Question of Southern Rhodesia

XXIII. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE FOURTH COMMITTEE
2383. Question of Southern Rhodesia

The General Assembly, Having considered the question of Southern Rhodesia, Recalling its resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, all its previous resolutions and those of the Security Council concerning the question of Southern Rhodesia, Recalling further that the Security Council determined, in its resolutions 232 (1966) of 16 December 1966 and 253 (1968) of 29 May 1968, that the situation in Southern Rhodesia constituted a threat to international peace and security, Deeply concerned over the dangerous situation in Southern Rhodesia, which has been further aggravated by the executions and acts of suppression carried out by the illegal racist régime against the African people and by the presence of South African forces in the Territory, Deeply concerned at the serious threat constituted by the South African armed forces in Southern Rhodesia to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of independent African States in the area, Bearing in mind the primary responsibility of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as the administering Power, to put an end to the illegal régime in Southern Rhodesia and to transfer effective power, based on free elections by universal adult suffrage and on majority rule, to the people of Zimbabwe, Noting that the sanctions applied by the Security Council have not so far produced the desired results,

1. Reaffirms the inalienable right of the people of Zimbabwe to freedom and independence and the legitimacy of their struggle to attain that right in conformity with the provisions of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV);

2. Affirms the responsibility of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as the administering Power, for the continuing deterioration of the situation, and its conviction that the only effective way of quelling the rebellion in Southern Rhodesia is through the use of force by the administering Power;

3. Condemns the failure and the refusal of the Government of the United Kingdom, as the administering Power, to take effective measures to bring down the illegal racist minority régime in Southern Rhodesia and to transfer power, based on free elections by universal adult suffrage and on majority rule, to the people of Zimbabwe;

4. Affirms its conviction that the sanctions so far adopted will not put an end to the illegal racist minority régime unless they are comprehensive, mandatory, strictly supervised by force and complied with, in particular by South Africa and Portugal;

5. Calls upon the Government of the United Kingdom to use force in order to put an immediate end to the illegal régime in Southern Rhodesia and, in this regard, notes with appreciation the offers of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to make their territories and air space available for this purpose;

6. Considers that any independence without majority rule in Southern Rhodesia is contrary to the provisions of General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) and calls upon the United Kingdom to enter immediately into consultations with the representatives of political parties favouring majority rule;

7. Condemns the policies of the Governments of South Africa and Portugal and all other Governments which continue to have political, economic, financial and other relations with Southern Rhodesia and which render direct or indirect economic, military and other assistance to the illegal racist minority régime, thus enabling it to sustain itself;

8. Calls upon all States to bring to an end the activities of financial, economic and other interests operated by their nationals in Southern Rhodesia;

9. Draws the attention of the Security Council to the urgent necessity of applying the following measures envisaged under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations:

(a) The scope of the sanctions should be widened further to include all the measures laid down in Article 41 of the Charter with respect to the illegal racist régime in Southern Rhodesia;

(b) Sanctions should be imposed on South Africa and Portugal, the Governments of which have blatantly refused to carry out the mandatory decisions of the Security Council;

10. Condemns the illegal intervention of South African forces in Southern Rhodesia and calls upon the United Kingdom, as the administering Power, to ensure the immediate expulsion of all South African armed forces, including the police, from Southern Rhodesia and to prevent all armed assistance to the racist minority régime;

11. Condemns in the strongest terms the detention, imprisonment and assassination of African nationalists in Southern Rhodesia;

12. Calls upon the administering Power to ensure the immediate release of all African nationalists who are in prison and in detention and to prevent further assassination of African nationalists in Southern Rhodesia;

13. Calls upon the United Kingdom, in view of the armed conflict prevailing in the Territory and the inhuman treatment of prisoners, to ensure the application to that situation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949;[1]

14. 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;

15. 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 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 concerning the Territory;

16. Calling upon the administering Power to report to the Special Committee on its actions in the implementation of the present resolution.

1710th plenary meeting,
7 November 1968.

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[1] United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75 (1950), No. 972.