Special meetings mark 26th anniversary of Sharpeville massacre; Secretary-General says racial discrimination should cease everywhere.

• Position: Javier Perez de Cuellar

Special meetings mark 26th anniversary of Sharpeville massacre; Secretary-General says racial discrimination should cease everywhere

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was observed on 21 March at Headquarters at two solemn meetings of the Special Committee against Apartheid.

Proclaimed by the General Assembly in 1966, the Day marks the anniversary of the 1960 massacre of civilians at Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fired into a peaceful crowd protesting the apartheid regime's "pass laws'.

A minute of silence was observed in memory of the 69 persons killed and 180 wounded at Sharpeville and other freedom fighters who have died in the struggle against apartheid and racial discrimination.

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, in a message, said racial discrimination was an affront to the dignity and worth of the human person. The quarter century since Sharpeville had seen numerous lost opportunities for reconciliation and peace which had combined to bring South Africa to a "dangerous impasse'.

The rising tide of violence had claimed more than 1,200 lives in the past 18 months, he said. While the lifting of the state of emergency was a welcome step, Security Council resolution 569 (1985) had also called for the immediate and unconditional release of Nelson Mandela and other political detainees, total elimination of apartheid and the establishment in South Africa of a free, united and democratic society on the basis of universal suffrage.

General Assembly President Jaime de Pinies told the meeting that since Sharpeville, other incidents had occurred which had demonstrated the inhuman character of the apartheid system, whose existence constituted a threat to international peace and security. The struggle of the South African people against institutionalized racial discrimination deserved the support of all those who desired justice and freedom for themselves.

Ole Bierring (Denmark), Security Council President, said Council members were firmly committed to doing all in their power, consonant with the Charter, to contribute to the enjoyment by all South Africans of the rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Natarajan Krishnan (India) on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, said that although South Africa had announced in recent months its intention to change or repeal some obnoxious legislation, it had not "moved an inch' towards what were basic equal rights for all races.

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