United Nations Special Committee for South West Africa
The United Nations Special Committee for South West Africa ( German as UN Special Committee on South West Africa ) was a special committee to a general assembly of the United Nations on the basis of the December 14, 1961 Memorandum of SWAPO and SWANU began. This body consisted of representatives from the seven states of Brazil , Burma , Mexico , Norway , the Philippines , Somalia and Togo .
The members were appointed by the President of the UN General Assembly . The special committee was chaired by a Philippine UN representative, Victorio D. Carpio, and his deputy, the Mexican Salvador Martinez de Alva.
tasks
The General Assembly gave the Special Committee the following objectives, which it should achieve in consultations with the mandate South Africa :
- A visit to South West Africa before May 1962.
- The withdrawal of all military forces of the Republic of South Africa from South West Africa.
- The release of all political prisoners regardless of party or ethnicity.
- The repeal of all laws or ordinances that restrict the indigenous inhabitants of the reservations and limit their freedom of movement and those that deny them freedom of expression and assembly, and all laws and ordinances that establish and maintain the unacceptable system of apartheid .
- Preparations for general, free elections to the Legislative Assembly (German: Legislative Assembly) based on an adult suffrage, which should take place as soon as possible under the direction and control of the United Nations.
- Advising and supporting the government emerging from these elections in preparation for the full state independence of South West Africa.
- The coordination of economic and social assistance through special missions that are supposed to promote the population in the area of moral and material prosperity.
- The return of all residents to South West Africa without the risk of detention, arrest and punishment in any way for their political activities inside or outside the territory.
The execution of the mission was facilitated by an invitation from the South African government, namely Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd , as it had adopted UN resolution 1702. At the beginning of May 1962 the UN representatives arrived in Pretoria and initially had extensive consultations with Prime Minister Verwoerd, Foreign Minister Eric Louw , the South African Chargé d'Affaires at the UN, Brand Fourie and other high-ranking government officials. On May 7, the Prime Minister made a government aircraft available to the guests to take them to the locations in South West Africa according to the wishes of the UN representatives.
After the visit, the special committee and the South African government issued a statement in May 1962. The content of this was that no signs of genocide in South West Africa or of a militarization of the area in violation of the UN mandate provisions were found. According to the declaration, there would be no threat to international peace and no security risks from the South African administration of the area through South Africa.
The chairman of the special committee was in a Pretoria hospital during the final negotiations with the South African government officials and was fully informed of the statement, but rejected the May 1962 statement three weeks after its publication. His deputy then also followed his view. After later inquiries, both UN representatives stated that the locations in South West Africa shown to them had given them no cause for complaint.
Report to the UN General Assembly
The official report of the Special Committee on July 28, 1962 contained the following findings:
- The administration of the mandate territory is pervaded by a rigorous application of apartheid policy.
- The political line , methods and goals of the South African government in the administration of the territory are contrary to the principles and purposes of the mandate of the United Nations Charter , the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and an enlightened human conscience.
- South Africa has shown no inclination to institutional reforms or to give way in its policies and methods and will not promote the area so that its people will be able to self-govern or state independence.
- It is the overwhelming desire of the black population that the United Nations take direct administration of the area and initiate all preparatory steps that guarantee the freedom of the indigenous population as soon as possible.
- The UN General Assembly should pay attention to the fact that in future it will be imperative to remain intransigent towards the South African government on the question of compliance with the UN resolutions, but if this is not feasible, consider the possibility of dismissal and, at the same time, the administration of the area itself and, if necessary, to impose sanctions or to initiate the use of other means to enforce the fulfillment of their decisions or resolutions.
Follow-up developments
The report made no reference to the controversial statement and was accepted in the Special Committee. The May 1962 declaration was treated as unauthorized and therefore non-binding. The government of South Africa protested against the official report and said that the Carpio affair not only discredited and exposed the special committee, but also the petitioners in South West Africa, the UN as a political institution and the Afro-Asian bloc in a special way.
In December 1962, the UN General Assembly relieved the Special Committee of its duties and transferred the "Question of South West Africa" to a new committee, the UN Special Committee on Colonialism . This body now had 24 members. There were representatives from Australia, Ethiopia, Bulgaria, Chile, Denmark, Ivory Coast, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Yugoslavia, Cambodia, Madagascar, Mali, Poland, Sweden, Sierra Leone, the Soviet Union, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Venezuela as well as the United Kingdom and the United States.