Administrative body of Western New Guinea (1962?1963)
United Nations Administered West New Guinea
refers to the period between 1 October 1962 and 1 May 1963 when
Western New Guinea
was administered by the
United Nations Temporary Executive Authority
(
UNTEA
) in accordance with in article two of the
New York Agreement
reached between the governments of the
Netherlands
and
Indonesia
in August 1962.
This was the first time in its history that the United Nations assumed
direct administrative responsibility
for a territory (as opposed to monitoring or supervising). The UN was responsible for promoting and safeguarding human rights at the national level. The United Nations would go on to undertake similar missions in
Cambodia
(
UNTAC
),
Croatia
(
UNTAES
),
Kosovo
(
UNMIK
) and
East Timor
(
UNTAET
).
History
[
edit
]
Western New Guinea became the focus of
a political dispute
between the
Netherlands
and
Indonesia
following the recognition of the independence of the latter. The Indonesian side claimed the territory as its own while the Dutch side maintained that its residents were not Indonesian and that the Netherlands would continue to administer the territory as
Dutch New Guinea
until it was capable of
self-determination
.
In May 1959 a United States diplomat proposed a scheme for using a "a special United Nations trusteeship over the territory for a limited number of years, at the end of which time sovereignty would be turned over to Indonesia";
[3]
and in March 1961 the
U.S. Embassy in Jakarta
asserted "the Indos once contended that UN trusteeship would be anathema under any circumstances. Now, although they have not gone so far as to be willing to call a trusteeship a trusteeship, they talk in terms of "one or two years" of some kind of interregnum as being acceptable."
[4]
The Netherlands refused to directly transfer the colony to Indonesia and, with
Operation Trikora
underway, requested the UN dictate self-determination rights in 1962.
[5]
On 15 August, Indonesia and The Netherlands signed the
New York Agreement
, which promulgated a transfer via a temporary United Nations administration.
The United Nations General Assembly approved the agreement and accepted administration on 21 September in General Assembly resolution 1752.
[6]
The UN administration took effect on 1 October 1962.
The transfer of authority took place on 1 May 1963 and West New Guinea became a province of Indonesia known as
West Irian
(
Irian Barat
).
[7]
It was agreed that following the transfer of authority
Elias Jan Bonai
, a member of the
New Guinea Council
, would be appointed as the first Indonesian Governor.
[
citation needed
]
It later evolved into the present-day provinces of
Papua
,
Southwest Papua
,
Central Papua
,
South Papua
,
Highland Papua
and
West Papua
.
Administration
[
edit
]
Civil administration
[
edit
]
According to the New York Agreement, UNTEA could legislate, appoint government officials, and guarantee law and order. These permissions led to the establishment of a court system, a New Guinea Council and regional councils.
[8]
An
official gazette
was established on 1 October 1962.
[9]
During the seven-month transition period Dutch civil servants and officials were slowly recalled to the Netherlands and were replaced by, UN, local and Indonesian officials.
The
New Guinea Council
, first elected in
January 1961
, was reconvened by the administrator on 4 December 1962 and members took new oaths of office, swearing allegiance to UNTEA. The administrator had the power to appoint new members of the council to fill any vacancies that may arise. Eleven regional councils were also established.
[10]
Office holders
[
edit
]
Administrator
[
edit
]
UNTEA was initially led by acting administrator
Jose Rolz-Bennett
[
es
]
of
Guatemala
from 1 October 1962 to 15 November, and then by
Jalal Abdoh
[
fa
]
of
Imperial Iran
who served as administrator from 15 November 1962 to 1 May 1963.
No.
|
Portrait
|
Name
(Birth?Death)
|
Term of office
|
Took office
|
Left office
|
Time in office
|
-
|
|
Jose Rolz-Bennett
[
es
]
|
1 October 1962
|
15 November 1962
|
45 days
|
1
|
|
Jalal Abdoh
[
fa
]
|
15 November 1962
|
1 May 1963
|
167 days
|
International relations
[
edit
]
The governments of the Netherlands, Indonesia and
Australia
established liaison offices in Hollandia.
[11]
[12]
Security and law enforcement
[
edit
]
In addition to civil administration, the United Nations also had a
peacekeeping
role through a United Nations Security Force (UNSF). The maximum force strength was 1,500 infantry and 76 aircraft personnel.
Pakistan
,
Canada
and
United States
contributed personnel with Pakistan providing 1,500 troops and the United States and Canada contributing 60 and 16 air force personnel respectively.
[13]
The locally recruited
Papuan Volunteer Corps
, established by the Netherlands in 1961, was also placed under UNSF command.
[14]
The Force Commander for the UNSF was Said Uddin Khan of Pakistan.
Following the departure of Dutch police officers, Philippine officers were initially drafted in as an interim measure, before being replaced by Indonesian officers under UNTEA command.
[15]
Postal history
[
edit
]
Nineteen
postage stamps
, as well as some postal stationery items, were issued by UNTEA. These were created by
overprinting
existing stocks of Netherlands New Guinea issues.
[16]
At the time packets of all stamps were sold at UN Headquarters by the
United Nations Postal Administration
and they remain readily available on the retail market.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Myung-Ki, Kim (1990).
"Some Legal Problems Concerning Withdrawal of the United Nations Forces"
.
The Journal of East Asian Affairs
.
4
(2): 299.
ISSN
1010-1608
.
JSTOR
23254021
.
- ^
https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unsffacts.html
- ^
Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958?1960, Indonesia, Volume XVII; 203. Despatch From the Embassy in Indonesia to the Department of State
- ^
Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961?1963, Volume XXIII, Southeast Asia; 150. Telegram From the Embassy in Indonesia to the Department of State
- ^
Lopez-Reyes, Ramon (1995).
"United Nations Zones of Peace Territories: A Proposal for Transforming the Trusteeship System"
.
Peace Research
.
27
(1): 78.
ISSN
0008-4697
.
JSTOR
23607653
.
- ^
McCorquodale, Robert;
Robinson, Jennifer
;
Peart, Nicola
(January 2020).
"Territorial Integrity and Consent in the Chagos Advisory Opinion"
.
International and Comparative Law Quarterly
.
69
(1): 221.
doi
:
10.1017/S0020589319000551
.
S2CID
212816137
.
- ^
The name used until 3 March 1973.
- ^
Kondoch, Boris (2001).
"The United Nations Administration of East Timor"
.
Journal of Conflict & Security Law
.
6
(2): 252.
doi
:
10.1093/jcsl/6.2.245
.
ISSN
1467-7954
.
JSTOR
26294294
.
- ^
Childs, James B. (December 1963). "UNTEA Official Gazette. 1962 numbers 1?9, to 1963, number 17. Official Gazette of the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority, West New Guinea, West Irian. (Hollandia, West New Guinea, UNTEA, 1962?63. 5 nos. 62 leaves mimeographed.)".
American Political Science Review
.
57
(4): 1036.
doi
:
10.1017/S0003055400283470
.
S2CID
152038960
– via
Cambridge University Press
.
- ^
https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unsfbackgr.html
- ^
https://www.mpil.de/files/pdf2/mpunyb_gruss_9_97_126.pdf
- ^
https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/unsfbackgr.html#four
- ^
Goodwin, Geoffrey L. (1965).
"The Commonwealth and the United Nations"
.
International Organization
.
19
(3): 691.
doi
:
10.1017/S0020818300012510
.
ISSN
0020-8183
.
JSTOR
2705876
.
S2CID
153884868
.
- ^
https://www.mpil.de/files/pdf2/mpunyb_gruss_9_97_126.pdf
- ^
https://www.mpil.de/files/pdf2/mpunyb_gruss_9_97_126.pdf
- ^
"UNTEA (UNITED NATIONS TEMPORARY EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY)"
. Archived from
the original
on 4 February 2009
. Retrieved
14 March
2010
.
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