial”, but to refer to a “tria1 based on arbitrary laws”. 44. lution une j’aie correspondante de cette résolution. peut soulever une critique Sud et non des appliquent, 44. In the third paragraph of the preamble of the present resolution there is a similar reference to “arbitrary triai”, although 1 note that a recent alteration has been made to the corresponding phrase in oPeratiVe paragraph 1 (b) of the present resolution. We think that this phrase is open to some objection because it implies critioism of the judiciary process in South Africa rather than the laws under which the courts there operate. 7/!bld. para. 93. li'l&, 46, The sponsors of the resolution sincerely believe that it may persuade the South African authorities to consider most carefully the repercussions of the tria1 on world opinion. My delegationcannotwithconfidence share that belief. We believe, on the contrary, that it may well be regarcled in South Africa as a grave interference in its judicial processes at the very moment when the tria1 is sub judice. This reaction to the resolution might not be at a11 in the interest of the defendants at the tria1 who await judgement and sentence this week, It is for these reasons that we were regretfully obliged to abstain on the present resolution. 47. Mr SEYDOUX (Prance) (t.ranslatedEromPrench): As it clid in the General Assemblyon 11 October 1963, the Frencb delegation was prepared to give its support to a resolution drafted in the form of an appeal to the Pretoria Government to spare the lives at present threatened becuase of that Government’s policy. 48, It could equally have agreed to disregard its reservations on the drafting of certain paragraphs in document S/5752/Rev.l, in pasticular the first two paragraphs of the preamble, one of which needlessly refers to a resolution of another organ of the United Nations, and the second of whichrefers to a resolution of this Council whicb failed to achieve unanimous adoption. But my delegation oonsidered that the moment chosen for appealing to the South African authorities not only might well rob the gesture of the effectiveness which is OUI foremost conoern, but would perhaps bave results contrary to those we desire. 49. That is why my delegation abstained today on the dr=tit resolution belore us, eonvinced as we are that the Pretoria Government Will not ascribe that decision to sentiments of indulgence for a policy whichwe have never ceased to condemn, but rather to our desire to do nothing that could possibly worsen the plight of the men whose lives are at stake. 50. Suffice it to say that during the course of this debate the French delegation Will be prepared at once, should events make it necessary, to join in a Security Council appeal to the South African Government in the most pressing terms-an appeal which should in OUF opinion be unaninious-to renounce its extreme measures and thereby preserve its oountry and the whole of mankind frorn hatred and its cleadly consequences.

My delegation Will make a statement on the substanceof the matter under consideration by the Council at a later stage in this 52. As to the resolution just adopted by the Security Council, my Government feels that since the matter is under review by a court of justice, the Council should have refrained fxom any action that might be construed as an intervention in the due process of law in a Membex State. We axe in full sympathy with the motivations of the suggested action, but we have serious doubts as to the effects of such an action, in view of the prevailing circumstances in South Africa. We are concerned that a well-meaning action on the part of the Council might defeal. its own purposes. 52. par le Conseil de sécurité, que, puisque 2 un tribunal, toute une intervention Etat Membre, sons qui ont inspir8 vons adoptian existe actuellement qu’une l’encontre 53. For these reasons, much to our regret we were unable to vote in favoux of the draft resolution, 53. n’avons pas pu voter pour le projet de r&olution.

With permission, 1 shall make a statement on the general question on our agenda at a later stage, At pxesent 1 shall say only a few brief words in explanation of the vote of my delegation on the resolution which has just been adopted by the Secuxity Council. 54. votre ultérieurement la question moment, expliquer qui vient d’être 55. il est conçu en termes le Gouvernement bourreau, cours et d’accorder dej& emprisonn8es, mesures tique d’apartheid. 55. My delegation has voted in favour of the resolutien. In the vlew of my delegation the resolution is couched in modexate language, urging the south Afxican Government to stay the hand of the executioner’, to end the trials now in progress and to gxant amnesty t0 a11 persons already imprisoned, interned or subjected to other restrictions for opposing the policy of apartheid. 56. semblee la rgsolution nitaire, explique soulev6 accus& nalisme et d’autres et, en Afrique peine de mort, Ces hommes sont en passe de devenir des martyrs 57. meurer l’imminence la République communaut.8 fligées d’apartheid contraire, cains est deja t;r&s explosive.. 56. Like General Assembly resolution 1881 (XVIII), wkich my delegation suPported, the present xesolution of the Security Council is humanitarian in motive, as has been SO well explained by the representative of Morocco this aftexnoon. The Rivonia tria1 bas caused universal concern. Among the accused are such well known leaders of African nationalism as Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and others. They a11 face charges of sabotage. In South Afxica sabotage carries with it the ultimate penalty of death. These men are on the way to becoming apartheid martyrs. 57. It is difficult fox the Seourity Council to stand alOOf and reamin silent on the impendingtragedy. It is the hope of my delegation that the Republic of South Africa Will heed the appeal of the international community. The severe penalty meted out l.o the antiapartheid leaders cannot stop the anti-apartheid movement. On the contrary, the execution of African nationalist leaders would undoubtedly worsen a situation which is already highly explosive. 58. résolution, 53. For these reasons, my delegation has cast its favourable vote on the resolution. 60. We believe that this positive vote on their part is particularly important in the context of the efforts we are making here in the United Nations on behalf of those persons who are in mortal danger. We hope that this resolution Will be heeded and that the efforts of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in this area, Will be crowned with sucoess. 61. A Council resolution, adopted by a majority, iS stili a resolution of the United Nations Security Council, even when it is handicapped, in SO far as the problem now before us is concerned, by abstentions of such importance and weight. 62. In addition, I should like to say to those of my colleagues who have seen in tbis resolution an attempt at interference in the domestic tiairs of SouthAfrica simply this: that that comment seems to me a little tardy, since the same delegations who madeit already adopted the resolution of 4 December 1963 [S/54’71], paragraph 4 of which reads: “Again calls upon the Government of South Afrioa to liberate a11 persons imprisoned, interned or subjected to other restrictions for having opposed the policy of apartheid “, 63. We believe that the appeal which the Security Council is now to make to SouthAfrica,at a time when prooeedings are being conducted against a large number of political personalities who are suffering for their opinions, isprecisely the type of appeal which the oircumstances demand. We think that this is the moment when suoh an appeal must without fail be made, and that is why we believe that the vote taken by the Council a few moments ago is important, 64. Finally, we hope that the abstentions which we have just witnessed will not be a sourc’e of encouragement to the authorities in Pretoria to persist in their errors and their irresponsible course against these South African political figures.

should like, in my capaoity as representative of the IVORY COAST, to associate myself on behalf of the African group, with the thanks which the representative of Morocoo addressed to the States who supported us in securing the adoption of this resolution. 66. My delegation deeply regrets the faot that this resolution was not adopted unanimously, despite the dramatio circumstances it had described. 67. The great Western oountries feel that the timeis not yet ripe, that the moment is badly chose% My delegation does not regard this as a negativeposition. It believes thatwhen these men are condemned to death, then the time Will be ripe, and my delegation sinoerely counts on these great countries to save them. The meeting rose at 6.5’p.m. HOW TO OBTAIN UNITED United Nations publications may distributors throughout the Write to: United Nations, Sales COMMENT SE PROCURER LES Les publications des Nations Unies agences dépositaires du monde entier. ou adressez-vous à: Nations Unies, COMO CONSEGUIR PUBLICACIONES Las publicociones de las Naciones casas distribuidoras en todas partes dirijase a: Naciones Unidas, Seccian i Litho in U.N. Price: $US. 0.35 (or equivalent