Defusing the crisis.

Defusing the crisis

After signing the Mt. Etjo Declaration on 9 April, specifying ways to set the Namibia independence process back on track, Angola, Cuba and South Africa held follow-up meetings at Cape Town, South Africa, on 28 April, and at Ruacana, Namibia, and Cahama, Angola, on 15 and 19 May, respectively. The United States and the USSR, as before, participated as observers. The United Nations was represented by Special Representative Ahtisaari, and at Cape Town, Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs Marrack Goulding also attended.

In South Africa, the three countries agreed that South African troops in Namibia should return to base by 13 May, in spite of strong reservations expressed by UN representatives.

Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar wanted that exercise completed "in a much shorter period" than the two weeks agreed to at Cape Town. He also urged that "everything possible be done to restrain the conduct of the South West African Police (SWAPOL)", after allegations of brutality and intimidation had been reported.

On 19 May in Angola, after an inconclusive meeting in Ruacana four days earlier, the three countries signed the "Cahama Minute", noting the "SWAPO armed elements were now confined to base under UNTAG monitoring, north of the 16th parallel", that is, inside Angola, off the Namibian border.

They also noted that South African forces were again confined to base in Namibia, monitored by UNTAG, and that "a de facto cessation of hostilities had been re-established in northern Namibia", as confirmed both by Mr. Ahitsaari and Administrator-General Louis Pienaar.

The Cahama agreement stressed that SWAPOL would "continue with its primary role of maintaining law and order" and that it would "endeavour to recover any arms caches remaining in Namibia".

It also asked Mr. Ahitisaari "to give thought to increasing the number of UNTAG monitoring personnel in Angola as required". UNTAG in April had stationed 32 military observers in Lubango, the main city of southern Angola, and a small liaison group in Luanda, Angola's capital, for the purpose of monitoring SWAPO withdrawal as agreed at Mt. Etjo. Hundreds of UNTAG troops observed the withdrawal process on the Namibian side of the border.

On 19 May, in transmitting the text of the "Cahama Minute" to the Secretary-General (S/20647), South Africa's Foreign Affairs Minister R.F. Botha said that his Government wished to make it clear that Administrator-General Pienaar had "the right to use such measures and means as he would deem appropriate to counter activities of an aggressive, violent or intimidatory nature emanating from whatever quarter".

South Africa was making that declaration "particularly in the light of the incursions which took place as from the night of 31 March 1989, and to avoid any misunderstanding which may arise in future", Mr. Botha stressed.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar replied on 24 May: "I cannot accept any implication that the South African Government, or any other party to this delicate process, can unilaterally resort to any measures or means which are not provided for" in the UN independence plan for Namibia.

The Secretary-General noted, however, Mr. Botha's assurance, given to him personally a few days earlier by South Africa's Permanent Representative at the UN, Jeremy Shearar, that his letter "was not intended to convey a threat and should not be seen as such".

Long negotiations

Angola, Cuba and South Africa met as members of the Joint Commission created under the Brazzaville Protocol of 13 December 1988. The Protocol was one of the major accords signed last year by the three countries, clearing the way for Namibia's independence.

On 22 December 1988, after eight months of intense United States-brokered negotiations, two historic agreements were signed at UN Headquarters. Angola and Cuba signed a bilateral document on the withdrawal of Cuban troops. Those two nations and South Africa approved a tripartite text on the Namibian independence process.

Four Security Council resolutions followed: 626, of 22 December 1988, creating the UN Angola Verification Mission (UNAWVEM); 628 and 629 of 16 January 1989, respectively, welcoming the agreements and setting 1 April 1989 as the beginning of the Namibia independence process; and 632, of 16 February 1989, giving the go-ahead to both the independence plan and UNTAG.

The Namibia independence plan was approved by the Security Council in September 1978--the often-cited resolution 435. Years of negotiation followed, hampered by political and other obstacles. South Africa's linking the territory's independence to the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola was a focal point of much of the debate.

UNAVEM has been varifying since January 1989 the redeployment and withdrawal of some 50,000 Cuban troops.

The Mission--70 military observers from 10 countries under the command of Brigadier-General Pericles Ferreira Gomes of Brazil--reported that 6,885 Cubans had departed as of 30 April, the Secretary-General told the Security Council on 10 May (S/20625). He said UNAVEM was effectively carrying out its tasks, with "excellent co-operation" from Angola and Cuba.

The mission will remain in Angola through August 1991, one month after the Cuba pullout is scheduled to be completed.