Namibia

Namibia Support Committee protesters called for the recognition of SWAPO freedom fighters Sam Mundjindji and Veiko Nghitewa as prisoners of war. The protest marked the opening of their trial on 5 February 1984. The two men had been subject to months of torture and solitary confinement. They were eventually released in July 1989 in the run-up to Namibian independence.

In the autumn of 1984 the AAM and Namibia Support Committee campaigned to raise Namibia’s public profile in Britain and change government policy. This Declaration was endorsed by over 400 organisations and 6,000 individuals. It was presented to the British Prime Minister by a delegation led by the Bishop of Stepney on 10 December, the 25th anniversary of the South African massacre of 11 Namibians in Katutura township, Windhoek.

In September 1984 a group of singers and dancers from Namibia presented a Festival of Culture and Resistance in eight cities in Britain and Ireland. The Festival publicised the ‘Namibia: Independence Now!’ campaign organised by the AAM and Namibia Support Committee. The tour was funded by the Commonwealth Foundation, Greater London Council and two Scottish local authorities.

Women demonstrators picketed British Nuclear Fuels plant near Preston in north-west England on 2 November 1984. Earlier in the year a group of women peace activists were gaoled after they gained entry to the BNFL’s plant at Capenhurst, Cheshire. The November picket was one of four protests at BNFL installations in Scotland and northern England. The coordinated demonstrations were part of a national week of action on Namibia organised by the AAM and Namibia Support Committee, 27 October–2 November 1984. In the 1970s and 1980s Britain imported Namibian uranium in contravention of UN resolutions declaring that South Africa’s occupation of Namibia was illegal.

Demonstrations against the illegal import of Namibian uranium took place at four British Nuclear Fuels installations on 2 November 1984. This leaflet publicised the protest. It made links between campaigners for the liberation of Namibia and peace protesters calling for nuclear disarmament. The protest was part of a Namibia Week of Action, 27 October–2 November 1984, co-ordinated by the AAM and Namibia Support Committee.

Demonstrations against the illegal import of Namibian uranium took place at four British Nuclear Fuels installations on 2 November 1984. This leaflet publicised the protest at BFNL’s headquarters near Warrington in the north of England. It made links between campaigners for the liberation of Namibia, peace protesters calling for nuclear disarmament and miners whose jobs were threatened by pit closures. The protest was part of a Namibia Week of Action, 27 October–2 November 1984, co-ordinated by the AAM and the Namibia Support Committee.

Leaflet advertising a public meeting in Islington, north London, in November 1984, highlighting South Africa’s war against the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) in Namibia. The main speaker was Labour shadow Foreign Secretary, Donald Anderson MP.

In the autumn of 1984 the AAM and Namibia Support Committee campaigned to raise Namibia’s public profile in Britain and change government policy. A Declaration calling for ‘Namibia: Independence Now!’ was endorsed by over 400 organisations and 6,000 individuals. This leaflet publicised a lobby of Parliament coordinated by the AAM as part of the campaign.