History
United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia
The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was the United Nations mission that oversaw Cambodia from 1992 to 1993.[1] It ran the election of May 1993, and its mandate ended in September 1993, when the new Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia came into force.[1]
The Paris Agreements
The Paris Agreements, signed on October 23, 1991, asked the UN Security Council to set up the transitional authority and laid out its tasks. During the transition Cambodia was represented by the Supreme National Council, chaired by Prince Norodom Sihanouk; the Secretary-General's Special Representative could give binding directions to the existing administration.[1]
Mandate and staff
The Security Council created UNTAC in resolution 745 of February 28, 1992, for no longer than 18 months. The mission had seven parts, covering the military, civilian police, civil administration, elections, human rights, the return of refugees and rehabilitation. Its military part was planned at 15,900 troops of all ranks.[1] Yasushi Akashi of Japan was the Special Representative, and Lieutenant-General John Sanderson of Australia commanded the troops; they arrived in Phnom Penh on March 15, 1992.[1]
Ceasefire and cantonment
The plan called for the forces of the four Cambodian parties to gather in cantonment sites and be disarmed in a second phase of the ceasefire from June 13, 1992. The Party of Democratic Kampuchea, the Khmer Rouge, did not cooperate, and it said it would stay out of the elections unless conditions it judged neutral were in place.[1]
Refugees
The UN refugee agency counted more than 360,000 people in the border camps who might return.[1] Britannica puts the number who came home in 1992 and 1993 at more than 300,000.[2] Site 2, the last and largest of the camps, closed on March 30, 1993.[1]
Election of 1993
More than 4.6 million people registered to vote, about 96 percent of those estimated to be eligible. The vote ran from May 23 to 28, 1993, and 4,267,192 people cast ballots, 89.56 percent of those registered.[1] FUNCINPEC won 58 seats in the Constituent Assembly, the Cambodian People's Party 51, the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party 10 and MOLINAKA 1. The Security Council endorsed the results in resolution 840 of June 15, 1993.[1]
The new constitution
The Constituent Assembly adopted a new constitution on September 21, 1993. UNTAC's mandate ended on September 24, when Sihanouk promulgated it, making Cambodia a constitutional monarchy. Sihanouk then named Prince Norodom Ranariddh of FUNCINPEC first prime minister and Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party second prime minister.[1]
Assessments
Views of the mission differ. The UN record presents an election held as planned and a new government formed under the agreements.[1] Cambodge Mag calls UNTAC a political failure, since the Khmer Rouge never carried out the accords, while crediting its troops with clearing mines and protecting people.[3]
References 3
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 United Nations Peacekeeping, United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC): Background (undated)
- ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica, Cambodia: Vietnamese intervention (undated)
- ↑ Cambodge Mag, Cambodia history: the second fall of Phnom Penh on 7 January 1979 (undated)