LAO MONG HAY
UPI Asia Online
Column: Rule by Fear
At the end of May this year, the London-based environmental organization Global Witness published a report in which it held a "kleptocratic elite" close to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen responsible for illegal logging. A week later, instead of addressing the issues that had been raised, the Cambodian government simply banned all national media from publishing any extract from the report, and Hun Neng, Hun Sen's brother and provincial governor, was quoted as saying that "if (Global Witness staff) come to Cambodia I will hit them until their heads are broken."
Almost at the same time Supreme Buddhist Patriarch Tep Vong defrocked Tim Sakhorn, the abbot of a monastery, without due process as required in the Buddhist monastic code for disciplining monks. According to the code, an accused monk can defend himself before a community or committee of his peers. Without citing any evidence, Tep claimed that Sakhorn's "conduct was contrary to Buddhist discipline" and his misconduct impaired relations between Cambodia and Vietnam. He alleged that Sakhorn had been using the monastery for "propaganda" against Vietnam, a country with which the Cambodian government has close links.
Upon his defrocking, Sakhorn was taken away in an unmarked car and deported to Vietnam, his country of origin. He was deported without due process of law to investigate his alleged wrongdoings, in flagrant violation of his rights as a Cambodian citizen. Since this incident, the abbot has disappeared.
The drastic and arbitrary measures against Global Witness and Tim Sakhorn are but the latest developments in the history of extremism that runs deep in the political culture of present and past regimes in Cambodia. In 2006, Hun Sen refused to see Prof. Yash Ghai, the U.N. special representative for human rights in Cambodia, following the latter's negative report on human rights in the country. Instead, Hun Sen requested that the U.N. secretary-general dismiss Ghai. In June of this year, without denying the veracity of yet another negative report by Ghai, Hun Sen, who had refused yet again to see him to discuss the issues Ghai had raised, simply decided not to accept any longer his mandate in Cambodia and called on the U.N. Human Rights Council to review Ghai's appointment.
A few months earlier, alarmed by the extent of land-grabbing and the prospect of a "peasant revolution," Hun Sen declared a "war against land-grabbers." This issue could have been addressed through due process of law if the courts and other competent institutions were independent and functional.
Hun Sen in 2004 introduced an "iron fist" policy, allegedly aimed at ridding the judiciary of corruption, and a few judges and other judicial officers were tried. However, they were acquitted for lack of evidence. This drastic measure followed his 1999 order to rearrest people released by the courts in defiance of the principle of res judicata, i.e., double jeopardy. No remedies have been proposed to correct this arbitrary use of the justice system.
In March 1997, Sam Rainsy, currently the opposition leader, and his followers staged a peaceful demonstration against the "communist judiciary." The government did not like their action, and four grenades were thrown at the demonstrators, killing 19 protestors and injuring more than 100. In July of the same year, the two ruling coalition parties at the time, the Cambodian People's Party and FUNCINPEC, whose relations had been tenuous over sharing power, resorted to arms to fight each other in the streets of Phnom Penh, resulting in the annihilation of FUNCINPEC as a political force, despite their pledge under oath not to resort to force to settle disputes.
Extremism was also the hallmark of previous regimes. Prince Sihanouk, when he was head of state in the 1960s, suddenly decided, without prior planning, to nationalize the banking and other important sectors of the economy following a private bank scandal in which the government lost a substantial deposit. At the same time, he alleged that U.S. aid and the "dollar god" were corrupting influences and, as a measure to end that corruption, refused to receive substantial U.S. aid. He also cut off diplomatic ties with the United States. All these measures and others eventually led the country into turmoil and to Sihanouk's downfall.
In 1970, Gen. Lon Nol resorted to force, instead of peaceful means, to rid the country of the sanctuaries and bases of communist Vietnamese forces in the border regions, thereby engulfing the country in the Vietnam War. He also made a drastic decision to overthrow Sihanouk and the monarchy.
The Khmer Rouge emerged as the victors of that war in 1975, communist rulers who went to even much greater extremes. They were not happy, for example, with Cambodia's feudal, corrupt and unjust society at the time and rushed to destroy it. They were not happy with townsfolk and were not able to feed them. They thus forced them to the countryside at gunpoint to till the land and grow their own food until their death. They also alleged that money was corrupting. They therefore just abolished it. Furthermore, if they were not happy with someone, they simply killed him.
Now Cambodia has swung from extreme communism to capitalism which, in the absence of the rule of law, has gone to the opposite extreme. In the society destroyed by the Khmer Rouge, the biggest landholding was 132 hectares, and large landholdings were rare. Now Cambodian society has quickly become a feudal society ruled by a corrupt oligarchy under a democratic cloak in which the powerful and their cronies own up to tens, or even hundreds of thousands, of hectares of land during a time when the population has doubled and landlessness has increased. Cambodia's countryside very much resembles the English countryside during the period of enclosure.
Ironically, even Nuon Chea, the Khmer Rouge ideologue now about to face trial for the Killing Field atrocities, has said that the society he and his comrades destroyed was better than the present one.
--
(Lao Mong Hay is currently a senior researcher at the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong. He was previously director of the Khmer Institute of Democracy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and a visiting professor at the University of Toronto in 2003. In 1997, he received an award from Human Rights Watch and the Nansen Medal in 2000 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.)
Almost at the same time Supreme Buddhist Patriarch Tep Vong defrocked Tim Sakhorn, the abbot of a monastery, without due process as required in the Buddhist monastic code for disciplining monks. According to the code, an accused monk can defend himself before a community or committee of his peers. Without citing any evidence, Tep claimed that Sakhorn's "conduct was contrary to Buddhist discipline" and his misconduct impaired relations between Cambodia and Vietnam. He alleged that Sakhorn had been using the monastery for "propaganda" against Vietnam, a country with which the Cambodian government has close links.
Upon his defrocking, Sakhorn was taken away in an unmarked car and deported to Vietnam, his country of origin. He was deported without due process of law to investigate his alleged wrongdoings, in flagrant violation of his rights as a Cambodian citizen. Since this incident, the abbot has disappeared.
The drastic and arbitrary measures against Global Witness and Tim Sakhorn are but the latest developments in the history of extremism that runs deep in the political culture of present and past regimes in Cambodia. In 2006, Hun Sen refused to see Prof. Yash Ghai, the U.N. special representative for human rights in Cambodia, following the latter's negative report on human rights in the country. Instead, Hun Sen requested that the U.N. secretary-general dismiss Ghai. In June of this year, without denying the veracity of yet another negative report by Ghai, Hun Sen, who had refused yet again to see him to discuss the issues Ghai had raised, simply decided not to accept any longer his mandate in Cambodia and called on the U.N. Human Rights Council to review Ghai's appointment.
A few months earlier, alarmed by the extent of land-grabbing and the prospect of a "peasant revolution," Hun Sen declared a "war against land-grabbers." This issue could have been addressed through due process of law if the courts and other competent institutions were independent and functional.
Hun Sen in 2004 introduced an "iron fist" policy, allegedly aimed at ridding the judiciary of corruption, and a few judges and other judicial officers were tried. However, they were acquitted for lack of evidence. This drastic measure followed his 1999 order to rearrest people released by the courts in defiance of the principle of res judicata, i.e., double jeopardy. No remedies have been proposed to correct this arbitrary use of the justice system.
In March 1997, Sam Rainsy, currently the opposition leader, and his followers staged a peaceful demonstration against the "communist judiciary." The government did not like their action, and four grenades were thrown at the demonstrators, killing 19 protestors and injuring more than 100. In July of the same year, the two ruling coalition parties at the time, the Cambodian People's Party and FUNCINPEC, whose relations had been tenuous over sharing power, resorted to arms to fight each other in the streets of Phnom Penh, resulting in the annihilation of FUNCINPEC as a political force, despite their pledge under oath not to resort to force to settle disputes.
Extremism was also the hallmark of previous regimes. Prince Sihanouk, when he was head of state in the 1960s, suddenly decided, without prior planning, to nationalize the banking and other important sectors of the economy following a private bank scandal in which the government lost a substantial deposit. At the same time, he alleged that U.S. aid and the "dollar god" were corrupting influences and, as a measure to end that corruption, refused to receive substantial U.S. aid. He also cut off diplomatic ties with the United States. All these measures and others eventually led the country into turmoil and to Sihanouk's downfall.
In 1970, Gen. Lon Nol resorted to force, instead of peaceful means, to rid the country of the sanctuaries and bases of communist Vietnamese forces in the border regions, thereby engulfing the country in the Vietnam War. He also made a drastic decision to overthrow Sihanouk and the monarchy.
The Khmer Rouge emerged as the victors of that war in 1975, communist rulers who went to even much greater extremes. They were not happy, for example, with Cambodia's feudal, corrupt and unjust society at the time and rushed to destroy it. They were not happy with townsfolk and were not able to feed them. They thus forced them to the countryside at gunpoint to till the land and grow their own food until their death. They also alleged that money was corrupting. They therefore just abolished it. Furthermore, if they were not happy with someone, they simply killed him.
Now Cambodia has swung from extreme communism to capitalism which, in the absence of the rule of law, has gone to the opposite extreme. In the society destroyed by the Khmer Rouge, the biggest landholding was 132 hectares, and large landholdings were rare. Now Cambodian society has quickly become a feudal society ruled by a corrupt oligarchy under a democratic cloak in which the powerful and their cronies own up to tens, or even hundreds of thousands, of hectares of land during a time when the population has doubled and landlessness has increased. Cambodia's countryside very much resembles the English countryside during the period of enclosure.
Ironically, even Nuon Chea, the Khmer Rouge ideologue now about to face trial for the Killing Field atrocities, has said that the society he and his comrades destroyed was better than the present one.
--
(Lao Mong Hay is currently a senior researcher at the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong. He was previously director of the Khmer Institute of Democracy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and a visiting professor at the University of Toronto in 2003. In 1997, he received an award from Human Rights Watch and the Nansen Medal in 2000 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.)
8 comments:
What i've just read is a backward of democracy. Cambodia was never a democratic state. Since the french departure in the 50s, Cambodia has been spiraling down.
I'm aslo reading nothing but negative results from the government. Surely there has be to be at least one positive? Can you identify it?
One Positive ?
......At least Cambodia enjoys Peace with our Bang-Aun Yuon Illegal Immegrant 4 millions.
Jeyo ! Kampuchea Vietnam Samaki =
Si-Ang-Karm !
Jeyo ! Jeyo ! Jeyo !
To me, the article demonstrates how political dispute has been resolved in Cambodia, not about positive or negative aspects of Cambodian leadership. Excluding Paris Peace talk assisted by foreign nations and United Nations, force, as I would agree with Dr. Lao, has been viewed as one of the most effective in resorting political disagreements and bring about changes in the government.
Dr. Lao, I do agree with your political analysis based on the historical facts. Unfortunately, American dropped its mission to stop communist expansion in 1975 leading to a huge genocide in Cambodia. Simelar situation will happen again in Iraq and Afganistan. Genocide in Iraq is already started before American pulling out. They are now talking about China's military buildup and threat to US security using US trade dificit money. It looks like another war will start again in S/E Asia or China will take over the entire region threating Japan and Korea. Taiwan will be gone by then.. Your comments please...
Cambodian-american observer in US
Yeah I can see the WWIII coming in the near future.. especially when the problem of peak oil has become more apparent.. The world economy will fall down drastically just like twin tower on 9/11.. a resource war will burst out.. China will take the side with the middle east and fight US and its alliance.. Here in S/E Asia, Vietnam and Thailand will take the apportunity to conquer the long-wanted Cambodia land.. what will happen??
Just a pessimistic imagination.. hope it's never going to be true.
It is so easy to focus on the negative extremist aspect of Cambodian political culture but what about those positive extremist that help maintain Cambodia as a nation! It is the foreigners that help shape Cambodia's extremist political culture and if these foreigners don't watch out and it will happen again!
Beside the point, Cambodian internal political pressure is always weak and they can't even resist the outsider intervention and this is the reason why the Vietcong and the Thaicong are having the upper hand when dealing with AH HUN SEN Vietcong slave right now on issues such as the Khmer Krom people, trade, border, illegal migrant...!
If Cambodian external political pressure is strong and no Vietcong or Thaicong would dare to touch Cambodia! To make matter worst, Cambodia are forced to deal with the Super Power and all the Super Powers are a friend of the Thaicong and the Vietcong and Cambodia always get squeeze out for political expedient and Cambodian people will once again suffer without end.
Mr. Cambodia-American Observer in US (10:49PM)
Greetings!
War between big nations in this part of Asia is not very likely. There is too much at stake for all of them. To start a war is easy, but to end it the way one wants is difficult. Look at the Lon Nol war which ended in desaster for us all. Look at the Vietnamese war against the Khmer Rouge which made Vietnam lose the peace and tens of thousands of lives (55,000 lives in Cambodia?)for some ten years. Furthermore, Vietnam was condemned worldwide. AND that war contributed to the collapse of Communism and also of the Soviet Union.
It is very unlikely that China would start any war, even against Taiwan if and when the latter becomes independent (as it will?). That war would halt its growth and development, and different non-Chinese nations within China could rise up. Other countries could also react and become hostile to China.
There could be war by proxy and those big powers could use poor countries like Cambodia as their pawns as in the past. That why we have to be very careful not to openly side with one power as counterweight against another. Let's be firendly to all nations. Let's not be so attracted or addicted to aid, for aid is an instrument of the foreign policy of donors.And no donor country' government has ever fallen if that aid is a waste of its taxpayers's money.
For instnce, we should not get our army involved in any US-initiated exsercise or operation even for peacekeeping. We would be better off to keep a low profile over the one China policy. Why "blast" Taiwan when it applies for the UN membership? To seek favour from China. Any other nation has made such a posture openly like us?
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
To 7:18AM Dr.LAO Mong Hay!
I disagree with some of your views. The one that I am disagreeing is the peacekeeping issue! Cambodia as nation must contribute to peace and stability to world with or without US involvement! Tell me why do we have United Nations for?
On the issue of Taiwan, Taiwan will not go anywhere! Taiwan will always remain as an Island country next to China for the next million years! What else can Taiwan people do unless they can dig up Taiwan and move it somewhere else! ahahhahah!
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