That date now marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and without the Sharpeville massacre, we may not have the international system of human rights that we have today. Sharpeville Massacre, The Origin of South Africa's Human Rights Day [online], available at: africanhistory.about.com [accessed 10 March 2009]|Thloloe, J. When protesters reconvened in defiance, the police charged at them with batons, tear gas and guns. [21], In 1998, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) found that the police actions constituted "gross human rights violations in that excessive force was unnecessarily used to stop a gathering of unarmed people. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. On March 30, the South African government declared a state of emergency which made any protest illegal. Sobukwe was only released in 1969. According to an account from Humphrey Tyler, the assistant editor at Drum magazine: The police have claimed they were in desperate danger because the crowd was stoning them. A policeman was accidently pushed over and the crowd began to move forward to see what was happening. As the small crowd approached the station, most of the marchers, including Sobukwe, were arrested and charged with sedition. The PAC and the African National Congress, another antiapartheid party, were banned. March 21 Massacre in Sharpeville In the Black township of Sharpeville, near Johannesburg, South Africa, Afrikaner police open fire on a group of unarmed Black South African demonstrators,. 351 Francis Baard Street,Metro Park Building ,10th Floor The South African government then created the Unlawful Organizations Act of 1960 which banned anti-apartheid groups such as the Pan Africanist Congress and the African National Congress. . The ANC Vice-President, Oliver Tambo, was secretly driven across the border by Ronel Segal into the then British controlled territory of Bechunaland. Sixty-nine protesters died, and the massacre became an iconic moment in the struggle against apartheid. The police were armed with firearms, including Sten submachine guns and LeeEnfield rifles. The two causes went hand in hand in this, rocketing in support and becoming the main goal of the country - the end of segregation was the most dire problem that the Civil Rights Movement needed to solve. During this event 5,000 to 7,000 protesters went to the police station after a day of demonstrations, offering themselves for arrest for not carrying passbooks. Yet only three policemen were reported to have been hit by stones - and more than 200 Africans were shot down. By comparing and contrasting the American Jim Crow Laws and South African apartheid, we have evidence that both nations constitutions led to discrimination, activism, reform and reconciliation. All the evidence points to the gathering being peaceful and good humoured. By the end of the day, 69 people lay dead or dying, with hundreds more injured. Another officer interpreted this as an order and opened fire, triggering a lethal fusillade as 168 police constables followed his example. On the morning of 21 March Robert Sobukwe left his house in Mofolo, a suburb of Soweto, and began walking to the Orlando police station. Expert Answers. In March 1960 the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), an antiapartheid party, organized nationwide protests against South Africas pass laws. It include with civil right that violence verses non-violence that the government could or. And then there are those who feel deeply involved and moved, but also powerless to deal with the enormity of the situation (Krog 221). Under this system there was an extended period of gruesome violence against individuals of colored skin in South Africa. There were 249 victims in total, including 29 children, with 69 people killed and 180 injured. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. Nelson Mandela was a member of the banned African National Congress and led an underground armed movement that opposed the apartheid by attacking government buildings in South Africa during the early 1960s. [12], Many White South Africans were also horrified by the massacre. The call for a stay away on 28 March was highly successful and was the first ever national strike in the countrys history. When police opened . But in the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, the UN adopted a more interventionist stance to the apartheid state. The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng ). Both organisations were deemed a serious threat to the safety of the public and the vote stood at 128 to 16 in favour of the banning. With the election of Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa in 1994, the apartheid system ended. In the aftermath of the events of 21 March, mass funerals were held for the victims. These protests were to begin on 31 March 1960, but the rival Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), led by Robert Sobukwe, decided to pre-empt the ANC by launching its own campaign ten days earlier, on 21 March, because they believed that the ANC could not win the campaign. In 1946, the UN established the Commission on Human Rights, whose first job was to draft a declaration on human rights. At the annual conference of the African National Congress (ANC) held in Durban on 16 December 1959, the President General of the ANC, Chief Albert Luthuli, announced that 1960 was going to be the "Year of the Pass." Sharpeville massacre, (March 21, 1960), incident in the Black township of Sharpeville, near Vereeniging, South Africa, in which police fired on a crowd of Black people, killing or wounding some 250 of them. The event was an inspiration for painter Oliver Lee Jackson in his Sharpeville Series from the 1970s.[23]. Let's Take Action Towards the Sustainable Development Goals. To read more about the protests in Cape Town. After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of about 7,000 protesters went to the police station. Time Magazine, (1960), The Sharpeville Massacre, A short history of pass laws in South Africa [online], from, Giliomee et al. Stephen Wheatley is a professor of international law at Lancaster University. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. On March 21, 1960. [6]:pp.14,528 From the 1960s, the pass laws were the primary instrument used by the state to detain and harass its political opponents. Confrontation in the township of Sharpeville, Gauteng Province. It also came to symbolize that struggle. Professor of International Law, Lancaster University. . Choose a language from the menu above to view a computer-translated version of this page. The people of South Africa struggle day by day to reverse the most cruel, yet well-crafted, horrific tactic of social engineering. The concept behind apartheid emerged in 1948 when the nationalist party took over government, and the all-white government enforced racial segregation under a system of legislation . NO FINE!" What happened on 21 March in Sharpeville? The argument against apartheid was now framed as a specific manifestation of a wider battle for human rights, and it was the only political system mentioned in the convention: Nazism and antisemitism were not included. This was in direct defiance of the government's country-wide ban on public meetings and gatherings of more than ten persons. It was adopted on 21 December 1965. Improved homework resources designed to support a variety of curriculum subjects and standards. As well as the introduction of the Race Convention, Sharpeville also spurred other moves at the UN that changed the way it could act against countries that breached an individuals human rights. All Rights Reserved. Early on the 21st the local PAC leaders first gathered in a field not far from the Sharpeville police station, when a sizable crowd of people had joined them they proceeded to the police station - chanting freedom songs and calling out the campaign slogans "Izwe lethu" (Our land); "Awaphele amapasti" (Down with passes); "Sobukwe Sikhokhele" (Lead us Sobukwe); "Forward to Independence,Tomorrow the United States of Africa.". Youth standing up against racism was the 2021 theme, aimed at fostering a global culture of tolerance, equality and non-discrimination that calls on each one of us to stand up against racial prejudice and intolerant attitudes. [5], F-86 Sabre jets and Harvard Trainers approached to within 30 metres (98ft) of the ground, flying low over the crowd in an attempt to scatter it. People often associate their behavior and actions from the groups they belong to. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). OHCHRs regional representative Abigail Noko used the opportunity to call on all decision-makers to give youth a seat at the decision-making table. The ratification of these laws may have made the separate but equal rhetoric illegal for the U.S. but the citizens inside it still battled for their beliefs. Race, ethnicity and political groups, is an example of this. At 13h15 a small scuffle began near the entrance of the police station. [17], Not all reactions were negative: embroiled in its opposition to the Civil Rights Movement, the Mississippi House of Representatives voted a resolution supporting the South African government "for its steadfast policy of segregation and the [staunch] adherence to their traditions in the face of overwhelming external agitation. Sharpeville marked a turning point in South Africa's history; the country found itself increasingly isolated in the international community. Copyright 2023 United Nations in South Africa, Caption: Selinah Mnguni, a Sharpeville massacre survivor, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. the Sharpeville Massacre As the protesters tried to flee the violent scene, police continued to shoot into the crowd. As segregation and civil rights become national topics, their. Everyone should have an equal rights and better community . Three people were killed and 26 others were injured. According to his "Testimony about the Launch of the Campaign," Sobukwe declared: At the press conference Sobukwe emphasized that the campaign should be conducted in a spirit of absolute non-violence and that the PAC saw it as the first step in Black people's bid for total independence and freedom by 1963 (Cape Times, 1960). In addition other small groups of PAC activists presented themselves at police stations in Durban and East London. All that changed following the worlds moral outrage at the killings. On 1 April 1960, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 134. Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the day that changed the course of South African history.