Vol. 398 No. 5
2 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he intends raising with the Credentials Committee, before the next United Nations General Assembly, the question of the continuing representation of Cambodia at the General Assembly by the so-called Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea which includes the Khmer Rouge.
20 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether the EC Commission has considered any initiatives to help ensure that the Khmer Rouge will not participate in any new régime; and whether he has considered the possibility that the European Community could file a suit against the Khmer Rouge in the international courts on grounds of genocide.
21 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government have considered any initiative they could take through the international community to secure the prosecution under the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge, who were responsible for the deaths of an estimated one million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
27 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will take the initiative at the Autumn Session of the United Nations to challenge the continuing presence of the representatives of Democratic Kampuchea which includes the Khmer Rouge in a seat at the United Nations; and if he will sponsor or support a motion calling for their expulsion.
34 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government accept that the Khmer Rouge should be brought before the World Court to be charged with having committed acts of genocide; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
43 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the EC intends to take any action as a result of the breakdown of the peace talks on the future of Cambodia; and if it is still the Government's policy that the United Nations should be responsible for Cambodia until free elections are held.
44 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will challenge the current seating arrangements of the Khmer Rouge dominated Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea at the United Nations.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 2, 20, 21, 27, 34, 43 and 44 together.
I fully share the concerns of Deputies on the issue of Cambodia. I would refer Deputies to my statement in the Dáil on 14 November 1989 and my answer to Parliamentary Questions on 7 February 1990.
As I indicated on those occasions, Government policy calls for an immediate end to hostilities and for negotiations leading to a just, lasting and comprehensive settlement based on the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia. This settlement must provide for the Cambodian people themselves to select their rulers in internationally-supervised, free and fair elections. It must exclude any possibility of a return to power of the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge, which has been guilty of outrageous crimes against the people of Cambodia.
The international discussions on a settlement to the Cambodian tragedy are ongoing and, while difficulties have been experienced in the negotiating process, real progress has also been made in the last few months. Discussions have been greatly assisted by the initiative promoted by Australia for a major role for the United Nations, not only in the supervision of elections, but in the interim period preceding such elections. The Government fully support such an enhanced United Nations role and have decided to contribute the sum of £100,000 to the Trust Fund which has recently been established by the Secretary-General to finance the start-up costs of such a major UN operation, including the cost of planning missions which are already being undertaken by the United Nations Secretariat.
There is now, I believe, a considerable degree of agreement among the Cambodian parties and within the international community that, in the interim period leading up to elections, Cambodian sovereignty should be vested in some form of Supreme National Council which, in its composition, would be representative of the Cambodian people as a whole. It is my sincere hope that agreement can be reached in the near future on the establishment of such a body, which could also nominate Cambodia's delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. Such a delegation would, I am confident, be acceptable to most United Nations member states. It would certainly have Ireland's support.
However, if some form of Supreme National Council has not been created by the time the General Assembly meets next September, it will be necessary to address the current unsatisfactory state of affairs whereby the Cambodian seat is held by the so-called National Government of Cambodia, a coalition which includes the Khmer Rouge and which is not representative of the Cambodian people. I do not believe that this situation should be allowed to continue. The Irish delegation to the Assembly will, therefore, work closely with likeminded countries with a view to changing the situation, possibly by trying to bring about a situation where the Cambodian seat is left temporarily vacant. I believe that, in the absence of a delegation truly representative of Cambodia, the option of leaving the Cambodian seat temporarily vacant deserves support.
I share the abhorrence of Deputies at the crimes carried out by the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge against their own people. I have great sympathy with the view that those involved should be brought before an appropriate tribunal to answer for these crimes.
The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide makes the intentional destruction in whole or in part of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group an international crime. The Convention provides for the trial of persons charged with such offences by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed — that is, in this case, by a competent tribunal of Cambodia. However, in the absence of an internationally recognised government in Cambodia, the necessary international co-operation required to bring exiled Khmer Rouge leaders to trial in Cambodia is unlikely to be forthcoming.
While the Convention also provides the possibility of trial by an international penal tribunal, this is only a theoretical possibility, since there is at present no international penal tribunal with jurisdiction to try persons for genocide. Article IX of the Convention does provide for a role for the International Court of Justice, but only in the case of a dispute between individual States parties to the Convention. This condition cannot be fulfilled in the absence of a Cambodian Government in a position to be party to such a dispute.
The position, therefore, is that it is most unlikely that former Khmer Rouge leaders can be brought to trial until such time as there is an internationally recognised Government in power in Cambodia.
For the long suffering Cambodian people, the urgent necessity is to bring an end to the fighting and to allow them to live their lives in peace. They should be allowed to determine who their rulers should be, in free and democratic elections, and these rulers should have the fullest support of the international community in the major task of economic and social development which lies ahead. I intend to continue to do everything possible during Ireland's Presidency of the European Community to advance the prospects for a just and lasting peace in Cambodia.
I thank the Minister for his very comprehensive reply and warmly welcome what he appears to be saying — that he will work with allied countries to ensure that the Cambodian seat in the United Nations will be left vacant. My question asked if the Minister would be raising the issue at the Credentials Committee. Has he had advice on how to go about that? Can he raise the continuing representation on the UN by this so called coalition? How will he go about doing that? What are the legal implications for the UN of having a seat vacant, which I understand would be a precedent? How will he go about fulfilling the thrust of my question?
The seating arrangements for Cambodia in past years have not been acceptable to Ireland and when a vote was last taken on this issue in 1982 Ireland abstained on the basis that neither the coalition government of Democratic Kampuchea nor the administration of Phnom Penh had received any endorsement from the people of Cambodia. Our position continues to be that neither of the contenders for the Cambodian seat has a proper mandate to represent Cambodia since only a government appointed on the basis of free and fair elections could truly claim to have such a mandate. As I have already indicated, I favour the seat being held in the interim by a delegation nominated by some form of Supreme National Council who could be reasonably representative of the Cambodian people. If this is not possible I believe the option of leaving the seat vacant merits support on the basis that it does not give an unfair advantage to any of the Cambodian parties.
I must say to Deputy Owen that I cannot be more definite at present since I do not know the situation that will obtain in September. If the credentials presented by the Cambodian delegation are signed by a representative of a Supreme National Council the problem would be resolved since such credentials would be acceptable to most member states of the UN, including Ireland. If the credentials are signed by the so-called National Government of Cambodia they are likely to be challenged in the Credentials Committee of which Ireland is not a member. It is also possible that competing credentials might be presented by a delegation representing the Hun Sen Administration and such credentials would also probably be challenged in the Credentials Committee. It is not possible to say at present what the outcome of any voting in the Credentials Committee might be. As the Deputy knows, the report of the Credentials Committee goes to the General Assembly where Ireland is represented and the commendation of the committee in relation to the credentials of the Cambodian delegation could be challenged in the General Assembly. Again, it is impossible to predict the outcome of such a challenge.
In the circumstances, recognising the interest Deputy Owen has in this issue, all I can say at present is that the Irish delegation to the General Assembly will work with like minded countries to bring about a change in the present situation, possibly on the basis of leaving the Cambodian seat vacant. We cannot be more definite than that now because of the circumstances and how they might change.
In view of the information I received today that Prince Sihanouk has announced that he is taking "a leave of absence"— I use that term advisedly — from politics, will the Minister accept now that there is a greater urgency for him to give us an assurance that he will not participate in a vote in the autumn that would give any further accreditation to this coalition who now have not even the respectable face, as it were, of Prince Sihanouk who has gone on leave of absence, and for how long we have no indication? In view of that the Minister might consider sending an Irish diplomat to Cambodia. When diplomats were sent from European countries, those countries got a very clear picture of what was going on. I do not in any way diminish what the Minister has said, and I take his assurances that he, like us, is totally against the Khmer Rouge, but in view of this new change today he might consider sending somebody to Cambodia to report to him.
What Deputy Owen has said confirms the sensible approach I have adopted in reply to the seed question because of the changes in circumstances and developments that are taking place. I will certainly give every consideration to what Deputy Owen has had to say.
