GENERAL ASSEMBLY ESTABLISHES UNITED NATIONS OFFICE OF VERIFICATION IN EL SALVADOR

10 May 1996

Press Release
GA/9073

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ESTABLISHES UNITED NATIONS OFFICE OF VERIFICATION IN EL SALVADOR

19960510 Aim Is to Assure Continued Implementation Of Peace Accords; Costs to Be Met, if Possible, from Existing Resources

The General Assembly this morning established, through 31 December, a small United Nations Office of Verification in El Salvador, to follow up on implementation of pending aspects of the peace accords in that country. Acting without a vote, the Assembly decided that the Office, to be headed by an official at an appropriate political level, should be funded within existing resources, taking into account that the Secretary-General would submit proposals by 15 May on possible means of absorption in the programme budget for the biennium 1996-1997.

By the draft, introduced by the representative of Mexico, the Assembly also called upon Member States to continue to provide assistance to the Government and people of El Salvador and to support the efforts of the United Nations for peace-building and development in that country.

With its adoption of the draft, the Assembly, on recommendation of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), also authorized the Secretary- General to enter into commitments up to $1 million (net) for the continuation of a United Nations presence in El Salvador through 31 December. The Committee would also revert to the issue of appropriations at the latter part of its May session, in the light of the Secretary-General's proposals on possible means of absorption of the costs of the Office in the biennium budget.

The representative of Italy, on behalf of the European Union and of Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania and the Slovak Republic, expressed his conviction of the need to maintain a qualified United Nations presence in El Salvador. He said the Union was also ready to agree on the financing of the operation with additional assessments, if it proved impossible to absorb those expenditures through savings from the programme budget.

Other statements in support of the continued United Nations presence in El Salvador were made by the representatives of the United States and Spain. The representative of El Salvador also spoke.

General Assembly Plenary - 1a - Press Release GA/9073 118th Meeting (AM) 10 May 1996

Also this morning the Assembly, reopening the relevant agenda item, allocated to its Fifth Committee the consideration of an item on an appointment to fill a vacancy on the Committee on Contributions.

In addition, the Assembly acknowledged notification by the Secretary- General of the Security Council's removal of an agenda item on Haiti. It also postponed consideration of a draft text which would change the title of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Restrictive Business Practices to "Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy".

The Assembly will meet again at a date to be announced.

Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly met this morning to resume its consideration of the situation in Central America. Before it are a draft resolution on the proposed establishment of a United Nations office of verification in El Salvador, as well as related reports of the Fifth Committee and the Secretary- General.

The draft resolution (document A/50/L.72) proposes the establishment of a small United Nations office of verification in El Salvador to follow up implementation of pending aspects of the peace accords in El Salvador through 31 December. The office would be financed from within existing resources. Member States would be called upon to continue to provide assistance to the Government and people of El Salvador and to support United Nations efforts aimed at peace-building and development in the country.

That text is sponsored by Colombia, Mexico, Spain, United States and Venezuela.

A statement on the draft's programme budget implications contained in the report of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) on the matter (document A/50/951) states that should the Assembly adopt the draft resolution, the Secretary-General would be authorized to enter into commitments in an amount up to $1 million (net of staff assessment) under the peace-keeping and special missions section (section 3) of the 1996-1997 programme budget. The Secretary-General would be requested to report to the Assembly no later than 15 May on how the costs could be absorbed in the budget.

In his report (document A/50/935), the Secretary-General states that "in the absence of additional appropriations, or a commensurate reduction in other mandates, I will not, to my regret, be in a position to carry out activities in El Salvador beyond the end of MINUSAL's current mandate [30 April]". Elsewhere in the report, he states that "the mandate of MINUSAL draws to a close amid signs that El Salvador's steady progress towards the rule of law based on modern jurisprudence could experience setbacks". Despite the substantial progress made by the Mission of the United Nations in El Salvador (MINUSAL) and the Government's reiterated will to comply fully with its commitments under the peace accords, the verification responsibilities assumed by the United Nations will not be completed by the Mission's end. In light of this, the Secretary-General proposes the establishment of the verification office.

Much of the concern expressed by the Secretary-General in his report centres on the problems of public security in El Salvador. According to the report, there remain persons who operate outside the legally established structure of the National Civil Police. High-ranking Salvadoran officials

General Assembly Plenary - 3 - Press Release GA/9073 118th Meeting (AM) 10 May 1996

continue to interfere in strictly operational aspects of policing, thereby altering the established chain of command of the National Civil Police. Despite the fact that the National Civil Police was designed to include mechanisms to monitor professional and ethical standards, "some three years since its initial deployment, these units are still floundering".

The work of the office of the National Counsel for the Defence of Human Rights has achieved steady consolidation in the last year, the report states, but it has not been problem-free. Among the setbacks it has faced is "the difficulty of some government officials in understanding its lawful role". Further, the ratification of the constitutional reforms and secondary legislation in fulfilment of the binding recommendations of the Commission on the Truth -- which uncovered widespread and egregious human rights abuses in the country's past -- remains in a state of paralysis.

Concern is also expressed in the report about the recent emergency legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly aimed at fighting crime. Such legislation includes elements which "undermine the judicial reform process and could render invalid some aspects of the peace accords already implemented or awaiting implementation, as well as violating rights and guarantees protected by El Salvador's Constitution and international instruments". The Secretary- General terms this "a step backwards in the specific areas of the presumption of innocence, non-retroactively of criminal law, extrajudicial confessions and the treatment of youthful offenders". The Government's proposed legislation on social defence would, if implemented, also threaten due process.

Some progress has been made in the area of land transfer, the Secretary- General reports. However, negotiations concerning the transfer of "social infrastructure" such as schools and clinics are likely to be slowed by owners who do not wish to sell or have fixed an inflated asking price. Another potential problem is the harshness of terms of credit and the scarcity of technical assistance. Concerning the Fund for the War-Wounded and Disabled, "a potentially destabilizing situation has arisen because of the exclusion of a significant number of family members unable to produce the requisite documentation to receive their benefits". The Secretary-General expresses the hope that the Government will promptly take steps to address the needs of those people, thus, contributing to reconciliation in society.

Regarding electoral matters, the Secretary-General states that concrete progress both in terms of long-term reform and preparation for the 1997 legislative and municipal elections has been insufficient. "With the voter registration period scheduled to conclude in eight months, I urge members of all parties to redouble their efforts to ensure the legitimacy of the 1997 elections."

The MINUSAL had inherited some of its tasks from the United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador (ONUSAL) when it was established in May 1995

General Assembly Plenary - 4 - Press Release GA/9073 118th Meeting (AM) 10 May 1996

upon the conclusion of the latter's mandate. The ONUSAL was set up by the Security Council in May 1991 to monitor all agreements reached between the Government of El Salvador and the Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN), following 12 years of civil war which cost the lives of some 75,000 people.

El Salvador: Draft Resolution GUSTAVO ALBIN (Mexico) introduced, on behalf of its co-sponsors, the draft resolution on the situation in Central America which called for the establishment of a mechanism known as the United Nations Office of Verification (ONUV). Mr. Albin said the co-sponsors of the draft were convinced that the implementation of peace in El Salvador had reached a key stage. For that reason, the continued presence of the United Nations was essential. It was imperative that the peace process in El Salvador, described as one of the most successful of the United Nations, would end successfully. LORENZO FERRARIN (Italy), on behalf of the European Union and of Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania and the Slovak Republic, said that over a five-year period, the direct involvement of the United Nations had made a fundamental contribution to the transitional process of Salvadoran society. Thanks to the satisfactory conduct of the presidential, legislative and local government elections in May 1994, that process had given the country a renewed stability, based on democratic values and respect for human rights. Exactly one year ago, responding to the recommendations of the Secretary-General and to requests of the Government and the FMLN, ONUSAL was transformed at the end of its mandate into a mission adapted to the improved situation, and, therefore, less burdensome to the United Nations budget. The new mission was able to adequately assure the presence of the international community and the direct support of the United Nations for the peace process, especially in the areas that proved to be most critical in the implementation of the Chapultepec Agreements: public security, constitutional and legislative reform, land transfer programme and transfer of the rural human settlements. He said the Assembly agreed, with the full consensus of all Member States, on the need to continue assistance to El Salvador in the verification of the implementation of the peace accord. That was the reason for the establishment of MINUSAL. The European Union believed that the attitude shown by the parties committed to the implementation of the Chapultepec Agreements had fully proven that the peace process was irreversible. One of the many lessons that could be learned from the United Nations experience in El Salvador was the need in multi-functional operations for there to be continuity between peace-keeping, preventive diplomacy and post-conflict peace building, in a general context where development issues must be addressed through constant and coordinated interventions.

General Assembly Plenary - 5 - Press Release GA/9073 118th Meeting (AM) 10 May 1996

He said the European Union was aware of the work still to be completed. There was a need to verify that every aspect of the peace agreement was implemented. In particular, he noted the importance of the reform of the legal system and other legislative reforms, of security, of land transfer, of transfer of human settlements and reintegration of ex-combatants. In the view of the European Union, special attention must be paid to the reform of the electoral system. Alongside encouraging signs, namely, the approval of the bill creating the national civil registry and its Organic Law, there were shortcomings in the long-term reform and in the preparation of the legislative and local government elections for 1997. The European Union would support the electoral reform, which constituted the most significant step towards complete democratization. He said the European Union was, therefore, convinced of the need to maintain a qualified United Nations presence in the country. Today's resolution, which established the United Nations Verification Office (ONUV), would help the parties fulfil their commitments and deserved full support. The operation was of the same nature as those operations referred to by the letter of the Secretary-General to the President of the General Assembly, circulated as document A/5/891, in which he alerted Member States to the implication of requesting extended mandates, without, at the same time, providing adequate additional funding. As a major contributor to the United Nations regular and peace-keeping budget -- assuring at present 50 per cent of the actual cash-flow -- the European Union was aware of those implications.

He said it was not possible at the current stage to have a clear understanding whether it was necessary to have additional appropriations or whether it could be reasonably expected that the expenses for ONUV would be partially absorbed "within the existing resources". The European Union was ready to agree on the financing of the operation with additional assessments, if it proved not possible to absorb those expenditures through savings from the programme budget. To that extent, it would not be ultimately possible to carry out those activities within the existing resources.

HERBERT D.GELBER (United States) said he was proud to co-sponsor the draft resolution establishing the United Nations Office of Verification (ONUV). The United Nations had played an essential role in bringing peace to El Salvador. Its outstanding work -- first through ONUSAL, its successor MINUSAL, and now ONUV -- had set the standard by which all other United Nations missions would be judged.

There should be no doubt; the Salvadoran peace process had been an overwhelming success. Authorizing the United Nations presence was the capstone to an enormous effort by the Salvadoran Government, the FMLN, and the entire Salvadoran people. It was imperative that the parties bring the same dedication and courage that they showed in negotiating the Chapultepec Accords to completing their implementation. As he did not envision an extension to this mission, the parties must fulfil their commitments without delay. The

General Assembly Plenary - 6 - Press Release GA/9073 118th Meeting (AM) 10 May 1996

United States would continue to do all that it could -- in concert with the international community -- to assist the parties to that end.

He said he was pleased with the action in the Fifth Committee regarding the financing of ONUV, which was an important consideration, and he looked forward to the Secretary-General's report requested by the Fifth Committee.

JUAN ANTONIO YAÑEZ-BARNUEVO (Spain) said one of the most savage conflicts in the region was finally over. The new stage of the United Nations presence in El Salvador marked the definitive culmination of the transition process towards both real national reconciliation and the consolidation of democracy. The peace process in El Salvador constituted one of the best examples of what the will of people and the commitment of the parties could achieve. The international community needed to continue assisting El Salvador so that the peace accords would be firmly consolidated.

The United Nations Office of Verification (ONUV) signalled the confidence that the international community felt towards the implementation of the peace process in El Salvador, Mr. Yañez-Barnuevo continued. That peace process was irreversible. However, the consolidation of democracy required respect for the rule of law. For that reason, the reform of the judicial system, as well as the efforts to counteract criminal activities, must continue. He supported the creation of a National Council of Public Security. His country was assisting El Salvador with advisers and instructors for the National Academy of Public Safety, as well as the National Civil Police.

The Assembly, without a vote, adopted the draft resolution on the United Nations Office of Verification in El Salvador.

GUILLERMO A. MELENDEZ-BARAHONA (El Salvador) noted the Secretary- General's expressed concern over the availability of financial resources to sustain a United Nations presence in El Salvador. The United Nations was going through a financial crisis, often described as a "crisis of payments". The crisis affected previously established peace-keeping operations and new operations. The United Nations had carried out work of the first order in El Salvador in its contribution to the peace process.

He said the people and Government of El Salvador had reaffirmed their commitment to the peace process. There were possible instances, however, of commitments of non-compliance with the commitments in the peace process which called for a continued United Nations presence. Thus, the draft resolution establishing the United Nations Office of Verification had considerable value.

He acknowledged the good will evident in the Secretariat in considering the financial implication of the draft resolution establishing the Office. The approval of the draft should remove any doubts about the pursuit of the cause of peace in El Salvador.

* *** *

General Assembly Plenary - 7 - Press Release GA/9073 118th Meeting (AM) 10 May 1996