United Nations Security Council resolution 610, adopted unanimously on 16 March 1988, after reaffirming resolutions

503 __NOTOC__ Year 503 (Roman numerals, DIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Volusianus and Dixicrates (or, less frequ ...

(1982),

525 __NOTOC__ Year 525 ( DXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Probus and Philoxenus (or, less frequently, year 1278 ' ...

(1982),

533 __NOTOC__ Year 533 ( DXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iustinianus without colleague (or, less frequently, y ...

(1983) and

547 __NOTOC__ Year 547 ( DXLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 547 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar er ...

(1984) expressing concern at the imposed

death sentences Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

of anti-

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

activists, the Council noted the deteriorating situation in South Africa. Resolution 610 concerned the

Sharpeville Six The Sharpeville Six were six South African protesters convicted of the murder of Deputy Mayor of Sharpeville, Kuzwayo Jacob Dlamini, and sentenced to death. History On September 3, 1984, a protest march in Sharpeville turned violent (some of the c ...

, accused of the murder of the Deputy Mayor of

Sharpeville Sharpeville (also spelled Sharpville) is a township situated between two large industrial cities, Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging, in southern Gauteng, South Africa. Sharpeville is one of the oldest of six townships in the Vaal Triangle. It was na ...

on 12 December 1985. The resolution expressed deep concern at the decision of the "

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

regime" to execute the Sharpeville Six on 18 March 1988 despite worldwide appeal, noting that the court proceedings showed that none of the six suspects was found to have killed the Councillor, but all were only convicted as they had a "common purpose" with the actual perpetrators. Resolution 610 urged the

Government of South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa. Executive authority ...

to commute the sentences and stay execution, urging other Member States, acting in accordance with the

United Nations Charter The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the ...

, to save the lives of the six people. The following day after the resolution was adopted, a one-month stay of execution was granted by a South African Court, and the six appealed.

References

External links

*
Text of the Resolution at undocs.org
{{UNSCR 1988 0610 1988 in South Africa 0610 March 1988 events

See also

References

External links