CM/Res. 695 (XXXII)
RESOLUTION ON THE ACTIVITIES OF MERCENARIES IN ZIMBABWE AND NAMIBIA AND AGAINST THE FRONT-LINE STATES
The Council of Minister of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Thirty- Second Ordinary Session in Nairobi, Republic of Kenya, from 23 February to 4 March, 1979,
Gravely concerned at the growing number of victims and the bloody evolution of the situation in Zimbabwe as a direct result of the wanton destruction and murder of civilians, women and children by the racist, rebel army of Ian Smith;
Further gravely concerned at the increasing threat which the activities of mercenaries pose to the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe and Namibia as well as to the independence, sovereignty, stability and peace of the Frontline States;
Considering the provisions of the OAU convention for the Elimination of Mercenaries in Africa,
Recalling that the two Protocols additional to the Geneva Convention of 1949 relative to the protection of war victims provide:-
that wars of national liberation in African territories under colonial domination or racist minority regimes are international conflicts subject to the provisions of the additional protocols of the Geneva Convention of 1949;
that protected persons and places, notably civilian populations and refugees camps, must under no circumstances be subjected to acts of reprisals;
that mercenaries do not enjoy the status of combatants and therefore liable to summary execution, if captured;
Deploring the fact that certain non-African States have not yet taken adequate and effective steps to implement the undertaking to prevent their nationals from coming to Africa as mercenaries and to ensure that their territories are no longer used for the recruitment, training and equipping of mercenaries to fight in Africa;
Highly appreciative of the measures taken by the Patriotic Front to abide by fundamental humanitarian rules consistent with its respect of the OAU Convention for the Elimination of Mercenarism in Africa, and the Geneva conventions:
STRONGLY CONDEMNS the activities of the mercenaries employed by the illegal racist regime of Ian Smith who massacre civilians in Zimbabwe and cause havoc among them and in violation of all basic guarantees of humanity, attack neighbouring countries destroying civilian lives and installations including refugee camps;
CONDEMNS countries that offer facilities or grant passage to the mercenaries and forces of the illegal, racist regimes in Southern Africa to attack the Frontline States;
CALLS UPON all states, particularly the United States of America, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Portugal, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada to take legislative and/or Executive measures prescribing the recruitment, training, equipping and passage of mercenaries within their territorial jurisdictions and, in respect of their nationals, such acts if committed by them while outside their own countries;
REITERATES Africa’s determination to take all measures to eliminate from the African continent the scourge of mercenarism;
APPEALS to all friendly States and International Organisations to provide immediate relief assistance and protection to the civilians in refugee camps run by the Patriotic Front and in the Frontline States;
REAFFIRMS its total solidarity with the Patriotic Front and the Frontline States which are victims of the current activities of mercenaries employed by the illegal racist rebel regime of Ian Smith;
REQUESTS the African Group at the United Nations to inscribe on the Agenda of the Thirty-Fourth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, as a matter of urgency, an item entitled “Preparation of an International Instrument Outlawing Mercenarism”.