Letter Dated 2 June 1998 from the Secretary-General Addressed to the President of the Security Council

S/1998/506
15 June 1998

I write with reference to the letter dated 31 March 1998 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Papua New Guinea to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council regarding developments in Bougainville (S/1998/287) and to the subsequent statement made by the President of the Security Council on 22 April 1998 on behalf of the Council (S/PRST/1998/10). In that statement, the Council strongly supported the Agreement on Peace, Security and Development on Bougainville, signed at Lincoln University, New Zealand, on 23 January 1998 and, noting that the Agreement called for the United Nations to play a role in Bougainville, requested me to consider the composition and financial modalities of such involvement by the United Nations.

Concurrently with his letter to the President of the Security Council, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Papua New Guinea, Mr. Roy Yaki, wrote to me on 30 March requesting that I deploy a United Nations observer mission to monitor implementation of arrangements concluded in the Lincoln Agreement. Following receipt of this letter and of a subsequent letter addressed to me by the Papua New Guinea Special State Negotiator for Bougainville, Sir John Kaputin, inviting me on behalf of his Government to be represented at the signing ceremony of the Agreement Covering Implementation of the Ceasefire to be held at Arawa, Bougainville, on 30 April, I requested Mr. Francesc Vendrell, Director of the Asia and the Pacific Division of the Department of Political Affairs to represent me at the ceremony and, at the same time, to head a mission to assess how the United Nations could best carry out the functions assigned to it by the parties to the Lincoln and Arawa Agreements. (The Arawa Agreement is attached as an annex to the present letter.)

After examining the assessment mission's report, I have reached the conclusion that a United Nations presence in Bougainville would provide added confidence to the parties to the Agreement, facilitate the tasks assigned to the Peace Monitoring Group and assist in the promotion of the

political process to which the parties to the Agreements have committed themselves. I might add that this conclusion is fully shared, not only by the parties, but also by the Governments contributing to the Peace Monitoring Group. I therefore wish to inform the Security Council of my

willingness to respond positively to the requests from the parties and of my intention, if the Security Council has no objection, to establish a United Nations Political Office in Bougainville, based in Arawa. I will keep the Council regularly informed of the work of the Office. The Office will perform the following functions, as spelled out in the Lincoln and Arawa Agreements:

(a) Work in conjunction with the Peace Monitoring Group, while maintaining the right to make its own observations and assessments;

(b) Monitor and report on the implementation of the Lincoln and Arawa Agreements, including the activities of the Peace Monitoring Group in relation to its mandate;

(c) Chair the Peace Process Consultative Committee, which comprises representatives of the parties and which the States contributing to the Peace Monitoring Group will be invited to attend. The functions of the Peace Process Consultative Committee include consulting on all aspects of the ceasefire and on breaches thereof, developing plans for the phased withdrawal of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) and of the Mobile Riot Squad of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, developing plans for the disposal of weapons and promoting public awareness and understanding of the peace process;

(d) Assist in other areas as agreed by the parties to the Agreements.

The Office would be headed by a Director and composed of two political and two military advisers plus international and local support staff. The associated financial implications of the Office are estimated at approximately $1.4 million for the period from June to December 1998. The financial modalities of this will be a matter for the General Assembly to determine in due course.

I should be grateful if you would kindly make the text of the present letter and its annex available to the members of the Security Council.

(Signed) Kofi A. ANNAN

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