UN pursues peace process in Central America; verification commission, Nicaraguan election monitors in place.

Two key components of the continuing peace process for Central America have been launched by the United Nations: the UN Observation Mission for the Verification of Elections in Nicaragua (ONUVEN) on 25 August, and, on 6 September, the International Support and Verification Commission (CIAV), a combined task force set up with the Organization of American States (OAS).

A third key element of what could become a major international peace-keeping effort fell into place on 11 October, when Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuallar recommended to the Security Council sending to the region a 260-strong military observer force-the United Nations Observer Group in Central America (to be known as ONUCA, after its Spanish acronym).

The breakthrough was a direct consequence of the historic agreements reached by the five Central American Presidents in Tela, Honduras, on 7 August.

The five countries agreed on a detailed plan and a timetable for the voluntary demobilization, repatriation or relocation "of the members of the Nicaraguan resistance and their families".

They also agreed to assist "in the voluntary demobilization of the members of the FMLN" (Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional, in El Salvador) and "in the demobilization of all persons involved in armed actions in the countries of the region when they voluntarily request it".

A bilateral accord between Nicaragua and Honduras, also signed at Tela and backed by the Presidents of Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica, commits Nicaragua to drop its case against Honduras before the International Court of justice.

The case will be withdrawn as soon as the UN/OAS-supervised demobilization, repatriation or relocation operation concludes. The Tela Declaration sets a 90-day period for this operation (6 September-6 December 1989). As a first step, Nicaragua postponed until 8 December its next legal step in the case-the submission of a memorandum to the Court.

Honduras, in turn, agreed to lift its reservation to the sending of ONUCA to the region. Honduras had agreed on 31 March to the force on the condition that Nicaragua drop its case before the World Court.

Setting peace in motion

On 14 August-a week after the signing of the Tela Declaration-the five Central American countries asked the UN and the OAS to set up the International Support and Verification Commission.

The decision to establish CIAV was taken on 25 August at UN Headquarters by Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar and OAS Secretary-General Joao Baena Soares. Mr. Perez de Cuellar immediately informed the Security Council SI20856) that the newly formed Commission would need the help of "military units equipped with defensive weapons".

The creation of such units was "clearly within the competence of the Security Council", he said. Security Council approval is needed for this type of operation.

The CIAV, the Secretary-General stated, is asked to collect the weapons, materiel and military equipment of members of the Nicaraguan resistance and to keep them in its custody until the five Presidents decide where they should be sent. This is not a task which can be taken on by civilian personnel of the United Nations no matter who they may be."

Demobilization is "an operation of a clearly military nature", he added, stressing, however, that in this case it was strictly voluntary. The United Nations would "take every necessary precaution to obtain the assurance that the [Nicaraguan] resistance was indeed determined to agree to being demobilized", he said. Along with Mr. Baena Soares, he would contact the resistance as soon as possible "to hear what its position is on the issue".

Laying the groundwork

Two UN missions travelled to Central America in September to lay the groundwork for the international peace effort. One was a joint UN/OAS mission to Honduras and Nicaragua from 10 to 15 September, in the context of CIAV.

The other was a UN technical planning mission for ONUCA, headed by Brigadier-General Pericles Ferreira Gomes, Chief Military Observer of the United Nations Angola Verification Mission, which visited the region from 3 to 23 September. It was on the basis of the findings of this mission that Mr. Perez de Cuellar recommended to the Security Council on 11 October the establishment of ONUCA.

To help him co-ordinate the increasingly complex UN involvement in the region, Mr. Perez de Cuellar on I September appointed one of his top aides, Alvaro de Soto, as his Personal Representative for the Central American peace process. Mr. de Soto, a Peruvian national, is an Assistant Secretary-General in Mr. Perez de Cuellar's Executive Office.

A turning point for UN

In Nicaragua, the United Nations, which has long experience overseeing elections in former colonies, for the first time will monitor elections in a sovereign country.

The whole electoral process-and not only voting day-will be monitored, from voter registration to the final vote count.

ONUVEN is to verify that political parties in Nicaragua enjoy complete freedom of organization and mobilization, without hindrance or intimidation, and that they have equal access to television and radio. It will also ensure that the electoral rolls are properly drawn up and report on any complaints or irregularities.

Elliot L. Richardson, a prominent United States lawyer, is overseeing the mission. Mr. Richardson, who held several cabinet posts under Presidents Nixon and Ford and served as President Carter's Special Representative to the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea from 1977 to 1980, was appointed on 30 August as Mr. Perez de Cuellar's Personal Representative for the monitoring of the electoral process in Nicaragua.

The mission's day-to-day operations are handled by its chief, Iqbal Riza, who was appointed by Mr. Perez de Cuellar as his Deputy Personal Representative.

Within days of the official opening of ONUVEN headquarters in Managua on 25 August, 23 international observers started monitoring the electoral process.

ONUVEN presence felt

By mid-September, ONUVEN's presence was felt throughout the country. The mission kept in close touch with Nicaragua's main electoral body, the Consejo Supremo Electoral, as well as with all political parties.

The number of UN observers is expected to double by 4 December, when the electoral campaign takes off, and rise to at least 120 by the 25 February elections.

Beginning in December, two-person observer teams will be posted in each of nine regions, and will travel extensively within their jurisdictions. The February arrivals will be also sent all over the country in two-person teams.

The OAS is fielding similar observer teams and both international organizations are closely cooperating.

The decision to establish ONUVEN was announced on 7 July by the Secretary-General, after the Nicaraguan Government accepted his proposals for such a mission, which Nicaragua had requested earlier this year.

In a letter (A/44/375) to Nicaragua, which contained the terms of reference for the observer mission, Mr. Perez de Cuellar said on 5 july that ONUVEN should have "unrestricted freedom of movement within all electoral districts, unrestricted access to all polling stations and unimpeded contacts with all political parties". His decision to establish the mission should not "be construed as any kind of value judgement" about the electoral laws now in force in Nicaragua.