Each speaker on Item No. 5 will have not more than ten minutes.
Release of Nelson Mandela: Motion.
An Leas-Chathaoirleach
I move:
That Seanad Éireann salutes the contribution of Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress to the cause of freedom in South Africa and sends greetings to him on his 70th birthday on 18th July, 1988 and calls for his unconditional release from prison.
I am very pleased to see this motion down for debate on the Order Paper today. I am particularly gratified to be joined by so many colleagues representing every facet of political and independent life within this House. All of those who signed this motion support it wholeheartedly. It is true to say that Nelson Mandela is a colossus, a world figure, but in South Africa, in particular he is a person who, despite the fact that he was locked away first on Robben Island and then in Pollsmoor Prison outside Pretoria, symbolises for freedom-loving people in Africa, South Africa and throughout the world, the spirit of freedom, tolerance and an end to oppression. In the course of this motion today, I would like also to salute his wife, Winnie Mandela, who also is the spirit of the nation and who, outside prison, symbolises hope and all that Nelson Mandela stands for and who continues to give hope, courage and confidence in a rapidly deteriorating situation in South Africa.
Although Nelson Mandela has been locked away for so many years, he continues to inspire all of those who wish to see an end to that vicious obscene oppression of apartheid in South Africa. It is only fitting that parliamentarians in this Chamber and, of course, the parliamentarians in the other House should salute his achievment, salute him on his 70th birthday and call at the same time for his unconditional release from prison.
It is important to examine the fibre of the man and what went into making Mandela such an inspiring leader in South Africa. His life was like that of so many black, deprived people in that country. He spent his childhood in the Transkei region of South Africa. It is now one of the so-called Bantustands or separate States left in the wake of colonial conquest as a sort of reserve. The adult residents there had little alternative to subsistence farming, or going to work in the distant white-owned mines, factories, and farms. That, of course, is what Nelson Mandela did also. He was more fortunate than many of the blacks in South Africa because he had an opportunity to avail of third level education and went to Fort Hare University in the Eastern Cape, one of the few universities at that time where Africans could study beyond seconday school level. Even then his intense feeling against injustice was beginning to manifest itself and he was expelled from Fort Hare University in his third year for organising a student boycott of the student representative body after the authorities deprived it of its powers.
In 1940, at the age of 22, he went to Witwatersrand University in Johannesbourg. While there, he lived in Alexandra township and had hands-on experience of urban poverty, of overcrowding, of the pass laws, of harassment and of the condition of the migrant workers in that squalid place called Alexandra Township. In 1944 he joined the African National Congress and was a founder of its youth league which worked for more militant policies. It wanted to see mass action, strikes, boycotts and civil disobedience, all in a certain Gandhian tradition of passive resistance to oppression. It must be remembered that Mahatma Gandhi spent many years in South Africa before he became such a figurehead in his own country of India.
In 1949 the African National Congress adopted a programme of action along the lines of the youth league and there was an historic campaign for defiance against unjust laws. Nelson Mandela was one of 3,500 people arrested for deliberately breaking the laws enforcing segregation. For that he got a nine month suspended sentence. He was then elected Transvaal regional president of the African National Congress and the Government served a barring order restricting him to the Johannesbourg area. Together with Oliver Tambo, the current president of the African National Congress, Mandela set up a legal practice in Johannesburg and he and Oliver Tambo defied the Government, refusing to move their offices to a black township away from the city centre. Of course, the vast majority of cases dealt with by Mandela and Tambo concerned victims of the apartheid laws.
In 1955, the congress of the people was held at Kliptown near Johannesburg and 3,000 delegates attended. There, an historic document was adopted unanimously by that conference called "The Freedom Charter" and today it is, if anything, more popular, more widely accepted. It is certainly the very cornerstone of the liberation struggle in South Africa. Mandela was still under banning order and was unable to be present at that historic adoption of "The Freedom Charter".
He was among 156 people arrested on 5 December 1956 and charged with treason. The trial that ensued lasted for four-and-a-half years. By the time it ended, in March 1961, all the accused had been acquitted. The charge of treason had not been proved. Ten years of peaceful passive resistance came to an abrupt end in March 1960 with the Sharpeville massacre in which 69 people were killed and many wounded. Africa, and South Africa in particular, was in a ferment. All around the world there were expressions of horror at such an appalling incident of brutality. That was a turning point and marked the end of peaceful and increasingly powerful mass protests which had been spearheaded by Nelson Mandela. Massive demonstrations ensued worldwide and the South African Government, as it is wont to do, declared a state of emergency. Twenty thousand people were rounded up by the police and army, including Mandela, and the African National Congress and other bodies-were outlawed.
In my remaining time I wish to put on record that freedom-loving people here, and elsewhere, revere Nelson Mandela. They understand, sympathise and feel for the oppression which he witnessed and the poverty and degradation which he experienced at first hand in his country, South Africa. They understand his wish for a peaceful change, his inability to cope with the tightening screw of the apartheid regime which could not cope with the legitimate demands of the majority population in that country and which has consigned him to a life in prison. He is there as a beacon of hope. Although he is locked away, although he cannot walk the streets of his beloved South Africa, and although he cannot issue statements, his spirit is with the South African people. The force that he believes in and the force for good and peaceful change which he represents is very much alive and well in South Africa. Together with my colleagues in the Seanad I salute this giant of a man and send him best wishes. I call on the South African Government, as a measure of the recognition of how people feel about this man, to release him unconditionally to mark his 70th birthday so that he can spend whatever years remaining to him in the company of his heroic wife, Winnie Mandela, and their family.
It is not my intention to take up all the time allotted to me but I should like to join with Senator Bulbulia in issuing a call from the House to the South African Government that Nelson Mandela be released. As Senator Bulbulia has said, Nelson Mandela in prison has retained the wish for freedom for his people and his wife, Winnie Mandela, has put into words what Nelson has not been able to say since he was incarcerated. Some of the teachers in my school, the De La Salle Brothers, spent many years in South Africa and as young students we were told in no uncertain terms about the apartheid system in South Africa. Indeed, I can remember my son writing an essay for the De Le Salle Brothers in Waterford called "Apartheid — A Crime Against Humanity". There is no doubt that the sentiments expressed by that young mind have not changed. I am sure we all want to see this great crime against humanity changed. The people of South Africa, black and white, would benefit from changes in this cruel system. Unless the white people in South Africa come to realise that they are going against the tide of history in maintaining this system they will be the victims of a wave of unrest such as we have not seen in South Africa.
The symbolism of what we are doing today — and it is purely symbolism — is important because if people in positions of power in Governments and States call for the release of Nelson Mandela and the abolition of the system of apartheid the South African Government will recognise that world opinion is against them. The title of the recent film, "Cry Freedom", is an excellent one for such a film but, equally, it is an excellent way to ask the South African Government to give freedom to Nelson Mandela and all the people who are suppressed in South Africa. In the media we have read of experiences of people who have come under the jack boot and we have seen the rise of fascism over the past number of years in that unfortunate country.
I wish to join with Senator Bulbulia in asking the South African Government to release Nelson Mandela and the people of South Africa from the burden of apartheid and all that is associated with it. I should like to reiterate that it is a crime against humanity and if the South African authorities do not heed the cry for freedom from the black population they will be subsumed and problems will follow, not alone for the people of South Africa, but for people all over the world. It gives me great pleasure to second the motion proposed by Senator Bulbulia.
I accept that Nelson Mandela is seen as the symbol of human rights and freedom not alone for his own oppressed black people in South Africa but, indeed, worldwide and I accept that he has been honoured internationally. He received the Nehru Award in 1979 and the Bruno Kreisky prize for human rights in 1981 and he has received numerous honorary degrees. I certainly should be glad to see him set at liberty. I do not agree with the criticism I have heard that motions of this kind are part of a fashionable and facile trend. What gives me real cause for concern however, is that Nelson Mandela is also the personification of the African National Congress, some of whose policies and actions I find unacceptable and which, indeed, I must find unacceptable if I am to be consistent in my opposition to terrorism at home and abroad. The parallels between some of the activities of the African National Congress and those of the IRA are too close for comfort and the distinction between the political and military wings of the African National Congress are as fudged as the distinction between Sinn Féin and the IRA. My unease is not that Nelson Mandela stands for the overthrow by violence of an evil regime or that the African National Congress were compelled to have recourse to violence when denied other channels of agitation as, indeed, the United Irishmen were in the middle 1790s.
Gandhi's life, Terence MacSwiney's sacrifice and Martin Luther King's career suggest that there are avenues other than violence to the attainment of freedom, but it would be absurd and arrogant of me to claim that no oppressed people should ever have recourse to violence. That is not the source of my unease on this motion. It is a fact that the African National Congress have not dissociated themselves from the hideous practice of necklacing, and as far as I know, terrorism, notoriously the use of the car bomb in densely populated urban areas, is part of their strategy. Has Mr. Mandela dissociated himself from these activities? I am not aware that our Government have a national policy favouring the overthrow of the Pretoria Government by force or that they have no objection to necklacing. Still less am I aware that they condone car bomb outrages involving innocent civilians. We cannot have one standard for terrorism at home and another, comfortably distant standard for abroad. For these reasons and because of these implications I greatly regret that I cannot support the motion unreservedly.
Unlike Senator Murphy, I fully support this motion, and I thank Senator Bulbulia for putting it down at this time. It is very important that we discuss it now given the wave of sympathy which is developing for Nelson Mandela particularly as his 70th birthday approaches. I am delighted to support the call for his immediate and unconditional release. It is important that Seanad Éireann adds its voice to that of the many Parliaments throughout the world who are also calling for his release and the many groups and politicians who are speaking out strongly on this issue.
Nelson Mandela has been awarded many honours in recent times. I have a list of some of the more important ones. Rather than going through the whole list, I shall deal with the more important ones to show how much sympathy and support Nelson Mandela has throughout the world and to demonstrate the revulsion which people have against the apartheid system. In 1981 he was awarded the freedom of the city of Glasgow. In 1983 he was awarded honorary citizenship of Rome. In 1984 he was awarded the freedom of the city of Aberdeen. In that year also a resolution was sponsored by 135 Congressmen in the House of Representatives in the United States calling for the release of Nelson Mandela and was approved by acclamation by the House Foreign Affairs Committee and approved by the Senate. In 1987 he was the first person to receive the freedom of the city of Sydney, Australia. In that year also he was awarded honorary citizenship of the city of Florence in Italy. Those are some of the more important awards which have been conferred on Nelson Mandela in recent times. Of course, he has been awarded honorary degrees in a number of universities throughout the world.
I was delighted to hear the incoming Lord Mayor of Dublin last night in his address to the City Council state that he hopes to honour Nelson Mandela in a very special way in the coming weeks. That is an important move. I am delighted that Dublin City Council plan to play a role in that regard. I look forward to having consultations with the Lord Mayor and other groups in the city council and to adding our voice and support on this occasion. A monument to Nelson Mandela has been unveiled in Merrion Square, Dublin, and that demonstrates quite clearly where the Irish people stand in relation to apartheid and the system of Government in South Africa.
Ireland professes to be a neutral country but neutrality means many things to different people. For some neutrality merely means the avoidance of military alliances and so forth but for me Irish neutrality means more than that. It means the promotion of peace and justice throughout the world. That is an important aspect of Irish neutrality. We have always been to the forefront in promoting peace and justice throughout the world. We have had a sad history of oppression. We are in a position to understand what exactly is going on in South Africa, and we must, if only because of our history, support the black people in South Africa in their quest for justice and equality.
There was a revolution in Ireland at the beginning of this century and indeed it was copied by many countries throughout the world. Senator Bulbulia mentioned Gandhi in India who, of course, closely examined what went on in Ireland at the beginning of this century. The revolution in Zimbabwe was also based very closely on what happened in this country. Ireland has a leading role to play in the promotion of peace and justice, and there should be no question of what side we are on in relation to this issue. Our history suggests that we must do everything we can to smash the system of apartheid in South Africa and I have no doubt that the Government are doing everything possible in this regard in the different fora in which they are represented. In the whole area of European political co-operation and the EC we are playing our role in promoting peace and justice particularly in relation to South Africa. I would call on the Government to continue our tradition of promoting peace and justice throughout the world. I fully support the motion. I send greetings to Nelson Mandela as he approaches his 70th birthday and call for his immediate and unconditional release.
I have much pleasure in joining with my colleagues who have put their names to this motion in which we extend our best wishes to Nelson Mandela on his 70th birthday and call for his unconditional release from prison. I have no inhibitions whatsoever in publicly stating that I abhor all that the apartheid system in South Africa stands for. I also have no doubt that the name Nelson Mandela is synonymous with peace and justice for a people who unfortunately are precluded from the democratic process, not because of any difference in political ideology but based on colour alone. That is why people like Nelson Mandela, and indeed the African National Congress who have been precluded from participating in the affairs of their own country have had to resort to occasional violence, about which Senator Murphy has been consistent.
There is a major difference between the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin, as we understand them, in their ability or lack of ability to enter into a democratic process or to achieve everything they want by destruction of human life, ignoring the political process and Nelson Mandela who wants to give people the opportunity to participate in the democratic process. They have been precluded from doing so by a minority white population who have achieved all they want from that country. They have ensured, through their electoral process, that the natives of South Africa cannot either elect their own people or have a say in the running of their country. What we are trying to do here today is to send our greetings to somebody who has been synonymous with this movement.
With the exception of some Tories in England who expressed a political reservation about the concert which was held to celebrate the seventieth birthday of Nelson Mandela, I am sure the vast majority of peace loving people who admire the democratic process would have no reservations whatsoever in extending their warmest birthday greetings to this tremendous leader of a downtrodden population who have been precluded from the normal process in Government and of having a free vote, as we understand it. That is what this motion is about. "Cry Freedom", the film about Steve Biko, gives us an idea of what has to be tolerated by the natives of South Africa, particularly in their dealings with the white regime. These stories are not told only by coloured people, people like Archbishop Tutu and others who have fought using every public medium available to them, but are told by white people in South Africa who could not tolerate the system anymore because they saw that it downtrod black people who were entitled to a say in their country.
Even though we understand why Senator Murphy's views in this regard are consistent we should have no reservation in respect of this motion if we have studied what this group of people and, in particular, Nelson Mandela stand for. We hope that some generosity may be shown by a government who have not been very generous in the past and that, if all the civilised countries in the world, including Ireland which is a small peace loving nation that defends the right of freedom, join together and call on that government, they may listen. We are aware that they have already conceded that the relatives of Nelson Mandela can visit him on his birthday. That in itself is a gesture but it is a weak gesture when somebody has achieved 70 years and has spent a decade in prison so that black people can have some rights — the right to vote, the right to democracy and the right to freedom of expression, congregation and demonstration. These are basic rights and we are fortunate that we have them. Even though they are not sufficient for some people who resort to other forms of violence and ignore the democratic process, that should not take from the tremendous movement in Africa which I think every western parliamentarian and people throughout the world have aspired to as a beacon of hope for people who have not had too much hope up to now. I fully support the motion.
I want to be of help, Senators. The Minister wishes to come in at 4.53 p.m. and as it is now 4.33 p.m. and Senators Brendan Ryan and Ross wish to speak perhaps we can split the amount of time so as to give all Senators a chance to speak.
I was delighted when my colleague, Senator Bulbulia, raised this motion as an item on the Adjournment and that the Government party allowed us to have a debate on it. I was very happy to put my name to the motion which is before the House today and in doing so I think it is very important that we get a glimpse of the man we are honouring here today. I want to quote from a transcript of a speech Mr. Mandela made during his trial:
Our struggle is a truly national one. It is a struggle of the African people, inspired by our own suffering and our own experience. It is a struggle for the right to live. During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democracy and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve but if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.
That gives us a clear view of the man, Nelson Mandela, who has been imprisoned for a long period because of the principles he stands for.
Senator Bulbulia outlined the events that put him in prison. I am thankful to Senator Ferris for his contribution because he outlined distinctly the difference between the terrorism in our country and some of the terrorist acts in South Africa. We have seen some of the terrible violent acts that have taken place in South Africa and we are very thankful to our television stations for bringing these pictures, which can be very frightening at times, to our homes. What frightens me about South Africa is that when the Government there show any initiative for change a right wing approach drives them further away from it and makes the situation even more difficult for them. In South Africa a very right wing section of the community do not want change of any kind. Of course, with that in mind there is little or no possibility of Nelson Mandela being released but if all the free loving nations of the world stood up and asked for his release I believe this would make some impression on the South African Government.
Senator Haughey outlined some of the honours with which Nelson Mandela has already been bestowed. The most outstanding of these is the resolution for his release which was approved by acclamation by the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate in the United States. We in Dublin have also honoured Nelson Mandela. I remember distinctly on a lovely summer's evening in 1985 when the then Lord Mayor of Dublin unveiled a plaque honouring a prisoner of conscience and that is what Nelson Mandela is.
Last evening I was very moved when the new Lord Mayor of the City of Dublin, Councillor Ben Briscoe, in his acceptance speech said he wished that Dublin City Council would honour Nelson Mandela in some special way in this year of his seventieth birthday. We have honoured him already in one special way but there is another way, the total way, in which a city can honour someone, that is, by giving him the freedom of the city. I sincerely hope my colleague, Senator Haughey, and his group will agree — and there is agreement among other groups — that in the near future Dublin will honour the seventieth birthday of Nelson Mandela by giving him the freedom of the city of Dublin.
I am in something of a quandary because I had intended to say one thing but I feel obliged now to say something slightly different, and it is something that I very much regret having to say. I wish that somebody whom I admire greatly like Senator Murphy would be sure of his facts and what he is saying before he makes the sort of remarks he has made. The position of the African National Congress is that they use violence against military and economic targets. That is what they have consistently said. They live in a censored regime. They operate in an unfree society. They condemned and denied all connection with the car bombing in South Africa recently. They have not advocated the use of the so-called necklace. Winnie Mandela has been pilloried for remarks that she made which I am not suggesting were not remarks made in the heat of the moment. She has frequently and consistently since then said that she did not intend to advocate necklacing. That is the position of the ANC and of those who are qualified to speak for them.
It is important to remember too that it would not be the first time that a ruthless regime attempted to blacken the name of their opponents. There is no reason to believe that a Government that send their agents round the world to carry out assassination attempts against the political representatives of black South Africans somehow will be dissuaded, for reasons of morality or respect for human life, from carrying out actions at home. I do not know who carried out some of these bombings. What I do know is that those who are authorised to speak for the African National Congress have denied that the African National Congress carried them out. Having said that, may I also say that we know about South Africa only that which the South African regime — and I refuse to use the term South African Government — permit us to know. They let us know only what suits their propaganda. Therefore, if there is a military campaign going on against military targets we would not know about it. If there is a successful military campaign going on against economic targets we would not know about it. I do not have any reason to justify the use of car bombs but to suggest that incidents like that prove that the ANC is a terrorist organisation I find quite offensive, indeed insulting to people who have to live under almost an intolerable burden. I have heard frequently the depths of compassion and concern and observed the dignity, the extraordinary lack of bitterness of many black South Africans in the face of severe repression. I know, from many radical and committed white South Africans, of the ability of black South Africans to distinguish between white people on the basis of their commitment to freedom or otherwise. There is no racist intent in the activities of the African National Congress. Quite clearly, given the proven sacrifices they have made in the interests of non-racial politics, any sort of indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets which would involve large scale loss of black and white lives is an entirely inconsistent objective, one that is at variance with everything they have stood for. It does not require much more than a familiarity with the current affairs columns of any decent newspaper to be aware of that. Therefore, it is most regrettable that an eminent member of this House would make statements of the kind that Senator Murphy made. I do not believe they stand up to scrutiny. Neither do I believe they are worthy of a man whom I respect so much.
On the other hand, what I would like to have said — and my time is now almost up — is that the world ought to look at the extraordinary power of a man who has been in prison for 25 years, at the sort of pathetic incomprehension of a government which on the one hand refuse to release him but on the other hand when he had a relatively minor ailment for a man of his years, called in international observers from around the world to observe the operation because of their fear of what would happen to them if the man died under surgery, who have offered him six hours of continuous contact with his family today. All of that is because of the pathetic schizophrenic attitude of the South African terrorist regime who perpetually refuse to release the man but, at the same time, are so afraid of him that they treat him almost with kid gloves but keep him locked away. They are so afraid of one man that the regime cannot survive. If one man can so undermine the security of the most powerful terrorist organisation in the world, which is what the South African armed forces are, then it is quite clear to me that that regime has no long term future. I wish to see Nelson Mandela freed in good health, to preside over a free South Africa. That is why I am proud to support this motion.
It is dangerous that we should become too emotive about a subject like this when the bona fides of everybody in this House should not be questioned even if the interpretation is different. I refer to the speech just made by Senator Brendan Ryan. I stand, as I am sure does Senator Murphy, second to none in condemnation of the system of apartheid. Having said that — and I emphasise that — I am a little tired of the hypocrisy of this House in its ritual condemnation as such.
I want to spend a few moments on this because I am tired of the unanimity on apartheid and on motions of this kind when apartheid is discussed. I will give two examples of that in the brief time available to me. One is that this House has now once, or maybe twice, condemned in the strongest possible terms the possible hanging of the Sharpeville Six. Yet this House refuses to debate capital punishment in its own backyard. That is an important example of one type of hypocrisy. Second, this House this evening is putting forward a motion on Nelson Mandela, which will go through and with the sentiments of which nearly every Member agrees. This House is happy to pass a motion of that sort. Yet, are we honestly imposing economic sanctions against South Africa? The answer is, no, we are not. The answer is that we are guilty of the most gross hypocrisy in this case. The farther away this is going on the happier we are to condemn it and solve our consciences but, when it hits our pocket, we do nothing about it. If we were being honest, if the Government were being honest, this criterion would be applied across the board. If we felt so strongly, so emotional and so moral about this there would be no question of us doing trade with South Africa. But the fact is, and every Member of this House knows it, that we do so. The same people who condemn apartheid so loudly are the very people who turn a blind eye to trading with South Africa.
There is no need to condemn everybody.
I am not condemning everybody. I am condemning those in Government who, on the one hand, have condemned apartheid and, at the same time, turned a blind eye to trading with South Africa. That has happened under successive Governments. I do not include Senator Brendan Ryan in this — I am saying successive Governments have done that. It is very easy to condemn apartheid, but it is far harder——
Senator Ross has been talking about this House; he is now——
There are Government members in this House. I do not hear them pushing their Government for sanctions against South Africa.
Would the Senator say whom he is condemning?
I am condemning the Government particularly. I do not hear the Government side of this House condemning those in the Cabinet who consistently do not stop trade with South Africa. That is important. I am coming to a close.
There is another more delicate point which has not been debated. It is the question of violence. It is very easy for us to ritually condemn violence as far away as South Africa. But it is important — and I would like to hear the Minister loud and clear on this — to say whether the Government support the violence of the African National Congress. If they do not——
Senator Ross, have you read the wording of Item No. 5 on the Order of Business?
I have indeed and these remarks are highly relevant. I am sorry this has been raised in your absence a Chathaoirligh and has been discussed at length, and nobody has been interrupted so far. I would like to hear the Government say quite specifically where they stand on the violence of the African National Congress.
Senator Ross, your time is up.
A Chathaoirligh, your watch is going much faster than the clock, seven minutes to five was the time you gave. I want to hear the Government — and it is no good their being protected on this — say where they stand on the violence of the ANC, whether they will say they condemn the ANC and their violence. That would be an honest approach; that would be what we want to hear. I would also like to be informed where they see the distinction between the ANC and the IRA. That is important as well. Whatever Senator Ryan says about economic targets, there is no way in which we can redefine these, or be ambiguous or ambivalent. Economic targets to me is a pseudonym for legitimate targets. Everywhere is an economic target if it is interpreted as such. What I would like to see this House doing is not continuously piously passing motions here against this and that while it refuses, or successive Governments refuse, to do something concrete about it or to spell out loud and clear where they stand or whether they condemn the violence of the ANC. That would be an honest approach. This motion is not an honest approach.
First, I am at a loss to know whether Senator Ross agrees with the motion.
Good question.
I have spoken on this subject on a number of occasions. To put his mind at rest, let me reiterate — and I will deal with it further — that the Government do not condone violence. They condemn violence, no matter from what source that violence comes. We have said it on a number of occasions and, at the risk of repeating myself, I say it again.
In relation to the question that Senator Ross raised about economic sanctions, let me say that this Government and their predecessor have shown the way to our European partners in relation to economic sanctions on South Africa but apparently in this House we get little credit for it. We have been to the forefront in relation to the sanctions that we have placed on the South African Government. Yes, there are very many who would like to see more sanctions and that matter we will be looking into. We feel it would be better to take our partners in the EC with us in relation to economic sanctions. There would be far better results if we could do that and we continue to press our partners to impose further economic sanctions.
It is a mark of the high regard in which Nelson Mandela is held, in this country, that a motion calling for his release is being discussed here today. Only last week, a similar motion was debated in the Dáil where it received unanimous support from all sides of the House. On that occasion I renewed the call of successive Irish Governments for the immediate and unconditional release of Nelson Mandela and his fellow political prisoners. I welcome the opportunity this debate provides to renew this call.
His 70th birthday provides the occasion for such a gesture which would at once be humanitarian, since Nelson Mandela is now an ageing man, and also would be a first indication that the South African Government are disposed to listen to the voice of the international community which has conveyed with some insistence its view that the freeing of political prisoners would be a first step towards real dialogue in South Africa.
Happy though I am to participate in this tribute to Nelson Mandela on the occasion of his 70th birthday, it gives me no pleasure to address this subject while he remains in prison. Though we may congratulate Mr. Mandela on reaching this age, over one-third of his life has been spent behind bars and there can be no celebration while he continues to be imprisoned. I know I speak for the House and for the people of Ireland when I extend my sympathies, along with my greetings, to Nelson Mandela, his wife, Winnie, and his family. His struggle for the cause of freedom has found an echo in all our hearts.
As Senator Bulbulia stated, Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 and trained as a lawyer. He joined the African National Congress in 1944, devoting his life to the struggle for freedom for black South Africans. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in 1962 for the part he played in organising a three day nationwide strike, and while serving that sentence he was further charged, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment under South Africa's Sabotage and Suppression of Communism Acts. Despite numerous calls on the South African Government to release him, he is still, more than 25 years later, in prison.
During the period of his imprisonment, the name of Nelson Mandela has become as universally known as a symbol of the fate of his people as it is as their leader and the focus of black aspirations for a just, multiracial and democratic society in South Africa. The years he has spent in prison have not ended his dedication to the struggle for freedom and equality in South Africa and his imprisonment represents an ever-present reminder of the continuing denial of basic rights to the majority in that country.
These years have also seen the steady worsening of the system of repression and of the unjust system of apartheid in South Africa. Political, economic, social and civil rights continue to be denied to the majority for no other reason than the colour of their skin. Since the imposition of the nationwide state of emergency in June 1986, we have seen a steadily rising level of violence and terror. Hundreds of people, mainly blacks, have been killed either at the hands of the security forces or in internecine conflict. Thousands more, again mainly black, have been arrested and detained without charge or trial, often for months on end. A particularly disturbing development is the inclusion of hundreds of schoolchildren among those detained without trial, many of whom have not yet been released to their families.
The year 1988 has seen the continuing tightening of the system of apartheid. On 10 June the state of emergency was reimposed for a third successive year. In February, 17 organisations working peacefully to oppose apartheid were banned from engaging in further political activity. The latest threat to the black majority in South Africa is the proposed introduction of the Promotion of Orderly Internal Politics Bill, which would give the South African authorities the power to block any foreign funding destined for groups of which they would not approve. Passage of such a measure would have a disastrous effect on those organisations and bodies working to try to improve the lot of the victims of apartheid. This is another example of the apparent determination of the South African authorities to stamp out any attempts by concerned parties to mitigate the effects of the apartheid system.
Developments since last week have not been encouraging. The week has been marked by a further explosion of violence, with the deplorable bombing of people coming from a rugby match. Once again I repeat that the Government cannot and do not condone such attacks. The last few days have also seen still more arrests and the introduction of legislation to amend the operation of the Group Areas Act, so as to enable the authorities to enforce in selected areas the strictest residential apartheid. The Government are concerned that the route of further repression is not the one on which a solution will be found. We call once again for the opening of a process of dialogue in South Africa.
The release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners has become the litmus test in the eyes of the world for the willingness of the South African Government to embark on a genuine national dialogue with representatives of all shades of opinion in South Africa. The only route to a sociable future for South Africa has to start from reconciliation between all the peoples of that country, leading towards the peaceful abolition of apartheid and the establishment in its place of a democratic multi-racial society transcending barriers of colour, politics and religion. I stress again that this cannot be achieved while Nelson Mandela and other black leaders remain in prison or detained and organisations opposed to apartheid remain proscribed.
The immediate and unconditional release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners is a long standing demand of Ireland along with its partners in the Community. I now renew this call and urge the South African President to avail of the opportunity of the impending 70th birthday to release Nelson Mandela along with all other political prisoners. By doing this, the South African Government could take a first step to show that a will for peaceful reconciliation exists on their part and thereby establish a basis for negotiations aimed at a democratic, non-racial and united South Africa.
I commend the motion of the House, which is entirely in line with the Government's view.
Question put and agreed to.