S/PV.1284 Security Council

I now call on the Foreign Minister of Zambia, 49. Je mettre ce Sud. de attentivement du la désapprouve Rhodésie une 49, Mr, KAPWEPWE (Zambia): I am prateful for being allowed to make a second intervention in this debate on the vexed question of Southern Rhodesia, I have followed with particular interest the proceedings of this Council and have paid attention to the statements made by the representatives on the Council, I wish now to restate my delegation's position that Zambia is totally opposed to British policy on Southern Rhodesia, We do not accept the policy of granting independence to a Southern Rhodesia under a racist minority with so-called guarantees for unimpeded progress to majority rule, Zambia's objective in Southern Rhodesia is independence under majority rule with guarantees for the interests of the minority groups—indeed, for all the inhabitants of the territory, It was on this basis that we made considerable sacri« fices that have caused us drastically to reduce our & la ritaire, vers Zambie sous ties pes habitants avons amenés économiques pour teuse vernements déjA et qui tant tinées sommes faits ritaire du possibles, maintenant blanche rieurement ritaire, slassocie droits economic relations with Southern Rhodesia: a sacrifice which has led us to the costly method of transporting qur goods by air~lift—all the Governments that have participated in this operation have already been gratefully thanked-a sacrifice which has compelled us to divert our resources, both human and material, from our development plans, We have not complained about this sacrifice, because it was made with the conviction that our objective of majority rule for Southern Rhodesia would be achieved in the shortest possible time, Now that Britain wants to grant inde= pendence to the white racist minority with so-called guarantees for eventual majority rule, Zambia cannot be expected to co-operate in this pernicious sell-out of the indigenous people of Zimbabwe, 50, situation les détériorées vivement aide 50. Ihave just received information from my Government that the situation in Southern Rhodesia has worsened and that relations between Zambia and that colony have deteriorated to the danger point, and we hope and pray that the Security Council will come to our aid when the need arises, 51. de que cherchons avant Grande-Bretagne sanctions n'y mesure 51, Our aim in asking for mandatory sanctions—even though we do not believe that these alone would topple the Smith régime—is to hasten the eradication of that régime before the situation deteriorates further. If Britain is fully convinced that economic sanctions will work, there is no reason why it should not accept a measure which is intended to hasten the destruction of the Smith régime-unless it is for the sole purpose of maintaining the iniquitous injustice perpetrated by force in quelling rebellions, contrary to the view the representative I have mentioned, is one established over a long period by Britain in dealing with its other colonies in similar situations, The representative New Zealand has a great capacity for ignoring facts, §2. There is no doubt in my mind that Britain has broken its wordanumber of times. Mr, Wilson assured the British Parliament and the whole world that would never negotiate with the rebels unless they approached the constitutional Governor, Sir Humphrey Gibbs, as private individuals, Today the repre~ sentatives of the illegal régime are holding secret talks with the British officials in London, talks which will be continued in Salisbury later. The truth of the matter is that Britain is the administering Power and, as such, is the legal authority in its colony Southern Rhodesia, By what twist of reason can illegal régime hold discussions with the acknowledged legal authority over the fate and destiny of that same colony? The very idea of talks is absurd, 53. Furthermore, it should be remembered that Britain broke its word with Zambia; at the dissolution of the Central African Federation, Britain assured Zambia that it would be fully compensated for the loss of the military aircraft and weapons Britain had transferred to the Whites in Southern Rhodesia, despite protests from the Security Council and the General Assembly, Up to now, that compensation has not been made, and there are no indications that it will ever be made, Nobody blames New Zealand for being pro-British, but those of us who have suffered the hands of British colonialism, compounded with racialism directed against the black people, can say that support of injustice directed against the Zimbabwe people is no source of comfort to us at all, 54, Reference has been made to the necessity diagnosis before the physician prescribes a cure. But it should be remembered that it was Mr, Wilson who had made the diagnosis of the rebellion before UDI and predicted that the rebellion would end ina matter of weeks under his prescription of economic measures, His predictions have proved wrong while ours haye so far proved correct, 55. The representative of the United Kingdom has given a long catalogue of the assistance his Govern= million to boost the economy and industries of Southern Rhodesia; a federation which scrapped Zambia's plans for a hydroelectric scheme on the Kafue within our borders but instead imposed the Kariba hydro~ electric scheme, whose power station, with the blessing of the United Kingdom Government, was a néant centrale pays, tallation centrale Gouvernement sited in Southern Rhodesia, 56. Royaume-Uni la Zambie Notre de citoyens Grande~Bretagne réts quels de Noirs soit l'aide 56, Second, economically the United Kingdom has benefited far more from Zambia and its peoples than vice-versa, Our copper industry keeps 2 million Britons in Britain in employment, If Britain cannot protect the interests of the 4 million Blacks in Southern Rhodesia, what magic do the 4 million Blacks: in Zambia possess that Britain should so love them? The reproaches concerning aid to Zambia are utterly scandalous, 57. nables, du cosur bl&éme de vieux gincdres Notre l'Afrique; amené voulons ont cains humanitaire esprit, pour 57, We do not mean to be ridiculous, It is just that this comes from the bottom of our hearts, and we consider this as a human problem, We do not want to dig up old bones; we just want to be sincere and face the situation as it stands, It will serve the country; it will serve Africa; it will not involve the world in this dangerous situation, We want to be human beings, and this has been repeatedly stated by Africans in this Councilesthat Africans are true humanitarians— and we want to maintain that. It is important not for us alone, but for the whole world. So if I have gone too far, I want to be excused, It is only that I am speaking from a humanitarian point of view. si je excusera, souci 58, la Grande-Bretagne des lion réaliste pris déclaration immédiatement clamation, ces ‘prises 58. Third, it must be stressed that Britain has been compelled to embark on the costly economic measures against the rebellion in Southern Rhodesia because of its unrealistic policies in Southern Rhodesia, Had it taken vigorous steps to prevent UDI, or, after its proclamation had it immediately crushed the rebellion, Britain would not have been obliged to undertake such costly measures. The economic measures directed against Southern Rhodesia may destroy the economy of that colony rather than its illegal régime, Had Britain taken democratic measures to enfranchise the Africans in Southern Rhodesia, there would have been no need to embark on a policy of destroying the economy of that colony so that the Africans of Southern Rhodesia would inherit economic chaos when they attain their independence, But, of course, Britain will be obliged to revive and maintain the étre quielles Bretagne donner Sud, une 59, I thought that what we had done as Africans submitting this draft resolution would be advantage of the British Government in permitting it to lessen the cost, We are not interested the British taxpayers drain their resources unprofitable projects. Here again I maintain it is good for Zambia to use its resources good of its people it must be good for Britain its resources for the good of its people, 60. If Zambia is anxious to see an immediate to the Smith régime it is only because we a prolongation of the situation in Southern would have serious consequences on our Equally important, the continued existence rebellion in Southern Rhodesia, or a return 1961 constitution, would not serve the interests our basic objective in that colony: thatis independence based on the principle of "one man, one vote", 61, Allow me to conclude by repeating what already said: that the situation in Southern is worsening every minute, and that the between Zambia and that colony have deteriorated considerably within the last few days, Let that Britain will take immediate steps ta rebellion to a speedy end before it develops major conflict in Central Africa, if not the whole Africa is not asking for "hasty" action; we patient for six months, We are asking for immediate action, because we have had six months of ineffective action while the situation has continued to deteriorate, Let it not be said of the Security Council, dedicated to the maintenance of peace and that it turned a deaf ear to the call of remove the dangerous threat to international security existing in Southern Rhodesia today, 62. I want to underline that Africa is asking white people, particularly Britain, to look problem as a humanitarian one—nothing more; short of humanitarian. 63, The PRESIDENT: As I have no more speakers my list, and since we are nearing the end of round of our debate, I should like with the permission to make a statement as representative the NETHERLANDS, 64, It is to a day exactly six months since the adopted its resolution 217 (1965) of 20 November which dealt with the unilateral declaration pendence by the illegal régime in Rhodesia, the question is again before us, this time request of thirty-two African Members of the dans A présent pour une tthe racist régime in Southern Rhodesia is still holding out” and "the measures adopted by the Council so far have proved ineffective in bringing down this régime and opening the way to a satisfactory solution to the problem of this Territory". ritoire." 65. régime que pas avis, 4 ouvrir pose 65. Though it is unfortunately true that the illegal régime in Rhodesia is still holding out and that the measures adopted by the Council have not yet brought it down, it goes too far, in our opinion, to conclude that these measures have proved ineffective in opening the way to a solution to the problem of the Territory, There is clear evidence that the Rhodesian economy is in real trouble, and we cannot overlook the new and que ficultés, un quelques .a demandé hopeful fact that a few weeks ago the rebellious régime in Salisbury asked! repeat, askedfor talks with the British Government, My delegation regards this as a first and valuable sign of Mr, Smith's becoming more aware of realities, entretiens de ciable davantage 66, utile depuis mesures vraiment certains membres livraient raient économiques pétrole, ainsi. des de a trouvé Etats embargo, ges d&cembre, bargo lution commerce 66, In order to assess tne present situationit may be useful to recall what developments have taken place since November 1965 and to see whether the measures adopted by the Security Council have really proved totally ineffective as some speakers have said, In November of last year doubt was voiced in this Council that countries with an extensive trade with Rhodesia would actually be prepared to break off economic relations with it and apply an oil embargo. The fact is that they have done so, The summary drawn up by the Secretariat 2/of the measures taken by. about seventy Member countries of the United Nations shows an impressive response to the Council's resolution 217 (1965). Most Members, including my own country, have placed some sort of embargo on trade with Rhodesia, In December the United Kingdom decided to apply the oil embargo which was asked for in resolution 217 (1965), and most oil«trading countries, including my own, followed suit. 67. rompre a eu On 60 centage elle Afin historique, 67, The decision of a great number of countries to break off trade relations with Rhodesia has produced far-reaching effects. It is estimated that today Rhodesia . has lost 60 per cent of its export markets anda considerably higher percentage ofits tobacco markets, That is no small result, In order to see things in the perspective of history, we should realize that the economic sanctions being applied against Rhodesia today are the biggest operation of their kind undertaken since the League of Nations sanctions of 1935 against Mussolini's régime, measures which at that time sanctions sont 2/ officiels 2/ Documents A/AC.109/L.264 and Add.1; for the text, see Official Records of the General Assembly. Twenty-first Session, Annexes, additif partie, addendum to agenda item 23 (A/6300/Rev.1.) chap. Ill, part I, sections “an 8 68, As for the effect on the Rhodesian economy, and more proof is coming in to show that the Territory has started to feel the economic consequences, first, of a largely unsold tobacco crop, secondly, higher prices, thirdly, of a shortage of credit nationally and internationally and, fourthly ,of ing fuel shortages, An over-all economic slowdown has become visible, It is probably as a result those developments that Mr, Smith finally asked British Government for talks, Could we, this very moment simply take the stand measures adopted by the Council so far have wholly ineffective, that they were futile or were a farce, as has been said in our debate? 69, My delegation fully realizes, of course, sanctions are not 100 per cent effective, We pretend that everything is going wonderfully that there are no gaps. We also agree that operation of the adjacent countries in carrying the present sanctions is highly desirable, essential. We fervently hope~and in this respect support the appeal made at the 1283rd meeting the representative of Argentinathat measures that effect will be taken by all of them, because feel sure that, if not, the danger of expansion conflict to the whole of southern Africa will increase, 70, The danger of escalation of the conflict with even more vigour, we believe, to the contained in paragraphs 5 and 9 of the draft resolution that armed force be employed for two purposes: prevent any oil from reaching Southern Rhodesia to overthrow the minority régime there, Both measures would require large«scale military and probably the forcible use of the territory adjacent States; it would entail considerable bloodshed and heavy material losses, and no one could that such a war~for it would be a war—would spread any further in the area, This questionto force or not to use force—is the heart of the The essence of what the African representatives so eloquently advocated here, and the essence draft resolution, is that we supplement the economic sanctions with the use of armed force, My delegation strongly believes it to be the Council's primary not to decide in favour of the use of armed long as there is a fair chance that the problem be solved by applying economic measures peaceful negotiations, Furthermore, my delegation takes the view, like several of the previous speakers, that the United Kingdom is still the legal authority therefore is responsible for Rhodesia, Thus decision when and to what extent to use force the first place with the United Kingdom Government, 71. qui en la trouve 71, In addition to those hasic considerations, which have been put forward here before, my delegation would like to point out another consideration, Itis that the use of force as asked for in the draft resolution finds insufficient basis in the Charter of the United Nations. As we all know, article 41 of the Charter provides for enforcement measures not involving the use of armed force, while Article 42 provides for military action, Article 42 leaves no doubt that military force may be applied only in the event that sitions tous sures tandis militaire. la "le vues the Security Council considers "that measures provided for in Article 41 would be inadequate or have proved to be inadequate", se 72, du de rien les "seraient 72, In the present case, operative paragraphs 5 and9 of the draft resolution before us would constitute an application of military force under Article 42, though there is nothing in the draft resolution declaring that the economic measures provided for in Article 41 "would be inadequate or have proved to be inadequate", telles", 73, résolution essayé pas En 73, It is right that there is no such declaration in the draft resolution, for, as I have tried to prove before, there is not sufficient basis in fact for such a conclusion at this time, Therefore, the fundamental condition laid down by the Charter for the application of Article 42 is not fulfilled, Inthe view of my delega~ tion, it is not possible at one and the same time to call for economic measures in accordance with Article 41, as is done in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of subordonne remplie, de nomiques, font de l'Article the draft resolution, and for the use of force foreseen in Article 42, as is done in other paragraphs of the draft resolution, graphes, "4, 74, Finally, and perhaps most important, there is the consideration of political inopportunity, which in 14 ment voix our view should be a decisive factor against adopting, or even voting at this moment on, a draft resolution, sommes Comme teurs, actuellement une such as the one before us, in favour of applying force, As several speakers before me have mentioned, exploratory talks are taking place at the moment in London to find out whether there is a possible basis for official negotiations between the British Govern~ cielles d'lan la les mencer Tl le avait préliminaires faite sibilités le par ment and the régime of Ian Smith, It is clear that this is not the end of the illegal régime, which the African countries and the other members of the Council, including my country, had aimed at in November, It is equally clear, however, to my delega= tion that it would have been irresponsible for the British Government, when it was approached, to reject outright a request for exploraicry talks instead of. thoroughly investigating whether there was a hope for negotiations without endangering the ultimate purpose, which is majority rule in Rhodesia, 75, résolution, prendre politiques 75, Paragraph 7 of the draft resolution "calls upon the United Kingdom to hold consultations with the leaders of African political parties with a view to the establishment of a régime consistent with the 76. If I may sum up the situation as my delegation sees it, the basic choice with which the Council now confronted is this: if the Council were moment, now that exploratory talks are going adopt a farereaching resolution such as the before us, containing a mandatory appeal for the of foree, it might endanger any possibility that exists of a peaceful solution, It would turn a peaceful conflict into an armed conflict, My delegation not possibly support such a move, 77, On the other hand, if the draft resolution us should be rejected, such a rejection might have an effect and give support in a quarter the sponsors of the draft resolution would least desire, 78, If, then, both the adoption and the rejection draft resolution would in our view have harmful effects, the question arises whether the better course of wisdom would not be for the Council to postpone further consideration of the issue and action upon draft resolution to a moment when we shall more certainty whether a peaceful settlement possible or not, When thus kept in abeyance the resolution might even have a very salutary effect that it makes clear what one of the alternatives be in the event that no arrangement were reached, We have here, we believe, the unusual situation draft resolution which, if adopted, would in our opinion have harmful results, and if we reject it, it likewise have harmful effects, But if it were abeyance, it should be very helpful. 79, My delegation wonders, therefore, whether best course of action under thepresent circumstances would not be to follow the suggestion which has made by two speakers in this Council, namely, postpone further consideration of the issue the draft resolution before us, until such time there is more clarity about the possibility peaceful settlement. In the meantime, the Council should continue to follow the situation closely, could maintain close contact with the British Govern= ment in order to remain fully informed of the course of events, In the opinion of my delegation, that be the most helpful attitude the Security Council take at this time since it would on the one hand harm the possibilities of a peaceful settlement, 80. Conseil membres membres, matiére, un officieuses suggérer jours lundi officiellement 80, As PRESIDENT, I would inform the Council that consultations have taken place with and among the African members of the Council in particular, who, of course, have the greatest interest in this question. I would suggest that time should be given for informal consultations about the final stage of our debate, and that those consultations should be held within the next few days, particularly on Monday morning, 23 May. 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