The representative of the Union of South Africa
stated that the Declaration should refer only to
those fundamental rights, the universal applicability
of which was recognized all over the world.
The Declaration, as it stood, went beyond those
generally accepted rights. He declared that his
delegation could not possibly accept the thesis that
human dignity would be impaired if a person were
told he could not reside in a particular area. Such a
thesis, he explained, would destroy the whole basis
of the multi-racial structure of the Union of South
Africa and would not be in the interests of the less
advanced indigenous population. Similarly, the
right to participate in government was not universal;
it was conditioned not only by nationality
but also by qualifications of franchise. The representative
of South Africa wondered how many
States were in a position to say that they could
assume any international responsibility for the full
exercise of certain economic rights mentioned in
the Declaration.
