Question of Southern Rhodesia

UN General Assembly, Question of Southern Rhodesia, A/RES/2262, UN General Assembly, 3 November 1967, https://www.refworld.org/legal/resolution/unga/1967/en/6122 [accessed 10 October 2024]
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XXII. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS F THE FOURTH COMMITTEE
2262. Question of Southern Rhodesia

The General Assembly, Having considered the question of Southern Rhodesia, Recalling its resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 containing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, Recalling further all the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples concerning the question of Southern Rhodesia, Recalling further that the situation in Southern Rhodesia has been declared by the Security Council in resolution 232 (1966) of 16 December 1966 as constituting a threat to international peace and security, Recalling further that the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has declared on several occasions that the racist minority régime in Southern Rhodesia is illegal, that it will not negotiate with that régime on the future of Southern Rhodesia and that it will not grant independence until majority rule is established in the Territory, Noting that the economic sanctions applied so far have failed to bring down the illegal racist minority régime in Southern Rhodesia, Noting with profound regret that the Government of the United Kingdom has not found it possible to take the measures necessary to bring down the minority régime in Southern Rhodesia,

1. Reaffirms the legitimacy of the struggle of the people of Zimbabwe for the restoration of their inalienable right to freedom and independence;

2. Condemns the policies of oppression, racial discrimination and segregation practised in Southern Rhodesia, which constitute a crime against humanity;

3. Reaffirms the obligation of the administering Power to transfer power without further delay to the people of Zimbabwe on the basis of elections conducted according to the principle of "one man, one vote";

4. Condemns the failure and the refusal of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in its capacity as the administering Power, to take effective measures to bring down the illegal racist minority régime in Southern Rhodesia and to transfer power to the people of Zimbabwe;

5. Affirms its conviction that the sanctions adopted so far will not put an end to the illegal racist minority régime and that sanctions, in order to achieve their objective, will have to be comprehensive and mandatory and backed by force;

6. Further reaffirms that the only effective and speedy way for the administering Power to put down the rebellion in the Territory is through the use of force;

7. Calls once again upon the Government of the United Kingdom to take immediately all the necessary measures, including the use of force, to put an end to the illegal racist minority régime in Southern Rhodesia and to ensure the immediate application of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) and other relevant resolutions;

8. Considers that any future consultations undertaken by the administering Power to determine the future of Southern Rhodesia must be with the representatives of all the political parties and not with the illegal régime, and calls upon the administering Power to enter immediately into consultations with the representatives of the political parties favouring majority rule;

9. Condemns the activities of all those States which, contrary to the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council, are still trading with the illegal racist minority régime in the Territory, and calls upon such States to sever immediately all economic and other relations with that régime, in accordance with those resolutions;

10. Condemns the activities of those foreign financial and other interests which, by supporting and assisting the illegal racist minority régime in Southern Rhodesia, and by their exploitation of the human and material resources of the Territory, are under-mining the effective implementation of the sanctions imposed so far and are impeding the African people of Zimbabwe from attaining freedom and independence in accordance with General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), and calls upon the Governments of the States concerned to take all the necessary measures to bring such activities to an end;

11. Condemns in the strongest terms the policies of the Governments of South Africa and Portugal of continued support for the illegal racist minority régime in blatant defiance of General Assembly and Security Council resolutions;

12. Further condemns the presence of South African armed forces in Southern Rhodesia and the arms aid extended by the authorities of South Africa to the illegal racist minority régime in Southern Rhodesia for the purpose of suppressing the legitimate struggle of the people of Zimbabwe to achieve their freedom and independence;

13. Expresses grave concern at the serious threat constituted by the forces referred to in paragraph 12 above to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of independent African States in the area;

14. Calls upon the administering Power to ensure the immediate expulsion of all South African armed forces from the colony of Southern Rhodesia and to prevent all armed assistance to the rebel régime;

15. Strongly condemns the detention and imprisonment of African nationalists in Southern Rhodesia and invites the administering Power to secure their immediate and unconditional release;

16. Urges all States, as a matter of urgency, to render all moral and material assistance to the national liberation movements of Zimbabwe, either directly or through the Organization of African Unity;

17. Draws the attention of the Security Council to the need for applying the necessary measures envisaged under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, in view of the deterioration of the grave situation in Southern Rhodesia;

18. Appeals to the specialized agencies concerned and to other international assistance organizations to aid and assist the refugees from Zimbabwe and those who are suffering from oppression by the illegal racist minority régime in Southern Rhodesia, in consultation with the Organization of African Unity and, through it, with the national liberation movements in the colonial Territory of Southern Rhodesia;

19. Requests the Secretary-General to promote through the various organs and agencies of the United Nations the continuous and large-scale publicizing of the work of the United Nations concerning this question, in order that world public opinion may be sufficiently aware of the grave situation in the colonial Territory of Southern Rhodesia and of the continuing struggle for liberation waged by the people of Zimbabwe;

20. Requests the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples to continue to keep the situation in the Territory under review and invites the Secretary-General to report to the Special Committee on the extent of the implementation by Member States of the resolutions of the United Nations relevant to the Territory;

21. Calls upon the administering Power to report to the Special Committee on its actions in the implementation of the present resolution;

22. Decides to keep the question of Southern Rhodesia on its agenda.

1594th plenary meeting,
3 November 1967.
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