The Paris Peace Accords and the UNTAC Era

20 March 2013

By Chea Sophal[1]

The Paris Peace Accords (PPA)have been a main tool in setting down a vision of a new Cambodia that would be built upon the foundations of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.  The Accords involved the process of bringing peace to Cambodia after years of civil conflict and the transitional government under U.N control namely the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).  

The Paris Peace Accords

Signing of PPA

The Paris Peace Accords (PPA)were signed on 23 October 1991 in Paris in order to end Cambodia’s civil war over the past 10 years from 1979 to 1991 and to include the four Khmer factions such as the State of Cambodia (SOC), Democratic Kampuchea (DK), FUNCINPEC (Front Uni National Pour Un Cambodge Independent, Neutre, Pacifique et Cooperatif –United National Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Co-operative Cambodia) and Khmer People’s National Liberation Front (KPNLF)to find common grounds for peace.  This Agreement allowed the establishment of a U.N transitional authority that shared power temporarily with representatives of the various factions in Cambodia.  The Accord was signed by 19 countries including Cambodia[2] in the Paris International Peace Conference on Cambodia held in Paris, France and it called for a Transitional Authority of the United Nations in Cambodia, which would carry out the UN peace keeping operation.  The PPA was made based on a “framework” agreement reached by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (IDEA 2003, p.50).

Main Commitments in PPA

The Agreement on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict dated 23 October 1991has three major commitments include as follows (ICG 1998, p.11):

1.     The concept of peaceful resolution of conflicts:

The Accord assigned their Cambodian and signatory countries of the pact to certain principles, including building up a liberal democracy operating under the rule of law as well as peaceful resolution of conflicts.  It linked demilitarization with promotion of electoral democracy.  The four Khmer armed forces involved in the civil war agreed to cease fire, disarm and demobilize ahead of elections while their political organizations would compete peacefully for the legitimate mandate in the upcoming elections in 1993(Hughes, Cambodia's Performance n.d., p.7).

2.     The establishment of a multi-party liberal democracy:

The provisions of the Paris Peace Accords outlined the UN Peace Keeping Mission to hold general elections for a 120-member assembly in May 1993.  One of the four parties, Khmer Rouge, which had signed the peace agreement, boycotted the elections because it accused the Phnom Penh Government of preventing a free and fair election. Then, the three main parties such as the Royalist FUNCINPEC Party, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party, remained contesting the elections.

The Accord put Cambodia on a process of democratic reconstruction and transition to a market economy and it provided Cambodian people with the right to choose their government through fee and fair elections organized in May 1993. As a result of the UNTAC presence, a constitutional monarchy was formed and King Sihanouk was assigned as Head of State.  The Government of co-prime ministers was established through power-sharing between the two parties, FUNCINPEC and CPP(EC 2004, p.14).

3.     Respect for human rights:

The Paris Peace Accords still remains relevant for Cambodians and those countries that are assisting the country until its vision is a reality for all Cambodian people.  The Accord required compliance by all factions to protect and promote the respect for human rights as an important part of the peace process. Article 15 of the Peace Accords under Part III expresses that all persons in Cambodia and all Cambodian refugees and displaced persons shall enjoy the rights and freedom embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments.

The mandate of UNTAC in the area of human rights was outlined in Section E of the UNTAC Mandate[3] through the establishment of a Human Rights Component with the responsibilities for fostering an environment in which respect for human rights and fundamental freedom was ensured (Findlay 1995, p.63).  UNTAC would also be involved in the investigation of human rights complaints and where appropriate provide corrective action.  

Democratic Development in the UNTAC Era

UNTAC was solely responsible for ensuring the implementation of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords on the comprehensive settlement in Cambodia. UNTAC had the following mandates:

·        To demobilize an agreed 70% of each faction's army and to send back the rest to the cantonments; ·        To take back the arms and to store them in the cantonments; ·        To enforce a ceasefire and to ensure that further military supplies were not channeled from China, Vietnam, ASEAN countries and other foreign sources; ·        To administer the country until an election in 1993; ·        To take over the defence, foreign affairs, public security, finance and information portfolios; and ·        To ensure that human rights are adhered to.

Article V of (Annex 2: Withdrawal, Cease-Fire and Related Measures)    Agreement on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict

The presence of UNTAC aimed at respect for human rights, organizing national election, military agreements, civil administration, maintenance of order and law, repatriation and resettlement of refugees and rehabilitation of Cambodian infrastructure.  UNTAC organized democratic elections in Cambodia from the ground up since the factional parties did not trust each other to implement any crucial element of the peace process.  Any election run by one of four parties in the Peace Agreement and monitored by the UNTAC would have been prone to serious exploitation or manipulation.   Therefore, it was absolutely vital that the UNTAC had to organize the electoral processes (Doyle and Sambanis 1999, p.22).

The U.N organized elections in 1993 laid down a democratic process in Cambodia. The U.N operation in Cambodia led to the creation of a liberal political framework that included a liberal constitution, an increase in the number of civil society activities and a surge of a more variety of outspoken media (Gainsborough 2011, p.303). Since then Cambodia engaged with more donors in order to build political legitimacy through a shaky democratic process[4].  The Supreme National Council (SNC) was the unique legitimate body and source of authority in which, throughout the transitional period, the sovereignty, independence and the unity of Cambodia are enshrined[5].  Under the Accord, a UNTAC civilian police component was responsible for ensuring that law and order be maintained and that human rights and fundamental freedoms be fully protected throughout Cambodia.[6]

During the UNTAC mandate, the peace process allowed the normalization of diplomatic relations and Cambodia received increased development assistance, and such assistance was extended to new political areas of the country such as the introduction of human rights principles and practices and the establishment of basic understanding and experiences with regard to multi-party democratic practices (Curtis 1993, p.22). 

Not long after the 1993 elections, escalation of political tension and violence took place in 1997 in which government forces loyal to Co-Prime Minister Hun Sen staged a coup that ousted his Co-Prime Minister Ranariddh, and a lot of leaders of the royalist troops were executed.  Royalist self-exiled politicians fled the bloody fighting and returned for the July 1998 elections in which they lost voter support for around 14% from 45.47 down to 31.70 in 1998.  It continued to decline to 20.75% and 5.05% in 2003 and 2008 respectively.  CPP gained support from 38.23% in 1993 to 58.11 in 2008.  For the last two elections, SRP remained steady with its support accounting for almost the same, 22% in 2003 and 2008.  BLDP and the Molinaka Party did not win any seats in 1998 and the last two subsequent elections.  Two new parties, HRP and NRP, emerged for competing 2008 election and as results they won 3 and 2 seats respectively.

Table 1: Cambodia Elections from 1993-2008

	May, 1993		July, 1998		July, 2003		July, 2008
Party	Number of Seats	Percentage of valid votes est	Number of Seats	Percentage of valid votes est	Number of Seats	Percentage of valid votes est	Number of Seats	Percentage of valid votes est
FUNCINPEC	58	45.47	43	31.7	26	20.75	2	5.05
Cambodian People's Party (CPP)	51	38.23	64	41.4	73	47.35	90	58.11
Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP)	10	3.81	-	-	-	-	-	-
Molinaka Party	1	1.37	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sam Rainsy Party (SRP)	-	-	15	14.3	24	21.87	26	21.91
Human Rights Party (HRP)	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	6.62
Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP)	-	-	-		-	-	2	5.62
Others	-	11.12	0	12.6	-	10.03	0	2.69
Total of Parliamentary Seats	120		122		123		123

Source: Consolidated data from (IPU 2011)

To sum up, the legacy UNTAC put in place includes the basics of a civil society, a freer press and a more politically aware populate than when it arrived.  In addition, it left a democratically elected legislature and coalition government of the three most favored political parties (FUNCINPEC, CPP and BLDP) in the country.

References

Curtis, G. (1993). Transition to What? Cambodia, UNTAC and the Peace Process. Geneva: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development .

Doyle, M. W., & Sambanis, N. (1999). Building Peace: Challenges and Strategies After Civil War. Washington: Princeton University.

EC. (2004). Cambodia Country Strategy Paper 2004-2006. Phnom Penh: European Commission.

Findlay, T. (1995). Cambodia: The Legacy and Lessons of UNTAC. Solna: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Gainsborough, M. (2011). The Future Autocracies in South East Asia: Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Taipe: University of Bristol.

Hughes, C. Cambodia's Performance. Birmingham: Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham.

ICG. (1998). Getting Cambodia Ready for Elections. Phnom Penh: International Crisis Group.

IDEA. (2003). Reconciliation After Violent Conflict. Stockholm: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

IPU. (2011). CAMBODIA: Radhsphea Ney Preah Recheanachakr Kampuchea (National Assembly). Retrieved February 10, 2012, from Inter-Parliarmentary Union: http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2051_03.htm

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[1]  Chea Sophal is taking the Doctoral Degree of Law (LLD) at Pannasastra University of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.  This is an extract from the term paper study on ‘The Paris Peace Accords and the Development of Democracy in Cambodia’ as part of the term paper submitted for the coursework under the Doctor of Law Programme on POL 712-Transnational Relations and World Politics

[2] The inclusive list of countries signing the Paris Peace Accords include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, the French Republic, the Republic of India, the Republic of Indonesia, Japan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

[3]Agreement on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict, Annex 1: UNTAC Mandate, Section E.

[4]A process that was not stable for the development of democracy in Cambodia since there have been restrictions on freedom of association and expression witnessed by arrests of human rights activists, human right defender and killing of journalists. Almost a dozen journalists were killed in Cambodia in the past two decades since the U.N sponsored elections were held in 1993. Namely, those murdered journalists were identified as Tho Cha Mongkul, Noun Chan, Ek Mongkul, Sao Chandara, Chet Doungdararith, Thun Bunly, Pech Em, Ou Savoeun, Khem Sambo, Chou Chetharith, Hang Serei Odom, and foreign journalist Michael Senior (RFA 2012).

[5] Agreements on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict, Section III, Article 3

[6] Agreement on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict, Annex 1: UNTAC Mandate, Section B(5/b)