Bok Asks Congress for S. Africa Sanctions

President Derek C. Bok said this week that he has written a letter urging the U.S. Senate to approve "substantial" sanctions against the South African government.

About 400 copies of a rough draft of that letter were sent earlier this week to various university heads, Bok said, adding that he hoped many of these individuals would sign the letter before it is sent to the Senate in mid-July. Bok said he personally paid for the mailing of the letter which were sent Federal Express.

Bok refused to release a copy of the letter before it is sent to the Senate but said it would not endorse any specific sanctions aimed primarily at the government of South Africa which achieve specific objectives.

This letter by Bok comes one week after he joined 18 other academic leaders and foundation heads in signing a statement on the South African state of emergency. "We strongly urge the government of South Africa to change its course before the nation is engulfed in mass violence and irreconcilable hatreds," the statement read.

Yet Bok said earlier this week that "now is not the time to come down for any specific sanctions." He would not say what kind of sanctions he personally favors.

Last week the House of Representatives passed overwhelmingly by voice vote a bill forcing the United States to completely disinvest from any business in South Africa. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold hearings on sanctions July 22, 23, and 24, Mark Helmke, a spokesman for Sen. Richard Lugar (D-Ind.) said yesterday.

Earlier this month the South African government imposed a national state of emergency in an effort to control political protest by those opposed to apartheid. The action, which is one of the most extreme taken by the Pretoria government, has significantly increased the pressure in the United States and Europe for an end to white minority rule of that nation.

"I am trying to drum up as much support as I can for meaningful sanctions" through this letter, Bok said. "I sent the letter for signatures to people who have some interest in South Africa."

Bok has repeatedly said that the best way for Americans to effect change in South Africa is to urge Congress to enact legislation against that nation. For this reason, Bok has asked students to turn their energies away from calling on Harvard to divest and to write to their congressmen.

This action is not the first time Bok has been involved with the Senate in urging sanctions against South Africa. Last year he endorsed and testified in favor of a sanctions bill introduced by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54 (D-Mass.). Bok also joined several other university presidents in signing a letter endorsing sanctions last July.

But Bok said the draft of this year's letter calls for tougher sanctions than the ones which passed the Senate last year. The letter endorses graduated sanctions which Bok said would give the government incentive to reform.