Conference calls for continued Olympic ban against South Africa.

Conference calls for continued Olympic ban against South Africa 

The Second International Conference on the Sports Boycott against South Africa has supported the position of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that South Africa should not be readmitted into the Olympic Movement until apartheid had been ended.

The support was voiced in the Paris Declaration on Apartheid Sport that was adopted on 18 May by acclamation by the three-day conference, held at UNESCO House in the French capital.

The Conference--organized by the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid in co-operation with the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa and the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC), with the assistance of the Federation Sportive et Gymnique du Travail in France--was attended by 300 sportsmen and sportwomen, sports administrators, government representatives, national and international bodies, and national liberation movements of southern Africa.

The declaration appealed to sportsmen and women to refuse to tour South Africa until the apartheid system had been ended. It urged the IOC to adopt a code of conduct to discourage sports contacts with South Africa and to take the disciplinary powers necessary for it to deal effectively with any of its affiliates which transgressed against the international campaigh against apartheid sport.

The Conference stated that the international community had a special obligation to take every possible step to compel the International Rugby Board abandon its systematic support for South Africa. It strongly condemned the insistence of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union on touring South Africa in July, "regardless of cost and in defiance of domestic public opinion", and called for the tour's cancellation.

The declaration noted that sports coaches of American universities had begun to recruit sportsmen and women from South Africa to train and compete on scholarships in the United States. Those athletes were then used for political purposes in an attempt to undermine the international campaign against apartheid sport. The declaration appealed to university authorities to stop that support of apartheid sport. It noted that there was a heavy traffic of cricketers between South Africa and England in their respective off-seasons, and said that the International Cricket Conference must urgently develop a strategy which would effectively end "this most significant degree of sports contact".

The Conference appealed to sponsors of sports with South African connections to discontinue their support through sponsorship, and urged all Governments to deny transit facilities to all sportsmen and women travelling to or from South Africa. It condemned the issue, use and recognition of passports of convenience obtained by South African sportsmen and women to circumvent the international boycott of apartheid sport, and called on journalists to decline "free" offers of trips to South Africa and Namibia under the auspices of the South African Government or its "front" organizations. (Press Releases: GA/AP/1635, 1637, 1638, 1639)

Women and children

under apartheid

A declaration containing a number of proposals urging the international community to step up the struggle against apartheid was adopted by acclamation on 9 May by the International Conference on Women and Children under Apartheid, held at Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania.

The Conference, which was opened on 7 May by the Chief Minister of Zanzibar, Seif Sharrif Hamad, was organized by the Special Committee against Apartheid in co-operation with the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania. The participants included United Nations bodies, Governments, the southern African liberation movements recognized by the OAU, representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and individuals.

The declaration condemned the forced removals of blacks by South Africa that had driven millions of people--the majority of them women and children--off their ancestral lands and had deprived them of their South African nationality. The Conference expressed its grave concern about the situation of women and children under apartheid. It condemned the Pretoria regime for subjecting the women and children of South Africa and Namibia to oppression and humiliation, including separation of families, and for killing, imprisoning, restricting and torturing women and children for opposing apartheid.

The declaration recognized the critical need to effectively assist women in South Africa and Namibia in the struggle for national liberation, and called on all governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to intesify their support of and solidarity with the women and children of South Africa and Namibia, and in frontline States. (Press Releases: GA/AP/1629/Rev.1, 1630, 1631, 1633)

Student action

The Special Committee against Apartheid has expressed its appreciation of United States student actions in support of the campaign to promote divestment from corporations that engaged in business with South Africa.

The Chairman of the Special Committee, Joseph N. Garba (Nigeria), told a meeting of American student and other leaders in New York on 7 May that their peaceful demonstrations on campuses across the United States and their divestment appeals "are a concrete expression of solidarity with the struggle of the oppressed people against apartheid and are in full harmony with numerous resolutions of the United Nations".

The meeting was held to review the situation in South Africa and student action in the United States against apartheid.

Mr. Garba added that such activities took on an added importance in the face of the increasingly violent situation in South Africa. He said "The movement of youth groups like yours is headed in the right direction. You have decisive action. The oppressed people of South Africa feel heartened and encouraged by your choice. Your actions are in unison with those organizations and individuals inside South Africa who oppose the apartheid regime."

The Special Committee Chairman stated concerted anti-apartheid action, particularly in the United States, was gathering momentum and was increasingly focused on the demand for sanctions against South Africa--the most effective way of bringing about the eradication of apartheid by peaceful means. (Press Release: GA/AP/1627)

Singapore symposium

Comprehensive, mandatory sanctions should be imposed against South Africa if it did not proceed immediately with the implementation of the United Nations plan for the independence of Namibia, set out in Security Council resolutions 385 (1976) and 435 (1978).

That recommendation was made by participants in a symphosium on "The immediate independence of Namibia--a common responsibility", held at Singapore from 6 to 9 May. Participants in the seminar, organized by the United Nations Council for Namibia, included experts and parliamentarians from Asia; representatives of non-governmental organizations, United Nations bodies, and the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO); and observers from Member States.

Paul B. Engo (Cameroon), Chairman of the symposium, said it could not be ruled out that the Pretoria racists might choose to employ nuclear weapons rather than be forced into policy adjustments. in those circumstances, it must not be ruled out that African nations would, in response, resort to help from friends and opportunists alike, to survive and to achieve eventual victory through the use of weapons necessary for effective self-defense.

Theo-Ben Gurirab, Permanent Observer of SWAPO to the United Nations, said the United States' policy of constructive engagement "and its handmaiden, the linkage pre-condition" had sought to remove South Africa's "pole-cat status" in the world. "For us in Namibia, this policy, particularly the so-called linkage, has become the primary stumbling-block to our independence. This is clearly a disservice to the American people and we condemn and reject it."

Pending Security Council action to impose comprehensive, mandatory sanctions against Pretoria, the countries of the Asian region should "voluntarily sever links and dealings with South Africa", the symposium stated. Regional Governments should provide political, material, financial and moral support to SWAPO to enable it to intensify its struggle for the independence of Namibia, whose people "have a legitimate right to struggle for their independence by all means at their disposal, including armed struggle". (Press Releases: NAM/822, 829, 830, 831, 832)

Soviet support

The Chairman of the Special Committee against Apartheid, Joseph N. Garba (Nigeria), visited the Soviet Union from 24 to 28 May as the guest of the Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee.

In the course of the visit, the Supreme Soviet and the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed support for the initiatives of the Special Committee in seeking comprehensive and mandatory sanctions against South Africa. Mr. Garba paid tribute to the Soviet Union for its support for and solidarity with the aspirations for liberation and development of Africa.

Mr. Garba held consultations on 30 May with the Minister of External Relations of France, Roland Dumas, in Paris. Their discussions focused on south Africa's policies and practices of apartheid. They were both of the view that there had been no meaningful change in South Africa. Mr. Dumas pledged France's support for the Special Committee's work and indicated a willingness to co-operate with it in the context of United Nations action against apartheid. (Press Release GA/AP/1641)