UNTAG: what it will do and how.

The release of political prisoners and the repeal of discriminatory laws are the first two tasks UNTAG will monitor. Thousands of refugees are also expected to return to their homeland.

A massive voter registration drive, and electoral campaign are to start around 1 July At that time, South African soldiers, who had been progressively withdrawing, should number only 1,500, with their military installations on the northern border either de-activated or under UN control.

From 1 to 8 November 1989, Namibians are scheduled to elect a Constituent Assembly, which will draw up and adopt the new nation's constitution. Some 800 UNTAG poll-watchers will make sure that the elections are fair and free. After UNTAG tabulates and publishes the voting results, Special Representative Martti Ahtisaari will certify for the United Nations that the process has been clean and accurate.

By mid-November, the last of the South African troops are scheduled to leave and all military bases are to be closed. UNTAG workers will also start to leave.

Namibia's first Constituent Assembly is expected to work for five months or longer on the constitution and the installation of the new government. Shortly after Independence Day, which is scheduled to come no earlier than April 1990, the last UNTAG worker will leave the country. A Herculean military task

To accomplish this herculean task, UNTAG was deploying its 4,650-strong military force commanded by General Prem Chand, a national of India. The force is a largely self-supporting operation, with its own drivers, office personnel and medical services.

Aside from monitoring the current withdrawal and restriction of SWAPO troops to their bases in Angola, UNTAG soldiers will also ensure that South African troops are confined to bases in Namibia and eventually leave the country. They must also monitor the disbandment of the citizen forces, commando units and ethnic forces, including the South-West Africa Territorial Force.

Twenty-one countries have contributed to the UNTAG military force. Infantry battalions come from Bangladesh, Finland, Kenya, Malaysia, Togo, Venezuela and Yugoslavia. Military observers have been contributed by the same countries, except Venezuela, and by Czechoslovakia, India, Ireland, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Poland and Sudan.

Logistic units are from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom, with civilian elements from the Federal Republic of Germany and Switzerland.

An army of civilians

At the top of UNTAG's 2,000strong civilian component is the Office of the Special Representative co-ordinating the whole operation.

UNTAG members are expected to refrain from any political activity in Namibia and "from any action or activity incompatible with the impartial and international nature of their duties", according to a legal agreement between the United Nations and South Africa. The text was signed on 10 March at UN Hcadquarters by Special Represent- ative Martti Ahtisaari and South Africa's Permanent Representative Jeremy B. Shearar. It covers such matters as taxation, communications, UNTAG facilities, local civilian recruitment, military police and immediate transfer of custody to UNTAG of any of its members arrested by the local authorities.

"Scrupulous impartiality must be maintained, both by the United Nations and by the AdministratorGeneral and all other South African officials in Namibia, if we are to achieve the fundamental objective of the United Nations independence plan for Namibia!', Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar said in a 31 March memorandum on UN involvement in the independence process.

Informal understandings were reached by the parties in 1982sometimes referred to as the "impartiality package" on ways to impartially ensure free and fair elections in Namibia.

For example, the UN will not provide funds for SWAPO or any other party during the transition period.

SWAPO will voluntarily forego the exercise of the special privileges granted to it by the General Assembly, including participation as an official observer in this and other bodies and conferences within the UN system. (In 1973, the Assembly recognized SWAPO as "the sole authentic representative of the Namibian people".)

Asked about SWAPO's status during the transition period, Mr. Ahtisaari told the press on 1 March that SWAPO would be one political party among others.

A civilian police division, an election division, an independent jurist, and the Office of the Chief Administrator complete the civilian branch. They all have their own staff and are answerable to Martti Ahtisaari, who, as the SecretaryGeneral's Special Representative, is the highest UN authority in Namibia. Louis Pienaar, Namibia's Administrator-General, is the chief official of the Territory.

The main task of Police Commissioner Stephen Fanning, a national of Ireland, and the 500 police officers from 15 countries under his command, is to see that local police forces in Namibia maintain good conduct and prevent intimidation of any kind from any quarter.

The independent jurist will act as referee between the UN and South African authorities on any issue that may arise over who is and is not a political prisoner. The electoral division will supervise the electoral process, and the administrative office will support all other civilian branches.

Although all divisions have headquarters in Windhoek, most civilian personnel are being sent to work in 50 to 60 outposts throughout the country, in 10 major operational districts.

UN regional directors have considerable responsibilities coordinating all the operation's components within their territories, including those that they do not directly run, such as the civilian police and the military force.