Secretary-General, Special Committee against Apartheid state views on new pass laws.

Secretary-General, Special Committee against Apartheid state views on new pass laws 

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar on 23 April cited as an "encouraging development' the removal of South Africa's pass laws, "which had been cause of great suffering and injustice to the South African black population in the past'. If that could be followed by the unconditional release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners and detainees, as well as the total elimination of the remaining apartheid laws and practices, "considerable progress would have been made towards complying with the demands of Security Council resolution 569 (1985)', he said.

On 2 May, the Special Committee against Apartheid stated it was pleased to learn that all persons detained under South Africa's "pass laws' were to be released and that no new arrests or prosecutions would take place under those "hated' laws. However, serious doubts had been raised by the fact that the passes were to be replaced by an identity document which, although it was to be carried by South Africans of all races, would state the person's race and be monitored by the police.

Chairman Joseph N. Garba (Nigeria) said that it was not clear whether the new arrangements would lead to the free movement of blacks in urban areas or whether new restrictions would be imposed on them in the name of "orderly urbanization'. More than 8 million Africans deprived of their citizenship as a result of "the fictitious independence' of Bophuthatswana, Transkei, Ciskei and Venda would remain excluded from the new system, he said. It was from those "homelands' that migrant workers came to work in urban areas. Those workers would continue to be treated as "foreigners' and required to carry documents to move about freely in the land of their birth.

The powers of the South African police--"notorious for its arbitrariness and brutality'--would be further strengthened by a proposed law introduced on the same day, 23 April, as the pass law announcement. The draft would empower the Minister of Law and Order to impose a state of emergency anywhere he wished. The international community must strongly condemn the legislation and call on Pretoria to cease its war against the majority population in the name of maintaining law and order, he said.

The "homelands system', the Group Areas Act, the Separate Amenities Act and other such laws formed, together with the "pass laws', the pillars of apartheid and provided the legal machinery through which white minority rule and domination were maintained, Mr. Garba stated. Apartheid would begin to be dismantled, he stated, when all such laws were abrogated and when negotiations began among representatives of all population groups to establish a non-racial and democratic society in South Africa. Until that happened, the international community must strengthen and reinforce its pressure on the apartheid regime, he said.

New Zealanders' rugby tour deplored

The Special Committee against Apartheid has deplored the decision of 28 New Zealand rugby players to participate in a series of matches in South Africa.

On 17 April, Acting Committee Chairman Jai Pratap Rana (Nepal) said the Committee was confident that an overwhelming majority of New Zealanders agreed with their Government that "the players represent nothing but their own self-interest' and that "New Zealanders, whatever their view of rugby, cannot lend their support to this selfish act'.

To visit South Africa at "this crucial juncture of the struggle' of South Africans represented "total insensitivity to the moral issues raised by the evil system of apartheid', Mr. Rana said.

Committee welcomes decision of British actors union

On 28 April, Acting Chairman Rana commended, on his own behalf and on behalf of the Committee, the decision by Equity, the British actors union, to instruct its members not to perform in South Africa and to ban British export of all sound and recorded material to South Africa. He said the decision had come in support of General Assembly resolutions calling for South Africa's cultural boycott.

Seminar on apartheid held in Yaounde

The United Nations Seminar on International Assistance and Support to Peoples and Movements Struggling against Colonialism, Racism, Racial Discrimination and Apartheid was held in Yaounde, Cameroon, from 29 April to 9 May. The Seminar discussed international law and the question of assistance to peoples and movements struggling against colonialism, racism, racial discrimination and apartheid.

Council hopes for support for UK bill on Namibia

The United Nations Council for Namibia has expressed the hope that a bill introduced on 7 May in the British House of Lords aimed at expediting progress towards the independence of Namibia would attract universal support in Parliament and would strengthen United Kingdom action in support of Security Council resolution 435 (1978).

That resolution contains the United Nations plan for the independence of Namibia, calling for a cease-fire, troop withdrawal, free elections and establishment of a United Nations peace-keeping force.

On 8 May, Council President Paul J.F. Lusaka (Zambia) said the bill would direct the Secretary of State to take action against South Africa in respect of Namibia if, after 1 August 1986, South Africa continued to insist on linking Namibian independence to the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola.

The Council stated that concerted pressure by all States was essential to compel South Africa to withdraw its illegal administration from Nambia and to transfer power to Namibians in accordance with the United Nations plan. All States were urged to take the strongest possible measures against South Africa, including comprehensive sanctions, in support of Namibia's immediate accession to independence.

Banks asked to stop loans to Pretoria

The Special Committee against Apartheid on 8 May recommended that international banks be asked to completely stop extending loans to South Africa until apartheid had been abolished.

The recommendation was among several made by the Special Committee's Sub-Committee on the Implementation of United Nations Resolutions and Collaboration with South Africa.

Other recommendations approved by the Special Committee called for:

A study to assess the impact on the South African economy of the denial of credit facilities to Pretoria;

Periodic consultations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on its relations with South Africa, and liaison with the Council for Namibia and the Special Committee on decolonization "to put pressure on the IMF';

Asking Member States of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to sever relations with the Union Banque de Suisse (UBS) if it continued dealing with South Africa; and

Studies on other United Nations agencies dealing with banks that did business with South Africa.

Acting Chairman of the Special Committee, Guennadi I. Oudovenko (Ukrainian SSR), said Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company had informed the Special Committee that it no longer had any outstanding loans against the South African Government or its agencies and that, as a matter of policy, it did not intend to make any loans or commitments to the public sector as long as that Government failed to take the necessary steps to reverse the practice of apartheid.

Acting Chairman Oudovenko also said that New Zealand had prohibited the sale or re-export of computer equipment to South Africa, and that Ireland had decided to restrict the imports of fruits and vegetables from South Africa.

Arrest of seven PAC members condemned

The Special Committee against Apartheid condemned the arrest of seven members of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) for allegedly having committed acts against "the apartheid State'.

On 14 May, it said the arrests were further evidence of "the regime's systematic attempt to silence opposition to its apartheid policies'. The international community and anti-apartheid organizations should denounce "this latest repressive act by the regime' and demand the immediate release of all political prisoners--"patriots whose only crime is their commitment to a free, non-racial and democratic South Africa'.

Arrest of South African cleric condemned

In a 16 May statement, the Special Committee against Apartheid "most vehemently' condemned the arrest of Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, General Secretary of the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops Conference. He was arrested in a police raid on a church outside Pretoria and taken away in handcuffs. Committee Chairman Garba expressed the Committee's strong indignation at the "uncivilized treatment meted out to this respected churchman and leader'. The body called on the international community to raise its voice against "this barbarous act' and to exert all possible influence for the immediate release of Father Mkhatshwa.

Condemn killing of Africans in KwaNdebele "homeland'

On 16 May, the Special Committee against Apartheid strongly condemned "the recent acts of violence and repression in which seven Africans were killed and scores injured on 13 and 14 May in the KwaNdebele "homeland' in anti-apartheid protests'.

The Committee said the resident population had been demonstrating their anger over the decision of KwaNdebele authorities to accept so-called "independence' from Pretoria as of December 1986.

The United Nations had rejected both the policy of "homelands' and the policy of granting the "homelands' fictitious independence, the Committee stressed. No country in the world had recognized any of the four "homelands' declared "independent' by South Africa, it pointed out. The regime's new initiative to create a fifth "independent homeland' clearly showed that the regime, while talking about meaningful transformation, continued the same policy.

It was noteworthy, the Committee said, that since Proclamation 38 of 1986 had been issued by the regime, giving additional powers to the "homelands' authorities, there had been an increase in violence in the "homelands', particularly in Bophuthatswana and Lebowa. The situation had been aggravated by the emergence of "right-wing vigilantes and death squads' to attack or counter opponents of apartheid.

The Committee appealed to all Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to condemn the continuing and escalating police violence in South Africa and to take all possible measures to totally isolate the apartheid regime.

Photo: South African black with pass.