PHOTO BY : UN PHOTOS/X.
Apartheid became the official policy of the Government of South Africa
in 1948, following the election of the Herenigde Nasionale Party, later
renamed the National Party. Under this policy, racial discrimination
was institutionalized. The lives of the Africans, who made up almost 75
per cent of the population, were controlled by the unjust segregation
laws from birth to the grave. They were proscribed where to live, who
to marry and the type of education they would receive in the country of
their birth.
Resistance Against Racist Laws by the Oppressed
PHOTO BY: UN PHOTOS/X.
Since the founding of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1912, the Africans waged the struggle against the unjust racist laws of South Africa. Their resistance ushered a new era on the morning of 21 March 1960, when thousands of Africans gathered peacefully in locations around the country, including in Sharpeville where up to 20,000 marched to the police station against the pass laws. The police opened fire on them, killing 67 people and wounding 186 others, including 40 women and 8 children. More than 80 per cent of them were shot in the back while fleeing. During the declaration of the state of emergency in 1960, which continued intermittently for nearly 30 years, anyone could be detained without a hearing by a low-level police official for up to six months. Thousands of individuals died in custody, frequently after gruesome acts of torture. Those who were tried were sentenced to death, banished, or imprisoned for life, as was the case with the world's most famous prisoner, Nelson Mandela.
United Nations and Apartheid
PHOTO BY : UN PHOTOS/Chris Sattlberge.
( South Africa Holds First All-Race Elections.April 01 1994 )
The issue of the policies of apartheid of the Government of South Africa remained on the agenda of the United Nations for almost fifty years. After numerous efforts of urging the Government of that country to abandon its policies - declared a crime against humanity - the international campaign reached a watershed in 1989. That year, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Declaration on Apartheid and its Destructive Consequences in Southern Africa, paving the way for the holding of the April 1994 historic and first-ever democratic elections in South Africa.
Source: UN Historical images.
