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