Cambodian PM halts crackdown [but where is the change?]

Flanked by Kong Korm and Cheam Channy, Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy, center, addresses members of the Sam Rainsy Party at its headquarters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia Friday, Feb. 10, 2006 shortly after he returned home after spending one year in exile in France. After a tumultuous year, Prime Minister Hun Sen has halted a political crackdown that the United States, the United Nations and human rights groups sharply condemned as the most serious attack on Cambodia's fragile democracy in years.In recent weeks, the authoritarian leader has freed critics whom he jailed and reconciled with his longtime political foe, opposition leader Sam Rainsy. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

Sudden democracy turn leaves nation puzzled

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- After a tumultuous year, Prime Minister Hun Sen has halted a political crackdown that the United States, the United Nations and human rights groups sharply condemned as the most serious attack on Cambodia's fragile democracy in years.

But nobody quite knows what to make of Hun Sen's reversal.

In recent weeks, the authoritarian leader has freed critics whom he jailed and reconciled with his longtime political foe, opposition leader Sam Rainsy. He has pledged democratic reforms, including abolishing the defamation law he used liberally over the past year to scare critics into silence.

While some human rights leaders, opposition politicians and diplomats have applauded the gestures, they caution that it's too soon to celebrate. In a country torn by civil war and cycles of crackdown and reconciliation, many question whether Hun Sen's reversal represents genuine change or is part of a ploy to consolidate his grip on power.

"It's all very confusing. At the moment, it seems we're a happy kingdom," said Naly Pilorge, director of the prominent Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights. "But it's going to be a long time before people feel safe to speak out."

Fear of speaking out against authorities has been ingrained in Cambodians since the reign of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, when the country's most outspoken and educated -- lawyers, judges and members of civil society -- were targeted among the 1.7 million people killed.

For many Cambodians, the past year exacerbated their fears. Hun Sen jailed prominent human rights figures, a journalist and a union leader, repeatedly sending the message that criticism would not be tolerated.

Chief among his critics was Sam Rainsy, the leader of Cambodia's only significant opposition party. But Rainsy seems now to have mellowed. The once vitriolic politician, known for accusing Hun Sen of everything from corruption to murder, returned last month from a year in self-imposed exile after striking a deal with the prime minister.

"Since my return, there has been a new culture of dialogue with the government, which entails mutual respect. This is quite new," Sam Rainsy said during an interview at his party headquarters as a team of bodyguards donated by Hun Sen waited outside.

Asked whether he feared for his safety, Sam Rainsy replied unhesitatingly: "Yes."

A year ago, Sam Rainsy was stripped of his parliamentary immunity and fled Cambodia to escape arrest in a political defamation suit brought by Hun Sen. In December, he was sentenced in absentia to 18 months in prison -- a verdict sharply criticized by Washington and the U.N.

But last month, the sentence was overturned by a royal pardon requested by the prime minister after Sam Rainsy recanted his accusation that Hun Sen was behind a deadly 1997 grenade attack on anti-government protesters.

Now, the two longtime enemies chat regularly by cell phone.

"Sometimes, I still can't believe it," said Sam Rainsy, whose parliamentary immunity was restored last month. "Hopefully, it will last."

Alongside Hun Sen's gestures to Sam Rainsy, the prime minister has taken clear steps to tighten his control of the government.

The parliament, which is dominated by Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party, last week approved a parliamentary voting change that allows the ruling party to pass legislation with a simple majority instead of a two-thirds vote.

The move renders Hun Sen's coalition partner, the royalist Funcinpec Party, powerless to influence legislation and prompted Prince Norodom Ranariddh, head of Funcinpec, to quit as head of the National Assembly last week.

The voting change gives Hun Sen's party "100 percent control" of the government and parliament, said Funcinpec lawmaker Maonh Saphan. And Hang Puthea, head of an election monitoring group, added: "It's like a political coup."

Many observers say that Hun Sen's sudden hospitality toward Sam Rainsy and other critics only highlights his grip on power and the lack of an independent judiciary. It was the prime minister, not a judge, who initiated the pardon for Sam Rainsy and freed his prominent critics.

In mid-January, he ordered the release on bail of four activists jailed on defamation charges brought by the prime minister after they allegedly criticized a border treaty he had signed with Vietnam.

Some question whether freeing of the activists marks a true step forward.

"The release from prison of people who never should have been arrested and jailed in the first place should not be seen as constituting meaningful progress," Human Rights Watch said in a recent statement.

Another surprising move came last month, when Hun Sen called for the criminal defamation code to be abolished. Rather than jailing critics, he has proposed redefining defamation as a civil offense punishable by fine.

"Criticism should not be prosecuted," Hun Sen explained, adding that he wanted "to promote profound freedom of expression" in Cambodia.

The prime minister also vowed last week to crack down on corruption and accelerate reforms in the judicial system -- pledges he has failed to keep in the past. He made the comments at an annual meeting of the international donors that fund Cambodia's economy.

At that meeting, foreign donors committed US$601 million (euro500 million) to support Cambodia this year, against the strong urging of human rights groups, who worry that Hun Sen's gestures were tactical moves to keep foreign aid flowing.

The United States and other donors said they opened their wallets to encourage Hun Sen's steps toward democracy.

"After a very bad year for Cambodian democracy, there is now an opening," said U.S. Deputy Ambassador Mark Storella. "There's an expectation now that what's happened was important and can't simply be reversed."

But, Hun Sen still needs to make concrete commitments -- institutional changes like following through on the proposal to abolish criminal defamation, Storella said.

"We saw a year of the judicial system being used for political purposes, and so far we haven't seen any concrete changes to stop that from happening again," Storella said. "The prime minister has made some commitments that are important, but where is the change?"