DR.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

PROJECT
ON
UNITED NATIONS ADVANCE MISSION IN CAMBODIA

SUBMITTED BY:
SUBMITTED TO:
TRIVENDRA KUMAR SINGH
Dr. A.P SINGH
ROLL NO: 152
FACULTY OF LAW
SECTION B
DR. RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA
B.A. LLB (Hons.), SEMESTER IV
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

SIGNATURE OF STUDENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

SIGNATURE OF PROFESSOR

I owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. A.P SINGH , who found me capable for this research
project. I would also like to thank the almighty and my parents for their moral support
and my friends who are always there to extend the helping hand whenever and
wherever required.
I further extend my thanks to library staff of DR. RAM MANOHAR
LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY who helped me in getting all the materials
necessary for the project.

INTRODUCTION
In time Cambodia passed through various political and social changes and tried to adapt
variation of regimes right along with millions of deaths. Location is one of the most
essential identification of a country which brings political implementations. Cambodia
was affected by its location in terms of its border countries which are Thailand and
Vietnam. From 1811,Cambodia has suffered from the invasion of these two countries.
Between 1833 and 1840,much of the country was occupied by the Vietnamese; Cambodia
returned to Thai protection between 1847 and the imposition of French hegemony
in1863. Until gaining independence in1953, Cambodia had been exploited and colonized
for a hundred and fifty years by France.
During its colonial times, Cambodia was under the western provinces and was ruled
by a monarchy. The King Norodom Sihanouk proclaimed a constitution in 1947 under
which Cambodia would have a two-chamber parliament and an elected national
assembly. In 1953,Cambodia gained full independence.
Cambodia had affected by the war in Vietnam also it was bombed by United States
Forces in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1975 to 1979, the country was affected by a
completely different theoretical view of Pol Pot which was a blow of communism. In
Cambodia under Pol Pots understanding of the communism, the process of
asocial reconstruction was adapted. More than one million people died who were
opposing Pol Pot or supporting Vietnamese interests. Even if it seems like that in reality
both opponents and innocent citizens were persecuted and died. In late 1978, the Pol Pot
regime was overthrew by the National United Front for the Salvation of Kampuchea
(NUFSK) with the
Cambodia was one of the hardest cases of peacekeeping operations. The UNs
Mission of peacekeeping in Cambodia was endangered by violent clashes between the
factions of the country. In Cambodia there were four factions and all of them wanted to
rule over the country according to their political view and most of them were supported
by superior powers.
First one was FUNCINPEC which is French acronym for the National Union Front for
an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia that was the royalist party
of Prince Norodom Sihanouk under the leadership of his son. The second one was the
Khmer Peoples National Liberation Front (KPNLF) of former Prime Minister Son Sann.
Third one was the Party of Democratic Kampuchea (PDK, Khmer Rouge) under the
presidency of Khieu Samphan but Pol Pot still considerably involved in the background.
The last one was the State of Cambodia (SOC), with Prime Minister Hun Sen and
Communist party chief, Chea Sim.
As of 1991 the political party for this group was called the Cambodian Peoples Party
(CPP). These four factions created a political instability and as mentioned before, in
terms of stability and order there was no peace in the country. Also, the presence of
Vietnamese troops in Cambodia was the motive for confrontation between China and
Vietnam. Besides, the Security Council was affected by that situation. So the permanent

members of the Security Council had varied in terms of supporting factions for instance,
China was behind the Khmer Rouge, the Soviet Union supported Vietnam and France had
historic interests upon Cambodia. In 1979, when Vietnam intervened in Cambodia, the
Security Council first considered the question of Cambodia. Even the permanent five had
no common agreement upon Cambodia, the General Assembly decided to the withdrawal
of foreign forces and called for self-determination for its people. The post-colonial
implementations acted a major role here. The General Assembly decided that selfdetermination should come as a consequence after the years of colonialism and monarchy
in Cambodia so the country should decide its own future according to its citizens it means
that free and fair elections should be the goal of the UN peacekeeping mission.
Paris Conference
In July 1988, the representatives of the Phnom Penh government and the three
Cambodian opposition parties met informally in Indonesia. That first direct contact,
followed by another in February 1989, set the scene for the Paris Conference on
Cambodia. The Conference was held from 30 July to 30 August 1989 and was attended
by the representatives of all four Cambodian parties and of 18 other States: Australia,
Brunei Darussalam, Canada, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia,
Philippines, Singapore, Soviet Union, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Viet
Nam and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe was then chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Secretary-General Javier Prez de Cullar was present. France and Indonesia co-chaired
the Conference which, although mapping out a broad strategy to move towards peace,
was unable to agree on a comprehensive settlement. The major unresolved issues were
the power-sharing formula during a transitional period before elections and the drafting of
a new constitution, and the role of PDK. The conference was suspended without being
able to agree on an international mechanism to verify the withdrawal of Vietnamese
troops from Cambodia. That withdrawal, as announced by Viet Nam, was undertaken
without international verification in September 1989. In Phnom Penh, the government of
Mr. Hun Sen continued in power. Since May 1989, that government had been known as
the Government of the State of Cambodia (SOC).
Ceasefire
On 22 April 1991, the Secretary-General appealed jointly with France and Indonesia for a
temporary cessation of hostilities in Cambodia as a gesture of good faith. As a result, a
ceasefire went into effect on a voluntary basis and was generally observed over the next
several months as negotiations continued. Meeting in July, SNC decided to elect Prince
Sihanouk as its chairman. It also decided to send a letter signed by Prince Sihanouk
asking the United Nations to dispatch a survey mission to Cambodia. In response, on 8
August, the Secretary-General informed the Security Council of his intention to proceed
with the necessary arrangements. On 26 August, Prince Sihanouk wrote to the SecretaryGeneral asking A to have at least 200 United Nations personnel sent to Cambodia as
observers in September 1991 in order to assist SNC in controlling the ceasefire and the
cessation of foreign military assistance, as a first step within the framework of a
comprehensive political settlement.
Ceasefire violations
Until January 1992, the ceasefire was generally maintained. However, in Kompong

Thom, where forces of all four Cambodian parties were present, there were armed clashes
in January between forces of SOC and forces of PDK. UNAMIC deployed a military
liaison team to the area on 29 January. Although UNAMIC's presence contributed to
calming the situation, the atmosphere remained tense.
On 26 February, a United Nations helicopter on a reconnaissance mission in the
Kompong Thom area came under fire, and a member of the Australian contingent was
wounded. This was the first attack against United Nations peacekeepers in Cambodia.
UNAMIC immediately undertook an investigation

UNTAC ESTABLISHED
The second session of the Paris Conference on Cambodia met from 1 to 23 October 1991.
Cambodia was represented by SNC, with Prince Sihanouk as its Chairman. Also present
were the five permanent members of the Security Council, the six members of ASEAN,
Australia, Canada, India, Japan, Laos and Viet Nam. Yugoslavia attended in its capacity
as Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, replacing Zimbabwe in that capacity. The
peace plan that emerged from the Paris Conference became known as the Agreements on
a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict. The Agreements
consisted of a Final Act and three instruments: the Agreement on a Comprehensive
Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict; the Agreement concerning the
Sovereignty, Independence, Territorial Integrity and Inviolability, Neutrality and National
Unity of Cambodia; and the Declaration on the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of
Cambodia.
The Secretary-General informed the Security Council of the adoption of the Paris
Agreements on 30 October 1991. The Council welcomed the Agreements and noted the
intention of the Secretary-General to send a survey mission to Cambodia to prepare a
plan for the Council's approval. The Council also asked for a detailed estimate of the cost
of UNTAC, Aon the understanding that this report would be the basis on which the
Council would authorize the establishment of the Authority, the budget of which is to be
subsequently considered and approved in accordance with the provisions of Article 17 of
the Charter of the United Nations.
On 19 February 1992, the Secretary-General submitted to the Security Council the
implementation plan for UNTAC and subsequently submitted an indication of
administrative and financial aspects. By resolution 745 (1992) of 28 February, the
Security Council established UNTAC for a period not to exceed 18 months.
Meanwhile, UNAMIC continued to function until UNTAC became operational, at which
time the Mission and its functions were subsumed by UNTAC. The initial phase of
UNTAC's deployment began.
CONCLUSION
In tragic history of Cambodia, UNAMIC and UNTAC took their parts as inadequate
peace processes. At the beginning, peace was the supreme aim of these missions. The UN
pursues the goal of peace as a process of conflict management and situates its operational
concept as, also in daily basis, it considers how it can achieve peace. However, in later

stages of the mission the UN created a rapid change in Cambodia. In my opinion one of
the deficient part of the mission was that considering the historical background of the
Cambodia was missing. Therefore, the UN focused on only the present time and tried to
build a democratic Cambodia within several years. Besides, political parties were not
sufficient enough to provide a clear consent and democratic approach to the situation.
After UNTAC was signed,Khmer Rouge continues attacks which showed clearly the
inadequacy of the faction in terms of democratic understanding of the peace. I think that
the UN started to a reasonable mission for Cambodia but the process was not effective
and supreme as the mission. So, while UNTAC was withdrawing, Khmer Rouge stayed as
a potential threat to peace in the region.