Security Council fails to adopt proposals to condemn South Africa for actions against four states.

Security Council fails to adopt proposals to condemn South Africa for actions against four States

ON 23 May, a draft resolution calling for condemnation of and sanctions against South Africa for "military raids' into three other African States was not adopted by the Security Council because of negative votes cast by two of its permanent members.

The vote was 12 to 2 (United Kingdom, United States), with 1 abstention (France). The text (S/18087/Rev. 1)-- put forward by Congo, Ghana, Madagascar, Trinidad and Tobago, and United Arab Emirates--would have had the Council determine that South Africa's policies and acts constituted "a threat to international peace and security'. The Council was asked to impose "selective economic and other sanctions' against South Africa "as an effective means of combating the apartheid system and bringing peace and stability to southern Africa'.

The Council would have also demanded full and adequate compensation to Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe for loss of life and damage to property suffered during the 19 May actions. The three nations would have been commended for their support for refugees from South Africa.

The proposed sanctions would have included: suspension of all new investments in South Africa; prohibition of the sale of krugerrands and all other coins minted in South Africa; bans on new contracts in the nuclear field and all sales of computer equipment; suspension of guaranteed export loans; and restrictions on sports and cultural relations.

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar would have been asked to continue to monitor the situation in southern Africa and to report to the Council by the end of August.

The vote came after three Council meetings held on 22 and 23 May at the requests of Senegal, on behalf of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and Zambia, on behalf of the front-line States (Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe).

Explanations: The United States said it could not support a call for imposition of mandatory sanctions. All States should be able to decide for themselves what measures were most appropriate "as we pursue our common goal of destroying apartheid'.

The destruction of the South African economy served no one's interests, least of all those who suffered under apartheid. A severance of economic ties would lead ineluctably to severance of political ones, depriving the United States of any leverage over Pretoria, and depriving the international community of any ability to work for the timely and complete dismantling of apartheid.

The United States would not turn its back on the millions of blacks in South Africa and on a growing number of whites there who looked to the West to lead the South African Government out of its "crude and inhuman' political system into one where the voice of the majority participated directly in the formulation of national and international policy.

The United Kingdom said the draft contained "unacceptable' passages. It would have voted for all its provisions except that calling for sanctions. It regretted that the draft's sponsors would not accept a paragraph-by-paragraph vote.

Nothing must be done to undermine the chances of a successful outcome, however hard to achieve, to the Commonwealth initiative to peacefully abolish apartheid.

The United Kingdom would not take short-term steps which might endanger that long-term and fundamental goal.

France said there were no grounds for replacing national measures with mandatory sanctions.

Secretary-General: On 19 May, Mr. Perez de Cuellar strongly condemned the South African "armed raids' into Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, in violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of those States and of the United Nations Charter. Those latest attacks by South Africa against neighbouring States represented a further extension of the violence in southern Africa, the roots of which sprang from the "iniquitous policies of apartheid and racial discrimination, which have been universally condemned'.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that the Makeni transit centre in Zambia had been bombed by two planes, killing one person and injuring 11 others.

Three nations affected

Legwaila J.M.J...