Commonwealth Urges Stiffer S. Africa Sanctions

The Commonwealth isolated Britain on Friday and committed itself to greater efforts to force race reform in South Africa through international sanctions.

With Britain alone dissenting, a statement on southern Africa said urgent action is needed to bring peace and stability to the troubled region, marking a sharp departure from Commonwealth tradition of decision-making by consensus.

In the statement released at the summit, the Commonwealth pledged to campaign for greater sanctions against Pretoria, the establishment of a foreign ministers monitoring group to assess their impact and to take further individual and collective action as needed.

Britain did agree with a proposal to step up international aid to South Africa’s black neighbors.

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had adamantly opposed tougher sanctions aimed at dismantling South Africa’s apartheid system of racial segregation, but other Commonwealth leaders brushed aside her objections and pushed for stepped-up measures.

‘A Significant Effect’

“With the exception of Britain, we believe that economic and other sanctions have had a significant effect on South Africa and that their wider, tighter and more intensified application must remain an essential part of the international community’s response to apartheid,” the statement said.

The leaders announced no new sanctions, but the statement added, “We commit ourselves to continuing efforts to secure a more concerted application of a global sanctions program.”

The accord emerged from 24 hours of meetings at a mountain retreat east of this British Columbia city, where leaders also agreed that Fiji’s membership in the 49-nation Commonwealth had lapsed following a military coup.

The statement on South Africa said the Commonwealth believes Pretoria’s apartheid policy has seriously escalated the crisis in southern Africa since their last summit two years ago in Nassau, Bahamas.

The Commonwealth said it plans to establish an eight-member committee of foreign ministers led by Canada, a strong opponent of apartheid, “to meet periodically to provide high-level impetus and guidance” on the conflicts in southern Africa.

Warning Dismissed

Earlier, British government sources dismissed a warning by representatives here of South Africa’s banned African National Congress that its guerrillas may attack British assets in reprisal for Thatcher’s stand.

“There are things in life which you hear but to which you don’t respond,” said one British official source, speaking with the condition of anonymity.

India is pressing for a tough line on Fiji, which severed its ties with the British monarchy Thursday when the governor-general, Queen Elizabeth II’s representative, resigned. Britain wants the South Pacific island nation to remain in the Commonwealth on grounds that would encourage a return to democracy.

Col. Sitiveni Rabuka seized power in a Sept. 25 coup and later declared Fiji a republic. In a coup in May, he established an interim government after ousting the elected government that was dominated by ethnic Indians.