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Canada’s Role in the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Cambodia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 March 2016
Extract
Commenting on canada’s participation in the activities of the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Cambodia, Mr. Paul Martin, the then Secretary of State for External Affairs, stated in the House of Commons on May 27, 1965 as follows:
… Canada has been a member of the Commission for almost 11 years under two different Governments. I believe our record on the Commission is one that has commended itself to the people of Asia, and has commended itself to most people in Canada who have looked at this problem objectively. As Secretary of State for External Affairs I say, and I say with pride, that the officers of the Department and the officers of the Department of National Defence who have served on these commissions have rendered to Canada and as well as to the cause of peace, a distinct service.
- Type
- Notes and Comments
- Information
- Canadian Yearbook of International Law/Annuaire canadien de droit international , Volume 8 , 1970 , pp. 307 - 323
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Canadian Yearbook of International Law/Annuaire canadien de droit international 1970
References
1 H.C. Deb. (Can.), 1965, Vol. II, at 1719.
2 Under Article I of the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Vietnam of July 20, 1954, “a provisional military demarcation line” was fixed along the 17th parallel dividing the country into two “regrouping zones,” “the forces of the Peoples Army of Vietnam to the North of the line and the forces of the French Union to the South.” Although Laos escaped partition, the Pathet Lao acquired official status in the Geneva Agreement as “Pathet Lao Fighting Units” and was given 120 days to regroup its forces within the provinces of Phong Saly and Sam-Neua. As a result of the Geneva Conference of 1961, the Pathet Lao was left in effective control of almost all of Laos except the Mekong valley. For Cambodia, however, the Geneva Agreement of 1954 made no provision for a regrouping zone for the Khmer Resistance forces. For text of the Geneva Agreement, see Cmd. 9186 and 9239 or Background Information relating to South-east Asia and Vietnam 67–99 (4th ed.) (Committee on For. Rel., U.S. Senate, 1968).
3 Eden described the scene as follows: “By nine o’clock that evening (July 20) the armistice agreements for both Vietnam and Laos were almost complete. The Cambodians skillfully held out till last, when we were exhausted. Molotov and I as joint Chairmen, together with Mendè France, held a long meeting with them and the Viet Minh. It was a gruelling session. At two o’clock on the morning of the 21st, after hard bargaining and some surprising last-minute concessions by Molotov, we succeeded in resolving the remaining differences between them.” SirEden, Anthony, The Memoirs of Sir Anthony Eden: Full Circle 141 (1960).Google Scholar For a succinct analysis, see Smith, Roger M., Cambodia’s Foreign Policy 62–68 (Cornell Univ. P., Ithaca, N.Y., 1965).Google Scholar
4 Artide entitled “Canada and Cambodia” in External Affairs, Vol. XX, No. is, December 1968, at 518.
5 Cmd. 9458, First Progress Report of the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Cambodia for the period ending December 31, 1954, at 4.
6 Ibid., 6.
7 Ibid., 5–6.
8 Cmd. 9534, Second Progress Report of the I.C.S.C. in Cambodia for the period January ι to March 31, 1955, at 13–15.
9 Ibid., 37–38.
10 Gmd. 9671, Fourth Interim Report of the I.C.S.C. for the period April 1 to September 30, 1955, at 8–9.
11 Ibid., 17. The Commission’s final comment on the election was “The Commission did not supervise the elections, but had only an observatory role. Therefore, it has no right to draw any conclusions on the elections as a whole. It considers, however, that the settlement foreseen under Article 6 of the Geneva Agreement has been completed.” It may be added that between 1955 and the Spring of 1970, the Sangkum’s power had been uncontested and the leadership of Sihanouk unchallenged. The Sangkum won all the seats in all three elections held in 1955, 1958 and 1962. Throughout the long period Sihanouk exercised complete control over the Sangkum, the parliament, the government, and exerted predominant influence upon his parents, the King and Queen. Cf. Herz, Martin F., A Short History of Cambodia 97–116 (1958)Google Scholar: Leiter, Michael, “The Cambodian Election,” in Asian Survey, Vol. 2, No. 7, September 1962.Google Scholar
12 Cmd. 9671, at 24–25.
13 Cmd. 253, Fifth Interim Report of the I.C.S.C. in Cambodia for the period October 1, 1955 to December 31, 1956, at 5–15. The Canadian draft resolution also included among reasons for winding up the Commission the recognition that “Cambodia has attained complete and effective sovereignty over the whole of its national territory and has established conditions of political and social stability” and that “Cambodia has become a member of the United Nations.”
14 Ibid., 13–15.
15 Quoted in Leifer, Michael, “Cambodia in Search of Neutrality,” Asian Survey, Vol. 3, No. I, at 59.Google Scholar
16 Text of Nuhru-Sihanouk Joint Communique of March 18, 1955, in Cmd. 9534, Second Progress Report of I.C.S.C, at 39.
17 The agreement took the form of an exchange of notes between the Ambassador of the United States in Phnom Penh and the Cambodian Minister for Foreign Affairs dated May 16, 1966; for text, see Cmd. 9579, at 12–15 or United States Treaties and Other International Agreements, Vol. 6, Pt. 1, at 995–1006 (Washington, 1956).
18 Cmd. 9579, Third Interim Report of the I.C.S.C. in Cambodia for the period April 1 to July 28, 1955, at 5–17, especially text of the note from the chairman of the I.C.S.C. to the Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs of July 5, 1955. Cmd. 9579, at 8–11.
19 Ibid., 10.
20 Ibid., 6.
21 Cmd. 253, 5th Interim Report of I.C.S.C. in Cambodia, at 19–20; Cmd. 526, 6th Interim Report of the I.C.S.C., at 7–8; for text of letters from the Cambodian government giving details concerning border violations and military build-up and reinforcement of military installations in South Vietnam along the Cambodian borders, see Cmd. 526, at 14–32.
22 Cmd. 526, at 38.
23 Ibid., 41–45. Minutes of extraordinary meeting of the I.C.S.C. held on May 9, 1957.
24 Oppenheim, I, International Law 859 (7th ed. Lauterpacht, , 1948).Google Scholar
25 Ibid., 38–41. For views of the chairman, see ibid., 45–47.
26 Ibid., 48. For text of majority report, see ibid., 49–51; and text of minority report, at 51–52.
27 Cmd. 887, 7th Interim Report of the I.C.S.C. in Cambodia for the period January 1 to December 31, 1958, at 2 and 19–22.
28 The minutes of this extraordinary meeting of the Commission are found in Cmd. 887, at 120–39. For the views of the Canadian Commissioner, see especially at 128; 129–30; 131; 133; 137; 139; 142; 151; and 153.
29 Eighth Interim Report of the I.C.S.C. in Cambodia for the period January 1, 1959, to December 31, 1960, at 4–5; text made available to the author by courtesy of the Department of External Affairs, Ottawa.
30 Ninth Interim Report of the I.C.S.C. in Cambodia from January ι, 1961, to December 31, 1962, at 2–11; text made available to author by courtesy of the Department of External Affairs, Ottawa.
31 UN Doc. A/PV. 864–907, at 221.
32 The only text in English is found in Roger Smith, M., Cambodia’s Foreign Policy, Appendix A, at 326–38.Google Scholar
33 Special Report of the I.C.S.C. in Cambodia, June 15, 1964. Text made available by courtesy of the Department of External Affairs, Ottawa.
34 H. C. Deb. (Can.), 1964, Vol IV, at 3487, and Martin, Paul: “Canadian Foreign Policy in a Changing World,” in External Affairs, Vol. 16, No. 6, June 1964, at 273.Google Scholar
35 Special Report of the I.C.S.C, June 15, 1964, and Minority Report attached thereto. Text made available by courtesy of the Department of External Affairs, Ottawa.
36 Annual Report of the Department of External Affairs, Ottawa, 1967, at 30; and Annual Report for 1968, at 23–24.
37 H.C. Deb. (Can.), 1966, Vol. I, at 896; Ibid., Vol. VI, 5745; H.C. Deb. (Can.), 1967, Vol. V, at 5313; Ibid., 5375; Ibid., 5724–25; ibid., Vol. VI, at 5788; and ibid., 6067. For example, External Affairs Minister Paul Martin stated that “there have been some discussions about the utilization of the commission in connection with the border question... . The Canadian government continues to endeavour to have this matter considered by the commission. We feel strongly that if it were and if the commission were able to deal with the question involved, we would be able to take steps to more effectively guarantee the neutrality of Cambodia.” H.C. Deb. (Can.), 1967, Vol. V, at 5724–25.
38 H.C. Deb. (Can.), 1967–68, Vol. VII, at 8057.
39 External Affairs, Vol. XX, No. 12, December 1968, at 518–19.
40 Security Council, Official Records, S/PV. 1119, at 12–13. A contrary view was expressed by the Cambodian Representative at a meeting of the Security Council on May 12, 1964: “As far as we are concerned, we can only praise the efficiency of the body which emerged from the 1954 Geneva Conference. I refer to the International Commission for Supervision and Control composed of the representatives of Canada, India, and Poland. Since 1954, it has been operating uninterruptedly in Cambodia and is thoroughly acquainted with the situation in that country. Under its terms of reference, it is well placed, moreover, to keep abreast of the problems involving the neutrality and territorial integrity of Cambodia.” Ibid., 2.
41 For summary, see The New York Times, May 16 and 17, 1970. A statement issued by the State Department of the United States on May 18, 1970 indicated that “the United States Government also supports the conference’s call for reactivation of the International Control Commission”: 62 Dept. State Bull. 714–15 (1970).
42 Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Vol. 6, No. 41, October 12, 1970, at 1350.