In 1978, Vietnam invaded Cambodia (Kampuchea) and ousted the Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot. On December 31, 1978 and January 3, 1979, the government of Cambodia requested an urgent meeting of the Security Council to condemn the Vietnamese invasion. The Security Council considered a draft resolution that would have called for the immediate withdrawal of Vietnamese forces from Cambodia. However, the draft resolution was not adopted because of the negative vote of the Soviet Union.
The issue was then taken up by the General Assembly at the request of the member states of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)- Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. On November 14th, the General Assembly urged all parties to the conflict to cease hostilities forthwith. It called for all foreign forces to withdraw from Cambodia and appealed to all states to refrain from interfering in Cambodia's internal affairs. The General Assembly also resolved that the people of Cambodia should be able to choose their own government without outside interference or coercion. The Assembly appealed to all states and international organizations to provide humanitarian relief assistance to Cambodia's population.
In 1981, the General Assembly decided to convene the International Conference on Cambodia in order to find a comprehensive political solution to the Cambodian problem. The International Conference was held in New York from July 13th to July 17th. However, several states, including Vietnam, announced that they would not participate. The conference adopted the Declaration on Cambodia, which called for negotiations on a comprehensive political settlement to the Cambodian problem and set forth the basic elements of such a settlement. The Conference also established an ad hoc committee in order to assist the search for a solution. On October 21st, the General Assembly approved the results of the conference and decided that it should be reconvened at an appropriate time. The Assembly reiterated its call for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Cambodia; the restoration of Cambodia's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity; and the right of the Cambodian people to determine their own destiny. The Assembly also appealed for humanitarian relief assistance for Cambodians still in need, especially those along the Thai-Cambodian border and in holding centers in Thailand. These concerns were affirmed by the General Assembly in several resolutions throughout the 1980s.
In 1988, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar formulated several ideas for a settlement framework which were presented by his Special Representative to the four Cambodian parties (the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), the Front uni national pour un Cambodge independant, neutre, pacifique et cooperatif (FUNCINPEC), the Khmer People's National Liberation Front/Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (KPNLF/BLDP) and the Party of Democratic Kampuchea (PDK), as well as to other interested states during a mission to the region. The Secretary-General's proposals gave momentum to negotiations. The first face-to-face talks between the four Cambodian parties and Vietnam took place in Jakarta, Indonesia in July 1988. A second meeting was held in February 1989. On April 5th, a joint statement was issued by Vietnam and Cambodia. According to the statement, Vietnam would withdraw its forces from Cambodia by September of that year.
In July 1989, the Paris Conference on Cambodia was attended by 18 countries, the four Cambodian parties and the Secretary-General. Its goal was to facilitate the development of post-occupation Cambodia. No firm agreement was reached, however. In 1990, the Cambodian parties agreed to establish a Supreme National Council (SNC) that would be responsible for managing the country during the transitional period. Subsequently, the five permanent members of the Security Council started a series of high-level meetings on Cambodia. In August, they reached agreement on the main elements of a political settlement, which called for United Nations control and supervision of the country's administrative structures, followed by supervised elections. Despite these preliminary agreements, further negotiations were required before a final settlement was reached.
Civil unrest plagued Cambodia throughout 1996 as the members of the coalition government struggled to cooperate. In addition, the Khmer Rouge continued to conduct military operations against the government. There are currently local elections scheduled for 1997 and national elections for 1998.
Source: Basic Facts About the United Nations. Published by United Nations Department of Public Information. Copyright 1995 United Nations.
