text: taken place itr Soutb Africa can ia to rray be construed as constitutilg Profound and irreversible change. Indeed, nowhere in the s€cretary-General ' s rePort is it stated that the terms of the Declaration have been met. 6.1. rD t€rms of section c, paragraph 9 (d), of the Declaration, which deals t ith the Progratnne of action, the international conmuDity cornmitted itself, "inter alia, to ensure that [it] does not rela:x existing measures ained at encouraging the South African r6gime to eradicace apartheid ultil there is cl.ear evidence of Profound and irreversible chaDges, bearing in tnind the object.ives of this Declaration". It is therefore a natter of great regret that some mernbers of the inEernational'A/44/972 English Page6 5.4.Paragraph 6(~)oftheDeclaration called ontheregimeto"ceaseall political trials andpolitical executionsll •Onthisquestion, the Secretary-General, onpage26,paragraph 85,ofhisreport, quotestheHumanRights Commission ofSouthAfrica asfollows: "(a)Political trials andimprisonment continue unabated underthe Internal Security Actaswellasunderaplethora ofotherrepressive legislation andcommon law.About400political trialswererecorded in1989 andtheratein1990isevenhigher. "(b)Political executions havebeensuspended since2February and legislation governing thedeathsentence istobeamended tosomeextent (Criminal LawAmendment Bill). Nevertheless, over300persons areondeath row(70asaresult ofpolitical circumstances) withtheirfateuncertain." (A/44/960, p.26) ThereportoftheOAUMonitoring Group(A/44/963), inparagraphs 17.0.0 and 17.1.0states UAlthouqh theregime hasannounced amoratorium onexecutions andthe commutal ofthedeathsentences imposed ontwenty-three political prisoners tolifeimprisonment, sixty-four other...prisoners remain ondeathrow. Theirfateremains uncertain because theApartheid regime retains thelegal powertoliftthemoratorium andresume executions. Therearealsoover 300political trialsstillinprogress. IfTheregime hasyettoaccede toProtocol 1oftheGeneva Convention relative tothetreatment ofprisoners ofwarsofAugust 12,1949,which recognizes warsofNational Liberation aslegitimate armedconflicts and rulesthatcaptured combatants belonging tothearmedformations ofNational Liberation Movements should betreated asprisoners ofwar.Accordingly, captured combatants ofUmkhonto WeSizwe, havebeencharged withcriminal oftences, inclUding murder. Somehavebeensentenced todeathandexecuted. Others convicted areserving sentences. Nonehaveeverbeenaccorded prisoners-ot-war status." OBSERVATIONS 6.0.Theforegoing provides irrefutable evidence thatsuchchanges asmayhave takenplaceinSouthAfrica caninnowaybeconstrued asconstituting profound and irreversible change. Indeed, nowhere intheSecretary-General's reportisit statedthatthetermsoftheDeclaration havebeenmet. 6.1.Intermsofsection C,paragraph 9(g),oftheDeclaration, whichdealswith theprogramme ofaction, theinternational community committed itself, "interalia, toensurethat[it]doesnotrelaxexisting measures aimedatencouraging theSouth African regimetoeradicate apartheid untilthereisclearevidence ofprofound and irreversible changes, bearing inmindtheobjectives ofthisDeclaration". Itis therefore amatterofgreatregretthatsomemembers oftheinternational I •.. Digitized by Dag Hammarskjöld Library'A/44/972 English
analysis: The text appears to be a critical report on the progress of the international community in addressing the apartheid regime in South Africa. It highlights the lack of profound and irreversible changes in the country and the continued human rights abuses, such as political trials, imprisonment, and executions. The report also mentions the lack of recognition of National Liberation Movements as legitimate armed conflicts, which affects the treatment of captured combatants.