United Nations Security Council Resolution 435 – Namibia

Resolution 435 (1978) of 29 September 1978

The Security Council,

Recalling its resolutions 385 (1976) of 30 January 1976 and 431 (1978) and 432 (1978) of 27 July 1978,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-Gen-eral submitted pursuant to paragraph 2 of resolution 431 (1978) 61 and his explanatory statement made in the Security Council on 29 September 1978 (S/ 12869),62

Taking note of the relevant communications from the Government of South Africa to the Secretary-General,

Taking note also of the letter dated 8 September 1978 from the President of the South West Africa People’s Organization to the Secretary-General,

Reaffirming the legal responsibility of the United Nations over Namibia,

1. Approves the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the proposal for a settlement of the Namibian situation and his explanatory state-ment;

2. Reiterates that its objective is the withdrawal of South Africa’s illegal administration from Namibia and the transfer of power to the people of Namibia with the assistance of the United Nations in accordance with Security Council resolution 385 (1976);

3. Decides to establish under its authority a United Nations Transition Assistance Group in accordance with the above-mentioned report of the Secretary-General for a period of up to 12 months in order to assist his Special Representative to carry out the man-date conferred upon him by the Security Council in paragraph 1 of its resolution 431 (1978), namely, to ensure the early independence of Namibia through free elections under the supervision and control of the United Nations;

4. Welcomes the preparedness of the South West Africa People’s Organization to co-operate in the implementation of the Secretary-General’s report, includ-ing its expressed readiness to sign and observe the cease-fire provisions as manifested in the letter from its President of 8 September 1978;

5. Calls upon South Africa forthwith to co-operate with the Secretary-General in the implementation of the present resolution;

6. Declares that all unilateral measures taken by the illegal administration in Namibia in relation to the electoral process, including unilateral registration of voters, or transfer of power, in contravention of resolutions 385 (1976), 431 (1978) and the present resolution, are null and void;

7. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council not later than 23 October 1978 on the implementation of the present resolution.

Adopted at the 2087th meeting by 12 votes to none, with 2 abstentions (Czech-slovakia, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics).