169:
440:). The Koevoet issue had been one of the most difficult UNTAG faced. This counter-insurgency unit was formed by South Africa after the adoption of UNSCR 435, and was not, therefore, mentioned in the Settlement Proposal or related documents. The UN regarded Koevoet as a paramilitary unit which ought to be disbanded but the unit continued to deploy in the north in armoured and heavily armed convoys. In June 1989, the Special Representative told the Administrator-General that this behaviour was totally inconsistent with the
215:
452:). The Security Council, in its resolution 640 (1989) of 29 August, therefore demanded the disbanding of Koevoet and dismantling of its command structures. South African foreign minister, Pik Botha, announced on 28 September 1989 that 1,200 ex-Koevoet members would be demobilised with effect from the following day. A further 400 such personnel were demobilised on October 30. These demobilisations were supervised by UNTAG military monitors.
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128:(ICJ) as to the legal consequences for Member States of South Africa's continued presence in Namibia notwithstanding UNSCR 276 of 1970. The following year the ICJ's Advisory Opinion confirmed UNGA's revocation of the mandate and declared that South Africa must withdraw its administration and end its occupation and that Member States were under an obligation to refrain from any support or assistance to South Africa in Namibia.
307:
284:
101:, South Africa's mandate was revoked by UNGA in October 1966. In May 1967, during its fifth session, UNGA established the United Nations Council for South West Africa "to administer South West Africa until independence, with the maximum possible participation of the people of the territory". In 1968, it adopted the name "
537:
and 12 offshore islands were transferred to
Namibia by South Africa. This followed 3 years of bilateral negotiations between the two governments and the establishment of a transitional Joint Administrative Authority (JAA) in November 1992 to administer the 780 km (300 square mile) territory. The
368:
militants of the People's
Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) had begun crossing the border and establishing positions in northern Namibia which, if true, would have been a clear violation of the agreement that they should be confined to their Angolan bases. SWAPO denied that it had violated the terms
414:
Hurried negotiations took place and a new agreement was reached on 20 April 1989 when SADF forces withdrew to base for 60 hours, allowing SWAPO militants to withdraw peacefully. The SADF were then given two weeks to confirm that SWAPO had indeed left
Namibia and also to capture any weapons caches
460:
The 11-month transition period ended relatively smoothly. Political prisoners were granted amnesty, discriminatory legislation was repealed, South Africa withdrew all its forces from
Namibia, and some 42,000 refugees returned safely and voluntarily under the auspices of the Office of the
359:
units had not been fully deployed and those that were (mostly civilians and monitors) lacked equipment for both transportation and communication. Despite this, hopes were high, as an informal ceasefire had held for nearly seven months. However, in the early morning,
490:
told a press conference that the South
African government had paid more than £20 million to at least seven political parties in Namibia to oppose SWAPO in the run-up to the 1989 elections. He justified the expenditure on the grounds that
415:
discovered. This agreement was stuck to by both sides, though
Ahtisaari and the UN Secretary-General were nervous about the length of time the SADF were out of their bases, and pushed hard to get them back to
384:, to allow SADF forces to leave their bases and repel the SWAPO incursions. Ahtisaari quickly decided to allow a limited deployment, and would later describe this decision as his most difficult. He told
477:
received 29% of the vote. The
Constituent Assembly held its first meeting on 212 November 1989 and resolved unanimously to use the 1982 Constitutional Principles in Namibia's new constitution.
465:(UNHCR). Almost 98% of registered voters turned out to elect members of the Constituent Assembly. The elections were held in November 1989 and were certified as free and fair by the
31:
184:
419:. Despite these reservations, the withdrawal and verification passed without incident and by the end UNTAG was almost fully deployed, albeit a month behind schedule.
394:"We were in a restraining business, not releasing troops but trying to restrain them. Otherwise, the entire South African military might have gone after the Namibian
124:
of 1970 confirmed the illegality of South Africa's presence in the territory. The same year, the
Security Council decided to request an Advisory Opinion of the
444:, which required the police to be lightly armed. Moreover, the vast majority of the Koevoet personnel were quite unsuited for continued employment in the
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taking 57% of the vote, just short of the two-thirds necessary to have a free hand in revising the framework constitution. The opposition
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336:
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637:
510:'s sports stadium which was attended by numerous international representatives, including the main players, the UN Secretary-General
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619:
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peaceful resolution of this territorial dispute was praised by the international community, as it fulfilled the provisions of
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of the agreement and claimed that its fighters had been going to turn in weapons to UNTAG and had been attacked by the SADF.
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462:
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42:
125:
716:
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511:
398:, and I think they might have gone into Angola. By limiting South African retaliation to half a dozen army
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90:
530:(just released from prison) and representatives from 147 countries, including 20 heads of state.
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A period of intense fighting followed with the SWAPO forces sustaining over 350 fatalities.
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17:
8:
441:
423:
380:, who was visiting Southern Africa at the time, and from South African foreign minister,
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74:
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UN General
Assembly resolution 2145 (XXI) revoked South Africa's mandate
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347:, and to oversee the decolonisation of one of Africa's last colonies.
542:(1978), which declared Walvis Bay to be an integral part of Namibia.
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381:
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54:
507:
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220:
144:). South Africa refused to recognize any of the UN Commissioners.
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UN General
Assembly resolution 2248 of 19 May 1967 established a
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and police units, the transition process was ultimately saved."
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UN General Assembly resolution 2372 of 12 June 1968 renamed
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141:
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426:, Pretoria was forced to demobilise some 1,600 members of
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518:, who jointly conferred formal independence on Namibia.
49:) in 1966 to assert the UN's direct responsibility for
339:(UNTAG), which supervised the South African appointed
376:, came under pressure from British prime minister,
225:1 December 1969 — 18 December 1973 (acting)
39:United Nations Commissioner for South West Africa
708:
109:endorsed UNGA's actions by adopting resolutions
355:On 1 April 1989 — "D-Day" for the peace plan —
202:13 June 1967 — 1 December 1969 (acting)
323:
93:to administer South West Africa. Following
53:which was then under illegal occupation by
682:United Nations Transition Assistance Group
337:United Nations Transition Assistance Group
136:There were seven occupants of the post of
73:eventually achieved its independence from
653:In Namibia, UN's First Hurdle Was Highest
331:returned to Namibia in April 1989 as the
533:On 1 March 1994, the coastal enclave of
248:18 December 1973 — 1 January 1977
29:
138:United Nations Commissioner for Namibia
65:United Nations Commissioner for Namibia
14:
709:
364:reported that heavily armed groups of
665:"Let's not bury the April 1 killings"
563:UN Commissioner for South West Africa
422:In October 1989, under orders of the
317:1 July 1987 — 21 December 1988
179:27 October 1966 — 13 June 1967
271:1 January 1977 — 1 April 1982
700:Chronology of Namibian Independence
506:on 21 March 1990 was celebrated in
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131:
24:
493:South Africa was at war with SWAPO
34:Map of South West Africa (Namibia)
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463:UN High Commissioner for Refugees
294:1 April 1982 — 1 July 1987
559:UN Council for South West Africa
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107:United Nations Security Council
43:United Nations General Assembly
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514:and President of South Africa
126:International Court of Justice
13:
1:
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475:Democratic Turnhalle Alliance
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722:History of South West Africa
7:
635:Profile of Martti Ahtisaari
579:UN Commissioner for Namibia
333:UN's Special Representative
89:, South Africa was given a
10:
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599:Text of UNSCRs 264 of 1969
522:was sworn in as the first
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324:Transition to independence
41:was a post created by the
622:October 10, 2007, at the
617:Text of UNSCR 276 of 1970
604:October 10, 2007, at the
467:UN Special Representative
446:South West African Police
185:Konstantinos Stavropoulos
105:" for the territory. The
91:League of Nations mandate
687:August 29, 2009, at the
97:and the introduction of
512:Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
640:July 19, 2010, at the
575:UN Council for Namibia
63:UNGA renamed the post
35:
341:Administrator-General
33:
717:United Nations posts
524:President of Namibia
442:Settlement Proposal
424:UN Security Council
387:The New York Times
77:on 21 March 1990.
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486:of 26 July 1991,
378:Margaret Thatcher
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51:South West Africa
16:(Redirected from
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504:Independence Day
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374:Martti Ahtisaari
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335:to head up the
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671:on 2000-06-08.
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528:Nelson Mandela
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495:at the time.)
480:(According to
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372:UNTAG's head,
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95:World War II
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75:South Africa
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58:South Africa
38:
37:
526:watched by
87:World War I
711:Categories
546:References
535:Walvis Bay
520:Sam Nujoma
400:battalions
396:guerrillas
175:Yugoslavia
81:Background
540:UNSCR 432
488:Pik Botha
432:Afrikaans
382:Pik Botha
117:of 1969.
99:apartheid
67:in 1968.
55:apartheid
685:Archived
638:Archived
620:Archived
602:Archived
508:Windhoek
417:barracks
221:Pakistan
469:, with
437:crowbar
428:Koevoet
351:Setback
267:Finland
244:Ireland
103:Namibia
71:Namibia
27:UN post
450:SWAPOL
313:Sweden
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198:Greece
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153:County
120:UNSCR
85:After
471:SWAPO
366:SWAPO
357:UNTAG
290:India
577:and
561:and
434:for
362:SADF
142:UNCN
113:and
47:UNGA
18:UNCN
122:276
115:269
111:264
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60:.
448:(
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140:(
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