Secretary-General in Namibia: the independence process is 'irreversible'; more than 700,000 register to vote.

An irreversible process has been set in motion", Mr. Perez de Cuellar said as he arrived at Eros Airport, in his first visit to Namibia in six years. He said he was determined to ensure that free and fair elections were held, in which all the people of Namibia would decide their future "in an atmosphere untainted by fear or intimidation".

The phenomenal rate at which Namibians registered to vote was in itself a vote of confidence for the UNsupervised independence process.

The registration process began on 3 July. By 20 July, some 340,000 Namibians were registered. By 23 September, when the process ended, the total had reached 701,483.

Another sign of hope for the future of the new country was the record number of Namibian exiles returning home. By 5 August, 34,238 had been repatriated by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), of 41,000 registered with that Office. Many of an estimated 28,000 remaining exiles were returning on their own, UNHCR said.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar was greeted at the airport by his Special Representative for Namibia, Martti Ahtisaari, Deputy Special Representative joseph Legwaila Legwaila, and other high UNTAG officials, as well as by Namibia Administrator-General Louis Pienaar.

The visit of the Secretary-General to Namibia was seen by many as symbolizing his commitment to see, as he himself said, that "in the coming months, Namibia assumes its rightful place as a Member of the United Nations".

Although much had already been achieved, he acknowledged that "critical problems" still remained. The UN would discharge its responsibilities with "complete impartiality", he said, and it expected "no less" from the South African authorities.

'Namibia will need all of its people. . .'

Early on 19 July, after discussing with Mr. Ahtisaari the civilian aspect of the Namibia operation, Mr. Perez de Cuellar went to Suiderhof Camp, the UNTAG military headquarters in Windhoek. There he reviewed a guard of honour of the Kenyan battalion and was briefed on the military side of the operation by Force Commander General Prem Chand and senior military officers.

Afterwards, at a working luncheon with Administrator-General Pienaar, the Namibian situation was discussed in detail. In the afternoon, Mr. Perez de Cuellar met with the leadership of the nine major Namibian political parties.

He told these future leaders of an independent Namibia that even though a vigorous" election campaign was proceeding, he was encouraged by the evidence of their strong desire to work together for national unity.

"Namibia will need all of its people, all their skills and resources, 4t the moment when it stands before the world as an independent State", he said.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar then enumerated what had been achieved so far under the independence process: discriminatory and restrictive laws were being repealed, an amnesty had been proclaimed, the return of Namibian refugees was well under way and voter registration had begun on time.

On the military front, the Secretary-General mentioned the withdrawal of the South African Defence Forces (SADF) and the demobilization of the South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) on schedule, UNTAG monitoring the confinement to base of remaining SADF troops, and arrangements with Angola for monitoring the restriction to base of armed South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) personnel north of the sixteenth parallel.

But there had been "a number of serious problems as regards the policing and law and order situation, especially in the north", he said. He intended to personally assess the situation in that region.

The Secretary-General said he was also very much concerned with the objectivity of the electronic media?' in Namibia. The broadcasting authorities had "a monopoly position", being the main source of information for many people in the country. The UN was discussing with Administrator-General Pienaar ways to ensure "the full impartiality of these authorities".

"It is essential to the process of free and fair elections that radio and television fulfil their central role in a non-partisan manner", he told the Namibian leaders.

First-hand look at north

On 20 July, Mr. Perez de Cuellar flew to northern Namibia for a first-hand look at the situation there. At the UNTAG regional headquarters at Oshakati, Mr. Perez de Cuellar was briefed on the civilian, police and military situation in the area. He also visited a nearby voter registration centre.

Next he went to a refugee reception centre at Ongwediva run by the UNHCR. Later he discussed the human rights situation in the north with activists at a local community human rights centre.

A meeting and luncheon with religious leaders at the Oniipa headquarters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia followed.

Back in Windhoek, Mr. Perez de Cuellar discussed with Administrator-Gencral Pienaar the situation in the north. After an early morning meeting on 21 july, both visited four voter registration points in the Namibian capital.

Before flying to South Africa that afternoon, the Secretary-General met in Windhoek with representatives of the front-line States.

In Pretoria, Mr. Perez de Cuellar met that evening with Foreign Affairs Minister R.F. Botha and other top South African officials. On the agenda were the security situation in northern Namibia, the return of refugees, situation of political prisoners, Namibia's environment and the country's economic situation after independence.

Addresses OAU 

Following his trip to Namibia, Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar addressed the summit meeting of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Addis Ababa on 24 July. He said he had come away from Namibia "encouraged by the progress that has been made and proud of the way in which so many dedicated people in UNTAG are carrying out their duties". But he reiterated his concern over the security situation in northern Namibia, specifically citing the activities of former members of Koevoet, the disbanded counter-insurgency unit.

He also said the use by SWAPOL of the armoured personnel carriers known as Casspirs and of heavy machine-guns was clearly contrary to the independence plan, which stipulated that the police should be lightly armed.

There had been a reduction of intimidation in the north in recent days, the Secretary-General said. But that was not enough: there must be full compliance with the independence plan provisions regarding the police.

The massive Namibian voter registration drive was supervised by a dogged, dedicated civilian army of more than a thousand, part of the 8,000-strong UNTAG contingent from 109 nations helping in the birth of the new nation.

In addition to to 1,157 civilian staff, UNTAG was composed of 4,493 troops, 299 military observers, 915 police monitors and 60 vehicle mechanics from the Federal Republic of Germany. They were administrative staff, communications technicians, election experts, doctors, policemen, soldiers, airmen and sailors. Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar said their "energy, enthusiasm, impartiality and integrity" deeply moved him during his Namibia trip in mid-July.

To qualify to vote, a person must be 18 years or older and either born in Namibia, the child of at least one parent born there, or a resident of the Territory for at least four years prior to the date of registration.

The independence plan for Namibia mandates free and fair elections in November 1989 under UN supervision and control. Administrator-General Pienaar handles all aspects of the four-month electoral process, including voter registration, under the watchful eye of Special Representative Ahtisaari, the top UN official in Namibia.

The country has been divided into 23 electoral districts. In urban areas, 36 permanent and 33 temporary registration centres have been opened. Some 2,200 rural registration points are covered by 110 mobile registration teams.

Each of the 47 senior South African officers assigned by Mr. Pienaar to the registration operation has an UNTAG counterpart supervising and controlling his work.

UNTAG shadows the South African electoral workers at all levels: three UNTAG members are attached to each of the 110 rural mobile registration teams-a police monitor, an interpreter and an international civil servant who acts as their leader.

An UNTAG supervisor travels with South African-appointed registration officers, monitoring the whole process-from checking that registration cards are correctly filled out to making sure that registrants are not harassed or intimidated. At the end of every working day (Monday through Saturday), UNTAG team leaders call in to their district offices the results of a day's work, including such things as the number of spoiled or cancelled registration cards and names of those refused registration.

District offices report daily to UNTAG Electoral Division headquarters in Windhoek. Information about all aspects of the Namibia operation-civilian as well as military-is continuously relayed to the UN Namibia Task Force at UN Headquarters in New York. Chaired by Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar, the Task Force meets every day to follow the Namibia situation.

"Some reasons for registration card cancellations are bizarre", UNTAG staff member Jim Lubin reports from Okakarara, Namibia. "Listening to the radio one evening a team leader reported the reason for a cancellation as card was eaten by a cow! And last night, the Hereroland District Commisioner's Office" caught fire, destroying 89 cards. Those people will have their registration numbers announced over local radio so that they can reregister."

No political activities are allowed within 500 metres of registration points. "Registration points are usually located under a tree", Lubin says.

And he adds: " 'Everything happens in Africa under a tree', says my local interpreter, Jonas Jim Ngavetene. It is usually a colourful scene, with the Herero ladies proudly dressed in their traditional costumes, and their menfolk sporting Sunday best. Herero children, too, like the social atmosphere of registration, with curious boys, dressed only in a loin cloth, and girls in old party dresses being common sight.

At one Sudi point, a little girl in a ragged dress stared suspiciously at me; but her eyes lit and she broke into a broad grin when I gave her my blue UNTAG button with the emblem 'UNTAG, Free and Fair Elections'. You would have thought she'd just received the moon."

The vastness of the Territory and its sparse population make registration particularly daunting. More than 75 per cent of the estimated 1,299,000 population live in rural areas. Namibia's over 319,000 square miles-larger than England and France put together-include some of the world's harshest deserts and climatic conditions.

A high illiteracy rate complicates matters further: 60 per cent for the nation, well over 80 per cent in certain northern areas and over 90 per cent in Bushmanland. Births and deaths are not normally recorded in areas with a very high illiteracy rate.

Because of this, the South African authorities believe that 150,000 of all potential qualified voters do not have national identity documents. Special measures have been taken to allow them to register. They may identify themselves before registration officers by means ranging from a sworn declaration made by a registered voter, to an affidavit from a traditional chief or headman, to a deed of transfer or a health certificate. In many cases, ages are estimated.

The electoral process is also being watched by the Namibian population at large, particularly the nine parties running in the November election.

They are: Action Christian National (ACN), Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), Federal Convention of Namibia/Liberation Front (FCN/LF), Namibia Christian Democratic Party (NCDP), Namibian National Front (NNF), National Patriotic Front of Namibia (NPF), South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), South West Africa People's Organization/Democrat (SWAPO/D), and United Democratic Front (UDF).

A number of foreign Governments are also closely watching the process. Observer missions have been opened in Windhoek by, among others, the OAU, the frontline states-Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe-the Soviet Union, the United States, the 12 European Community countries and China. A Visiting Mission is also being planned by the UN Special Commission on decolonization.

Further developments

In September, the Secretary-General informed the Security Council he was taking steps to provide 500 additional UNTAG police monitors by early October, bringing their total number to 1,500. The new staff were professional police officers from seven countries-Canada, German Democratic Republic, India, Pakistan, Fiji, Nigeria and Sweden. They are to monitor local police forces in Namibia.

On 12 September, the nine parties agreed on an electoral code of conduct, by which they promised to campaign peacefully and to respect the outcome of UN-certified "free and fair elections". There was also a provision for dealing with disputes. Martti Ahtisaari, who witnessed the signing, called it an "important and historic agreement" and a significant step towards national reconciliation.

Members of the Security Council on 15 September strongly condemned the assassination in Windhoek of SWAPO official Anton Lubowski. They urged that measures be immediately taken to ensure the safety and security of all Namibians, "particularly the leaders of all political parties".

An UNTAG mission to investigate allegations that SWAPO was detaining Namibians in Angola and Zambia was dispatched to both countries in September.

Repatriation centres

Meanwhile, the $40-million UNHCR operation to repatriate some 58,000 Namibians in time to participate in the independence electoral process was winding down in September. After a fast-paced start in mid-June, some reception centres were overcrowded at the beginning of July.

The influx of thousands of refugees brought into even sharper focus Namibia's economic situation after independence. Assistance to a future independent Namibia was discussed on 20 and 21 September at an informal meeting of donors at Oslo organized by the Government of Norway in co-operation with the United Nations Development Programme. The issue was also discussed by the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers (Canberra, 7-9 August).

Assistance to Namibia during the transition to independence had been discussed earlier at a seminar organized by the UN Council for Namibia (Vienna, 24-28 July).