| FEATURE

__ Continued from page 14

nuclear reactor complex, suggesting a three-
way flow of expertise,”
y In September, 1985, the Reagan adminis-

/ tration, bowing to intense international and
domestic pressure, imposed a curb on
exports of nuclear-related technology to
7 South Africa along with some other sanc-
.| tions against the Pretoria regime. France
) also imposed a belated ban on all arms
co-operation and the supply of new nuclear
equipment to South Africa. However, both
Britain and West Germany, also involved in
nuclear technology dealings with South
Africa, have so far refused to impose such
sanctions.
In the meantime, it was revealed in July,
1985, that Canada had been secretly pro-
cessing Namibian uranium for at least ten
years on behalf of South Africa, and intends
) to continue publicly doing so for at least
| three more years.
| Namibia, formerly the German colony of
outh West Africa, was mandated by the
| League of Nations to South Africa at the
conclusion of World War I. In 1966, the
United Nations General Assembly passed a
resolution calling for South Africa to termi-
nate its mandate over Namibia and giving
the administrative responsibility directly to
he UN until independence could be
hieved. This resolution, subsequently
reinforced by other and stronger UN resolu-
ions, was carried by a nearly unanimous

| two opposed:(South Africa and Portugal,
then ruled by a fascist regime and still a

colonial power in possession of the African

' colony of Angola), and three abstaining

' (France, Britain and Malawi).

' For more than 20 years the insurgent

vote with 114 in favor (including Canada), .

South West African People’s Organization
(SWAPO), which enjoys the overwhelming
support of the Naimbian population, has
been fighting what has been described by
observers as a ‘low-key’ war, mostly in the
northern part of Namibia, against the South
African occupying forces.

Despite its support for the United
Nations Namibian resolutions calling for
independence for the country, Canada has
entered into contractual arrangements with
South Africa to process uranium mined by
multinational companies operating in
Namibia. While Canada, under the Mulro-
ney Conservative Government, has engaged
in tough-talking rhetoric about economic
sanctions against South Africa, the Globe
and Mail reported on July 7, 1985 that
External Affairs Minister Joe Clark had
declared “existing (Canadian-South Afri-
can uranium processing) contracts that will
end in 1988 will be respected.” The Globe
added, ‘“‘Mr. Clark’s statement is the first
admission after more than a decade of Can-
adian government denials that Canda has
been processing Namibian uranium.”

The Canadian government’s declared
policy on processing Namibian uranium
was made after a United Nations group, the
Council for Namibia, had announced inten-
tions to file a suit in the court of member
nations to block the unauthorized exploita-
tion of natural resources in Namibia.

According to the Globe and Mail account
of May 27, 1985, the UN council will go to
the international court at The Hague in The
Netherlands “to halt the processing of what
it says is Namibian uranium by Urenco, a
multinational company owned largely by
the Dutch government. The suit comes after
nearly a decade of investigation and is a new

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tactic by the council to enforce its authority,
which South Africa does not recognize.
Until now, the council has mostly tried to
publicize the political situation in Namibia
and to turn international opinion against
South Africa...The suit will charge that
Urenco is processing uranium mined in
Namibia in violation of a 1974 (United
Nations) council decree that forbids explo-
ration, extraction, refining or distribution of
Namibia’s natural resources without coun-
cil permission.”

It is obvious that the Canadian govern-
ment’s position on processing Namibian
uranium, which External Affairs Minister
Joe Clark justified with the incredible
statement that existing contracts had to be
‘honored, is not only blatant hypocrisy, it is
also directly fueling South Africa’s nuclear
weapons program, and, as such, constitutes
a clear and present danger that imperils the
very existence of South Africa’s majority
black population while seriously endanger-
ing the fragile peace of the entire world.
Canada’s ‘processing’ policy on Namibian
uranium therefore makes a complete
mockery of Prime Minister Mulroney’s
alleged conviction, stated immediately after
his election in September 1984, that peace
would be his government’s “first priority.”

It is not just a matter of humanistic con-
cern in opposition to the dictates of sup-
posed geopolitical realpolitik which should
impel the peoples and nations of the world
outside of South Africa to urgently press for
the end of the fascist and racist apartheid
regime. It is also evident that the goons in
Pretoria with their nuclear weapons could
trigger the ultimate catastrophe of global
annihilation. Bishop Tutu’s expressed
warning about the possible use of nuclear
weapons by South Africa, while under-
stated, is nevertheless a very real and fright-
ening possiblity.

Support for South Africa’s anti-apartheid
forces is, then;not only a matter of bringing
about justice and basic freedoms for South
Africa’s viciously oppressed majority (as
important as that is in itself), it is also a
matter — quite literally — of ensuring our
own survival.

Richard Clements is a Vancouver freelance
writer specializing in arms control issues.

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