Progress made in Salvadoran talks, cease-fire target date passes.

Progress made in Salvadoran talks, cease-fire target date passes

A significant agreement on improving the human rights situation in wartorn El Salvador was reached during the third round of direct UN-sponsored talks between the Salvadoran Government and the Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional (FMLN), held in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Following the signing of the agreement on 26 July, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar said he was "pleased" with the progress and issued the following statement: "For the first time, the parties have reached agreement on a substantive issue, human rights, which is of central importance to the negotiation and to the solution of the decade-long Salvadoran conflict. A broad monitoring role for the United Nations is foreseen in the agreement, once a cease-fire is in place--also under United Nations verification."

But the mid-September target date to produce a cease-fire was missed, as no agreement was reached at the fourth and fifth rounds of talks (17-22 August and 13-18 September). The targeted time-frame was set by the parties at the second round of talks in May in Caracas, Venezuela. Both sides are expected to meet again some time before 4 November, probably in Mexico City.

Alvaro de Soto, the Secretary-General's Personal Representative for Central America, is participating in the negotiating process, which was launched in Geneva in April.

A two-page accord to quickly end the armed conflict, "promote the democratization of the country, guarantee unrestricted respect for human rights and reunify Salvadoran society" was signed on 4 April and UN verification, subject to Security Council approval, was requested. Two rounds of talks followed (16-21 May, Caracas, Venezuela and 21 June, Mexico City).

A substantive agreement

Under the partial "Agreement on Human Rights", the Government of El Salvador and the FMLN committed themselves to "respect and guarantee human rights", including taking "all necessary steps and measures ... to avoid any act or practice which constitutes an attempt upon the life, integrity, security or freedom of the individual".

The agreement prohibits arrest for the lawful exercise of political rights, bans tortune or other "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and guarantees the right to associate freely "for ideological, religious, political, economic, labour, social, cultural, sporting or other purposes". The agreement also called for the respect of habeas corpus, freedom of the press, freedom of movement and the release of all political prisoners.

The two parties also agreed to submit the human rights plan to UN verification, once a cease-fire was in place for a renewable period of one year. They called for the creation of a UN human rights verification mission, with headquarters in San Salvador.

The Mission's mandate would include receiving reports of human rights violations, visiting "any place or establishment freely and without prior notice", supporting Salvadoran judicial authorities and carrying out an educational campaign using the media on "human rights and on the function of the mission itself".

The fourth round of talks became stalled on the issue of the armed forced and the future of the Salvadoran army, with no progress made on any other issues.

On 22 August, Mr. de Soto said the topic of the armed forces "is the most difficult item on the agenda, identified at Caracas, of issues on which political agreements would be sought with a view to jointly bringing about a halt to the armed confrontation. The item on the Armed Forces affects all other items".

Despite the setback, he said the talks more the less "have enabled us to identify a number of elements which could enable us to continue putting together, in due course, agreements of a substantive nature".

On 29 August, the Secretary-General asked the Security Council to consider establishing a preparatory office in El Salvador for the UN verification mission. In a letter to the Council (S/21717), Mr. Perez de Cuellar stated that the time had come to "initiate preparations so as to undertake the monitoring tasks as soon as circumstances permit".

Finally, during the fifth round of talks, the two parties failed to reach any other agreement. A truce is required in order to establish the office of the UN verification mission.

Human rights in

El Salvador, Guatemala

The UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, which met from 6 to 30 August in Geneva, took up the subject of human rights in El Salvador and Guatemala.

By a resolution adopted without a vote on 5 September, the Sub-Commission exhorted the Government of El Salvador and the FMLN to "avoid any type of act or practice prejudicial to the life, integrity, security and freedom of persons and to eliminate any form of disappearances and abductions". The Sub-Commission also called for the release of all political prisoners and called on the parties to "give their fullest support" to the UN verification mission.

Finally, the Sub-Commission called on the Salvadoran Government to "continue the investigation into the foul murder of the Rector an saven members of the Central American Univerity".

On the same day, the Sub-Commission, in adopting a resolution without a vote, urged the Government of Guatemala to "intensify its efforts to ensure that the human rights and fundamental freedoms of its citizens are fully respected".