Report of the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on southern Africa

6 (XXXIII). Report of the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on southern Africa

A[1]8

The Commission on Human Rights, Recalling its resolution 2 (XXIII) by which it set up the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts, and its resolutions 21 (XXV), 7 (XXVII), 19 (XXIX) and 5 (XXXI), by which it extended and broadened the terms of reference of that Group, Recognizing the contribution which the reports of the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts have made and are continuing to make to the sustained efforts of the United Nations to seek out and combat the constant and flagrant violations of human rights, and in particular the policies of apartheid and racial discrimination which continue unabated in South Africa, as well as in Namibia and Zimbabwe, Having examined the report of the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts (E/CN.4/1222 and Corr.1), Having noted that the South African authorities continue to occupy Namibia illegally, to strengthen their military presence in that Territory and to perpetuate their odious policy of apartheid and racial discrimination there, and that the illegal régime of Salisbury is not only refusing to display any goodwill in the matter of transfer of power to the majority but is continuing to increase its military capabilities with a view to maintaining its oppression of the majority by force, Deeply concerned by the very serious consequences for the realization of human rights and the most essential fundamental freedoms in South Africa and elsewhere of the confirmation by recent reports of the acquisition by South Africa of the necessary scientific technology giving access to nuclear weapons,

1. Expresses its profound indignation regarding the situation which continues to prevail in southern Africa and which is characterized by a flagrant denial of human rights to the African population and by the brutal and inhuman treatment of political prisoners in that part of the world;

2. Condemns the massacres committed by the South African police during the demonstrations at Soweto in June 1976;

3. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the peoples of Namibia and Zimbabwe to self-determination and independence and their right to enjoy all the rights recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the various international instruments on human rights;

4. Requests the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts to institute an inquiry in respect of any person who has been guilty in Namibia of the crime of apartheid or of a serious violation of human rights, and to bring the results of that inquiry to the attention of the Commission on Human Rights;

5. Recommends that the Economic and Social Council should draw the attention of the General Assembly and the Security Council to the desirability of adopting specific measures, including those provided for in Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, with a view to putting an end to the illegal occupation of Namibia by South Africa;

6. Denounces the policy of "bantustanization" as an obstacle to any real application of the principle of self-determination;

7. Notes with interest the recommendations set forth in the Declaration and Programme of Action of the International Seminar on the Eradication of Apartheid and in Support of the Struggle for Liberation in South Africa (A/31/104), held at Havana from 24 to 28 May 1976, and decides that the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts should evaluate all the aspects of that Declaration and Programme of Action and should submit specific proposals to the Commission at its thirty-fourth session;

8. Decides to have itself represented by members of the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts at the World Conference for Action against Apartheid to be held in 1977, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 31/6 /G;

9. Adopts all the conclusions and recommendations of the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts;

10. Condemns the activities of the countries which, either directly or through their nationals, are helping to perpetuate the present situation in Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and urges them to refrain from such activities;

11. Demands the immediate release of all political prisoners held, in particular those who are suspected of sympathizing with the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) and, while awaiting their release, requests protection for them in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War;

12. Endorses the recommendations of the Declaration of Dakar on Namibia and Human Rights and the Programme of Action annexed thereto, and in particular:

(a) Condemns the so-called Windhoek Constitutional Conference;

(b) Recommends that the competent international organizations and Member States should support SWAPO;

(c) Requests the General Assembly to invite the United Nations Council for Namibia to study, in consultation with SWAPO, the possibility of Namibia becoming a party to the International Covenants on Human Rights and, in particular, to the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid;

13. Recommends that the United Nations should intensify its co-operation in the humanitarian field, by supplying the neighbouring countries of Zimbabwe with assistance, particularly in the form of medicines and foodstuffs;

14. Decides that the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts should continue to study the policies and practices which violate human rights in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe;

15. Requests the Group to submit a report on its findings to the Commission at the thirty-fifth session at the latest, and to submit a progress report to the Commission at the thirty-fourth session;

16. Decides to renew the mandate of the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts, composed of the following experts acting in their personal capacity: Mr. Kéba M'Baye (Senegal), Chairman-Rapporteur, Mr. Branimir Jankovió (Yugoslavia), Mr. Amjad Ali (India), Mr. Annan Arkyin Cato (Ghana), Mr. Humberto Díaz Casanueva (Chile) and Mr. Felix Ermacora (Austria);

17. Invites those Member States which have not yet done so to accede to the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid;

18. Requests the Secretary-General, in accordance with Commission resolutions 5 (XXXI) and 8 (XXXII), to continue his contacts with a view to the organization in southern Africa, if possible in 1977, of a symposium on the matters referred to in paragraph 20 of the conclusions and recommendations of the 1975 report of the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts (E/CN.4/1159);

19. Requests the Secretary-General to transmit this resolution to the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Special Committee against Apartheid.

B[2]9

The Commission on Human Rights, Recalling its resolutions 5 (XXXI) and 8 (XXXII), Recommends that the Economic and Social Council should adopt the following draft resolution: [For the text see chap. I, sect. A, draft resolution I.A.]

C[3]10

The Commission on Human Rights, Recalling General Assembly resolution 31/6 /I, Recommends that the Economic and Social Council should adopt the following draft resolution: [For the text see chap. I, sect, A, draft resolution I.B.]

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[1]8 Adopted at the 1416th meeting, on 4 March 1977, by a roll-call vote of 28 in favour, 1 against and 3 abstentions. See chap. VI. [2]9 Adopted unanimously by roll call at the 1416th meeting, on 4 March 1977. chap. VI. [3]10 Adopted at the 1416th meeting, on 4 March 1977, by a roll-call vote of 26 in favour, none against and 6 abstentions. See chap. VI.