UN General Assembly
1987

Within South Africa itself, the racist regime has continued to deny the black majority of its fundamental human rights and to practice its abhorrent system of apartheid. The world-wide call for comprehensive mandatory economic sanctions against Pretoria is awaiting the response of some Western Governments which still embrace racist Pretoria as an ally and even consider it the last bastion on the African continent of the so-called Western civilization. We should be honest enough to say before this august Assembly, and without fear of contradiction, that the litmus test for one's commitment to human rights is one's attitude towards apartheid. Verbal condemnation of apartheid, which in practice impedes the application of measures to combat this crime against humanity, cannot hoodwink world public opinion and must be abandoned. Ethiopia, true to its commitment to the total liberation of Africa, joins the call for comprehensive mandatory sanctions against Pretoria and expresses its solidarity with the African National Congress and with all patriotic forces engaged in a heroic struggle against the racist regime to regain their freedom and human dignity.