Fight against Apartheid
Apartheid, which in Afrikaans means “separate development of races”, is only a system of discrimination and racial segregation that the government of South Africa has officially practiced since 1948. This system excludes the majority of the population – the blacks of South Africa – from all political activities in the country by applying to them a whole arsenal of repressive laws and regulations.
Aware of the seriousness of this problem, twelve member states of the United Nations presented, in 1952, a memorandum in which they exposed the multiple and numerous violations of human rights that the apartheid system entailed for more than 80% of the population of South Africa.
Since then, this practice, described as a “crime against humanity”, has been regularly denounced by the entire international community within the framework of the United Nations system. This is how all of its organs (General Assembly, Security Council, subsidiary organs and specialized agencies) agreed on measures intended to combat apartheid.
In addition to the numerous resolutions it has adopted on this issue, the General Assembly has repeatedly drawn the attention of the Security Council to what it has described as a threat to international peace and security and recommended that it take appropriate measures, including the application of comprehensive and mandatory sanctions to compel the South African government to dismantle the system of apartheid.
In 1962, a special committee against apartheid was created within the United Nations to “monitor the evolution of the racial policies of the South African government”. Since 1965, the United Nations General Assembly has created several special trust funds intended to help the victims of apartheid, as well as setting up the Center against Apartheid called to collect as much information as possible on the harmful consequences of this hateful and discriminatory system by definition.
In 1978, an International Convention on the Elimination and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid was adopted by the General Assembly and opened for signature by member states (more than 80 states have ratified it to date). At the instigation of the Special Committee against Apartheid, a declaration, which was also adopted to reaffirm the commitment of governments and peoples of the world to take measures to eliminate apartheid, resulted in the proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly of an International Year to Combat Apartheid (March 1978 - March 1979).
Since then, several international conferences and campaigns have been organized to condemn apartheid and call for a global system of comprehensive and binding sanctions to be applied by the entire international community to force South Africa to dismantle the apartheid system. The celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the creation of the OAU and the United Nations Special Council against Apartheid provided a new opportunity for the African people as well as the entire international community to demonstrate their solidarity and unwavering support for the people of South Africa in their struggle against apartheid.
Aware of the seriousness of this problem, twelve member states of the United Nations presented, in 1952, a memorandum in which they exposed the multiple and numerous violations of human rights that the apartheid system entailed for more than 80% of the population of South Africa.
Since then, this practice, described as a “crime against humanity”, has been regularly denounced by the entire international community within the framework of the United Nations system. This is how all of its organs (General Assembly, Security Council, subsidiary organs and specialized agencies) agreed on measures intended to combat apartheid.
In addition to the numerous resolutions it has adopted on this issue, the General Assembly has repeatedly drawn the attention of the Security Council to what it has described as a threat to international peace and security and recommended that it take appropriate measures, including the application of comprehensive and mandatory sanctions to compel the South African government to dismantle the system of apartheid.
In 1962, a special committee against apartheid was created within the United Nations to “monitor the evolution of the racial policies of the South African government”. Since 1965, the United Nations General Assembly has created several special trust funds intended to help the victims of apartheid, as well as setting up the Center against Apartheid called to collect as much information as possible on the harmful consequences of this hateful and discriminatory system by definition.
In 1978, an International Convention on the Elimination and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid was adopted by the General Assembly and opened for signature by member states (more than 80 states have ratified it to date). At the instigation of the Special Committee against Apartheid, a declaration, which was also adopted to reaffirm the commitment of governments and peoples of the world to take measures to eliminate apartheid, resulted in the proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly of an International Year to Combat Apartheid (March 1978 - March 1979).
Since then, several international conferences and campaigns have been organized to condemn apartheid and call for a global system of comprehensive and binding sanctions to be applied by the entire international community to force South Africa to dismantle the apartheid system. The celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the creation of the OAU and the United Nations Special Council against Apartheid provided a new opportunity for the African people as well as the entire international community to demonstrate their solidarity and unwavering support for the people of South Africa in their struggle against apartheid.