In March 1960, South African police shot dead 69 black protestors, sparking worldwide outrage . Under this system there was an extended period of gruesome violence against individuals of colored skin in South Africa. Both were tasked with mobilizing international financial and diplomatic support for sanctions against South Africa. Learn about employment opportunities across the UN in South Africa. However, many people joined the procession quite willingly. On March 21, an estimated 7,000 South Africans gathered in front of the Sharpeville police station to protest against the restrictive pass laws. As part of its response, the General Assembly tasked the UN Commission on Human Rights to prepare the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the first global human rights treaty. Business Studies. Police were temporarily paralyzed with indecision. That day about 20,000 people gathered near the Sharpeville police station. By 1960 the. Yet only three policemen were reported to have been hit by stones - and more than 200 Africans were shot down. Some were shot in the back as they fled.[1]. By the end of the day, 69 people lay dead or dying, with hundreds more injured. The campaign slogan was "NO BAIL! [1], Victims were buried en masse in a ceremony performed by clergy. Just after 1pm, there was an altercation between the police officer in charge and the leaders of the demonstration. These laws restricted blacks movements within the country. The University had tried to ban the protest; they handed out 12,000 leaflets saying the event was cancelled. Mr. Tsolo and other members of the PAC Branch Executive continued to advance - in conformity with the novel PAC motto of "Leaders in Front" - and asked the White policeman in command to let them through so that they could surrender themselves for refusing to carry passes. [7][8], On 21 March, 1960, a group of between 5,000 and 10,000 people converged on the local police station, offering themselves up for arrest for not carrying their passbooks. Unlike elsewhere on the East Rand where police used baton when charging at resisters, the police at Sharpeville used live ammunition. 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. This affirmed that the elimination of racial discrimination was a global challenge that affronted the respect and dignity of all human beings. The adoption of the convention was quickly followed by two international covenants on economic, social and cultural rights and on civil and political rights in 1966, introduced to give effect to the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A week after the state of emergency was declared the ANC and the PAC were banned under the Unlawful Organisations Act of 8 April 1960. 26 Black policemen and 365 Black civilians were injured no White police men were killed and only 60 were injured. Steven Wheatley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. 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 ). On the 60th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, the world should remember the contingency and fragility of the international human rights law system that we so easily take for granted today. The quest for international support, mass mobilization, armed operations, and underground organization became the basis for the ANCs Four Pillars of Struggle. The commission completed this task, under the chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt, when it finalised the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Eyewitness accounts attest to the fact that the people were given no warning to disperse. When an estimated group of 5000 marchers reached Sharpeville police station, the police opened fire killing 69 people and injuring 180 others in what became known as the Sharpeville Massacre. The call for a stay away on 28 March was highly successful and was the first ever national strike in the countrys history. "The aeroplanes were flying high and low. The poet Duncan Livingstone, a Scottish immigrant from the Isle of Mull who lived in Pretoria, wrote in response to the Massacre the Scottish Gaelic poem Bean Dubh a' Caoidh a Fir a Chaidh a Marbhadh leis a' Phoileas ("A Black Woman Mourns her Husband Killed by the Police"). 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. All blacks were required to carry ``pass books ' ' containing fingerprints, photo and information on access to non-black areas. The moral outrage surrounding these events led the United Nations General Assembly to pronounce 21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which recognized racism as a gross human rights violation. 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. Perseverance and determination are also needed to build on the lessons learnedfrom the Sharpeville tragedy and repair the injustices of the past. It was adopted on 21 December 1965. On March 21, 1960, without warning, South African police at Sharpeville, an African township of Vereeninging, south of Johannesburg, shot into a crowd of about 5,000 unarmed anti-pass protesters, killing at least 69 people - many of them shot in the back - and wounding . The Sharpeville Massacre occurred on March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa. The central issues stem from 50 years of apartheid include poverty, income inequality, land ownership rates and many other long term affects that still plague the brunt of the South African population while the small white minority still enjoy much of the wealth, most of the land and opportunities, Oppression is at the root of many of the most serious, enduring conflicts in the world today. The apartheid system forcefully suppressed any resistance, such as at Sharpeville on March 21 1960, when 69 blacks were killed, and the Soweto Riots 1976-77, when 576 people died. The apartheid in South Africa which was in effect from 1948 until 1994 was not only a racist policy which greatly affected the quality of life of minorities in the country for the worse but was a outright crime against humanity. The logjam was only broken after the Sharpeville massacre, as the UN decided to deal with the problem of apartheid South Africa. One of the insights was that international law does not change, unless there is some trigger for countries to change their behaviour. 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. Similarly, African American leaders from the fifties to the sixties also fought for the end of segregation, in cases such as Brown v. Board of Education. There was no evidence that anyone in the gathering was armed with anything other than stones. Its been 60 years since the Sharpeville massacre, when 69 unarmed civilians were killed by armed South African police on March 21 1960. Everyone should have an equal rights and better community . There were 249 victims in total, including 29 children, with 69 people killed and 180 injured. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The march leaders were detained, but released on the same day with threats from the commanding officer of Caledon Square, Terry Tereblanche, that once the tense political situation improved people would be forced to carry passes again in Cape Town. [16], The Sharpeville massacre contributed to the banning of the PAC and ANC as illegal organisations. In March 1960 the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), an antiapartheid party, organized nationwide protests against South Africas pass laws. Knowing the democracy we have today was achieved in part because of the blood we sacrificed was worth it, she says. By mid-day approximately 300 armed policemen faced a crowd of approximately 5000 people. 20072023 Blackpast.org. NO FINE!" Corrections? [10] Some insight into the mindset of those on the police force was provided by Lieutenant Colonel Pienaar, the commanding officer of the police reinforcements at Sharpeville, who said in his statement that "the native mentality does not allow them to gather for a peaceful demonstration. [2] In present-day South Africa, 21 March is celebrated as a public holiday in honour of human rights and to commemorate the Sharpeville massacre. Sharpeville Massacre, The Origin of South Africa's Human Rights Day [online], available at: africanhistory.about.com [accessed 10 March 2009]|Thloloe, J. The laws said that blacks could not enter white areas unless they carried documents known as pass books. Sharpeville had a high rate of unemployment as well as high crime rates. Some 20,000 Blacks gathered near a police station at Sharpeville, located about 30 miles (50 km) south of Johannesburg. It was one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa. The police were armed with firearms, including Sten submachine guns and LeeEnfield rifles. But attempts to transform this non-binding moral declaration into a binding legal code were immediately bogged down in cold war disputes. The foundation of Poqo, the military wing of the PAC, and Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC, followed shortly afterwards. The victims included about 50 women and children. Stephen Wheatley is a professor of international law at Lancaster University. Accounting & Finance; Business, Companies and Organisation, Activity; Case Studies; Economy & Economics; Marketing and Markets; People in Business The event has been seen by some as a turning point in South African history. The impact of the events in Cape Town were felt in other neighbouring towns such as Paarl, Stellenbosch, Somerset West and Hermanus as anti-pass demonstrations spread. March 21, is celebrated as a public holiday in honor of human rights and to commemorate the . In my own research, I have looked to complexity theory a theory developed in the natural sciences to make sense of the ways that patterns of behaviour emerge and change to understand the way that international human rights law developed and evolved. It had wide ramifications and a significant impact. At this conference, it was announced that the PAC would launch its own anti-pass campaign. The Black resistance began to gain more momentum and increasingly became more threatening. The march was also led by Clarence Makwetu, the Secretary of the PACs New Flats branch. A deranged White man, David Pratt, made an assassination attempt on Dr. Verwoerd, who was seriously injured. [3], South African governments since the eighteenth century had enacted measures to restrict the flow of African South Africans into cities. In her moving poem Our Sharpeville she reflects on the atrocity through the eyes of a child. Time Magazine, (1960), The Sharpeville Massacre, A short history of pass laws in South Africa [online], from, Giliomee et al. As the number of UN members from Africa increased, the commission reversed its no power to act position and turned its attention to the human rights situation in South Africa. Sharpeville Massacre. Across the street came 40 or so students who planned on joining the group en route to the Courthouse. When the marchers reached Sharpeville's police station a heavy contingent of policemen were lined up outside, many on top of British-made Saracen armored cars. Many people need to know that indiviual have their own rights in laws and freedom . Baileys African History Archive (BAHA)Crowds fleeing from bullets on the day of the Massacre. This set the UN on the path towards the recognition of all human rights for all and, eventually, the establishment of the Human Rights Council and the Universal Periodic Review of the human rights performance of all states. The, For one, African American leaders in the 90s to the 20s attempted to end the disenfranchisement of African Americans, done through poll taxes and literacy tests, by advocating their cause in the more sympathetic North. [20], Sharpeville was the site selected by President Nelson Mandela for the signing into law of the Constitution of South Africa on 10 December 1996. Eyewitness accounts of the Sharpeville massacre 1960 The day of the Massacre, mourning the dead and getting over the shock of the event Baileys African History Archive (BAHA) Tom Petrus, author of 'My Life Struggle', Ravan Press. The 1960 Sharpeville Massacre was the result of a peaceful protest regarding racist South African policies of apartheid. They also perpetuated the segregation within, The increase in the segregationist laws in the 1950s was met with resistance in the form of the Defiance Campaign that started in 1952. Other evidence given to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission "the evidence of Commission deponents reveals a degree of deliberation in the decision to open fire at Sharpeville and indicates that the shooting was more than the result of inexperienced and frightened police officers losing their nerve. The police also have said that the crowd was armed with 'ferocious weapons', which littered the compound after they fled. [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. The event also played a role in South Africa's departure from the Commonwealth of Nations in 1961. Journalists who rushed there from other areas, after receiving word that the campaign was a runaway success confirmed "that for all their singing and shouting the crowd's mood was more festive than belligerent" (David M. Sibeko, 1976). This caused many other countries to criticize South Africas apartheid policy. A protest that had been scheduled three days earlier was planned for noon on Monday, May 4. It's been 60 years since the Sharpeville massacre, when 69 unarmed civilians were killed by armed South African police on March 21 1960. One way of accomplishing this was by instilling laws thatd force segregation, classification, educational requirements, and economic purposes. 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.".