Following several decades of unsuccessful petitioning Request through the United Nations and the International Court of Justice for Namibian independence , SWAPO formed Creating the PLAN in 1962 with material assistance Assistance from the Soviet Union , the People 's Republic of China , and sympathetic African states such as Tanzania , Ghana , and Algeria .

To achieve their goals , protesters acted on consensus-based decisions Deciding made in general assemblies Come_together which emphasized redress through direct action over the petitioning Request to authorities .