S/PV.2507 Security Council

The next speaker is the representative of Egypt. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. 85.. The representatives of Angola and other African and non-aligned. countries who have spoken in the Council, in particular the representative of India, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, have condemned South Africa’s aggressive actions against Angola and have demanded that the Council finally take effective measures to force the racist aggressors to halt their atrocities against neighbouring African peoples and to yield to the opinion of the world community. 93. Mr. KHALIL (Egypt) [interpretation from Arabic]: Mr. President, I should like to express my gratitude to you and the other members of the Council for giving the delegation of Egypt the opportunity to participate in the debate on this subject, which is of great importance to international peace and security in general and to Egypt as an African country in particular. 86. The Soviet delegation associates itself with those demands. We believe that it ishigh time to adopt effective measures against South Africa in accordance with Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. 94. At the outset I should like to congratulate you on your accession to the presidency of the Council for this month. On this occasion we would express our pleasure that Egypt and the Netherlands have always enjoyed relations of friendship and co-operation. We are confident that under your wise leadership the Council will be able efficiently to carry out the important task before it. 87. In the years of the independent existence of its country, the Angolan people has had considerable success in carrying out social and economic reforms and in building a popular democratic State. But the Angolan people has had to build its new life inextremely difficult conditions. 95. I should also like to express our thanks to your predecessor, Mr. Gauci, the representative of Malta, and President last month, for the skill and diplomatic competence he demonstrated in conducting the business of the Council. 88. Angola is in the front ranks of the struggle against imperialism, colonialism and racism. The foes of independence and freedom for all of Africa are massed against Angola, but Angola is not alone. It has many friends. The valour of the Angolan people in the struggle against the designs of external and internal foes and for the defence of its country has won it the profound respect of the entire world. The struggle of the Angolan people in defence of a just cause, relying on the solidarity of all progressive forces in the world, will without any doubt be crowned with victory. , 96. Once again Angola finds itself compelled to bring to the attention of the Council the question of the continuing occupation of parts of its territory by the forces of the racist Pretoria regime. As is well known, the aggression by the forces of that regime against Angola started in the first hours of that country’s independence. That aggression continued in varying degrees until, in 198 1, it was transformed into permanent occupation of some of the southern parts of Angolan territory, giving categorical evidence, if the international community needed such evidence, that the racist South African regime, in its aggression against Angola and its occupation of parts of its territory, seeks the achievement of a single goal: compelling thatcountry to accept without any opposition its colonialist and racist:policies and schemes in the region. That explains the material and moral support the Pretoria regime gives to the terrorist movements working against the legitimate regime in Angola. 90. The Soviet Union is linked to.Angola by a treaty of friendship and co-operation; it has been providing and will continue to provide every possible support in the, defence of Angola’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, 89. The position of the Soviet Union on the question under discussion could not be clearer. Our sympathy and support go to free and independent Africa, to the African peoples struggling for freedom and independence. The Soviet Union categorically condemns South Africa’s aggressive policy against Angola, the occupation by South African troops of part of Angola’s territory, and the direct participation of those troops on an ever-growing scale in military actions making use’of UNITA gangs. 97. Angola-has never constituted a threat to South Africa; it does not constitute such a threat now, and it never will. That is clear. 98. First, on several occasions since Angola’s independence, its Government has expressed its sincere wish to achieve peace and stability in southern Africa 9 1. We believe that in the present circumstances the Council, as the organ with primary responsibility for 100. Thirdly, it seems the racist Pretoria regime is continuously attempting to ignore the inescapable geographical fact that it has no common borders with Angola. There is between Angola and South Africa a territory that separates them: Namibia, which is illegally occupied by South African forces in defiance of the will of the international community and the resolutions of the United Nations. All of this clearly indicates that the main reason for South Africa’s continued aggression against Angola, and its occupation of parts of Angolan territory, is not security, as has beenalleged by the Government of,the racist regime. Rather, it is its dissatisfaction with the policies of the present legitimate Government of Angola. 101. The peoples of southern Africa in general and the people of Angola in particular have suffered greatly throughout their history as a result of colonialism and foreign occupation and the attendant exploitation of their material and human resources. They are now in dire need of stability and security so that they can devote themselves to the responsibilities of development, make up for last time and catch up with the march of progress, of which they have been deprived in years past. 102. The aggre-ssi.on by the racist Pretoria regime against Angola and against the front-line States not only prevents the peoples and Governments of the region from devoting themselves to the tasks of development; it also inflicts upon them huge losses in life and property as a result of the destruction and havoc caused by this aggression. : _’ ‘, ‘. ‘_ ‘. ‘. :. ._ :-. :. _-. :_ ._ -. : .’ :_ 103. As for the remark made by the representative of South Africa in-his statement to the Security Council on Friday last [250&h meeting], when he said that the acts carried out by the-forces of the Pretoria regime in the southern parts of Angola were aimed at protecting Africa from extemai threat, in the face of such an allegation my delegation feels in duty bound to reaffirm here that the acts of aggression and destabilization carried out by SouthAfrican troops in southern Africa in general, and in Angola in particular, in themselves make possible interference by foreign forces in the affairs of the African continent. :. 104. It is clear that the continued aggression by South African armed forces against Angola, South Africa’s 105. Egypt hopes that the Council will play its role in complete consonance with what the international community expects of it: clear and categorical condemnation of South Africa’s aggression against Angola. and occupation of parts of Angola’s territory and the demand that the racist Pretoria regime desist from its aggression and violation of the territorial integrity of Angola, immediately and unconditionally withdraw its forces from Angolan territory and pay appropriate compensation to Angola for the huge losses of life and property it has inflicted on that country in past years. 106. The Egyptian delegation also hopes that the Council will consider the imposition on the Pretoria regime of the sanctions provided for in Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations if that regime fails to implement the Council’s resolutions.

I should like to inform members of the Council that I have received a letter from the representative of Cuba in which he requests to be invited to participate in the discussionof the itemon the agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite that representative to participate in the discussion, without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Roa Kourf (Cuba) took a place at the Council table.

I call on the representative of Cuba. 109. Mr. ROA KOURI (Cuba) [interpretation from Spanish]: Mr. President, my delegation very much admires the manner in which you are conducting these meetings of the Council. We are convinced that, with your acknowledged talent and your diplomatic experience, you will be able to conduct these proceedings successfully. 110. We should like to take this occasion to pay a tribute to your predecessor, our friend Mr. Gauci of Malta, on the excellent manner in which he presided over the meetings of the Council during the month of November. We should like also to thank the members of the Council for this opportunity to speak in this debate. 111. Since the middle of 1981, when its troops occupied part of southern Angola, in flanrant violation of the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of that country and of international law and the Charter of IO 112. This is, of course, not the first time that the Council has met to consider the Angolan Government’s complaints against South Africa. Indeed, a few days after the declaration of Angola’s independence, the racist regime tried to prevent that independence by launching a large-scale invasion deep into Angolan territory. The determined and effective action of FAPLA [Forgas Armadas Populares de LibertaGao de Angola] and the Cuban internationalist forces, whose assistance was requested by the then President, Comrade Agostinho Neto, to defend the national sovereignty and independence that had been so dearly won, thwarted Pretoria’s criminal designs and repelled the racist forces. 113. Independent Angola has since then, however. had to protect itself against continued &provoked South African attacks and aggression and has had to wage periodic battles in the southern provinces against bandits armed, trained and directed by the Pretoria racists and by imperialism. They are developing a policy of harassment of the civilian population and carrying out sabotage of the national economy, as tactics to divert attention from the ferocious raids of Mr. Botha’s henchmen on Namibian refugee camps. 114. Since 1976 the Council has adopted various resolutions [resolutions 387 (1976), 428 (1978), 447 (1979), 454 (1979) and 475 (2980)] calling,on South Africa scrupulously to respect the independence, national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Angola; to pay compensation for the damage caused to life and property and forthwith to cease provocative armed invasions and totally and unconditionally to withdraw all its troops from -Angolan territory. 115. As a result of the negative vote of one permanent member of the Council, the United States, and the unlimited support its Government gives the Pretoria racists, the South African forces have repeatedly ignored the United Nations call and continue to occupy parts of the southern territory of Angola and to carry out acts of aggression against various targets in the country, openly defying the Organization and world public opinion. 116. Suffice it to read the letter dated 15 December from Mr. R. F. Botha to the Secretary-General to see, once again, the insolent and scornful attitude of the South African racists towards the decisions of the Council. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the apartheid regime states in his letter that “the South African Government remains prepared to begin the process of implementing Security Council resolution 435 (1978) upon resolution of the problem of Cuban forces in Angola” [see S/16219, annex I]. 118. -The problem is not the presence of the Cuban internationalist forces in Angola, which are there under a sovereign agreement between two independent Governments, but the occupation by South African criminals of parts of Angolan territory. 119. The first and, in fact, the only thing that must be stated by the representatives .of the racist regime is when they will withdraw their invading troops from the territory they are occupying illegally within Angola, and in direct violation of the Charter. This is no more nor less than what the international community, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Angolan Government are requesting. Any other reply is irrelevant ‘and can only be taken as an attempt to confuse the issues and dodge the principal question. 120. Furthermore, it has ,been made perfectly clear that the presence of. my country’s internationalist forces is a matter that falls exclusively within the purview of the Governments of Angola and Cuba and that those forces will remain where they are until an end has been put to the danger to Angolan security, sovereignty and independence represented by the continued and, of course, illegal occupation of Namibia and parts of Angolan territory by South African racists. 121. Mr. Botha’s letter is just one more manoeuvre by his repressive regime and is motivated solely by Angola’s complaint to the Council. It has no other purpose but to set up a smoke-screen around its acts of aggression and outrage against Agostinho Neto’s homeland. + 122. In fact, as we have stated in this forum and in the General Assembly, the designs of the Pretoria regime and its allies are perfectly clear, albeit illusory: to keep Namibia occupied, where they intend to impose a neocolonial solution and prevent the triumph of SWAPO, the sole, legitimate representative of the Namibian people; and to work to destabilize the Government of the People’s Republic of Angola, with a view to bringing it back to neocolonial and imperialist domination and turning it into a vassal regime of South Africa. 123. Such a strategy, including the destabilization, overthrow or neutralization of the independent Governments of various neighbouring and front-line States, is meant to create a zone of neo-colonized countries around South Africa which would enable it to preserve and develop its infamous and monstrous system of apartheid and to strengthen and extend the spurious interests of imperialism in southern Africa and beyond the region. 124. The Council must vigorously condemn the racist regime for its military occupation of the southern part 125. In addition, South Africa must scrupulously respect the territorial integrity, national sovereignty and independence of Angola and provide speedy and full compensation to its Government for the serious damage caused to its infrastructure and to other vital sectors of the economy and for the loss of life occasioned by the armed invasion and occupation of its territory. 126. The Secretary-General, who has carefully followed the development of the situation in southern Africa, must report to the Council on compliance with whatever resolution is adopted. If South Africa, as it has done in the past, refuses to abide by this body’s decisions, then the comprehensive, binding sanctions provided in Chapter VII of the Charter must be applied without further vacillation. 127. It is high time to bridle the South African aggressors. The trotting-out of spurious and irrelevant arguments to explain away the continuation of a situation that violates international law and the Charter is a subterfuge which the Council must not go on accepting or it will become an accomplice in the cheap tricks being used by the racist regime and in its aggressive and expansionist policy. 128. The Council must be strict in its decisions: South African troops must be made to withdraw from Angola, immediately and unconditionally. If they refuse to do so then the full weight of international law must be brought to bear on the Pretoria criminals. This, in our opinion, is the inescapable responsibility of the Council.

I should like to inform members of the Council that I have received a letter from the representative of Turkey in which he requests to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite that representative to participate in the discussion without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Giikce (Turkey) took a place at the Council table.

I call on the representative of Turkey.

Mr. President, I thank you, and through you the members of the Council, for giving me this opportunity toaddress the Council on the question of the occupation of parts of Angola by South Africa. 132. We. have already had the opportunity-last week-to congratulate you on your assumption of the 12 ,* 133. The crisis created by the invasion of southern Angola by South Africa is an international issue affecting peace and security in all of southern Africa, and it has been on the Council’s agenda many times -be it directly, as in 1981, or when it has been dealt with within the framework of South Africa’s illegal occupation of Namibia. 134. Despite the deep concern and alarm expressed by the international community on these and other occasions over the continuation of this South African invasion of large parts of Angolan territory, South Africa has not hesitated to maintain, and in fact even to consolidate, its hold over the southern part of Angola. 135. For evidence of the true nature of South Africa’s intentions on Angola, it will suffice to cast a quick look-quick so as not to take up too much of our time by repeating well-known observations-at the area surrounding South Africa. If we do that, we see that South Africa is engaged in tactics of intimidation, destabilization and eventual domination against all its neighbouring African States. These policies of the South African Government have been condemned on various occasions by all the Members of the United Nations. Concomitantly, it can hardly be denied that these aggressive policies are part and parcel of South Africa’sdesire to establish supremacy in southern Africa, which in turn is designed to enable South Africa to eliminate all resistance to the continuation of its deplorable internal policies of racial discrimination, and its illegal occupation of Namibia. 136. Under these circumstances, Angola. has every justifiable reason to call once more on the international community, and particularly the Council, to ensure the speedy withdrawal of South African military forces from its territory. When it is considered that Angola has been the target of attacks by South Africa ever since the moment Angola achieved its independence in 1975, and that these attacks and occupation have increased in their severity during the past three years, the Council should be prepared to consider effective measures against South Africa. It becomes evident that only if South Africa totally reverses its intransigent and belligerent attitude can a solution be found to this situation. The meeting rose at 1.05 p.m. NOTE t A/38/312, annex, resolution AHG/Res. III (XIX). HOW TO OBTAIN UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATIONS United Nations publications may be obtained from bookstores and distributors throughout the world. Consult your bookstore or write to: United Nations, Sales Section, New York or Geneva. COMMENT SE PROCURER LES PUBLICATIONS DES NATIONS UNIES Les publications des Nations Unies sont en vente darts-les librairies et les agences depositaires du monde entier. Informez-vous aup& de votre libraire ou adressez-vousa : Nations Unies, Section des ventes. New York ou Geneve. KAK HOJIYYHTh H3AAHHR OPrAHHBAI~HZI OG’bEAAHEHHhIX HAIWR COMO CONSEGUIR PUBLICACIONES DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS Las publicaciones de las Naciones Unidas esdn en venta en lib&as y casas distribuidoras en todas panes del mundo. Consulte a su librero o dirljase a: Naciones Unidas, Secci6n de Ventas, Nueva York o Ginebra. Litho in United Nations, New York 00300 90-602OCMarch 1!95’2-2,050