CM/Res.1002 (XLII)
RESOLUTION ON SOUTH AFRICA
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity meeting in its Forty- second Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 10 to 17 July, 1985,
Having considered the Report of the Forty-fourth Ordinary Session of the Co- ordinating Committee for the Liberation of Africa, and having heard statements from ANC and PAC,
Considering the Pretoria regime’s total rejection of the principle of universal adult suffrage, and its tenacious commitment to the racist policy of forced removals and denationalization of the indigenous African people,
Convinced that the so-called constitutional reforms and other equally meaningless reforms are mere ploys designed to placate world public opinion while further entrenching white minority rule,
Noting with satisfaction the united mass action by the oppressed people of South Africa not only to render the apartheid system unworkable but also to make racist South Africa ungovernable,
Gravely concerned about the Pretoria regime’s increased acts of terrorism in the form of daily killings of unarmed demonstrators, the assassination, and persecution of leaders and militants recently committed by the racist regime, even as the international community was observing the 25th and 9th Anniversaries of Sharpeville and Soweto massacres respectively,
Noting with satisfaction the growing world-wide opposition to and action against apartheid especially in the Western countries,
Further encouraged by the emergence and dramatic growth of the Free South Africa Movement in the USA in opposition to the policy of constructive engagement stubornly pursued by the Reagan Administration,
Outraged by the Pretoria regime’s invasions, threats and acts of terrorism and war against the People’s Republic of Angola, the Republic of Botswana, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the People’s Republic of Mozambique, the Republi c of Seychelles and other neighboring African States,
Convinced that there can be no peace, stability and security in Southern Africa until the apartheid regime is overthrown and replaced by a majority Government,
Further convinced that the Pretoria regime is increasingly becoming vulnerable to the combined efforts by the oppressed people of South Africa and the international community in the form of armed struggle, civil disobedience and economic sanctions,
Indignant at the maneuvers to exclude the inscription of the plight of women and children under the apartheid regime from the agenda of the UN Decade of Women Conference in Nairobi, Kenya from 15 to 26 July 1985:
WARMLY COMMENDS the oppressed people of South Africa for their struggle against their oppressors and urges them to step up the resistance;
CALLS ON all Member States of the OAU, peace-loving peoples and nations to increase their financial and material assistance to the struggling people of South Africa so as to raise the level of resistance;
STRONGLY CONDEMNS racist Pretoria regime for the recent invasion and acts of aggression against the Republic of Botswana and the People’s Republic of Angola during which scores of innocent civilians and refugees were killed in cold blood under the pretext of hot pursuit of ANC and
SWAPO freedom fighters and the elimination of non-existent military bases in these countries;
COMMENDS the Frontline States and Lesotho for their unswerving commitment and readiness to sacrifice for attainment of independence in Namibia and majority rule in South Africa;
PROPOSES the organization and convening of a World Conference on Sanctions Against Racist South Africa in collaboration with the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations, to coincide with the 10th Anniversary of the Soweto uprising in June, 1976;
CALLS ON governments that have not yet done so to ratify the Convention on Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid;
SUPPORTS the APPEAL recently made by the African National Congress and SWAPO for the strengthening of the campaign towards the effective implementation of the oil embargo against racist South Africa;
MANDATES the African Group at the United Nations to step up the campaign for the total isolation of the racist South African regime especially through the convening of the Security Council to consider the possibility of imposing comprehensive and mandatory sanctions against South Africa under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter;
WARMLY COMMENDS anti-apartheid activists throughout the world especially the Free South African Movement in the United States of America;
REQUESTS the OAU Secretary-General to establish and maintain close relations with these Movements so as to increase the momentum of their activities;
CONDEMNS the Reagan Administration Policy of Constructive Engagement which has emboldened the racist regime in continuing to defy international public opinion;
APPEALS to all peace and freedom loving peoples and nations participating in the forthcoming UN Decade for Women Conference to be held in Nairobi not only to defeat the attempts to impose racist South Africa’s participation in the conference but also to use this forum to highlight the plight of women and children under apartheid in South Africa and Namibia in order to help secure increased moral, political and material support for the national liberation struggle in these territories;
CALLS FOR THE UNCONDITIONAL release of all South African political prisoners and detainees and salutes their unshakeable commitment to the national liberation struggle as reflected in the message of Nelson Mandela’s rejection of P.W. Botha’s offer of conditional release.