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its representative to the United Nations for a second time, while the legitimate authority of
Namibia, The UN Council on Namibia, pursued investigations on the extent of South African
expropriation of Namibian natural resources.
Four Security Council efforts to mobilize an
embargo of South Africa were vetoed repeatedly by France and the United States. South African
incursions went deeper into Angola ultimately fighting directly with Angolan troops as well as
SWAPO personnel. With the ouster of the Carter Administration came a new policy for South
Africa – the Reagan Administration’s constructive engagement policy with South Africa. The
Western Contact Group would also change its proposals linking progress on elections and
independence with the removal of Cuban military personnel from Angola.
C. Other Issues
Support and advocacy on behalf of human rights remains central for the work of the
United Nations and the service of the Secretary-General. Waldheim’s tenure provided several
opportunities for such extensions. How did he publicly understand his role?
Although extensive paragraphs do not appear in any of his summary statements for the
first years of Annual Reports to the General Assembly (increasingly important in his second
term), several stand out for their forthright advocacy and primacy.
The Secretary-General faces a recurring dilemma whenever and wherever large scale military
conflict and civil strife within a state results in massive killings of innocent civilians. In the
latter case, the Secretary-General has to reconcile Article 2, Paragraph 7 of the Charter with the
moral principles, and especially the sacredness of human life which the Charter embodies. No
matter what criticism or setbacks may arise, the unwritten moral responsibility which every
Secretary-General bears does not allow him to turn a blind eye where innocent civilians are
placed in jeopardy on a large scale.
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No activity is more important for the future, and yet more difficult to reconcile with the hard
reality of the world, than the protection and advancement of human rights. A large gap between
aspiration and achievement remains.
Progress will depend in considerable measure on the
Convention