Assembly welcomes deployment of UN observers.

The deployment of UN observers in South Africa was commended by the General Assembly on 18 December (resolution 47/116 A), as were other measures taken by the Secretary-General to address the, situation there and strengthen the 1991 National Peace Accord. The South African Government was urged to bring an end to ongoing violence, while respecting the right of its people to demonstrate peacefully in public.

The representatives of the people of South Africa were urged to resume "broad-based negotiations on transitional arrangements and basic principles for a process of reaching agreement on a new, democratic and non-racial constitution".

It was noted that "while positive measures have been taken by the South African authorities, including the repeal of key apartheid laws and the revision of major security legislation, important obstacles to achieving a climate conducive to free political activity remain". Only negotiations, initially undertaken by the Convention for a Democratic South Africa, would lead to the peaceful elimination of apartheid.

The Assembly adopted eight texts (47/81 and 47/116 A to G)--three without vote--on South Africa and apartheid. It requested all States to respect and enforce the oil and arms embargoes against South Africa. The work of the UN Trust Fund for South Africa to help repeal major apartheid laws was supported and assistance for the non-racial sports movement in the country was urged.

Reaffirming its conviction that apartheid was "a crime against humanity", the Assembly appealed to States to ratify or accede to the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.

By a recorded vote of 93 to 39, with 23 abstentions, the Assembly deplored the "collaboration of Israel with the South African regime in the military and nuclear fields"

The first members of the UN Observer Mission in South Africa (UNOMSA) were deployed in September and, by the end of November, had been posted in all 11 regions of the country. They observed demonstrations and other forms of mass action to determine whether participants' actions were consistent with the established principles and guidelines for marches and political gatherings.

The UN mission was complemented in October and November by observers from the Commonwealth, the European Community and the Organization of African Unity. Coordination sessions were held between leaders of the observer groups at UNOMSA headquarters in Johannesburg and at its regional office in Durban.

Tom Vraalsen of Norway was dispatched on 23 November to South Africa as the Secretary-General's Special Envoy to assess the UN's contribution to the peace process. After a 17-day mission, he reported on 9 December that the increased momentum towards resuming multiparty talks was a "hopeful sign". He noted developments which threatened to disrupt that momentum, stating that all parties in South Africa should "renounce violence and come to the negotiating table".

UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali issued a report (S/25004) on 22 December taking into account the observations of Mr. Vraalsen, as well as those of former Special Envoy Virendra Dayal.

He expressed "guarded optimism" about prospects for a negotiated settlement in South Africa as "all parties appear to agree, in principle, that multiparty negotiations offer the only way forward to resolving South Africa's political problems". However, agreement had not been reached on the form or desired outcome of a resumed multiparty forum and violence continued to be a feature of daily life in South Africa.

The Secretary-General also stated he intended to increase UNOMSA to a total of 60 observers.

South African President F. W. de Klerk in December announced a timetable on the transitional process in South Africa, envisaging a fully representative government of national unity in place no later than the first half of 1994.

New observer mission to monitor elections in Eritrea 

The Assembly on 16 December authorized the establishment of the UN Observer Mission to Verify the Referendum in Eritrea (UNCOVER), following repeated requests during the course of a 30-year war for an internationally-supervised referendum to determine the wishes of the Eritrean people regarding their political status in relation to Ethiopia. Under resolution 47/114, the Assembly asked that the observers be deployed as soon as possible to undertake verification duties during the three-state election process, which includes registration of voters starting in mid-December 1992, the referendum campaign, and polling in April 1993.

The new UN Mission is headed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Samir Sanbar of Lebanon, with headquarters in Asmara.