The sixth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly was held between 10 and 14 January 1980 to consider the situation in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. As the
Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...
began members of the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
requested the
Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...
consider the situation. The
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
veto of a resolution led the other members to invoke the
'Uniting for Peace' resolution to
defer the issue to the General Assembly in an
emergency special session. It was the sixth emergency special session since the 'Uniting for Peace' resolution was adopted in 1950. The session was dominated by questions of its legitimacy since the Afghanistan government had invited the Soviet intervention in their
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. Led by the
non-aligned members, the session ended with a resolution from the General Assembly calling for the immediate, unconditional and total withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and the cessation of all outside intervention, subversion, coercion or constraint, of any kind whatsoever, so that its people could freely choose its own economic, political and social systems.
Background
During the
Saur Revolution
The Saur Revolution or Sowr Revolution ( ps, د ثور انقلاب; prs, إنقلاب ثور), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) ...
on April 27, 1978, the communist
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), ''Hezb-e dimūkrātĩk-e khalq-e Afghānistān'' was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 Afgha ...
, aided by the
Khalq
Khalq ( ps, خلق, ) was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Its historical ''de facto'' leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), Hafizullah Amin (1979) and Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy (1979–1990). It was also ...
faction of the military, overthrew the government of
Republic of Afghanistan
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
and formed the
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),, renamed the Republic of Afghanistan, in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992.
The PDPA came to power ...
. A significant
insurgency
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...
formed, led by the
Mujahideen
''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...
, and fought the new government who requested Soviet assistance to fight back. In December, they signed a Treaty of Friendship with the USSR and the Soviets provided military assistance. Meanwhile, the United States began funding and arming the insurgency. On December 17, 1979, PDPA general secretary
Hafizullah Amin
Hafizullah Amin (Pashto/ prs, حفيظ الله امين; 1 August 192927 December 1979) was an Afghan communist revolutionary, politician and teacher. He organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and co-founded the Democratic Republic of Afghanist ...
requested Soviet assistance in a major offensive. The Soviets agreed and on 27 December, dressed in Afghan military uniforms, invaded
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
but overthrew Amin and installed
Babrak Karmal
Babrak Karmal (Farsi/Pashto: , born Sultan Hussein; 6 January 1929 – 1 or 3 December 1996) was an Afghan revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Afghanistan, serving in the post of General Secretary of the People's Democratic Part ...
as the new leader, clearing the way for a large-scale occupation.
At the UN General Assembly, a letter was sent to the president of the Security Council requesting a Security Council meeting to consider the matter (letter signed jointly by Australia, The Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, The Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Ecuador, Fiji, The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), Greece, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New-Guinea, Philippines, Portugal, Santa Lucia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Suriname, Sweden, The Netherlands, Turkey, The United Kingdom, Uruguay, The USA and Venezuela). The Security Council convened between the 5 and 9 of January 1980. Afghanistan and the Soviet Union denounced the meeting as interfering with domestic affairs of a Member State and that they were exercising their Treaty of Friendship and their right to collective self-defense under
Article 51 of the UN Charter
Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military an ...
. The United States claimed the Soviet intervention violated the territorial integrity of Afghanistan and that with the death of General Secretary Amin, by Soviet forces, the Afghan government had been overthrown. A draft resolution calling for the immediate, unconditional and total withdrawal of the foreign troops was vetoed by the Soviet Union on the 7 of January. Two days later the Security Council adopted
Resolution 462 acknowledging the lack of unanimity of its permanent members was preventing them from fulfilling their primary duty of maintaining peace and security, invoking the General Assembly's
'Uniting for Peace' resolution calling for an emergency special session. This was adopted with 12 supports, 2 opposes (USSR and
German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
), with 1 abstention (
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
).
Emergency special session
The sixth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly began on 10 January. The session was dominated by questions of its legitimacy. In a speech, the representative from Afghanistan expressed "the strongest and most categorical objections to the discussion of the so-called question of the situation in Afghanistan. The convening of a special session of the General Assembly on this issue constitutes an open and flagrant interference in the internal affairs of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan." The Soviets also argued that the session was being held in contravention to
Charter of the United Nations
The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the ...
which respects the internal affairs of member states. Surprisingly, India sided with the Soviet Union in a speech by
Brajesh Mishra
Brajesh Chandra Mishra (29 September 1928 – 28 September 2012) was an Indian diplomat from the Indian Foreign Service and politician, best known for serving as Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's principal secretary and National Security Ad ...
on 11 January when he acknowledged that the Soviets provided the assistance that both General Secretary Amin and his successor requested, and furthermore, that the Soviets would leave Afghanistan at the request of the Afghanistan government. Pakistan, which had been taking in refugees at its border with Afghanistan, took a particularly harsh stance against the Soviets and called for them to withdraw their forces.
[ ][
]
Led by the
non-aligned members, the General Assembly adopted Resolution ES-6/2 "strongly deplor
ngthe recent armed intervention in Afghanistan…
ndappeals to all States to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and non-aligned character of Afghanistan and to refrain from any interference in the internal affairs of that country
ndcalls for the immediate, unconditional and total withdrawal of the foreign troops from Afghanistan in order to enable its people to determine their own form of government and choose their economic, political and social systems free from outside intervention, subversion, coercion or constraint of any kind whatsoever..." The resolution also appealed to all states and organizations for humanitarian relief for refugees via the
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integratio ...
.
[Resolution ES-6/2]
/ref>
See also
*
*
*
* Tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly
References
Notes
General
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{{United Nations General Assembly
06
Foreign relations of the Soviet Union
1980 in the Soviet Union
1980 in international relations
1980 in the United Nations
January 1980 events
1980 in Afghanistan