[Front Matter: Finland and National Liberation in Southern Africa]

[Front matter: Finland and national liberation in Southern Africa] http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.naip100037 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org [Front matter: Finland and national liberation in Southern Africa] Author/Creator Soiri, Iina; Peltola, Pekka Publisher Nordiska Afrikainstitutet (Uppsala) Date 1999 Resource type Articles Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) Finland, Southern Africa (region) Source Nordiska Afrikainstitutet (Uppsala) Relation Soiri, Iina and Peltola, Pekka. Finland and national liberation in Southern Africa. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 1999. 1-17. Rights By kind permission of Pekka Peltola, Iina Soiri, and Nordiska Afrikainstitutet (The Nordic Africa Institute). Description Part of a study on National Liberation in Southern Africa: The Role of the Nordic Countries, hosted at the Nordic Africa Institute Format extent 17 page(s) (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.naip100037 http://www.aluka.org Finland Finland and National Liberation in Southern Africa by Iina Soiri & Pekka Peltola Nordiska Afrikainstitutet 1999 Cover: Adriaan Honcoop Language checking: Christine Mann-Ldfblom and Elaine Alm6n © Iina Soiri, Pekka Peltola and Nordiska Afrikainstitutet 1999 ISBN 91-7106-431-1 Printed in Sweden by Elanders Gotab, Stockholm 1999 Indexing terms: Foreign relations National liberation movements Student movements ANC SWAPO Finland Namibia South Africa Contents Preface ...................................................................... 5 1. Introduction ......................................................... 7 1.1. A im s of the study ..................................................... 7 1.2. Finland up until the 1960s ............................................ 7 1.3. Basic principles in Finnish foreign policy ........................... 11 1.4. The role of the civil society .......................................... 15 1.5. Sources .............................................................. 17 2. The civil society grows and goes international .................... 18 2.1. The early birds ...................................................... 18 2.1.1. The Com m ittee of 100 ................................................ 19 2.1.2. Finnish Students' UN Association .................................. 23 2.1.3. The South Africa Committee ....................................... 25 2.2. Students' changing international approach ......................... 30 2.2.1. National Union of Students and Students' International A ssistance ............................................. 30 2.2.2. Tricont .............................................................. 32 2.3. The first campaign of solidarity with the liberation movement: Operation Day's Work, Taksvdrkki ........................................ 34 2.4. Travelling solidarity ................................................ 43 2.4.1. The establishment of the Africa Committee ......................... 43 2.5. The "Students and the African Liberation Movement" Conference 48 2.6. The visit of Amflcar Cabral ......................................... 50 2.7. Political parties' international dimension ........................... 53 3. Proclaiming the gospel or politics? ............................... 55 3.1. The Finnish Lutheran Mission in Ovamboland ..................... 55 3.2. Taking a stand against racial segregation ........................... 60 3.3.. Missionaries face problems in Namibia ............................. 61 3.4. Finnchurchaid ........................................................ 64 4. Finland's foreign policy-do not disturb! ......................... 67 4.1. Finland formulating its position in the world after 1945 ............ 69 4.2. A medical doctor, not a judge ....................................... 71 4.3. The policy change in the UN after 1966 ............................. 74 4.4. The foreign policy debate in Finland ................................ 76 4.5. Support from the official ranks ...................................... 79 4.5.1. Finland's development aid becomes established .................... 79 4.5.2. Children's parties allow communication with the top .............. 82 4.6. The 'rebel' civil servants ............................................ 84 4.7. Finland as a member of the UN Security Council ................... 68 4.8. Outside influence intensifies ........................................ 87 4.8.1. The OAU visit to Finland in 1971 ................................... 87 4.8.2. Liberation movements approach the Finnish Government ......... 90 4.9. Winds of change from the field ...................................... 93 4.9.1. Charg6 d'affaires to Pretoria dismissed ............................. 93 4.9.2. Active Finnish community in Dar es Salaam ........................ 95 4.10. NGO letter to the Foreign Ministry ................................. 97 4.11. Foreign political justifications behind the policy change ........... 99 5. Finland supporting liberation struggles .......................... 103 5.1. The decision of principle in 1973 ................................... 103 5.2. The independence of the Portuguese colonies ..................... 104 5.3. N GO aid increases .................................................. 108 5.4. Finland's Namibia policy in the UN becomes more active ........ 110 5.5. The Namibia scholarship programme .............................. 113 5.6. Other cooperation with SWAPO ................................... 118 5.7. Trade unions join in ................................................. 120 5.8. N ordic cooperation ................................................. 122 5.9. Finnish nationals at the service of Namibia in m ultinational forum s ............................................. 123 5.10. SWAPO's internal crisis in 1976 .................................... 125 5.11. SWAPO and Finland towards independence ...................... 128 5.12. Zimbabwe/Rhodesia and Finland ................................. 134 6. South Africa, ANC and the boycott question ..................... 137 6.1. Joint Nordic programme of action .................................. 138 6.2. Support for ANC and other anti-apartheid organisations ......... 139 6.3. Pressure for sanctions and the trade ban law ...................... 144 6.4. Towards a democratic South Africa ................................ 153 7. C onclusion .......................................................... 155 List of A bbreviations ....................................................... 159 Sources and Bibliography .................................................. 171 Appendix 1: Finland's direct support to Namibia and SWAPO ........... 177 Appendix 2: Humanitarian assistance to ANC and other anti-apartheid organisations in South Africa ...................... 178 Appendix 3: Currency conversion table .................................... 179 Appendix 4: Persons interviewed .......................................... 180 A ppendix 5: Interview s ..................................................... 181 M artti A htisaari ............................................... 181 M ikko Juva .................................................... 189 Janet M ondlane ............................................... 198 N ickey Iyam bo ................................................ 206 Preface Much has been written on the impact of East-West competition and involvement in Southern Africa. The role of the Nordic countries in shaping recent history in this region has, however, not aroused similar interest-despite the very large contributions made to it both materially and politically by Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. This engagement was not in vain: liberation movements supported by Nordic countries now hold governmental power in their countries. Finland has figured amongst those nations that supported liberation movements of Southern Africa, because of her role in the Namibian independence process, her contribution to the UN funds for Southern African refugees and victims of apartheid, and-at the end-her direct support to liberation movements, as well as her clearly stated stance against apartheid and colonialism. The part played by Finland and other Nordic countries has, however, scarcely been documented and analysed so far. The end of the era of colonialism and apartheid in Southern Africa now opens up an opportunity to study the subject from different perspectives. This study is part of a common Nordic research project which documents and analyses the role of

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