Phnom Penh wants UNSC to 'remain engaged'

Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Hor Namhong speaks to the media following his statement to the UN Security Council in New York on Monday.

16/02/2011
Bangkok Post

Published here are excerpts of the address Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong delivered to the United Nations Security Council on Feb 14, 2011.

In its artillery attacks against Cambodia, Thailand used sophisticated weapons including cluster bombs and many 105, 120, 130, 155 artillery shells, reaching as far as 20 kilometres inside Cambodian territory. Thailand's attacks since Feb 4 have caused much serious damage to Keo Sikha Kiri Savara Pagoda and Preah Vihear Temple, a World Heritage site, as well as six deaths and 71 injuries among Cambodian troops and people.

Even though there were two de facto agreements on a ceasefire, the current situation, however, remains extremely fragile. Fresh fighting may break out again at any time without forewarning, while heavily armed Thai soldiers, artillery and tanks have been positioned along the border, posing constant pressure on Cambodia.

The root cause leading to the present war of aggression by Thailand against Cambodia is as follows:

France and Siam signed the 1904 Convention and the 1907 Treaty to establish the Joint Commissions on the Delimitation of Frontiers between Indo-China and Siam. In the period between 1905 and 1908, the Franco-Siamese Commission, set up by the 1904 Convention, produced a set of 11 maps, all of which are of 1:200,000 scale, including the one called "Dangrek Map" that demarcates the area of Preah Vihear Temple.

Thailand began to demand as its territory the so-called 4.6 square kilometre area in the vicinity of Preah Vihear Temple, only when the World Heritage Committee started to discuss the inscription of this temple on the World Heritage list in 2008. This claim by Thailand is based on a unilaterally drawn map that does not have any legal value.

In exerting its illegitimate claims, Thailand committed armed aggression against Cambodia on three earlier occasions, namely, on July 15, 2008, October 2008 and April 3, 2009, in the areas of Keo Sikha Kiri Savara Pagoda, Veal Intry, Phnom Trap hill and Tasem, all of which are in the vicinity of Preah Vihear Temple. These aggressions resulted in human casualties as well as property damage, especially to Preah Vihear Temple.

In the face of these blatant aggressions, Cambodia has exercised utmost restraint and maintained great patience in negotiating with Thailand to resolve the problem peacefully, in order to avoid any large military clash. However, Cambodia's efforts have been in vain because Thailand is emboldened by its larger and sophisticated armaments.

It should be recalled that on Jan 27, in parallel with Thailand's military exercise with heavy artillery along the border with Cambodia, but in reality a preparation for war, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva demanded that Cambodia must remove its flag from Keo Sikha Kiri Savara Pagoda of Cambodia, near a temple built in 1998. On Jan 31, he stated that "the use of force will be the last option'. After a few days, Thai army commander Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha also made a similar statement.

On Feb 6, Mr Abhisit told reporters that "I insist that a troop withdrawal as proposed by Cambodia could not be done since we have to maintain our right [over the area] although it is risky to have another clash", while Cambodia proposed a withdrawal of troops by both sides away from the borderline, so as to avoid renewed armed confrontation.

All these statements in parallel with the preparation for war constituted a casus belli for the war against Cambodia on Feb 4, 5, 6 and 7. Since the production of the Dangrek Map in 1908, Thailand had officially recognised this map by asking the French authorities for many copies of the map for the use of the governor of Thailand's border provinces with Cambodia. With regard to the boundary line between Cambodia and Thailand in the area of Preah Vihear Temple, the judicial premise of the International Court of Justice in 1962 clearly stated among others, as follows:

"The Court however considers that Thailand in 1908-1909 did accept the Annex I map as representing the outcome of the work of delimitation, and hence recognised the line on that map as being the frontier line, the effect of which is to situate Preah Vihear in Cambodian territory...

"There is, however, no reason to think that the Parties attached any special importance to the line of the watershed. The Court, therefore, feels bound, as a matter of treaty interpretation, to pronounce in favour of the line as mapped in the disputed area..."

Since the ICJ adjudication in 1962, Thailand has accepted to withdraw its troops from the area of Preah Vihear Temple and its vicinity. In June 2000, Cambodia and Thailand signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Survey and Demarcation of Land Boundary, which recognises, along with other legal documents, the "Dangrek Map" referred to by the ICJ for its 1962 judgement as "Annex I" map, as legal basis for the survey and demarcation of land boundary between Cambodia and Thailand.

Pending a definite solution, the Cambodian government deems it is very necessary to have UN observers or peace-keepers, or at least a fact-finding mission, in this area of the border to ensure that no fresh armed hostilities break out again.

Even though self-restraint and efforts made by Cambodia for a peaceful settlement of the conflict through bilateral negotiations have failed, Cambodia still always aspires to a peaceful solution, through a regional framework such as Asean, as both Cambodia and Thailand are members of the organisation.

In case of non-peaceful settlement of the conflict in spite of the good offices of Asean, Cambodia would like to propose that the UNSC remain engaged to look for a definite solution in accordance with the UN Charter.