South West Africa (Namibia) (1969–1988)

South Africa’s continued governance of Namibia (later termed an “illegal occupation” in several GA resolutions) was the subject of GA resolutions almost every year between 1969 and 1987. Within its many resolutions on Namibia, the GA at multiple points declared the apartheid system to be a “threat to peace and security” and the “illegal occupation” of Namibia to be an “act of aggression” (referencing the 1974 GA resolution defining aggression, A/RES/3314(XXIX)), as well as condemning South Africa for its “acts of aggression” launched from Namibia against other parts of southern Africa.¹ One particularly strong example of such language appeared in resolution 40/97(A), passed in 1985, which called attention to South Africa’s “persistent acts of aggression” despite strong condemnation by the GA, and then declared “that South Africa’s defiance of the United Nations, its illegal occupation of the international Territory of Namibia, its war of repression against the Namibian people, its persistent acts of aggression against independent African States, its policies of apartheid, and its development of nuclear capability constitute a serious threat to international peace and security” (A/RES/40/97, para. 73).

As part of its support towards realizing Namibia’s right to self-determination, multiple resolutions recommended that Member States provide “moral and material assistance” to resist occupation or support the liberation or independence of Namibia, implicitly understood as including military support.² In 1976, the GA recognized the resistance organization, SWAPO, as “the sole and authentic representative of the Namibian people” (A/RES/31/146, para. 2) and appealed to Member States to “grant all necessary support and assistance” (ibid., para. 4) to the liberation movement, as well as “support [its] armed struggle … to achieve self-determination, freedom and national independence in a united Namibia” (ibid., para. 3).

Among the most strident of the calls for support to armed resistance were those contained in resolutions passed within the 8th emergency special session of the GA. Resolution ES-8/2 calls upon “Member States, specialized agencies and other international organizations to render increased and sustained support and material, financial, military and other assistance to the South West Africa People’s Organization to enable it to intensify its struggle for the liberation of Namibia” (A/RES/ES-8/2, para. 6). The GA also in subsequent years called upon Member States and “Western permanent members” of the SC to take “enforcement action” to advance prior decrees or resolutions related to Namibian independence.³

From the mid-1970s onward, several GA resolutions also decried the military build-up of South Africa and “militarization” in Namibia.⁴ For example, resolution 42/14, passed in November 1987, strongly condemned South Africa “for its military buildup in Namibia, its introduction of compulsory military service for Namibians, its proclamation of a so-called security zone in Namibia, its recruitment and training of Namibians for tribal armies, its use of mercenaries to suppress the Namibian people and to carry out its military attacks against independent African States and its threats and acts of subversion and aggression against those States, as well as for the forcible displacement of Namibians from their homes” (A/RES/42/14(B), para. 41). The GA continued to pass annual resolutions declaring that South Africa’s continued “illegal occupation” constituted an “act of aggression”, and called for support to Namibian people to help them “repel South African aggression” and other use of force-related recommendations up through the end of 1988, when South Africa agreed to take steps toward Namibian independence.⁵