Security Council resolution 556 (1984) [demanding the immediate eradication of apartheid]
Symbol: S/RES/556(1984)
Date: 1984-10-23
Status: adopted
Subjects: OAU|MASSACRES|POLITICAL PRISONERS|DETAINED PERSONS|EXILES|CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS|SOUTH AFRICA|BANTUSTANS|SELF-DETERMINATION OF PEOPLES|APARTHEID
Votes in favour: 14
Votes against: 0
Abstentions: 1
Voting record:
country: BURKINA FASO
vote: yes
country: CHINA
vote: yes
country: FRANCE
vote: yes
country: EGYPT
vote: yes
country: INDIA
vote: yes
country: MALTA
vote: yes
country: NETHERLANDS
vote: yes
country: NICARAGUA
vote: yes
country: PAKISTAN
vote: yes
country: PERU
vote: yes
country: UKRAINE
vote: yes
country: UNITED KINGDOM
vote: yes
country: UNITED STATES
vote: abstention
country: USSR
vote: yes
country: ZIMBABWE
vote: yes

Resolution 556 (1984)

of 23 October 1984

The Security Council,

Recalling its.resolution 554 (1984) and General
Assembly resolutions 38/11 of 15 November 1983 and
39/2 of 28 September 1984, which declared the so-called "new constitution" contrary to the principles
of the Charter of the United Nations,

Reaffirming the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, particularly article 21, paragraphs 1 and 3, which recognize, inter alia, the right
of everyone to take part in the Government of his
country, directly or through freely chosen representatives, and the will of the people as the basis of the
authority of Government,

Alarmed by the aggravation of the situation in South
Africa, in particular the wanton killing and the maiming
of defenceless demonstrators and workers on strike
as well as the imposition of virtual martial-law conditions intended to facilitate the brutal repression of the
black population,

Gravely concerned at the continuing arbitrary arrests
and detentions without trial of leaders and activists of
mass organizations inside the country as well as the
closure of several schools and universities,

Commending the massive united resistance of the
oppressed people of South Africa, including the strike
by hundreds of thousands of black students, to the
imposition of the so-called "new constitution",

Commending also the Asian and coloured communities in South Africa for their large-scale boycott
of the recent "elections" which constituted a clear
rejection of the so-called "new constitution",

Reaffirming the legitimacy of the struggle of the
oppressed people of South Africa for the full exercise
of the right to self-determination and the establishment
of a non-racial democratic society in an unfragmented
South Africa,

Convinced that racist South Africa’s defiance of
world public opinion and the imposition of the rejected
so-called ‘‘new constitution”’ will inevitably lead to
further escalation of the explosive situation and will
have far-reaching consequences for southern Africa
and the world,

1. Reiterates its condemnation of the apartheid
policy of the South African régime and South Africa’s
continued defiance of the resolutions of the United
Nations and designs further to entrench apartheid, a
system characterized as a crime against humanity;

2. Further condemns the continued massacres of
the oppressed people, as well as the arbitrary arrest
and detention of leaders and activists of mass organizations;

3. Demands the immediate cessation of the massacres and the prompt and unconditional release of all
political prisoners and detainees;

4. Reaffirms that only the total eradication of
apartheid and the establishment of a non-racial.
democratic society based on majority rule, through
the full and free exercise of adult suffrage by all the
people in a united and unfragmented South Africa,
can lead to a just, equitable and lasting solution of the
situation in South Africa;
5. Urges all Governments and organizations to
take appropriate action, in co-operation with the
United Nations and the Organization of African Unity
and in accordance with the present resolution, to assist
the oppressed people of South Africa in their legitimate struggle for the full exercise of the right to self-determination;

6. Demands the immediate eradication of apartheid as the necessary step towards the full exercise of
the right to self-determination in an unfragmented
South Africa, and to this end demands:

(a) The dismantling of the bantustan structures as
well as the cessation of uprooting, relocation and
denationalization of the indigenous African people;

(b) The abrogation of the bans and restrictions on
political organizations, parties, individuals and news
media opposed to apartheid;

(c) The unimpeded return of all the exiles;

7. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the
Security Council on the implementation of the present
resolution;

8. Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Adopted at the 2560th meeting
by 14 votes to none, with
1 abstention (United States of
America).