what caused the sharpeville massacre

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. In particular, the African work force in the Cape went on strike for a period of two weeks and mass marches were staged in Durban. The PAC argued that if thousands of people were arrested, then the jails would be filled and the economy would come to a standstill. Significant reshaping of international law is often the result of momentous occurrences, most notably the first and second world wars. During those five months roughly 25,000 people were arrested throughout the nation. Find out what the UN in South Africa is doing towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. 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. This march is seen by many as a turning point in South African history. The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. Sharpeville was much more than a single tragic event. The ANC and PAC were forced underground, and both parties launched military wings of their organisations in 1961. The Sharpeville massacre sparked hundreds of mass protests by black South Africans, many of which were ruthlessly and violently crushed by the South African police and military. 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 . This movement sought to overcome the subjugation the racist South African government and apartheid laws imposed on Blacks. Many others were not so lucky: 69 unarmed and non-violent protesters were gunned down by theSouth Africanpolice and hundreds more were injured. "[18][19], Since 1994, 21 March has been commemorated as Human Rights Day in South Africa. On 20 March Nana Mahomo and Peter Molotsi has crossed the border into Bechuanaland to mobilize support for the PAC. 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. These resolutions established two important principles: that the human rights provisions in the UN Charter created binding obligations for member states, and that the UN could intervene directly in situations involving serious violations of human rights. As the campaign went on, the apartheid government started imposing strict punishments on people who violated the segregationist laws. 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. 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 shows a significant similarity in that both time periods leaders attempted to achieve the goal of ending. As segregation and civil rights become national topics, their. African Americans demonstrated their frustration with lack of progress on the issue through non-violent means and campaigns led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (Bourne, In a march against segregation and barriers for African-American voting rights, peaceful marchers were exposed to harsh treatment by the police, 50 being hospitalized by the terrorism inflicted on them (civilrights.org). Our work on the Sustainable Development Goals. March 21, is celebrated as a public holiday in honor of human rights and to commemorate the . They met a police line a few blocks from the Courthouse and were forbidden from proceeding because they did not have a parade permit (Reed 26). The campaign slogan was "NO BAIL! Its been 60 years since the Sharpeville massacre, when 69 unarmed civilians were killed by armed South African police on March 21 1960. Stephen Wheatley explores how this tragedypaved the way for themodern United Nations, Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, Jennifer Davis: Exiled hero of South Africas anti-apartheid movement, Ralph Ziman: I hated apartheid. Lined up outside was a large contingent of armed police with some atop armoured cars. But attempts to transform this non-binding moral declaration into a binding legal code were immediately bogged down in cold war disputes. The University had tried to ban the protest; they handed out 12,000 leaflets saying the event was cancelled. Sharpeville had a high rate of unemployment as well as high crime rates. The subject of racial discrimination in South Africa was raised at the UN General Assembly in its first session, in 1946, in the form of a complaint by India concerning the treatment of Indians in the country. [12], Many White South Africans were also horrified by the massacre. Later, in the fifties and the sixties, these same goals, enlign poll taxes and literacy tests, were once again fought for by African American leaders, through advocacy and agitation. 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. Dr. Verwoerd praised the police for their actions. The key developments were the adoption of Resolution 1235 in 1967, which allowed for the examination of complaints of gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as exemplified by the policy of apartheid, and Resolution 1503 in 1970, which allowed the UN to examine complaints of a consistent pattern of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights. But change can also be prompted by seemingly minor events in global affairs such as the Sharpeville massacre the so-called butterfly effect. At this conference, it was announced that the PAC would launch its own anti-pass campaign. This article first appeared on The Conversation, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. It can be considered the beginning of the international struggle to bring an end to apartheid in South . A robust humanrights framework is the only way to provide a remedy for those injustices, tackle inequality and underlying structural differences, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The quest for international support, mass mobilization, armed operations, and underground organization became the basis for the ANCs Four Pillars of Struggle. But in the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, the UN adopted a more interventionist stance to the apartheid state. Some of them had been on duty for over twenty-four hours without respite. A state of emergency was announced in South Africa. Without the Sharpeville massacre, we may not have the international human rights law system we have today. The Sharpeville Massacre occurred on March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa. In 1960 it was the site of one of the earliest and most violent demonstrations against apartheid . When the demonstrators began to throw stones at the police, the police started shooting into the crowd. Do you find this information helpful? It was adopted on 21 December 1965. This angered the officers causing them to brutally attack and tear gas the demonstrators. The massacre occurred at the police station in the South African township of Sharpeville, A child demonstrates in front of Johannesburgs city hall after the Sharpeville massacre (AFP/Getty), The aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, The BritishAnti-Apartheid Movement marks the tenth anniversary of the massacre with a re-enactmentin Trafalgar Square, A family member stands next to a memorial toone of the victims of the Sharpeville massacre ahead of Human Rights Day in 2016 (AFP/Getty), Its been 60 years since dozens of protesters were killed at a peaceful anti-apartheid rally in South Africa. After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of about 7,000 protesters went to the police station. 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 South African Police (SAP) opened fire on the crowd when the crowd started advancing toward the fence around the police station; tear-gas had proved ineffectual. International sympathy lay with the African people, leading to an economic slump as international investors withdrew from South Africa and share prices on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange plummeted. It had wide ramifications and a significant impact. I will argue that the massacre created a major short-term crisis for the apartheid state, a crisis which appeared to 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). What happened on 21 March in Sharpeville? There were 249 victims in total, including 29 children, with 69 people killed and 180 injured. Baileys African History Archive (BAHA)Crowds fleeing from bullets on the day of the Massacre. However, the nations mentality needed work - though the popularity of Civil Rights was rising, many riots and racial hate crimes continued to occur throughout the country, with many casualties resulting from them (infoplease.com). A small donation would help us keep this available to all. According to the police, protesters began to stone them and, without any warning, one of the policemen on the top of an armoured car panicked and opened fire. An article entitled "PAC Campaign will be test," published in the 19 March 1960 issue of Contact,the Liberal Party newspaper, described the build up to the campaign: At a press conference held on Saturday 19th March 1960, PAC President Robert Sobukwe announced that the PAC was going to embark on an anti-pass campaign on Monday the 21st. Some were shot in the back as they fled.[1]. Ingrid de Kok was a child living on a mining compound near Johannesburg where her father worked at the time of the Sharpeville massacre. 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. We hope you and your family enjoy the NEW Britannica Kids. Race, ethnicity and political groups, is an example of this. Migration is a human right, How the Sharpeville massacre changed the United Nations, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, $6 off a $50+ order with this AliExpress discount code, 10% off selected orders over 100 - eBay discount code, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. 351 Francis Baard Street,Metro Park Building ,10th Floor The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. On 24 March 1960, in protest of the massacre, Regional Secretary General of the PAC, Philip Kgosana, led a march of 101 people from Langa to the police headquarters in Caledon Square, Cape Town. "[1] He also denied giving any order to fire and stated that he would not have done so. The policemen were apparently jittery after a recent event in Durban where nine policemen were shot. This shows a major similarity as they wanted to achieve the same things. . The Sharpeville massacre was a turning point in South African history. By 1960, however, anti-apartheid activism reached the town. The subject of racial discrimination in South Africa was raised at the UN General Assembly in its first session, in 1946, in the form of a complaint by India concerning the treatment of Indians in the country. Business Studies. The enforcement of Pass Laws and the reissue of laws that restricted the. Some of them remain in prison", "Sharpeville Memorial, Theunis Kruger Street, Dicksonville, Sharpville ABLEWiki", Calls for inquiry into Israels Gaza killings, Storming of the Kempton Park World Trade Centre, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sharpeville_massacre&oldid=1140778365, Killings by law enforcement officers in South Africa, Short description is different from Wikidata, Use South African English from April 2016, All Wikipedia articles written in South African English, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2023, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 19:08. Confrontation in the township of Sharpeville, Gauteng Province. 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 Minister of Justice called for calm and the Minister of Finance encouraged immigration. The victims included about 50 women and children. Even so and estimated 2000 to 3000 people gathered on the Commons. Unlike elsewhere on the East Rand where police used baton when charging at resisters, the police at Sharpeville used live ammunition. The Sharpeville Massacre is commemorated through Human Rights Day, a public holiday in South Africa, which honours those whose lives were sacrificed in the fight for democracy. A deranged White man, David Pratt, made an assassination attempt on Dr. Verwoerd, who was seriously injured. [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. But in the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, the UN adopted a more interventionist stance towards the apartheid state. The police response to the protest became the primary cause of the massacre. By the end of the day, 69 people lay dead or dying, with hundreds more injured. Policemen in Cape Town were forcing Africans back to work with batons and sjamboks, and four people were shot and killed in Durban. Many people set out for work on bicycles or on foot, but some were intimidated by PAC members who threatened to burn their passes or "lay hands on them"if they went to work (Reverend Ambrose Reeves, 1966). Expert Answers. 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. Max Roach's 1960 Album We Insist! The Apartheid was initiated as a ploy for Europeans to better control the exploited populations for economic gain, as maintaining tension between the different racial classifications diverted attention from the Europeans as it fed hatred between groups. [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. In the following days 77 Africans, many of whom were still in hospital, were arrested for questioning . Reddy. Sixty-nine Africans were killed and 186 were wounded, with most shot in the back. 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 ). The events also prompted theInternational Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discriminationwhich took effect on 4 January 1969. On March 21, 1960, police in Sharpeville, South Africa, shot hundreds of people protesting laws that restricted the movement of blacks. At the end of the bridge, they were met by many law enforcement officers holding weapons; thus, the demonstrators were placing their lives in danger. The Sharpeville massacre also touched off three decades of protest in South Africa, ultimately leading to freedom for Nelson Mandela, who had spent 27 years in prison. [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. On March 21, demonstrators disobeyed the pass laws by giving up or burning their pass books. Furthermore, a new police station was created, from which the police were energetic to check passes, deporting illegal residents, and raiding illegal shebeens. As part of its response, the General Assembly tasked the UN Commission on Human Rights to prepare the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the first global human rights treaty. 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. On the 21st of March 1960, black residents of Sharpeville took to the police station to protest against the use of the dompas in South Africa. [10] At about 13:00 the police tried to arrest a protester, and the crowd surged forward. "[6]:p.538, The uproar among South Africa's black population was immediate, and the following week saw demonstrations, protest marches, strikes, and riots around the country. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. At least 180 were wounded. One of the insights has been that international law does not change unless there is some trigger for countries to change their behaviour. As they attempted to disperse the crowd, a police officer was knocked down and many in the crowd began to move forward to see what had happened. Professor of International Law, Lancaster University. Eyewitness accounts and evidence later led to an official inquiry which attested to the fact that large number of people were shot in the back as they were fleeing the scene. ISCOR and SASOL, the state's metal and fuel companies, were and continue to be the two key role players in the provision of employment in the Sharpeville region. It is also a day to reflect on the progress that has been made in ensuring basic human rights for all South Africans, as enshrined in our Constitution. The reactions of white South Africans to the revelations of the Truth Commission can be divided into two main groups There are those who refuse point-blank to take any responsibility and are always advancing reasons why the commission should be rejected and regarded as a costly waste of money. "The aeroplanes were flying high and low. This translates as shot or shoot. Furthermore, the history of the African civil rights movement validated: Nationalism has been tested in the peoples struggles . On 24 March 1960, in protest of the . Stephen Wheatley explores how this tragedy paved the way for the modern United Nations, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. The Black Consciousness Movement sparked mass protests among Blacks and prompted other liberation movements to demonstrate against the apartheid. However, Foreign Consulates were flooded with requests for emigration, and fearful White South Africans armed themselves. and [proved to be] the only antidote against foreign rule and modern imperialism (Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom 2008, 156) . NO FINE!" In her moving poem Our Sharpeville she reflects on the atrocity through the eyes of a child. The mood of the protest had started out as peaceful and festive when there were . On 1 April 1960, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 134. Amid confusion, two shots were fired into the air by somebody in the crowd. In 1946, the UN established the Commission on Human Rights, whose first job was to draft a declaration on human rights. On March 21, an estimated 7,000 South Africans gathered in front of the Sharpeville police station to protest against the restrictive pass laws. March 16 saw a demonstration in Montgomery, Alabama in which 580 demonstrators planned to march from the Jackson Street Baptist Church to the Montgomery County Courthouse (Reed 26). Sharpeville is a township near Vereeniging, in the Gauteng province of South Africa . On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The ANC Vice-President, Oliver Tambo, was secretly driven across the border by Ronel Segal into the then British controlled territory of Bechunaland. Black citizens began to resist this prejudice though and also used violence against the enforcers of Apartheid. A United Nations photograph by Kay Muldoon, Courtesy of the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa, SATIS (Southern Africa - the Imprisoned Society). The march was also led by Clarence Makwetu, the Secretary of the PACs New Flats branch. At 13h15 a small scuffle began near the entrance of the police station. T he Sharpeville massacre, the name given to the murder of 69 unarmed civilians by armed South African police, took place on 21 March 1960. By 9 April the death toll had risen to 83 non-White civilians and three non-White police officers. Robert Sobukwe and other leaders were arrested and detained after the Sharpeville massacre, some for nearly three years after the incident. The Supreme Courts decision in the famous and landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 set a precedent for desegregation in schools. 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. As a result of racial segregation, resistance from coloured people in both the United States and South Africa escalated. Participants were instructed to surrender their reference books (passes) and invite arrest. Some estimates put the size of the crowd at 20,000. Plaatjie, T. (1998) Focus: 'Sharpeville Heroes Neglected', The Sowetan, 20 March.|Reverend Ambrose Reeves (1966). Sharpeville Massacre. Other protests around the country on 21 March 1960. 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. Robert Sobukwe and other leaders were arrested and detained after the Sharpeville massacre, some for nearly three years after the incident. Britannica does not review the converted text. The people were throwing their hats to the aeroplanes. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. That day about 20,000 people gathered near the Sharpeville police station. On the day passes were suspended (25 March 1960) Kgosana led another march of between 2000 and 5000 people from Langa to Caledon Square. According to his "Testimony about the Launch of the Campaign," Sobukwe declared: To read more witness accounts of the Sharpeville Massacre, click on the, According to an account from Humphrey Tyler, the assistant editor at, Afrikaner Nationalism, Anglo American and Iscor: formation of Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corporation, 1960-70 in Business History", The Sharpeville Massacre: Its historic significance in the struggle against apartheid, The PAC's War against the State 1960-1963, in The Road to Democracy in South Africa: 1960-1970, The Sharpeville Massacre - A watershed in SouthAfrica, Saluting Sharpevilles heroes, and South Africa's human rights, New Books | Robert Sobukwes letters from prison, South African major mass killings timeline 1900-2012, Origins: Formation, Sharpeville and banning, 1959-1960, 1960-1966: The genesis of the armed struggle, Womens resistance in the 1960s - Sharpeville and its aftermath, Eyewitness accounts of the Sharpeville massacre 1960, List of victims of police action, 21 March, 1960 (Sharpeville and Langa), A tragic turning-point: remembering Sharpeville fifty years on by Paul Maylam, Apartheid: Sharpeville Massacre, 21 March 1960, Commission of Enquiry into the Occurrences at Sharpeville (and other places) on the 21st March, 1960, Volume 1, Johannesburg, 15 June 1960, Commission of Enquiry into the Occurrences at Sharpeville (and other places) on the 21st March, 1960, Volume 2, Johannesburg, 15 June 1960, Documents, and articles relating to the Sharpeville Massacre 1960, Editorial comment: The legacy of Sharpeville, From Our Vault: Sharpeville, A Crime That Still Echoes by J Brooks Spector, 21 March 2013, South Africa, Message to the PAC on Sharpeville Day by Livingstone Mqotsi, Notes on the origins of the movement for Sanctions against South Africa by E.S.

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