The World : U.N. Votes for Sanctions

The U.N. General Assembly approved by a vote of 126 to 0 an appeal to the Security Council for comprehensive mandatory sanctions against South Africa. The United States and 23 other countries, mostly Western, abstained. The assembly acted after four days of debate at a special session called to consider South Africa’s failure to implement a 1978 Security Council resolution setting terms for the independence of Namibia (South-West Africa.) The new resolution contained implied criticism of the Reagan Administration by stating that the assembly “strongly rejects the policies of ‘constructive engagement’ and ‘linkage’ which have served to encourage the racist regime of South Africa to continue its illegal occupation of Namibia.”