African Opinion - Freedom Archives

2
THE CASE OF OCCUPIED AFRICA
NorE : .The following are quotations from the case
of "South ll'est Africa" (Namibia) and the occupied
areas of Africa, presented to the United Nations' General
Assembly, -November 21 7, 1968 by 12r. V. J.
111waanga, the representative of the Republic of Zambia
(formerly Northern Rhodesia) and reproduced for our
readers' ! benefit .
Naani'bia, is known to all Africans as the area that
huropeans called "South West Africa ." SIVAPO, is
the abbreviation of (South lhest African People Organization)
. "Boutustans" are barren ; slow death areas
in South Africa in which Africans are thrown by
dugged-in armed Europeans scattered reservations
and guarded against , relief, genocide camps .
The population of South Africa and Namibia is 16
million Africans and 3 million Europeans.
Parenthetic statements, subheads apd Italics are ours .
Once again the General Assembly is considering the
problem of Namibia, which has remained fixed on the
agenda of the United Nations for many years . Since
the subject was last debated, the situation has assumed
a grave proportion, which will darken the pages of
historv.
WeUhave witnessed the creation of the first bantustan
in Namibia, the removal of all the indigenous people
from the old location of Windhoek to segregated areas,
the killing of SWAPO freedom fighters in Caprivi
Strip a few weeks ago, and the denial of justice to the
31 Namibians who were being illegally tried by South
African Courts ; to mention only a few .
It has been evident since 1946 that the racist regime
of South Africa had decided to incorporate Namibia
within its territorial frontiers. As is well known, subsequent
efforts by the International Community to dislodge
South Africa from the territory of Namibia did
not bear any fruitful results.
A Gauntlet Thrown to''All Africans
It is a matter of deep regret to my delegation that
the International Community has failed to compel
South Africa to abandon its criminal policy. Instead
of taking resolute and drastic measures against South
Africa, Ax Uni.ted Nations has been evasive and ineffective
. More than seventy (70) resolutions on this
question prominently occupy the pages of the United
Nations. It is clear that resolutions alone will not have
any meaningful effect on the course of events - in
Namibia or indeed help to speed up the achievement
of self-determination and independence for the suffering
people of that territory .
The United Nations has a special and direct responsibility
to the people of that territory, because not
only are we confronted with a case of sheer colonial
domination in its most hideous form, but we are also
duty bound to defend the very spirit of the Charter .
The "League of Nations" mandate for Namibia can
no longer serve as a valid basis for the perpetual fore-
ible enslavement of half million people in their homeland
by a minority clique of white imported racists
operating in South Africa .
The International Court of Justice (an imperialist
arm) took six long years to decide judging not to judge"
. . . the imperative merits of the case brought before
the Court by the African States of Ethiopia and
Liberia .
U. N., Come Out in the Open
The fundamental issue is moral, humanitarian and
political . Namibia is the homeland of 500,000 Africans
; quite unlike the imported racists in South Africa,
have no other hom- . These people and their ancestors
have lived there for centuries, and one might say even
since the dawn of history. Therefore, they have an
inalienable right to live there in peace without any
foreign domination or oppression .
They have a God given right to their freedom and
independence and to develop their own political, social
and economic institutions. They have a right to enjoy
their own cultural heritage, no matter what any clique
of arrogant outsiders might think . And as such there
is no mandate, no treaty, no law on earth that could
legitimately rob them of this right of freedom and selfdc-termination
.
The United Nations itself is not endowed with the
riL,:ht to obstruct the wishes of the indigenous people
of Namibia . The urgent question is that of freedom
or enslavement, and it is high timA that Member States
of the United Nations, and especially those who have
the key to the balance of power in that area, let the
world know on which side they are on .
Military Fortress Against African Nationalism
The shrewd banditry of South Africa's behavior expresses
itself in the way she skillfully abuses the legal
process in making white friends and oppressing African
people. First as a mandatory power, she was in
the enviable position to exploit the mineral wealth of
Namibia for her own selfish profit, and at the same
time secure a huge chunk of Africa as a Northern
military fortress against the inevitable rise of African
nationalism to the North.
Such naked piracy is certainly unparalleled in international
affairs . . . The racist regime in South Africa
uses international law to get what they want, then tern
round after to reject the very existence of the law."
The actions and attitude of the Pretoria regime are
tantamount to international legal gangsterism .
This being the case, the United Nations has absolutely
no alternative but to respond to the wishes of
the indigenous people by bringing this regime to sanity.
It is the duty of all Members of this organization
who love peace, who believe in the universal brotherhood
of man, who love freedom and justice to support
appropriate measures to rid the people of Namibia
from foreign occupation and other manifest evils of'
(Continued on page 14)
AFRICAN OPINION