Violations of human rights in southern Africa: report of the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts

5 (XXXVII). Violations of human rights in southern Africa: report of the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts[1]11 [2]12

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), 5 (XXXI), 6 (XXXIII) and 12 (XXXV) 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 efforts of the United Nations to seek out and combat the violations of human rights, in particular the policies of apartheid and racial discrimination, pursued in South Africa and in Namibia, Having examined the report of the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts,[3]13 Having noted that the South African authorities, far from changing their policy of apartheid, are strengthening it by various means and are continuing to occupy Namibia illegally,

1. Congratulates the Ad Hoc Group of Experts on the excellent work accomplished and warmly thanks it;

2. Strongly condemns the increased South African military presence in Namibia;

3. Denounces and condemns as a breach of international law the attacks perpetrated by the Pretoria régime on the territorial integrity of the independent countries bordering on Namibia or South Africa;

4. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the Namibian people to self-determination and independence and its right to enjoy all the rights recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant international instruments;

5. Declares that only in the conditions determined by the United Nations is the exercise by the Namibian people of its right to self-determination in conformity with international law;

6. Denounces once again the bantustanization invented and imposed by South Africa to oppose the legitimate claims of the black population to liberty and dignity as a violation of the right to self-determination;

7. Requests the General Assembly to reaffirm that the struggle against apartheid justifies the granting of political, material and other assistance by United Nations to those taking part in that struggle;

8. Invites those countries which are collaborating with South Africa in the political, economic, cultural, military and other fields to terminate such relations, since apartheid constitutes a crime against humanity;

9. Suggests that the General Assembly of the United Nations should refer for consideration to the International Court of Justice the question of whether a State which pursues a policy of apartheid and denies human rights, as does South Africa, may lawfully continue to hold a place in the international community, in view of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, more particularly Chapter II, Article 6;

10. Appeals once again to all States which have not yet done so to ratify the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid;

11. Invites every Member State of the United Nations to make observations on the interim report, and on the draft statutes of the International Penal Tribunal, as envisaged in document E/CN.4/1426, so as to enable the Ad Hoc Working Group to continue its study;

12. Demands that the South African authorities should grant captured freedom fighters the status of prisoners of war and treat them as such, more particularly by applying to them the Third Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners and the Additional Protocols thereto;

13. Stresses once again that the economic sanctions should be applied to South Africa in order to compel it to abandon its policy of apartheid and that the oil embargo should be considered and observed by all States as a consequence of the compulsory arms embargo;

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

15. Decides to renew the mandate of Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts, composed of the following members acting in a personal capacity: Mr. kéba M'Baye (Senegal), Chairman/Rapporteur; Mr. Branimir Jankovic (Yugoslavia); Mr. Annan Arkyn Cato (Ghana); Mr. Humberto Diaz-Casanueva (Chile); Mr. Mulka Govinda Reddy (India) and Mr. Felix Ermacora (Austria);

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

17. Decides that the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts should examine in particular the report of the Secretary-General on apartheid as a collective form of slavery[4]14 and the report on child labour in South Africa submitted to the Working Group on Slavery at its sixth session by the Anti-Slavery Society for the Protection of Human Rights[5]15 and to propose in due course such measures as the Group deems appropriate;

18. Further decides that the Group should study all ways and means that the Commission might use or suggest for the purposes of active participation in the struggle waged by the international community against apartheid;

19. Requests the Group to submit a report on its findings to the Commission at its thirty-ninth session at the latest and to submit a progress report to the Commission at its thirty-eighth session;

20. Also Requests the Group, in co-operation with the Special Committee against Apartheid, to investigate the conditions of imprisonment and the state of health of persons captured at kassinga and imprisoned at the Hardap Dam Camp, near Marienthal, in the south of Namibia;

21. Also requests the Group, in co-operation with the Special Committee against Apartheid, to study the effects of the policy of apartheid on black women and children in South Africa, in conformity with General Assembly resolutions 35/206 G and N of 16 December 1980;

22. Decides that the Group should continue to institute inquiries in respect of any persons suspected of having been guilty in Namibia of the crime of apartheid or any other serious violation of human rights and to bring the results of those inquiries to the attention of the Commission on Human Rights;

23. Decides that the Group should continue to bring immediately to the attention of the Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights, so that he may take whatever action he deems appropriate, particularly serious violations or any violations calling for urgent action, when it learns of such violations during its inquiries;

24. Authorizes the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts to participate in conferences, symposia, seminars or other events connected with the action against apartheid, more particularly those organized under the auspices of the Special Committee against Apartheid;

25. Requests the Secretary-General to provide every assistance and the resources required to enable the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts to discharge its responsibilities in accordance with its terms of reference;

26. Requests the Economic and Social Council to transmit this resolution to the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Special Committee against Apartheid.

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[1]11 Adopted at the 1611th meeting, on 23 February 1981, by 33 votes to 3, with 5 abstentions. See chap. IV. [2]12 A statement of the financial implications of this resolution appears in annex III. [3]13 E/CN.4/1429. [4]14 E/CN.4/Sub.2/449. [5]15 See E/CN.4/Sub.2/447, paras. 28-30.