In his opening address, President of the seminar Sean McBride discussed the systematic denial of the most elementary human rights to the population by foreign-imposed colonial rule. McBride posited that the current policy of the United States and others in the so-called "Contact Group" stems from a secret meeting in July 1976 in a Zurich hotel between then Prime Minister of South Africa, Dr. Vorster; then Commander of NATO forces, General Alexander Haig; and then Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger.
