Condemn Security Council vetoes by United States, United Kingdom preventing sanctions against Pretoria.

Condemn Security Council vetoes by United States, United Kingdom preventing sanctions against Pretoria

The Spcial Committee against Apartheid has expressed its "total condemnation" of the vetoes by the United States and the United Kingdom at the 15 November 1985 Security Council meeting which prevented the adoption of mandatory sanctions against South Africa.

The Committee did so in a statement adopted after a two-day "strategy session" held on 25 and 26 November at Headquarters with 29 non-governmental and anti-apartheid organizations.

The Special Committee stressed the urgent need, in co-operation with anti-apartheid and solidarity movements, to intensify the campaign to impose comprehensive sanctions against Pretoria. The campaign should expose the role of the United States and Britain in "protecting apartheid South Africa in the United Nations Security Council as well as other major opponents of sanctions such as the Federal Republic of Germany", the Committee stated. National and international pressure was urgently required to press those Governments to end their continued support for the apartheid regime, and its total isolation must continue to be sought.

The United Nations mandatory arms embargo against South Africa must be strengthened and strictly implemented; and monitoring and enforcement by the United Nations and by Governments had to become more effective. The existing embargo should be extended to include oil, a ban on all nuclear collaboration and on all "high tech" exports, including computers and electronic equipment.

Any agreement to reschedule South Africahs debt should be seen as a "political act" by the international banking community "designed to rescue the apartheid regime" from its current crisis, the Committee said. Action should be taken against South Africa's export trade to deny it much needed foreign exchange. Special attention needed to be focused on South African exports of strategic minerals. All air links with South Africa and Namibia should cease. The importance of the sports, cultural and academic boycotts was stressed, together with the need to step up the campaign against tourism. Utmost pressure should be put on the Federal Republic of Germany not to renew its cultural agreement with South Africa, which was suspended on 18 September 1985.

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'extremely serious'

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