Cambodia: the Lessons and Legacy of UNTAC, SIPRI Research Report
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Cambodia The Legacy and Lessons of UNTAC Stockholm International Peace Research Institute SIPRI is an independent institute for research into problems of peace and conflict, especially those of arms control and disarmament. It was established in 1966 to commemorate Sweden's 150 years of unbroken peace. The Institute is financed mainly by the Swedish Parliament. The staff and the Governing Board are international. The Institute also has an Advisory Committee as an international consultative body. The Governing Board is not responsible for the views expressed in the publications of the Institute. Governing Board Professor Daniel Tarschys, MP, Chairman (Sweden) Sir Brian Urquhart, Vice-chairman (United Kingdom) Dr Oscar Arias Sinchez (Costa Rica) Dr Gyula Horn (Hungary) Dr Ryukichi Imai (Japan) Professor Catherine Kelleher (United States) Dr Marjatta Rautio (Finland) Dr Lothar Riihl (Germany) The Director Director Dr Adam Daniel Rotfeld (Poland) Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Pipers vag 28, S-170 73 Solna, Sweden Cable: SIPRI Telephone: 46 81655 97 00 Telefax: 46 81655 97 33 SIPRI Research Report No. 9 Trevor Findlay 1XFORD UNIVERSITY PRE Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6DP i Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bombay Calcutta Cape Town Dares Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madras Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi Paris Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York @ SIPRI 1995 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press. Within the UK, exceptions are allowed in respect of any fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms and in other countries should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above The paperback edition of this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without thepublisher'sprior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Findlay, Trevor. Cambodia: the legacy and lessons of UNTAC/ Trevor Findlay 4SIPRI research report; no. 9) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Cambodia-Politics and government-1975-. 2. United Nations. Transitional Authority in Cambodia. I. Title. 1. Series DS554.8.F57 1994 959.604-dc20 94-36156 ISBN 0-19-829186-8 ISBN 0-19-829185-X (pbk.) Typeset and originated by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddies Ltd., Guildford and King's Lynn Contents Preface vii ... Acknowledgements Vlll Acronyms X 1. The Cambodian peace process 1 Table 1.1. The four Cambodian factions and their military forces 2 2. The Paris Peace Accords 11 3. Implementation of the Paris Peace Accords 2 1 I. UNAMIC, the 'interim period' and Phase I of the 22 cease-fire 11. Planning for UNTAC 26 III. Deployment of UNTAC 33 TV. Phase 11 36 Table 3.1. States providing military personnel and civil police 28 to UNAMICrnTAC Table 3.2. Cantoned and disarmed forces of the Cambodian 38 factions as of 10 September 1992 Figure 3.1. UNTAC organizational chart 30 Figure 3.2. UNTAC military deployments in Cambodia 42 after October 1992 4. Other pre-election aspects of implementation 52 I. Repatriation 52 11. Electoral enrolment 54 111. The Supreme National Council 57 IV. Control of the civil administration 5 9 V. Human rights and law and order 63 VI. The economic situation 68 VII. Rehabilitation 69 VIU. Mine awareness and de-mining 72 Table 4.1. Membership of the Supreme National Council, 5 8 January 1993 5. The 1993 election 75 Table 5.1. The May 1993 election results 84 vi CAMBODIA: LEGACY AND LESSONS OF UNTAC 6. Formation of a new government and other post-election developments 7. An assessment of UNTAC's performance I. Introduction 11. Success or failure? HI. The factors behind UNTAC's success 8. The lessons of Cambodia I. The need for prompt deployment D. The indispensability of advance planning 111. The need for measured implementation IV. Organizational lessons V. Reaction to non-compliance of the parties VI. Supervision and control of the civil administration vn. The military VIII. The civil police IX. Other civilian personnel X. Human rights and law and order XI. Handling the economic impact XII. Press and information strategies xm. Lessons for negotiators 9. Conclusion Postscript Appendix. Documents on Cambodia, 1991-93 Final Act of the Paris Conference on Cambodia-Agreement on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Con- flict-Agreement concerning the Sovereignty, Independence, Territorial Integrity and Inviolability, Neutrality and National Unity of Cambodia-Declaration on the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Cambodia-Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia Chronology, 1970-94 Bibliography Index The United Nations peacekeeping operation in Cambodia between 1991 and 1993 is, so far, the most successful of the many such operations established by the UN since the end of the cold war. Although commonly called a peacekeeping operation, the Cambodia enterprise was much more. While comprising elements of traditional UN peacekeeping, such as monitoring a cease-fire, it was in fact a comprehensive plan to bring peace, democracy, constitutionality, human rights and the beginnings of reconciliation and reconstruction to Cambodia. It was the most ambitious and expensive such exercise the UN has ever undertaken, pushing the limits of peacekeeping even beyond those envisaged in 'second-generation' models and estab- lishing new precedents in international law and practice. Despite its flaws, it provides new benchmarks for future UN operations. This study is one of the first comprehensive assessments of the UN oper- ation in Cambodia to be published. Based on research conducted over two years in Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Sweden and the USA, including interviews with key participants in the UN operation, it examines the peace process that led to the Paris Peace Accords, dissects the Accords them- selves, discusses the establishment and operation of the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) and other elements of the peace process, and assesses the factors that contributed to the qualified success of the operation. Perhaps most important, it seeks to draw lessons from the Cambodia experience for future operations of similar size and nature. Finally it examines the troubling events that have occurred in Cambodia since the departure of UNTAC in late 1993 and the inferences that may be drawn about the durability of negotiated peace settlements once the UN blue helmets depart. The study is the first published product of SIPR17s Project on Peace- keeping and Regional Security, established in mid-1993. It is also one of a series of studies of UN peacekeeping operations conducted by the Canadian Centre for Global Security in Ottawa as part of its International Peace- keeping Programme funded by the Ford Foundation. The Foundation's funding of the study is gratefully acknowledged. SIPRI and the Canadian Centre for Global Security are delighted to be able to present Trevor Findlay's study jointly as a contribution to the present international debate on the future of multilateral peacekeeping. Dr Adam Daniel Rotfeld Dr David Cox Director Acting Director SIPRI Canadian Centre for Global Security Acknowledgements This study is based on research conducted in Australia and Sweden, a field trip to Cambodia from 21 to 27 May 1993, a workshop in Ottawa held on 19 November 1993 organized by the Canadian Centre for Global Security (CCGS), and subsequent interviews at UN headquarters in New York. In Australia I spoke with Lieutenant-General John Sanderson, Military Commander of UNTAC; Susan Aitkin, Unesco; Terry-Anne O'Neil, Australian Defence Intelligence Organisation; and Simon Baker, Overseas Services Bureau. In Cambodia, as well as visiting polling booths in Phnom Penh and Takhmau, UNTAC headquarters for press briefings and Cheung Ek (the 'killing fields' monument), I spoke with General and Mrs Sanderson; Nick Warner, Australian Mission; Stephen Marks, Basil Fernando and Jamie Medzel, UNTAC Human Rights Component; Mara Moustaphine, Telstra Overseas Telecommunications Corporation, Australia; Jennifer Ashton, UN High Commission for Refugees; Kwok Kwan Hung, Managing Director, Rasrnei Kampuchea newspaper; Khoun Sodary, Deputy Editor, Prachea- chuii newspaper; Susan Aitkin, Unesco; Kim Wiesener, Politilcen, a Danish newspaper; David Sporl, Canadian Mission; Sorasak Pan, Chief, EDP Section, UNTAC; Lieutenant-Colonel Damien Healy, UN Mixed Military Working Group Secretariat; Major John Flanagan, New Zealand Defence Force, Cambodian Mine Action Centre; Lieutenant-Colonel Marty Studdert, UNTAC Force Communications Unit; and Sek