158:
429:). 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
204:
441:). 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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117:(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.
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273:
90:, South Africa's mandate was revoked by UNGA in October 1966.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 "
526:
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
357:
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
403:
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
449:
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
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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,
479:
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
404:
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
373:, 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
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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.
454:(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
20:
173:
408:. Despite these reservations, the withdrawal and verification passed without incident and by the end UNTAG was almost fully deployed, albeit a month behind schedule.
383:"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
113:
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
433:, 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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499:'s sports stadium which was attended by numerous international representatives, including the main players, the UN Secretary-General
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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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451:
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31:
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387:, and I think they might have gone into Angola. By limiting South African retaliation to half a dozen army
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519:(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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UN General
Assembly resolution 2145 (XXI) revoked South Africa's mandate
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508:
336:, and to oversee the decolonisation of one of Africa's last colonies.
531:(1978), which declared Walvis Bay to be an integral part of Namibia.
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133:). 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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415:, Pretoria was forced to demobilise some 1,600 members of
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507:, who jointly conferred formal independence on Namibia.
38:) in 1966 to assert the UN's direct responsibility for
328:(UNTAG), which supervised the South African appointed
365:, came under pressure from British prime minister,
214:1 December 1969 — 18 December 1973 (acting)
28:United Nations Commissioner for South West Africa
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98:endorsed UNGA's actions by adopting resolutions
344:On 1 April 1989 — "D-Day" for the peace plan —
191:13 June 1967 — 1 December 1969 (acting)
312:
82:to administer South West Africa. Following
42:which was then under illegal occupation by
671:United Nations Transition Assistance Group
326:United Nations Transition Assistance Group
125:There were seven occupants of the post of
62:eventually achieved its independence from
642:In Namibia, UN's First Hurdle Was Highest
320:returned to Namibia in April 1989 as the
522:On 1 March 1994, the coastal enclave of
237:18 December 1973 — 1 January 1977
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127:United Nations Commissioner for Namibia
54:United Nations Commissioner for Namibia
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353:reported that heavily armed groups of
654:"Let's not bury the April 1 killings"
552:UN Commissioner for South West Africa
411:In October 1989, under orders of the
306:1 July 1987 — 21 December 1988
168:27 October 1966 — 13 June 1967
260:1 January 1977 — 1 April 1982
689:Chronology of Namibian Independence
495:on 21 March 1990 was celebrated in
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13:
482:South Africa was at war with SWAPO
23:Map of South West Africa (Namibia)
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452:UN High Commissioner for Refugees
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711:History of South West Africa
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624:Profile of Martti Ahtisaari
568:UN Commissioner for Namibia
322:UN's Special Representative
78:, South Africa was given a
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588:Text of UNSCRs 264 of 1969
511:was sworn in as the first
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313:Transition to independence
30:was a post created by the
611:October 10, 2007, at the
606:Text of UNSCR 276 of 1970
593:October 10, 2007, at the
456:UN Special Representative
435:South West African Police
174:Konstantinos Stavropoulos
94:" for the territory. The
80:League of Nations mandate
676:August 29, 2009, at the
86:and the introduction of
501:Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
629:July 19, 2010, at the
564:UN Council for Namibia
52:UNGA renamed the post
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330:Administrator-General
22:
706:United Nations posts
513:President of Namibia
431:Settlement Proposal
413:UN Security Council
376:The New York Times
66:on 21 March 1990.
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475:of 26 July 1991,
367:Margaret Thatcher
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40:South West Africa
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484:at the time.)
469:(According to
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361:UNTAG's head,
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84:World War II
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47:South Africa
27:
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515:watched by
76:World War I
700:Categories
535:References
524:Walvis Bay
509:Sam Nujoma
389:battalions
385:guerrillas
164:Yugoslavia
70:Background
529:UNSCR 432
477:Pik Botha
421:Afrikaans
371:Pik Botha
106:of 1969.
88:apartheid
56:in 1968.
44:apartheid
674:Archived
627:Archived
609:Archived
591:Archived
497:Windhoek
406:barracks
210:Pakistan
458:, with
426:crowbar
417:Koevoet
340:Setback
256:Finland
233:Ireland
92:Namibia
60:Namibia
16:UN post
439:SWAPOL
302:Sweden
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187:Greece
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142:County
109:UNSCR
74:After
460:SWAPO
355:SWAPO
346:UNTAG
279:India
566:and
550:and
423:for
351:SADF
131:UNCN
102:and
36:UNGA
111:276
104:269
100:264
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437:(
419:(
129:(
34:(
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