Khmer M’chas Srok: 20 years after the Paris Peace Agreements, peace in Cambodia is an empty shell

Demonstration at the Trocadero Human Rights Plaze in Paris

23 October 2011
By Chheang Bopha
Radio France Internationale
Translated from Khmer by Soch

20 years ago in France, on 23 October 1991, representatives from 18 countries and 17 representatives of various Cambodian factions, signed the Paris Peace Accords on Cambodia. On 23 October 2011, two international meetings organized by the Khmer M’chas Srok Movement (KMS) were held.

This year, on the 20th anniversary of the Paris Peace Agreements on Cambodia, the US-based Khmer M’chas Srok movement organized an international meeting at a hotel in Paris. Surya Subedi, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Cambodia, joined the meeting on Sunday 23 October 2011 where he discussed about the important tools used in the review of human rights issues. According to Mrs. Chak Sakhonn, the KMS president, the resident human rights representative in Cambodia is supposed to attend today’s meeting as well and he will discuss the topic of “people and human rights in Cambodia”.

On Sunday afternoon, like every year, Cambodian associations and members of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and of the Human Rights Party (HRP), as well as a number of other Cambodians, held a demonstration at the Trocadero Human Rights plaza near the Eiffel Tower.

The 23 October 1991 accords led to an end the civil war in Cambodia which followed the fall of the KR regime. France, who was the co-president of the Paris meeting with Indonesia, greeted the 20th anniversary of the signing of these agreements by issuing today a communiqué.

For France, the Paris Peace Agreements helped Cambodia set up a new constitution, democratic(?) institutions, an election and the repatriation of Cambodian refugees from camps in Thailand. It also led to the setting of a tribunal to try the former KR leaders.

During these 20 years, France contributed to help Cambodia to stand up again. For that, France is happy to see that Cambodia is moving to its future and that it is opening a new chapter in its economy. France, which was a signatory of the agreements, promises to help Cambodia to develop in the future.

Mrs. Chak Sakhonn agreed that Cambodia returned to peace following the Paris Peace Agreements, but it is just an empty shell-peace only. Cambodia moves forward but very slowly. She indicated that freedom rights for the opposition parties are restricted at the National Assembly. Furthermore, Cambodians are facing more dangers because not only do they lose their human rights, but they also lose their right to live. For example, under the name of economic developments, Cambodians are embroiled in numerous land disputes. Also corruption is rampant and a tribunal system that lacks independence discourages foreign investors.

Impunity on corrupt officials slows down the government even further in its march toward democracy. In Summary, 20 years after the Paris Peace Agreements, a number of positive steps were taken by the government, but a number of other issues which are prescribed by the constitution are not being put into application by the government, in particular in regards to the universal respect of human rights.