Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-GeneralMarch 31 (Bloomberg) -- Cambodia should maintain its cooperation on human rights, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said after Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen criticized the work of UN officials.
"The secretary general trusts that the Cambodian authorities will continue to offer their cooperation" to UN human rights bodies, Annan said in a statement, issued yesterday. UN mandates for the country "have been renewed in full consultation with the Cambodian government."
Hun Sen, in comments yesterday, described human rights envoys as "gods without virtue" and "long-term tourists," Agence France-Presse reported from the capital, Phnom Penh. The prime minister earlier this week called for the removal of Yash Ghai, the UN special human rights representative, after Ghai said human rights workers were restricted in their activities.
Cambodia was criticized by the UN and U.S. late last year after opposition politicians and human rights leaders were charged and tried for defaming the government. Hun Sen in January ordered courts to drop charges in the latest cases and ended a dispute with Sam Rainsy, the main opposition leader, who returned from self-imposed exile in France in February.
There is a continuing need for the UN's "essential work" in Cambodia, Annan said. Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said yesterday she wanted her officials to receive the full cooperation of the Cambodian government, according to the UN's Web site.
Political Changes
Ghai said earlier this week that political changes aren't taking place in Cambodia, AFP reported at the time. The envoy, in a report in December drawn up after meeting Cambodian non- governmental organizations, said the government had increased restrictions on freedom of expression, the UN said.
Cambodia and the UN are working together to organize the trials of leaders of the Khmer Rouge accused of genocide.
Annan earlier this month nominated seven international judges to sit on special tribunals that will hear the cases of between five and 10 surviving members of the Khmer Rouge, which ruled from 1975 until its overthrow in 1979.
The Khmer Rouge drove people out of Cambodia's cities to work at forced-labor collective farms as it attempted to impose a communist agrarian state. An estimated 1.7 million people died during its rule.
Hun Sen criticized the UN for failing to take action during the regime's years in power, AFP reported.
"At the time the Khmer Rouge were killing people why didn't you bark?" Hun Sen said yesterday, according to the news agency.
"The secretary general trusts that the Cambodian authorities will continue to offer their cooperation" to UN human rights bodies, Annan said in a statement, issued yesterday. UN mandates for the country "have been renewed in full consultation with the Cambodian government."
Hun Sen, in comments yesterday, described human rights envoys as "gods without virtue" and "long-term tourists," Agence France-Presse reported from the capital, Phnom Penh. The prime minister earlier this week called for the removal of Yash Ghai, the UN special human rights representative, after Ghai said human rights workers were restricted in their activities.
Cambodia was criticized by the UN and U.S. late last year after opposition politicians and human rights leaders were charged and tried for defaming the government. Hun Sen in January ordered courts to drop charges in the latest cases and ended a dispute with Sam Rainsy, the main opposition leader, who returned from self-imposed exile in France in February.
There is a continuing need for the UN's "essential work" in Cambodia, Annan said. Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said yesterday she wanted her officials to receive the full cooperation of the Cambodian government, according to the UN's Web site.
Political Changes
Ghai said earlier this week that political changes aren't taking place in Cambodia, AFP reported at the time. The envoy, in a report in December drawn up after meeting Cambodian non- governmental organizations, said the government had increased restrictions on freedom of expression, the UN said.
Cambodia and the UN are working together to organize the trials of leaders of the Khmer Rouge accused of genocide.
Annan earlier this month nominated seven international judges to sit on special tribunals that will hear the cases of between five and 10 surviving members of the Khmer Rouge, which ruled from 1975 until its overthrow in 1979.
The Khmer Rouge drove people out of Cambodia's cities to work at forced-labor collective farms as it attempted to impose a communist agrarian state. An estimated 1.7 million people died during its rule.
Hun Sen criticized the UN for failing to take action during the regime's years in power, AFP reported.
"At the time the Khmer Rouge were killing people why didn't you bark?" Hun Sen said yesterday, according to the news agency.
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