NETWORKERS SOUTH

11. april Mandela ikke lenger terrorist?
House votes to take ANC off terror no-entry lists

By Jesse J. Holland
Associated Press / May 9, 2008
WASHINGTON - The House, saying it was correcting a longstanding injustice, voted
yesterday to drop apartheid-era travel restrictions and terrorist designations
given Nelson Mandela and other African National Congress people who fought white
minority rule.

"Despite recognizing two decades ago that America's place was on the side of
those oppressed by apartheid, Congress has never resolved the inconsistency in
our immigration code that treats many of those who actively opposed apartheid in
South Africa as terrorists and criminals," said Representative Howard Berman, a
California Democrat who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The House approved by voice vote legislation to give the State Department and
Homeland Security Department wide latitude to disregard the ANC's antiapartheid
activities when determining whether to allow members and former members into the
United States.
The bill also adds the ANC to a list of groups that should not be considered
terrorist organizations.

"Despite his legacy as a hero of the antiapartheid movement, despite the fact
that he is a Nobel Peace Prize recipient . . . despite his election as
president, we still require Nelson Mandela to apply for a visa waiver to enter
into the United States just for a visit. This is just plain wrong," said
Representative Barbara Lee, Democrat of California.
The African National Congress is the ruling party in the democratic,
postapartheid South Africa, but was considered a terrorist organization by the
preapartheid white minority government.

"The ANC is not a terrorist organization now," said Representative Lamar Smith,
Republican of Texas.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Congress last month to pass the
legislation. She called it "embarrassing" that she still has to waive travel
restrictions when Mandela and other ANC leaders visit the United States.
A similar bill is moving through the Senate

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