World Court Ruling On S. W. Africa Shocks Many

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31116, 20 July 1966, Page 13

World Court Ruling On S. W. Africa Shocks Many

CV.Z. Press Association—Copyright) NEW YORK, July 19. The International Court of Justice’s refusal to hear charges of racial discrimination against South Africa’s administration of SouthWest Africa may result in a special session of the United Nations General Assembly to decide the matter, delegates said today. After six years of deliberation the International Court of Justice yesterday rejected complaints by Ethiopia and Liberia which charged South Africa with abusing its mandate over the huge territory by introducing apartheid and establishing military bases.

South Africa received its mandate over I the former German colony from the League of Nations in 1920 and has steadfastly refused United Nations efforts to gain trusteeship over the territory and work towards its independence. Most African diplomats—and many non-Africans — were bitterly disappointed with the Court’s action. Some delegates speculated a special session of the General Assembly may be summoned to deal with the issue. Not Clear But it was not immediately clear how much support any move for such a session would command, A.A.P.Reuter reported. The Assembly is due to open an ordinary session on September 20. Some delegates were known to oppose a special assembly, others said privately they thought the “flexibility” offered by the plenary body, in which all 117 United Nations members are represented, made it preferable to the 15-member Security Council for handling tin South-West Africa question. Recourse to the council was another possibility today. If the African States decided to take their case there, they would have to establish that the situation in South-West Africa constituted a threat to international peace and security. Another Forum The Special Committee on Colonialism is another forum in which the issue could be pursued after The Hague tribunal’s surprise rejection of the attempt by Ethiopia and Liberia to condemn South

Africa’s 46-year administration of the vast, desolate territory. Some sources thought the African States might decide to use the committee pending further consideration of the judgment and its implications. Today’s African caucus was scheduled last week in the confident expectation that the court would hand down a judgment against South Africa and that the African’s main task would be to decide ' how best to get it imple- ' mented. Not Expected With the possible exception of the South Africans, virtually no delegation expected

yesterday’s result. Delegates from countries which have resisted the imposition of sanctions against South Africa were among those who expressed astonishment. There was a widespread feeling, even in circles from which Pretoria has drawn support in the effort to block extreme United Nations action that the Court ought not to have taken six years to hand down what many considered to be a technical, or procedural decision. One outcome of the decision is expected to be an intensification of the AfricanAsian campaign to enlarge and reconstitute the Court on the ground that, as now composed, it serves white interests.

An immediate reaction to the decision yesterday was cancellation of a scheduled meeting of the Trusteeship Council, of which Liberia is a member. No specific reason was given for the last-minute cancellation, but one source said privately that several members were “in a state of shock.” An organisation called the South-West Africa National United Front has arranged a press conference today at the Methodist Church centre for the United Nations, across the street from the United Nations headquarters. An announcement said the conference would be “on the problem of South-West Africa vis-a-vis the verdict of the International Court of Justice.”