The action alert asks people to urge their Representative and Senators to co-sponsor H.R. 131 and S.R. 254 and press for hearings soon. These identical resolutions call on the President to urge the South African government to "take prompt and effective actions" to end its illegal occupation of Namibia and implement United Nations resolution 435, the internationally accepted peace plan for Namibian independence. The resolutions also call for the termination of U.S. business in Namibia and urge the President to end the policy of linking the implementation of U.N. resolution 435 to the withdrawal of Cuban troops from neighboring Angola. The action alert describes South Africa's illegal occupation...
The action alert asks people to urge their Representative and Senators to co-sponsor H.R. 131 and S.R. 254 and press for hearings soon. These identical resolutions call on the President to urge the South African government to "take prompt and effective actions" to end its illegal occupation of Namibia and implement United Nations resolution 435, the internationally accepted peace plan for Namibian independence. The resolutions also call for the termination of U.S. business in Namibia and urge the President to end the policy of linking the implementation of U.N. resolution 435 to the withdrawal of Cuban troops from neighboring Angola. The action alert describes South Africa's illegal occupation of Namibia since October 1966 (when the United Nations terminated the mandate for South African administration of the territory), in defiance of rulings of the International Court of Justice and several United Nations resolutions. South Africa has kept troops in Namibia, continued to exploit Namibian resources, and denied the black majority the basic right to self-determination, reserving political power for the white minority in Namibia. For the past seven years, the Reagan administration has obstructed and delayed Namibian independence by linking it to the unrelated issue of Cuban troops in neighboring Angola, which has caused negotiations on Namibian independence to break down completely and allowed South Africa to proceed with instituting a puppet "internal settlement" government in Namibia. The action alert says although H.R. 131 and S.R. 254 are non-binding, they focus Congressional and public attention on the issue of Namibian independence. Although the current U.S. sanctions law applies to Namibia as well as South Africa, Congress has yet to make Namibia an important part of the policy debate. The action alert discusses Congressman Mervyn Dymally (D-CA), the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Senators Paul Simon (D-IL) and Lowell Weicker (R-CT), the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, human rights, U.S. corporations, and Newmont Mining.
