29. Madam President, once
again the General Assembly is graced by the election of a
woman as President. It is symbolic that this mother of
assemblies should be guided by a woman, especially one of
such outstanding accomplishments and qualities. On behalf
of my delegation I wish to congratulate you most sincerely
on your election to the very high office of President of the
United Nations General Assembly at its twenty-fourth
session. Your credentials, Madam President, show clearly
that you are eminently qualified to conduct, to the
satisfaction of all, the business of the current session of the
General Assembly. You will be able to count on the
co-operation of my delegation in making your tenure of
office as successful as, I am sure, it will be enjoyable.
I should also like, Madam President, to pay particular
tribute to your predecessor, the late Dr. Emilio Arenales of
Guatemala for his unforgettable devotion to duty during his
short but eventful tenure of office. It is only after he has
gone that the endurance of the man in his very last year of
life can be appraised. All of us who remember the way he
steered the meetings over a very eventful period still cherish
a warm and respectful admiration for him. We are indebted
to him for his tireless efforts in the cause of peace and
justice. May his services to mankind never be forgotten.
31. On a personal note, Madam President, allow me to
recall a friend, Tom Mboya, Kenya’s late Minister for
Economic Development and Planning, who for the greater
part of his life devoted himself to the noble causes of
freedom; the right to self-determination and development
of the nations and the peoples of Africa. The Zambian
delegation deeply mourns his death. His efforts and
contribution cannot be erased from the minds of those who
knew him.
32. The Secretary-General, as always, deserves our gratitude
and encouragement. Ever since he came to office in
the shadow of that tragic event the loss of his predecessor,
Dag Hammarskjöld, he has grappled with the ceaseless spate
of international crises, and it is to his credit that we are still
sitting together to nurse the wounds of the past years and
to review progress towards a better world in which nations
can, hopefully, put an end to intolerance of race and
internecine wars. We are all aware that our world is prone
to disintegration.
33. The United Nations is charged with the grave responsibility
of maintaining international peace and security. The
Organization is expected to take effective measures to
prevent and remove threats to peace, to suppress acts of
aggression and other breaches of the peace and by peaceful
means in conformity with the principles of justice and
international law, to bring about adjustments in or a
settlement of international disputes. It.is also expected to
prevent situations likely to lead to a breach of the peace. It
cannot hope to succeed by taking negative measures only of
a curative nature. A more important task is for the
Organization to foster the development among nations of
friendly relations based on respect for the principles of
equal rights and self-determination of all peoples. Another
important function of the Organization is to promote
international trade on a world-wide basis and to encourage
co-operative and complementary development in the economic,
scientific, social and cultural fields.
34. If, therefore, Madam President, the Zambian: delegation
has sought your permission to speak at this stage, it is
to remind ourselves of these lofty aims and objectives of
the international Organization. All of us representing our
countries here today have resolved to honour these invaluable
objectives and to turn them into reality.
35. But, alas, it is also fact that many of us have
expediently chosen to make a mockery of our obligations
under the Charter. The Charter’s most cherished, fundamental
clauses have been honoured by so many of us more
in the breach than in the observance; injustice, exploitation
of man by man and of State by State have become the
order of the day, breeding tension bound to lead to
international strife and the rupture of peace, security and
stability. Certain Members of this Organization have repeatedly
committed acts contrary to the spirit of the
Charter and have defied all appeals to accept their
obligations under the Charter. As long as this defiant
attitude prevails and people continue to sit in this Assembly
year in and year out, speaking of peace and justice and of
equal rights for all men without meaning what they say,
these monstrous crimes against humanity will continue. The
principle of self-determination of countries and peoples-a
principle, time and again reaffirmed by this international
body—will continue to be flouted with impunity. This
spectre of decadence appears in varying shapes and degrees
all over the world and in its most objectionable form
Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia and the territories
controlled by colonialist Portugal.
36. Coming from a country sharing common borders with
minority régimes, I would be failing in my duty if in
discussing international peace and security I did not draw
the attention of the world to ‘the miserable plight of
millions of Africans who continue to be denied the human
rights enshrined in the Charter and so cherished by the
United Nations.
37. For nearly four years now, a clique of white settlers in
Rhodesia have been living in a state of continuous rebellion
refusing to surrender the political power wrested from the
metropolitan Power unwilling to topple the rebel régime.
38. My Government believes that, so far, the half-hearted
measures lied by the United Kingdom Government in
trying to normalize the situation in Rhodesia, have been
deplorably ineffective. We in Zambia believe that this is a
result of deliberate indifference on the part of Britain.
Bilateral talks between the United Kingdom Prime Minister
and the chief representative of the rebels, Ian Smith, the
self-styled Prime Minister of Rhodesia, have failed; and they
were meant to fail. We submit that the policy of economic
sanctions adopted by the Security Council has also failed
dismally. We submit further that, unless backed by effective
means of enforcement, the policy of sanctions cannot bring
about the required change. Although the United Kingdom
has broken off diplomatic relations with Rhodesia, there
are still British financial corporations conducting open
trade and investing heavily in Rhodesia through their agents
and subsidiaries based in South Africa, thereby giving aid
and comfort to the rebels. Besides stating that it cannot
apply force in Rhodesia, the United Kingdom Government
has also stated that because of its vital economic interests in
South Africa it cannot lay on an embargo against South
Africa and Portugal which are aiding the rebel colony.
39. It is necessary for me at this stage to reiterate briefly
the kind of steps we in Zambia believe are necessary to
bring about the desired results in Rhodesia. And in this
connexion I can do no better than restate what I said to the
Security Council on 13 June 1969 [1475th meeting] when
I last addressed it on the question of Rhodesia. I said then:
“If the Security Council wishes to succeed in Rhodesia,
then it must be prepared to apply the provisions of
Articles 41 and 42 of Chapter VII of the United Nations
Charter. South Africa and Portugal will have to decide
whether to co-operate with the noble efforts of the
Council or to obstruct this Council’s decisions for the
sake of merely supporting an illegal racist minority régime
in Rhodesia and, therefore, be prepared for the consequences.
“If, however, for reasons of trade and colour, or
racialism, as well as global military strategy, certain
members of the Council are not prepared for a confrontation
with South Africa, the alternative is the use of force
in Rhodesia itself. We have been realistic enough to know
that the loss of life would have been, and would still be,
minimized if the administering Power had used that force,
rather than the Security Council-or any other organ of
the United Nations. Unfortunately, however, hitherto the
United Kingdom—and we must stress that Rhodesia is its
responsibility-while at first talking about its intention to
quell the rebellion, to restore constitutionality and
ultimately prepare the people for majority rule in
Zimbabwe, has ruled out the only weapon it could have
used to achieve those objectives. Instead, the United
Kingdom resorted to manoeuvres which ultimately aimed
not at quelling the rebellion any longer, but rather at
ending illegality.”
40. The appeal we made to the Security Council on 13
June 1969 is valid even today. It is the view of my
delegation that, with only a little goodwill and despite the
oppressive developments that have taken place in Rhodesia
since then, the Government of the United Kingdom could
alter the course of events in that country. Rhodesia, we
repeat, is Britain’s responsibility and we cannot acquit it of
this responsibility until the people of Zimbabwe attain
majority rule.
41. Let me now turn briefly to the situation in Namibia
with which this Organization is so familiar. My delegation
deeply regrets the fact that in spite of General Assembly
resolution 2145 (XXI) terminating the authority of the
Government of South Africa over Namibia no effective
steps have yet been taken by the United Nations to
establish the Organization’s authority in the Territory. This
body must bring more pressure to bear on the Pretoria
Government. The oppressed people of the world who look
upon the United Nations as the only hope for the future
have begun to ask questions regarding the effectiveness of
this body. Self-respecting nations feel disillusioned now
that Namibia is being segmented into the meaningless
political units called bantustans, and is the immediate target
of the policy of apartheid.
42. If the United Nations must rid the world of oppression,
racial discrimination and intolerance, it is vitally
urgent that effective measures be adopted to terminate any
pretended claims which the South African Government
may have over any part of Namibia. The United Nations
Council for Namibia, created by the General Assembly,
must be given full support and assistance by all Member
States of the United Nations so that it can assume the
responsibility entrusted to it to prepare the indigenous
people for self-determination and independence. The latest
Security Council resolution [269 (1969)], adopted on 12
August 1969, prescribed 4 October 1969 as the definite
date of withdrawal by the Government of South Africa
from the Territory of Namibia, and my delegation would
like to see effect given to-this resolution.
43, The position in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea
(Bissau) remains, of course, unchanged. Portugal now
maintains about 150,000 troops to support its colonial war
effort in Africa: This is possible because of the active
support that Portugal enjoys from its allies in NATO. On
the other hand, as. expected, the freedom movement in
these territories is gaining strength. South Africa is also
intervening as much in Angola and Mozambique as it has
done in Zimbabwe. Regarding the Portuguese colonies in
Africa, the new Caetano administration has so far shown no
sign of modifying the hard-line oppressive administration of
Salazar.
44. My delegation must warn Portugal and its supporters
that the oppressed people of Mozambique, Angola and
Guinea (Bissau) will not give up the struggle until they
actually govern and shape the destinies of their own
countries. It is an irony of modern imperialism that a
country as poor, as illiterate and as comparatively backward
as Portugal should allot the greater percentage of its budget
to arms and weapons in order to suppress a people so far
away from the Iberian Peninsula. Allies of Portugal,
particularly members of NATO, must urge it to refrain
from pursuing such a disastrous policy.
45. We learn with satisfaction that the African freedom-fighters
in Guinea (Bissau) have already, through their own
determined efforts, seized a substantial part of their own
territory from the Portuguese colonial grip. We also know
that in Mozambique military activity has spread to the
north and north-western parts of Tete District. These clashes
have reached such proportions that the Tete Regional
Hospital has been turned into a military hospital. Because
of these clashes, villages close to the Zambian border have
been regrouped into special villages.
46. The liberation and nationalist movements now control
at least one fifth of Mozambique and have at their disposal
thousands of patriots prepared to make even greater
sacrifices to ensure the total liberation of their motherland.
In 1968 not only did activity in the Tete District break out
into the open, but liberation movement meetings were held
for the first time in Mozambique itself. In Angola, the same
pattern is manifest, Military activity has spread from
northern and eastern Angola as far as the Caprivi Strip. The
annual loss of life for Portugal in Angola alone has
increased by some 30 per cent, and, while Portugal’s total
armed forces now stand at 180,000, a majority of these are
in colonies distributed roughly as follows: 55,000 in
Angola, 30,000 in Guinea (Bissau) and 65,000 in Mozambique.
The cost of maintaining these troops for the period
1965 to 1967 constituted some 44 per cent of the total
public expenditure and covered some 50 per cent of the
annual income. The figures for 1969 show that, out of a
budget of about 25 billion escudos, about 11 billion are
earmarked for defence and security.
47. We live very close to the scene of racial strife in
southern Africa. We understand both the absurdities and
the tragedies of individual losses of life, the stagnation of
the economy and the general impoverishment of the
indigenous peoples of southern Africa resulting from the
oppressive activities of a decaying Portuguese empire and
the implacable domineering element made up of its racist.
minorities in Rhodesia and South Africa. With the best will
in the world, the free and independent African countries
bordering on southern Africa cannot escape a bloody
involvement unless the world body takes positive preemptive
measures for its prevention.
48. Permit me to say that if I have dwelt at length on
exposing the fierce threat of a racial war in the southern
part of Africa it is to inform this body that Africa is still a
victim of colonialism and imperialism. As long as these
vicious forces exist, the peace and security of the world in
general, and that of Africa in particular, will continue to be
threatened, In its pursuit of colonial wars in Africa,
Portugal has already violated the territorial integrity of the
sovereign States of Senegal, Guinea, the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Tanzania and Zambia. We condemn these
violations most strongly and we urge Portugal to reappraise
its policies immediately. By doing so it ‘will lessen the
number of areas of conflict, and tension in the world,
clearly amplified in the Lusaka Manifesto on Southern
Africa which was endorsed by the Assembly of African
Heads of State and Government recently held in Addis
Ababa.
49. Let me touch briefly on another subject which my
delegation views with considerable sorrow and grief: the
Biafra-Nigeria conflict. Over the last two years and a
quarter the war between Biafra and Nigeria has been
brought to a complete stalemate. The victims of this war
are the innocent children and the helpless women. The
conflict is still far from being solved. We believe that, in the
effort to bring about a settlement, the means tried so far
have failed. Apparently, the Governments of the United
Kingdom and the USSR believe that the solution lies in
increasing the supply of weapons of mass destruction. We
submit that the greatest contribution the United Kingdom
and the Soviet Union can make is to use their high
diplomatic offices to impress upon the parties to the
conflict the need and urgency for a negotiated and peaceful
settlement. Any such attempt, however, must recognize the
fact that there are two sides involved in the conflict, and
these must be invited together to a round-table conference.
The problem is one of determining the future juridical and
political structure of Nigeria and Biafra. This must be
decided upon by the people of that part of Africa, for it is
they who know what is best for them. My Government and
people will do their utmost to see to it that under the right
conditions—and one of them is an immediate cease-fire—peace
and stability are restored to that region of
Africa so badly torn by fratricide.
50. It now remains for me to refer again briefly to yet
another conflict continuing in the Middle East. We stand
solidly behind the 22 November 1967 resolution of the
Security Council and we call upon both parties to create an
atmosphere in which an honourable settlement can be
reached. We do not believe that these conditions of
peaceful negotiation are possible outside the terms of this
resolution. The world has witnessed continuous violations
of cease-fire pledges and other forms of violent actions
culminating in wanton destruction of sacred edifices. Surely
it is time that parties to the Middle East conflict modified
their attitudes in order to bring peace to that disturbed
area.
51. In his address to this Assembly on 18 September
1969, President Nixon referred to the “self-imposed isolation”
[1755th meeting, para. 70] of the People’s Republic
of China. My delegation understood that statement to mean
that, during the course of this General Assembly session,
the delegation of the United States would accept the
proposal to welcome the People’s Republic of China to the
fold of the international community and to the resumption
of its permanent seat in the Security Council and its role in
this Organization. Indeed we make a mockery of peace and
nuclear disarmament if we do not. include so powerful a
nation as China and invite it to take part in the orderly
conduct of international affairs according to the Charter of
the United Nations.
52. No argument can be taken seriously that ignores the
realities of twentieth-century Asian politics and the preeminence
in Asia, and for that matter the rest of the world,
of China as a great and powerful nation. The small nations
of the world can do nothing but appeal to the consciences
of the big Powers to limit the production of nuclear
armament and equipment that might lead to the eventual
destruction of humanity. In the words of our illustrious
Secretary-General, the inclusion of the People’s Republic of
China in disarmament talks would at last break the “mad
momentum of the arms race” and point out the road to a
world free from fear. We believe that those who seek to
exclude the People’s Republic of China from the important
deliberations of the world community by imposing prohibitive
conditions are indeed unaware of the hard fact that
international peace and security will be determined by the
type of relationship that exists between Peking on the one
hand and Washington and Moscow on the other.
53. We meet today in the sad memory of the death of one
of the great revolutionary leaders of all time, Ho Chi Minh.
He was a man of great courage and determination. Through
self-sacrifice and personal defiance of the forces of oppression,
he rose to be one of the world’s greatest leaders. We
would have peace in Viet-Nam if it were not for so much
external interference. It stands to reason that until Viet-Nam
is ruled and controlled by the indigenous people of
that country we cannot honestly hope for any peace. My
delegation takes note of President Nixon’s token withdrawal
of United States troops from Viet-Nam and hopes
that all foreign troops will be withdrawn as quickly as
possible to enable the people of Viet-Nam to decide their
own destiny without outside influence.
54. My delegation holds a similar view regarding the
situation in Korea. The presence of foreign troops in South
Korea militates against a dialogue between the North and
the South. Those troops must be withdrawn at once, for if
there is to be any peace in Korea, it will be a peace worked
out by the peoples of that country alone, The United
Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation
of Korea has obviously outlived its usefulness and shall
therefore be dissolved.
55. I have given an incomplete balance sheet of the
international conflicts and tensions that have existed for
some time now. Grave and intolerable as they are, they still
do not shake our confidence and the trust we place in the
United Nations. We, in Zambia, have always attached great
importance to the role of the United Nations, not only in
the political but also in the economic, cultural and social
fields, and we express our whole-hearted appreciation of
the endeavours of the United Nations and ifs agencies in
seeking to improve the lot of man. As we enter the Second
Development Decade, it is the hope of my delegation that
precise attention will be paid to reducing the economic gaps
that exist between the rich and the poor. nations and,
between the developed and developing States of the world.
The small and economically weaker:nations cannot for ever
depend on aid from developed nations, but must be assisted
in the development and exploitation of their own resources.
We also hope that as we enter the 1970s priority will be
given to the improvement of the quality of life, the
elimination of exploitation of man by man, and the
increased educational programmes to prepare our youth for
work in national reconstruction and in helping to make this
world a happy place to live in.
56. In conclusion, I should like to re-emphasize our firm
conviction in the principles of the Charter of the United
Nations, and to reiterate our belief in the equality and
sovereignty of all States, as well as in the right of
self-determination. We believe that unless all nations of the
world begin to proceed from and to be guided by the
tenets, the peace of the world cannot be assured. We, for
our part, pledge our fullest co-operation in pursuit of these
noble objectives.