unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/19/89)
SOUTH AFRICA: Charting Canada's Sanctions Record
Johannesburg, September 14, 1989 (AIA) -- A research centre
seen to have cosy relations with the South African
Department of Foreign Affairs in Pretoria has compiled a
record of all sanctions action taken by Canada since 1963.
The listing is contained in a book that details all national
bans and international exclusion agreements which have been
aimed at the apartheid regime since 1946. It is published by
the South African Institute of International Affairs
(SAIIA).
The 1988 publication has been timed to respond to the
increasing concentration of South Africa's public and
private sector strategists on the effectiveness of
sanctions.
Sanctions-busting has become a mini-boom for government and
industry consultants. Most business conventions are
incomplete without a ritual swipe at local and international
sanctions campaigns.
In this battle the need to "know the enemy" has become a
catch-phrase. The SAIIA document, titled "South African
Sanctions Directory 1946-1988", serves this need.
Ranked by citations or numbers of sanctions actions, Canada
rates in the top 10, which is led by the United States.
While the sanctions debate continues across Canada and new
pressures are forming for increased government action, the
SAIIA listing provides a useful sketch of what South Africa
itself sees as Canada's sanctions record.
August 7 1963: Canada backs the United Nations Security
Council call for states to cease the sale and shipment of
arms, ammunition of all types and military vehicles to South
Africa by adopting Resolution 181 (1963).
July 25 1970: Canada backs Resolution 282 (1970) adopted by
the United Nations Security Council calling on member states
to strengthen the arms embargo against South Africa by
implementing it fully. The Council suggests various ways,
such as withholding supply of all vehicles and equipment
destined for the armed forces and paramilitary
organisations, ceasing the supply of spare parts for such
vehicles, revoking licences and military patents granted to
the South African government for military purposes and
refraining from further granting of such licences,
prohibiting investment in, or technical assistance for the
manufacture of military equipment and ceasing provision of
training facilities to members of the South African armed
forces.
December 1977: Canada announces that it will withdraw all
government support from trade with South Africa, close its
Consulate-General in Johannesburg and recall its trade
commissioners. The Export Development Corporation says it
will stop selling insurance and extending loans to Canadian
corporations trading with South Africa.
June 13 1980: Canada backs Resolution 473 (1980) adopted by
the Security Council of the United Nations. It comprises a
condemnation of the South African government's racial
policies and a call to end violence. All states are called
upon to implement the mandatory arms embargo against South
Africa and to close all loopholes.
July 6 1985: Canada announces that it will cancel a double
taxation agreement with South Africa and Canadian companies
will be prohibited to sell "sensitive" equipment, for
instance computers, to the South African Defence Force and
the South African Police. The United Nations Security
Council arms embargo is accepted. Export insurance policies
are to be suspended, and the Programme for Export Market
Developments (PEMD) will no longer be available for market
development in South Africa. Sporting contacts are to be
reviewed, and the government will urge financial
institutions to halt the sale of Krugerrands.
September 13 1985: Canadian government announces seven
sanctions moves. These include: a voluntary ban on bank
loans and new investments in South Africa; a voluntary
embargo on crude oil and its refined products; a ban on air
transport; cultural and sporting boycotts. Visas are to be
granted through a third country or directly from Ottawa.
Selective purchasing is introduced. A register of voluntary
measures adopted by municipalities, provinces and
institutions will be kept.
June 12 1986: Canada announces four further measures, which
include a halt on government purchases of South African
products, a ban on both the promotion of South African
tourism in Canada and on the official presence of the
Republic's attaches for science, mining, labour and
agriculture. These have non-resident accreditation, and live
in New York, Washington, DC and Los Angeles.
August 1986: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation imposes a
sales ban on its television programmes to the South African
Broadcasting Corporation and the commercial "M-Net" network.
September 1986: Canada closes the offices of South African
Airways in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
September 1986: McGill University, Montreal, divests totally
by withdrawing the sum of $33 million from companies with
South African involvement.
October 1 1986: Canada announces that an import ban on
agricultural products, uranium, coal, iron and steel from
South Africa will commence. A ban on new investments and
reinvestment of profits is imposed.
November 7 1986: The Canadian Embassy in Pretoria closes its
visa facility and stops issuing visas to South African
nationals.
December 1986: The Canadian Embassy in Pretoria declares that
South African passport-holding visitors to Canada will have
to apply for visas in person at Canadian embassies in
Harare, London, or any other centre and allow at least three
working days for the document to be issued.
August 11 1987: The Canadian Foreign Minister Joe Clark
declares that Canada will sever diplomatic and economic ties
if sanctions do not have the desired effect.
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* Origin: AlterNet, Node1 (Opus 1:163/113)
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