African Activist Archive

Contents: Background on Issues and Organizing • Possible ACAS Activities • I. Election Monitoring Delegation(s) • II. An ACAS "writers' bureau" on Namibia • III. ACAS co-operation with Allan Cooper's research • IV. ACAS Bulletin special section on Namibia • V. Action Alert to ACAS members on Congressional actions on Namibia and Angola • Conclusion • Memorandum from Christine Root to ACAS Officers and Board of Directors concerning recommendation from several ACAS officials that ACAS give priority this year to the transition in Namibia. The memo presents actions ACAS might take, based on consulting with ACAS members Bill Minter, Carol Thompson, Allan Cooper, Dave Wiley, and Betsy Schmidt, Bill Johnston at Episcopal Churchpeople for a Free Southern Africa (ECSA), Jim Cason at American Committee on Africa (ACOA), and Gay MacDougall at Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under Law. A particularly challenging task would be organizing one or more delegations of scholars and/or higher education administrators to monitor the election process. Already, South Africa has killed more than 250 SWAPO militants without criticism from the UN forces, and students, teachers, and other SWAPO supporters have been harassed and beaten. While a monitoring delegation could be very important, Root believes it is too large a task for ACAS to undertake, especially at this late date. ACAS members could be asked to join the "Writer's Bureau" on Namibia and agree to write op-ed pieces on Namibia; ACAS would distribute information from sources in Namibia. Efforts are underway in Congress to tie dispersal of contributions to the U.N. peacekeeping forces in Namibia to the withdrawal of designated numbers of Cuban troops. The House of Representatives has already approved such a measure, and a similar language plus other support for UNITA has been drafted by Senator DeConcini, chair of the Congressional Task Force on Angola. Conservative organizations working on Southern Africa are putting a high priority on this legislation. The memo mentions the Council of Churches of Namibia (CNN), Namibia: Update, and Namibia University.

African Activist Archive

RE: Five proposals for ACAS work on Namibia in 1989

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