text: UNITED NATIONS Economic and Social Council Distr. GENERAL E/CN.4/Sub.2/1990/NGO/28 21 Auqust 1990 Oriqinal: ENGLISH COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Sub-Conunission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities Forty-second session Aqenda item 6 QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS, INCLUDING POLICIES OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND SEGREGATION AND OF APARTHEID, IN ALL COUNTRIES, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO COLONIAL AND OTHER DEPENDENT COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES: RETORT OF THE SUB-COMMISSION UNDER COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTION 8 (XXIII) Written statement submitted by the Friends of the Earth International, a non-governmental organization in consultative status (category II) The Secretary-General has received the following communication which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1296 (XLIV). 1. The system of apartheid in South Africa oppresses that nation's majority population in innumerable ways. Among the most serious, but hard to recognize, costs of apartheid are the damage caused to the environment of South Africa's blacks, whites, and the rest of the world by the operation of that inefficient and inequitable system. South Africa can only start to heal its self-inflicted environmental wounds with the dismantling of apartheid and the restoration of full democracy. [21 August 1990] Apartheid and the environment GE.90-17386/7373A E/CN,4/Sub.2/1990/NGO/28 paqe 2 2. The roots of South Africa's current environmental problems are present in many countries, but apartheid has aggravated these problems and created new ones. For example, the environmental damage caused by South Africa's mining industries is exacerbated both by the apartheid regime's reliance on those industries for cash to support racial separation and the fact that blacks, who have little power, are disproportionately victimized by the industry's poisoning of the environment. Additionally, apartheid is the cause of damage caused by overcrowding of the "homelands", over-reliance on coal, production 
analysis: The text discusses the environmental impact of apartheid in South Africa, highlighting the damage caused to the environment by the mining industries and the overcrowding of "homelands". It also mentions the connection between apartheid and environmental problems in other countries. Given the focus on the environmental consequences of a specific social and political system, it is likely that the most fitting category is related to natural resources and environment.