S/PV.1548 Security Council

In accordance with the decisions previously taken by the Council, and with the consent of the Council, I intend to invite the representatives of Mauritius, Somalia, India, Ghana and Pakistan to participate in the debate without the right to vote. 2. The question of race conflict in South Africa resulting from the policies of apartheid of the Government of the Republic of South Africa: Letter dated 15 July 1970 addressed to the President of the Security Council by the representatives of Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Democratic Republic of), Dahomey, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, India, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, People’s Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Republic, United Republic of Tanzania, Upper Volta, Yugoslavia and Zambia (S/9867). 3. As the number of seats available at the Council table is limited, and in accordance with the practice followed in the past in similar cases, I invite the representatives of Mauritius, Somalia, India, Ghana and Pakistan to take the seats reserved for them at the side of the Council Chamber,, with the understanding that they will be invited to sit at the table when the time comes for them to address the Council. At the invitation of the President, Mr. R. K. Ramphul (Mauritius), Mr, J. S. Teja (India) and Mr. R. M. Akwei (Ghana), took the places reserved for them. Statement by the President

Before calling on the first speaker on my list, I wish to draw the Council’s attention to document S/9882, containing a draft resolution sponsored jointly by Burundi, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Syria and Zambia.

The Polish People’s Republic is celebrating today its national liberation day. On this occasion I should like to express the Council’s congratulations to Ambassador KyYaga, and I would ask him to transmit the Council’s greetings to Mr. Spychalski, the Chairman of the Council of State, and express our best wishes for his personal well-being and the prosperity of the Polish nation.

Mr. President, first of all I should like to extend my greetings to you. I wish also to pledge the co-operation of the delegation of Spain which is proud to have guiding the debate in the Council such a distinguished Ambassador from a country of Spanish origin having close ties with mine. Sir, please accept the congratulations of my delegation and our appreciation for your references to our national holiday. We should also like to express our thanks to you for the wise and able way in which you have conducted our debate. Adoption of the agenda The agenda was adopted. The question of race conflict in South Africa resulting from the policies of apartheid of the Government of the Republic of South Africa: Letter dated 15 July 1970 addressed to the President of the Security Council by the representatives of Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Central 6. I should also like to express to the Ambassador of Nepal, the President of the Security Council for the month of June, similar feelings of appreciation and thanks for the very able way in which he discharged his tasks. 8. We are meeting here at the request of forty countries [S/9867] to consider the question of the race conflict in South Africa resulting from the policies of trpa,-tlzeid of the Government of the Republic of South Africa. No one can fail to be aware of the special significance of the fact that such a large number of countries have drawn the attention gf the Security Council to this specific situation. This fact is proof of our collective awareness of the importance of this item. As Ambassador Khatri of Nepal has pointed out this is a warning which comes from a feeling of frustration which by no means should be casually disregarded. We too believe that it is only logical for this question to be considered very carefully by the Security Council, whose primary mission is to maintain international peace and security as well as orderly relations among nations. 9. In this connexion, my delegation cannot fail to point to the role played by Ambassador Farah of Somalia as Chairman of the Special Committee on Apnrtheid.] He drew the attention of the Council to the situation in question in compliance with resolutions 181 (1963), 182 (1963) and 191 (1964) of the Security Council [See S/9858]. 10. My country shares the grave concern expressed by the signers of the letter I have referred to and by other delegations which have taken the floor in the course of this debate in connexion with strict compliance with the arms embargo against South Africa, inasmuch as these arms can serve to perpetuate the policy of apartheid. 11. Here and now my delegation wishes first and foremost to say that it feels that it has a great responsibility and duty in following this debate and now taking part in it, for it is, by definition, based on the principle of equality among all men and races. This concept is at the heart of the very philosophy of our country and its actions throughout the world. Without the principle of equal value and equal rights among all men, regardless of their origin, race or culture, neither the history of Spain nor Spain as a nation would have any justification. We are proud to say that we feel we are members of a greater Spanish nation for whom any idea of segregation or racism is simply incomprehensible. 12. For that reason we shall support any timely and appropriate initiative which might contribute to safeguarding these values, My country has also done this on a number of occasions in the past. Without going beyond the framework of the United Nations, we should like to mention the position taken by Spain which has been radically opposed to racial discrimination and apartheid whenever this question has been ’ SPeCid Committee on the Policies oFApartheid of the Government of the Republic of South Africa. 13. The Security Council has, as others have fre. quently mentioned in the course of this debate, taken a very clear-cut stand on the problem of a~~~r//~ei~ and it has urged States to refrain from contributing to the maintenance of this policy by sending arms lo South Africa. In spite of this, it is obvious that flagrant racial discrimination continues to exist in that country, I believe that it is appropriate to say that the representstive of Pakistan, in his interesting statement on Monday, referred very rightly to a basic aspect of the problem: the authority and prestige of this Council and even of the Organization itself. Ambassador Shahi said: “ . . I the manner in which the Security Council acts on the present question will to a large extent determine whether the United Nations will emerge, after twenty-five years of its life, as a stronger or a weaker organization.“[l546th meethzg, pm, I46.) 14. My delegation does indeed believe, let me repeat, that it is fundamental for decisions of the Security Council and resolutions of the General Assembly to be respected. Without respect for their decisions, the future of the Organization will be endangered and co& dence in its organs impaired. For this reason, we must give serious thought to what wds said by Ambassador Vallejo Arbelsiez of Colombia, who suggested that we ponder the effectiveness of the United Nations bodies and think about ways and means of strengthening them. 1.5. In addition, it must not be forgotten that decisions of this Organization are adopted in connexion with specific events which set limits to these decisions, which in turn must deal appropriately with these events if they are to be effective. Hence, in the view of our delegation, we must be ever mindful of the practicability of whatever measures we adopt, if they are to be effective. 16. Finally, I wish to state that Spain has abided strictly by Article 2.5 of the Charter, under the terms of which the States that have sent us here, the Members of the United Nations, agreed to accept and carry ant the decisions of the Security Council, in accordance with the Charter.

Mr. President, I wish first of all to offer you the warm congratulations and best wishes of my delegation. You have brought to Your high office style and wisdom which can derive only from long and distinguished service in the world Of diplomacy. You have, by your inaugural remark% given direction to our deliberations. 2 See General Assembly resolution 2106 A (XX), annex. 23. Reference has been made to the distinction between arms for external defence and arms for the maintenace of internal order. Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary of the United Kingdom, made much of this when he announced the other day the intention of the British Government to export to South Africa “certain limited categories of arms” in order to give effect to the Simonstown Agreemet&” He particularly emphasized that the British Government has no sympathy for the racial policies of South Africa, and that “in no circumstances would there be sales to South Africa of arms for the enforcement of the policy of apartheid or for internal repression”. II seems to my delegation, however, that this is a distinction without any substantive difference. Arms for external defence can always be used to strengthen the means for internal repression. The difference between the two is never clear-cut. 19. It is hardly necessary for me to reiterate the views of my delegation on the question of apartheid. Suffice it to say that racial discrimination, whatever form, is alien to our culture and tradition. The system of npar*theid in South Africa is particularly repughant to us; and I may add that among the victims of that system are, to some extent, those residents who are of Chinese descent, 20. Racial discrimination, as such, is found in many societies. Apartheid, however, is more than simple racial discrimination; it is the official policy of a powerful minority determined to keep the overwhelming majority of the population in perpetual subjection. And what is even more astonishing is the fact that in South Africa that policy has been elevated to a moral principle and perpetrated in the name of European civilization. While other societies have in recent years done everything possible to eradicate the blight of racism, South Africa, on the other hand, has used the whole apparatus of State power to enforce a conglomerate of repressive measures which are out of tune with the spirit of the times and inconsistent with the obligations assumed by South Africa as a Member of the United Nations. 24. The representative of the United Kingdom, in his statement before the Council the other clay, assured us that “no final decision has yet been taken and that consultations with interested Governments will continue” [1546th meeting, para. 191. But whatever may be the final decision, the fact remains that without the full and unreserved support of the United Kingdom, no arms embargo against South Africa could be successful. 21. For many years the United Nations has pursued a policy of persuasion towards the Government of South Africa, in the hope that reason and good sense might in the end prevail. But collective and individual attempts to induce the Government of South Africa to abandon the policies of apartheid have been in vain. It is all too obvious that the stage of pious hopes has longpassed. It was in thelight of South Africa’s attitude of non-co-operation that the Security Council adopted, in August 1963, resolution 181 (1963), which, after declaring that “the situation in South Africais seriously disturbing international peace and security”, solemnly called upon all States to cease forthwith the sale and shipment of arms, ammunition of all types and military vehicles to South Africa”. Subsequently, the Security Council, in resolution 182 (1963), of December 1963, broadened the content of the embargo by including ‘&the sale and shipment of equipment and materials for the manufacture and maintenance of arms and ammunition in South Africa”. 25. The arms embargo instituted by the Security Council in 1963 and 1964, it seems to my delegation, has been a step in the right dire,ction, a step of great political significance. It should be implemented to the full by all Members of the United Nations. Breaches and violations of the embargo must be looked upon with disapproval. Furthermore, my delegation is prepared to lend its support to any constructive and practicable proposal that will make the embargo more effective. At the same time, however, we are fully alive to the fact that in the absence of unstinted’cooperation of the major military Powers, total and mandatory arms embargo, even if it could be adopted by the Security Council, would raise only false hopes. This is a point the Council might do well to ponder.

My delegation listened with great attention to the statements which were made on Monday and Tuesday by the representatives of the United Kingdom [Z%6th meeting] and France [1547th meeting] on the question of the much-needed arms embargo directed against the fascist Government of South Africa. What the representative of the United Kingdom said only serves to confirm my earlier fears about the evil intentions of the British Government. It is clear from what the British Foreign Secretary 22. As has already been pointed out by a number of speakers who preceded me, the arms embargo has not been a resounding success. On the contrary, the military might of South Africa has actually been strengthened in the years following the imposition of the embargo. At the same time, the Government of the Republic of South Africa has intensified its drive for apartheid and has expanded the system’s scope of coverage. There has been a steady worsening of the situation in southern Africa, where racial conflict has assumed menacing proportions. The danger of an all-out conflict between the independent African States a Agreement relating to the transfer of the Simonstown Naval Base: see Exchongcs of Letters on Defence Matters between the Goverments of fke United Kingdom nrtd the Union of South Africn, Jltne 195.5 (London, Her MGesty’s Stationery Office, 1955, Cmnd. 9520). 27. The British Foreign Secretary, Sir Alec Douglas- Home, stated that the British Government is ready to consider exports to South Africa of “certain limited categories of arms so long as they are for maritime defence directly related to the security of the sea routes.” We have maintained in the past, and we do so again, that no distinction can be made between arms supplied for naval purposes and arms supplied to enforce South Africa’s policy of apartheid and internal repression. Last Friday 11545th meeting] I quoted a statement by Lord Carrington, the British Defence Minister, supporting our position on this matter. We are opposed to any supply of arms to South Africa, as a matter of national policy, because South Africa is a definite threat to the peace and security of the African continent. We categorically reject the British Government’s contention that Soviet naval presence in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans is the basic and decisive factor in the announced policy to resume the sale of arms to South Africa. We regard this as a shameless excuse to camouflage the malicious intentions of the British Government in this matter. 28. There is every reason to suspect that the announced intention of the Heath Government to sell arms to the racist Government of South Africa is motivated by racial and economic considerations. This British act of bad faith and insensitivity to the fears of those oppressed victims of nparthrid and the African States whose existence is threatened by South Africa clearly puts peace and peaceful change in southern Africa beyond reach. It increases South Africa’s capacity to expand its apnrtheiti policies beyond its immediate frontiers. The Government of Zambia condemns in the strongest terms all measures, including those announced by the British Government, that are calculated to guarantee the success of South Africa and other white minority rkgimes in southern Africa. 29. My Government will await furtheiclarification of a statement which was made yesterday by theFrench representative concerning the additional measures which his Government is considering taking, aimed at avoiding anything that would place in jeopardy the security of African States and in particular Zambia. I wish to state in this regard, however, that mere con-, demnations ofnpn&eid are hardly sufficient, and, with that in view, we hope the French Government will refrain completely from supplying arms to a r6gime which is determined to eliminate our very existence as a black race. 30. Having said that, I now have the pleasant duty of introducing the draft resolution contained in document S/9882, on behalf of the delegations of Burundi, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Syria and my own country. I “by prohibiting investment in or technical assistance for the manufacture of arms and ammunition, aircraft, naval craft or other military vehicles”. I trust that the appropriate revision will be issued to include that paragraph in the draft resolution, 3 1. The draft resolution1 have justformally presented is intended to reaffirm previous Security Council resolutions on the arms embargo directed against South Africa. It is, secondly, intended to strengthen tl% arms embargo by introducing minimum measures, stipulated in operative paragraph 4 (a), (6), (c), (d), (e), v) and (R). I wish to make it known that we are ready, as always, to enter into immediate consultations with members of the Security Council aimed at improving the text. 32. We wish to make it clear that the draft resolution should be regarded as the very minimum that we can expect in the present circumstances. The situation in South Africa is very grave and demands sterner measures. We realize, however, that there is need to maintain the unanimity of the Council on this important question and also that we should maintain our unanimous condemnation of the detestable policy of crpnr,tkeid, which has become an indescribable crime against humanity. Our goals are unusually modest but clear, and it is indeed an honourable duty for me to commend this draft resolution, on behalf of the delegations of Burundi, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Syria and my own, for unanimous adoption by the Security Council. 33. The sponsors hope that a vote can be taken on this draft resolution tomorrow.

We take note of the statement by the representative of Zambia in connexion with the draft resolution. 35. The next speaker on my list is the representative of Mauritius, whom I now invite to take a seat at the Council table to address the Council.

Mr. President, 1 should like to thank you for allowing me to address the Council again. This time I shall be very brief since I simply wish to second the representative of Zambia in presenting the draft resolution [S/9882] for the consideration of the Council. 37. When I spoke last Friday [1545th meeth$ I expressed the strong feelings and fears of the African States in regard to the situation obtaining’in southern Africa as a consequence of the massive arms build-up of the military forces of South Africa, a situation which, according to us, calls for a strong and decisive action by the Security Council. 39. We hope that the situation in southern Africa will be viewed in the context of the violent conflict opposing the forces of the freedom fighters to the armed forces of the racist white minority rCgimes of the area, and also taking into consideration the fact that the South African military build-up constitutes a real threat to the security and sovereignty of independent African States, in particular the neighbouring States. In this respect we are grateful to note that the representative of France has expressed concern about the security of the African States, especially Zambia. 43. I wish to assure you, Mr, President, that I shall not fail to transmit the kind wishes you have expressed to the Chairman of the Council of State of Poland.

I have no more speakers on my list, and if no other representative wishes to take the floor I intend to adjourn the meeting. 40. We hope, therefore, that the Council will recognize that the situation resulting from the arms build-up of the South African military forces constitutes a serious threat to international peace and security, and recognize the need to strengthen its arms embargo. 45. After appropriate consultations, I am in a position to inform members of the Council that representative agree that the next meeting should be held tomorrow, Thursday, 23 July, at 3.30 p.m. 41. We believe that the measures recommended in operative paragraph 4 of the draft resolution will substantially curtail the South African military power if they are implemented by all States. The African States The meeting rose at 11.45 a.m. HOW TO OBTAIN UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATIONS United Nations publications may be obtained from bookstores and distributors throughout the world. Consult your bookstore or write to: United Nations, Sales Section, New York or Geneva. COMMENT SE PROCURER LES PUBLICATIONS DES NATIONS UNIES Ler publications der Nations Unisr sont en vente dons les librairier et ter ogences diporitoires du monde entier. Informez-vour aupr&s de votre libroirie ov odresret-vous 6: Nations Unies, Section der venter, New York ov Genbve. COMO CONSEGUIR PUBLICACIONES DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS Los publlcacioner de los Necioner Unidor est6n en vento en librertor Y coxes distribuidoros en todas parles del mundo. Conrulte o su librero o dirfjore a: Naciones Unidas, Seccibn de Vcntas, Nueva York a Ginabra. Litho in United Nations. New York Price: W.S. 0.50 (or equivalent in other currencies) 82IO.LJone 1973~2.0.‘0