1962 : U.N. condemns apartheid
On this day in 1962, the United Nations General Assembly adopts a
resolution condemning South Africa's racist apartheid policies and
calling on all its members to end economic and military relations with
the country.
In effect from 1948 to 1993, apartheid, which comes from the Afrikaans
word for "apartness," was government-sanctioned racial segregation and
political and economic discrimination against South Africa's non-white
majority. Among many injustices, blacks were forced to live in
segregated areas and couldn't enter whites-only neighborhoods unless
they had a special pass. Although whites represented only a small
fraction of the population, they held the vast majority of the
country's land and wealth.
Following the 1960 massacre of unarmed demonstrators at Sharpeville
near Johannesburg, South Africa, in which 69 blacks were killed and
over 180 were injured, the international movement to end apartheid
gained wide support. However, few Western powers or South Africa's
other main trading partners favored a full economic or military
embargo against the country. Nonetheless, opposition to apartheid
within the U.N. grew, and in 1973 a U.N. resolution labeled apartheid
a "crime against humanity." In 1974, South Africa was suspended from
the General Assembly.
After decades of strikes, sanctions and increasingly violent
demonstrations, many apartheid laws were repealed by 1990. Finally, in
1991, under President F.W. de Klerk, the South African government
repealed all remaining apartheid laws and committed to writing a new
constitution. In 1993, a multi-racial, multi-party transitional
government was approved and, the next year, South Africa held its
first fully free elections. Political activist Nelson Mandela, who
spent 27 years in prison along with other anti-apartheid leaders after
being convicted of treason, became South Africa's new president.
In 1996, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC),
established by the new government, began an investigation into the
violence and human rights violations that took place under the
apartheid system between 1960 and May 10, 1994 (the day Mandela was
sworn in as president). The commission's objective was not to punish
people but to heal South Africa by dealing with its past in an open
manner. People who committed crimes were allowed to confess and apply
for amnesty. Headed by 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, the TRC listened to testimony from over 20,000 witnesses
from all sides of the issue--victims and their families as well as
perpetrators of violence. It released its report in 1998 and condemned
all major political organizations—-the apartheid government in
addition to anti-apartheid forces such as the African National
Congress—-for contributing to the violence. Based on the TRC's
recommendations, the government began making reparation payments of
approximately $4,000 (U.S.) to individual victims of violence in 2003.
history.com/tdih.do
1860 : Abraham Lincoln elected president
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5500
1917 : Bolsheviks revolt in Russia
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7073
1917 : Canadians take Passchendaele
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5501
#########################################
On this day in 1962, the United Nations General Assembly adopts a
resolution condemning South Africa's racist apartheid policies and
calling on all its members to end economic and military relations with
the country.
In effect from 1948 to 1993, apartheid, which comes from the Afrikaans
word for "apartness," was government-sanctioned racial segregation and
political and economic discrimination against South Africa's non-white
majority. Among many injustices, blacks were forced to live in
segregated areas and couldn't enter whites-only neighborhoods unless
they had a special pass. Although whites represented only a small
fraction of the population, they held the vast majority of the
country's land and wealth.
Following the 1960 massacre of unarmed demonstrators at Sharpeville
near Johannesburg, South Africa, in which 69 blacks were killed and
over 180 were injured, the international movement to end apartheid
gained wide support. However, few Western powers or South Africa's
other main trading partners favored a full economic or military
embargo against the country. Nonetheless, opposition to apartheid
within the U.N. grew, and in 1973 a U.N. resolution labeled apartheid
a "crime against humanity." In 1974, South Africa was suspended from
the General Assembly.
After decades of strikes, sanctions and increasingly violent
demonstrations, many apartheid laws were repealed by 1990. Finally, in
1991, under President F.W. de Klerk, the South African government
repealed all remaining apartheid laws and committed to writing a new
constitution. In 1993, a multi-racial, multi-party transitional
government was approved and, the next year, South Africa held its
first fully free elections. Political activist Nelson Mandela, who
spent 27 years in prison along with other anti-apartheid leaders after
being convicted of treason, became South Africa's new president.
In 1996, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC),
established by the new government, began an investigation into the
violence and human rights violations that took place under the
apartheid system between 1960 and May 10, 1994 (the day Mandela was
sworn in as president). The commission's objective was not to punish
people but to heal South Africa by dealing with its past in an open
manner. People who committed crimes were allowed to confess and apply
for amnesty. Headed by 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, the TRC listened to testimony from over 20,000 witnesses
from all sides of the issue--victims and their families as well as
perpetrators of violence. It released its report in 1998 and condemned
all major political organizations—-the apartheid government in
addition to anti-apartheid forces such as the African National
Congress—-for contributing to the violence. Based on the TRC's
recommendations, the government began making reparation payments of
approximately $4,000 (U.S.) to individual victims of violence in 2003.
history.com/tdih.do
1860 : Abraham Lincoln elected president
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5500
1917 : Bolsheviks revolt in Russia
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7073
1917 : Canadians take Passchendaele
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5501
#########################################
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