Obama to tell Hun Sen of "grave" rights concerns

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen

18 November 2012
AFP

BANGKOK: US President Barack Obama will raise "grave concerns" over human rights and the need for political reform in Cambodia when he meets Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday, the White House said.

Obama, who opens a Southeast Asia swing in Thailand on Sunday, which also includes a historic trip to Myanmar, will meet Hun Sun before he takes part in the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh.

"We are going to Cambodia to attend a summit, and I think it's fair to say that we would not be having a bilateral visit in the absence of the multilateral business that we're doing in Cambodia," said Ben Rhodes, a deputy US national security advisor.

"As it relates to Cambodia's human rights situation, we have very grave concerns about human rights within Cambodia," Rhodes said aboard Air Force One, as Obama flew to Asia.

"The president will raise that certainly when he sees Hun Sen. We'll raise it publicly in every opportunity that we have to address it.

"We'll continue to make clear that we want to see greater political freedom in Cambodia. We want to see a movement towards an election that is credible and fair. We want to see the release of political prisoners there as well."

Obama will be the first sitting US president to visit Cambodia, where human rights groups accuse the government of stepping up a crackdown on dissidents and on protests, many linked to land disputes.

A dozen US senators and members of the House of Representatives last month urged Obama to speak out over Cambodia's "deteriorating human rights situation."

Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, earlier said that if Obama does not speak out over concerns "his visit will be seen by the government as an endorsement and deepen the sense of inviolability."

The group alleges more than 300 people have been killed in politically motivated attacks in over two decades of authoritarian rule by Hun Sen.