Permit me to say a few words about the resolution which the General Assembly has just adopted. You will appreciate full well the reasons which impel my delegation to make this statement at this stage in our proceedings, at the moment when, thanks to the support of the forces which are on the side of racial equality and despite the abstention of the inveterate forces of conservatism and the negative vote of the reactionary forces, the General Assembly, by an overwhelming majority, decided to endorse the draft resolution presented by the Special Political Committee.
In introducing the draft resolution to the Special Political Committee, I said that the text was geared to a concrete action within the limits of the competence of the General Assembly. This concrete action is, to be sure, limited; it is not decisive in itself.
Permit me to repeat here that we proposed these measures not because the situation in South Africa has improved in any way, or that there is hope that a peaceful solution is in the offing. On the contrary, we proposed them because the situation has seriously deteriorated in South Africa and in southern Africa as a whole, because of the increased rigidity of the racist regime and the inaction and the complicity of the Powers allied to the oppressors in Pretoria.
The danger of violent conflict is greater than ever. The responsibility for this tragic situation falls on the Western Powers which refuse to co-operate with the United Nations in ensuring that effective measures under United Nations auspices are adopted and effectively implemented.
We are firmly convinced, I repeat, that economic sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter constitute the only peaceful means for solving the problem of apartheid, that colonialist hydra. In this connexion, one should recall what was said in the Security Council on 12 December by Mr. Goldberg39 on the question of Southern Rhodesia. Mandatory sanctions, he said,
"… are now necessary in order to drive home to the illegal regime that the international community will not tolerate the existence of a discriminatory system based on minority rule in defiance of the United Nations and its principles." 40
That statement by the United States representative clearly indicates the reasons Why we are requesting sanctions against South Africa. Unfortunately, Mr. Goldberg had to resort to an artificial and specious argument in order to conclude that the case of Southern Rhodesia was in some way different from that of South Africa.
And yet, as the representative of Norway stated in the Special Political Committee, if the situation in Rhodesia is a threat to the peace, the situation prevailing in South Africa should be regarded as even more serious. While the overwhelming majority of Member States are firmly convinced that economic sanctions under Chapter VII are the only effective solution, we cannot overlook the fact that such sanctions imply action by the Security Council and the sincere co-operation of the three great Western Powers and of South Africa's other trading partners. There is nothing to make us believe that such co-operation will be forthcoming.
On the contrary, we have been able to observe in this Assembly that the three Powers concerned - that is, the United States of America, France and the United Kingdom - have opposed our suggestions, at the same time declining to put forward a single alternative solution to apartheid, which all of them seem to condemn.
We must say that we find the policy of the United States, for example - this great multiracial country - singularly contradictory. The representative of the United States stated before the Committee that, as long as South Africa persists in its dangerous choice, none of us will be able to live in the atmosphere of peace and freedom to which we are entitled. We are fully in agreement with that view, but we are compelled to observe that the United States of America, together with the bloc of which they are the leader, has proposed no alternative action to combat what they themselves say is upsetting the atmosphere of peace and freedom to which we are entitled.
On the other hand, I should like to express our satisfaction at the favourable vote of the Scandinavian countries, not to mention the Socialist countries, which always been on the side of freedom in South Africa. As regards the Scandinavian countries, you will perhaps recall that Denmark and Sweden had voted in favour of resolution 2054 (XX), and now Finland. Iceland and Norway have joined with them, to the greater honour of that part of Western Europe, for racial harmony in the world.41 I should like to express our satisfaction at the vote cast by Ireland, that little country where the struggle for freedom from British imperialism, that partisan of the South African regime, is a glorious tradition.
We are even more convinced that the grave problem of South Africa must be the concern not only of Africa, but of all mankind. Africans have no intention to fight the white man, or any other coloured person - blue, yellow or red. They are struggling only for equality and dignity, for the legitimate aspiration of all men.
In introducing this resolution, we wanted to avoid raising any false hopes in the hearts of the oppressed South African people. For a long time that people has been disappointed by the resolutions of the United Nations; it would be criminal to cause it any further disappointment. We want to make that people clearly understand that, because of the selfish attitude of some Powers, there is no hope that at this stage the international community can take any decisive action.
At the same time, we wish to assure it that we, the great majority of Member States, shall do everything in our power, in the context of the United Nations, to help it in its legitimate struggle. In our view, each provision of this resolution, partlcularly paragraphs 5, 6 and 8, is a commitment to the oppressed people of South Africa, a commitment which we shall carry out to the best of our ability.
This resolution adds much to the duties of the Special Committee on Apartheid, of which I have had the honour to be the Chairman for two years. The Special Committee will study with the greatest care the provisions of this and other resolutions relating to its terms of reference and its activities, and will redouble its efforts in order to attain the objectives entrusted to it. It will intensify its efforts to give maximum publicity to the responsibility of various countries and foreign economic interests that hinder justice in South Africa.
The Committee over which I preside will do everything in its power to encourage world public opinion, particularly in the several Western countries which maintain close relations with South Africa, to realize what the facts are and resolutely support the action of the United Nations. The Special Committee on Apartheid will give appropriate priority to the question of dispatch of military equipment in violation of the embargo proclaimed by the Security Council, and to the means for putting an end to that dangerous trade. It will give its full support to the assistance for the victims of apartheid, including assistance to the families of prisoners, and the education and instruction of non-Whites. It will devote all its attention to the matter of political, moral and material assistance to all those who are fighting the policy of apartheid. The Committee will fully co-operate with the Secretary-General to ensure that the conference or seminar on southern Africa, to which we attach great importance, will f'ulfil its objectives - namely, to bring forth a more effective and better co-ordinated United Nations action. Today, when we are launching the international campaign against apartheid, as the Special Committee on Apartheid has recommended, we say that the cause of the oppressed people of South Africa is the cause not only of 250 million Africans, but that of the United Nations and of all freedom-loving mankind. That cause goes beyond race, colour, religion and ideology; it is a sacred cause for all sensible men.
We address a solemn appeal to all States, to all organizations, to all individuals wherever they may be, to help put an end to this grave danger which is besetting southern Africa, and which, if it is not stopped in time, will precipitate a bloody conflict in the African continent and in the entire world.
I beg the General Assembly to consider every possibility that would permit the people of South Africa, white and black, to understand the meaning of our efforts, of the nature of our objectives, and of our determination. No effort must be spared in order to come to the aid of that people in the struggle in which it is locked so as to bring about racial democracy in its country; no effort must be neglected to persuade all Governments of the need to co-operate in undertaking more effective action under United Nations auspices.
Our sole purpose is that of helping the people or South Africa, without distinction as to race or colour, to decide the future of its own country so as to eliminate the danger threatening us from that part of Africa - and this, not only in the interest of the Africans, but in the interest of all peoples, including the White minority in South Africa, provided that the latter demonstrates its loyalty to Africa and its respect for the principles of the United Nations.
We address our wishes to Chief Luthuli, Robert Sobukwe, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Abram Fischer and to the thousands of African prisoners and to the millions of fighters who are oppressed by apartheid. We likewise invite the three million Whites to come to their senses and to revise their views in order to build a non-racial society.
I am saying that from this high rostrum, knowing full well that in our midst there are the representatives of the Pretoria regime who do not claim to represent any one beyond the white minority in South Africa. These people are not entitled to represent South Africa and, yet, we have tolerated their presence here in order not to hurt the susceptibilities of some of our friends. Those friends have advised us to admit the representatives of Pretoria because their presence, we were told, would help in a sense the search for a peaceful solution to the problem of apartheid. They should convey to the White people in South Africa, through the South African delegation, the expression of our good feelings, as well as our firm determination not to tolerate any longer the indignity of racism to which the coloured people of South Africa are subjected.
That is why, on behalf of the oppressed people of South Africa, on behalf of all the African peoples, on behalf of co-operation which governs relations between Africa and the white world, and out of love and respect for the fundamental principles of the United Nations, I venture to invite all those who are here to join us in order to implement the search for a final solution of the problem of apartheid so as to ensure that equality and freedom should triumph.
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