United Nations Angola Verification Mission II
Encyclopedia
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Angola Verification Mission II (UNAVEM II), established May 1991 and lasting until February 1995, was the second United Nations peacekeeping
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
mission, of a total of four, deployed to Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
during the course of the Angolan Civil War
Angolan Civil War
The Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict in the Southern African state of Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with some interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. Prior to this, a decolonisation conflict had taken...
, the longest war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
in modern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n history. Specifically, the mission was established to oversee and maintain the multilateral ceasefire of 1990 and the subsequent Bicesse Accords
Bicesse Accords
The Bicesse Accords, also known as the Estoril Accords, laid out a transition to multi-party democracy in Angola under the supervision of the United Nations' UNAVEM II mission. President José Eduardo dos Santos of the MPLA and Jonas Savimbi of UNITA signed the accord in Lisbon, Portugal on May 31,...
in 1991 , which instituted an electoral process for the first time including the two rival factions of the civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola - Labour Party is a political party that has ruled Angola since the country's independence from Portugal in 1975...
(MPLA), the de facto government of Angola, with control of Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
and most of the country since independence in 1975, and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).
The mission's original mandate was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 696
United Nations Security Council Resolution 696
United Nations Security Council Resolution 696, adopted unanimously on May 30, 1991, after noting the recent desire to sign the Bicesse Accords between the MPLA and UNITA in Angola, the recent withdrawal of all Cuban troops and considering a report by the Secretary-General, the Council approved...
(1991), passed on May 30, 1991. The stated mandate was:
to verify the arrangements agreed by the Angolan parties for the monitoring of the ceasefire and for the monitoring of the Angolan police during the ceasefire period.
The subsequent resolution Resolution 747 (1992), passed March 24, 1992 altered the mandate to include electoral monitoring duties. During the country's newly agreed upon election, 400 UN electoral observers were deployed, along with the rest of the mission, with the added mandate of "observation and verification of the presidential and legislative elections in Angola." After a series of Security Council resolutions in 1993, the mandate was again altered to encourage more stringent adherence to the ceasefire by both the government of Angola and UNITA, after a resumption of hostilities. Finally, in late 1994, with Security Council Resolutions 952 (1994) and 966 (1994), UNAVEM II began observation and verification of the Lusaka Protocol
Lusaka Protocol
The Lusaka Protocol, signed in Lusaka, Zambia on October 31, 1994, attempted to end the Angolan Civil War by integrating and disarming UNITA and national reconciliation. Both sides signed a ceasefire as part of the protocol on November 20.-Negotiation:...
of November 20, 1994. Preparations were begun to make way for the new mission, United Nations Angola Verification Mission III
United Nations Angola Verification Mission III
The United Nations Angola Verification Mission III is a peacekeeping mission that began operating in Angola in February 1995 during the civil war. It was established by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 976....
(UNAVEM III), set up in the wake of the Lusaka Protocol.
The mission consisted of military observers, civilian police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, electoral observers, paramedic
Paramedic
A paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
s and both local and international staff. The personnel came from 25 countries in five continents. There was a maximum deployment of over 1100 during the early polling, as well as a minimum strength of under 200 after June 1993. UNAVEM II suffered a total of 5 fatalities, 3 military and 2 civilian.
Background
Soon after Angola's independence from PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
in 1975, the tenuous three-way coalition government descended into civil war. The MLPA, with the support of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n troops as well as backing by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and other communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
parties, quickly gained control of Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
and the government, and the UNITA, allied with the tribal National Liberation Front of Angola
National Liberation Front of Angola
The National Front for the Liberation of Angola was a militant organization that fought for Angolan independence from Portugal in the war of independence under the leadership of Holden Roberto. The FNLA became a political party in 1992....
(FNLA) was restricted to the country's interior. The first UN peacekeeping mission to Angola, United Nations Angola Verification Mission I
United Nations Angola Verification Mission I
The United Nations Angola Verification Mission I was a peacekeeping mission that existed from January 1989 to June 1991 in Angola during the civil war...
(UNAVEM I) oversaw the agreed upon Cuban withdrawal in 1988. That same year, the South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n troops supporting UNITA were withdrawn and by 1990 the belligerents, joined by eighteen other African nations agreed to a ceasefire. In mid-1991, the UN Security Council authorized the deployment of UNAVEM II to succeed UNAVEM I and monitor the new ceasefire agreement. The 1991 Bicesse Accords established a democratic electoral system for Angola, under the supervision of UNAVEM II. After the 1992 call to arms by disgruntled UNITA presidential candidate Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Malheiro Savimbi was an Angolan political leader. He founded and led UNITA, a movement that first waged a guerrilla war against Portuguese colonial rule, 1966–1974, then confronted the rival MPLA during the decolonization conflict, 1974/75, and after independence in 1975 fought the ruling...
, hostilities resumed until 1994's Lusaka Protocol.
See also
- Angolan War of IndependenceAngolan War of IndependenceThe Angolan War of Independence began as an uprising against forced cotton cultivation, and became a multi-faction struggle for control of Portugal's Overseas Province of Angola with three nationalist movements and a separatist movement...
- Angolan Civil WarAngolan Civil WarThe Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict in the Southern African state of Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with some interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. Prior to this, a decolonisation conflict had taken...
- List of UN peacekeeping missions