UN General Assembly
1963

118. The feelings of the African peoples are exacerbated by the provocative attitude of the Portuguese, South African and Southern Rhodesian Governments, Recent debates in the Security Council showed that the international community disapproved of the attitude of those Governments, but they also showed that the great Powers which are permanent members of the Security Council had different views on the urgency of the settling of the problems of the liquidation of colonialism and apartheid. We ask them to try to understand us, in the interest of peace and friendship among nations. In any event, we cannot agree to any compromise at the expense of the freedom and dignity of our oppressed brethren. The Head of the Government of the Republic of Mali expressed his views quite unequivocally at Addis Ababa, when he told the other African Heads of State: "It would be a mockery indeed for us responsible leaders to try to play the part we hope to play, while close at hand, sometimes on our very borders, our brethren are reduced to slavery or set on a level with beasts, simply at the will of the South African racists and the latter-day colonialists who have learnt nothing of history. "We know that the path we have taken with a will is thorny and strewn with pitfalls, but it is the only path to peace and happiness for our peoples."