A/RES/2145(XXI) GA
Question of South West Africa : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
21
Session
114
Yes
2
No
3
Abstentions
| Draft symbol | Amended by A/L.488 |
|---|---|
| Adopted symbol | A/RES/2145(XXI) |
| P5 Positions |
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| UN Document | A/RES/2145(XXI) ↗ |
Vote Recorded Vote — A/PV.1454
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Afghanistan
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Albania
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Algeria
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Argentina
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Australia
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Austria
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Belgium
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Plurinational State of Bolivia
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Brazil
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Bulgaria
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Myanmar
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Burundi
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Belarus
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Cambodia
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Cameroon
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Canada
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Central African Republic
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Sri Lanka
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Chad
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Chile
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China
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Colombia
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Congo
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Democratic Republic of the Congo
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Costa Rica
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Cuba
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Cyprus
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Czechoslovakia
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Benin
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Denmark
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Dominican Republic
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Ecuador
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El Salvador
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Ethiopia
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Finland
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Gabon
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Gambia
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Ghana
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Greece
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Guatemala
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Guinea
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Guyana
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Haiti
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Honduras
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Hungary
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Iceland
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India
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Indonesia
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Islamic Republic of Iran
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Iraq
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Ireland
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Israel
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Italy
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Côte d'Ivoire
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Jamaica
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Japan
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Jordan
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Kenya
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Kuwait
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Lao People's Democratic Republic
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Lebanon
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Liberia
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Libya
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Luxembourg
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Madagascar
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Malaysia
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Maldives
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Mali
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Malta
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Mauritania
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Mexico
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Mongolia
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Morocco
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Nepal
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Netherlands
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New Zealand
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Nicaragua
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Niger
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Nigeria
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Norway
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Pakistan
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Panama
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Paraguay
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Peru
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Philippines
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Poland
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Romania
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Rwanda
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Saudi Arabia
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Senegal
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Sierra Leone
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Singapore
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Somalia
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Spain
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Sudan
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Sweden
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Syrian Arab Republic
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Thailand
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Togo
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Trinidad and Tobago
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Tunisia
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Türkiye
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Uganda
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Ukraine
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Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
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Egypt
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United Republic of Tanzania
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United States of America ⚠
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Burkina Faso
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Uruguay
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Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
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Yemen
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Yugoslavia
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Zambia
Full text of resolution
2
General Assembly-Twenty-first Session
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2136 (XXI). Admission of Botswana to memher•
ship in the United Nations
The General Assembly,
H aving received the recommendation of the Security
Council of 14 October 1966 that Botswana should be
admitted to membership in the United Nations,3
H aving considered the application for membership
of Botswana, 4
Decides to admit Botswana to membership in the
United N ations.
1444th plenary meeting,
17 October 1966.
2137 (XXI). Admission of Lesotho to memher-
ship in the United Nations
The General Assembly,
H aving received the recommendation of the Security
Council of 14 October 1966 that Lesotho should be
admitted to membership in the United Nations,5
Having considered the application for membership
of Lesotho,8
Decides to admit Lesotho to membership in the
United Nations.
1444th plenary meeting,
17 October 1966.
2145 (XXI). Question of South W est Africa
The General Assembly,
Reaffirming the inalienable right of the people of
South West Africa to freedom and independence in
accordance with the Charter of the United Nations,
General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 De-
cember 1960 and earlier Assembly resolutions con-
cerning the Mandated Territory of South W est Africa,
Recalling the advisory opinion of the International
Court of Justice of 11 July 1950,7 accepted by the
General Assembly in its resolution 449 A (V) of
13 December 1950, and the advisory opinions of 7
June 19558 and 1 June 19569 as well as the judgement
of 21 December 1962,1º which have established the
fact that South Africa continues to have obligations
under the Mandate which was entrusted to it on 17
December 1920 and that the United Nations as the
successor to the League of Nations has supervisory
powers in respect of South W est Africa,
Gravely concerned at the situation in the Mandated
Territory, which has seriously deteriorated following
8 Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-first
Session, Annexes, agenda item 20, document A/6469.
4 A/6453. For the printed text oí this document, see Official
Records of the Security Council, Twenty-first Year, Supp/ement
for July, Augu.st and September 1966, document S/7518.
11 Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-first
Session, Annexes, agenda item 20, document A/6470.
6 A/6454. For the printed text oí this document, see Official
Records of the Security Council, Twenty-first Year, SuPPlement
for October, November and December 1966, document S/7534.
1 Jnternational status of South West Africa, Advisory Opin-
ion: I.C.J. Reports 1950, p. 128.
8 South W est AfricCJ-Voting procedure, Ad·visory Opinion
of /une 7th, 1955: I.C.J. Reports 1955, p. 67.
9 Admissibility of hearings of petitioners by the Committee
on South West A/rica, Advisory Opinion of /une 1st, 1956:
I.C.J. Reports 1956, p. 23.
l0South West Africa Cases (Ethiopia v. South Africa; Li-
beria v. South Africa), Preliminary Objections, Judgment of
21 December 1962: I.C.J. Reports 1962, p. 319.
the j udgement of the International Court of J ustice of
18 July 1966,11
H aving studied the reports of the various committees
which had been established to exercise the supervisory
functions of the United Nations over the administration
of the Mandated Territory of South West Africa,
C onvinccd that the administration of the Mandated
Territory by South Africa has been conducted in a
manner contrary to the Mandate, the Charter of the
United Nations and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights,
Reaffirming its resolution 2074 (XX) of 17 December
1965, in particular paragraph 4 thereof which con-
dernned the policies of apartheid and racial discrimina-
tion practised by the Government of South Africa in
South W est Africa as constituting a crime against
humanity,
Emphasizing that the problem of South West Africa
is an issue falling within the terms of General Assembly
resolution 1514 (XV),
Considering that ali the efforts of the United Nations
to induce the Government of South Africa to fulfil
its obligations in respect of the administration of the
Mandated Territory and to ensure the well-being and
security of the indigenous inhabitants have been of no
avail,
Mindfttl of the obligations of the United Nations
towards the people of South W est Africa,
N oting with deep concern the explosive situation
which exists in the southern region of Africa,
Affirming its right to take appropriate action in
the matter, including the right to revert to itself the
administration of the Mandated Territory,
l. Reaffirms that the provisions of General As-
sembly resolution 1514 (XV) are fully applicable to the
people of the Mandated Territory of South West Africa
and that, therefore, the people of South West Africa
have the inalienable right to self-determination, free-
dom and independence in accordance with the Charter
of the United Nations;
2. Reaffirms further that South West Africa is a
territory having international status and that it shall
maintain this status until it achieves independence;
3. Declares that South Africa has failed to fulfil
its obligations in respect of the administration of the
Mandated Territory and to ensure the moral and
material well-being and security of the indigenous in-
habitants of South W est Africa and has, in fact,
disavowe<l the Mandate;
4. Decides that the Mandate conferred upon His
Britannic Majesty to be exercised on his behalf by
the Government of the Union of South Africa is there-
fore terminated, that South Africa has no other right
to administer the Territory and that henceforth South
W est Africa comes under the direct responsibility of
the United Nations;
5. Resolves that in these circumstances the United
Nations must discharge those responsibilities with
respect to South W est Africa;
6. Establishes an Ad H oc Committee for South
W est Africa--composed of fourteen Member States to
be designated by the President of the General As-
sembly-to recommend practica! means by which South
W est Africa should be administered, so as to enable
11 South West Africa, Second Phai.se, Judgment, J.C./. Reports
1966, p. 6.
Resolutions adopted without reference to a Main Committee
3
the people of the Territory to exercise the right of
self-determination and to achieve independence, and
to report to the General Assembly at a special session
as soon as possible and in any event not later than
April 1967;
7. Calls upan the Government of South Africa forth-
with to refrain and desist from any action, constitu-
tional, administrative, political or otherwise, which will
in any manner whatsoever alter or tend to alter the
present international status of South W est Africa;
8. Calls the attention of the Security Council to
the present resolution ;
9. Requests all States to extend their whole-hearted
co-operation and to render assistance in the implementa-
tion of the present resolution;
10. Requests the Secretary-General to provide ali
the assistance necessary to implement the present reso-
h,ition and to enable the Ad H oc Committee for South
W est Africa to perform its duties.
*
1454th plenary meeting,
27 October 1966.
•
*
The President of the General Asscmbly, in pursuance of
paragraph 6 of the above resolution, dcsignatcd the members
of the Ad Hoc Committee for South West Africa.12
The Ad Hoc Committee will be composed of the following
Member States: CAN ADA, CHILE, CzECHOSLOVAKIA, ETHIOPIA,
FINLAND, !TALY, ]APAN, MEXICO, NIGERIA, PAKISTAN, SENEGAL,
UNION OF SOVIET SocIALIST REPUBLICS, UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC
and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
2146 (XXI). Petitions concerning South West
Aírica
The General Assembly,
Bearing in mind the special responsibilities of the
United Nations with regard to South West Africa,
N oting that the Special Committee on the Situation
with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration
on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries
and Peoples has received and examined forty-four peti-
tions concerning South W est Africa, in accordance with
paragraph 3 of General Assembly resolution 1805
(XVII) of 14 December 1962 and paragraph 8 (a) of
Assembly resolution 1899 (XVIII) of 13 N ovember
1963,
N oting further that these petitions relate, in ter alia,
to the establishment of military bases in the Territory
of South W est Africa, the situation of refugees from
the Territory, political organizations, the shooting,
arrest and deportation of política! leaders, the ejection
of Africans from urban areas, the implementation of
the recommendations of the Odendaal Commission, 13
the situation in Ovamboland, labour conditions in the
Territory, the judgement of the International Court
of Justice of 18 July 196614 and the future of the
Territory,
l. N ates that the Special Committee on the Situa-
tion with regard to the Implementation of the Declara-
tion on the Granting of Independence to Colonial
12 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-
first Session, Plenary Meetings, 1471st meeting.
13 Commission of Enquiry into South West Africa Affairs,
established in 1962 by the Republic of South Africa under the
chairmanship of Mr. F. H. Odendaal.
14 South West A/rica, Second Phase, Judgment, I.C.J. Reports
1966, p. 6.
Countries and Peoples has taken these petitions into
account in its consideration oí the question oí South
W est Africa ;
2. Draws the attention of the petitioners concerned
to the report of the Special Committee concerning the
Territory of South West Africa111 and to the resolutions
adopted by the General Assembly at its twenty-first
session on the question of South West Africa, as well
as the reports of the Secretary-General relating to the
Territory.16
1454th plenary meeting,
27 October 1966.
2147 (XXI). Appointment
of
the
Secretary-
General of the United Nations
The General Assembly,
Acting in accordance with the recommendation con-
tained in Security Council resolution 227 ( 1966) of
28 October 1966, and pending further consideration
of the present ítem,
Extends the appointment of U Thant as Secretarj-
General of the United Nations until the end of tne
twenty-first regular session of the General Assembly.
1455th plenary meeting,
1 November 1966.
2156 (XXI). Report of the lnternational Atomic
Energy Agency
The General Assembly
Takes note of the report of the International Atomic
Energy Agency to the General Assembly for the year
1965-1966.17
1474th plenary meeting,
22 November 1966.
2159 (XXI). Representation of China in the
United Nations
The General Assembly,
Recalling the recommendation contained in its resolu-
tion 396 (V) of 14 December 1950 that, whenever more
than one authority claims to be the government entitled
to represent a Member State in the United Nations
and this question becomes the subject of controversy
in the United Nations, the question should be con-
sidered in the light of the purposes and principles of
the Charter of the United Nations and the circumstances
of each case,
Recalling further its decision in resolution 1668
(XVI) of 15 December 1961, in accordance with
Article 18 of the Charter, that any proposal to change
the representation of China is an important question,
which, in General Assembly resolution 2025 (XX) of
17 November 1965, was affirmed as remaining valid,
Affirms again that this decision remains valid.
1481st plenary meeting,
29 November 1966.
15 Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-first
Session, Annexes, addendum to agenda item 23 (A/6300/Rev.l),
chapter IV.
16 A/6332 and Add.1.
17 Annual report of the Board of Governors to the General
Conference, 1 hily 1965-30 June 1966 (Vienna, July 1966), and
supplementary report; transmitted to the Members of the
General Assembly by notes of the Secreta:ry-General (A/6345
and Add.l).
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