S/PV.2228 Security Council

In accordance with previous decisions [2225th and 2227th meetings], I invite the representatives of Botswana, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Seychelles and Yugoslavia to take the places reserved for them at the side of the Council chamber. At the invitation of the President. Mr. Leavaila (Botswana), Mr. Gpez Paz (Cuba), Mr. Abdel Meguid (Egypt), Mr. Ibrahim (Ethiopia), Mr. Lobo (Mozambique), Mr. Clark (Nigeria), Ms. Gonthier (Seychelles) and Mr. Komatina (Yugoslavia) took the places reserved for them at the side of the Council chamber.

I should like to inform the members of the Council that I have received letters from the representatives of Algeria and Zaire, in which they request to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the Council’s agenda. In accordance with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite those representatives to participate in the discussion without the right to vote in accordance with the provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Bouzarbia (Algeria) and Mr. Kamanda wa Kamanda (Zaire) took the places reserved for them at the side of the Council chamber.

Mr. President, it gives my delegation and myself particular pleasure to see you presiding over the work of the Council. Your country, Norway, has taken a strong interest in the work of the United Nations and that has been fully reflected in the considerable contribution that you yourself have made here. In the face of the critical issues coming before the Council at this time, we feel confident that we shall benefit from your very wise guidance. 4. On behalf of my delegation, I wish to express to Ambassador Oumarou of the Niger, who was our President for the month of May, our deep appreciation of the skill, the competence and the dignity with which he guided our work. 5. The events that have been taking place in South Africa over the past two months tell a familiar story. Once again the minority regime in that country has been confronted with protests and resistance against the racist system of apartheid. Once again the racist regime has responded with predictable brutality, using all its well-known techniques of police terror against the non-white population, which include killings, arbitrary arrests and bannings. It is significant that the recent upsurge has been led by the youth of the country openly and defiantly rejecting racism in the ‘educational system. It is also significant that churchmen have become more prominent in the resistance movement, demanding fundamental changes in the prevailing order. These trends ‘are all part of the growing tide of militancy among the oppressed people of South Africa and indicate the strengthening of the liberation forces. 6. At the same time, the savage and brutal tactics used by the apartheid regime to suppress all opposition illustrate its determination to maintain white supremacy in South Africa at ali costs. The minority tigime has rejected all peaceful options for coming to terms with the opposition to apartheid and instead 7. The United Nations has an imnortant role to play in this particularly dangerous situation, which is a matter of grave concern for all of us in the intemational community. Apartheid is a crime against humanity; it is a problem which transcends the area of its geographical origin and its eradication demands a determined and united international effort. Further, the violent confrontation which threatens in South Africa, with all its implications for international peace and security, must be a matter of serious concern for the Security Council. Action must be taken by the Council to pressure the South African r&ime and prevent further bloodshed in southern Africa. 8. Jamaica supports the proposals made by the African Group for strong and effective international action against the racist regime. Most -important at this stage is the tightening of the arms embargo to increase its effectiveness and the inclusion of a prohibition of all nuclear co-operation with South Africa. Steps must also be taken towards the implementation of an effective oil embargo, which has already been declared by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Action should be taken to sever all contact and collaboration with the minority regime, especially such collaboration as helps to strengthen the economic foundations of apartheid. Action along these lines by the Council could make a decisive contribution to the destruction of apartheid and white domination in southern Africa. The criminal regime in Pretoria has continued to flourish with the support and co-operation of its major trading partners, among which are some members of the Council. Their declarations of opposition to upurtheid have been accompanied at best by half-hearted and inadequate gestures; they continue to provide the apartheid tigime with the economic and diplomatic support it needs. They bear a heavy responsibility for the unfolding tragedy in southern Africa. 9. Yesterday I returned to New York after a visit to Zimbabwe, where I spent the past week. For me it was a very special experience. I was able to see something of the tremendous achievement of the people of Zimbabwe after years of bitter struggle’and oppression, and of their efforts at social and economic reconstruction. But I was also able in a way to detect or to imagine some of the terrible effects of years of oppression and exploitation of the African population by a racist minority regime. I therefore felt there both a sense of pride and a deep anger. 11. All around us we see examples in the world of situations involving injustices which reach back into the past. Failure to address these and to remove them has led the world now into a situation involving a number of crises which together threaten the peace of the world. The oppressed are asked to continue to suffer until such time as it is convenient to grant them justice. But the entire global community is threatened by the failure to deal justly and promptly with these situations. 12. It is time that the people of southern Africa were liberated. The example of Zimbabwe stands before us today. The Council must find means of increasing the pressure to force the South African authorities to abandon their oppressive regime of apartheid. 13. Mr. TROYANOVSKY (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) [interpretation from Russian]: The situation in South Africa quite rightly has given rise to growing indignation and alarm on the part of the whole world community. The authorities of that country continue, in ever more cruel forms, their massive trampling underfoot of the basic human rights of the 20 million indigenous inhabitants exclusively because of the colour of their skin. It would appear that such actions are incompatible with the very concept of a civilized society. However; apartheid is not just a practice on the part of the Pretoria rulers, but actually an official policy and the State ideology of the Republic of South Africa. The racist ideology of apartheid rejects the natural and inalienable human right to freedom and equality without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. 14. In order to carry out its brutal repression of those who oppose apartheid, the repressive apparatus of South Africa uses typically Fascist methods. If anyone today wishes to have a better understanding of the fate which was being prepared by the Fascists for the peoples of the whole world during the Second World War, he should take a careful look at the policy and practices of those who govern South Africa. 15. In its numerous decisions, the United Nations has branded apartheid as a phenomenon which is profoundly inimical to the peoples of the world and as a crime against humanity. The Security Council has repeatedly called for a halt to a policy which is intolerable in our.day: the policy-and the practiceof apartheid. In its resolution 417 (1977), the Council 16. The Pretoria regime, however, has not only refused to comply with that-and indeed other-resolutions of the Council but has stepped up even more brutally and cruelly its Draconian measures. Everyone remembers the events which occurred in Soweto and other parts of the Republic of South Africa when the Pretoria regime set in train the most extreme measures in its attempt to stifle the mass protests of the African population. 17. In recent days, the world has once again witnessed a further wave of massive repression by the racist regime of South Africa against the indigenous population of that country. The South African authorities have ruthlessly crushed the protests of the opponents of apartheid; repression has been visited upon the workers in the textile and food industries and upon those who protested against the cruel exploitation of their labour. To the youth who were protesting and the workers who were striking, the police responded with bullets, clubs and mass arrests. On 28 May, in Cape Town, the police opened fire on a group of students, leaving dead and wounded in their wake. The number of those arrested in just the last few days has reached several thousand. 18. Even the moderate religious groups combined in the South African Council of Churches came forward with demands for reform and attempted to carry out a peaceful demonstration in defence of the clergyman arrested by the authorities. However, even that demonstration was cruelly suppressed by the police. 19. In the struggle for elementary human rights, many of the best representatives of all races and national groups in the country have given their lives or have been placed in South African prisons. Throughout the world, and here at the United Nations itself, the names of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and others who have fought for freedom are well known, They are people whom the racists have condemned to terms of iife imprisonment. 20. Bantustanization, the resettlement of millions of Africans in barren regions, is an outrageous manifestation of the policy of apartheid. The whole purpose of that policy is quite clear: to split the indigenous population of South Africa into separate tribes, deprive the Africans not only of all their rights but also of formal citizenship, legitimize the creation of tributary and dependent territories and erect a barrier against the growing wave of the national liberation movement. 22. The Soviet Union shares the deep concern of African and other States at the events in South Africa, events which testify to the further danger of an exacerbation of the situation in that region. Since the racist regime of South Africa so stubbornly refuses to put an end to its inhuman policy of apartheid, as well as to its aggressive policy against neighbouring African countries, the Soviet Union whole-heartedly shares the view of African countries about the situation in southern Africa-that is, that it represents a threat to international peace and security. The Soviet delegation believes that it is high time to consider this question and therefore welcomed the initiative of the African countries that requested the convening of the Council for that purpose. 23. Together with the other socialist countries, the Soviet Union has supported and will continue to sup port the struggle of the peoples of southern Africa. In the declaration adopted on 15 May this year at the meeting of the Political Consultative Committee of the States parties to the Warsaw Treaty, the following is stated: “The participants in the meeting reaffirmed their solidarity with the just struggle of the people of Namibia for freedom and independence and with the people of South Africa, struggling for the liquidation of the apartheid regime and of racial discrimination.” [S/13948, annex ZZ, part III.] 24. It is not difficult to establish the reason for the defiant conduct of the rulers in Pretoria, for their refusal to comply with the numerous decisions on this subject by the Security Council and other organs of the United Nations. The reason is that the racists know that they have powerful support behind them. The preservation of the hotbed of colonialism and racism in southern Africa is in keeping with the longterm political, strategic and economic interests of ‘a number of imperialist countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and in particular the United States, which views South Africa as a bulwark and a base for the struggle against independent Africa and also as its military springboard in that part of the world. 25. There have been *noteworthy reports in the Western press to the effect that recently the United States Administration has even stopped pretending that it was exerting any pressure on the Pretoria regime. For example, the American magazine U.S. News and World Report of 2 June, reported that “American diplomats in South Africa say that the United States has quietly switched policy toward the ; ..; , .~. 3’ 26. It is precisely thanks to the support of NATO countries that we have witnessed .an increase in the economic and military potential of the Republic of South Africa. It is precisely as a result of support from and co-operation by NATO countries that South Africa has attained access to the technology for manufacturing nuclear weapons. Everyone understands what consequences the fulfilment of the racists’ nuclear ambitions would have for the peoples of Africa and for international peace and security. Certain NATO countries, however, have been doing everything they can to prevent the adoption of effective economic sanctions against the Pretoria racists; they have not complied with the decision to place an embargo on arms deliveries to South Africa. Oil is coming to the racists without any hindrance. 27. Western corporations have an interest in maintaining ties with the Republic of South Africa. I might recall that almost 2,000 diierent transnational corporations are doing business with the apartheid regime. Hundreds of American and British companies are operating in South Africa. They constantly increase their capital investments in the South African economy, including South Africa’s military industries. ‘Southern Africa remains one of the most important sources of mineral raw materials and is the main gold mine of the West. Rare and precious metals, such as uranium and diamonds, bring these numerous corporations super-profits, at the expense of the inhuman exploitation of the slave labour of the indigenous African population. In 1978 alone, South Africa delivered to the United States almost $2 billion worth of metals and minerals. At the end of 1977, Western investments in South Africa amounted to $24.5 billion. In the period from 1972 to 1978,382 banks from 22 countries supplied South Africa with loans exceeding $5 billion. 28. The refusal to cut off economic ties with the racist regime is explained by some by the presence in various Western countries of various kinds of “constitutional” or “legislative” restrictions, which, it is alleged, do not permit the Governments of those countries effectively to control those companies or their branches operating in South Africa. But our experience of international relations makes it absolutely clear that all such “restrictions” disappear as soon as the Governments of those countries decide to set up economic blockades against progressive or revolutionary regimes. 29. Connivance with the South African regime by monopolistic circles of the countries of the North Atlantic military bloc has made it impossible for 30. The Soviet Unionand theothersocialist countries have always been and remain faithful friends of the African States which, having freed themselves from colonial dependence, continue to wage a fierce struggle for the elimination of the consequences of foreign overlordship and for the consolidation of their independence and the development of their economies and their culture. The solidarity of the socialist community with African States is the guarantee that there will be more and more victories by the national liberation movement and further social and economic progress by the independent countries of Africa. 31. In extending congratulations to the peoples and States of Africa on the occasion of Africa Liberation Day on 25 May this year, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Mr. Leonid Brezhnev, stated: “This year has been marked by an outstanding success for the. national liberation movement of the peoples of Africa: as a result of long years of selfless struggle by the patriotic forces of Zimbabwe against colonial, racist oppression, the people of that country have won their independence. A new State, the Republic of Zimbabwe, has appeared on the map of the world. A major step has been taken towards finally freeing Africa from the shackles of racism and colonialism. “The people of the Soviet Union also confidently await the triumph of the just cause of the liberation of Namibia, whose people are valiantly fighting for freedom and independence under the leadership of SWAPG, their recognized vanguard. The most shameful phenomenon of our time, apartheid in the Republic of South Africa, will also inevitably be done away with. The historic Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, adopted by the United Nations in 1960 on the initiative of the Soviet Union, must be fully implemented, with no exceptions of any kind. That is history’s command!“l 32. The Soviet Union will support any effective measures on the part of the Council aimed at the final elimination of the remaining vestiges of colonialism, racism and apartheid on the African continent. A necessary condition for the attainment of this’goal is strict observance of the sanctions already established 33. The delegation of the Soviet Union believes that the proposals-set forth in the- Council by the Chairman of the Special Committee against Apartheid, Ambassador Clark of Nigeria [2225th meeting], and a number of other representatives are the very minimum which should underlie any decision by the Council if it really intends to assist in the elimination of the outrageous policy and practice of apartheid in southern Africa and to avert a course of events which is so threatening to international peace and security. 34. Mr. R. RAHMAN (Bangladesh): Mr. President, it is with genuine pleasure that we welcome your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council this month. Given your wide experience, your diplomatic skills, your broad understanding and your recognized sense of humour, we are confident that the affairs of the Council will be conducted with efficiency and dispatch. I take this opportunity also to express our gratitude and admiration to Ambassador lde Gumarou of the Niger, who so capably conducted our work in the month of May. 35 My delegation has fully endorsed the call by the African Group that the Council be urgently seized of the question of South Africa, in the light of the alarming situation currently obtaining in that country. 36. Despite three decades of systematic exposure and universal condemnation, the brutal system of apartheid continues to thrive in South Africa, more deeply entrenched than ever. No one can doubt that this remains the core of the current escalation of tension, violence and repression in. that beleaguered land.. 37. The General Assembly has categorically condemned apartheid not only as *‘a crime against the conscience and dignity of mankind” but also as *‘a crime against humanity seriously disturbing and threatening international peace and security”, 38. The human rights dimension of the problem needs no elaboration. For three decades the intemational community has exhaustively compiled,, catalogued and condemned the extent of this heinous policy as implemented by the racist regime in South Africa. This policy, pursued with unrelenting ferocity, has meant the usurpation of 87 per cent of the. most productive agricultural lands for the exclusive use of-a miniscule white minority, the denial of political representation to more than four fifths of the population, economic discrimination and exploitation on an ‘unprecedented-scale, the dispossession and transfer of millions of Africans and. the dismemberment of the country. There has been an intricate web of legislation and administrative policies designed to ensure racial segregation and restrict movement. 40. The struggle continues; the process is irreversible. It is directed, through the determination and resolve of the people of Azania, to securing their freedom despite brutality, repression, spurious political trials, arbitrary arrests, banning and bantustanization. It draws momentum from the memory of all those innumerable silent victims of apartheid, all those who have risked their lives in the cause of human dignity. It derives strength from the spirits of martyrs such as Steve Biko, Solomon Mahlangu and countless other missing heroes, and it is driven by the will of those who remain incarcerated as political prisoners or banned: the Nelson Mandelas, the Soweto 11, the Zeph Mothepeng 18, Walter Mbete and the 52 clergymen. This is the signal behind the current wave of strikes and student boycotts across the face of South Africa. This is the determination that has , fuelled the spate of attacks on police stations and oil plants, the spark that has kindled the resistance of black and Coloured alike, of workers and students, of clerics and the common man. 41. But beyond the humanitarian content of the renewed struggle against apartheid is its vital political dimension. South Africa remains today a powderkeg. The danger to peace and security internally, regionally and internationally is palpable. Challenged by resistance from within and from without, South Africa has been transforming itself into an armoured bastion with clear-cut objectives. The ultimate aim is the perpetuation of white supremacy in southern Africa despite the reverses it has suffered in the neighbouring State of Zimbabwe and as a result of the collapse of the Portuguese colonial empire. Only Namibia remains in its illegal grip. A primary objective is to crush insurrection and deter the struggle for liberation within South Africa. The immediate target is the front-line States, and South Africa is determined to isolatethem and harass and destabilize their Govemments by full-fledged armed incursions across international frontiers. The development of its nuclearweapon potential has become a foremost priority, with all the incalculable consequences that entails. 42. The search for solutions in the face of these objective factors is crucial For over 33 years the United Nations has sought a,wide variety of avenues for a peaceful resolution of the problem of apartheid, the essential prerequisite for.which was the encour- . agement of the right of the people of South Africa as a .whole to decide the destiny of the nation. Numerous proposals have been made seeking a workable .framework for a just and lasting solution. The Chairs 43. The responsibility of the Council in taking cognizance of the explosive situation is now paramount. The Council must in the first instance demand the dismantling of apartheid and its repressive machinery. This entails the unconditional release of all political prisoners, the lifting of restrictions on those banned, the return of exiles, the free functioning of political parties, organizations and media, and the abrogation of repressive legislation directed at racial separation and segregation as well as at the suppression of resistance. 44. The demands must be backed by pressure more tangible than moral appeals. They must call for the total isolation of the racist regime by all means possible-political, economic and diplomatic. States individually and collectively must effectively discourage the racist regime in its attempts to bolster its military and nuclear might. Through the Committee established under resolution 421 (1977), the Council must effectively strengthen efforts to secure full implementation of the arms embargo. The need to widen the scope of sanctions has long been mooted. For immediate purposes, the oil embargo agreed upon by OPEC countries could constitute a telling vehicle of pressure. These measures should be fully respected and supported by all States. 45. Bangladesh is irrevocably committed to the eradication ofapartheid. We cannot support or accept any solution tantamount to a mere modification of racism or the imposition of unilateral solutions that deny the people of South Africa as a whole the right to determine its future. In the final analysis, we believe that all necessary steps must be taken to ensure the transfer of all powers to the people of South Africa as a whole in accordance with their freelyexpressed will and desire and without distinction as to race or colour. Bangladesh accordingly reaffirms its recognition of the legitimacy of the liberation struggle in South Africa. It is an irreversible process, as the history of the region has repeatedly confirmed. It is our hope that the community of interest that now irrevocably binds us into our global society will see the demise of apartheid for the benefit of the people of South Africa, Africa as a whole and humanity at large.

Mr. President, first of all allow me to express warm congratulations to you on your assumption of the presidency of the Council for the current month. At the same time, I should like to take this opportunity to extend warm congratulations to the 47. Under the constant blows dealt by the heroic struggle of the Namibian and Azanian peoples, and particularly under the heavy blows dealt by the brilliant victory of the Zimbabwean people, the South African racist regime, besieged from all sides, has landed itself in greater isolation and is finding the going tougher and tougher. However, the South African racist authorities have not shown the slightest restraint in their reactionary arrogance. On the one hand, they continue their militarist policies and refuse to abandon their colonialist rule over Namibia, while stepping up their acts of armed aggression against neighbouring African States. On the other hand, they have intensified their barbarous repression of the Azanian people. 48. Of late, with the advent of the fourth anniversary of the tragic incident of Soweto, the heroic- Azanian people have initiated strikes and school boycotts on a wider scale to oppose the criminal system of racial discrimination and apartheid, and there are, growing demands for the release of the nationalist leaders who have been illegally detained. In order to maintain their tottering racist rule, the South African authorities have once again resorted to the brutal atrocities of repression, arresting more than athousand people in various walks of life and even killing or wounding a number of innocent young students. The African countries and peoples and all justice-upholding countries and peoples express great indignation at these crimes and strongly condemn them. 49. The Chinese Government and people firmly support the just struggle of the Azanian peopie against colonialism, racism and apartheid. The Chinese delegation emphatically condemns the series of crimes committed by the South African racist regime against the Azanian people and expresses sympathy to all the .victims of the atrocities. We firmly support the just position ufthe African States. In our view, the Council should strongly condemn thecrimes committed by the South African authorities, demand that they stop forthwith all their repression and persecution of the Azanian people and release all political prisoners immediatiefy. The Council should also appeal to all peoples and Governments to give support and assistance to the peoples of Azania and Namibia in their just struggle against racism and colonialism and for national%beration, as well as to the peoples of other parts of southern Africa in their just cause offighting against South Africa’s aggression and defending their national -independence and territorial integrity. SO. The PRESIDENT: The next speaker is the representative of Botswana. I invite him to take a place at the’Counci1 table and to make.his statement.

Mr. President, I should like to begin by congratulating you upon your 52. The United Nations has been seized of the question of South Africa for the past 35 years. Volumes of resolutions have been adopted by the Security Council with the aim of persuading South Africa to correct the intolerable situation that has prevailed in that country for so long. This is 1980, and South Africa remains what it has always been: a country where apartheid and racism continue to mar the lives of millions of our black fellow men without any sign of respite. 53. The history of South Africa is the history of man’s injustice to man. The atrocities perpetrated there against black South Africans are well known to all of us. The tragedy of Sharpeville remains fresh in our minds, and as recently as four years ago, the children of Soweto and several other ghettoes of South Africa decided that they had had enough of apartheid as they took to the streets-unarmed and completely defenceless, albeit committed and determined-to deliver an unequivocal message to white South Africa that they were no longer prepared to suffer in silence. The response on the part of white South Africa was a brutal massacre of more than 700 defenceless innocent children whose only guilt, if guilt it was, to demand what civilized humanity has grown to value so dearly: freedom, peace and justice. The date 16 June 1976 marked an historic turning-point in the political history of South Africa. It marked the beginning of the unfolding of a tragedy of unspeakable proportions. The children’s message was loud and clear: “White South Africa, you will bleed to death if you do not get rid of apartheid now and begin the process of creating a society in which every human being will be judged by the character of his personality rather than by the colour of his skin.” 54. And yet it is still being suggested in certain quarters that apartheid is a me& so&political aberration which is bound to fade away in time without a push. Indeed, we are made to believe that it is already fading away because a few civic theatres, parks, libraries and restaurants in the metropolis of South Africa are being opened to all races. To the gullible-to the habitual optimists-the opening up of these facilities represents the beginning of the end of the road for aparrheid. But to those of us who-have lived with apartheid as long-. as we can remember, white supremacy remains the order of the day in South Africa. There is no sign that white South Africans are now willing to accept black South Africans as equals, as fellow citizens entitled to all the rights and privileges enjoyed by all free human 55. It is needless for me to state the obvious, that is, the fact that human patience is not inexhaustible. The half-a-millenium-old Portuguese empire in Africa is no more. The Portuguese had never dreamt of the day when their 500-year-old empire would collapse like a pack of cards. The Rhodesian rebellion has ended. When Mr. Ian Smith took over the leadership of the Rhodesia Front on 14 April 1964, he promised white Rhodesians that there would be no majority rule in Rhodesia as long as he lived. He subsequently extended the period to a thousand years, as recently as 1975. But five .years later, Rhodesia became the .Y free nation of Zimbabwe. 56. One would have thought that Pretoria would be far-sighted enough to draw lessons from such recent. history. It is quite obvious to all of us-it has been so since man inhabited this Earth-that no amount of force, however brutal, can stifle an oppressed people’s determination to seek and strive for liberation from the chains of servitude, from the yoke of oppression and exploitation. South Africa will not be an exception to the dictates of history. South Africa shall be free. The only question we are compelled to ask is, therefore, not whether freedom will come to South Africa, but whether the birth of a new South Africa, free and truly independent, will occur peacefully or through a painful Caesareanoperation like the birth of Zimbabwe and the former Portuguese colonies. 57. The choices lie with the Afrikaner regime in Pretoria. Ominous signs are there to determine the options for the Botha Government. The first warning shots have already been tired and they signal the dawn of a dangerous era in South Africa-an era which will be marked by a vicious, bloody confrontation, the worst that Africa has ever seen. They are not going to be silenced by the consolidation of. the so-called Bantu homelands and the granting of meaningless tribal independence to them; not by the abolition of the South African Senate and the creation of a socalled Presidential Council whose essence is nothing but the perpetuation of white supremacy in a different form; not by the opening up of a few restaurants in the centre of Johannesburg; and surely not by the maddening noise about the creation of a constellation of southern African States. 58. The Security Council must not allow itself to fall prey to such transparent machinations designed to 59. Committed as we all are to peaceful change everywhere, including South Africa, we cannot, however, fail to appreciate the reasons that have led the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) to resort to armed struggle as an instrument of change. I believe, nevertheless, that the Council has the power to forestall the escalation of armed conflict in South Africa, but only ifit is willing to summon its collective wisdom to appreciate the causes of such armed conflict and act accordingly. 60. The least the Council can do is to exert so much pressure on South Africa as to make that country realize that the consequences of its resistance to meaningful change will become more and more disastrous. South Africa must be forced to open dialogue with the genuine leaders of the majority who are at present rotting in prison. Mandela must be released to resume his place in the leadership of the black people of South Africa. Repressions and detentions without trial must stop so that the process of reconciliation may begin. Its objective’ must of necessity be the creation of a society in South Africa in which every South African, regardless of his colour or creed, may be allowed the opportunity to fulfil himself in peace and freedom. 61. The Council cannot fail to be moved bv the plight of the children of South Africa who have decided to confront tanks and bullets with bare hands. The Council cannot fail to recognize the legitimacy of those children’s grievances and their cries for freedom and justice. Ii cannot fail to be moved by the plight of thousands of South Africans of all ages who are rotting in the prisons of South Africa and the several others who are arrested and incarcerated every day for no other reason than the fact that they wish to live as free men and women in their own land. 62. We have every confidence in the Council. We have confidence in its sense of commitment-a commitment to the preservation of peace and security all over the korld. Let it not be said that the Council failed to meet the challenge before it today.

The next speaker is the representative of Egypt. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. 65. South Africa has perversely and consistentiy.continued to flout the United Nations resolutions on the le&imat,e rights of the African people. Moreover, South Africa’s blatant and cynical racist policies are abhorrent and have rarely been matched in the annals of history. 66. ‘Egypt was among the first countries to draw the attention of the world community and the various international forums to the increasing dangers resulting from the continuance of this grave and explosive situation prevailing in the region. 67. The policy of apartheid has resulted in the deterioration of the situation in southern Africa, especially since the South African racist regime has been able to transform South Africa into an arsenal of the most sophisticated weapons and to acquire all the capacily to produce nuclear weapons. Unless the world community in general and the Security Council in particular seriously and effectively face this situation, the Pretoria rf5gime will continue to pursue its policy of oppression and Suppression against the people of South Africa, its illegal occupation of Namibia and its acts of aggression against the neighbouring countries, thus posing a grave threat to international peace and security in the region. 68. The policy of apartheid and the brutal measures of oppression perpetrated by the racist rkgi~me against the African black majority have fuelled the struggle of the African peopie.against the white minority regime. They have strengthened their determination to attain their legitimate rights for freedom and human dignity. The recent wave of school strikes by students protesting the inferior system of education provided by the r&ime for blacks should not be viewed as an isolated development. In fact, it reflects the widespread discontent among the African black majprity with the white minority i&ime. Although the demonstrations of the students were peaceful, the racistpolice confronted the demonstrators with firearms, murdering and injuring scores of defenceless civilians, including many school children. 69. The world. community has received with grave concern and indignation the news of those barbaric actions. In, a statement issued in Caiio on 2 June, the Government of Egypt strongly condemned that criminal act. It declared in its statement: ‘“The Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt views with deep concern the development. of 8 \ 70. The time has come for the international community to stand firm against the racist r&ime in Pretoria and to adopt concrete measures to eradicate uparrheid. The verdict of history will be harsh if we do not unite our efforts and resolutely put an end to the escalation of violence provoked by the Pretoria regime against the oppressed people of South Africa. That racist r6gime must be made to realize that the days of white minority domination are numbered. No doubt the recent ruthless wave of violence launched by the Pretoria rbgime reflects that regime’s awareness of its own impending demise now that the revolutionary and nationalist African tide is catching up with it following the independence of the heroic people of Zimbabwe. 71. Can the regime of South African learn the lesson of Zimbabwe and, before it, the lessons of Mozambique and Angola? Can it realize that itsracist policy against the people of South Africa, the detention and arrest of freedom fighters, the system of bantustanization, the repeated acts of armed aggression against neighbouring countries and its continued illegal occupation of Namibia are doomed? 72. The march of history cannot, however, be indefinitely hindered and the achievement of majority rule is inevitable. The racists in Pretoria have to realize that oppression and suppression cannot but generate bitterness, violence and bloodshed. 73. Apartheid should be eradicated, and the people of South Africa should be enabled to exercise their right to self-determination without any further delay in order to avoid further bloodshed and human suffering. 74. South Africa must immediately and unconditionally release Nelson Mandeta and all political prisoners. Its repeated acts of aggression against neighbouring countries and its illegal occupation of Namibia must come to. an end. In our view, this can be achieved only through decisive measures to be taken urgently by the Council under Chapter VII of the Charter. . 9

The next speaker is the representative of Yugoslavia. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement.

First of all, I wish to thank the members of the Council for having given me this opportunity to state my country’s position with regard to this extremely complex issue, which is fraught with danger not only for the region of southern Africa, but also for the whole African continent and beyond. 78: I should like also to congratulate you warmly, Mr. President, upon your assumption of the presidency of this forum. The friendship between our two countries which found expression, in particular, during the Second World War, as well as our personal friendship, are additional reasons for wishing you much success in the carrying out of the difficult and responsible tasks of the President of the Council. 79. I should also like to address my thanks to Ambassador Idi Oumarou of the Niger for the very effective way in which he conducted the work of the Council last month. 80. The intensification of the policy of oppression of the racist tigime in Pretoria directed against the African people and its aggressive policy against independent African countries have resulted in an aggravation of the situation in the whole region. This has created an explosive situation, whose consequences could prove to be catastrophic. One need not be a prophet to realize that the policies and practices of a &gime that is condemned to wither away, a regime that is breathing its last breath and does not shrink from committing ever new crimes, cannot but have grave consequences for world peace and security-all the more as that militarized country, armed to the teeth, is also now on the threshold of becoming a nuclear Power. 81. The best proof of this is provided by the fact that the bayonets and barrels of racist rifles are aimed at boys and girls who dared to voice aloud their opposition to segregation and to the injustices of a school system introduced by the racist tigime in implementing its policy of apartheid. One can rightly say that, asp ! result of these acts, the patience of the international community which has repeatedly condemned the inhuman policy of racism and racial discrimination, ’ has been severely tried. 82. Actually, the shedding of the blood of innocent boys and girls in the towns of South Africa fore- 83. That proves that the crimes of the racist authorities cannot remain unpunished any longer and that the time will come when the crimes perpetrated at Sharpeville in 1960 and at Soweto in 1976 will no longer be merely lamented but will become active symbols of the liberation struggle. The racist regime does not feel safe in its fortress either. The examples of Zimbabwe and the liberation struggle of the people of Namibia show that the sowing of death is not sufficient to arrest the march of freedom and to stifle the right of a people prepared to use force against force and to get hold of what belongs to it. 84. The list of crimes committed by the Pretoria regime is too long to be treated lightly and to allow anyone to escape responsibility. They are the introduction and practice of racism, racial discrimination and apartheid, which have been branded as a crime against humanity and a threat to international peace and security; massacres of populations at Sharpeville and Soweto; numerous arrests and political trials of African inhabitants; ruthless exploitation of the human and natural resources of the populations of South Africa; defiance of the recommendations and decisions of the United Nations; continuation of the illegal occupation of Namibia, regardless of the revocation of the Mandate by the United Nations; and daily acts of aggression and terrorism against the neighbouring independent and non-aligned countries of Angola, Zambia, Botswana and Mozambique. 85. What is involved, therefore-although that list is far from being exhaustive-is an appalling record of the neo-Fascist regime that cannot be tolerated. At the same time, it is a warning and a reminder of what the international community should do, in its own interest, in order to prevent the worst from,happening. 86. At this point, I should like to draw particular attention to the responsibility of countries which maintain all-round relations with-south Africa. Those coun- 87. Together with the other non-aligned countries which have resolutely and unreservedly condemned the policy and practices of the racist regime in Pretoria, Yugoslavia will support every action of the Council that condemns the policy of apartheid, racism and racial discrimination; contributes to the elimination of the system; urges unequivocally the cessation of oppression and exploitation; demands the unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners; and, above all, calls for the adoption of measures’ under Chapter VII of the Charter, for mandatory sanctions in particular, as well as for measures that will contribute to the total political, diplomatic and economic isolation of the South African racist regime. 88. The Non-Aligned Movement, which has always been a staunch supporter of liberation struggles and, in particular, of the right of peoples to decide for themselves their fate, is ready in this case also to assume part of the international responsibility and to contribute to the liberation of South Africa through solidarity with its people. 89. We feel that the moment has arrived when mere verbal condemnation by the Council is no longer sufficient. What is needed now is concrete action. In this specific case now being considered by the Council, we are faced with violence and crime in general, and that against school children in particular. We are faced also with acts of terrorism. that do not spare even those who hardly realize what life is like today and what life should be like tomorrow. The decision of the Council must be unequivocal and forthright. We firmly believe that. the Council will adopt such a decision. 90. I think it hardly necessary on this occasion to mention the full and unreserved solidarity of my country with the oppressed people of South Africa. The liberation movements of South Africa-ANC and PAC4s legitimate representatives of the oppressed people of South Africa and interpreters of its genuine aspirations, will always find in Yugoslavia a friend ready to help and to support, within the limits of its possibilities, their just struggle for national liberation, for the affirmation of human dignity and for the eradication-of racism, racial discrimination, apartheid and colonialism.

The next speaker is the representative of Zaire. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement.

First of all, I should like to extend to you, Mr. President, the sincere congratulations of the delegation of Zaire on your assumption of the presidency of the Council. In these difficult times 100. For the United Nations, the international community and all the States in the world with the exception of one, apartheid is a crime against mankind. But what must be deplored on the international level is that those very States which have proclaimed upartheid a crime against mankind do not draw all the practical and logical consequences in their daily conduct, in their relations with the Pretoria regime. 93. May I also pay a well-deserved tribute to your predecessor, Ambassador Idt Oumarou of the Niger, for the skill and ability with which he conducted the proceedings of the Council last month. 101. I do not intend today to dwell on the nature of apartheid, since I have had several opportunities to set forth my views on the profoundly odious nature of that policy and on its true causes. I should like simply to recall here that all Member States have made a solemn commitment to contribute to the eradication of that scourge of mankind and to contribute effectively to the struggle required for the elimination of apartheid. But in terms of practical, concrete steps, what have we actually done to bring about the implementation of our resolutions? 94. Finally, I should like to thank all the members of the Council for allowing me to address it yet again. 95. Once again, the Council has before it the whole file on South Africa. The frequency with which the Council has met to consider the South African case alone proves that the situation created by uphrrheid and racial segregation in South Africa is a threat to international peace and security and is of concern to the international community. 96. There have been people thrown into prison and arrested, arbitrary detention has taken place, new racist laws have been enacted, summary executions and cowardly killings and kidnappings of so-called Coloureds, citizens of South Africa, have taken place. In addition to all that, there have been State terrorism, unprovoked acts of aggression and attacks against neighbouring countries of which the Council has been seized. 97. Today what we will probably have to do is take note of a new major fact in South Africa’s history and draw the appropriate conclusions. That new major fact is that apartheid is in conflagration. Yes, a match has been put to apartheid and the citadel of racism is aflame. But out of that conflagration the inextinguishable flame of freedom, the flame of hope, for the oppressed people of South Africa mounts up to the heavens. 98. I have heard and read that there has been an escalation of violence in South Africa. But I do not think that this expression is correct; it is ambiguous, and it barely conceals a certain desire to place on an equal footing innocent victims and oppressors, and condemn them equally as responsible for intolerable violence. 99. However, ‘what is occurring today in South Africa, by means of workers’ strikes, the demonstra- 102. The South African people, who have endured too much, hoped too much, and perhaps expected too much, have now decided to take to the streets, to take them over and to light the explosives-in a word, to adapt their battle plan to the nature of the oppression. Who would be the first to accuse them? 103. Each of us is well aware that those are actions that are sounding the knell of apartheid and will help to eliminate it. Although we all feel that and are cognizant of it, it appears that no one is willing to articulate or recognize the fact publicly, lest the martyr people of South Africa, who are fighting with every means at their disposal, be deprived of the intemational support which is indispensable for attaining the goal of their sacrifices. 104. It is that support which the peoples seeking freedom in South Africa expect of the Security Council in the form of a recognition and reaffirmation of the legitimacy of their struggle, in the form of an unequivocal condemnation of the oppression and the bloody repression of the Pretoria regime, and in the form of a reaffumation of the fact that the solution of the South African crisis demands the restoration of the rights of the majority, in a democratic society where the rights of minorities are ensured. 105. Recent history has shown that from French Algeria to Algerian Algeria, from the Portuguese 106. The Council should, in our view, help the racist leaders of South Africa to take in that lesson by reaffirming here the legitimacy of the liberation struggle and of the resistance to oppression and by stating distinctly that neither arrests nor savage repression will resolve the situation nor extinguish the flames of aparrheid. 107. It is imperative that everyone should realize that the explosive situation which currently exists in South Africa is not to be compared with that in 1910 at the time of the constitution of the Union of South Africa, with the Sharpeville massacre of 1960, with the workers’ strikes of 1973-1974 or with the Soweto uprising of 1976-1977. It must be appreciated that, while the workers’ strikes of 1973-1974 played an important role in the awakening of African resistance and while Soweto and the events of 1976-1977 marked the organized, practical beginning of that awakening and enlarged its scope, one can say without fear of being mistaken that the events of 1980 appear very much like the foretaste of a great and victorious revolution. 108. ” Even in a democracy, when sanctions designed to permit the citizens to control the levers of power can no longer function, and when the people is legally disarmed in the face of a power in which it no longer has confidence and against which it cannot act, revolution is legitimate and is recognized in law as having a sound theoretical and doctrinal basis. 109. If South Africa were a democracy, what is happening tid is being condemned by the whole world would amply justify the revolution of the African peoples. But it is conceded that South Africa is not a democracy. South Africa is the very antithesis of democracy, a political system which has institutionalized that antithesis. That is why the United Nations has recognized the legitimacy of the liberation struggle in South Africa and of the liberation movements which lead that struggle as the true, authentic representatives of their people. 110. At a time when there is so much talk in the world of respect for and defence of human rights, it is indispensable that the Council should dwell upon the serious violations of human rights that have taken place in South Africa and that it should urge all Member States, and particularly those which have always 111. In conclusion, I should humbly request the Council to declare that apartheid is the sole cause of the disturbances and the crisis in South Africa; to reaffirm the legitimacy of the struggle of the African peoples of South Africa; to condemn the barbarous’ repression to which they are subjected, a repression which cannot deal with the crisis; to proclaim that the solution of the crisis lies in the recognition of the rights of the majority; to invite the Pretoria regime to show its wisdom and to recognize all those rights; to decide to strengthen economic sanctions and the arms embargo; and finally, to invite all Member States to put an end to all forms of collaboration with the Pretoria regime so long as it continues to pursue a policy which the United Nations and the entire world consider a crime against humanity. And why not say too that we should also humbly ask the Council to come to the assistance also of the decent whites and of the upright consciences of South Africa, who have perceived the iniquity of their political system, who are protesting and increasingly opposing their Govemment and who advocate the opening of negotiations, ‘leading to -the implementation of majority ruIe, with the legitimate and authentic representatives of the South African people, namely, the liberation movements. The Council should come to the assistance of those decent whites in South Africa and to that of other upright people in that country and should call on the white racist South African leaders to free the African political activists who have been unjustly imprisoned.

The next speaker is the representative of Algeria. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. 113. Mr. BOUZARBIA (Algeria) @zrerprerarion from French): Mr. President, the Algerian delegation takes pleasure in expressing our particular satisfaction at seeing you once again presiding over the proceedings of the Council this month. In conveying our congratulations to you, we should also like to express our pleasure at being able, in these circumstances, to assure you once again of our confidence in your imaginative zeal and the certainty of your judgement. Your personal qualities, coupled with your broad experience, will, I am convinced, mark our debate with the necessary element of tranquillity; they will also make it possible for our CounciI to appreciate the true scope and nature of the gravity of the situation in southern Africa and its repercussions on the stability of the whole of the African continent and, beyond it, on international peace and security. 116. A political system, an ideological vision, a concept of a social order in which the majority, relegated to the status of the subhuman, maintains by its sweat, its humiliation and its hunger an over- Iord minority, is fundamentally unacceptable to men and nations. With its intractable belligerence, its arrogant aggressiveness and its repressive logic, such a system breeds within and of itself the germs of its own elimination, Thus ittramples underfoot the rights and dignity of the African masses; thus it chooses to rely primarily on the arrogant use of force as an instrument for the intimidation of the States of the area; thus it adopts an attitude of scorn and defiance in the face of universal condemnation. Andinevitably, it is polishing the weapons of those who will bury it. 117. As the doctrine of another time, the belief of another age, apartheid is doomed to degeneration and death: first, because the South African people itself, -with its yearning for freedom and its determination to gain independence, constitutes the mortal enemy of that regime, in spite of oppression-and repression; also because the South African people has said no, and that cry, although constantly stifled, is nevertheless growing louder; and, finally, because that cry has been continually amplified by its reverberations throughout the international community, a community which is becoming every day more concerned. 118. The attempt to adapt the system of apartheid to the new conditions in South Africa, conditions born of the spread of the struggle of the South African people and the victory of nationalism in the region against colonialism and racism, has culminated in the The meeting rose at 5.30 p.m. NOTE I A/35/261, annex. HOW TO ORTAIN UMTED NATIONS PURL!CAnONS United Nations publications may be obtained from bookstores and diittiiut& throughout the world. Consult your bookstore or write to: United Nations. S&s S&on. New York or Gdieva. COMMENT SE PRO-R LES PURLSCATIONS DES NATIONS - Les publications des Nations Ueies Jont en vente dans ks librairies et Ies agences d&ositaim du monde entier. Informer-vous agpr& de votre libraire ou adressez-+ous B : Nations Unies, S&ion des ventes. New York ou Gen&. KAK HOJIYPHTh H3JIAHHSI OPrAHH3AI&HH OIi’bEAHKKHHhlX HAIfKK Hs~aHm OpraWmaufw 06zensitteHmb~x HaltsiR mo)Kwo XynHTb 6 WiHXttbIX Ma& JHXSX R are~wrnax: ao;Bcex paRonax wtpa. Hasonwre CilpaB*a 06 H3AaH_liXX B *ameM XH~CHOX xarasrwe HJYH nsmmfe no anpecy: Oprastmaqnn WbeXHHeHAblX Hat@, Cexttxri no npo&arrte H3xaHdk. Hbxdiopx mx)Kexeaa. COMO CONSEGUIR PUBLICACIONES DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS Las publicaciones de ias Naciones Unidas cstan en vent;a +n lib&s y casas diitn%tidoms en todas partes del mundo. Con&e aau librem o ditijase a: Naciones Unidas. Secci6n de Vetitas. Nueva York o Gineba. -, 1 Litho in United Nations, New York 003tm 83-61462-September 198642,050