The member states of the United Nations comprise 193 sovereign states. The United Nations (UN) is the world's largest intergovernmental organization. All members have equal representation in the UN General Assembly.
A United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) is a United Nations resolution adopted by the Security Council (UNSC), the United Nations (UN) 15-member body charged with "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security".
The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence, also known as the Bissau-Guinean War of Independence, was an armed independence conflict that took place in Portuguese Guinea from 1963 to 1974. It was fought between Portugal and the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, an armed independence movement backed by Cuba, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Brazil. The war is commonly referred to as "Portugal's Vietnam" because it was a protracted guerrilla war which had extremely high costs in men and material and which created significant internal political turmoil in Portugal.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3236, adopted by the 29th Session of the General Assembly on November 22, 1974, recognizes the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, officializes United Nations contact with the Palestine Liberation Organization, and adds the "Question of Palestine" to the U.N. Agenda.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1244, adopted on 10 June 1999, after recalling resolutions 1160 (1998), 1199 (1998), 1203 (1998) and 1239 (1999), authorised an international civil and military presence in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and established the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). It followed an agreement by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević to terms proposed by President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari and former Prime Minister of Russia Viktor Chernomyrdin on 8 June, involving withdrawal of all Yugoslav state forces from Kosovo.
The political status of Kosovo, also known as the Kosovo question, is the subject of a long-running political and territorial dispute between the Serbian government and the Government of Kosovo, stemming from the breakup of Yugoslavia (1991–92) and the ensuing Kosovo War (1998–99). In 1999, the administration of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija was handed on an interim basis to the United Nations under the terms of UNSCR 1244 which ended the Kosovo conflict of that year. That resolution reaffirmed the territorial integrity of Serbia over Kosovo but required the UN administration to promote the establishment of 'substantial autonomy and self-government' for Kosovo pending a 'final settlement' for negotiation between the parties.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 275, adopted on December 22, 1969, after a letter from the representative of Guinea and observing that these incidents by Portugal jeopardize international peace and security, the Council called upon Portugal to desist from violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Guinea. The Council deeply deplored the loss of life and heavy damage to several Guinean villages inflicted by the action from Guinea-Bissau, a territory under Portuguese administration, solemnly warning Portugal that if such acts were to be repeated in the future the Council would consider further steps to give effect to the resolution. It also called upon Portugal to release a motor barge by the name of Patrice Lumumba and all of its passengers.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 289, adopted unanimously on November 23, 1970, following several previous incursions into the Republic of Guinea by Portuguese troops, the Council demanded the immediate withdrawal of all external armed forces, mercenaries and military equipment and decided that a special mission, to be formed after consultation between the President of the Security Council and the Secretary-General, would be sent to the territory.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 290, adopted on December 8, 1970, after more invasions of the territory of the Republic of Guinea by naval and military units of Portugal on November 22/23 and 27/28, the Council reaffirmed its numerous previous resolutions on the topic, including the right of the peoples of Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea to be freed from the Portuguese Empire ruled by the Estado Novo regime. The Council endorsed the conclusions of the report by the Special Mission to the Republic of Guinea, strongly condemned the Portuguese Government, demanded that full compensation be paid to the Republic and declared that Portuguese colonialism was a serious threat to the peace and security of Africa.
Parliamentary elections were held in Guinea-Bissau on 16 November 2008. The result was a victory for the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which won 67 out of the 100 seats in the National People's Assembly, while the Party for Social Renewal (PRS) won 28 seats.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 294, adopted on July 15, 1971, disturbed by the longstanding Portuguese violations of Senegalese territory and the recent laying of mines inside that nation which was giving shelter to independentist guerrillas of PAIGC, during the Portuguese Colonial War. The Council noted Portugal's failure to comply with previous resolutions and demanded that they immediately cease all acts of violence and destruction in Senegal and respect her territorial integrity. The Council included the usual condemnations and requested that the Secretary-General urgently send a special mission of members of the Council assisted by their military experts to carry out an inquiry into the facts of the situation and make recommendations.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 295, was adopted unanimously on August 3, 1971. After receiving a letter from the Permanent Representative of Guinea, a country led by Ahmed Sékou Touré, the Council affirmed its territorial integrity and independence and decided to send a mission of three members of the Council to Guinea to consult with the authorities and report of the situation immediately. The mission was to be appointed after consultation between the president of the Council and the Secretary-General.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 312, adopted on February 4, 1972, after reaffirming previous resolutions on the topic and deploring those who failed to conform to them the Council called upon Portugal to immediately recognize the right of the peoples of her colonies to self-determination, to cease all acts of repression against the peoples of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea (Bissau), to withdraw its armed forces from those areas, to promulgate an unconditional political amnesty and to transfer power to freely elected native representative institutions.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 322, adopted unanimously on November 22, 1972, after reaffirming previous resolutions and considering the Organisation of African Unity's recognition of the revolutionary movements of Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Mozambique, the Council called on the government of Portugal to cease its military operations and all acts of repression against the people of those territories. The Resolution called on Portugal to enter negotiations with the parties concerned with a view to achieving a solution to the armed confrontations and permitting the peoples of those territories to exercise their right to self-determination and requested the Secretary-General to follow developments and report periodically to the Council.
Operation Green Sea was an amphibious attack on Conakry, the capital of Guinea, by between 350 and 420 Portuguese soldiers and Portuguese-led Guinean fighters in November 1970. The goals of the operation included the overthrow of Ahmed Sékou Touré's government, capture of the leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Amílcar Cabral, destruction of the naval and air assets of the PAIGC and its Guinean supporters, and the rescue of Portuguese POWs held in Conakry.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 367, adopted on 12 March 1975, called upon all member states to respect the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and non-alignment of the Republic of Cyprus. It was adopted after receiving a complaint from the government of the Republic of Cyprus.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1216 was adopted unanimously on 21 December 1998. After expressing concern at the crisis and humanitarian situation in Guinea-Bissau, the Council called for the immediate establishment of a government of national unity in the National People's Assembly and the holding of elections by the end of March 1999.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1580, adopted unanimously on 22 December 2004, after reaffirming resolutions 1216 (1998) and 1233 (1999) on the situation in Guinea-Bissau, the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS) for a further period of one year and revised its operations. It was the final Security Council resolution adopted in 2004.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1949, adopted unanimously on 23 November 2010, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in Guinea-Bissau, particularly Resolution 1876 (2009), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) for a further period of one year until 31 December 2011.
On 12 April 2012, a coup d'état in Guinea-Bissau was staged by elements of the armed forces about two weeks before the second round of a presidential election between Carlos Gomes Júnior and Kumba Ialá. The coup started in the evening with military personnel and equipment making its way onto the streets, followed by the state-owned media being taken off-air.
