S/PV.2229 Security Council

It is with great sorrow that the members of the Secur@y Council have learned of the sudden death today of the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Masayoshi Ohira. For many years, Mr. Ohira served as a member of the Japanese Government in various capacities, including the position of Foreign Minister. Mr. Ohira was deeply committed to the ideals of the United Nations and strongly supported its work. His loss will be deeply mourned by the international community. On behalf of the Council, I wish to express profound condolences to the- Government and people of Japan and heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved family. On the proposal of the President, the members of the Council observed a minute of silence in tribute to the memory of Mr. Masayoshi Ohira, Prime Minister of Japan. Adoption of the agenda . The agenda was adopted. The question of South Africa: Letter dated 29 May 1980 ‘from the Charge d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Morocco to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/13969)

In accordance with previous decisions [2225th, 2227th and 2228th meetings], I invite the representatives of Algeria, Botswana, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Seychelles, Yugoslavia and Zaire to take 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 Bahrain, Benin, Guyana, Romania and Viet Nam in which they request to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the 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 provisional rules of procedure. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Al-Sajj%r (Bahrain), Mr. Houngavou (Benin), Mr. Sinclair (Guyana), Mr. Marinescu (Romania) and Mr. Ha Van Lau (Viet Nam) took the places reserved for them at the side of the Council chamber. 4.’ Mr. MUfiOZ LED0 (Mexico) (interpretation from Spanish): Mr. President, Norway’s devotion to the cause of peace need not be stressed. In our common support of the principles of the Charter we have been inspired by the excellent relations that my country and yours maintain and have maintained for decades, relations that are strengthened daily. My delegation welcomes your presidency of the Council for this month, and we are certain that your undeniable experience and clarity of purpose will continue to be reflected in your balanced conduct of our work. You may rest assured that you have the forthright co-operation of our delegation. 5. We sincerely thank the representative of the Niger for the work he accomplished. The dignified and perspicacious manner in which he carried out his mandate reflects his profound sense of justice, which is shared by his people. 7. The facts have been set forth with legitimate indignation. There have been repeated acts of aggression against the enemies of apartheid, persistent violations of human rights and an obvious intention to curb any political expression of commitment to the struggle for racial equality. 8. The circumstances underlying this attitude are known to everyone. The victories won by the national liberation movements are irreversible advances but they also explain the events which we deplore.. The Government of Pretoria has suddenly found free nations, governed by majority regimes, appearing as its neighbours and it has therefore decided to reinforce the machinery that it employs to dominate and repress. 9. The rapid development of political events in southern Africa has demonstrated the possibilities of armed struggle, the effectiveness of international action and the ability of the peoples that today are exercising self-determination to behave with firmness, prudence and a genuine desire for independence. 10. All of this gives the lie to the pretexts which the Pretoria regime has been using to cultivate its intemational network of accomplices. South Africa has thus far managed to have its own interests included in the global strategies and the fears of various Powers, thereby securing for itself extensive economic relations and a continuing supply of war mate’rief, without which it would be unable to commit acts of aggression against its neighbours or to put down its opponents at home. ‘11. Even the most reluctant must now face the facts. To support apartheid is not only immoral; it is contrary to any intelligent long-term strategy. There can be no possible mistake: one side entails co-operation with the most stubborn bastion of colonialism; the other, solidarity in the struggle for human dignity. 12. A few days ago, at the extraordinary plenary meeting of the United Nations Council for Namibia, held at Algiers, it became perfectly clear that we have reached a critical stage in our handling of the case of South Africa. Two convergent processes require that we take action without delay. One is internal and the other one is external, but both are expressions of the same reality. The external process to which I have referred is expressed in the Pretoria regime’s hostility to the United Nations plan for the independence of Namibia and in its desperate efforts to consolidate its domination over the Territory. 13. Whatever measures we take now should be considered one more step in a clear course of action 14. The Security Council must be consistent in its own decisions, and in particular with resolution 418 (1977). It must strengthen the arms embargo and close any door through which South Africa can continue to receive the war matt!riel that it uses for its own support. Secondly, we must systematically suppress whatever support and supplies are given to that regime. 15. We repeat that the continuation of that way of life, which is akin to slaverv. is an anachronism which can be explained only by <he immediate benefits that many derive from it. The natural resources of South Africa and its geographical location have made the country a focal point of transnational strategic interests. 16. The position that each State adopts on the question of South Africa requires a careful definition for its own people of its political attitude. A nation is democratic not only because of the political and social systems which it has established within its own boundaries, but also in terms of the international attitude it promotes and in terms of its support for freedom and justice in other countries. 17. The international community has reached a level of awareness which makes it impossible to repeat the errors of the past. For centuries some countries supported freedom and equality on the domestic front, while at the same time they exported the traditional means of exploitation and no discrepancy was found in that policy. The purpose of the United Nations is to prevent a recurrence of such behaviour. 18. The Government of Mexico wishes to reaffirm the decision that it recently adopted not to entertain relations of any kind with the Pretoria regime and not to allow South African nationals into our country. We have vigorously implemented all the measures adopted by the international community in this connexion, but we feel that those measures are not yet sufficiently effective to resolve the problem before us. Once again we should like to state that we have decided to support any action the United Nations may adopt along these lines.

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

Mr. President, the delegation of the People’s Republic of Benin would like to thank you 21. I should also like to express my delegation’s appreciation of and Benin’s pride in the performance of Ambassador Oumarou of the Niger as President of the Council for the month of May. He did some remarkable work in that post. 22. For more than 25 years now the Organization has been dealing with the question of apartheid, a shameful system of colonialist domination, political oppression and .economic and social exploitation whose inhumane and brutal methods-arbitrary arrests, detention and torture, assassinations, murders and massacres such as those of Sharpeville and Soweto-are so familiar to the Council. 23. All these barbarous and cruel methods, inherited from the worst times of the various colonial systems and from Hitler’s nazism, have permitted a white minority imported into Africa to dominate, exploit and massacre the indigenous African people. 24. In spite of its being condemned, apartheid has only been strengthened, and the arrogant minority regime is defying the United Nations by daring to claim rights as a State and a nation. The imperialist Western Powers and their acolytes, which collaborate in so many ways with the inhumane Pretoria regime, are those most responsible for the ineffectualness of United Nations action to eliminate apartheid from Africa. Those Powers, with their right of veto in the Council, have been blocking any radical action that could be taken under Chapter VII of the Charter. Wellcoordinated sanctions respected by all would make it possible in a few months to make profound changes by peaceful means in South Africa so as to make of that country a prosperous and democratic State for the benefit of all its inhabitants without distinction as to race, sex or religion, as is so clearly proclaimed in the Freedom Charter’ of the African National Congress (ANC). 25. All those Powers that have by direct or indirect methods thwarted such a peaceful evolution tend to identify themselves with the shameful system of apartheid, with white racism, with scorn for human beings as such. We loudly denounce all kinds of cooperation on their part with the Botha regime. We 26. The silence that some would rather preserve around this debate is eloquent in itself. Their selfishness, their hypocrisy and their cynicism are well known and make of them the real subject of this debate, if the truth were told. It is those Powers that strengthen apartheid economically, politically, militarily and strategically, in defiance of the international community which, more than 25 years ago, decided to eliminate that system, which has no place among mankind. 27. The people of Benin, its party and its Govemment, are convinced that no one can stop the wheel of history turning; no system of domination and oppression, no matter how powerful it may be, can withstand the determination of the oppressed people for ever. That people is itself an inexorable force, and no weapon, not even an atomic one, could overcome it. Contemporary history is full of cogent examples of this. 28. The repression which followed the protests of the schoolchildren, students, workers and clergymen of South Africa against the educational system of apartheid did not prevent and will never prevent the people of South Africa from stepping up their struggle against that system of shameful exploitaion of man by man. The repression of the valiant people of Soweto in 1976, still fresh in their memories, in June the children of the Cape and other areas of South Africa once again raised a sizeable movement of protest which the international community should support, as should the Council, and with all its authority. 29. The flames of the coal refinery attacked in the course of the valiant and even bold operation carried out by the armed wing of ANC in spite of the repressive measures taken by the regime, reveal the determination of the people to yield to nothing in their struggle. The international community supports that guerrilla action, which inaugurates a new era in the national liberation struggle of South Africa. The Council should support this new form of struggle, which will become even more intense and which the weapons of apartheid, even atomic ones, will never be able to hold back. All peoples that love peace and justice should increasingly provide material means to ANC so that it may develop that guerrilla war, which has now become inevitable. 3 1. Inside and outside,apartheid constitutes a serious danger and a threat to peace and security in Africa. Acts of aggression against the front-line States, in particular the People’s Republic of Angola, constitute a matter of serious concern for us all. That is why my country, the People’s Republic of Benin, stands solidly behind those waging the struggle for justice and solidarity and associates itself with all men of good will in demanding the release of Nelson Mandela and all the other patriots who are languishing in the gaols of the repressive, barbarous and racist regime of South Africa. 32. If the Council really wants to stop the violence, it must immediately impose on South Africa the economic sanctions provided for in Chapter V!l of the Charter. If it does not adopt that course, the Council will leave only one choice to the oppressed people of South Africa: armed struggle.

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

Mr. President, the warm and friendly relations which exist between Norway and Guyana give me special pleasure in extending congratulations to you on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for the month of June. Your rich experience and well-known diplomatic skills constitute for us an assurance of a positive outcome to the deliberations of the Council during the month of June. 35. I should also like to take this opportunity to express my delegation’s appreciation to Ambassador Oumarou of the Niger for the very efficient manner in which he conducted the business of the Council during the month of May. 36. Mr. President, I wish to thank you, and through you the other members of the Council, for giving my delegation the opportunity to address the Council on the matter of which it is now seized. 37. It is very appropriate that the Council should be considering the situation in South Africa at this time. It is a service to humanity that the African States should have requested this meeting of the Council to consider the development of a situation to which they and other States that love peace and freedom have been calling attention for decades, a situation which 38. The threat posed by South Africa has assumed even graver proportions of late, as the Pretoria rdgime has displayed increasingly the unmistakable signs of a regime under siege, of a regime on the defensive. For as insecurity mounts with the approach of the inevitable, the first surrender is to despair; that in turn leads to, and manifests itself in, acts of wild desperation. That is the situation that we face in South Africa today. 39. The myth of domestic stability of which South Africa has been so proudly boasting has been blown sky-high. Left with no opportunities for constitutional political opposition, the oppressed peoples have turned defiant and are now unafraid to take their protest into the streets: churchmen are protesting against continuing repression and students are protesting against racist education. What is very significant about this protest is that it is no longer based on lines of race; blacks, Indians and Coloured have all come together as an oppressed class protesting against white domination. The oppressed people of South Africa are saying in language loud and clear that they have had enough of apartheid, enough of the regulation of every aspect of their lives, enough of repression. Their bitterness, frust.at.io.n and hatreddmotions spawned by the social; economic atid political.conditions in which they have been forced to live for generations--can no longer be contained and are boiling over. 40. South Africa’s response has been more repression, more police brutality, more fear. It is through just such fear and repression within, and continued support from certain external quarters, that the Pretoria minority regime has been enabled to perpetuate its subjugation over the majority of the people of South Africa. 41. This crisis afflicting South Africa was easily predictable; the very system of apartheid has carried within itself the seeds of such a crisis. There must be something fundamentally wrong in a society where blacks outnumber whites by more than four to one, yet continue to be subjected by that white minority regime to the most cruel social, economic and pohtical oppression, with every aspect of their lives controlled and regulated by the State. Peoples have always fought against such oppression. Indeed, the struggle forliberation has been constant throughout history. The African National Congress of South Africa and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, today banned from South Africa, are natural products of that system, and their liberation struggles will not diminish in the future; on the contrary, they will intensify. 42. The independence of Mozambique, then of Angola, deprived South Africa of a vital defe~nce 43. What is more, there came later the spectacle of South African troops withdrawing from Angola with troops of the MPLA [people’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola] on their heels and the MPLA is still in power in Luanda. The clear lesson of that withdrawal was that South African military power was not invincible, a lesson which has not been lost either on the people of South Africa or on the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO). In fact, South Africa’s conventional military means are being engaged by SWAP0 with such telling effect that South Africa has even resorted to the threat of use of nonconventional means against the neighbouring independent States which support SWAPO. 44. The independence of Zimbabwe in April this year has been traumatic for the Pretoria regime, not only because it brought freedom to the very doorstep of South Africa, not only because of the profound psychological impact of the Patriotic Front victory on the people of Namibia under the leadership of SWAPO, their sole authentic representative, or indeed.on the people of South Africa itself, even among the very whites themselves; but-alsobecause, to the extentthat Prime Minister Mugabe shows the people across the border that blacks and whites can live together on a basis of equality, to that extent his regime constitutes a reproach and a challenge to the upurrheid regime and all that it stands for. 45. Obstinate and tough though the Pretoria regime may appear, my delegation hasno fear of the lessons of history being lost on it. The regime must recognize that ultimately any white Administration in South Africa must come to terms with the political and other aspirations of the black ma,jority. Botha has said, “We must adapt or die”. Yet it is amazing how the regime still continues to avoid adapting or making any accommodations. Instead, there is talk of going ahead with plans to give electricity to Soweto; there is talk of eliminating unnecessary and offensive aspects of petty upurrheid; there is talk also of enlarging and consolidating the tribal homelands. Of course, all this is irrelevant to blacks; it is totally inadequate, even insulting. Steve Biko did not die for such unworthy goals. That was not what Mangaliso Sobukwe lived and died for; Nelson Mandela languishes in Robben Island for much more than Botha wishes to offer to blacks. Before we can see the changes which the oppressed people of South Africa are demanding, many more must die both in South Africa and beyond it; there must be many more bannings, jailings and tortures. Yes, there must be many more Sowetos. ,. 47. It is a puzzling contradiction that, even when respect for human rights is being noisily proclaimed as a basic tenet of Western policy both domestically and internationally, it is precisely Western investment, Western collaboration, that sustains a regime which commits the most massive outrages against human dignity, and it is precisely the threat of Western vetoes which has so far been shielding South Africa from the decisive actions which justice and dignity demand and for which the non-aligned States and peace-loving States in general have consistently called. Nineteen million blacks have been held hostage in South Africa for more than 50 years. Yet when we call for sanctions against the hostage-holders, we are told to wait. Why is there this double standard? 48. The Security Council is the’united Nations body charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. The Council must not be found fiddling while fires are raging in South Africa. It will have abdicated its responsibility if it is found merely trading words and making condemnatory noises while Pretoria’s terrorism snuffs out the lives of South Africa’s oppressed and endangers international peace and security. It is my delegation’s fervent hope that the Council will be allowed to take the action which we all know so well to be required. That action must be firm; it must include the imposition of a comprehensive regime of mandatory sanctions against South Africa, including an oil embargo; and it must include the complete isolation of the Pretoria racist regime. The Council must forthrightly condemn South Africa’s acts of oppression and terrorism against its people and the neighbouring independent States. The Security Council must declare its support for and solidarity with the efforts of a peaceful people which has been left by the South African racists with no choice but to express itself in the militant manner we are now witnessing. No one who stands in the way of such action by the Council can escape responsibility for the increased bloodshed which will most assuredly follow such inaction.

The next speaker is the representative of Viet Nam, whom I invite to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. 5 1. It is a well-known fact that apartheid is a policy which has been pursued for dozens of years now and which has been condemned severely by all progressive mankind. Yet the Pretoria regime has become even more entrenched in its racist course, notwithstanding the resolutions of the international community and the condemnation of world opinion. The entire world has witnessed so many massacres: in Sharpeville in 1960, in Soweto in 1976, and recently, the barbaric repression of students and schoolchildren. These are milestones in the history of the Fascist policy pursued by the apartheid regime against the people of South Africa, as well as being crimes against humanity. 52. In a state of ferment, all of South Africa has embarked upon a new struggle against apartheid and savage repression. For nearly two months now, tens and, at times, even hundreds of thousands of students and primary schoolchildren have been organizing boycotts of their classes, sit-ins and demonstrations and have asked the authorities to release all students arrested without justification and to carry out reforms in the racist educational system. They set 6 June as the deadline for the Government to meet their demands or face a general strike. It should be pointed out that thousands of schoolchildren and white teachers also took part in these demonstrations to support the African schoolchildren. Racist policemen have indiscriminately thrown grenades, killed scores of schoolchildren and wounded and captured hundreds more. But young people in South Africa, determined to regain their rights, continue to forge ahead. 53. Why has this grave situation in southern Africa continued and even been constantly worsening? 54. The cause resides primarily in the very nature of the apartheid regime in Pretoria. Panicked by the victory of the Zimbabwe revolution, the racist colonialists have reacted frantically to the firm resistance of the people of South Africa and have spared no effort and stopped at no criminal action to put down the growing movement of patriotic struggle. After the Soweto uprising, they strengthened their army, purchased new weapons and carried out much more savage counter-attack operations. Ever since the flag 56. In order to put an end to the grave situation in South Africa, we must eliminate its root cause: we must abolish the policy of apartheid from that country and put an end to foreign support for and complicity with South Africa. That is an objective assessment of what is needed in this situation-the only correct and reasonable solution in order to put an end to apartheid in southern Africa. Yet, it is not surprising that some who boast of their support of the national liberation movement and for the struggle of the South African people nevertheless remain silent over the conspiratorial acts of certain Western Powers in support of the apartheid regime. Once again, this is irrefutable proof that they are really pseudo-revolutionaries and that there is collusion between intemational reactionary forces and imperialism within the framework of their strategy for global hegemony. 58. ,The patriotic people and the youth of South Africa are not alone in their struggle. The Special Committee against Aparrheid resolutely demands the vigorous implementation of sanctions against the minority leaders in South Africa. The International Seminar on Women and Apartheid, which just ended its work in Helsinki,‘declared its total support for the struggle being waged by the women and the people of South Africa against the criminal policy of the Pretoria racists. The sixth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Havana, rearmed that freedom, peace, security and progress cannot be achieved in southern Africa unless uparzheid is crushed and replaced by a democratic State. 59. All of Africa and the revolutionary and progressive forces of the world have just once again before this lofty international body demonstrated their militant solidarity with and firm support for the people and the youth of South Africa; The struggle continues, victory is certain-that is the slogan which has always inspired the victorious struggle of the oppressed peoples of Africa. 60. The objective law governing the forward march of peoples is demonstrating that, where there is repression, a struggle will result the scope of which will be proportional to the degree of the repression. In the end, the just cause of the oppressed peoples will win out. 61. The heroic struggle waged by the African people has given eloquent proof of this truism which has the value of historical law. In spite of the most brutal form of domination and in spite of prisons, torture and repression, the peoples of southern Africa have risen up and are bringing about the gradual retreat of imperialism and colonialism with a view to installing true national independence and freedom, as was once again demonstrated by the recent resounding victory of the people of Zimbabwe. 62. The patriots of South Africa, under the banner of the national liberation movement, are successfully rallying the most powerful forces of the country in their struggle against the policy of apartheid of the 63. The people and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam once again pledge their unfailing solidarity to the valiant peoples of South Africa and Namibia in their heroic struggle to liquidate the colonialist racist regime of apartheid and win their right to independence, liberty, dignity and equality. 64. Together with the international community, we most vigorously condemn the Fascist regime of Pretoria for its hideous crimes against the peoples and the youth of South Africa and Namibia. 65. We also reaffirm our complete solidarity with the front-line States, which are sparing no effort and no sacrifice in their support for the liberation movements in southern Africa. 66. We firmly uphold the legitimate claims of ANC, which is calling for the immediate release of patriot Nelson Mandela, the political detainees and the schoolchildren in South Africa who have been illegally imprisoned, as well as an end to repression, the arrest of patriots, workers, clergymen, students and schoolchildren in South Africa. We support the demand of previous speakers that the embargoes on arms and petroleum destined for South Africa should be categorically implemented. 67. Finallv. I should like to call on the Securitv Council, given its lofty responsibilities vis-ci-& history and the international community, to take further decisions and adopt the effective measures required, including the application of Chapter VII of the Charter against the racist rigime of South Africa.

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

Mr. President, at the outset I should like to thank you and, through you, all the other members of the Council, for having given my delegation the opportunity to participate in this debate on behalf of its Government and in its capacity as current Chairman of the Group of Arab States. Last week I congratulated you, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council for this month. Permit me today to convey to you my personal congratulations as well as those of the Arab Group for your wise guidance of the Council’s deliberations. The Arab Group, which I have the honour to represent, is fully confident that your wisdom and diplomatic skills will lead this debate to a responsive, decisive and unam- 70. The participation of my delegation, on behalf of the Group of Arab States, is not only a manifestation of the Afro-Arab solidarity that has been expressed on several occasions and at the highest level but also part and parcel of our joint struggle against racism, exploitation and foreign domination. 71. The question of South Africa has always had an important place in the deliberations of the Security Council and in the General Assembly debates. After more than three decades, the United Nations is still discussing the question of upurtheid and adopting resolutions condemning the atrocities of the racist policy of the Government of South Africa. Not only is the policy of upurrhcid repugnant to the conscience of mankind but it also constitutes a real threat to peace and security in the world. 77. The events that have recently taken place in South Africa should be viewed within the same context. Once again the racist regime of Pretoria has been confronted with resistance to the system of uparfheid imposed upon the millions of black Africans and other Africans of colour. The black African youth have defiantly protested against the racist policy in education. To these protests the Pretoria regime has, as usual, responded with terror that have led to killings and mass arrests. Peaceful protests are the only means for weak and innocent people to express their rejection of injustices and oppressive systems. We have learnt from recent history that oppression never lasts, for a policy of oppression will lead to militancy and the strengthening of forces of resistance. 73. Apurthc4d is not only the official ideology of a State; it is also a system of oppression and exploitation of.a people, by .a racist minority. It is. not only a policy which denies to millions of persons their most elementary human rights, but is also a form of twentieth-century slavery. 72. Today the Security Council is once again compelled to take up the question of the policy of upurthcid pursued and practised by the racist regime in Pretoria. 1 wonder if the Council will this time be able to take the effective measures that are urgently needed to put an end to the dangerous and tragic situation in South Africa. 74. The existence of such a system more than three decades after the signing of the Charter of the United Nations in San Francisco and 32 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an outright challenge to the international community and the principles on which the United Nations was founded. 75. Such a regime, based on the oppression of the majority by a white minority, cannot be maintained because it is in contraventton of the principles of freedom, equality and justice, which are international principles enshrined in the Charter. We are convinced that the racist regime in South Africa cannot survive without the economic and financial assistance and military support provided by certain Western Powers. It is regrettable to note that some Powers which have great inff uence in the international community--and, in particular, certain permanent members of the Security Council-continue to support the racist Government of South Africa. 76. Twenty years ago the blacks who revolted in Sharpeville against the discriminatory -laws which prevented them from travelling from one place to another without special authorization were massacred. 78. The Government of South Africa continues its illegal occupation of Namibia and persists in carrying out its policy of upurtheid and bantustanization, despite the decisions of the International Court of Justice, the General Assembly and the Security Council. The Pretoria regime arrogantly refuses to withdraw from that region and is thus preventing the people of Namibia from achieving self-determination. South African forces are even using Namibia as a base for attacking other neighbouring countries, such as Angola and Zambia. 79. We believe that the duty and responsibility of the Security Council in accordance with the Charter are very clear. The Council must find a solution to the tragedy of the African people, who have been suffering for so many years at the hands of a racist, murderous minority regime. It would have been impossible for that regime to survive had it not been for the support and encouragement of certain Powers, including a similar racist regime, that is, Israel. Israel is a country that has a long history of collaboration with the Government of South Africa. In fact, it goes much further than the traditional co-operation between the two racist regimes. It exceeds the common identity of these two States practising colonialism, racism and exploitation. 80. Our concern focuses on two different systems. The first is the system of upurthrid, which exists in South Africa. The second, without which. the first could not survive, is the international system that 81. The continued flow of arms and material and military technology through sales or transfer to South Africa not only helps to maintain the status quo but will definitely increase the level of violence in that region. It is rather important to witness the similarity between the Israeli and South African regimes. Both countries maintain their colonialism through the escalation of their military capabilities, including nuclear armament. In South Africa you are superior because you are white; in Israel you are superior because you are Jewish-though we do not know the place of the black Jews in Israeli society, as a matter of fact. Both regimes practise oppression, discrimination and racism against the indigenous people. 82. This series of meetings of the Council is drawing the attention of international public opinion to the inhuman and degrading conditions imposed by the racist regime on millions of Africans struggling to regain the freedom and human dignity of which they have been deprived. We hope that during its meetings the Council will be able to adopt measures to implement an effective oil embargo, such as that declared by the countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exportirig Countries. We also hope that the Council will take a decision that puts an end to economic cohaboration and nuclear co-operation with the minority tigime of South Africa. These measures will enable the international community to deal a heavy blow to the racist regime of the white minority and bring about the destruction of the policies of uparrhrid in South Africa.

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

Permit me, Mr. President, before turning to the problem which is the subject of this debate, to express the particular pleasure of my delegation at seeing you, the representative of Norway, presiding over the work of the Council for this month and to wish you every success in the performance of your important functions. 85. I should also like to express my gratitude to you and the other members of the Council for having given the Romanian detegation the opportunity to take part in this debate. 86. The participation of my delegation in this debate derives from Romania’s active and determined opposition to the policy of apartheid and racial discrimina- 87. The ill effects of the policy ofuparrheid and racial discrimination, the extremely tense situation in southern Africa and its serious implications for peace, co-operation and security on the African continent and throughout the world have frequently been discussed here in the Security Council. The African countries and many other States, including Romania, have more than once addressed the Council and called for measures to put an end to the policy of apartheid, which is the most degrading form of inequality and oppression of people of colour and suppression of human rights and liberties, and has generated violence, acts of intervention and aggression against neighbouring independent States. 88. Past debates and the measures adopted by the Council so far have not been enough to improve the situation in South Africa. The danger flowing from the policy of apartheid, which has been described as a crime. against mankind, has only grown. Today the situation of tension in South Africa has reached an unprecedented level. The recent political, economic and social measures taken by the rulers of Pretoria within the framework of the so-called total strategy, whereby they are seeking to create the impression that the apartheid policy is-so they would have us believe-changing, is aimed in the final analysis at dividing the non-white majority population which is forced in its own country to live according to racial criteria in bantustans. These measures serve only to highlight the fundamental contradictions between the small usurping minority in power and the majority of the population, the coloured people, who have been stripped of their most elementary rights and freedoms. 89. Accordingly, the African delegations have shown in the course of this debate that the racist regime has even intensified its repressive actions and has had recourse to demonstrations of strength against the majority black population and the other segments of the South African population who are struggling for the implementation of their legitimate rights and calling for the elimination of the racist system. Massive racist acts of repression have been accompanied by the intensification of acts of violence against the Namibian people which, under the leadership of SWAPO, is struggling for the elimination of the illegal occupation of its country by South Africa, as well as by repeated acts of aggression against the front-line States, particularly Angola and Zambia, acts which have been condemned and continue to be condemned by Romania and the whole of the international community. 90. It is obvious that today the racist regime is facing one of the most serious crises of its history. The 91. The present revival of repressive measures of the armed forces and police against the anti-apartheid protests which has spread throughout the country, against the student movements and students who are protesting against the discriminatory educational system, once again confirms the fact that the racist Government, in the face of the stepped-up struggle for equality and social justice, is becoming ever more brutal and inhumane. 92. That is why, in our view, the Council should shoulder its responsibilities and take resolute and urgent action to meet the demands of the African peoples for a cessation of the violence and repression against the oppressed people, including South African students, for an end to the arrests and detention of ‘those opposing the policy of apratheid, and for the release of political detainees, in particular the leader Nelson Mandela. In this regard, the Charter provides for measures that can and must be taken when peace and security are endangered, and African representatives and other speakers have made suggestions which deserve attentive consideration by the Security Council. New measures should play a major role in the elimination of the state of tension, in support of the African people. They should ensure the participation of the whole population of South Africa, without distinction as to colour, race or religious belief, in the building of its own future and should support the free and independent development of the peoples of that part of the world. 93. The delegation of Romania has on repeated occasions reaffirmed in the Council the firm position of Romania with regard to the policy of apartheid. Romania continues energetically to condemn the policy of apartheid and racial discrimination, which constitutes a defiance of mankind and is a brutal violation of the rights of the majority black people of South Africa, of the Charter and of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a policy which breeds considerable danger for international peace and security. We believe that, in the present circumstances where the aspiration to liberty and independence on the part of the peoples is being asserted ever more vigorously, the abolition of a system of domination and oppression is a major imperative. The realization of that imperative requires the solidarity of a!! progressive, democratic and anti-imperialist forces in the world which support the just struggle of the people of South Africa for their freedom and human dignity. 94. I should like to stress the firm support offered by Romania for United Nations actions and the fact that my country has joined in sponsoring many Security 95. Recalling the guidelines of the foreign policy of Romania, President Nicolae Ceausescu recently firmly reaffirmed the militant position of the Romanian people, one of support for the national liberation struggle. He stressed that *‘Romania has supported and will continue always to support the national liberation struggle of peoples against imperialism, colonialism and neocolonialism, against the racist and apartheid policy and against a!! forms of foreign domination and oppression, because it believes that the most sacred right of every people is to be master of its own destiny, in its own country.” 96. In a message recentlv sent to the President of Romania, the President - of ANC, Mr. Tambo, expressed his appreciation of this militant solidarity of the Romanian people, his gratitude and that of the leadership of ANC for the active support given by Romania to the national liberation movements of southern Africa. 97. The Romanian delegation is convinced that, as a result of this debate, the Council will adopt measures strong enough to provide new momentum for the genera! efforts aimed at eliminating once and for a!! the policy of apartheid and racial discrimination and meeting the aspirations of the South African people for liberty, human dignity and social progress.

I should like to inform members of the Council that I have received a !etter.from the representative of Japan, in which he requests to be invited to make a statement in connection with the tribute paid at this meeting to the memory of the Prime Minister of Japan. In accordance with the usual practice I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite the representative of Japan to make a statement. It was so decided.

I invite the representative of Japan to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement.

We deeply appreciate the expressions of condolence andsympathy that you, . Mr. President, have conveyed to the Government and people of Japan on the demise of Prime Minister Ohira. I am very grateful for this opportunity to thank the President and a!! the other members of the Council. 101. At a time when a!! the Japanese people are experiencing a sense of deep sorrow and*!oss, these 102. Mr. Ohira attached great importance to the work of the United Nations and particularly of the Security Council. During his tenure as Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, and later as Prime Minister, he participated in numerous United Nations forums, most notably the General Assembly and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Throughout his long public career, Mr. Ohira demonstrated a steadfast dedication to the ideals of world peace and prosperity. I should like at this time to assure you, Mr. President, and the other members of the Council, that the demise of our revered leader will in no way diminish my country’s devotion to those ideals. This I Ojjkiul Records of the General Assembly, Tenth Session. Sup plement No. 14, pan. 295. The meeting rose at 1.05 p.m. NOTE HOW TO OBTAIN UNTIED NATIONS PUBLICATIONS United Nations publications may be obtained from bookstores and distributors throughout the world. Consult your bookstore or write to: United Nations, gales Section. New York or Geneva. COMMENT SE PROCURER LES PUBLICATIONS DES NATIONS UNIES Les publications des Nations Unies sont en vente dans les libtaities et la agences d@ositaires du monde entier. lnformez-vous auprh de votre libraire ou adressez-vous 8 : Nations Unies. Section des ventes. New York ou Gcnh. KAK IIOJIYPEITh UBAAHHR OPI-AHH SAI&HH OIi%EAHHEHHhIX HA4BH EI3AaRHR OpraHnaauuH O6’beJg!HeHAblX Ha& MO%HO XyUHTb Ei XHHHcHbIX Yaraanna% n arenTcTBax IIO scex patiomax uspa. HaEOJWTe enpaaxn 06 H3AUIHRX B saureH KH~XCKHOM xarasme XnX nmuXfe no anpecy : OpraHH38UHR 06%eJwPexHblx HaquR. CexIuiR no npoxarte Ha~aRHR, Hbm-FfOpX mu XG?.HeBa. COMO CONSEGUIR PUBLICACIONES DE WS NACIONES UNIDAS Las publicaciones de las Naciones Unidas e&t en venta en hire&s y casas distribuidoms en todas partes de4 mundo. Consulte a su librero o dirijase a: Naciones U&as. Seccibn de Ventas. Nueva York o Ginebra. Litho in United Nations. New York 00306 83-61462-8eptember 19862.050