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New York Release campaigns
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Files of United Nations Secretary-General, U Thant

Files of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, U Thant, including:
The charter of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), with a resolution on apartheid and racial discrimination, calling for the immediate release of Nelson Mandela, Robert Sobukwe and all other South African political prisoners, 1963. News clippings from the New York Times, with reports on the torture of South African detainees, including reports on the detention of Winnie Mandela and an application to protect her from threats by the South African police, 1970. UN Security Council and OAU resolutions and declarations on decolonisation and apartheid, many of which call for the release of all South African political prisoners, 1964 - 1971. Correspondence between the UN and OAU.

U Thant

Files of United Nations Secretary-General, U Thant

Files of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, U Thant, including:
Correspondence from U Thant to Mr. Souleymane Ould Cheikh Sidya (Chairman of the Afro-Asian Group and permanent representative to the UN) about the arrest of Nelson Mandela by the South African government and the response received by U Thant from the South African government that the matter essentially falls within the jurisdiction of the Republic of South Africa and that it is not accountable to the UN, 1962.
Statements by anti-apartheid leaders about the racial policies of the South African government, including a statement by Nelson Mandela (quoted in the South African House of Assembly by Helen Suzman), Yusuf Dadoo and Duma Nokwe, 1963. Notes on the forthcoming discussion on the South Africa question in the Security Council by ES Reddy, including the expectation of death sentences for Nelson Mandela and other Rivonia Trialists, and the role of the UN beyond the Rivonia Trial, 1964.
Notes on the Rivonia Trial, and a Security Council discussion on the South African question, with references to the adoption of the resolution on South African prisoners and the Rivonia Trial, a proposal for a separate emergency draft resolution on the Rivonia Trial, possible repercussions of death sentences in the Rivonia Trial, the advantages of adopting a resolution in advance of the sentences, the possibility of death sentences for Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and at least three other accused, Nelson Mandela and Sisulu reported to be disinclined to appeal their sentences with the implication that the time available for external pressure would be limited, and the possibility of long prison terms, 1964.
A memorandum from ES Reddy (Principal Secretary, UN Special Committee Against Apartheid) to Vladimir Suslov (Under-Secretary General for Political and Security Council Affairs), enclosing a copy of a statement made by Chief Albert Luthuli on the Rivonia Trial, to be released immediately after the sentencing of the Rivonia Trialists, 1964. A letter addressed to Mr. Matthys I. Botha, South African representative to the UN about the death sentences imposed on Vuyisile Mini, Zinakile Mkaba and Wilson Khayinga, and the threats of the same penalty being imposed on other political Trialists, 1964.
A press statement issued by South African Prime Minister, HF Verwoerd concerning the sentences passed in the Rivonia Trial, 1964.

U Thant

South Africa Black Consciousness Movement Collection

A pamphlet produced for the march to Pollsmoor Prison in 1985, containing a message intended for Nelson Mandela. In the collection, there is a copy of the speech read by Zindzi Mandela on behalf of her father rejecting the regime's offer of conditional release.

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (Photographs and Prints Division)

South Africa Conspiracy Trial

Copies of records of the Delmas Treason Trial. Members of the 22 accused included Baleka Kgositsle, Popo Molefe, Patrick "Terror" Lekota and Moses Chikane. The records include references to, and police reports on the Release Mandela Campaign of the 1980s, Rivonia, and campaigns for the release of Nelson Mandela and all political prisoners. The records also include state prosecution assessments of witness statements.

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (Photographs and Prints Division)

Files of United Nations Secretary-General, U Thant

Files of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, U Thant, include:
UN press statement calling for the abandonment of the Rivonia Trial and the release of leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu. Letter from Chief Albert Luthuli, President of the African National Congress, sent to the UN Secretary-General, U Thant, about the South African crisis. Albert Luthuli's letter refers the Rivonia Trial and the danger that some or all of the accused could be given the death sentence, and requests that the UN help to save the lives of the Rivonia Trialists. Statement by the UN Special Committee against Apartheid, with reference to the Rivonia Trialists. A record of the 1128th meeting of the UN Security Council, with commentary from Mr. such, the Chinese representative, saying that the Rivonia accused are "on their way to becoming apartheid martyrs." International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) memorandum about relief for the victims of political persecution in South Africa, with reference to the ongoing Rivonia Trial of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and others.

U Thant

Files of United Nations Secretary-General, U Thant

Files of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, U Thant, including:
UN Security Council resolutions on decolonisation and apartheid, many of which call for the release of all South African political prisoners, 1964 - 1965. UN Special Committee Against Apartheid recommendations to the Security Council, including calls for the release of all political prisoners, 1962 - 1969. A report to the Secretary-General by the Expert Group on South Africa, with reference to opposition to South Africa being constituted as a republic, and Nelson Mandela's role in the call for a nationwide stay-at-home strike as a means of protest. Nelson Mandela's renewal of the call for a national convention, following the call made at the All in Africa Conference of African Leaders (Pietermaritzburg, 1961), and a quote by Nelson Mandela against racism from his 1962 trial, 1961 - 1964. The text of a letter from Mary Benson to the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid enclosing a statement made by Abram Fischer, Q.C., with reference to the Defiance Campaign, Congress of the People, Treason Trial, Nelson Mandela in hiding, the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the purchasing of the Lilliesleaf Farm and the Rivonia Trial, 1966.

U Thant

Dennis Brutus Papers

Collection of documents including correspondence, newsletters, pamphlets, press clippings, memoranda and media releases. The subjects covered include:
Biographical material on Nelson and Winnie Mandela. Robben Island. Nelson Mandela's health during his imprisonment, and calls for independent medical treatment.
Petitions and campaigns for Nelson Mandela's release from prison. US House Resolution 430 entitled, "The Mandela Freedom Resolution," submitted by Geo W. Crockett Jr., Hamilton Fish Jr., Claude Pepper and Jim Leach, calling for Nelson Mandela's release from prison.
Prison conditions.
The work of the International Anti-apartheid Movement, particularly the Free South Africa Movement (USA). International tributes, such as the Nelson Mandela bust on Trafalgar Square (London) and the statue at Merrion Square (Dublin). Honorary degrees conferred on Mandela. Seventieth birthday tributes. Nelson Mandela's release from prison in February 1990, and his visit to the US later that year. The International Reception Committee, established to welcome Nelson Mandela after his release from prison. Marches and rallies held in the US celebrating his release from prison. Nelson Mandela's address to the US Congress, and remarks made to newspaper editors and writers in the US on the new South Africa. Political negotiations, the future of sanctions, the reasons for his release from prison and the armed struggle.
Speeches, statements and articles by Mandela.
The list of correspondents includes Dennis Brutus, John Fiordelisi, Randall Robinson, Archbishop Trevor Huddleston and Geo W. Crockett Jr.
News clippings are from the Boston Sunday Globe, Chicago Sunday Times, Chicago Tribune, Ebony Magazine, New York Post, New York Times, State News and USA Today.

Brutus, Dennis

Files of United Nations Secretary-General, U Thant

Files of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, U Thant, including:
The General Assembly Resolution 1761 (XVII) of November 1962, requesting that the South African government abandon all arbitrary trials and release all political prisoners. The General Assembly Resolution A/RES/1881 (XVIII) on the policies of apartheid of the government of South Africa, with reference to reports of the upcoming Rivonia Trial, with the possibility of death sentences for a large number of prisoners, 1963. Notes on the question of apartheid in South Africa, including a review of recent UN proceedings that call for the release of all political prisoners, 1964. Security Council resolutions calling for the release of all political prisoners, 1963 - 1964. Security Council resolution S/5761, calling for the ending of the [Rivonia Trial], and the granting of amnesty to all political prisoners and detainees, particularly the defendants in the Rivonia Trial, 1964.

U Thant

Files of United Nations Secretary-General, U Thant

Files of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, U Thant, include:
Text of a statement by Achkar Marot, the representative of Guinea, to the UN, refers to Nelson Mandela's imprisonment on Robben Island. Response by the South African government to two articles published in the "UN Monthly Chronicle," which discusses the South African government's position on the Rivonia Trial, including Nelson Mandela's statement from the dock. The conclusion and recommendations of the International Seminar on Apartheid, Racial Discrimination and Colonialism in Southern Africa held in Kitwe, Zambia (1967). The conference recommended special campaigns around the incarceration of outstanding leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Robert Sobukwe and Bram Fischer.

U Thant

Files of United Nations Secretary-General, Kurt Waldheim

Files of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Kurt Waldheim, including:
Documents issued by the UN unit on Apartheid concerning campaigns for the release of all political prisoners. The text of a statement by the chairperson of the UN Centre Against Apartheid regarding the imprisonment of both Nelson and Winnie Mandela, with extracts of a telegram received from Zenani and Zindzi Mandela on the continued imprisonment of their parents. Correspondence concerning the 1976 Day of Solidarity with South African political prisoners, and a statement by the Secretary-General to the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid. Documents relating to the 1977, 1979 and 1981 commemorations of South African political prisoners, with references made to long-serving prisoners such as Nelson Mandela and Zephania Mothopeng.
A press release in which the chairperson of the South Africa Trust Fund, Anders I. Thunborg, calls for the release of Nelson Mandela. A press release in which the chairperson of the Special Committee Against Apartheid, ES Reddy, expresses his satisfaction with the campaign to free South African political prisoners, in which he quotes from the speech delivered by Zindzi Mandela at Wits University in 1980.
Correspondents include ES Reddy, Leslie O. Harriman and Kurt Waldheim

Waldheim, Kurt