§ Lord Brockwayasked Her Majesty's Government:
For what reason the British representative on the United Nations Human Rights Commission abstained on the resolution, carried by 25 to 5, calling on the Government of El Salvador to negotiate with the Opposition an end to the civil war.
§ The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Lord Carrington)The resolution was tabled following the presentation of the report of the Special Representative on Human Rights in El Salvador. The United Kingdom delegate abstained on the grounds that we were not prepared to pre-judge the report of the United Kingdom observers being sent to monitor the elections in El Salvador, but made clear that we supported the extension of the mandate of the Special Representative for a further year.