EPISCOPAL CHU~J.IMEN ftr SOUTH
Room 1005 • 853 Broadway, New York, N. Y. 10003 • Phone' (212) 477·0066 -For A Free Sout1lem AlriclI- HAY THE PACT 1981 The picture of President Ronald Reaga11 and South African Foreign 11inister Roelof Botha sit ting together. smiling by the fireplace in the Oval Office signifies to all the VK}rld that the new American administration is fOl"ging an alliance with the Pretoria regime. It is not surprising that it is happening; the brassiness is what astonishes. Reagan, at his request, had a 'friendly' meeting with the representative of what he described in Barch as a 'friend ly nation', Le., the white minority currently in control. The p"t'esident has stressed South Africa's 'production of minerals we all must have' arrl called that country 'strategically essential to the free VK}rld I. All this of course is accorr.panied by custornary incantations against apartheid and pledges to help those ~rking to remove that evil. Appeals to Presi dent Reagan to condemn Pretoria's revocation of the passport of Bishop Desmond 'futu - no one inside South Africa has striven harder and more peacefully for the arolition of apartheid and for reconciliation - have produced not a peep from the Hhite House.
Botha came to Washington in the afterglow of the US government's 30 April veto (in which it was joined by its British and French allies) of mandatory sanctions resolutions in the UN Security Council aimed at Pretoria for its occupation of the InternatioMl Territory of Nam ibia and. its refusal to coop€I"'ate with the vlOrld tody in achieving independence for the Ter ritory. The th:r>ee-and-a-half decades-old diplomatic struggle in the United. Nations had come to fever pitch following Pretoria's abrupt break-off fJXlm the UN-sJ?Onsored preimplementation talks in Geneva in January. Despite blarxlishments from the Western 1X>wers and the timely re lease 0f a report on how much neighboring African states vlOuld suffer if sanctions \.,,"e.!'€ level ed against South Africa, the African Group pressed. ahead. This time us objections were deliv ered not in the dulcet language of the carter administration. Instead delegates were lectur ed to by Am€I"'ica.' s schoolmarm Pmbassador Jeane Kirkpatrick on being 'realistic'. The repre sentative of the country which went into paroxysms aoout boycotting Iran averTed that sanc tions'do not solve problems nor do declarations secure indepe.n::1ence. When the vote had been taken and the vetoes cast, Ugandan Ambassador Olara Otunno asked: I If sa'1Ctions do not work, why ;...~uld three permanent members of this Council cast the heavy weight of their vote against measures which do not ~r'k?'
Foreign Minister> &:ltha spent ty;o days conferr'ing with Secretary of State Alexander Haig and Assistant Secretary for African Affairs-designate Chester Crocker. One topic discussed was a long-starrling difficulty between the USA and the RSA: supply of enriched ur'anium by the form er for South Mrica's Koeber'g nuclear pc\.;er station due to open next year. The US's Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act forbids shi:r:ments to any country: such as South Africa, which does not allow international inspection of its nuclear facilities. In the ~idst of the high-level wash ington talks the news broke of a US Customs seizUI-e of a planeload of military weapons and ammunition at Houston Intercontinental Airport. The $1,200,000 shipnent was said to be round for the Sudan but the British arms merchants involved had a purchase order from South Africa's P.rmaments· Corporation, Ltd, kriown as ARMSCOR. Confirmation iater came from J6r.annesburg that 'the stuff was for transshipnent to the Pl.--etoria-supported (and US government-favored) UNITA which is .trying to overtm.'Ow the government of .<\ngola. One's mind is cast back a few years when the US government made a great show of prosecuting arms dealers who had supplied haOO guns to South Africa while at the same time the CIA, State Depal:'trnent ~'1d Defp.nse Department were implementing shipne..'1ts from the Space Research Corporation of an entire heavy artillery system - 155nm howitzers, shells, techll0logy - to ARNSCOR. Considering the urgency with whi·::;:h Pretoria regards the enriched uranium) one must ask: 'WhO'S watching the other side of the c;jxJX)rt? I (continued over) THE PACT (continued) - 2 _.
Namibia was a feature of the Haig-Botffi talks" '.mE WASHINGTON POST reports the South African rejected the United Nations military contingent as a police force during any internationally supervised transition in Namibia. The contemplated 7500-man UNTAG is a fundamental element in the UN plan set forth in Security Council resolution 435 of 1978" a procedure Pretoria had agreed to and had been stalling on ever since. '!HE POST adds that Botha was told by the Pmericans that eliminating UNTAG 'w:)u1d be difficult'. Not impossible. The Reagan administration has announced a policy of I constructive en gagement ' with the Pretoria regime, in contrast to what it termed the 'confrontation' of the Carter years. That four-year period was marked by 'delicate negotiations' be tween five Western countries - the USA, Britain, France, \r1est Germany arrl Canada. - arrl Pretoria which resulted in resolution 435. South Africa was left completely in control of Namibia during UN-rronitored elections, a devastating diminution of the w:)rld body's role according to Security Council resolution 385 of 1976 whereby the UN itself w:lS to 'supervise and control' the electoral process.
AFRICA NEWS says a new policy paper on Namibia vas sent by Haig to Reagan, containing 'a determination that independence for the territory is in the U. S. interest but that unchecked political power for the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) - the political rrovement that enjoys widest international and internal support - rust be prevented' . Containment of SWAPO is no new development. Africa watchers have noted throughout the 'delicate negotiations' efforts by the Western Five to corral SWAPO and to deprive Namibia's fighting liberation rrovement of its diplomatic status as 'sole and authentic representative of the people of Namibia' which long ago had been granted it by the UN. The Western countries at the same time had cast about for a presentable, mal leable alternative both to SWAPO and to Pretoria's select instrument inside Namibia, the Deroocratic 'furnhalle Alliance - to no avail.
A secorrl point in the policy paper was that Pretoria w:)uld ro longer accept 435. The South African regime has been screaming that the United Nations was rot impartial am therefore unfit to oversee a transition in Namibia. The new people in Washington concur, regarding the w:)rld organization as a bunch of pesky incompetents. Reagan's people, as part of forging the alliance with Pretoria, are joining wholeheartedly in a scheme to urrlermine, if not cut out altogether, the legitimate auth:>rity over the Inter'l'E.tional Territory of Namibia, the United Nations.
The Americans have told Pretoria it w:)uld not have to countenance anything it doesn't like and that there will be no time limit on a Namibian 'solution'. The South Africans are having another go in trying to make credible to the Namibian people and the world their DTA collaborators. Meanwhile; Pretoria is setting in place a local bureaucracy, police and army. It continues to escalate its war against the Namibian people and a gainst Angola. The Western powers are busy constructing bonds on a future Namibian gov errment - mindful that SWAPO w:)uld win any fair and free election. N3.mibia must have a pre-election constitutional guarantee of minority rights - in eerie contrast to the West's virtual silence over the years at Pretoria's v.ar against the Namibian people. Holdings of South African, US, British and other foreign corporations, which have been exploiting"the minerally wealthy Ter'ritory for decades, must rot be nationalized. Nam ibia JIUst be a neutral state, not host to any gr'Oup hostile to a neighboring state - a strange dernan:1 after the South African Defence Force's constant assaults on Angola an::l Zambia arxl tbzarnbique which the Western powers have never' distinctly condemned.
'The South African cabinet's response to Haig's proposals is said to be 'positive'. Wash ington will give no details. The Western countries pick up again the nettlesane problem of Namibia and an 'internationally acceptable solution', the USA taking the lea:l. Vice President George Bush boasted the US's advocacy of Namibian independence is one of the Reagan administration's I positive foreign and. defense policy developnents', revealing in the context of the American government's concept of global struggle against what it regards as international terrorism directed from Moscow and its total and deliber'ate ignorance of the upthrust of ron-aligned nations for self-determination. '/; '/; ,': * Bishop Reeves and the Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, meeting New York, JuZy Z957. - photo by Oscar' J. CaUeru:1er, Jr + Gt.W\byose Reeves IQ99 - /990
Ambrose Reeves, whose adult life and ministry was spent in tenacious and eloquent fighting for human rights - notably as the Anglican Bishop of Johannesburg from 1949 to 1960, died in England on 23 December 1980.
Bishop Reeves had shortly before his death been selected by the African National Congress of South Africa to recelve its highest honor the Isitwalandwe, meaning literally 'the one who wears the plumes of the rare bird '.
, ECSA salutes a dear friend and a gallant warrior. EPISCOPAL CHU~IIMEN for
Room 1005 • 853 Broadway, New York, N. Y. 10003 • Phone: (212) 477-0066 - For A Free SoutlJem Alritll- 'You and I ar'e Uving at this moment in a very dangerous world in which Christians are going to have to take many risks. And that doesn't frighten me at all, providing we learn to take these risks responsibly. '
Ambrose Reeves was one of the intellectually toughest and IIDst courageous bisrops the English church has prcxiuced. His time spent in the British army in World War I educated him in the grim lives of the underdogs of society - he helped illiterate soldiers write letters home - and sparked his corrunitment to a vocation. He received formal education at Sidney Sussex Col lege, Cambridge, where he was active in the Student Christian Movement. He trained for the priesthood at the Mirfield theo logical college run by the Community of the Resurrection. Fol lowing work in several parishes, Ambrose Reeves became rector of the church of Our lady and St Nicholas in Liverpool - in the midst of Vbrld War II. The great port city suffered heavily from Luftwaffe bombing attacks and Father Reeves was plunged into serving a corrnnunity in a time of crisis, a foretaste of what lay ahead. His talents and understanding were further demanded during the dock strike of 1945. With 43,000 men on strike and 21,000 troops staffing the docks, the potential for conflict becoming tragedy was huge. Reeves had the confidence of the working men and he spoke for them and hammered out a working document which resulted in agreement. The episode taught the future bishop a stringent lesson: of 'the great gulf separating the Church from the ordinary people' .
On 12 June 1949, Ambrose Reeves was consecrated Bishop of Johannesburg. The National party had come to power in South Africa and launched its system of institutionalized racism and political repression. The new bishop was leader of the largest diocese of a rrajor church wmse membership encompassed people of all elements of a society the new regime was bent on separating according to the dictates of apartheid. The diocese included barren stretches of outland and the country's greatest metropolitan area undergoing industrial expansion,and in both black people, after centuries of oppression, were experiencing the efficient methcx::ls of the police state. Bishop Reeves was drawn into outspoken condemnation of apartheid,then into active .opposition. When poverty-stricken Africans boycotted the Johannesburg bus system, the bishop joined the ooycott corrunittee. He closed church schools rather than submit them to the regime's apartheid education. In 1956, when Pretoria arrested and then tried over 150 out standing South Africans for treason, Bishop Reeves headed the Treason Trial Defence Fund to meet legal costs and support the families of the accused. African National Congress leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Chief Albert Luthuli wrote of him: 'South Africans of every race and color found in his LDrdship a true friend and a courageous ally. '
The Sharpeville Massacre of 21 March 1960 changed history in South Africa. Bishop Reeves organized the collection of evidence of South African Police guilt in the mass rrnrder and published his damning indictment SHOOTJNG AT SHARPEVILLE. Pretoria, long angry at this crit ic with such impeccable credentials, deported the bishop. For two years Ambrose Reeves and his wife Margaret lived in LDndon,sometimes in real poverty. Dioceses fell vacant but noth ing was offered by the Church of England to the former Bishop of Johannesburg. He was for three years general secretary of the Student Christian Movement, then in 1966 took a parish and was made assistant Bishop of Chichester. In 1967, in the midst of the Vietnam War, he was one of a delegation of international clergymen to visit Hanoi and report on the effects of American oombing and an offer from Ho Chi Minh to meet with the American president.
Bishop Reeves travelled widely, speaking at the United Nations, in rrany countries, on South Africa, Vietnam, oppression and war and Peace. He stood in front of the South African embas sy in LDndon with placards. He wrote extensively, and in two books - SOUTH AFRICA, YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW and CALVARY NOW - of the hard choices christians must make. In 1970, he was made president of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement. On his 80th birthday - 6 December 1979 - he was honored in LDndon by the AAM and his old friend, African National Congress President General Oliver Tambo. 'My great conviction is that every christian must remain a rebel to the end of his days. ' PRETORIA- S~/ZES BISHOP TUTU\S PASSPORT - AG-AIN
'The purpose of my o~~ trip at this present time f~s been to see ohuroh teaders, gove~~ent lead era and others who have inj1uenoe in the interna tional oo~~nity to urge them to reoognize that we are approaohing a ve~~ serious orisis in our oountry, to urge th£m therefore, pLease for the sake of our ohildren, for the sake of the ohiZd ren of aZl South Afrioans, blaok a~~ white, for God's sake, for the sake of uorZd peaoe, that they take aotion, tr4t th~y exert pressure on South Afrioa - politioal pressure, dipZomatio pressure, and above all, eoonomio pressure - but reaZly take aotion that will persuade the South Afrioan autJu;r>"~ties to oome to the oon ferenoe table be;ore it is too late. ' - Bishop Desmond Tutu, at the United Nations, 23 March 1981
Pretoria's Prime t-linister P.vI. Botha on 28 ~1arch lashed out at Jlnglican Bishop Desrrond Tutu ~ who was then on -tou:r' in the United States. 'As far as I am concerned, his passport will be withdra\\'l1 when he returns' Botha told his applauding audience at a National Party rally held for the campaign for the (all wl'J.te) parliamentary elections on 29 April. The bishop, who is general secretary of the South African Council of Churches, returned home from a ·ten nation trip on 9 April. On the evening of 16 April - Maunday Thursday - security policemen came to Bishop Tutu I s home in Soweto and seiZed his passport. Their order was dated the 9th but Pretoria waited until .American erniSSal"""j, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs designate Chester Crocker,had flown out of Johannesburg. .. 'The outspoken Bishop Tutu has long been a prime target of the gang in Pretoria. His insist~llL condemnation of the injustices of the apartheid state - abysmal rural resettlement camps where black IDE:l"'1, women and ctJ.1dren are dumped, the hypocrisy of foreign and domestic business finns claiming to improve the lot of blacks ('They batten on black misery, cheap labor and the de struction of black family life through the iniquitous migratory labor system'), 80tha I S grand design of a constellation of southern African states C'a ploy to deprive South African blacks of their citizenship in the land of their birth') drives South Africa I s overlords into fury. A proponent of non-violence, he asks those who oppose armed resistance: '\.Jhy do you all sudden ly become pacifists when it comes to the freedom of blacks?' The small, ebullient bishop has F-articularly enraged the regime by appearing in their view to support the intETnational cam paign for sanctions against South Africa. Bishop Tutu is prominent in the world-wide rove to release African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela and other political pr>isoners in South ,A.fI'ica. The cheerful prelate has the admiration of a considerable number of South African whites, perhaps his most \\~rrisome quality in the eyes of Pretoria.
'This second seizu:r'e of Bishop Tutu I s passport (it was taken from him jut a year ago and had . only recently been restored) comes as new revelations surface in South Africa I s Information scandal. A court action has disclosed that the Department of Foreign Affairs, headed by 'HI' Clean', Foreign Minister Roelof Botha, had a contract .\.vith the right-\.ving Christian Le.ague - -which was paid 340,000 Rand - 'to pursue a..'1uninten-.upted campaign against the South Africa.'1 Council of Churches'. The League, led by a Rev Fred Shaw, is suing for 260 ~ 000 Rand because of the breach of a I secI'ecy' clause in this church-state conspiracy to undermine not only the Council, but also 'the \'Jorld Council of Churches, the NatiOnal Council of Churches (USA?) ,the ilJ.1 p.£rica Conference of Chu..'Y'Ches and the ne\\'S mediaI.
The Anglica.11 Church of South Africa is shortly to hold a synod to elect th<.~ successor to retir- i Archbishop Bill Burnett. Hl'D better to ascend the throne of Cape Tov..'I1 than Bishop 1\rtu? .- ,...... ,... EPISWP~CHURP-lMEN - ""'" -I - •
:J: "UO"Z~2:"O ... zoo .... - .co xx soUrHWAfI\lCA n ct OOG"lO.:rXf\J :% .... \II " ..... X z:Jt'" .or .. xCII .... QIi- :1: ...... IV 0• o- Room 1005 • 853 1rC*l...y, New YO(~. N. Y_ 10003 • Phone, (212) ~n-0066 n 0 "'V"t! c .... :I. .... f\J UI (/'I or- . Co r:..ol ...... -4z ...... ,,~t:: - -< 1t~ ~~ ~ r~ ':l X CI' ...... ~ xz ~ ...... x o ;ve- e: ... ~ rr r "0 .... -<"JJOVt:JC .. ;'L""'" :u .:) "0 , ..... ;r)C~-4Ctl"tD .. (/'I O;CC .... " ...-~ C:.t ... 00 v., G") oc .... o r ...';:]...... o "A I 1£ " .... ,..._,..a'z«l>oo- COl ZlL 0- "3- -4Z "..,:to ;Q -< .. , :to::>, ;" c:: i "2 ,. --< cr. 0 z -<:I: ~ nr:A7>I:.~.. ~z .. 0- 29 March 1981 -e. .. :I: ... C; « --<:t-oc 0 r 0 ~ :x 0 ~ DI U .0 ..,. ':> n ~'VI .... -0:· e x=.c..... ~~ c- .... en e- x 0 n-TCO Z:7 ... ,.,.t: ""i President Ronald Reagan 0 :IO ~ '~t -..:C .. ~.,~ ... x .... ".ru> r- ... Z ~;, ....~ o· '"' The WhiLe House ,.. .,...... :r c n 3:- to .,. N ;Q n ::> z ::> .., ... ~ I \11-4 z. Washington, DC 20500 COl ...... Z r.r> z 0 .... ,...... no;:, .... a: ..., :0 JD c .... ~r· I> .... ~~" Dear' I'll' President; 1) z. < .. oil": :0 tit ~ «1>1> C 1>0 :c 0 w: ... , "' ... 7- .... ZOO .. r.: The American Friends Service Committee ha, nominated Pishop Desmond Tutu for tl ~ 1981 Nobel Peace Pr: ze 'VOICE OF SOUTH AFRICA' Pretoria'8 broadcasts to the lEA via short wave are growing in stridence. Harangues against the li7.i ted Nations, 'Soviet expansionism '.; hailing the staunch South Afriaan regime, de Zight at the new Ameriaan administration. We print herewith aommentary, ,A Look at WorZd Affairs', whiah was broadaast on Radio South Afriaa 9: ZO pm, Friday, 6 Marah Z98Z, EST (4:Z0 am, Saturday, 7 Marah South Afriaan time): 'This has been a frightful week for the United Nations, Southern Africa and the aligment of world forces. The world body played the desperate game of Russian - of Soviet - rou lette, inviting its own extinction. The division between the corrrnunist revolutionary world and the western m:xlerate world deepens. This subcontinent is again disclosed as a primary arena in the impending conflict and South Africa's role is clarified. The General Assembly met in special session to discuss South West Africa. This followed the failure of the multiparty conference in Geneva in January to reach agreement on the implementation ot the United Nations formula for the Territory's independence, as contained in Security Council resolution 435. South Africa sought to put its case in the debate, and although it is a founder member of the organization and although its participation is indispens able to a settlement in South West Africa, it was silenced. The United Nations bias against South Africa and towards the Soviet-backed SWAPO rrovement was the reason for the failure in Geneva. It was conceded by western spokesmen that the world body vx:>uld have to derronstrate its fairness if there \o.Tas to be any progress. What it did this week was to demonstrate in the DVst blatant manner its partiality. It has finally disqualified itself as a mediator and Lnnpire in South West Africa. Resolution 435 has been effective ly killed and a solution for South West Africa will now have to be found outside its ambit. 'As for the fate of the world body itself, American ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick castigated the General Assembly for its violation of the Charter and the fundamental rights of a member. Previously, she indicated that American wouldr withdraw its support if the organ ization continued to abuse itself as a forum for ideological warfare and to work against the interests of the United States and its allies. ,And'a crucial second test looms. Threats have been ffi3.de to deprive Israel also of her rights, and if that is done, the end of America's participation and its financial con tributions and thus of the organization will be at hand. The fact is, that the United Nations cannot contain present international tensions. The vote this week of 112 against the right of South Africa to speak, 22 in favor, was but a symptom of the great divide that separates the world today. On the one side, those who reject civilized standards of international behavior; on the other, those who uphold them. On the one side, those who align themselves, knowingly or otherwise, with the Soviet Union in its drive for global domination; on the other, those who align themselves with the United States in defense of tlle·"ft>eed.om of nations. 'That, as of 1981, is the struggle that overrides all others. And , with the new govern ment in Washington, the country's dependability, loyalty and strategic importance will determine in future whether or not it is accepted as an ally of the United States. The point was clearly made by President Reagan in a television interview on Tuesday when he described South Africa as a f1friendly countryfl. And when he said of her "can we abandon a country which has stood beside us in every war we've fought, the country that strate gically is essential to the free world in its production of minerals which we all need?'· That rhetorical question requires no answer, as it explains why Southern Africa is a main arena of the world-wide struggle, and why South Africa is a main target of the Third World-corrmunist consortium in the United Nations. It is because of its minerals that are so important for the well-being and survival of the west, as is the oil of the Persian Gulf. A key strategy of the Soviet Union has therefore been, through the United Nations, to isolate South Africa. However, it has overplayed its hand. And this week's events provide the most encouraging evidence yet that its objective will not be achieved. ' ~'c easa marah 8Z Report on a visit to hospitals in Luanda, Peoples Republic of Angola, y a delegation from the 2nd Session of the International Commission of Inquiry into the crimes of the racist and apartheid regimes in Southern Africa, held 30 January to 3 February 1981. This report is ade by Margaret L~ng, research officer of the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa, London. The delegation saw a centre where seriously wounded war victims were being treated. They visited individual victims. Many had lost limbs or been paralysed. They included both members of FAPLA and members of SWAPO. They were being treated and cared for in very efficient conditions. Everything was very clenn and very proper, and gave the delgation a very favourable impression•. The delegation then visited t~e Central Military Hospital, which receives wounded who cnr~ot be treated in the regional hospitals. The delegation saw about :120 seriously wounded patients~ the majority were handicapped, either as amputees or parulysed • .. The wounded in the different rooms welcomqc the delegation 'and expressed· their deep trust in the work of the CO~T.ission andt~eir deep hopes of seeing positive results from its work. The delegation EXplained the Commission'$ aims and goals, told the wounded that their problems were well known and that the Commission would disseminate t~e info~ation internationally. In one roo~ the wounded sang revolutionary ongs. The visit illustrated the methods used by the South Africans, - booby traps, anti tank mines, the latter made so that they only explode after half the convoy hl'q)' pa5sed over them. The booby traps activate shells which explode together with ~ines to produce an enoroous explosion and corresponding injuries. We saw the results of double 'oines, which have a more lethal effect. Als~'inflarr~able mines, which contain oil or gasolena. Personnel who are urned by these mines cannot be saved. We saw wounds from rockets and oissil~s fired from helicopters. and wounds'~ from the explosives contair.ed in projectile missiles such as those us'sd ·in Vietnam. The methods useo by the South Africans are rot noYmal. It is impossible to "reconstruct" the victims of these attacks and explosions - they are so badly broken and disfigured i~e. The South Af~can philosophy is to destroy.the man. The weapons used are intended not only to wound end to kill, but to destroy the fibres and to mutilate. 'Tn spite of th-;ir 'b...Qrrible wounds these victimo have a, very. revolutio~ >.r militant spirit. They have trust in the cause of their peo le. We mu8~ :y, mention the contribution of the Cubans who work in the hospitai~~'~ . :.:..jL .~;~;../:. "",:'-;:··;f;·;~;J;.· ..~'... The Medical Corps have prepared a report listing the fur.d' ~·~~tiit~l··pa .:,'~' :'.-;.~~.: ~- needs where overseas organisations can oake a contr=..bution ~(NB 'rhis reAArt 1.s ": . due to be circuleted to COO'lT!lission members and delegates) '~~.' ....'. :' .. t " It is obvious that the most seriously wounded c~nnot be treated in Angola. They are transferred to friendly socialist countries for trea·tment. COUNCIL OF CHURCHES IN NArl'lIBIA Ongongahangano yEengelcka moNamtblll P.O. Bo..., :Awe'hllOS Kerkhegu dis Namitllab 'na • Mont Blanc Street otlllilta I,OzonQCllk, moNamibia WINDHOEK. 9000 Ral der Kllchen in Namlbl;) Tel. l()(il) 3;~tO I " I 12 Ra41d van Kcrke In Nam'b,e 32976 lelex !i6·83~ WK Secretary General, Dr Kurt Waldheim United Nations NEW YORK, h~ 10017 Reference No.: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Your Excellency, We, the Council of Churches in Namibia, received a copy of your report of November 24th - Security Council Document 5/14266. After studying this report we again want to confirm our standpoint concerning the implementation of Resolution 435 (1978). We support your proposal to convene a conference of all parties concerned to facilitate the speedy implementation 01 that Resolution by discussing relevant aspects of implementation with the purpose of securing cooperation. . We appeal, through you, to all those involved to make use of this opportunity of participating in a process that will bring about an end to the ongoing violence and bloodshed in our country. For the sake of peace and reconciliation we appeal again to all participants to show more trust and confidence in one another in their approach to this matter. In our firm desire for peace and justice and strong rejection of any kind of violence by any means, through anyone, we as Churches would make ourselves available to be of assistance whenever called upon as in the past. We assure you of our prayers at all times that God may help us to achieve peace in our country. Yours sincerely, .~~..... REV BISHOP JAJ{ES H KAULUJ1A PRESIDENT .... ~------flA Prayer Ebr This Time" tUhich has been read at aU SUnday services of the EvangeUcal Lutheran OlJJambokavango ChUX'ch in Namibia since 1974. In that year more than 5,000 of the yo~th of Namibia fled the countPy. Since that time and continuing today, many thousands more have crossed the borders. A hymn - printed here in Oshiwambo and Eng lish - was added in 7,976 and is sung as a response -by the congregations .. Our Father and Lord, ruler of all nations, you lead and govern the whole world with your power. We pray to you as great decisions concerning our country are being made by the nations. Help those who are responsible for resolving these questions to use their power according to your will and righteousness. Guard them from all evil ·thoughts and actions. Strengthen all proposals which aim at the good of your people, who have been saved through the blood of your Son and called to be your disciples and citizens of your kingdom. ~~.)\~.~ Ta-te Ka-1u-nga tal' O-shi-gwa-na she-tu Ne-ho 1yo-1u-ke-no.Omu-wa tu sill o-he-nda. (Our Father and Lord, be gracious to our nation. Lord, have mercy upon us.) Merciful Father, we praise you for your Gospel which in times passed brought the message of peace to our people. We pray during this difficult time-that you will renew us with your Gospel. Free us from greed and hatred and so restore peace among us. Liberate us from slavery to sin so that we may walk your ways. For your great name's sake help us all to be servants so hat our nation mav seek not only its own good but also the good of all people. Mev; nd; 1yetu, ma1uhodhi tu 9a na, Mbinzi oya tika. ~lluwa tu sill ohenda. (11') our country ~Je have sorrow. Blood is fl owi ng. lord, have mercy upon us.) Christ, the hope of the world and ruler of all people, we pray to you for the youth of our country. Protect them and guicie them in developing our nation and advancing its cause. In your mercy protect all who have crossed the borders, save them from every danger of body and soul and make it possible for them to return to their country in peace. Tate u tu shi otse aadhinwalela, Mokati kiigwana. Or.luwa tu si1' ohenda. (Father you know us, we are least among the nations. Lord. have mercy upon us.) Our Father and Lord, we intercede for all those whose beloved ones have left the country. Comfort them. Give them strength and courage to carry their loved ones in constant prayer. Help us all to humble ourselves before you. Give your peace among all nations and people as we await the coming of your kingdom. . Tate dhima po mayonagulo getu, Twa yono kungoye. Omuwa tu si1' ohenda. (Father forgive us our trespasses. We have not followed your will. Lord, have mercy upon us.) Tate lotitha iihuna mevi lyetu, Nkugo yetu uva. ~,luwa tu si1' ohenda. (Father guard us from evil \'/ays. Hear our cry. lord» have mercy upon us.) 2nd S~SION OF THE INTEP~ATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY lRTO THE CRIMES OF THE RACIST AND APARTHEID REGIMES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA (LUANDA, FROM JANUARY 30th TO FEBRUARY 3rei) SWORN======STATEMENT BY : SILAS NDAPUKA . =.==.~.======-.?== I was born in 1942 at Okatu Northern Namibia. I am married and have 3 children. By profession ~ trader (shop owner). I was arrested in June 1980 at my shop in Ombafi; by South African soldi~rs headed by a black officer n?~e Lucas Paulus. I was taken to a military base at Uutapi were I was kept for 9 days, during this '9 days I was given ~ly one tin of meat and one of milk for the whole period,. drinking water was in my cell. Then I was . transfered to Oshakati prison were I was immediately interrogated by the military police of the S.A.D.F. they were 8 whites fJJld one black. I was then asked are you Silas the terrorist? I answered yes I am Silas but not a terrorist one of the~said we know everything about you and if you don't want to speak we shall make you speak by some different methods. Then I was put in a small cell for one person for 8 d~s. J I was called to the office second time for further irlErrogation, .. after entering the. Office I was ordered to stand in one corner facing the wall the black M.P. came with a cloth and tighten it across my ~ace covering my eyes, then my arms were tight behind my back attached to some instruments which I could not see because. I was Blind-folded.' At once 'I felt extrems pains allover my body, this was repeat~d after every two three seconds till I fell down unconsci9us, after that I was ordered to remove all my clothes except underpant, then the beatings start by all of them until blood was running from my nose, I was put back to my cell to wait for the neA~ time for further torture. The second time I was called in to the office blind-folded immediately and 'electrical instruments were tighten on my ears and switched on and off. I felt my whole'body was paralised by those pains, water was running'all over my body, then after that I was asked again to confirm if I had helped transporting what they called my co-terrorists and help them with food and accommodations. . 18 next time 1 was -hen o:ra.er d ,0 ·oen-c dOviD put,tlng my hll."1ci.s on the chair to form a shape of a hors~ ~~d imitate a rurillin~ horse but my knees must not touch the groUnd two men have now to ride on me one after the other. I got so tired and my b~ck WRS terribly paining till I could not move my body anymore, my knees were now touching the ground but they kept on bea.ting me so that I should continue moving ~y body like a running horse till when I fell down C~ the ground, after some time I was taken back to the cell in my extreme pain I past a sleepless night, the following morning one soldier came to call me to the office I told him that I can not stand-up out of bend I need a doctor my back seems to be broken. He said he is going to inform the prison authority about my state of health. I was later transferred to big detention camp still at Oshakati and forced to do all kinds of work bei~g the stripping off the clothes frow dead·~orps. that came in everyday at list two or three per day, and we were told that these are freedom fi'ghters killed in the battle. Their face were always smashed beyond recognition. after the rG~oval of the clothes, corps are taken to unknown place where there is a massgrave, and clothes are to be burned in a ditch just near the detention camp, we have to do all this work. When I was released r came home and start medical treatment at the Hospital near my home, to heal the wounds on my buttocks as a result of the flobging and my back which was still paining since the day I was turned in to a riding horse. r also find that, the South African military police have taken my truck number S.B.A. 4836 Ford, and I was told the truck is at Oshakati police station there was nothing I could do about it I just have to leave it there and SGe how I c~~ safe my life. Thir. sworn statement w~s take~ in the Department for Legal Affairs of -3WAPO. We shot this young girl. She must have been about five ... TIII';VOR J;dw"l',h w.. lead· thC,ll up dlld il gel> oul of • nd ,I look u. all lha' day them back to bate for pl'Ojler lie, end tUen th.1ll blck In&' 1.ls plaloo.Q U>rOUUh a h.nJ. SOll,e 0' the lIUys get n and most of Ihe neltl to clear l:uesLionlng. With them." palch of >rrubland In soulh· bit carried away. And SWIPO Ihe plaec up. We had 16 "Someillne. you hne to The strongest 0IlP06l11on 10 ern Angola 1»1' October, sllll gel by us and ,·ros" the (When it comes to dead, ". of them while." do it to lhe clllldrcn to malte 32 com" from lhe AnSDlan H,,'kll1g a ,mall ,roup of l'ut-hne belween Angola and While 32 was taking Ihe adulls lalk. There wa. a government troeps of the SWdPO guertillis, Suddenlv N.n,lblil. Il'~ nt:>t u if we are Savate two reprl'StnlaUv~s 12-year-old boy. We wanled MPLA. "10 my lui opel' two duldren jut!1pt!d u.p {nun stoppm!: them." killing there are of Unlta were waittng at the to know what "a.~ gOtng on. allon, In December, they behind "Omo Du'" and be&,alI Ill' Chrijlm.. I-:,'e. tl'e lal'tlcal HQ down Ihe rosd: We wanted hi. molher to really rucked us up, pushed 4.0 run. doubt.; that had $t-t in When one while Intelhgence oftker lilk, so lOe ".d him Ull hk. us riahL out of Ihe aI"" We o. f saId: 'Don't .hool hI, pialoon was followed by and one hlack ,0 dier. When a .1I.tkell w.lh his wrlsl, up had a 10l ot ca iusltiel U\tm,' There WIS one (1£ our Iho bereaved molher had some of them who the h.ltle Wi, o,·er, they bchllld IllS back, .lrapped to Tlurty·two's respoMe wa guy, who slarled shoullng 10 grown Jnw...h ~tronler. Hi' ~e1. came up to clum the town h.s ankles. 10 tall Soulh A/rlun heli· thell. In Ihe lorol laniUage. oul from hIS base ot Bul'lalo for Unlta. •• Then we l7',ayed waleI' copleN and bf - a lacUcal re Then the"" olher kids on the Okavangu Rh,'er in laugh about it. .. The polnl I. Iltat Unlta polo ,...Ih him, pul him in tredt 10 OmalU. 1'here they popped up ond .Urled 10 run northe n Namibia for foui' are a lot of crap. They hang speol a dlY rela Ing and South'~bt Ihis kind of dam and pushed as well sO ob\lously 1 Slid' weeks' leAve ifouud 11l lite him ahout. lei him ink. drink1l1S while a Soutil Afri, 'Pu them out.' We ,Iarled nUl Inslead of .taylng 'In They love killing.' where Ihelr It.be " and Ihty Everv so often we look him Oln paratroo.p company "'II ,honllng. (' THE UNITED STATES lost on. of fear. but of anser and 1110 Vlelnam war. It II otten indisnation. ..Id. on lb. lelevlsloll In the put deude &evenl rront·lIn. African .tlt•• haYe K~.QI and in U,. newJPI~' sullered severe reprisals for columnt of America. Whlle ~~~~ct~'1tr~~~~;:~: olllcW propasanda claimed Ibal Ihe war was be1na and Zambu for helping ~'re, luno In Mozambique. then fou.ht Ind won for noble newl,y Independent Moumbl· endl, Lhe plclure willet> que ilseir and Zambia for emused In the media w.. hell'ing abe Zimbabwean ralher dllferent. natIonalist,. and nOW An~ol. and Zambia agal n fot l,elll; nK That lesion ha. been learnt SW APO. Although Ao.:ola is in Soulhern t\frlca. Nellher ,ull.rinll more lhan .ny of Ian Smllb'" Rhode,la nor tha Us predecessors It is unthlllk· Kovernmenl in Pre tor I a able thst II would bee,me wanled l.he same thinS 10 tbe Rrsl African country to happen to them. 1\>rousl,oul wllhdraw support and sanc· the s...n·year war asainsl tuary from a i\lerrUl& move· Zunbabwc'l nauunaH.1 suer· ment which all the rest ot rill... the We.lern pre•• wu black Arrlc. consider leglti. kept aw.y trom the frnnt mite. line. With the etcepUon 01 a single trip "!!ered to lhe The 13.t re lalnlng theort., New York Time. correspon· tical posstbUily of endin~ Ihe dent ,In Johannesburg. no re, Namibian .....ar Is tnler· porter 'Naa ever allowed oul national pre..ure on South on patrol witb the Rhode· Africa. The AlI~olan, have "lana. nO wl,h to see SWAPO fl -ht fn their w.r In Namibia on endlessly. They argue that aSalOll .h. Soulh Welt Ihe war will lIave to end Alrlc. People's Organisation .... ith ne~otiatio.., bul if Ihe = the SOUlt. Africans have fol· nesotlallons are to be sue· lowed the ..me 'Polley. Th. ces ful. they must take pi,.. only r.porle" to lIaye leen In circumstances in whIch them In operation an a lioutb Alrlca' fTlclld. 10 the handful or South Alrlcan de· Wes~ make l.he economic ~nd fence Cllrtt,)pondents. whQs@ dlplOlll,tic costs of COl.... articles an: 5ulJ;ect tt) cenattt· tlnuing the war un;rocepl. sblp Foreisn reporten, able. The United Nallonl myself included hove been plan for a ceaseflre and elec· t~ken ou military tours of tlon. ,. the agreed rrame Northern Namibia n,ey pro wurk. F'or Soutb AtTlea to vided valuable inalgM toto accept a date 10 launch il the phY1icaJ em'lronment of Will require lougher pressure the WH - the ~Jtlcl1ed 'han lhe Wesl has been will. technolon of lbe South Atr\ lng to enn aO tar. can tor~..s. lbe dUSty, hot ler· In 1975 Soulh Afriea tQot< raln. and the to ugh Slrirnu.1I In NamIbia: SouIII A/rican troop. tLclt4nge /i.. WIth SII'M'O goernl/,,, a !:amble In Angol:l. 1\ in· President Ronald Reagan The vlhite House Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: We represent a number of American groups long concerned about Namibia. We supp::>rt the United Nations as the lawful authority over the International Territory of Namibia. We supp::>rt the Namibian PeOple in their just struggle for independence. Like most of the world, we are dismayed and angered by the arrDgance of the South African Government in breaking off the talks in Geneva last month which were a:imed at reaching a peaceful settlement on the future of Namibia. Pretoria's act was one more instance of its decades-long defiance of the VK)rld community by illegally occupying the International Territory. In contrast, the leaders of SWAPO, the South West Africa People's Organization of Namibia, who have been fight.ing diplomatically and militarily for the freedom of their country from foreign rule, at Geneva once again pledged their support for the UN settlement plan and offered to sign a ceasefire with the South African regime. The United Nations, the Organization of African Unity, members of the vJestern contact group, the Front Line African states, all went. out of their way to accommodate Pretoria and induce it to agree to the peace plan and the launching of Namibia-wide elections leading to the establishment of a constituent assembly of Namibians who would work out their nation's future. Mr. President, the people of Namibia have endured a1..ID:Jst a century of foreign . misrule. The wealth of their land is exploited by South African and other foreign interests. Under the Pretoria regime, the Namibian people suffer from the actions of the South African Defence Force and the South African Police. They are detained without trial. Some are tried in South African courts exercising South African laws and condemned to South African prisons or to death. Namibians, particularly young people, have fled into exile by the thousands. At this moment thousands more are crossing the l:X:KGers into Angola, zambia and Botswana chiefly to avoid being forced to fight in Pretoria's South West Africa Territory Force against their fellow Namibians. The t:ime is long past for the Namibian people to achieve their independence and to assume their rightfUl place as a free nation. We call on you to - - Press publicly for the South African Government to accede to the UN :implementation plan for Namibia; - Pledge again United States Government support for that plan; - SUPl-lOrt at the United Nations appropriate action, including mandatory sanctions against South Africa, unless that government agrees imnediately to the United Nations settlement plan for Namibia. - 1 - President Ronald Reagan Re: Namibia 10 February 1981 - 2 - Very. sincerely yours ~ '" \.-. ~ . ~ {;5;~cd~~;0:' b:21 U.£L.-l·;;R 1 L, L t .. <.()--U .-J.-{.A/ ~~H. Booth ' George M. Houser President ~ American Conmittee on Africa Executive Director, American Committee 198 Broadway on Africa New York, NY 10038 198 Broadway New York, NY 10038 -··~cu&~)-\. (L.t~ .' C~6!'-{1.·W~1J: N--. ranklin H. Williams Edward C. May sident, Phelps-Stokes Fund Director, Office on Wqrld Commmity 10 East 87th Street wtheran World Ministries New York, NY 10028 360 Park Avenue South n~rk, NY 10PJiil ~!i:fl~ .ve~~$"j/Il~~ . /Jerry President, Episcopal Churchmen for t/SoU'th n Africa Program Coordinator South Africa American Friends Service Corrmittee 853 Broadway - IUOffi 1005 1501 Cherry Street . New York, NY 0003 Philadelphia ~ PA 19102 a~!J~ Randall Robinson . Washington Office Executive Director~ TransAfrica on Africa 1325 18th Street, NYl 110 M3.ryland Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20036 Washington, OC 20002 r) y . '{~~1i/;j ('-- (LGt:- I\ Gr.etchen Eick Bruce Cameron Co-Chairperson, Coalition for a New Co-Chairperson, Coalition for a New Foreign and Military Policy foreign and Military Policy 120 M3.ryland Avenue, NE 120 Maryland Avenue, Nt: Washington, DC 20002 wash~on;;;J)8/A~02 // /~:1~~tf Gay/~gall Dire~~ Southern Africa Project lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under law 733 15th Street, NW Washington, DC 20005 U.S. POLICY ON SOUTH AFRICA The new ~ited States administration has said that it has not yet formuLated an Africa poLicy. American ambassador .to the United Nations Jeane J. Kirkpatrick has stated that __ the (SA is not prepared to debate the Namibia issue in the Security Co:J,tnciZ. British For eign Secretary Lord Carrington is reported to have urged Secretary of State ALexander Haig to make cLear to Pretoria the (S's determination for a peacefuJ soLution in the Interna- . tional Territory" Haig - perhaps obsessed with El Salvador - did not respond. One instance of the lE's attitude toward South Africa emerged in mid- february duri:ng debate at the Unit ed Nations Human Rights Commission in reneva. We print below excerpts from a statement by US representative Richard Sc~ifter. It reflects the already existent support for 'evolu tionary' change, the ritual 'abhorrence' of apartheid and, most important, condemnation of 'terrorism'. On 23 Eebruary, Schifter abstained on or voted against five resolutions caZl. ing for action against South Africa and in suppo'rt of SWAPO in its Liberation struggle in ..-- i'Vconibia. v 'Mr Chairman, the United States cannot endorse a system that is racist in purpose or ef fect.. As long as the' South African Goverrunent pursues actively and as a matter of policy the maintenance of a system of apartheid, my government will not develop the type of rela- tionship with South Africa that we, and others, might wish. . 'I will not chronicle the abuses under which a major~ty of South Africans must live. I am sure that other speakers here today will do so. What I do wish to concentrate upon is my .government's belief that there is hope in the future for a peaceful proces~ of change to occur in South Africa. To encourage that process, we will not tum our backs to this crucial issue nor indulge in rroral posturing or idle gestures. 'As we look to the future, we can all agree that ~volutionary change is necessary, oot only because the system of apartheid offends fundamental values, but because any system which seeks by law and policy to keep 85 percent of its people in a subordinate position is unworkable and doomed to failure. But how do we then seek to encourage those in South Africa ':lho support this course to gain and hold the initiative? 'Mr Chairman, strident rhetoric and the calls for radical actions are not useful in this undertaking. If there is no dialogue, the international comrmmity will not be heard with' in South Africa. Such rhetoric might encourage those prone to violence or further alien ate those in South Africa who hold steadfastly to the status quo. Neither of these groups will enjoy our support. We cannot and will not aid or abet terrorism or tern:>rists, nor will we assist those who consistently stand in the way of change. ' ~': :,': FROM ~RESIDENT RONALD REAGAN'S INTERVIEW ON C.B.S. TELEVISION CONDUCTED BY WALTER CRONKITE, TUESDAY, 3 MARCH 1981, IN ANSWER TO QUESTION ABOUT SOUTH AFRICA AND HUM~~ RIGHTS: THE PRESIDENT: 'No, no, I think that there's been a failure maybe for . political reasons in this country to recognize how many people, black , and white, in South Africa are trying to remove apartheid and the steps . that they have taken and the gains they have made. As long as there's a -sincere and honest effort being made based on our own experience in our own land, it would seem to me that we should try to be helpful•.•. Can we abandon a country that has stood beside us in every war we've ever fought, a country that is strategically essential to the free world and its pro duction of minerals we all must have and so forth ... 1 just feel that,my self,that here if we're going to sit down at the table and negotiate with the Russians surely we can keep the door open and continue to negotiate with a friendly nation like South Africa. ' .. .., .=, ':. EPISCQPAL DIOCESE SUPPORTS A FREE NAMIBIA ' The e:pi'sco"paZ· pioc~si:of 'Alabama: comprises the northern and central, parts of the state of AZabama.' It has since' Z978 maintained a cZose reZationship with the AngZican Dio cese of Namibia and with the Suffragan Bishop there" the Right Rev. James KauZuma. Epis copaZians in AZabama are weU aware of the situation in Namibia and of the· International, Territory's miZitary 'occupation 'by South Africa in defiance of the lawful, authority, the l:hited Nations. The Convention of the AZabama Diocese., meeting in Anniston on Febrruary 1,5, 198Z, passed a resolution on. Namibia by a 3 to 1, majority. We print here the opera tive sections thereof: BE IT RESOLVED, that this One-Hundred and Fiftieth Annual Convention of the Diocese of Alabama request the Bishop to create a diocesan Corrmittee for Namibia which- shall be charged with the responsibility of rronitoring political and social developments in Namibia, particularly as they affect the life and mission of the Church there, to in form the people of this diocese of such developments on a regular basis, to send assur ances of our. support to the Bishops and people of the Anglican Church in Namibia, and in consultation 'with our Bishop to send messages of concern regarding policies of our Government that affect the Namibian situation to appropriate Persons in the legislative and execUtive branches' of our Government; and be it FUR'IHER RESOLVED, that this Convention supports those United Nations resolutions which call for an irrunediate cease-fire and for free and fair elections in Namibia under the supervision' and control of the United Nations; and be it FuRlHER RESOLVED, that this Convention urges the United States Government to use its strongest influence, inCluding economic sanctions against the Republic of South Africa if necessary, to insure that South Africa will cease to interfere with the process . leading to freedom, indePendence and self-determination for the people of Namibia; and be it FUR'IHER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be sent to President Reagan, the Secretary of State, Senators Heflin and Denton, and all Alabama Representatives in the Congress. * * * * * EPISCOPAL CHURCHMEN FOR SOUTH AFRICA 853 Broadway room 1005 New York, NY, 10003 FOR A FREE SO l!l'HERN AFRICA