Mr.GHARE~t (India): Atour~pecial sessionlastDecember, weadopted aDeclaration whichwastrulyamilestone intheUnitedNations contribution tothe struggle against ~rtheid. TheDeclaration encouraged thepeopleofSouthAfrica tojointogether tobringaboutanendtoQPartheid andtoworkforapeaceful transition toanon-racial, democratic SouthAfrica. Itsetouttheconditions necessary forthecreation ofaclimate fornegotiations. Italsooutlined the guidelines fornegotiations andthefundamental principles onwhichtobasethe constitutional orderofthenewSouthAfrica. Thesignificance oftheDeclaration layinthefactthatitwasadopted by consensus. Itwasthefirsttimethattheinternational community hadco-operated inissuing amajorDeclaration calling fortheeradication ofapartheid. Itsenta clearsignaltoPretoria thatrealchangewasnecessary andthatPretoria couldnot countonanydivided voteoropinion toprocrastinate inthematter. Inthelastninemonthssincetheadoption oftheDeclaration, theSouth African Government hastakensomewelcome andoverdue measures torectify themany abusesinherent inthesystem: therelease ofNelsonMandela wasonesuchmeasure ofimportance. Therelease ofsomeotherpolitical prisoners, theunbanning of political organizations, thepartiallifting ofthestateofemergency, andthe establishment ofcontacts withtheliberation movements weresomeofPretoria's othermeasures. Wewelcome thesedevelopments asanexpression bothofPretoria's Digitized by Dag Hammarskjöld Library----------~-------- JSM/edd A/44li.)V.98 34-35 (Mr.Gharekhan, India) re~ognitiun oftheinjustices ofapartheid thatneedtobeeradicated, andof Pretoria's acceptance ofthedemandofthoworldcommunity andofthemajority in SouthAfricaforstepstowards beneficial changeinthecountry. However, these mea~ures, significant astheyare,meetonlypartoftheconditions se~outinthe Declaration. Mostofthemeasures required tobetakerl'Y theSouth.\frican Gove?nment forthecreation ofaclimate formeaningful negotiations haveyettobe fUllyimplemented. Thousands ofpolitical prisoners continue tolanguish ingaolsandsevGral, including childran, remainindetention. De~pite theremoval oftheban, politi~al organizations arestillnotabletoengageinfreepolitical activity because of several restrictions. Thestateofemergency hasnotyetbeenliftedinNatal,and repressive legislation, suchastheInternal Security Act,remains notonlyin force,butalsoinuse.Thepillars ofapartheid, suchastheGroupAreas Act~the LandActsandthePopulation Registration Actremainintact. Theagreement reached between theAfrican National Congress ofSouthAfrica (~BC)andtheSouthAfrican Government aftertheirlatestroundoftalksinPretori~ lastmonthappears encouraging. Itremains tobeseenwhatconcrete resultsitproduces. Forthe present, wecannothutconclude, astheSecretary-General observes inhisreport: "thepolitical process towards thedismantlement oftheapartheid systemis stillatanearlystage". (A/44/960, para.16) Thereis,inotherwords,stillalongwaytogo. Itisevident thatthechangethathastakenplacesofarinSouthAfrica, evenifindubitably noteworthy, hasnotyetbecomeirreversible. Thebasic structures ofapartheid remainfirmlyinplaceandsodothesocio-economic inequities andtheracialattitudes whichhavebeennurtured bydecades ofracial hatred, suspicion andinjustice. Digitized by Dag Hammarskjöld LibraryJSMlbq Al44/PV.98 36" (Mr.Gharekhap, India) Ofcourse,itneedspdtience, uuderstanding, timeandstatesmanship o~the partofallconcerned ~eforethedecades oldhostilities anddeepmintrust canbe reduced# letaloneeliminated. Thehealing touch,thebuilding upofconfidence andtr~ ~ineachother,isasimportant as~oncrete stepsindi~mantli~g apartheid's stockades. Themajority oftheSouthAfrican peo~lehaveforlong favoured apolitical settlem",nt. ~heannouncement bytheAfrican National Cong1"ess ofSouthAfrica (ANC)lastmonthofthesuspansion ofalla~adactiononceagain demonstrates their prefe~ence forthepeaceful endofQPartheid through negotiations. Wepaytribute totheirvisionandforebearance, andcalluponthe SouthAfrican Government tomovespeedily towards anegotiated settlement, as provided forintheUnitedNations Declaration. Theescalating violence inNata~andelsewhere" inSouthAfricaisamatterof graveconcern. Ithasresulted prima~ily fromthecontinued existence ofthe APartheid policies andpractices pursued byth6Government. Apartheid divides