Representation of Southern African National Liberation Movements at the United Nations, 1962-1975

Abstract

This thesis examines the representation of Southern African national liberation movements at the United Nations (UN) from 1962 to 1975. The thesis discusses the UN practice for their representation; UN reaction and response to their representation over time; Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in their representation and the effects for their representation. The thesis reveals that initially, there were no explicit provisions or pertinent rules of procedure for national liberation movements' representation at the UN. The UN General Assembly (GA), however, crafted a practice whereby it invited through and in consultation with the OAU, representatives of the national liberation movements to take part in an observer capacity in its main committees and organs’ proceedings and deliberations. It also reveals that the UN reacted and responded to the movements’ representation by explicitly acknowledging their role in the decolonisation process. The thesis, further, reveals that this role was expressed through GA decisions that offered international aid and support to the movements; and inviting their representatives to take part in conferences held under UN auspices. Based on extensive review of primary and secondary data sources, this thesis concludes that representation of national liberation movements at the UN held effects for politics, law, and relations. As in so much else, representation of the national liberation movements on the international political plane will remain to be one of the hot topics and the one which offers a meeting point for the fields of politics, law, and international relations. This meeting point emerged in 1962 when the UN GA decided to implement or apply the 1960 Declaration on Decolonisation/Impendence. By 1975, a precedent and a major change were established as far as the representation of Southern Africa national liberation movements at the UN was concerned.