United Nations Security Council Resolution 277

Last updated
UN Security Council
Resolution 277
DateMarch 18 1970
Meeting no.1,535
CodeS/RES/277 (Document)
SubjectQuestion concerning the situation in Southern Rhodesia
Voting summary
14 voted for
None voted against
1 abstained
ResultAdopted
Security Council composition
Permanent members
Non-permanent members

United Nations Security Council Resolution 277, adopted on March 18, 1970, concerned the state of Southern Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe. The Council reaffirmed its previous resolutions and noted with grave concern that efforts thus far to bring the rebellion to the end had failed, some countries (Portugal and South Africa mentioned specifically) had not been obeying the Council's resolutions and that the situation in Southern Rhodesia continued to deteriorate as a result of the regime's new measures.

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The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization tasked with maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international co-operation, and being a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. It was established after World War II, with the aim of preventing future wars, and succeeded the ineffective League of Nations. Its headquarters, which are subject to extraterritoriality, are in Manhattan, New York City, and it has other main offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna and The Hague. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states. Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, promoting sustainable development, and upholding international law. The UN is the largest, most familiar, most internationally represented and most powerful intergovernmental organization in the world. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193.

A United Nations Security Council resolution is a UN resolution adopted by the fifteen members of the Security Council; the UN body charged with "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security".

Southern Rhodesia self-governing British colony from 1923 to 1980

The Colony of Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa. It was the predecessor state of what is now Zimbabwe.

Contents

The Council also reaffirmed the United Kingdom's responsibility over the territory and demanded the immediate withdrawal of South African armed personnel from Southern Rhodesia. The Council finished up by deciding that all member states shall immediately sever all diplomatic, consular, trade, military and other relations and terminate any representation that they maintained in the territory, immediately interrupt any existing means of transportation to and from Southern Rhodesia and that international and regional organizations suspend the illegal regime's membership.

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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom's 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi) were home to an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.

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The resolution was adopted near unanimously, while Spain abstained.

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Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a European country located in Southwestern Europe with some pockets of Spanish territory across the Strait of Gibraltar and the Atlantic Ocean. Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula. Its territory also includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta, Melilla, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country (Morocco). Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory. The country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.

See also

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United Nations Security Council Resolution 232, adopted on December 16, 1966, noted with concern that the efforts to break off international economic activity with Southern Rhodesia had failed to bring the rebellion to an end, the Council decided that all member states would prevent the importation of an asbestos, iron ore, chrome, pig-iron, sugar, tobacco, copper, or animal-products that had originated in Southern Rhodesia. Additionally, the activities of any of their nationals designed to promote the export of these commodities or the importation of arms, ammunition of all types, military aircraft, military vehicles and equipments and materials for the manufacture and maintenance of arms and ammunition along with a total embargo of oil and oil products, though exception was made for contracts granted before this resolution.

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United Nations Security Council Resolution 333, adopted on May 22, 1973, after reiterating previous statements and admitting that previous measures had yet failed to bring about the end of the "illegal regime in Southern Rhodesia" the Council condemned South Africa and Portugal for failing to co-operate with the implementation of sanctions and requested that urgent action be taken to implement them. The Council then requested that states with legislation permitting importation from Rhodesia repeal it immediately and called upon states to enact and enforce legislation against any person who tries to evade of commit a breach of sanctions by:

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