Assembly endorses four principal components of settlement of situation in Kampuchea.

The General Assembly on 20 and 21 October 1986 reviewed the situation in Kampuchea and, after hearing 44 speakers, adopted resolution 41/6 reiterating its conviction regarding four elements that it said were "the principal components of any just and lasting resolution of the Kampuchean problem"

Those components, as set out in the 1981 Declaration of the International Conference on Kampuchea and reaffirmed in Assembly resolutions, are: withdrawal of all foreign forces from Kampuchea; restoration and preservation of its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity; the right of the Kampuchean people to determine their own destiny; and commitment by all States to non-interference and non-intervention in Kampuchea's internal affairs.

By the 60-Power text, approved by a recorded vote of 115 in favour to 21 against, with 13 abstentions, the Assembly also authorized the Ad Hoc Committee of the International Conference on Kampuchea to convene when necessary and carry out the tasks entrusted to it. The Conference was to be reconvened "at an appropriate time"; all States of South-East Asia and others concerned were asked to attend future Conference sessions.

The Secretary-General was asked to continue to follow the situation closely and exercise his good offices to contribute to a comprehensive political settlement. Appreciation was expressed to countries, the United Nations and its agencies, and other national and international humanitarian organizations that had rendered relief assistance to the Kampuchean people. They were asked to continue to provide emergency assistance to Kampucheans still in need, especially those along the Thai-Kampuchean border and in holding centres in Thailand.

Countries of South-East Asia were urged, once a comprehensive political solution had been achieved, to exert renewed efforts to establish a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality in South-East Asia. The Assembly reiterated its hope that following such a solution, an intergovernmental committee would be established to consider a programme of assistance to Kampuchea for reconstructing its economy and for the economic and social development of all States in the region.

Report: In his report (A/41/707) on Kampuchea, the Secretary-General stated that he had continued, in the framework of his good offices, to seek a peaceful resolution of the problem, maintaining close contact with the States most directly concerned and other interested parties.

He had also had extensive discussions, either directly or through his Special Representative Rafeeuddin Ahmed, on proposals for a political settlement made since the beginning of 1986, including the 17 March eight-point proposal of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, President of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea. Further efforts, he said, would be needed "to bridge the significant differences which persist regarding the procedure for negotiations and the implementation of the main elements of a comprehensive political settlement". He was determined to contribute to those efforts, in the framework of his good offices, he added.

The need for an early political settlement seemed to be recognized by all concerned, Mr. Perez de Cuellar stated. Such a settlement would have to be consistent with basic United Nations Charter purposes and principles. It could only be reached through a process of genuine negotiations without pre-conditions. Countries concerned should work actively towards the elaboration of a mutually acceptable mechanism for the initiation of this process. Thus, it would become possible to give peace and reconciliation a serious chance. The mutual accommodations that that might entail would be far exceeded by the benefits that would ultimately be reaped.

Refugees are fewer: The Secretary-General said that he had continued to implement the Kampuchean humanitarian assistance programmes. Of some 228,000 Kampuchean refugees granted temporary asylum in Thailand and received into camps assisted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 210,000 persons had been resettled since 1975, and another 2,100 accepted for resettlement were awaiting departure for third countries. The number of Kampuchean refugees in Thailand had been reduced from the peak of 175,000 in 1980 to some 25,800 as at 1 October 1986, he reported.

Most of the nearly one quarter of a million Kampuchean civilians who had sought refuge inside Thailand following an upsurge of hostilities along the border in late 1984 and early 1985 had remained in evacuation sites operated by the United Nations Border Relief Operation (UNBRO). Through a separation of the civilian population from the non-civilian elements in all of the large evacuation sites along the border, the civilian nature of those encampments had been ensured in the past 18 months. That had contributed to reducing human suffering, danger and instability in the life of those civilians, he said.

The relative calm along the border during the same period, the Secretary-General went on, had enabled UNBRO to consolidate its relief operations and to achieve a number of improvements in the fields of public health, nutrition and social welfare. Together with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), United Nations agencies had also continued their efforts to protect civilians in the encampments, with the support and co-operation of local authorities.

External assistance and the efforts of the Kampuchean people had contributed to rehabilitation from the enormous disruptions of the past. However, the food and agriculture situations and health and sanitary conditions in many parts of Kampuchea were of continuing concern. The humanitarian assistance extended by the United Nations system had done much to alleviate the plight of the Kampucheans, he concluded.

Debate

Prince Sihanouk, President of Democratic Kampuchea, said that in 1986, the armed forces of the Coalition Government had achieved significant progress and Phnom Penh was now within striking range. Vietnamese forces had been losing their combat initiative. The morale, health and material situation of the Vietnamese soldiers continued to worsen. "The Vietnamese will never be able to gag the nationalist and patriotic feelings of the Cambodian people", he said.

It depended entirely on Viet Nam - through its agreement to stop its invasion and occupation and to withdraw all its forces from Kampuchea - "to clear the way for the participation of the Heng Samrin group, set up and maintained by force by Viet Nam in Phnom Penh", in a quadripartite coalition government of Kampuchea, which would organize free general elections under United Nations supervision. It also depended entirely on Viet Nam, he said, whether that country and Kampuchea established once again "sincere relations of friendship and co-operation based on the five principles of peaceful coexistence, on an equal footing, and with mutual respect and reciprocal interests".

Prince Sihanouk stated: "Our eight-point proposal has demonstrated our sincerity ... for we want a political settlement to the Kampuchean problem, a settlement that will be just and lasting for all - for us, the victim, as well as for Viet Nam, the aggressor." He added: "Although the Vietnamese leaders are, by their aggression against Kampuchea, war criminals, just as were Hitler and his Nazi disciples, we will not ask for revenge, punishment or war damages."

Joint statement: On 15 October the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Viet Nam, both of which did not participate in the debate, issued a joint statement (A/41/712), in which they said that "failure to remember the Pol Pot clique's genocidal and warmongering record and supporting its return to power in Kampuchea is to go counter to all ethical and legal norms".

They continued: "A correct solution to the Kampuchean question should guarantee the withdrawal of Vietnamese volunteer forces, together with the removal of the perpetrators of genocide under any label whatsoever; it should also guarantee the realization of national reconciliation in Kampuchea without the danger of renewed genocide and without external interference"

Laos and Viet Nam fully endorsed the principled position of the "People's Republic of Kampuchea" that the inclusion of the item on Kampuchea and its discussion without the consent and participation of the "People's Republic of Kampuchea-sole legitimate and authentic representative of the Kampuchean people - constitute a gross interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State, in brazen violation of the Charter". The two countries said they would consider any resolution resulting from such a debate as null and void.

ASEAN nations: Yeo Cheow Tong, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Singapore, in the debate said that the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries supported the eight-point proposal because it contained at least two new ideas. First, Democratic Kampuchea was prepared to accept a phased rather than an immediate withdrawal of Vietnamese troops. Second, to promote national reconciliation following that withdrawal, representatives of the Heng Samrin regime would be allowed to participate in a quadripartite government.

Birabhongse Kasemsri (Thailand) said the Coalition Government's proposal sought to provide "an honourable way to end the conflict and a graceful exit for the occupation forces", and conformed to the wish for national reconciliation and peaceful coexistence. It complied with the principles involved, including those of self-determination and non-interference in the internal affairs of States. It looked forward to a future of genuine nonalignment and good-neighbourly relations for Kampuchea. There were a quarter million Kampuchean refugees and displaced persons in Thailand. The conflict had affected 100,000 Thai villagers who lived near the border. Death and destruction had been continually inflicted on Thai nationals and their property by frequent Vietnamese incursions and shellings from across the border. Vietnamese forces had planted 20,000 land mines inside Thailand, and as of May 1986 those mines had claimed over 150 casualties.

More than $6 million

pledged to

Kampuchean programme

More than $6 million was pledged at a 3 December meeting in New York of donors to the Kampuchean Humanitarian Assistance Programme. Contributions were promised by members of the European Economic Community and 11 other countries: Australia, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden.

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar told the donors' meeting that S.A.M.S. Kibria, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, would assume on 1 March 1987 the duties of his Special Representative to co-ordinate the Programme, Tatsuro Kunugi, who had held the post since 1984.