UNITED NATIONS

UNITED NATIONS CENTRE AGAINST APARTHEID 5/88 ..' April 1988 INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CALLS FOR A RENEWED EFFORT TO ABOLISH RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND APARTHEID [Note: On 21 March 1988 the Special Committee against Apartheid held a solemn meeting in observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This issue, which is published at the request of the Special Committee, contains the texts of statements made at the meeting.] Inited Nations, New York 10017 88-11238

- 2- CONTENTS Page STATEMENTS MADE AT THE 614TH MEETING OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE AGAINST APARTHEID HELD ON 21 MARCH 1988 TO OBSERVE THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION A. Statement by Mr. Peter Florin (German Democratic Republic), President of the General Assembly ...... 4 B. Statement by Mr. Javier P~rez de Cuellar, Secretary-General of the United Nations ...... 5 C. Statement by Mr. Dragoslav Pejic (Yugoslavia), President of the Security Council ...... 6 D. Statement by Mr. Guennadi I. Oudovenko (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic), Acting Chairman of the Special Committee against Apartheid ...... 8 E. Statement by Mr. Peter Dingi Zuze (Zambia), President of the United Nations Council for Namibia ...... 10 F. Statement by Mr. Oscar Oramas Oliva (Cuba), Acting Chairman of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples ...... 12 G. Statement by Mr. S. Shah Nawaz (Pakistan), on behalf of the Committee of Trustees of the United Nations Trust Fund for South Africa ...... 14 H. Statement by Mr. Tom Obaleh Kargbo (Sierra Leone), Chairman of the African Group of States ...... 15 I. Statement by Mr. Constantine Moushoutas (Cyprus), Chairman of the Asian Group of States ...... 16 J. Statement by Mr. Ivan Garvalov (Bulgaria), Chairman of the Group of Eastern European States ...... 18 K. Statement by Mr. Hugo Navajas Mogro (Bolivia), Chairman of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States ...... 19

- 3 L. Statement by Mr. Adriaan Jacobovits de Szeged (Netherlands), Chairman of the Group of Western European and Other States ...... 21 M. Statement by Mr. Mzwandile Piliso, African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) ...... 22 N. Statement by Mr. Joseph Mkwanazi, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) ...... 26 0. Statement by Mrs. Monica Nashandi, South West Africa People's organization (SWAPO) ...... 29 P. Statement by Mr. Riyad Mansour, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) ...... 31 Q. Statement by Mrs. Coretta Scott King ...... 31

- 4 - STATEMENTS MADE AT THE 614TH MEETING OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE AGAINST APARTHEID HELD ON 21 MARCH 1988 TO OBSERVE THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION A. Statement by Mr. Peter Florin (German Democratic Republic), President of the General Assembly Today is the twenty-eighth anniversary of the day on which police in the South African town of Sharpeville opened fire at a peaceful demonstration, killing and injuring hundreds of black South Africans. For this reason the international community marks 21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Time and again we are reminded that racial separation is being pursued as a State doctrine in South Africa and that millions of people are being denied their fundamental human rights. Murder and terror have become the order of the day in that country. Last week, thanks to worldwide protests and appeals, it was possible at least to achieve a stay of execution of the Sharpeville Six. Today, from this rostrum, I once again urge President Botha to grant clemency to the six young South Africans. Today, 21 March, the international community commemorates all those who lost their lives in the struggle against racism, whose most abominable form is apartheid. We are in full solidarity with the numerous patriots who, despite persecution, imprisonment and heinous murder, are fighting for a united, free and non-racist South Africa. The policy of apartheid affects not only the oppressed population in South Africa but also the Namibian people, who continue to suffer from the illegal colonial occupation of the racists. Furthermore, the peoples of sovereign African States are exposed to constant acts of aggression and attempts at destabilization by Pretoria. The result of that policy is instability in the region, which has existed now for years. History teaches us that a r6gime whose existence is based on the social oppression of peoples through the application of racial theories constitutes a serious threat to international peace and security. Therefore, the General Assembly for decades has rightly been dealing with the situation in South Africa as a matter of high priority. It has condemned the policy of apartheid pursued by the Government in Pretoria as well as the illegal occupation of Namibia and the acts of aggression against independent neighbouring States. It has proposed ways to solve the conflict. Permit me in this connection to recall the results of the forty-second session of the General Assembly. The States represented in our forum of peoples have unanimously called for a political settlement of the conflict. Although that formulation allows for various models for a solution, it shows us the only possible way to prevent any further Sharpevilles and an escalation of the conflict that would become totally uncontrollable. We demand that the Government of Pretoria end the terror and make possible a political settlement of the conflict which would eliminate apartheid and every other form of racial discrimination forever. That

- 5 - position was expressed by the overwhelming majority of the community of States in General Assembly resolution 42/23 A. I quote paragraph 4 of that resolution, in which the General Assembly demands, inter alia: "that the racist r6gime end repression against the oppressed people of South Africa; lift the state of emergency; ... eliminate apartheid laws and end military and paramilitary activities aimed at neighbouring countries". In paragraph 5 of the resolution, the Assembly "Considers that the implementation of the above demands would create the appropriate conditions for free consultations among all the people of South Africa with a view to negotiating a just and lasting solution to the conflict in that country." However, the South African Government is not demonstrating any readiness to end the policy of apartheid, which was rightfully denounced by the United Nations as a crime against humanity. The prohibition against political activities that was issued in February for the most important anti-apartheid organizations of South Africa and their leading representatives leaves no doubt that the Botha r6gime is attempting to crush the democratic movement against apartheid and to maintain that anachronistic and inhuman system, which has no place in today's world. I believe that those measures are a lesson for those who have so far believed that the so-called reforms would make it possible to bring about change in South Africa. Today more than ever before it is obvious that apartheid cannot be reformed. It must be totally eliminated. In my capacity as President of the forty-second session of the General Assembly I appeal to all States of the world Organization to render, in conformity with the decisions of the United Nations, all possible support for the struggle of the peoples of South Africa and Namibia against racist oppression. B. Statement by Mr. Javier P6rez de Cu611ar, Secretary-General of the United Nations Once again, as we observe this International Day, our attention is focused on apartheid, which represents the most repressive and institutionalized form of racial discrimination. The worsening situation in South Africa adds a unique poignancy to this observance. It is a tragic commentary on our times that, despite the efforts of the United Nations over four decades to bring about its elimination, apartheid still remains in force. It is equally sad that in the 28 years since the Sharpeville massacre occurred.,conditions in South Africa have steadily deteriorated, taking a heavy toll of human life and inflicting massive suffering. During my recent visit to Africa its leaders again impressed on me that concerted international measures were needed to end that inhuman policy. They also emphatically urged the early implementation of the United Nations plan

- 6 - for the independence of Namibia, the withdrawal by South Africa of its forces from Angola and the cessation of the acts aimed at the destabilization of its neighbours. Those issues are high on the agenda of the General Assembly and the Security Council and demand our constant attention. Recently there has been a further grave deterioration of the situation in South Africa. The ban imposed last month on 17 organizations and the largest black trade-union federation, namely, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, as well as on 18 black leaders, has the effect of further blocking the peaceful avenues of opposition to apartheid. In a statement I made on the very same day calling on the Government of South Africa to rescind the new regulations I expressed the view that the clamp-down on political expression would aggravate existing tensions within the country and lead to new violence. Repeated calls have been made on the South African Government to comply with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations. I myself have repeatedly appealed for a positive response to Security Council resolution 569 (1985), which has called for the unconditional and immediate release of Nelson Mandela and all other political prisoners, the elimination of apartheid and the establishment of a free, united and democratic society in South Africa based on universal suffrage. That resolution continues to be ignored. The South African Government must cease its defiance of the urgings of the international community and seriously reconsider its position and heed the call of the Security Council. Without the elimination of apartheid there can be no peace and security in southern Africa. While paying tribute today to all victims of racial discrimination I would like to express my appreciation of the efforts of the Special Committee against Apartheid in the mobilization of public awareness of all the aspects of apartheid and for its invaluable work in forging co-ordinated international action towards a peaceful solution of this tragic situation. Racial discrimination is offensive to all human beings. Forty years of apartheid are an embarrassment to our entire civilization. Sooner or later that iniquitous system will have to give way to a just and rational order. But the sooner that end is achieved the less will be the cost of an inevitable change. This becomes compellingly clearer with developments every day. C. Statement by Mr. Dragoslav Pejic (Yugoslavia), President of the Security Council First of all, I should like to thank the Chairman and the other members of the Special Committee for inviting me, as President of the Security Council, to participate in the observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. I should like to seize this opportunity to pay a tribute to the work of the Special Committee, under the able chairmanship of His Excellency Major-General Joseph Garba, for its vital contribution to the struggle against apartheid and to urge support by all Members for the work of the Special Committee. On this day, which coincides with the twenty-eighth anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, the members of the Security Council join with the rest of the international community in remembering all who are or have been the victims of racial discrimination, not least those who have suffered from the policies of apartheid. The United Nations was founded on a firm belief in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of the human person. Among its purposes and principles as enshrined in the Charter are the promotion and encouragement of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms in its article 1 that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights". Following the Sharpeville massacre of 21 March 1960, the Security Council considered the grave situation created by apartheid. Since then, the Security Council has repeatedly condemned the abhorrent policy by which racial discrimination has been institutionalized and which is an affront to human dignity, and has called upon the Government of South Africa to bring it to an end. The Council has reaffirmed that the policy of apartheid is a crime against the conscience and dignity of mankind and is incompatible with the rights and dignity of man, the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and seriously disturbs international peace and security. The Council has expressed its support for and solidarity with all those struggling for the elimination of apartheid and racial discrimination and all victims of violence and repression by the Government of South Africa. In its resolutions the Council has reaffirmed that only the total elimination of apartheid and the establishment in South Africa of a free, united and democratic society on the basis of universal suffrage can lead to a solution, and it demanded the immediate eradication of apartheid as the necessary step towards the establishment of a non-racial democratic society based on self- determination and majority rule through the full and free exercise of universal adult suffrage by all the people in a united and non-fragmented South Africa. With regard to the policies and acts of the South African Government and its defiant continuance of the system of apartheid, the Security Council decided upon a mandatory arms embargo against South Africa. In a statement made by the President of the Security Council on behalf of the members of the Council in June 1986, the members urged the immediate and unconditional release of all persons detained in respect of the struggle against apartheid and called for the immediate lifting of the nationwide state of emergency. The President of the Security Council also issued a statement on behalf of Council members expressing their deep concern about the decree issued on 10 April 1987 by the South African authorities, under which nearly all forms of protest against detentions without trial or support for those detained are prohibited. Recognizing that the root cause of the situation in South Africa is apartheid, members of the Security Council once again strongly condemned the apartheid system and all the policies and practices, including the latest decree, deriving therefrom. They again called upon the Government of South Africa to end the oppression and repression of the black majority by bringing apartheid to an end and to seek a peaceful, just and lasting solution in accordance with the principles of the Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They urged the Government of South Africa to enter into

- 8 - negotiations with the genuine representatives of the South African people with a view to establishing in South Africa a free, united and democratic society on the basis of universal suffrage. At the request of the Group of African States and Zambia, the Security Council resumed its consideration of the question of South Africa from 3 to 8 March 1988 in the light of the ban imposed on a number of organizations and individuals on 24 February this year. From the statements made at those meetings, it was clear that the international community found those recent measures of oppression to be intolerable. On 16 March 1988 the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution in which it called upon the South African authorities to stay execution and commute the death sentences imposed on the Sharpeville Six and expressed grave concern at the deteriorating situation in South Africa resulting from the apartheid system. I wish to assure the Special Committee that members of the Security Council are also totally dedicated to the attainment of the same goals of justice and peace in southern Africa. The inhumanity, suffering and subjugation of a large black majority in South Africa and in Namibia represent a blatant violation of the dignity, value and sacred character of the human person and must end forthwith. The members of the Security Council are firmly committed to doing all in their power, consonant with the Charter of the United Nations, to contribute to the enjoyment by all South Africans of the rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. D. Statement by Mr. Guennadi I. Oudovenko (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic), Acting Chairman of the Special Committee against Apartheid The United Nations observes this International Day every year to renew its commitment to the struggle for the eradication of racial discrimination. To the international community, the abolition of apartheid is a major task in that struggle. Racial equality and freedom are principles which are enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On this date we mark the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, an incident that shook the conscience of the world. We are here today to express our solidarity with the victims of apartheid. We are here also to express our hope that the stay of execution granted to the Sharpeville Six will encourage continued efforts by the international community on behalf of the Six. It is evident that South Africa is engulfed in a conflict that might lead to a violent conflagration among the peoples of that country. The recent bans and restrictions imposed on mass-based democratic organizations show that the r~gime is determined to maintain its white minority rule at all cost by crushing any and all opposition. In banning organizations and individuals that have been in the forefront of peaceful opposition to apartheid, the r~gime makes clear that it intends to impose a solution to the political crisis of the country involving only certain black leaders of its choosing and within a political framework that precludes any challenge to white minority rule. There is no longer any doubt that the rigime is far from interested in

-9 - a process of negotiating the peaceful dismantling of apartheid and moving towards the establishment of a non-racial, democratic and unitary South Africa based on universal suffrage. It is also clear to the international community that South Africa is confident that, regardless of the brutality of the measures taken against the opposition, certain countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom will continue to treat the apartheid r~gime literally in the manner of business as usual. Such was the case recently during the Security Council debate on South Africa, when the United States and the United Kingdom used their veto power to block the international community from adopting effective and enforceable measures against the apartheid r6gime. It is the support given to South Africa by these countries which encourages the r~gime to defy the will of the international community. It is also this support that underlies actions such as that of the Government of Chile, which infringes on the mandatory arms embargo by inviting South Africa to participate in the current "FIDA 88 Arms Exhibit" in Santiago. In these Chambers we often hear about the crimes of the apartheid r~gime; we often hear of the suffering of the black majority. And yet we also need to hear about the spirit of resistance that prevails in that beleaguered country. It is the spirit embodied in the youth of the townships; in the workers in the factories and the trade unions; in the women and their organizations; and more significantly nowadays in the clergy who defy President Botha and his security apparatus and carry the message of the new society - non-racial, unitary and democratic: the message carried before by the organizations now banned. History has shown that the will of a people prevails in the end over tyranny and oppression. Apartheid will disappear; its demise is historically inevitable. The question before the international community is whether or not apartheid will be dismantled through peaceful means. Time is quickly running out in South Africa. The silencing of peaceful opposition has plunged South Africa into a downward spiral away from a peaceful solution of the conflict in that country. The United Nations has the duty and the responsibility to respond to the call for effective action, not just words or piecemeal measures. As the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group said in their report, "The ordinary black people throughout South Africa look to the world for more than just moral clarity." Theirs is a challenge for the world not to stand aside. And that we must not do. On the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, the international community must call again on reluctant Governments to join the rest of the world in adopting effective and mandatory measures against the apartheid r4gime. In closing, I should like to recall the words of a South African poet: "Praise the children of South Africa, The white children And the black children,

- 10 - But more the black children. They lost the sea, They lost the sand. And may they not lose love For the white child Whose fathers despoiled the land". E. Statement by Mr. Peter Dingi Zuze (Zambia), President of the United Nations Council for Namibia Let me start by expressing my appreciation to the Special Committee against Apartheid for inviting the United Nations Council for Namibia to participate in this special meeting in observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Perhaps no other sector of the international community has a greater understanding of the evil consequences of racial discrimination than the people of southern Africa. In southern Africa racial discrimination is a cold, calculated system of depriving the vast majority of the people of the region of their fundamental human and political rights on the basis of race and colour. The effects of racialism are particularly felt in South Africa and Namibia, where apartheid is enforced by law. There, the colour of your skin determines the toilet you should go to. Reports of deaths of numerous South Africans and Namibians are now a daily occurrence. The racist Pretoria r~gime has resorted to arbitrary arrests and detentions without charge or trial in order to muzzle the voices of freedom. More Draconian laws prohibiting political dissent and opposition to the abhorrent policy of apartheid have been enacted. We hear of daily harassment of the black people, including notable names such as Desmond Tutu and Allan Boesak. The United Nations Council for Namibia, which is the legal Administering Authority of Namibia until the Territory's independence, has unreservedly condemned the obnoxious system of apartheid practised by the minority r~gime in South Africa. The extension of this evil system to Namibia, which South Africa illegally occupies, constitutes the most blatant defiance to the international community by the racist Pretoria r~gime. A listing of instances of repression and abuse of human rights by the racist Pretoria r4gime would be time-consuming and unnecessary at a special event such as this one. Suffice it to say that the apartheid r~gime of South Africa continues to flout with impunity the will of the entire international community. It continues to violate the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations which by the terms of its preamble aims at the promotion and encouragement of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex or religion. The racist Pretoria regime continues to violate the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which lays down specific standards and common principles for the achievement of equal rights, freedom and dignity. It acts in complete violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the International Convention on the Suppression of the Crime of Apartheid, the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and the International

- 11 - Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights. The United Nations, and more particularly the Security Council, continue to be helpless witnesses to the racist Pretoria rigime's arrogant defiance of the numerous appeals of the international community that apartheid be eradicated and that South Africa withdraw from Namibia to allow the Territory to proceed to independence. South Africa's response to these appeals has been to maintain apartheid with even greater brutality and to strengthen its hand of oppression in Namibia by mobilizing a military force which now exceeds 100,000 troops and imposing a puppet administration committed to the furtherance of the interests of the racist Pretoria r6gime rather than those of the people of the Territory. These inhuman and illegal measures by the racist Pretoria r6gime have exacted a heavy toll on the people of South Africa and Namibia and have led to unprecedented exploitation of the human and natural resources of Namibia. It should be clear even to the most ardent supporters of the racist r6gime of Pretoria that the perpetuation of apartheid and the illegal occupation of Namibia, as well as the flagrant and massive violations of human rights of the people in South Africa and Namibia, constitute a challenge to the whole international community and in particular to the United Nations. We know that the South African r~gime derives its arrogance from the support and encouragement it receives from certain powerful Western countries, including two permanent members of the Security Council. Those countries have joined in the condemnation of apartheid but continue to befriend South Africa. They have subscribed to the United Nations resolutions while allowing their investments in South Africa to continue and flourish. They have openly engaged in the hypocrisy of double-dealing, and their condemnation goes hand-in-hand with co-operation. They have continued to bluff the world with patronizing arguments that sanctions against South Africa would hurt contiguous black States more than the white people of South Africa. All of us know that sanctions would deprive the white South African of the lavish standard of living he now enjoys. By casting or threatening to cast vetoes in the Security Council, those Western countries have blocked the adoption of effective measures necessary to force the racist regime of South Africa to abandon its evil system of apartheid and to withdraw from Namibia, thereby allowing the Territory to accede to independence in accordance with Security Council resolution 435 (1978). It is my deep conviction that the time has arrived for us to put an end to South Africa's defiance of the United Nations and its contemptuous disregard of world public opinion. The world community must stand up and be counted. The situation in southern Africa is a threat to international peace and security and undermines the very principles on which the United Nations was founded. In the light of South Africa's continued defiance of the Charter of the United Ntions and its persistent use of force to perpetuate its policy of apartheid and its illegal colonial domination of Namibia, as well as its repeated military aggression and acts of destabilization against the neighbouring independent African States, the full and effective application of the measures provided for under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter is

- 12 - necessary to restore peace, justice and freedom in southern Africa. The United Nations Council for Namibia has repeatedly called for such international pressure to isolate the Pretoria rigime and compel it to abandon apartheid. We express appreciation to all those States, institutions, organizations and individuals who have taken a firm stand against the Pretoria r~gime. We in the Council for Namibia have campaigned in all regions for the eradication of apartheid and for the emancipation of the people of Namibia from the yoke of South Africa's colonial occupation. We shall continue to expose to the world South Africa's crime of occupation. We are most gratified and encouraged by the rising level of enthusiasm and support for these efforts. The Pretoria r~gime now finds itself an object of unprecedented international pressure and isolation, despite the support it still gets from some major Western countries. We shall continue to work together with non-governmental organizations, parliamentarians, Namibia support groups and individuals in our further efforts to remove the stain of South Africa's occupation of Namibia from the conscience of the world. In both South Africa and Namibia the situation has reached a point which the international community can no longer tolerate. On behalf of the United Nations Council for Namibia, I wish to commend the efforts of the Special Committee against Apartheid, and to enjoin all States, non-governmental organizations and concerned individuals to support those efforts. It is our moral and political responsibility to consider a decisive course of action to enable the people of South Africa and Namibia to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination, freedom and national independence. F. Statement by Mr. Oscar Oramas Oliva (Cuba), Acting Chairman of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples On behalf of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples I wish to thank the Special Committee against Apartheid for having invited me as Acting Chairman of the Special Committee to address this solemn meeting to observe the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This year, the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre coincides with a dangerous deterioration of the situation in southern Africa in general and in South Africa in particular, which poses a grave threat to peace and security in the region. Racist Pretoria continues flagrantly to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of neighbouring independent States. Ignoring the unanimous appeal issued in October by the Security Council that it immediately withdraw its invading forces from Angola, the r6gime has stepped up its acts of military aggression, penetrating ever deeper into the national territory of a sovereign country. The r6gime has also continued to perpetrate acts of sabotage against the people and the Government of Mozambique, through its assistance and support to renegade terrorist groups.

- 13 - Within South Africa, the racist r6gime has expanded and strengthened the nationwide state of emergency, during which the world has witnessed unjustifiable and arbitrary detention of innocent citizens and respected religious leaders, near-total censorship of information media and the banning of democratic mass organizations that advocate peaceful transition. The tragedies of Sharpeville and Soweto and the recent lamentable developments in South Africa and the neighbouring regions clearly show that peace and stability cannot coexist with inequality, injustice and contempt for human rights. Equality for all before the law and the principle of non- discrimination are the very foundations of a just society, from which apartheid will have been eradicated. It should be clear to all that there can be no peace in a country in which the overwhelming majority of the population is deliberately denied its human dignity, is subject to arbitrary arrest and detention or is indiscriminately murdered and in general is excluded from all aspects of political, economic and social life. Such measures could only lead to greater violence and racial conflict, with inevitable international repercussions. Today's meeting once again offers us, as members of the international community concerned about the situation, an opportunity to reaffirm our determination to eliminate racism and racial discrimination wherever they may exist and to emphasize again the international community's duty to contribute to the achievement of freedom, equality and justice for all. The contemptuous attitude of the apartheid r6gime, reflected in its arrogance and in its recent defiant statement in the Security Council, is in character with its persistent attempts to ignore the legal rights of peoples and international norms and principles governing relations between States. There is no longer any valid pretext for delaying the adoption of effective measures in accordance with the Charter, beginning with the application of selective minimum sanctions, as recently called for, in vain, by a majority of the members of the Security Council. The constant inability to take decisive action can only help further to bolster South Africa in implementing its shameful policies and practices of apartheid. Our goals are set forth in the Charter and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They will not be attained until all nations recognize that civil and political rights are closely linked to economic, social and cultural rights, and until nations act in concert to eliminate all such violations of such rights, such as arbitrary arrest and detention without trial, torture and political persecution. As the United Nations body responsible for finding the most appropriate ways to eliminate all the vestiges of colonialism, whatever its shape or manifestation, including racial discrimination and apartheid, the Special Committee will continue to do everything within its power to bring about the prompt implementation of the United Nations resolutions relating to South Africa and Namibia. In that respect, the Special Committee fully supports and endorses the Secretary- General's appeal to Member States to increase their contributions and provide generous support to the various United Nations funds and programmes supplying humanitarian, educational or legal assistance to the

- 14 - victims of the repressive and discriminatory laws in force in South Africa and Namibia. It is my hope that all those who genuinely believe in the dignity of the human being will take advantage of this solemn occasion to join in solidarity with the courageous people of southern Africa in their resistance to injustice and tyranny, and will renew their firm resolve to hasten the dawn of the day when apartheid, racial discrimination and colonialism will have been eradicated from the world once and for all. G. Statement by Mr. S. Shah Nawaz (Pakistan), on behalf of the Committee of Trustees of the United Nations Trust Fund for South Africa The Special Committee against Apartheid is holding this solemn meeting in observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which also marks the twenty-eighth anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre. The burden of that tragedy weighs heavily upon us, even today. The Sharpeville Six still face the harsh and unjust sentence of execution, despite international appeals for clemency and the most recent call of the Security Council for a stay of execution and commutation of the death sentences. Pretoria continues to disregard world public opinion and the widespread consternation at its continued implementation of the odious policies of racial discrimination, in flagrant violation of all the accepted norms of international morality and civilized behaviour. The Special Committee against Apartheid is fully engaged in efforts to eradicate that abhorrent system. We wish to take this opportunity to express our deep appreciation of the valuable contribution that the Special Committee continues to make in that regard. My country has the privilege to serve on the Committee of Trustees of the United Nations Trust Fund for South Africa, which has given me the honour of reading out the following statement on its behalf: "On behalf of the Committee of Trustees of the United Nations Trust Fund for South Africa, I should like to thank the Special Committee against Apartheid for inviting me to address this solemn meeting in observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. I take this opportunity to reaffirm the solidarity of the members of the Committee with the peoples of South Africa and Namibia who are persecuted or imprisoned because of their opposition to apartheid. "Today's commemoration of the twenty-eighth anniversary of the tragic events which took place on 21 March 1960 in Sharpeville should be the occasion not only to pay tribute to the victims of that tragedy, but also to renew our pledge to redouble our efforts in support of the cause for which they made the supreme sacrifice - the cause of freedom, justice and equality of opportunity for all in South Africa. As we commemorate this International Day, the last vestiges of freedom of association and expression are being removed by the South African authorities. The recent crack-down on 17 major organizations engaged in non-violent opposition to apartheid can only have ominous implications for the prospects of a peaceful, just and lasting solution to the conflict in

- 15 - South Africa. This latest crack-down on every form of peaceful protest and dissent will also have implications in terms of increased assistance to the victims of apartheid. "At this critical juncture in southern Africa, it is more important than ever not only to ensure that adequate resources are available to cope with the dramatic increase in the need for humanitarian and legal assistance, but also that conditions for the provision of such assistance inside South Africa and Namibia are maintained and preserved. "To the credit of the United Nations, we must state that the international humanitarian effort in which the Organization has been involved for many years has not only helped keep alive the hope of those yearning to be free, but also strengthened the universal conviction that in the end humanity, common sense and justice will prevail in South Africa." H. Statement by Mr. Tom Obaleh Kargbo (Sierra Leone), Chairman of the African Group of States Throughout the ages man's full development has always been haunted by intolerance of his fellow-man, brought on by deep-seated irrational fear and hatred, which are often fanned into unspeakable acts of cruelty. It must be admitted that the accelerated technological development which the world has witnessed this century has often outdistanced man's moral and intellectual capacity to function in a multi-ethnic social environment. There are many today in our world who bear the memory and the scars of racial discrimination and intolerance, and many more for whom daily life is an unending experience of racial discrimination and injustice. It is to them that our thoughts must go as we observe the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, for which the tragedy of Sharpeville, 28 years ago, has become symbolic. Since its birth the United Nations has assiduously promoted the observance of human rights among peoples to broaden the frontier of racial harmony through elaborating international instruments in this field and condemning vigorously instances which demean the individual and deprive him of his dignity. Much of this activity is a continuous process, requiring the dedication and commitment of, primarily, Governments to the purposes and principles enshrined in our Organization's Charter. Not all Governments, however, have discharged this obligation. Among these, South Africa stands alone, consigned to the bar of humanity's conscience as a violator of all that is decent and enlightening in man. When reason deserts Governments, the natural ennobling qualities separating man from the lower animals are sacrificed to erect institutions which pander to our baser instincts. Then homage is paid to the god of bigotry and the freedom which is everyone's birth-right takes flight in the face of intolerance. For years the international community has focused attention on the situation in South Africa, calling for the dismantling of apartheid. That apartheid continues to exist is proof not only of South Africa's

- 16 - intransigence, but also of the need for the international community to strengthen its resolve to use all available means to put an end to a policy universally recognized as anathema. Posterity will not treat us kindly if in the face of the ever-present danger to internal stability and international peace and security which apartheid poses all nations fail to exert themselves sufficiently to render impossible future Sharpevilles. As our world approaches the twenty-first century, there arises an irrepressible need to address critical issues with a frankness and honesty atypical in this century. How much of a legacy we bequeath to future generations will be determined to a large extent by our ability and willingness to be introspective and empathetic. We cannot establish a firm foundation on which racial harmony and international intercourse will flourish if we blinker ourselves to the insidious stirrings of racial prejudice and xenophobia in some parts of the world. Whether they are small groups with aims at racial supremacy or even individuals in key positions inflaming ethnocentric sentiments, it will be a critical miscalculation for us to underestimate the undercurrents of this trend or for nations to dismiss such activities with benign indulgence. Though incidents of this type may appear unconnected and sporadic, we should not conclude that they are harmless and the work of deviants and eccentrics. Past tragedies have sprung from equally seemingly innocuous agitation. As we observe this Day, the alarm must be sounded not just for apartheid, but also for what are clearly the first uneasy steps in many parts of the world of a reawakening monster who should be deprived of nourishment. The memory which the victims of racial discrimination have passed down through the years should not be allowed to fade. It is our link with the reality of injustice and deprivation. From it we must summon courage to crest the waves of hatred and turmoil which characterize racial discrimination and intolerance. Our shoulders must continue to bear the heavy burden of promoting interracial understanding, with larger freedoms for all. I. Statement by Mr. Constantine Moushoutas (Cyprus), Chairman of the Asian Group of States The international community has, since the establishment of this Organization, recognized that human rights are of deep concern to humanity. It has also recognized that discrimination on any ground - be it race, sex, colour, religion or ethnic origin - can no longer be tolerated. That is why the United Nations has through the years of its existence made it one of its primary objectives to adopt measures to eliminate discrimination, prejudice and intolerance. The Asian Group of States has from the very beginning been totally committed to the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination and the eradication of the abhorrent system of apartheid, which constitutes a pure negation of the value and dignity of man. As we observe today the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which this year coincides with the twenty-eighth anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa, on 21 March 1960, we pay tribute to the memory of all patriots who have sacrificed their lives to the noble

- 17 - cause of freedom, racial equality and the dignity of the human person. We pay tribute to the hundreds of thousands of political prisoners in South Africa who endure their hardships with pride and a fighting spirit. As Nelson Mandela once put it, "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and enjoy equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But, if need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." The international community continues its struggle for the eradication of the doctrine and practices of apartheid and racial discrimination, the existence of which constitues an affront to the United Nations and humanity as a whole, because the cause of human dignity and man's fundamental rights is a common responsibility that we must all assume and strive for. To this ever-growing international struggle, condemnation and indignation, the South Africa r~gime shamefully responds with complete disregard and insensitivity. The inhuman policies of oppression, exploitation, segregation and discrimination continue unabated. Majority rule is being constantly denied to the indigenous population of South Africa, and their most fundamental rights and freedoms are being violated. The situation in South Africa has recently been aggravated, as evidenced by the new wave of repressive measures and wholesale restrictions and bannings on mass organizations and associations by the South African r~gime. The proud people of South Africa continue to challenge the apartheid r~gime by strikes and demonstrations, making it abundantly clear to their oppressors that, whatever the cost they have to pay, whatever violence the racist r~gime may inflict upon them, they will not succumb, they will not cease their fight, until apartheid is eradicated, until a united, non-racial and democratic South Africa is established. The intensified repression of the apartheid r4gime of South Africa has caused untold misery to millions of people. Thousands of political prisoners suffer inhuman torture and maltreatment, and death sentences continue to be imposed on freedom fighters. In this respect, we take the opportunity to join our voices with the international appeal to all Governments and organizations to do everything in their power to bring pressure to bear upon the racist Pretoria r6gime to save the lives of the six young South Africans, the Sharpeville Six, who have been illegally condemned to death. All Member States must urgently take whatever steps are possible, jointly and individually, to forestall this inhuman act of judicial murder and demand the cessation forthwith of all other repressive acts against the legitimate aspirations of the South African people. In conclusion, I wish to reiterate the Asian States' total commitment to, support of and solidarity with the people of South Africa for freedom and dignity and the eradication of apartheid and racial discrimination. I find no better words that could more appropriately express the international community's determination and commitment to the eradication of apartheid than those of Winnie Mandela, who said: "We are aware that the road before us is uphill, but we shall fight to the bitter end for justice."

- 18 - J. Statement by Mr. Ivan Garvalov (Bulgaria), Chairman of the Group of Eastern European States I am honoured, in my capacity as Chairman of the Group of Eastern European States for the month of March 1988, to address this solemn meeting on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the commemoration of the twenty-eighth anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre. The elimination of racism and racial discrimination has been among the highest priorities of the United Nations since its very foundation. Decades of efforts by the international community and the United Nations, the elaboration and entry into force of major international instruments such as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, the launching of two consecutive United Nations Decades to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, and the convening of international conferences to deal with important related problems have all contributed dramatically to raising public awareness and concern, as well as to achieving a number of significant results in this field. Regrettably, however, much remains to be done before apartheid, racism and racial discrimination will vanish once and for all from the face of the planet. The most urgent and pressing task in this regard remains the total abolition of apartheid, the system of institutionalized racial discrimination and oppression in South Africa. It is difficult to avoid the feeling of grave concern, sadness and frustration at the mere thought of the death, assassination, torture, suffering and humiliation endured by several generations of black South Africans in South Africa and Namibians in Namibia. Millions of persons who were born and have reached the prime of their lives since the tragic day of the massacre at Sharpeville must still face the horrible reality of apartheid taking its daily toll of human life and broken hopes. Recent developments in South Africa which have added to the already long history of systematic and gross violations of human rights, brutalities and oppression by the South Afrian racist r~gime have once again shown the deplorable effect of the sustained support from abroad for the system of apartheid and its proponents. Those recent events have also confirmed the long-established, self-evident truth that there is no such thing as a more humane apartheid and that it can be reformed. Apartheid must be eliminated. Today, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the world by and large pays homage to the memory of all those South African patriots who have given their lives for the achievement of this noble goal and salutes with admiration the struggle and determination of the millions of South Africans and Namibians who pursue their heoric struggle in their countries. The States of Eastern Europe join in this solemn occasion. They have always been among the staunchest and most active proponents and supporters of resolute, comprehensive and practical measures to do away with apartheid and all forms of racism and racial discrimination, wherever they may occur. They

- 19 - fully subscribe to the conclusion, contained in the Programme of Action adopted by the Second World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, that racism and racial discrimination in all their forms constitute crimes against human dignity and must be eliminated by effective and co-ordinated international actions. Therefore, we reiterate our firm rejection of the abhorrent and inhuman system of apartheid and our full solidarity with and support for the just struggle of the peoples of South Africa and Namibia. We support wholeheartedly all the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council to that effect. We reiterate our call - shared by the overwhelming majority of Member States - for the imposition of comprehensive mandatory sanctions against South Africa in accordance with Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. The members of the Group of Eastern European States take this opportunity to reaffirm again their strong and consistent commitment to and active participation in any practical steps and measures for the total and complete eradication of apartheid, racism and racial discrimination in all their forms and for the achievement of international co-operation for the full, effective and universal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. K. Statement by Mr. Hugo Navajas Mogro (Bolivia), Chairman of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States Today, 21 March, a day on which we once again remember with sorrow the massacre at Sharpeville, I pay heartfelt homage and tribute to all those men, women and children victims of oppression and injustice under the apartheid system. With them have also been sacrificed the freedom, peace, human rights and dignity of a whole people. While discrimination among human beings on grounds of race and skin colour persists the international community's conscience cannot rest, and today the community renews its solidarity with the peoples of South Africa and Namibia, peoples oppressed and persecuted by a regime acting on orders and anachronistic motives of supposed racial supremacy. For this reason the members of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States express their most vigorous condemnation and indignation at this arrogant abuse of power, and at the same time wish to convey a message of support and hope to the courageous peoples of South Africa and Namibia and their liberation movements in their just and heroic struggle against apartheid. But it is our hope that the echo of this message will not die within this Hall, but that it will continue to resound beyond the walls of this room and be heard clearly by the oppressors and the oppressed: that the former will feel the weight of the international community's accusation and condemnation and the latter the firm support of this Organization. Latin America and the Caribbean are active in this struggle. A few days ago a seminar was held in Lima, Peru, on the role of the information media of Latin America and the Caribbean in the campaign against apartheid, with the participation of the United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Director of the Centre against Apartheid, representatives of the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), with a view to fostering the broadest possible dissemination of information in the - 20 - region on the situation in South Africa and promoting the World Campaign against Apartheid. Throughout all these years the United Nations - in both the General Assembly and the Security Council - the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and other international bodies have time and again adopted resolutions condemning the policies and practices of apartheid, calling for the abolition of that system which on an institutionalized basis systematically offends, undermines and destroys the inherent dignity and physical integrity of human beings. First came appeals and exhortations to the Government of South Africa to end a r~gime which is totally incompatible with and offensive to present-day values of our civilization. Far from heeding those appeals by the international community, the Pretoria Government has not only continued its policy of apartheid but has also intensified it, both domestically and internationally, by means of acts of aggression, destabilization and political subversion directed against neighbouring States. The situation has become even more extreme with the declaration and continued imposition of the state of emergency which confers total powers on South African police forces and legitimizes abuse and injustice. Recently, on 24 February, the Pretoria r~gime imposed further restrictions on South African political organizations opposing apartheid in South Africa and further suppressed peaceful protest demonstrations. To make that situation even worse, the Pretoria Government has pronounced the death sentence on the Sharpeville Six - a sentence that the Government of South Africa has been obliged not to execute for a month owing to the international community's outrage, protest and pressure. But that temporary stay is not enough and, on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, we call on the South African Government to revoke definitively the unjust death sentence hanging over the Sharpeville Six. Let the shameful accumulation of injustice and repression not be swollen further by the blood of these victims of such a cruel regime. Let us also remember Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners who have become the symbol of their people's resistance and struggle. History teaches us that rule by force cannot be maintained very long, much less indefinitely. That is a lesson which the Pretoria Government should constantly bear in mind. It must realize that the conditions on which the apartheid r6gime was built are crumbling; that the increased severity of its policies and discriminatory practices are hardening spirits and going beyond the limits of human resistance; and that the uncontainable forces of survival and freedom - until now restrained but not defeated - of a subjugated people will find their own solutions through action and sacrifice which may entail unforeseeable consequences. This Organization has itself reaffirmed the legitimacy of the struggle of the oppressed South African people and its right to employ all possible means available to it to bring about the total eradication of apartheid, the principal cause of the critical and explosive situation in South Africa. Without question, there can be no peace, calm or tranquillity so long as this reign of terror - as it has been described by the Special Committee - continues to prevail. The responsibility lies with the Pretoria Government.

- 21 - It is therefore imperative, indeed vital, for that Government to embark on serious and responsible dialogue with the true representatives of the black people of South Africa to bring about the prompt abolition of the apartheid r~gime and pave the way for a modern State based on principles of democracy, freedom, equality, respect for human rights and peaceful coexistence. The United Nations, the forum of peace par excellence, wishes to attain those goals through all the peaceful means at its disposal. But we believe that we cannot wait any longer for a negotiated solution of the South African problem, if we wish to avoid greater and more tragic sacrifices. In this connection my country, Bolivia, and the other members of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States have supported the appeals of the General Assembly urging the Security Council to take the necessary steps to impose sanctions as the most appropriate, effective and peaceful means available to the international community to exert maximum pressure on the Pretoria Government and as an expression of its firm and resolute support for the struggle of the South African people. We know that a long and rugged road still lies ahead. We know much is being done and many things are being adopted and put into place by various bodies. Unfortunately, they are not enough to give grounds for hope that the apartheid r~gime and its effects will be rapidly eradicated. However, we are certain that sooner, rather than later, the international community will successfully exert its great moral weight and attain its goal of eliminating racial discrimination and apartheid by all the peaceful means in its power, so that the noble cause of respect for freedom and human rights will be victorious also in South Africa. L. Statement by Mr. Adriaan Jacobovits de Szeged (Netherlands), Chairman of the Group of Western European and Other States The members of the Group of Western European and Other States continue to express their resolute opposition to any form of discrimination based on race, colour, national or ethnic origin. They are firmly committed to the goal of speedily eliminating racial discrimination throughout the world in all its manifestations, as called for in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. They regard racial discrimination as a violation of the basic human rights enshrined in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Twenty-eight years after the Sharpeville massacre - the tragic event being commemorated today - the international community is still faced with the most abhorrent example of racial discrimination, the institutionalized racist policy of apartheid in South Africa. The members of the Group of Western European and Other States have repeatedly and unequivocally condemned that policy and reiterate their abhorrence of the apartheid system today. They demand of the South African Government the total abolition of apartheid and urge it to take concrete and meaningful steps to that end. Only the complete elimination of the apartheid system will enable the South African nation to find a peaceful solution to the serious problems facing it and the region of southern Africa. They are deeply

- 22 - concerned at the level of repression and violence in South Africa and at the arbitrary imprisonment and detention, even of young children, and the maltreatment and torture inflicted on a number of detainees. The recent measures taken by the South African Government, the de facto ban on 17 South African organizations and the restrictions imposed on several of their leaders, followed by the arrest of Archbishop Tutu and other church leaders during a peaceful demonstration against those measures, constitute further proof of the repressiveness of the South African apartheid system and have dealt a severe blow to efforts to move South Africa peacefully to a society which practises racial equality. The Group of Western European and Other States shares the grave concern expressed by the international community over the death sentences passed on the Sharpeville Six. The decision of the South African Supreme Court to postpone the executions gives new hope that the lives of these persons will be saved. The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination gives the international community the opportunity once again to reaffirm its resolute repudiation of all manifestations of discrimination, wherever and whenever they may occur, particularly the policy of apartheid of the South African Government. The elimination of racial discrimination in all its forms remains one of the most important challenges facing the international community, and the Group of Western European and Other States pledges full support for efforts towards the realization of that goal. M. Statement by Mr. Mzwandile Piliso, African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) On behalf of the fighting people of South Africa and their liberation movement, the African National Congress, I wish to pay tribute to the Special Committee against Apartheid. We meet today to commemorate the twenty-eighth anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre. The severe restrictions placed on the political activities of 18 organizations in South Africa, including the United Democratic Front and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), together with 18 prominent anti-apartheid leaders, is a poignant reminder that apartheid is not dead, that apartheid continues to mean the degradation and humiliation of the blacks and poverty, malnutrition, death and destruction for our people, the people of Namibia and the entire region of southern Africa. It is indeed a violation of the peace and stability of the region, and constitutes a grave threat to world peace. In its frenzied attempt to salvage a decaying system, the racist r~gime of South Africa promptly banned the Committee for the Defence of Democracy formed by men of vision, churchmen - among them Archbishop Tutu and the Rev. Alan Boesak - who saw the danger of leaving a void in the African political scene. This is a vain attempt completely to crush all meaningful opposition, to destroy the credibility of the democratic movement in the country and to leave a vacuum to be filled, hopefully, by its puppets and collaborators in the illegitimate local government elections in September this year, which have been rejected by our people in advance.

- 23 - It is ironical that Pretoria has gone to such lengths while proclaiming that the anti- racist forces in South Africa have been severely weakened, if not destroyed, and having convinced the mass media in the West that the state of emergency in 1987 had curtailed, if not crushed, the resistance in South Africa. It is true that the mass repression of the last two years in particular, akin as it is to a Fascist reign of terror, has resulted in the arrest, imprisonment and torture of thousands of youth, including children of 10 to 15 years of age. At least 2,000 young people have been killed in the last two years by violent groups of thugs in the form of paramilitary groups, vigilantes, death squads and kitskonstables - agents of the police, army and special branch - armed and protected by the security forces. The tragic death of hundreds of people in and around Pietermaritzburg is not due to so-called black-on-black violence, but is a consequence of the measures to which the manipulators of the system of apartheid will descend in an attempt to eliminate the patriotic and democratic organizations in the area. The sentencing of the Sharpeville Six to death and turning down their appeal is part of the terrorist methods employed by the Government and the security forces. The threat of execution is supposed to be a warning to the entire democratic movement of what might happen. Although there was no real evidence of participation by any of them, the threat still hangs over them. We urge the Committee to continue urging States Members of the United Nations to keep vigilance. There is no doubt that representations by Governments and the concern of millions of people the world over made their contribution. I should state here that 40 young patriots are on death row in South Africa, waiting for the gallows. The Special Committee should take note of that and assist in sensitizing world public opinion on the question. International opinion shares in our victory in the release of Govan Mbeki, which should have created the atmosphere for the release of Nelson Mandela and the other political prisoners, but for the Government's intransigence and Botha's appeasement of the far right. The campaign for the release of the political prisoners needs to be resurrected with more vigour than ever before. Twenty-six years in prison in the case of Nelson Mandela is more that a lifetime. The conscience of mankind must be aroused to add to what actions we take for the release of the political prisoners. Nor is South Africa's barbarity confined within its borders. In Mozambique it arms and supports RENAMO against the Government of Mozambique, despite the Komati Agreements. In Angola it not only arms and supports UNITA, but is sustaining the biggest and most vicious aggression ever. We congratulate the People's Republic of Angola on its resistance and are confident that it will ultimately win. But we believe that the world, and especially the West, can act resolutely to end the carnage if it forgets self-interest. Namibia remains under the colonial and military occupation of South Africa. World public opinion has denounced this occupation. The United Nations has admitted its share of responsibility. Yet nothing can be done. Is it perhaps, we wonder, because Namibia has uranium and is also rich in

- 24 - other minerals? Is it because it is a suitable launching pad for aggression against Angola? Many other questions could be asked; we should be interested in the answers. All the Governments of southern Africa are under constant economic destabilization by a bully with no regard for the peoples of the region; yet there are Governments that are ready to veto decisions taken by the Security Council imposing sanctions against that country for atrocities and wanton murder perpetrated against the people of the region. In South Africa itself, it is true that in 1987 the mass democratic organizations suffered some set-backs due to the mass arrests, which included the leadership, some of whom were forced underground and have to work from there. Over 300,000 people in all were arrested and detained. But by their actions the people demonstrated that they would never submit or surrender. Despite the atrocities perpetrated against it, COSATU strengthened its position, successfully leading some of the most memorable workers' strikes in the labour history of South Africa: three general strikes in May and June 1987; the 10-week strike at OK Bazaars; the 12-week strike of railway workers; the strike of over 80,000 metal workers; and the miners' strike, involving 340,000 mine workers. From January to August 1987, 5.5 million working days were lost due to strike action, the highest figures recorded in the turbulent history of South Africa. Moreover, COSATU has decided on a stay-at-home today and tomorrow, and preliminary reports are that that strike is overwhelmingly successful. In the past year ANC and its allies have strengthened their underground structures and combat capacity. Units of UmKhonto weSizwe, our people's army, continue to engage the enemy in battle. It is these actions that have compelled Pretoria and its allies to concede that ANC is central to any resolution of the conflict raging in our land. We do not make a fetish of, nor do we glamourize, the armed struggle, but in our conditions, dramatically heightened by the latest attacks on the mass democratic movement, we are left with no choice but to resist with arms in hand. Our answer to Pretoria's combined arrogance, intransigence and ruthlessness is to intensify the armed struggle. Our armed offensive must assume the level of intensity that is consonant with the general task of advancing towards people's power - towards a democratic and non-racial South Africa. It is we, millions and millions of people, that have an alternative vision of a free democratic and humane South Africa, the very opposite of everything that the apartheid r6gime stands for. It is a vision we are ready to fight for and if necessary to die for, as Nelson Mandela said. We have said in the past, in accordance with the Freedom Charter, that South Africa belongs to all who live in it. But for any Government to be legitimate it must rule by the will of the majority. We are therefore enamoured not of the method, but the product, so long as it justly represents the aspirations of the majority of the people and on the way fulfils certain requirements. Some 30 years ago the then President of the African National Congress, Chief Albert Luthuli, called on the peoples and Governments of the world to

- 25 - impose economic sanctions on South Africa. Hardly a handful of States in the West has answered that call. Instead, some argue that economic sanctions do not work. That is very interesting to us, because one could cite Cuba, which has been under sanctions for a very long time. One could cite Nicaragua and Panama. One could cite many other countries in the socialist camp against which sanctions have been imposed. But when it comes to South Africa sanctions cannot work. Yet many small countries are for ever in fear of being on the wrong side of the donor countries, lest assistance to them be withdrawn or reduced. South Africa is a developed country and in its own right an imperialist country. If one tampers with the process of finance and development one will have destroyed the base. At the same time, cutting the link with international financing means that profits are affected. This is why we believe that the United States, Great Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, France and Japan will do everything to protect South Africa. That is the problem when it comes to mandatory economic sanctions. We ask those who are convinced to work as hard as they can to convince those who are hard of hearing; failing that, to go for people's sanctions, working through trade unions to urge workers and shoppers not to handle goods from South Africa. One economist has written that, if the United States, Great Britain and the Federal Republic of Germany would join in imposing mandatory economic sanctions, Pretoria would be brought to its knees - and we add that that would minimize the loss of life and bloodshed and not completely destroy the brotherhood and comradeship that still remain. We support the struggle of the Palestinian people, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). We condemn the Fascist-like methods employed by the Israelis against the people of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Of course we are not surprised, because Israel and South Africa are sides of the same coin; they co-operate in all fields, including, it appears, methods of repression. In summary, we believe that our struggle requires the international community's co-operation, and thus we call on the Committee to continue to heighten the campaign for mandatory economic sanctions. If necessary, we recommend that it go to the Security Council, even if certain countries would veto it; renew the campaign for the release of all political prisoners; condemn the banning of the 18 organizations and 18 leaders in South Africa; welcome the decision of the Ministerial Council of the Organization of African Unity recommending that the Security Council should hold at least one meeting in southern Africa to discuss the southern Africa question, thus affording as many persons as possible from that region an opportunity to appear before the Security Council; continue to reject any positions in South Africa that seek to compromise solutions short of one man, one vote; and prioritize support for the Sharpeville Six, bearing in mind that that occurred at a time when the whole country was answering the call "to make South Africa ungovernable".

- 26 - N. Statement by Mr. Joseph Mkwanazi, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) We meet once more on this solemn occasion to commemorate the twenty-eighth anniversary of the massacre of Africans at Sharpeville and Langa, in racist South Africa, in 1960 - a day which the international community, under the United Nations umbrella, observes annually and in a fitting manner as the International Day for the Elimination of Racism. Significantly, today we meet only three days after the devilish sword of the racist r6gime nearly struck again at Sharpeville by hanging the Sharpeville Six. Thanks to the Special Committee against Apartheid - under the able and dynamic leadership of Ambassador Joseph Garba - which took up the campaign against the judicial murder of those innocent patriots and even made it possible for us to bring their relatives here during the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the death of the Founder-President of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC). It cannot be said that the matter is over, because the Six received only a delay of execution. I bring you, Mr. Chairman, warmest greetings from the Sharpeville Six through their relatives. They have expressed their great appreciation to this Committee, the Security Council and the international community at large for all that has been done to save their lives for the time being. PAC, the custodian of the genuine aspirations of the African majority, continues to implore the international community to keep the pressure on racist Botha not to murder those innocent patriots. This Committee should receive a statement directly from the relatives today. As we meet today, the Azanian people have organized very successfully a strike to commemorate this day. Our information is that it has been 100 per cent successful, especially in Soweto and Sharpeville itself. On behalf of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, I have the solemn duty and honour to pronounce before this august assembly that the oppressed masses of Azania will, throughout this year, be observing the tenth anniversary of the death in detention of the Party's Founder-President Mangaliso Robert Sobukwe, who on 21 March 1960 launched and personally led the decisive positive-action campaign against the pass laws system in racist South Africa. As we now know, the Boer regime reacted with panic and at noon on that day the racist police panicked and killed 69 unarmed Africans - men, women and 10 children. On the evening of the same day, as the racist faced the real might of our people under the leadership of PAC, they again panicked and killed three persons at Langa Township, near Cape Town. The Pan Africanist Congress has been humbled by the decision and action taken by the Special Committee against Apartheid, which convened a special session on 27 February 1988 to honour our illustrious leader, Mangaliso Sobukwe, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his death. The tragic killings of our people at Sharpeville and Langa deeply pained us as a liberation movement, particularly our Founder-President

- 27 - Mangaliso Sobukwe, who was then in prison and was refused permission by the racist regime to attend the mass funeral. With the Committee's permission, we of PAC consider it extremely important, particularly at this juncture, to set the record straight once and for all with regard to the events at Sharpeville and Langa, not for our own sake as an organization, but for the sake of history and posterity. It has been erroneously and repeatedly said that the massive protests on the morning of 21 March 1960 were spontaneous outbursts of our people against the hated pass laws. Whilst we acknowledge the fact that our people have hated the pass laws from their introduction in 1809, it is a fact of history that the decision to challenge the obnoxious system of pass laws at the beginning of 1960 was taken at the First National Conference of PAC, held in Orlando near Johannesburg on 19 and 20 December 1959. Our late President Mangaliso Sobukwe was given a full mandate by a resolution of the conference to call the nation to action as soon as possible to launch "the final and decisive action" for the total abolition of the pass laws. That was part of a deliberately designed unfolding PAC programme of action which has subsequently been followed by the launching of the armed struggle in 1961 and the Soweto uprising of 1976 which led to the notorious Bethal Eighteen secret trial of our national President, Comrade Zephania Mothopeng, and 17 other militants. Comrade Mothopeng is serving a 30-year gaol term. But it is also significant for this assembly to note that we meet here today when the racist r~gime recently clamped down on 18 black organizations in the country because they dared to oppose the oppressive machinery which is operating in that God-forsaken land. Also, late on Friday, 18 March - the day on which the Sharpeville Six were to be hanged - the racist r~gime detained six members of the Executive of the Azanian National Youth Unity (AZANYU), which organized the strike now going on in Soweto, Sharpeville and other parts of our country. Those youth leaders are detained under the state of emergency regulations in Soweto gaol. Under those regulations their detention will be indefinite. For more than two years now our people have been subjected to gruelling conditions under a double state of emergency, with the imprisonment and torture of children and an unprecedented muzzling of the press comparable only to conditions under Nazi Germany. Here we ask: What are the lessons of Sharpeville to the oppressed people of Azania and the world at large? First and foremost, it is true that at Sharpeville and Langa we buried our dead; but it is also true that the method of non-violent resistance against the racist r~gime was also buried at Sharpeville. Hence Sharpeville and Langa significantly changed the entire complexion and direction of the struggle for the liberation of Azania. Secondly, Sharpeville and Langa instilled in our people the iron determination to resist the enemy with all means at their disposal, without fear of imprisonment and death - and the enemy knows that.

- 28 - Thirdly, for the first time in our country's history the leader of a liberation movement, Mangaliso Sobukwe, refused to make a plea in a racist court of law on the grounds that "we are under no moral obligation to obey the laws which have been made by an exclusively white minority r~gime". He told the presiding racist magistrate that the PAC position was that "an unjust law could not be justly applied". This has been our consistent position throughout. For PAC, there shall be absolute non-collaboration with the racist r~gime, including its dummy and puppet institutions. It is precisely for this reason that we will never seek the unbanning of PAC by the racist r~gime, for such a move will imply recognition of the authority and legitimacy of that r6gime. Fourthly, the PAC will never engage in negotiations with the racist r6gime for the mere sake of negotiations. We do not reject negotiations as a principle, but we can engage ourselves only in principled negotiations. We submit that there is no basis for negotiations with the racist regime at this juncture and the climate is definitely not conducive for any negotiations. There can be no negotiations between master and slave, the oppressor and the oppressed, the exploiter and the exploited, the dispossessor and the dispossessed. How does one negotiate with a thief who still has in his possession one's stolen goods? Our struggle is now based on the following five principles enunciated by the Central Committee of PAC and approved by the masses on the home front: first, apartheid cannot be reformed; it must be totally eradicated. Secondly, the vehicle for change can never be the racist minority r6gime but, rather, the oppressed and dispossessed majority. Thirdly, all forms of struggle must be encouraged, with armed struggle as the principal form of struggle. Fourthly, internationally we must continue to demand the isolation of the apartheid r~gime and the imposition of comprehensive mandatory sanctions. However, we must stress that international action can only be a complementary, not a decisive, factor. The internal factor is decisive, hence our struggle is based internally. And, fifthly, we must resist the introduction of the East-West conflict into the legitimate struggle of the Azanian people for national liberation and self-determination. We reiterate our long-standing position in this regard, namely, that in the final analysis the people of Azania are their own liberators. In conclusion we must express our profound appreciation to the Special Committee against Apartheid for affording us this opportunity to remember our dead at Sharpeville and Langa. In the words of our late President Mangaliso Sobukwe, the history of the human race has been one of struggle against all restrictions - physical, mental and spiritual - and we would have betrayed our people if we had not made a contribution to that struggle. On this occasion when we remember the martyrs of Sharpeville, we are also acutely conscious of the atrocities perpetrated by the Zionists in occupied Palestine. Even more disconcerting are the outrageous and sinister designs of the Washington authorities to flout and dishonour their commitment to the United Nations to respect the right of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to have a Mission accredited to the United Nations. Today the victim is the PLO; who knows who the next victim will be?

- 29 - 0. Statement by Mrs. Monica Nashandi, South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) This year we are once again gathered in this Chamber to discuss the policy of apartheid and to seek ways to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination by the racist r~gime of Pretoria against the black majority of the people of South Africa and Namibia. While the international community has so far failed to adopt concrete measures against the racist r~gime, the latter continues to apply existing ruthless and repressive rules and proclamations and to promulgate new ones, calling for harsh penalties, including the death sentence and long-term and life imprisonment, and giving the racist troops and police the absolute power to murder in cold blood, arrest and detain innocent civilians. A few weeks ago, on 24 February, the racist r~gime, reaffirming its opposition to peaceful democratic change in South Africa, clamped down on 18 democratic progressive organizations and adopted rules prohibiting those organizations from carrying out any political activity. Those organizations, which have been in existence for years, are known to have carried out no act of violence against the racist Government, as their peaceful demands are only for an end to apartheid policies and for the establishment of a democratic society in South Africa where all South Africans, irrespective of race or colour, would have equal rights as equal citizens. This month again, the international community learned with indignation about a decision by the racist courts to execute six South Africans known as the Sharpeville Six. Those innocent people were accused only of being part of the crowd that killed a community counsel in Sharpeville. Although, owing, we believe, to the international community's appeal to the South African Government to stay the execution, those comrades have not been hanged, their lives are still in danger. We therefore appeal once again to the international community, especially to the friends of apartheid South Africa, to put pressure on the r~gime to release those comrades unconditionally. Apartheid has been declared a crime against humanity and as intolerant and sinful. For many years apartheid has been condemned, but it has not yet been eradicated. It still exists, and its policies are ever strengthened. In Namibia the situation deteriorates with every passing day. The Botha r~gime has not only reinforced its discriminatory policies but, worst of all, refused to end its illegal occupation of Namibia, in total defiance of decisions and resolutions adopted by the international community, especially Security Council resolution 435 (1978). As in South Africa, ruthless repressive laws and proclamations, such as declarations of martial law, banning orders and restrictions, arbitrary detention without trial, maltreatment of political prisoners, and murder in cold blood, continue to be the order of the day. Towards the end of last year, the racist police arrested SWAPO and union leaders at home, including Hendrik Witbooi, Vice-President of SWAPO, Daniel Tjongarero, Acting National Chairman, Nico Bessinger, spokesman for foreign affairs, Anton Lubowski, lawyer and leader of the National Union of Namibian Writers, John Pandeni and other comrades. They were arrested with the purpose

- 30 - of silencing the voice of the Namibian people in order to lessen opposition as the rigime was organizing for tribal elections. They were released thanks to the campaign by the international community and peace-loving people the world over. A few months ago, the r~gime arrested most of the church leaders in the northern part of Namibia. The only crime those people had committed was to have participated in SWAPO activities. Some of them were found hanged in detention. The brutalization and murder of innocent civilians continues. On 19 February 1988 a bomb blasted the national bank at Oshakati, the military headquarters of the racist r6gime in northern Namibia, killing 27 and wounding more than 73. The racist army blamed SWAPO for the bomb blast. SWAPO in response denied responsibility. The truth is that the racist army was responsible for the bomb blast. Here is what happened. That morning the bank had been very overcrowded. While people were waiting to be served, two white men and a black woman came in, tossed a parcel into a corner and left immediately. A few seconds later, people started smelling something strange. Before anything could be done to have the parcel removed, it blew up. By then the bank manager and his assistant, both of them white, had already left the bank, and every door was closed. Only one white man died in the explosion, and that because it went off before the planned time. Meanwhile, the racist police opened fire with tear gas on the crowd that was trying to help the victims. When those people were transported to the hospital, the hospital lights went off and as a result they were left unattended. At the time of the explosion the so-called Ministers of the Interim Government were having a picnic in the area. The so-called Minister of the Ovambo Administration refused to visit the victims in the hospital. The r6gime's involvement in the bomb blast was later on confirmed~on the day of the funeral, as none of the so-called Ministers of the Interim Government attended. In giving this brief account of what has happened in Namibia in recent months, it is not my intention to bore you. I simply wanted to remind the Special Committee that behind the shadow of the news black-out a lot of injustice continues to be perpetuated by the enemy of peace and change. However, despite all attempts by the racist r~gime to silence the voice of freedom and liberation, the Namibian people will continue to fight with all means at their disposal, including armed struggle, the only alternative in the absence of a peaceful resolution to the Namibian independence question. SWAPO, the sole and authentic representative of the Namibian people, will continue to be in the forefront of the struggle and will march forward until final victory. The people of southern Africa, the front-line States in particular, victims of acts of destabilization by the racist r6gime, still hope that sooner rather than later the international community will adopt concrete measures against the Botha r6gime in order for peace to prevail in the region. This is the right time for the application of comprehensive mandatory sanctions against racist South Africa. Tomorrow, next week or next month will be too late - for many people have fallen victim and many have lost their lives at the hands of the brutal Pretoria r6gime.

- 31 - In conclusion, I wish to salute our sisters and brothers, the struggling people of South Africa, especially our brothers and comrades of the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC), for the victories they have scored and continue to score over the enemy forces. I would like to reiterate to them that the people of Namibia will always march together on this difficult path to freedom, self- determination and democracy. P. Statement by Mr. Riyad Mansour, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) On this occasion I would like to express, on behalf of the Palestinian people and their leadership, the Palestine Liberation Organization, our total and concrete solidarity with the brave fighting people of South Africa. The peoples of South Africa and Palestine are intensifying their struggles against racism, apartheid, Zionism and occupation, intensifying their political struggle as well as their military struggle. Our workers, like the workers in South Africa, are waging massive strikes against the enemy. Our women, like the women of South Africa, are on the forefront in combating the enemy. Our youth, like the youth of South Africa, are in the streets confronting Fascist soldiers of the enemy. Our clergymen, like the clergymen of South Africa, are vehemently resisting the enemy. All of our people under occupation, like all the patriotic people of South Africa, are in the battlefield to defeat the enemy. Our fighters, like the fighters of the national liberation movements in South Africa, are intensifying their armed struggle, the principal language the enemy understands, and understands very well. It is the duty of the international community to do likewise, to emulate the brave people of South Africa and the brave people of Palestine, to do likewise in supporting the national liberation movements in South Africa by all means. It is also the duty of the international community to adopt effective practical measures against those two evil systems and their political manifestations. The Security Council should impose total punitive measures against the racist r~gime in South Africa. The white minority r~gime in Pretoria and Zionist Israel receive massive support and elements of survival from imperialism, particularly United States imperialism. That support is essential for the continuation of those two evil systems. I would like to conclude by reiterating our solidarity with the national liberation movements in South Africa under the leadership of our comrades in the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) and our support for and solidarity with the struggling people of Namibia under the leadership of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). Their struggle is our struggle, and we all will be victorious. Of that we are certain. Q. Statement by Mrs. Coretta Scott King I want to express my appreciation to you, Mr. Chairman, for your kind words, and I am deeply honoured to have the opportunity to address this gathering and to take part in this forum for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Today we commemorate the twenty-eighth anniversary of one of history's most horrifying incidents of racist brutality, the massacre of 69 innocent men, women and children in Sharpeville, South Africa.

- 32 - We commemorate the Sharpeville massacre not only because it was a major event in the history of apartheid. We remember Sharpeville because we must never forget the sacrifice of its martyrs nor our continuing responsibility to carry on their unfinished struggle for freedom and human rights in South Africa. We are here today to say that we will remember Sharpeville and that we will not rest until all freedom-loving nations withdraw their support of the apartheid r6gime. We are here to say that we are committed to the liberation of South Africa because, as Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." We are here to say that people of goodwill all over the world are rising up against apartheid. We are on the move now, and we will not be turned around. We cannot be deceived by those who say that we should wait and be patient because things are getting better for South Africa's black majority. We cannot be fooled because we know that murder, torture and repression have continued unabated in South Africa. Thousands of black children, many of whom have been tortured and brutalized, continue to languish in South African gaols with no contact with their parents. By making peaceful protest impossible the Botha Government is making violent revolution inevitable. As non-violent alternatives are eliminated the people of South Africa will have two choices: total subjugation or armed struggle. Like freedom-loving people everywhere, they cannot be expected to choose the former, although I hope and pray that non-violence, peaceful alternatives will continue to be pursued. A great tragedy is in the making for the industrial democracies as well as South Africa, for if we fail to take decisive action at this crucial juncture in the struggle against apartheid we will forfeit all credibility as champions of freedom and human rights. If we choose to do nothing, we become complacent partners in repression with the apartheid r6gime and we do a disservice to the soul and spirit of freedom, for which the United Nations must forever stand. Nearly all of South Africa's anti-apartheid leaders are united in calling for all-out international divestment and trade embargoes in support of their freedom struggle. Even though it might mean short-term economic hardship, Archbishop Tutu, the Reverend Allan Boesak, the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) leaders Oliver Tambo, Nelson and Winnie Mandela and the leaders of all the major black trade unions have supported comprehensive economic sanctions against South Africa. The time for decisive international action against apartheid is long overdue. The United States and other democratic nations now have no alternative to instituting comprehensive economic sanctions against South Africa. We must now provide the moral leadership that will encourage South Africa's trading partners to accept responsibility for the suffering caused by the apartheid system, from which they have reaped massive profits. Today we call on people of goodwill all over the world to join with us in this historic struggle. We call for a global campaign of economic withdrawal

- 33 - and political isolation of the Pretoria regime until apartheid is permamently dismantled and a genuine, multi-racial democracy based on the principle of one person, one vote is firmly established. We are not here to tell the anti-apartheid movements in South Africa which is the best way to win their freedom. But we know that we in the international community can serve their struggle through a co-ordinated campaign of political isolation and economic withdrawal, which is the cutting edge of organized non- violence. Let the word go out from the United Nations today that anti-apartheid movements all over the world are going to build a mighty international coalition against apartheid. We are going to keep on marching and educating our fellow citizens and lobbying for stronger worldwide sanctions against Pretoria. We are going to keep on demonstrating at consulates and embassies of the apartheid r6gime and we are going to fight apartheid and racism wherever we find it and for as long as it takes. With this faith, and in this spirit, together we shall overcome!