S/PV.3303 Security Council

In accordance with the decisions taken at the 3287th meeting, I invite the representative of Cambodia to take a place at the Council table; I invite the representatives of Australia and Thailand to take the places reserved for them at the side of the Council Chamber. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Ouch Borith (Cambodia) took a place at the Council table; Mr. Butler (Australia) and Mr. Soonsiri (Thailand) took the places reserved for them at the side of the Council Chamber.

The Security Council will now resume its consideration of the item on its agenda. It will be recalled that the Security Council began its consideration of the item at the 3287th meeting, on 5 October 1993, when it heard statements by Cambodia and a number of other speakers. In addition to the further report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 745 (1992), contained in document S/26529, members of the Council have before them the further reports of the Secretary-General pursuant to paragraph 7 of resolution 840 (1993), documents S/26546 and S/26649 and Add.1, as well as document S/26675, which contains the text of a letter dated 28 October 1993 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council. Members of the Council also have before them document S/26687, which contains the text of a draft resolution prepared in the course of the Council’s prior consultations. I should like to draw members’ attention to the following revision to be made to draft resolution S/26687 in its provisional form. In operative paragraph 13, after the words "for a period", the following words should be added: "to be agreed upon by the Secretary-General and the Government of Cambodia". It is my understanding that the Security Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it, as orally revised in its provisional form. If I hear no objection, I shall put the draft resolution to the vote. There being no objection, it is so decided. A vote was taken by show of hands. In favour: Brazil, Cape Verde, China, Djibouti, France, Hungary, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Spain, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Venezuela

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution, as orally revised in its provisional form, has been adopted unanimously as resolution 880 (1993). I shall now call on those members of the Council who wish to make statements following the voting. Mr. LADSOUS (France) (interpretation from French): At the outset, I should like to convey to you, Sir, my delegation’s congratulations on your accession to the presidency of the Council and to thank your predecessor, Ambassador Sardenberg of Brazil, for the able manner in which he conducted our work last month. My delegation - which at the beginning of the Council’s consideration of this item and in the presence of the two Prime Ministers of that country, expressed its satisfaction at the successful implementation by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) of the Paris Agreements on Cambodia - welcomes the adoption of this resolution, which marks a transition from the end of the UNTAC mandate to the return of Cambodia’s full autonomy. The role of the United Nations in that independent and sovereign country is returning to its original function. Emphasis should henceforth be on development activities. My delegation expressed its support for maintaining 20 United Nations liaison officers for a period of six months, in response to the request of the Cambodian Government, as a symbol of the continued interest of the international community in the process of consolidating peace in that country and in conformity with the ideas put forward by the Secretary-General in his "An Agenda for Peace". France, which welcomed in early September the International Committee on Reconstruction of Cambodia and committed itself to significant bilateral cooperation with that country, stresses the vital importance of continuing the United Nations cooperation programmes in order to (The President) (Mr. Ladsous, France) contribute - as provided in the fourth instrument of the Paris Agreements - to the development and reconstruction of Cambodia. My country has also noted with satisfaction the request of the Cambodian Government for a United Nations human rights presence, and in that connection welcomes the establishment of a Centre for Human Rights in Phnom Penh. France welcomed the accession to power of the new Cambodian Government, demonstrating the success of the national reconciliation process, and assure it of our country’s continuing support in the task of consolidating peace and rebuilding its country.

I thank the representative of France for his kind words addressed to me. Mrs. ALBRIGHT (United States of America): Let me congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council. We are looking forward to your help this month in many of our difficult projects. I should also very much like to thank Ambassador Sardenberg for his leadership last month. Cambodia has been a shining example of how a United Nations peace-keeping operation can help restore and rebuild a shattered country. The United Nations can take great pride in the role it has played in helping to promote peace, democracy and national reconciliation in Cambodia. Free and fair elections have been held, a new Constitution promulgated and a new Government formed. In numerous other ways, the United Nations has also played a crucial role in helping with the reconstruction of the country. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have been resettled in their homeland and assisted in starting a new life. The United Nations has been active in clearing mines, promoting human rights, training personnel, rebuilding institutions and rehabilitating the country’s infrastructure. However, despite the tremendous progress that has been made, a great deal remains to be done. As an old proverb relates, for the want of a nail, ultimately a kingdom was lost. After the enormous investment that the international community has made in Cambodia, it would be a shame and a tragedy if all the progress that has been achieved were jeopardized by a short-sighted reluctance to provide appropriate support to the United Nations programmes needed in Cambodia. In this regard, we are pleased that this resolution establishes a team of military liaison officers to report on matters affecting security and deal with residual military matters relating to the Paris Agreements. The international community must remain firmly committed to helping promote peace and security in Cambodia, particularly in view of the continuing threat posed by the Khmer Rouge. The length of time that the military liaison officers should remain depends on how long they are wanted and needed by the Cambodians. Thus, we believe that the international community must be prepared to re-examine and, if necessary and so requested by the Cambodian Government, to renew this mission after six months. The United States is also pleased that in this resolution the Secretary- General is invited to appoint a person to coordinate the United Nations role in Cambodia. This is an extremely important task, and we strongly believe that the position requires a capable and widely experienced individual of considerable personal and political stature. As is the case with the military observers, we believe that the tenure of this office should correspond to the needs on the ground rather than to any arbitrary time limit. Finally, the United States strongly endorses the provisions in the resolution calling on Member States and the United Nations to support Cambodia in the fields of de-mining, human rights and national reconciliation and rehabilitation. The Cambodian people, supported by the international community, have achieved a great deal through their courage and sacrifice. Let us all continue to contribute to ensuring that these sacrifices will not have been in vain and that Cambodia can look forward to a secure and prosperous future. (Mrs. Albright, United States)

I thank the representative of the United States of America for her kind words addressed to me. Mr. HATANO (Japan): I wish to express to you, Mr. President, my warmest congratulations on your assumption of the presidency of the Council, and I am confident that your broad diplomatic experience and legal background will greatly facilitate our work throughout this month. I should also like to express our thanks to Ambassador Sardenberg of Brazil for his excellent leadership and guidance during the month of October. The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) has been successful in fulfilling its mandate, and indeed its peace-keeping efforts and its contributions to the nation-building process in Cambodia are unprecedented in the history of the United Nations. The success of UNTAC demonstrates that, in this post-cold-war era, the United Nations has a vital role to play in restoring peace and security in regions of conflict, and the experience derived from this operation has provided the Organization with useful lessons and valuable insights into how the effectiveness of peace-keeping operations might be attained. Although UNTAC has completed its mission, the reconstruction of Cambodia has only just begun. While this is a process to be carried out primarily by the Cambodian people themselves, it will require the full support and commitment of the international community until sound financial and institutional bases for such efforts are developed within Cambodia. Thus I welcome the intention of the International Monetary Fund to help resolve the debt problem in Cambodia. In June 1992, the Government of Japan organized, in Tokyo, the Ministerial Conference on the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Cambodia, and, in September this year, it hosted the International Committee on Reconstruction of Cambodia. This coming spring, it plans to hold the second session of the Committee on Reconstruction in Tokyo, and I hope that many States Members of the United Nations and relevant multilateral financial organizations will be able to continue to provide the necessary financial and technical assistance, especially fast disbursement assistance for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Cambodia. This support is essential to strengthening the political and social stability of the country, and it will ensure that the progress made thus far in restoring peace and towards national reconciliation in Cambodia is irreversible.

I thank the representative of Japan for his kind words addressed to me. Mr. LI Zhaoxing (China) (interpretation from Chinese): Mr. President, first of all, I wish to join my colleagues in congratulating you on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for this month. The Chinese delegation will actively cooperate with you with confidence that your remarkable talent and rich experience will provide excellent guidance for our work this month. I should also like to express my thanks and admiration to Ambassador Sardenberg of Brazil for his outstanding performance in guiding the work of the Council last month. The Chinese Government and people have all along supported the Cambodian people in their just struggle to safeguard their sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and their unswerving efforts for national reconciliation and unity. We also hold that the Cambodian question should be settled by the Cambodian people themselves. In its activities in Cambodia, the United Nations should first and foremost fully solicit and respect the opinions of King Sihanouk and the Cambodian Government. The Chinese delegation sincerely hopes that, under the leadership of King Sihanouk and the Cambodian Government, the Cambodian people will achieve greater success in establishing a country that has independence, peace, unity, territorial integrity and prosperity. In the course of the national rehabilitation and reconstruction in Cambodia, we are in favour of the provision by the United Nations and the international community of necessary assistance, at the request of the Cambodian Government, to facilitate its efforts in preserving sovereignty and lasting peace and in promoting national reconstruction and economic development. China has made, and will continue to make, its own contribution to this end. The Chinese Government is in favour of the sending by the United Nations, at the request of the Cambodian Government and on the recommendation of the Secretary-General, of a team of 20 military liaison officers, and of the United Nations extending the withdrawal period of the Cambodia Mine Action Centre (CMAC) mine clearance and training unit and of elements of the military police and medical unit of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) . UNTAC has satisfactorily fulfilled the mission entrusted to it by the Security Council, and the extension of the withdrawal period for some of its units and their members is simply for the purpose of ensuring an efficient transfer of its work and the smooth implementation of the withdrawal plan. We (Mr. LI Zhaoxing, China) hope that the measures authorized by the Council today will, as indicated by the Secretary-General, help build up the confidence of the Cambodian people and further ease the tension, thus contributing to the improvement of the security situation in Cambodia.

I thank the representative of China for his kind words addressed to me. Mr. VORONTSOV (Russian Federation) (interpretation from Russian): It is a pleasure for me, on behalf of the delegation of the Russian Federation, to congratulate you, Sir, on your accession to the presidency of the Security Council for the current month. You will have our full cooperation in respect of all questions with which the Council has to deal. I should like also to express our admiration and gratitude to your predecessor as President - Ambassador Sardenberg, the Permanent Representative of Brazil - for his extremely effective guidance of the Council’s work during the month of October. The delegation of the Russian Federation believes that the adoption of today’s resolution on Cambodia is highly symbolic, as it is a compelling reaffirmation of the dedication of the international community, as represented by the United Nations, to the process of consolidating peace in Cambodia. As was emphasized at the Security Council’s meeting on 5 October, in which the representatives of the Royal Government of Cambodia - the First Prime Minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, and the Second Prime Minister, Mr. Hun Sen - took part, the successful conclusion of the operation in Cambodia was an important example of the political settlement of a regional conflict, with the active participation of the United Nations, and was a major contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security. We are convinced that the Cambodian operation, which demonstrates the importance of following clearly a policy designed to achieve national reconciliation that embraces all parties to a conflict and of common action towards achieving that goal, merits thorough consideration and is capable of being used effectively as an example in the case of other United Nations operations. We believe that it is of the greatest importance that the attention paid by the international community to the problem of Cambodia should not wane now that life in that country, which for many years has been tormented by conflict, is returning to normal. Although we are fully aware of the fact that responsibility for the future of freedom and democracy in Cambodia rests, first and foremost, on the shoulders of the Cambodians themselves, we believe that the United Nations cannot leave the Cambodian people alone with its problems. It was for precisely that reason that, in his statement to the General Assembly at its current session, the Russian Federation’s Minister for Foreign Affairs emphasized the readiness of (Mr. Vorontsov, Russian Federation) our country, together with other members of the international community, to assist the Cambodians in the re-establishment of their country. We are ready to continue mutually beneficial cooperation in the interest of the rebirth of Cambodian society. Here, I refer to multilateral efforts through the United Nations and to efforts through bilateral channels. Only a few days ago - on 23 October - we marked the second anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreements, which represented the culmination of the International Conference on Cambodia. We are pleased to note today that the objectives enshrined in those Agreements have been achieved. It is the intention of the Russian Federation to give the closest possible attention to the provision of continuous support and assistance by the international community with a view to strengthening the peace process and the process of democracy and promoting development in Cambodia.

I thank the representative of the Russian Federation for his kind words addressed to me. Mr. KEATING (New Zealand): I should like to convey to you, Sir, the congratulations of the delegation of New Zealand on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for the current month. I wish also to thank Ambassador Sardenberg for his guidance of the Council during the month of October. New Zealand warmly welcomes the adoption of today’s resolution. The resolution serves two very important purposes. First, it marks the culmination of the successful United Nations-sponsored process of re-establishing peace and democratic government in Cambodia. Secondly, it sends an important signal that the international community remains committed to Cambodia and to its ongoing needs and is prepared to make appropriate provision for ongoing assistance in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Cambodia. The resolution adopted today has been a long time in preparation. It was the subject of widespread consultations, including consultations with the representatives of the Cambodian Government and of other countries of the region, over the past couple of months. We consider that process to have been very important and to have been of great benefit to Council members in their consideration of this important issue. New Zealand is pleased to support the elements of the resolution that relate to the transitional period following the final withdrawal of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). In particular, we consider the prominence given to the issue of mine clearing to be especially appropriate. The presence of literally millions of mines throughout the countryside of Cambodia poses a grave and ongoing threat to the Cambodian people. It is essential, therefore, that the successful operations established under the Cambodia Mine Action Centre (CMAC) continue. Accordingly, we welcome the decision to extend the period for the withdrawal of the Mine Clearance and Training Unit of UNTAC. New Zealand, for its part, will give favourable consideration to the provision of further technical experts and funding to support CMAC after the final withdrawal of UNTAC. The establishment of the Human Rights Centre in Cambodia, with United Nations assistance, is also a matter of real satisfaction to New Zealand. New Zealand also supports the decision to establish, in response to the request from the Cambodian Government, a team of 20 military liaison officers for a period of six months following the withdrawal of UNTAC. We consider that the presence of these officers will be an important symbol of the ongoing United Nations commitment to peace and stability in Cambodia. Finally, with the conclusion of the UNTAC mandate, most of the elements of the United Nations presence will move out of the Security Council’s immediate purview and will come under the Secretary-General and the various agencies of the United Nations system. We welcome the Secretary-General’s intention to appoint, in consultation with the Cambodian Government, a person of appropriate standing to lead the United Nations presence in Cambodia in the post-UNTAC period.

I thank the representative of New Zealand for his kind words addressed to me. Mr. YAÑEZ-BARNUEVO (Spain) (interpretation from Spanish): Allow me at the outset, Sir, to express my delegation’s satisfaction at your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council. In the discharge of your duties, you will have our full cooperation. We are certain that, with your abilities and professionalism, you will ensure that the Council’s work during the current month is flawless. I should like also to express my delegation’s thanks and appreciation to Ambassador Sardenberg of Brazil for his outstanding work as President during the month of October. (Mr. Keating, New Zealand) (Mr. Yañez Barnuevo, Spain) This is an exceptional occasion in the annals of the United Nations and of the Security Council. It is not every day that we have an opportunity to adopt a resolution that brings to fruition - successfully - a United Nations operation of the importance and complexity that the one in Cambodia has revealed over the years. We feel that that success is due to a combination of circumstances. First, we had the agreement of the parties, as enshrined in the Paris Agreements. Then, despite some difficulties and setbacks, we had the cooperation of those parties and - even more important - the extraordinary cooperation of the whole Cambodian people in the democratic elections that were held there. Secondly, we must emphasize the extraordinary roles played by His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk, to whom we pay a well-deserved tribute, and by the democratically elected leaders in Cambodia - specifically, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the First Prime Minister, and Mr. Hun Sen, the Second Prime Minister, whom we welcomed to this Chamber about a month ago. Finally, this operation has been successful thanks to the resolute, determined, consistent support of the international community, which at every stage has backed the actions of the Secretary-General and his Special Representative, Mr. Akashi, to whom I would again like to express our thanks and our congratulations. The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) will soon be able to leave Cambodia with the satisfaction of a job well done, providing an example of what a comprehensive peace-keeping operation should be. With this objective achieved, it is now necessary to pursue peace-building, and this is a good example of what the Secretary-General, in his report "An Agenda for Peace" (A/47/277), has referred to as the concept of post-conflict peace-building. That is the aim of the resolution we have adopted today, in which - in keeping with what is proposed in the Secretary-General’s reports - the Security Council adopts a series of measures to facilitate the transition from the phase of peace-keeping through UNTAC to a phase that leads us - in an appropriate way, we hope - to a normal phase of cooperation between the United Nations and a fully sovereign Member State of the United Nations. During this period, which I have described earlier as a kind of convalescence, the Cambodian people need to know that they can continue to rely on the help and cooperation of the international community. To that end, a series of transitional measures are being set up, always in agreement with the Royal Government of Cambodia, in order to provide continued assistance with de-mining, liaison officers in the military sphere, and assistance in humanitarian and human rights work, as well as in the promotion of the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the country. Consequently, we welcome the proposal of the Secretary-General, in conformity with the desires of the Cambodian Government, to appoint a coordinator for United Nations activities in Cambodia during this particularly sensitive period. From now on, we can consider that the Security Council has fulfilled its tasks. From now on the Secretary-General and the organizations of the United Nations system must give their full cooperation and assistance to the Cambodian people, and it will be other major organs of the system - the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council - that will be supervising, supporting and directing this very important work of peace-building and of post-conflict (Mr. Yañez Barnuevo, Spain) (Mr. Yañez Barnuevo, Spain) rebuilding of the country. We hope that the Security Council will not have to address the situation in Cambodia again, for that would be the best sign that the Cambodian people had found itself once more on the road to peace, national reconstruction and national reconciliation.

I thank the representative of Spain for the kind words he addressed to me. I now call on the representative of Cambodia, who wishes to make a statement. Mr. OUCH (Cambodia) (interpretation from French): Mr. President, allow me first of all to express to you my warmest gratitude for allowing me to speak at this formal meeting. I should like to take advantage of this opportunity, on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia and the entire Kampuchean people, once again to extend our profound gratitude to Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Secretary-General of the United Nations; to his Special Representative, Mr. Yasushi Akashi; to the Security Council; and to the international community, for the timely and impartial assistance that they have given to the suffering Kampuchean people. The people of Cambodia, the Royal Government of Cambodia, under the enlightened guidance of His Royal Highness Prince Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia, with the valuable assistance of the international community, has gone down a difficult but glorious path to reach its ultimate objective of national reconciliation, peace and reconstruction of the country. I am firmly convinced that the resolution adopted today will assist still further the consolidation of the peace process and of national reconstruction and the maintenance of peace, not only for Cambodia but also for the Asian region and for the entire world.

There are no further speakers inscribed on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on the agenda. The meeting rose at 12.45 p.m.