'Big Five' reach final agreement on framework for settlement.

'Big Five' reach final agreement on framework for settlement

The "Big Five"--the permanent members of the Security Council--in August reached a final agreement on a framework for a comprehensive settlement of the Cambodian problem.

At an "Informal Meeting" in Jakarta on 9 and 10 September, convened by France and Indonesia, Co-Chairmen of the Paris International Conference on Cambodia, the Cambodian parties accepted the framework document in its entirety as the basis for settling the Cambodia conflict.

In a joint statement, they then committed themselves, in full cooperation with all other Conference participants, to elaborating that framework into a comprehensive political settlement through the processes of the Conference.

The Security Council on 20 September welcomed the formation by the parties to the Cambodia conflict of a Supreme National Council (SNC) and urged SNC members to elect a chairman as soon as possible. It did so by unanimously adopting resolution 668 (1990), after the first SNC meeting was held in Bangkok on 17 and 18 September.

After meeting in New York on 27 and 28 August, the "Big Five"--China, France, the United Kingdom, the USSR and the United States--jointly stated that the framework document was composed of five sections "comprising the indispensable requirements for such a settlement".

The sections concerned: transitional arrangements regarding the administration of Cambodia during the pre-election period; military arrangements during the transitional period; elections under UN auspices; protection of human rights; and international guarantees

The Five said the basic principle behind their approach was to enable the Cambodian people to determine their own political future through free and fair elections, organized and conducted by the UN "in a neutral political environment with full respect for the national sovereignty of Cambodia".

Implementation of that approach required full support from all parties to the conflict, the Five stressed. they urged acceptance of the frameword document in its entirety as the basis for settling the Cambodia conflict.

The Five also called on the parties to the conflict to commit themselves to that process and to form a Supreme National Council as soon as possible on the basis outlined in the document.

[The Cambodian parties are: the National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Co-operative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC), headed by Prince Norodom Sihanouk; the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF), led by Son Sann; the Party of Democratic Kampuchea (PDK), led by Khiu Samphan; and the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party, led by Heng Samrin.]

The Security Council, in its 20 September resolution 668 (1990), endorsed the framework for a comprehensive political settlement of the Cambodian conflict as formulated by the "Big Five" and encouraged their continuing efforts in that regard. It welcomed the acceptance of the framework in its entirety by all the Cambodian parties, and their commitment to elaborating it into a comprehensive political settlement through the Conference processes.

The Council also called on the Conference Co-Chairmen to intensify consultations aimed at reconvening the Conference so that it could elaborate and adopt the settlement and draw up an implementation plan.

States were called upon to support the achievement of a comprehensive political settlement as outlined in the framework. Another call for maximum self-restraint to create a peaceful climate was made.

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar was asked to continue to assess the resource implications, timing and other considerations relevant to any UN role in Cambodian.

Secretary-General

'gratified'

Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar on 29 August said he was gratified that the Five had reached agreement, recalling the close contact he had maintained with them since the talks began in January 1990.

He hoped that the Cambodian parties would accept the framework so that peace could be restored in Cambodia. A UN task force, established in February 1990, would proceed with more detailed planning for an eventual UN operation there.

The Five met six times in 1990 to discuss Cambodia, the latest session in August. The other meetings were held on 15 to 16 January, 12 to 13 March and 16 to 17 July in Paris, and on 11 to 12 February and 25 to 26 May in New York. Their aim, they said, was to "define the key elements of a comprehensive political settlement of the Cambodia conflict based on an enhanced UN role."

The two documents elaborated by the International Conference on Cambodia (Paris, 30 July-30 August 1989) on repatriation of refugees and displaced persons and on reconstruction, taken together with the framework document, outlined a settlement process based on national reconcilliation, involving an enhanced UN role that would ensure a just and lasting political solution to the conflict, the Five stated.

The early formation of an SNC would permit that body to designate its representative to occupy the Cambodian seat in the UN and other international organizations, they added.

Exercise 'self-restraint'

Once the Cambodian parties had accepted the framework document and the SNC had been formed, the Paris Conference, which included all interested parties and the Secretary-General, should be reconvened, the Five affirmed. Its task should be to adopt elements of a comprehensive political settlement and draw up a detailed plan of implementation.

The Secretary-General would transmit to the Security Council the Conference's recommendation that the Council endorse the final agreement on the comprehensive political settlement, thus enabling him to implement it.

As a first step, all parties to the conflict should exercise maximum self-restraint to create the peaceful climate required to achieve and implement such a settlement.

In August, the Five met with the Secretary-General, Under-Secretary-General Rafeeuddin Ahmed and representatives of countries participating in the Paris Conference regarding the future of the peace process. They agreed to cojvene onother meeting in Paris before mid-October.

In July, the Five had reported "significant progress" on two key elements of a solution based on an enhanced UN role--transition arrangements regarding the administration of Cambodian during the pre-election period and military arrangements. They agreed to accelerate their work in the remaining three areas--elections, human rights and international guarantees. The time was "past due", they said, for the Cambodian parties to "turn from the battlefield to the negotiating table".

The Five also were briefed on "practical aspects" of any UN operation. Four UN fact-finding missions to Cambodia have taken place since February 1990.

In May, the Five jointly stated that only a comprehensive political settlement would bring lasting peace and stability to Cambodia. Earlier, they had outlined modalities of a settlement involving an enhanced UN role, including creating of a UN transitional authority in Cambodia which would organize elections. The SNC, it was then stated, would be established as a "unique legitimate body in which national sovereignty and unity would be enshrined".

Cambodian SNC tasks

The Cambodian parties agreed on the nature and functions of the SNC, specifically, that it:

* was the unique legitimate body and source of authority in which, throughout the transitional period, the independence, sovereignty and unity of Cambodia were embodied;

* was composed of representative individuals with authority among the Cambodian people and reflecting all shades of opinion among them;

* would represent Cambodia externally and occupy the seat of Cambodia at the UN, in its specialized agencies and in other international institutions and conferences;

* would, at the time of signature of the comprehensive settlement, delegate to the UN all powers necessary to ensure the implementation of the comprehensive agreement, including those relating to the conduct of free and fair elections and the relevant aspects of the administration of Cambodia; and

* would make all decisions by consensus.

The Cambodian parties agreed to form a 12-member Council including Khieu Samphan; Son Sann; Prince Norodom Ranariddh, son of Prince Sihanouk; and Hun Sen. A suggestion by Prince Sihanouk that the Chairman of the Council be its thirteenth member was accepted.

In his 16 September report on the work of the Organization (A/45/1), the Secretary-General said the establishment of a durable peace in Cambodia would ultimately depend on a genuine national reconciliation among the Cambodians, as well as on the full support and co-operation of all the parties directly or indirectly involved in "this tragic conflic".

The Secretary-General also said the UN would be prepared to assume in Cambodia any "appropriate role" which was agreed by the parties and approved by the Security Council. However, he emphasized the need to ensure that the mandate that might ultimately be entrusted to the UN was "realistic, clearly defined and practicable in operational terms". It was also essential that the Organization be provided with sufficient resources, "in a timely and assured manner", so that an "efficient operation can be implemented with a reasonable chance of success".

Ad Hoc Committee 

activities

A delegation of the Ad Hoc Committee of the 1981 International Conference on Kampuchea, led by Committee Chairman Absa-Claude Diallo of Senegal, visited Japan, Indonesia and Austria from 18 to 31 July. In Jakarta, the delegation assured the Foreign Ministers of the six countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations that the Committee would continue to work for the realization of a comprehensive political settlement.

On 12 September, the Committee reported (A/CONF.109/16) that the long-term interests of all parties to the conflict lay in a negotiated settlement leading to the establishment of a sovereign, independent, neutral and non-aligned Cambodia.

Also on 12 September in New York, donors to the Kampuchean Humanitarian Assistance Programmes pledged $21,930,201. These included Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and the United States.