UNITED NATIONS VERIFICATION OF GUATEMALA AGREEMENT TO BEGIN 3 MARCH
Press Release
SG/SM/6157
CA/128
UNITED NATIONS VERIFICATION OF GUATEMALA AGREEMENT TO BEGIN 3 MARCH
19970214 The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary- General Kofi Annan:The Secretary-General has today notified members of the Security Council, in a brief report issued as S/1997/123, that United Nations verification of the agreement on the definitive cease-fire signed by representatives of the Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) on 4 December 1996 will begin on 3 March 1997 -- "D-Day", according to the terminology used in the agreement itself. By this date, the United Nations verification mechanism will be in place with a full operational capacity. The Secretary-General welcomes this development as a positive indication of the will of the parties to the Guatemalan peace accords to see them fully implemented in the interest of a firm and lasting peace.
The commitments of the two parties under the provisions of the cease- fire agreement to be verified by the United Nations include: the formal cessation of hostilities; the separation of forces; and the demobilization of combatants of the URNG in assembly points specifically prepared for this purpose.
Under a mandate of the Security Council -- resolution 1094 (1997) of 20 January 1997 -- a group of 155 military observers and requisite medical personnel will be attached to the United Nations Verification Mission of Human Rights and of Compliance with the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights in Guatemala (MINUGUA), under the command of Brigadier General José Rodriguez Rodriguez (Spain), for a three-month period. On 11 February 1997, in a letter to the President of the Security Council, the Secretary-General proposed that the group be composed of personnel from the following 17 Member States: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Germany, India, Norway, Russian Federation, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.
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