(Translated from French)
The Special Committee on the Policies of Apartheid of the Government of the Republic of South Africa has approved a second interim report to the Security Council and the General Assembly in order to acquaint them with the grave new developments which have taken place in the Republic of South Africa since the publication of its first interim report and to submit conclusions reached by the Special Committee to cope with the serious situation prevailing in the Republic of South Africa.
On this occasion, the Special Committee wishes to stress the extreme seriousness and anxiety with which it views the present situation in the Republic of South Africa, a situation arising from the pursuit of the policy of apartheid, and its conviction that effective international action should be taken urgently by the Council in order to halt the further drift of events to disaster.
The Special Committee wishes to emphasize that, in its view, the situation in the Republic of South Africa does not raise questions concerning a peculiar political or social system, nor that of the inability of a Member State to live up to the high ideals of the Charter.
The fact is that a Member State has persistently violated the fundamental principles of the Charter, defied numerous decisions of the principal organs, and shown contempt towards the Organization and the almost unanimous voice of its Members.
The Special Committee wishes to emphasize the fact that this situation constitutes a serious threat to international peace and security and can lead to incalculable consequences. In this connexion, the Special Committee notes with great satisfaction the important statement by the President of the United States of America, on 17 July, that the racial policy of South Africa, firstly, is inimical to the future of South Africa, secondly, is repugnant to the United States, and thirdly, constitutes a threat to the peace.2 The international community has the inescapable obligation to end this threat before it assumes such serious proportions that it can no longer be brought under control.
The present Government of the Republic of South Africa offers for all time no other future to its non-white population than perpetual subordination. Though it describes itself as engaged in a struggle for the survival of the white population, it deliberately imperils their own safety and offers them no other destiny than a hopeless struggle for domination. Indeed, the Minister of Transport only recently warned a group of white school children: "In the coming generation you must be prepared to sacrifice everything... you must be prepared to die." To this coming generation the United Nations must open other doors for the future.
The present policies of the Government of the Republic of South Africa, which are directed on the one hand towards aggravating racial discrimination and, on the other, towards denying any possibility for peaceful change, point towards an inevitable clash within the country unless prompt action is taken by the Security Council. And such a clash would result in serious international repercussions.
South Africa has been described as a microcosm of the world. Its racial groups are derived from or have close kinship with the peoples of many Member States. South Africa could be an example to the world if all groups within the country were permitted to live together in amity, on the basis of equality. But it has become, instead, a source of international friction and a threat to the peace and security in Africa and the world.
The Special Committee feels that as the Government of the Republic of South Africa has not paid heed to the repeated appeals and demands of the United Nations, the time has come for the Organization to utilize all its resources under the Charter to deal with the policies of apartheid as a matter of urgency. The course of events since the adoption of General Assembly resolution 1761 (XVII) shows that any further delay in necessary action, and any mere repetition of a simple ahhorrence of apartheid would be self-defeating.
The Special Committee recalls the Security Council resolution of 1 April 1960, following the Sharpeville incidents which represented an important turning point in South Africa. Sharpeville was the warning of the consequences of apartheid.
The Security Council made a clear decision that it was imperative to abandon the policies of apartheid and bring about racial harmony based on equality.
The late Secretary-General, Mr. Hammarskjöld, was charged with the mission of contacting the Government of South Africa and reporting on means to ensure respect for the purposes and principles of the Charter.
The mission of the Secretary-General was frustrated by the Government of South Africa which ignored the advice of the Security Council and continued unashamed with its disastrous policies as if nothing had passed.
The Special Committee feels that the situation is so grave and the threat of international conflict so evident that the Security Council must without delay take the measures required to maintain peace and security in Africa and the world.
If the representatives of the African and Asian countries and of many States which are opposed to the policy of apartheid have listened quietly this morning to the spokesman of the racist minority in South Africa, it is mainly in deference to you, Mr. President, and to the other Members of this Assembly; it is also out of a desire not to impede the normal progress of our work. But we wish to make clear that such an attitude on our part does not reflect the slightest change in our position in regard to apartheid and the de facto authorities imposing it on the majority of the population of South Africa. Our position remains unchanged; and we think that the present Government of South Africa is totally unqualified, morally and politically, to be seated among us here or in any other international organisation based on the principle of respect for human dignity. Indeed, not content with having continually violated the Purposes and Principles of the Charter and defied the repeated resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council the most responsible leaders of this Government formally declared, only a few weeks ago, that the United Nations was their main enemy and that they hoped that this monstrous Organisation would soon fall apart, for the greater satisfaction of the leaders of South Africa. How can we any longer tolerate the presence among us of the representatives of those who torture Africans and Asians and glory in the name of enemy of the United Nations? This is a very grave question, to which a clear answer should be given as quickly as possible at this session.
In our view, adequate steps should be taken without delay. Let me say again that it is only in deference to you, Mr. President, that we have agreed to listen in silence this morning to the criminal minority's spokesman, who cannot, in our opinion, be the legitimate spokesman of the majority of South Africa's population.
In conclusion, let me add that our determined opposition to apartheid continues, as we shall soon have occasion to prove.
We have just heard the report of the Special Political Committee calling for urgent measures by the General Assembly to deal with serious new developments in South Africa as a result of the opening at Johannesburg yesterday of the mock trial of a large number of political prisoners - a trial which in reality is nothing but barely disguised murder. The Guinean delegation will, of course, give its total and enthusiastic support to the draft resolution submitted for our approval. The Pretoria Government yesterday began the trial of eleven South African leaders, well known for their opposition to apartheid, on a trumped-up charge of sabotage which arbitrarily carries the death penalty. The South African Minister of Justice had already announced that 165 prisoners would be charged with acts of sabotage and that inquiries were in progress in connection with similar charges against a further eighty-five prisoners.
The fact is that there are at this moment over 5,000 political prisoners in South African gaols and that the Government is constantly carrying out wholesale arrests of those who oppose its policy of racial discrimination. Over 300 leaders, well known for their struggle against apartheid, have now been taken into custody, without being brought before a court, under the recent law on imprisonment without trial.
These political prisoners are subjected to the most inhumane conditions: a number of them have been tortured, and some recent died in prison.
The South African Government's decision to proceed with this mass trial is a clear and direct challenge to the United Nations, and more particularly to the Security Council which on 7 August 1963 expressly called upon the Government of South Africa to liberate all political prisoners and all persons imprisoned, interned or subjected to other restrictions for having opposed apartheid.
The aim and the consequence of the new wave of repression are to make the possibility of a peaceful settlement more and more remote, to enhance hostility among the racial groups and to precipitate a violent conflict in which all the country's inhabitants without distinction, whether white or non-white, will suffer. These consequences, it must be pointed out, will necessarily affect peace in Africa and throughout the world.
Taking all this into consideration, we had occasion during the debate in the Special Political Committee to emphasise the gravity, importance and urgency which justified the action taken by the whole group of representatives of African and Asian States. With the exception of Portugal, the Committee unanimously adopted the interim draft resolution designed to deal with the new situation created by the opening of the infamous trial of nationalists who have been arbitrarily arraigned for no other crime than opposing the policy of apartheid.
The defendants now on trial include the most influential leaders of the African, Asian and European communities, who are fighting side by side for racial harmony and who are certainly the ones whom the majority of the people will call upon tomorrow to govern the country.
It is clear that any action placing in jeopardy the life of these revered leaders in the South African people's rightful struggle will create an irreparable situation that may destroy once and for all any chance for the various ethnic groups in South Africa to live in harmony under a regime of freedom, justice and democracy.
In the circumstances, the commission of the major crimes now in preparation must be prevented at all costs. On moral, political and humanitarian grounds the General Assembly should discharge its august duty in the manifest interest of all those who, on any terms whatsoever, live in South Africa, by unanimously adopting the draft resolution recommended to it by the Special Political Committee.
The General Assembly could thus save the lives of South Africa's best sons who alone are capable of promoting the conditions of racial harmony that the United Nations has been urging in vain for the past eighteen years.
The trial staged before the Supreme Court at Johannesburg is beyond all question a further manifestation of the attitude of contemptuous defiance constantly shown by the South African leaders towards the United Nations in general and towards all the repeated decisions of the Security Council and General Assembly in particular.
But that is not all. To make their defiance all the sharper, the de facto authorities at Pretoria have cynically timed the start of the scandalous trial at Johannesburg to coincide with the opening of our debates on the policy of apartheid, so as to make quite clear how little they think of the United Nations. The General Assembly cannot remain indifferent to such contempt, insolence and disrespect. If we do not react in a fitting manner, history will irrevocably convict us of failure to discharge our most sacred obligations.
In the face of this situation the United Nations must react vigorously and resolutely to save the last chance of finding a peaceful solution and of preserving the security and interests of the white minority in South Africa. It is the only way to prevent a fresh triumph for the hatred fanned by the representatives of the racist minority who solemnly proclaim themselves the sworn enemies of the United Nations.
A great crime - perhaps the greatest yet ascribable to the supporters of apartheid - is being openly prepared in South Africa: a crime which, if carried through, could spark the powder keg and thus touch off the much-feared racial conflict. Since the historic Addis Ababa Conference(3) it has been common knowledge that, in that tragic event, all the African States and all the African peoples would stand beside their oppressed brothers of South Africa.
As we have already said, the best sons of South Africa are today implicated in this bogus trial, staged under arbitrary legislation, which deprives the accused of any possibility of legal defence and exposes them, without protection or safeguard, to the bloodthirsty executioners who control the country.
The accused, we repeat, represent the last chance for stability, peace and harmony in South Africa. Their names are: Nelson Mandela, a lawyer and acknowledged leader of the African National Congress, known to the Heads of most independent African States as one of the great leaders in the struggle for racial equality in South Africa; Walter Sisulu, another active leader of the African National Congress, of which he was Secretary-General; Govan Mbeki, another leader of the Congress and of the Transkei; and Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada, a leader of the Indian community who was convicted at the age of seventeen at the time of the resistance movement in 1946. Whites have not been overlooked on the list. Lionel Bernstein; Bob Hepple; James Cantor, a lawyer; Dennis Goldberg, an engineer; are also implicated.
Faithful to the memory of their friends who have died in prison in many cases beside them, after enduring unspeakable suffering - which the United Nations should investigate diligently, for otherwise the Africans will set about doing so tomorrow - the alert and steadfast leaders of South Africa accept any and every sacrifice in order not to abandon the sacred struggle. How can we fail to salute their courage, their radiant vision of a future of understanding, reconciliation and friendship for which they are preparing, by their own suffering, for the benefit of all ethnic groups living on South African soil?
These men have had recourse to all peaceful means to put an end to racial oppression, but in vain; it is worth recalling in this connection that South Africa was for a long time the cradle of non-violence. It was there that Gandhi began his heroic struggle, over fifty years ago. But let this be clearly remembered: Gandhi himself declared that it was better to resort to violence than to submit in cowardly fashion to the oppressors. The African peoples and Governments consider that the criminals are not those who fight for their right to justice and equality but the oppressors who precipitate violence, repression and injustice.
Following the discussions in the Special Political Committee we cannot conceal the keen disappointment we feel, if only because of the humanitarian considerations we have raised, at the attitude of certain representatives who did not support the draft resolution.(4)
To Portugal, which has remained true to itself and whose collusion with the other oppressors of our peoples in Southern Africa is today patent to everyone, we have nothing more to say except to express our unanimous and irrevocable decision to end at all costs its unlawful presence and its colonialism - in any form whatsoever - anywhere on our continent.
The attitude of all the white partners in the Commonwealth - the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - has been a deep disappointment to us, for they seem to have abandoned their coloured Commonwealth partners, who will certainly draw the proper conclusions from that attitude. As to Panama, we hope that in the Assembly it will add its positive vote to that of the whole Latin American family. Similarly the attitude of three countries of Western Europe - France, Belgium and Netherlands - came as a surprise to us, and we hope that in the Assembly, leaving aside all other considerations and thinking only of the humanitarian aspects and of their ties of friendship with Africa and Asia, they will give the positive and valuable support of their votes to the action proposed by the States of those continents.
Lastly, the abstention of the United States of America both surprised and pained us in that it withheld that country's great influence from the cause of racial equality in South Africa. May the United States, in the Assembly, seriously reconsider its position of yesterday, if only to avoid inflicting a futile and untimely disavowal upon the many delegations, including that of the Republic of Guinea, which from this rostrum and elsewhere have congratulated the Kennedy Administration on its courageous struggle against racial discrimination in this country.
To all these countries alike, we say in all friendliness that a mere verbal condemnation of apartheid and opposition to any practical action, such as that we call for today, neither meet the requirements of peace in Africa and throughout the world nor reciprocate the friendship and sincere will to cooperate which Africa offers them. For this reason we again address a friendly and confident appeal to all for their positive support of the draft resolution submitted for the Assembly's approval.
Nelson Mandela, the great South African leader known the world over for his courage and lucidity, very eloquently summed up the philosophy and basic tenets of African nationalism during his last trial at Johannesburg, in which he was arbitrarily sentenced to imprisonment for five years at forced labour. The declaration of faith of Nelson Mandela, who is today the leading defendant in the infamous new trial, has become a veritable breviary for all South African nationalists. Listen to this extract from his celebrated address to the court - a moving document from beginning to end:
"I hate the practice of race discrimination and in my hatred I am sustained by the fact that the overwhelming majority of mankind hates it equally. I hate the systematic inculcation of children with colour prejudice, and I am sustained in that hatred by the fact that the overwhelming majority of mankind... are with me in that. I hate the racial arrogance which decrees that the good shall be retained as the exclusive right of a minority of the population, and which reduces the majority of the population to a position of subservience and inferiority and maintains them as voteless chattels to work where they are told and behave as they are told by the ruling minority...
"Nothing that this Court can do to me will change in any way that hatred in me, which can only be removed by the removal of the injustice and the inhumanity which I have sought to remove from the political, social and economic life of this country.
"Whatever sentence (the Court) sees fit to impose upon me... may it rest assured that when my sentence has been completed I will still be moved... by (my conscience); I will still be moved by my dislike of the race discrimination against my people... to take up again... the struggle for the removal of those injustices until they are finally abolished."
He added in conclusion:
"I have done my duty to my people and to Africa. I have no doubt that posterity will pronounce that I was innocent and that the criminals ... are the members of the Verwoerd Government."
Are we to let a man of such stature - a leader so deeply conscious of his historic mission in the service of his country, his people and mankind - die for nothing, unjustly struck down through our inaction? We hope our Assembly will unanimously answer "No".
All the representatives of Africa and Asia have taken the initiative in what is now presented for our consideration. In their name, we address to all members of the Assembly a final friendly and trustful appeal that the last lingering hesitations should be overcome and that the General Assembly of the United Nations, confronted with this grave situation with its incalculable moral, political and human implications, should signify by its unanimous vote its will for a peaceful settlement of the explosive situation that exists in South Africa today.
In the first place, I should like to inform the Secretary-General that the delegations which took the initiative of formulating draft resolution B concerning relief and assistance for the persons persecuted by the Government of South Africa are highly satisfied and that the interpretation he has just given to the General Assembly corresponds in every detail with out basic idea.(6)
I am glad that the representative of Mexico, in the light of the clear-cut explanation given, was able to change his attitude and join us in voting affirmatively on the draft resolution.
I should also like to express very briefly the sincere gratitude of the members of the Special Committee, appointed by the General Assembly to follow up the policy of apartheid of the Government of the Republic of South Africa, for the great moral and political support which this Committee has just received from the members of the General Assembly by such a large majority. I am convinced that my colleagues and myself will be encouraged by this support to devote ourselves with renewed energy to our task, which we know to be so important for this Organisation and for the African peoples.
Finally, with regard to the statement made a few moments ago by the representative of South Africa (or the individual who claims to be the representative of South Africa), I wish to say that my delegation considers that that statement does not call for any lengthy comment. Let it suffice for my delegation to note the important step which the eighteenth session of the General Assembly has taken in the struggle of the United Nations against apartheid.
Indeed, to our very great satisfaction, on 11 October 1963 the General Assembly adopted unanimously - with the exception of South Africa - resolution 1881 (XVIII) condemning, for the first time, and by the unanimous vote of the General Assembly, the South African Government for its policy of apartheid.
What is more, on 4 December 1963 the Security Council adopted, also unanimously, the important resolution with which everyone is familiar and today, on two occasions, the General Assembly has clearly and unequivocally voiced its condemnation of this policy of apartheid. It is not at all surprising to the delegation of Guinea and to all the African representatives that the representative of Portugal saw fit to vote with the representative of South Africa: birds of a feather flock together.
Since the eighteenth session is ending on a note of unanimity, as regards the question of apartheid, my delegation would like to express its fervent hope concerning the attitude of the trading partners of South Africa and of the States which still maintain relations with that country. We have just adopted the thirty-first resolution of the Organisation against the policy of apartheid. There is no lack of resolutions; now everything depends on putting them into effect. That is why we hope that, taking advantage of the period between sessions, the delegations which maintain close relations with South Africa, which have carefully considered their attitude and which have voted with us, will take all necessary steps in the economic, financial and military fields to ensure that the South African Government finally complies with the unanimous will of the Assembly.
I wish to conclude by expressing the hope that the three almost unanimous decisions of the eighteenth session will indeed mark the beginning of the end of apartheid and the beginning of one of the greatest victories in its history for the United Nations.
Statement at the thirty-eighth meeting of the Special Committee, 30 July 1964
Fellow representatives,
"Parting is such sweet sorrow". The truth of this familiar quotation is brought home to me with particular force at this meeting which was convened rather hurriedly - and for this I owe you all an apology - in order that I might take my leave of the members of the Special Committee, my friends and brothers-in-arms for two years now; and indeed, what better friends could anyone have?
To be sure, it is not without sorrow and an aching heart that I see coming the end of this close collaboration of ours that has lasted for about two years in our struggle to overcome one of the biggest obstacles in the way of achievement of that international order which we are endeavouring to build.
It was in November 1962, as you all remember, that the General Assembly decided to establish our Committee. Ever since then we have tried with unremitting efforts and in a spirit of unity to discharge our mandate and advance in South Africa the cause of human dignity without distinction as to race in obedience to the Charter of the United Nations and the tenets of world civilisation.
It may be worth stressing at this point that our Committee in the course of its work displayed such unanimity that not once was a discordant note heard when our mission was being discussed. One may say without boasting that this constitutes a precedent in the United Nations. It may also be worth pointing out that whenever other United Nations organs asked for our assistance in the question referred to us, we have given it promptly out of a conviction that nothing less than a total effort by all men of goodwill can ensure the triumph of the just and urgent cause which was entrusted to us by the General Assembly, an action subsequently confirmed by the Security Council.
It is precisely because I am still convinced that the solution of the crucial problem of apartheid can be found only through a united effort that I shall refrain from recounting all the studies that we have carried out on this question, the numerous steps that we have taken, and the constructive suggestions that we have submitted to the General Assembly and the Security Council. If I may be so blunt, all these efforts are in themselves nothing; their only value lies in the contribution they may have made to the idealistic endeavour of all mankind to live by the principles of universal brotherhood.
As Chairman of the Special Committee, I should like to say that for me a major source of satisfaction, apart from the unanimous support of African opinion for our work, is the knowledge that this Committee's contribution has been of positive value in the struggle against apartheid. I particularly wish all men of goodwill, wherever they may be, and especially those who live in South Africa, to understand that our action has never tried to destroy, that it has never been directed against individuals, and above all that it has never aimed to change one racist situation to benefit another racist situation. I would like to quote again, as on a previous occasion, these fine words of Nelson Mandela spoken in 1962 when he was hailed into court by the murderous authorities of South Africa: "I am not a racist and I abhor racism, because I regard it as equally barbarous in a black man or a white man".
It is precisely because he remained faithful to this conviction that Nelson Mandela, that great African patriot, has been sentenced to life imprisonment, despite all our efforts and world-wide indignation. I therefore ask you: In view of his great sacrifice, a sacrifice which was so ill rewarded and which is only one among many, can we spare our efforts to speed the day when liberty is at long last admitted into the country of the Cape of Good Hope?
My hope, nay, my personal conviction is that all the members of this Committee will continue to work without respite to achieve in South Africa the purpose of the United Nations, namely, independence and racial equality and harmony for the benefit of all South Africans whether they be so in origin or by adoption.
As for me, I must go. I shall take with me the memory of the hours we spent working together, the memory of close and friendly collaboration with the officers of the Committee, the members of the Sub-Committee on Petitions, all the members of the Special Committee, the Secretariat staff and all those who have helped the Special Committee in the performance of its task. I shall treasure this most valuable experience of working with a united team dedicated to a common objective.
It is unfortunately impossible for me to mention individually all those to whom I owe a debt of gratitude today. By your leave, I would like to thank in particular my friend, Ambassador Volio, our Vice-Chairman, Mr. Malhotra, our Rapporteur, and Mr. Anyaoku, the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Petitions, for their assistance, devotion and judicious advice, and also all the members of the Committee for the fraternal cooperation that they have so generously accorded me.
I should certainly not wish to overlook the Secretariat, and my thanks go in the first place to its head, Secretary-General U Thant, who, as you know, is deeply interested in the cause with which we are concerned and who has never failed to give us his indispensable support. I should like also to thank personally Mr. Suslov and Mr. Vellodi, who have represented the Secretary-General in our Committee with competence and distinction.
As regards Mr. Reddy, who, much to my regret, is away from New York at this time enjoying a well-earned holiday, his conscientiousness, devotion and loyalty are well known to all, and I am sure that I am expressing your unanimous opinion when I say that the fact that he and the other members of the Secretariat were assigned to our Committee is an added reason for us to feel grateful to Secretary-General U Thant.
In this expression of my gratitude as I say good-bye I should like to include the specialised agencies, many of which are represented here today. I would ask their representatives to be good enough to convey to their head offices my thanks and the Committee's for their help and support.
The representatives of the Press, too, have given us their faithful and effective collaboration in the manifold aspects of our task. I would ask those who are present in this room or who are listening to me in the studios to be good enough to convey my thanks and the Committee's to the members of their profession who helped us mobilise public opinion against the scourge of the Pretoria Government's apartheid policy.
Finally, we have been helped in our task by many other public and private organisations and many other officials known or unknown to the members of the Committee. I cannot deny myself the pleasure of mentioning our unrivalled and exceptionally brilliant interpreters, translators and precis-writers, but I should like all those who have helped us to know that at this moment I have them particularly in mind, whether they be here in New York or elsewhere. I hope soon to have the opportunity of meeting in Addis Ababa some of those who have worked with us, particularly on economic questions.
While I feel keen regret on leaving you, on leaving this Committee which has been and still is for me, I must confess, a home from home in the United Nations, I am, nevertheless, looking forward with great satisfaction to taking up my new post in the Organisation of African Unity.
The debates that have taken place during the sessions of that organisation and the decisions it has already adopted with regard to apartheid are ample proof, if proof were needed, that many of the matters already familiar to this Committee shall be awaiting me over there. You may be assured, although I do not think it necessary to dwell on this point, that I will do my best in my new post to put to good use all that you have taught me and to imbue the Organisation of African Unity with that same spirit of fraternal endeavour and sincere and friendly cooperation which has prevailed in this Committee, as a witness of our joint efforts which, I am sure, will be increased and intensified. Thus, in the sorrow of separation I shall find the satisfaction of regarding myself not as a resigning Chairman of this Committee but as a messenger, your messenger, to the Organisation of African Unity on which so many hopes have been built.
Although I have not yet taken up new duties, I should like to assure you here and now of the whole-hearted, loyal and sincere collaboration of the Organisation of African Unity with the Special Committee on the Policies of Apartheid of the Government of the Republic of South Africa. Better still - and without going into details - I hope that this cooperation will assume a permanent character.
I would like you to know that my recent journeys to Africa and elsewhere and the contacts I made enabled me to appreciate the respect and sympathy that our Committee has won for itself everywhere, and more particularly throughout the continent of Africa, for its goodwill, its pertinacity and also, if I may say so, its first achievements, which I regard as important. I have no doubt that our paths will cross again and again in our pursuit of a common ideal.
To all those who share this ideal of equality and human brotherhood, whether or not they are present here, I bid a fond farewell, in the sincere hope that we shall soon meet again.
(1) Source: UN Press Release GA/AP/13
(2) This is a reference to a statement by President John F. Kennedy in reply to a question at a press conference. After the statement by Diallo Telli, the State Department rushed to inform delegates to the United Nations that he did not mean a threat to the peace under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.(1) A/PV.1236. This statement was made by Mr. Diallo Telli in exercise of the right of reply to a statement by the delegate of South Africa in the general debate in the General Assembly on that day.
(2) A/PV.1238. This statement was made in explanation of vote on a resolution requesting the South African Government to abandon the Rivonia trial of Mr. Nelson Mandela and others, and "forthwith to grant unconditional release to all political prisoners and to all persons imprisoned, interned or subjected to other restrictions for having opposed the policy of apartheid".
The resolution, co-sponsored by 55 delegations, was moved by Mr. Diallo Telli in the Special Political Committee of the General Assembly. When the report of the Committee was considered by the Assembly in Plenary Meeting, he made this statement in explanation of vote.
The resolution was adopted by the General Assembly by 106 votes, with only South Africa voting against, as resolution 1881 (XVIII).
(3) Summit Conference of Independent African States, Addis Ababa, May 1963
(4) In the Special Political Committee, 87 delegations voted for the resolution; Portugal voted against, and 9 delegations abstained.
(6) In the second part of the resolution, the General Assembly would request the Secretary-General to seek ways and means of providing relief and assistance, through the appropriate international agencies, to the families of all persons persecuted in South Africa for their opposition to the policies of apartheid.
The Secretary-General, in a statement before the Assembly, said he was prepared to do everything within his power to seek ways and means of providing relief and assistance. He understood, however, that it was not envisaged the he should provide direct relief, since no funds had been made available for that purpose.
(7) A/AC.115/L.79. Mr. Diallo Telli left his post as Permanent Representative of Guinea to the United Nations on his election as Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity.