African Activist Archive

The mailing says the U.S., Britain, and France used their veto power in the United Nations Security Council on behalf of South Africa and against the rights of the Namibian people to their freedom and independence. This is the second triple veto ever, the first one being on October 30, 1974 when they thwarted South Africa's expulsion from the UN. The three Western permanent members rejected a mandatory arms embargo. Resolution S/11713, put forward by Cameroon, Guyana, Iraq, Mauritania and Tanzania, invoked Chapter VII of the UN Charter by declaring that South Africa's illegal occupation of Namibia 'constitutes a threat to international peace and security' and that all states should prevent the supply of arms and other military equipment to South Africa and Namibia. Ten of the 15 members of the Security Council voted for the resolution: China and the Soviet Union (both permanent members), the five sponsors and Byelo-Russia, Costa Rica and Sweden; Japan and Italy abstained. People are asked to write to Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Nathaniel P. Davis, about U.S. policy toward South Africa and Namibia. The mailing mentions Daniel Chipenda, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), UNITA, bantustan officials, the League of Nations, the International Court of Justice, the Organization of African Unity, SWAPO, Prime Minister B.J. Vorster, Foreign Minister Hilgard Muller, and Security Council resolution 366.

African Activist Archive

NAMIBIA: THE TRIPLE VETO - again

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