Security Council demands disbandment of paramilitary forces in Namibia.

Concerned at reports of "widespread intimidation and harassment of the civilian population", the Security Council on 29 August demanded the disbandment of all paramilitary and ethnic forces in Namibia, in particular the counter-insurgency unit Koevoet, and dismantling of their command structures, as required by the UN independence plan.

It also demanded strict compliance by all parties concerned, especially South Africa, with the terms of resolution 435 (1978), setting out the UN independence plan for Namibia, and resolution 632 (1989), authorizing its implementation,

On 15 August, Administrator-General Louis Pienaar ordered 1,200 former Koevoet members who had been integrated into the South West Africa Police (SWAPOL) removed from duty in northern Namibia and confined to base under UNTAG supervision.

Many of the 40 speakers participating in Council debate-during seven meetings held between 16 and 29 August-felt that that action was not sufficient: hence the call for disbandment. The African Group and the Non-Aligned Movement requested the Council meet on the issue.

In approving the 10 operative provisions of resolution 640 (1989), the Council called on the Secretary-General to "review the actual situation on the ground with a view to determining the adequacy of the military component" of the UN Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG), in relation to its ability to carry out its responsibilities during the independence process. He was also asked to assess whether an increase in the number of police monitors was necessary.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar was to make sure that "all legislation concerning the electoral process" was in conformity with the UN independence plan. He was also asked to ensure that all proclamations conformed with "internationally accepted norms for the conduct of free and fair elections" and that the proclamation on the Constituent Assembly also respected the sovereign will of the people of Namibia.

The Council also asked the Secretary-General to ensure that "strict impartiality" be observed in providing "media facilities, especially on radio and television, to all parties for the dissemination of information concerning the election".

Before the vote, Sir Crispin Tickell of the United Kingdom said that it had "considerable doubts" about the even-handedness and impartiality of the text. It specifically referred only to one party, South Africa, although more than one party to the Namibia independence plan had flouted its provisions" since 1 April. The United Kingdom would work on the assumption that such reference was an acknowledgement of South Africa's "special responsibilities" under the UN plan. It would vote for the text to sustain the unanimity which "gives this Council's resolutions particular force", he said.

Following the vote, Thomas Pickering of the United States said that the resolution represented a compromise among several strongly held positions about Namibia. "Past experience has shown that the combined, unanimous will of the international community will prevail on Namibia's behalf", he stated.

In leading the debate, James V. Gbeho of Ghana, speaking on behalf of the African Group, expressed the view that the Namibia independence plan was "not being faithfully implemented" and that the "general political atmosphere in Namibia is polluted and discouraging". South African actions, he said, had diminished the authority of Special Representative Martti Ahtisaari rather than assisted him to be "an effective' controller".

The "first major concern" of the African Group, he went on, was the "continued presence and violent activities" of Koevoet members, who were "still murdering, maiming and generally harassing rural dwellers", especially SWAPO supporters, "with the obvious intention of compelling them to switch political support"

A second major concern was what Mr. Gbeho called "a loophole" in the recent voter registration proclamation, permitting South African nationals to register and vote in the forthcoming Namibian elections. He asked the Council to stop the current "rush to register" by South African soldiers and civil servants.

Mr. Gbeho also complained that certain provisions in recent draft proclamations issued by Namibia's Administrator-General constituted "a subtle attempt at excluding a substantial number of SWAPO members, especially its leadership from registering" and qualifying to vote or being elected. Such proclamations gave Mr. Pienaar excessive power", he added.

South African Permanent Representative Jeremy B. Shearar, in his interventions, said the Council meetings now under way would remove the implementation process from the ambit of quiet and effective diplomatic negotiations" to the "realm of public and politically motivated rhetoric, which can only serve to harden attitudes, create non-negotiable positions and perhaps jeopardize the successful solution" to which South Africa, the Secretary-General, UNTAG and the Council were fully committed.

South Africa believed that UNTAG had-not fully discharged its responsibilities in regard to the monitoring of reports of intimidation, despite repeated appeals by the Administrator-General. The situation in the north required UNTAG involvement in checking "all acts of intimidation from whatever quarter", all the more, important now that Koevoet members had been restricted to base.

He called "ridiculous" the assertions that up to 150,000 South Africans were being brought to Namibia to register and vote in the election. No more than 5,000 South African residents were expected to register, he said. Only 2,300 had registered so far. South African residents who qualified under the electoral law should be allowed to enjoy that right: otherwise the impartiality rule would be transgressed, he stated.

Also, draft proclamations were being re-examined in the light of comments received, and would be finalized only after negotiations with the Special Representative.

Human rights in South Africa, Namibia probed

Hearings to gather first-hand information on human rights violations, particularly those which have occurred in 1989, were held in London (14-18 August) by the Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in South Africa and Namibia and the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on Summary or Arbitrary Executions, S. Amos Wako.

Sixteen witnesses participated, representing 12 concerned groups and institutions ranging from the International Labour Organisation to Amnesty International.

Forced removals of population, capital punishment, detention without trial, disappearances, right to work, and freedom of association and expression were among the issues reviewed. Particular attention was paid to the question of detention, torture and other inhuman treatment of children.

Witness Max Coleman of the Human Rights Commission of South Africa testified that the major target group of State repression was the United Democratic Front (UDF).

UDF Co-President, Albertina Sisulu, told the Special Committee against Apartheid on 6 july that assassinations and disappearances were mounting in South Africa. Mrs. Sisulu, who is also President of the South African Federation of Women, was in the United States on an invitation from President George Bush.

In welcoming her to the White House, President Bush called Mrs. Sisulu "a strong advocate of nonviolence and of a non-racial South Africa"

Mrs. Sisulu is the wife of recently-released political prisoner Walter Sisulu, former General Secretary of the African National Congress of South Africa, who was freed on 15 October after spending 26 years in South African prisons.

Women's struggle commemorated

The International Day of Solidarity with the Struggle of Women in South Africa and Namibia was observed at a solemn meeting of the Special Committee against Apartheid on 9 August in New York.

"Full support" for the peaceful march organized on 23 September by Women against Repression in South Africa, was expressed by the Special Committee. In a statement issued on the eve of the march, the Committee said it was "gravely concerned" at the order banning the event issued by the South African authorities.

Singapore bans oil shippings to South Africa

Singapore on 15 September banned the carriage of oil to South Africa by Singapore-flagged ships. Ships violating the ban are liable to have their registrations cancelled. Export of oil and petroleum products to South Africa from Singapore was also banned.

The decisions were welcomed by Tom Vraalsen, of Norway, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Group to Monitor the Supply and Shipping of Oil and Petroleum Products to South Africa, who said that they were "a constructive response" to the Group's call for effective legislative action to strengthen the oil embargo against South Africa.

Appeals made to save lives of political prisoners

International efforts to save the lives of political prisoners Robert John McBride and Mangena Jeffrey Boesman, along with 70 others, were called for by the Special Committee against Apartheid in August and September. Boesman was scheduled to be executed on 29 September for his participation in the 1985 antiapartheid events and has been refused the right to appeal.

The Special Committee also demanded, on 20 September, the immediate release of journalists arrested in Cape Town at the end of August and the beginning of September and an end to violence against the media in South Africa was demanded on 20 September by the Special Committee against Apartheid.