Jul 07, 2005

UNPO Resolution Concerning the Cabinda Enclave


Resolution adopted by the VII General Assembly of the UNPO on 26 June 2005

Resolution adopted by the VII General Assembly of the UNPO on 26 June 2005

Having met at the VII UNPO General Assembly in The Hague, the Netherlands, 24 – 26 June 2005;

Noting the information provided by the representatives of Cabinda;

Considering that Article 73, Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter recognizes the Right of peoples to self-determination;

Emphasizing that Cabinda was and is a Portuguese protectorate by the virtue of the Treaty of Simulambuco in 1885;

Considering that when it was founded in May 1963, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) classified Cabinda as the thirty-ninth territory in the African continent to be decolonized and that reality has since been ignored;

Considering that Portugal, the former protecting power, has abandoned the Territory of Cabinda, its protectorate, without organizing a self-determination referendum to allow the Cabindan people to choose their own future;

Considering that Portugal has not respected the measures contained notably in the treaties of Chimfuma (1883), Chicamba (1884), and Simulambuco (1885) by illegally annexing the Territory of Cabinda to a third country, Angola;

Recognizing that the current military occupation of Cabinda by Angolan forces constitutes a potential source of conflicts, arbitrary arrests, crimes against humanity and violations of all sorts;


The UNPO General Assembly

1. Condemns all human rights abuses, committed in the Territory of Cabinda by the Government of the Republic of Angola,

2. Calls on the Government of the Republic of Angola to respect the Cabindan peoples’ human rights and their right to self-determination,

3. Calls on the conflicting parties and in particular the Government of the Republic of Angola to urgently commit themselves to a peaceful solution to the conflict currently taking place in Cabinda through negotiation,

4. Calls on the Republic of Angola to cease kidnapping Cabindan politicians in foreign countries, Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brazzaville, and to liberate them.

5. Calls upon the companies operating in Cabinda to respect the human rights and the right to self-determination of the people of Cabinda, including the right to manage and control natural resources on their land,

6. Appeals to humanitarian organizations and governments to come to the aid of Cabindan refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo-Kinshasa, Republic of Congo-Brazzaville and elsewhere, who are living under harsh conditions, without educational facilities and left to their devices,

7. Expresses the need for a UNPO mission to be sent to Cabinda to assess the conditions of the people.