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UNITED NATIONS OPERATION IN THE CONGO
ONUC (July 1960 – June 1964) |
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ONUC
was established in July 1960 to ensure the withdrawal of
Belgian forces, to assist the Government in maintaining
law and order and to provide technical assistance. The
function of ONUC was subsequently modified to include
maintaining the territorial integrity and political
independence of the Congo, preventing the occurrence of
civil war and securing the removal of all foreign
military, paramilitary and advisory personnel not under
the United Nations Command, and all mercenaries.
ONUC was
established by Security Council
resolution 143 (1960) of 14 July 1960, by which it
decided "to authorize the Secretary-General to take the
necessary steps, in consultation with the Government of
the Republic of the Congo, to provide the Government
with such military assistance as might be necessary
until, through that Government's efforts with United
Nations technical assistance, the national security
forces might be able, in the opinion of the Government,
to meet fully their tasks".
The initial mandate of ONUC was to
ensure the withdrawal of Belgian forces from the
Republic of the Congo, to assist the Government in
maintaining law and order and to provide technical
assistance. The function of ONUC was subsequently
modified to include maintaining the territorial
integrity and political independence of the Congo,
preventing the occurrence of civil war and securing the
removal from the Congo of all foreign military,
paramilitary and advisory personnel not under the United
Nations Command, and all mercenaries.
In implementing its mandate, UNUC was
authorized to use force, if necessary. By
resolution 161 (1961) of 21 February 1961,
the Council urged that the United Nations "take
immediately all appropriate measures to prevent the
occurrence of civil war in the Congo, including
arrangements for ceasefire, the halting of all military
operations, the prevention of clashes, and the use of
force, if necessary, in the last resort".
By
resolution 169 (1961) of 24 November 1961,
the Council authorized the Secretary-General "to take
vigorous action, including the use of the requisite
measure of force, if necessary, for the immediate
apprehension, detention pending legal action and/or
deportation of all foreign military and paramilitary
personnel and political advisers not under United
Nations Command, and mercenaries", as laid down in
Council’s
resolution 161 (1961).
The United Nations Operation in the
Congo (Opération des Nations Unies au Congo, or ONUC),
which took place in the Republic of the Congo from July
1960 until June 1964, marked a milestone in the history
of United Nations peacekeeping in terms of the
responsibilities it had to assume, the size of its area
of operation and the manpower involved. It included, in
addition to a peacekeeping force which comprised at its
peak strength nearly 20,000 officers and men, an
important Civilian Operations component. Originally
mandated to provide the Congolese Government with the
military and technical assistance it required following
the collapse of many essential services and the military
intervention by Belgian troops, ONUC became embroiled by
the force of circumstances in a chaotic internal
situation of extreme complexity and had to assume
certain responsibilities which went beyond normal
peacekeeping duties.
1.
Establishment of ONUC
The Republic of
the Congo, a former Belgian colony, became independent
on 30 June 1960. In the days that followed, disorder
broke out, and Belgium sent its troops to the Congo,
without the agreement of the Congolese Government, for
the declared purpose of restoring law and order and
protecting Belgian nationals.
On 12 July 1960, the Congolese
Government asked for United Nations military assistance
to protect the national territory of the Congo against
external aggression. Two days later, the Security
Council
called upon Belgium to withdraw its troops
from the Congo and authorized military assistance as
might be necessary until, through the efforts of the
Government with the technical assistance of the United
Nations, the national security forces might be able, in
the Government's opinion, to meet their tasks fully.
[The Council resolution was adopted by 8 votes in favour
(including the Soviet Union and the United States) to
none against, with three abstentions.]
In less than 48 hours, contingents of
a United Nations Force, provided by a number of
countries including Asian and African States began to
arrive in the Congo. At the same time, United Nations
civilian experts were rushed to the Congo to help ensure
the continued operations of essential public services.
2. Operations
Over the next four years, the task of
the United Nations Operations in the Congo was to help
the Congolese Government restore and maintain the
political independence and territorial integrity of the
Congo; to help it maintain law and order throughout the
country; and to put into effect a wide and long-range
programme of training and technical assistance.
To meet the vast and complex task
before it, the United Nations had to assemble a very
large team. At its peak strength, the United Nations
Force totalled nearly 20,000 officers and men. The
instructions of the Security Council to this Force were
strengthened early in 1961 after the
assassination in Katanga province of former Prime
Minster Patrice Lumumba. The Force was to protect the
Congo from outside interference, particularly by
evacuating foreign mercenaries, and advisers from
Katanga and preventing clashes and civil strife, by
force if necessary as a last resort.
Following the reconvening of
Parliament in August 1961 under United Nations auspices,
the main problem was the attempted secession, led and
financed by foreign elements, of the province of
Katanga. In September and December 1961, and again in
December 1962, the secessionist gendarmes under the
command of foreign mercenaries clashed with the United
Nations Force. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld lost
his life on 17 September 1961 in the crash of his
airplane on the way to Ndola (in what is now Zambia)
where talks were to be held for the cessation of
hostilities.
3. Termination
of ONUC
In February 1963, after Katanga had
been reintegrated into the national territory of the
Congo, a phasing out of the Force was begun, aimed at
its termination by the end of that year. At the request
of the Congolese Government, however, the General
Assembly authorized the stay of a reduced number of
troops for a further six months. The Force was
completely withdrawn by 30 June 1964.
Although the military phase of the
United Nations Operation in the Congo had ended,
civilian aid continued in the largest single programme
of assistance undertaken until that time by the world
Organization and its agencies, with some 2,000 experts
at work in the nation at the peak of the programme in
1963-1964.
Source -
United Nations |
