Obama presses Cambodia PM on rights in 'tense' talks

Monday, 19 November 2012
AFP

"The prime minister stressed that there are no political prisoners in Cambodia, but there are politicians who are guilty" - Prak Sokhon, Hun Xen's henchman

PHNOM PENH: US President Barack Obama told Cambodia's premier in a "tense" meeting on Monday that his government's human rights violations were "an impediment" to better bilateral ties, a US official said.

Newly re-elected Obama, fresh from a historic jaunt to Myanmar, met Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen for talks in Phnom Penh ahead of joining an East Asia Summit.

"He began by expressing that his trip to Burma demonstrated the positive benefits that flow from countries moving down the path of political reform and increasing respect for human rights," said US deputy national security advisor

Ben Rhodes, using Myanmar's former name.

Obama brought up the need for fair and free elections in Cambodia, and the need for the release of political prisoners, Rhodes added, agreeing that the meeting was "tense".

"He said that those types of issues are an impediment to the United States and Cambodia developing a deeper bilateral relationship."

Obama, the first US president to visit Cambodia, and Hun Sen shook hands before their meeting but the American did not smile during the greeting.

The Cambodian government has faced mounting criticism from rights groups in recent years for what they claim is a growing crackdown on dissidents and protesters in cases that are often linked to land disputes.

But Cambodia hit back at Obama's comments, saying the country was working to promote human rights and had been the victim of a "campaign" to distort the truth.

"Now through this manipulated campaign, it seems that Cambodia has become a student worse than Myanmar," Prak Sokhon, delegate minister attached to Hun Sen, told reporters after the bilateral meeting.

"The prime minister stressed that there are no political prisoners in Cambodia, but there are politicians who are guilty," he added.

During the talks, Rhodes said Obama highlighted the case of prominent government critic and radio station owner Mam Sonando, 71, who was jailed for 20 years in October for an alleged secessionist plot in a verdict that dismayed rights groups.

Dozens of Cambodian villagers faced with eviction staged several small protests ahead of Obama's arrival with "SOS" messages urging the president to help press the government on land rights issues.

Hun Sen, 60, has been in power since 1985 and has vowed to rule until he's 90.

The country's main opposition leader, meanwhile, lives in self-imposed exile abroad to avoid jail time for what critics say are politically motivated charges.