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Cambodian Center for Human Rights PRESS RELEASE
Phnom Penh – 25 May 2010
Feed the future of human rights in Cambodia
Phnom Penh – 25 May 2010
Feed the future of human rights in Cambodia
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (“CCHR”) welcomes the announcement by the United States (“US”) Embassy in Cambodia that the Kingdom will be included in the “Feed the Future” initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (“USAID”). This initiative provides an important opportunity for the US Government to remind the Royal Government of Cambodia (“RGC”) of its human rights obligations under Cambodian and international law by including human rights conditions in this aid package.
Cambodia has received billions of dollars in aid from democratic countries since the intervention of the United Nations (“UN”) in the early 1990s. Yet the RGC has continued to violate the fundamental human rights of Cambodians, while senior officials have pilfered national resources for their own personal benefit. The crack down on freedom of expression continues, land and livelihoods are lost by the day, minorities remain excluded, and the judicial system remains corrupt and non-independent. It is time for democratic donor countries and their taxpayers to demand improvements in human rights and governance in Cambodia, in exchange for the assistance that supports those that the RGC has failed and serves to prop up the regime.
In April 2010, the CCHR welcomed the “tough love” by the US Government when it announced the suspension of a shipment of military vehicles to Cambodia following the deportation by the RGC of 20 ethnic Uyghurs to China in December 2009. That announcement was met with indifference by the RGC, and China stepped in to provide a military aid package that included a fleet of vehicles. However, despite the indifference of the RGC and Chinese opportunism, such a principled approach to aid is to be applauded. Donor governments must not be induced into a race-to-the-bottom in a battle for influence in Cambodia.
The RGC has shown increasing belligerence towards donors and development partners in recent months. Perhaps buoyed by the unconditional financial support of countries such as China, the RGC threatened to expel the UN Resident Coordinator in March over a UN statement on the rushed adoption of the Anti-Corruption Law by the National Assembly and Senate without adequate time for genuine debate. In April, the RGC also warned diplomats to “avoid interfering in the internal affairs of the host country,” claiming somewhat unconvincingly that Cambodian is not a “BANANA REPUBLIC”.
It is important to recall that the US, along with a number of other donor countries, pledged in the Agreements on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict to “promote and encourage respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cambodia… in order, in particular, to prevent the recurrence of human rights abuses.” With this in mind, the CCHR welcomes the draft bill put before the US House of Representatives yesterday which seeks to hold the RGC responsible – through the preclusion of US trade benefits to the Cambodian garment industry – for its deportation of the Uyghurs in December 2009. A statement from the office of William Delahunt, a Democratic Representative who, along with Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher, sponsored the bill stated that “[n]ations that expect economic benefits from the United States need to be accountable for their human rights records”.
Commenting on the obligations of donors, CCHR President Ou Virak stated: “the sun has set on unconditional aid; it is no longer enough to throw money at problems and hope that this government will act in the interests of the people. If the international community really wants to honour its commitment to Cambodia and to promote and encourage respect for human rights, they must make it clear to the RGC that rights violations are an expensive business and will hit them in the pocket. Doing nothing is tantamount to complicity.”
The CCHR urges the US government to continue its principled approach and ensure that the RGC undertakes to respect their human rights obligations under domestic and international law before finalising this substantial aid package. Moreover, the CCHR calls on all international donors – including China, France and Japan - to speak out when human rights violations occur in Cambodia, and ensure that the provision of aid to the RGC is not unconditional but includes safeguards that make continued financial support conditional on the respect for human rights.
For more information, please contact:
Ou Virak, President, Cambodian Center for Human Rights
Tel: +855 12 40 40 51
Email: ouvirak@cchrcambodia.org
Rupert Abbott, Director of Development, Cambodian Center for Human Rights
Tel: +855 17 50 07 78
Email: rupertabbott@cchrcambodia.org
Cambodia has received billions of dollars in aid from democratic countries since the intervention of the United Nations (“UN”) in the early 1990s. Yet the RGC has continued to violate the fundamental human rights of Cambodians, while senior officials have pilfered national resources for their own personal benefit. The crack down on freedom of expression continues, land and livelihoods are lost by the day, minorities remain excluded, and the judicial system remains corrupt and non-independent. It is time for democratic donor countries and their taxpayers to demand improvements in human rights and governance in Cambodia, in exchange for the assistance that supports those that the RGC has failed and serves to prop up the regime.
In April 2010, the CCHR welcomed the “tough love” by the US Government when it announced the suspension of a shipment of military vehicles to Cambodia following the deportation by the RGC of 20 ethnic Uyghurs to China in December 2009. That announcement was met with indifference by the RGC, and China stepped in to provide a military aid package that included a fleet of vehicles. However, despite the indifference of the RGC and Chinese opportunism, such a principled approach to aid is to be applauded. Donor governments must not be induced into a race-to-the-bottom in a battle for influence in Cambodia.
The RGC has shown increasing belligerence towards donors and development partners in recent months. Perhaps buoyed by the unconditional financial support of countries such as China, the RGC threatened to expel the UN Resident Coordinator in March over a UN statement on the rushed adoption of the Anti-Corruption Law by the National Assembly and Senate without adequate time for genuine debate. In April, the RGC also warned diplomats to “avoid interfering in the internal affairs of the host country,” claiming somewhat unconvincingly that Cambodian is not a “BANANA REPUBLIC”.
It is important to recall that the US, along with a number of other donor countries, pledged in the Agreements on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict to “promote and encourage respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cambodia… in order, in particular, to prevent the recurrence of human rights abuses.” With this in mind, the CCHR welcomes the draft bill put before the US House of Representatives yesterday which seeks to hold the RGC responsible – through the preclusion of US trade benefits to the Cambodian garment industry – for its deportation of the Uyghurs in December 2009. A statement from the office of William Delahunt, a Democratic Representative who, along with Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher, sponsored the bill stated that “[n]ations that expect economic benefits from the United States need to be accountable for their human rights records”.
Commenting on the obligations of donors, CCHR President Ou Virak stated: “the sun has set on unconditional aid; it is no longer enough to throw money at problems and hope that this government will act in the interests of the people. If the international community really wants to honour its commitment to Cambodia and to promote and encourage respect for human rights, they must make it clear to the RGC that rights violations are an expensive business and will hit them in the pocket. Doing nothing is tantamount to complicity.”
The CCHR urges the US government to continue its principled approach and ensure that the RGC undertakes to respect their human rights obligations under domestic and international law before finalising this substantial aid package. Moreover, the CCHR calls on all international donors – including China, France and Japan - to speak out when human rights violations occur in Cambodia, and ensure that the provision of aid to the RGC is not unconditional but includes safeguards that make continued financial support conditional on the respect for human rights.
For more information, please contact:
Ou Virak, President, Cambodian Center for Human Rights
Tel: +855 12 40 40 51
Email: ouvirak@cchrcambodia.org
Rupert Abbott, Director of Development, Cambodian Center for Human Rights
Tel: +855 17 50 07 78
Email: rupertabbott@cchrcambodia.org
3 comments:
how you do it? not too much fighting, but more of getting well-educated by all means, really! now education could be self-educated in this day and age as there are so much information and learning materials online on the internet, etc... think about it, ok! be smart about it all, really! if you failed, it is only your own fault, nobody else, really!
When will KI Media ever stop with inserting their own screaming comments into news articles?
It's distracting from the actual article.
I am happy to see Khmer kill Khmer via eviction of the poor, soon our people from Vietnam will took over all Khmer land. Thank you Samdech Hun Sen for doing this for us.
We are now deploying all our companies everywhere in your country so that we can easily control your people who against us then we order you to kill them.
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