Hun Xen calls for trust of political parties ... but can his conniving, scheming and Viet-subservient CPP party be trusted?

Cambodian PM calls for trust of political parties in the region

December 02, 2010
Xinhua

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen urged Thursday that it is of significance that the International Conference of Asia Political Parties (ICAPP) promote trust and understanding among the different political parties within the continent.

"It reconfirmed the significance of the International Conference of Asia Political Parties (ICAPP) to promote trust and understanding among the different political parties within the continent, but as political parties they can drive policy agenda for regional cooperation, collaboration and integration," Hun Sen said while delivering remarks at the Gala Dinner hosted for several hundreds of leaders and stakeholders from about 40 countries who are attending the 6th General Assembly of the ICAPP being held in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia.

"With trust and mutual understanding, we could create collective voices to successfully address emerging regional and international issues along the development path," he said.

The prime minister said Asia has gone through a sweeping change both in terms of political and socio-economic landscapes during the last few decades.

"More importantly, after the recent global financial crisis, Asia is becoming a growth driver of the world economy. Nowhere in the world could be the pace of metamorphosis comparing to Asia," Hun Sen said.

The meeting is an unprecedented gathering of great importance among political parties in Asia and Latin America, with the participation of observers from international institutions and the United Nations under the theme "Asia's Quest for a Better Tomorrow" and focus on particular issues such as economy, energy and environment.

The main purpose of the meeting is to enhance cooperation and exchange of viewpoints among and between different political parties with different ideologies in the region, and to improve mutual understanding and trust among the nations and countries in the region.

Other purposes of the meeting are to promote regional cooperation through the unique role and channel of political parties; and to create an environment for sustainable peace and shared prosperity in the region.

The selection of these topics is in response to the current global context with a view to: achieving economic recovery from the global financial crisis; ensuring energy safety after mineral resources have become gradually exhausted amid arising needs; and ensuring environmental safety following the drastic climate change.

In the opening speech to the meeting on Thursday morning, Hun Sen said this conference on "Asia's quest for better tomorrow" is "very relevant and timely, organized right in the aftermath of the global crisis; where we can see the emergence of a new dynamic regional and global economic architecture -- shifting of the center of global economic gravity toward Asia."

However, he said "The strengthening of Asia's role must start with the reassessment of sustainable economic growth, energy security, and habitable environment, which, in my opinion, are main factors for sustainable and inclusive development."

Li Yuanchao, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, also attended the assembly on behalf of the Communist Party of China and delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony on Thursday morning.

Criticising Uncle Hoon and the C-P-Poop is now banned: Cambodia developed into a dictatorship?

Uncle Hoon and the C-P-Poop gang

Cambodia bans textbooks critical of premier, ruling party

Wed, 14 Jul 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodia's government banned two books from schools nationwide after finding text deemed critical of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling party, local media said Wednesday.

Education Minister Im Sethy said the general knowledge textbooks, which use a question-and-answer format, were no more than political leaflets and should be removed from schools immediately, the Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported.

One question deemed offensive asked whether Cambodia would be able to develop in the near future.

The suggested answer from author Pen Puthsphea in the Khmer-language text was that Cambodia would not because "corruption occurs from the top level of the government down to the local level, and law enforcement and the practice of human rights are still below zero."

Pen Puthsphea denied his printed answers were critical of the ruling party and the prime minister.

"I have just responded to the real situation by including both pro and con ideas that are only my own answers to the questions," he said, adding that the timing of the ban was odd because the books have been available for four years.

He said the ministry's move infringes on the right to publish and the right to express ideas, both of which the government has guaranteed.

A senior official from each of the Education and Information ministries were to carry out the order and remove the books.

Over the past 18 months, the government has grown increasingly intolerant of criticism by its perceived opponents in politics, the media and civil society.

Cambodian media group opposes legislative bill that will regulate Internet

12 January 2009
Source: CAPJ

The following is a statement from the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ), a SEAPA partner based in Phnom Penh:

Government attempts to regulate the Internet

The Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ) expresses its concern about the Cambodian government's plan to regulate the Internet through the enactment of a law by late 2009.

CAPJ appeals to the government to put the plan on hold temporarily and that a survey be conducted instead.

CAPJ observed that since the Internet became available in 1997, it has been serving the public well despite the absence of laws governing it. Furthermore, no major incidents involving the Internet which caused negative consequences to Cambodian society has taken place. Actually, the public has already grown accustomed to this new technology and has been enjoying freedom to utilize this latest electronic tool. With the prospect of the new regulation, CAPJ President Um Sarin said: "It seems the government is applying autocratic rules to control everything aboutcommunication. We worry that this law would be used as a tool to control and clamp down on bloggers who harshly criticize the government and we appeal for the government to reconsider its current plan."

CAPJ will closely watch this situation and at the same time invite donor countries as well as the local and international human rights NGOs to take appropriate action should the Cambodia government pushes through with this new regulation.

CAPJ Secretariat

For more information, contact:
Um Sarin (umsarin59@yahoo.com)
Duong Hak Samrithy (duonghak.samrithy27@gmail.com)

Cambodia drafts law to regulate internet strictly [-What can it do to overseas websites?]

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian Ministry of Information is drafting a law that will extend the libel, defamation and ethics rules currently governing print media to other media platforms, including Internet, national media said on Tuesday.

The law will be used to formalize content management rules so that they can be easily applied by future information ministers, the English-language daily The Phnom Penh Post quoted Information Minister Khieu Kanharith as saying.

"We are drafting the legislation in order to have a proper law to manage radio, television and other platforms," he said.

The recent explosion of media outlets of print media made the law necessary, he said, pointing to the increase in websites in recent years, as well as the growth in radio and television.

It is unknown when the draft law will be finished as much work needs to be done before it can be sent to the Council of Ministers for approval, he added.

Cambodia now has 9 aerial television channels, 60 cable channels, several satellite and Internet channels, and dozens of newspapers and magazines, according to official figures.

The number of websites remains unknown yet.

Hun Sen is “Cambodia chauffeur” [or is it “chauffard*”?]

Cambodia's one-eye "chauffard*" (Photo: Bloomberg)

22 Dec 2008
By Ky Soklim Cambodge Soir Hebdo Translated from French by Tola Ek Click here to read the article in French

*Chauffard: French word for reckless driver

During a speech given at a distribution of diplomas at the Pedagogy University in Phnom Penh on 22 December, Hun Sen talked about various current issues on internal politics.

While announcing that his speech was the last one for this year, the prime minister talked about various issues related to recent news, and retail gasoline price was also a topic he touched on. “If I yell against high prices, then they will drop. But, if I don’t say anything, they do not move. Therefore, I am asking the national companies Tela and Sokimex to make another effort, a new lowering of the price will be a year-end gift to me. It is more difficult to make the request to foreign companies such as Total and Caltex. I am thinking of negotiating directly with all the companies soon, on the policy of gasoline price. This is important because it influences the cost of transportations.”

Hun Sen then turned to traffic road safety and especially on the application of the law for mandatory helmet use, a law which will be strictly observed by the cops starting 01 January 2009. “I am appealing to all Cambodians, all motorcycle drivers, to wear helmet at 100% to avoid a large number of fatal accidents. Helmet wholesalers should not take advantage [of this issue] to increase their price. The cost of traffic accidents is higher for the state than the fight against AIDS and demining. Civil servants should set example and they must all wear helmets. Each ministry must control its personnel and check that the law is respected. If civil servants do not respect the law, how can we ask others to do it?” Hun Sen said.

Hun Sen also touched upon control and repression measures against gambling parlors. “Since my declarations made in the past weeks, gambling parlors equipped with unauthorized slot machines, i.e. outside of hotels, have been shut down. Now, we are proceeding to the control of the nationality of gamblers who are using these parlors which are prohibited to Cambodian nationals. Some parlors are protected by high-ranking officials. Those who are identified as responsible for these actions will be demoted from their positions,” Hun Sen threatened. He also discussed about the need to control betting parlors and karaoke institutions as the latter are sometimes linked to drug trafficking.

Hun Sen finally talked about his political longevity. “I was the youngest PM, at 32-year-old. I am still the one who remains the longest in this position: 24 years. At the end of this mandate, it will be 29 years. It is certain that I will again be the candidate in 2013 since the opposition is so weak. But, being PM is not simple. If a bad decision is taken, the entire country will suffer from it. Cambodians know that their chauffeur, even with only one eye, he pays attention to his driving,” Hun Sen ended by mentioning about one of his eyes he lost more than 30 years ago.

Kingdom at crossroads as CPP extends control over government

Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks with reporters outside the National Assembly after the first day of debates on the 2009 budget draft law. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Thursday, 11 December 2008
Written by Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post

"People with ideas don't have power, and people who have power have no ideas." - Thomico

"In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" - French proverb

Some analysts say 2008 has seen the advent of one-party rule, but others argue the CPP's consolidation may be the foundation Cambodia needs for genuine democratic development

AT the tail end of a year that has seen unprecedented consolidation of power by the ruling Cambodian People's Party, observers are divided on the current health of Cambodia's democracy and the future prospects of its fragile multi party system.

While government officials have said that the peaceful atmosphere of July's national election was an indication of the country's political stability, others say the slackening support for Cambodia's opposition could see the country backslide into the one-party rule of the 1980s.

"[Cambodia] has a de facto one-party rule," said Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights.

"On the surface we have more parties, but it has pretty much been a one-party state since the coup of 1997. I don't see how we can define it any differently."

Opposition figures agreed that the CPP's large parliamentary majority - and near monopoly of positions on the Assembly's nine special commissions - augured a return to single-party rule.

"Cambodia has returned to an authoritarian kind of system," said Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay.

"[The ruling party] should spend more time to strengthen the country's institutions, to solve its social and economic problems."

He said that a strong opposition was the life blood of democratic states, and that debate in the National Assembly was likely to wither with the diminution of the opposition's role.

"Most of the time, in any good parliament, there is a strong opposition. When you shut the opposition up, no one will speak out and criticise the government," Son Chhay said.

Consolidating power

2008 has been a year of consolidation for the CPP, which won a resounding victory in July's national poll and increased its share of National Assembly seats from 73 to 90, while also absorbing a steady trickle of opposition defectors.

Funcinpec stalwart Serey Kosal on Tuesday announced he was joining the ruling party after nearly two decades of trenchant opposition to the CPP and Prime Minister Hun Sen.

In October, the party's ex-president, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, retired from active politics, thereby weakening - perhaps fatally - the country's flagging royalist movement.

But the CPP gains came in a national election that international observers saw as a distinct step forward, noting that the atmosphere during each poll since the UN-brokered elections of 1993 was marked by decreasing levels of political violence.

"The July 27th National Assembly elections were the best example to date of Cambodian citizens freely assembling to express their will through the vote," said US Embassy spokesman John Johnson by email.

The European Union Election Observation Mission also noted that the election "[took] place in an atmosphere which was an improvement on previous elections," despite "falling short of key international standards".

In response to EU criticisms, Tep Nytha, secretary general of the NEC, told the Post in August that he was confident the elections were conducted freely.

"The NEC followed the regulations in the Election Law, meaning that the election was free, fair and just," he said.

Some observers, however, said that analysts' undue focus on the election process overlooked less obvious indicators of democratic health, and that in key respects Cambodia fell short - irrespective of the election results.

"Democracy is not only a matter of elections," said Prince Sisowath Thomico, a former Funcinpec member who founded the royalist Sangkum Jataniyum Front Party in 2006.

"Democracy is a matter of exchanging ideas, and there is no exchange of ideas in Cambodia. People who have ideas don't have power, and people who have power don't have ideas."

David Chandler, a historian who has written extensively on Cambodia, agreed that the increasing stability of the Kingdom's electoral system since 1993 was no certain indication of the system's durability - something that could only be gauged by the peaceful transfer of power away from the CPP.

"Cambodia has a very short history of pluralism ... [and] peaceful transfers of power in Cambodia are very rare indeed," he said by email.

"Even the elections of 1993 were marked by violence, and in the end power remained pretty much where it had been before, at least as far as the police and the army were concerned."

Prince Thomico agreed that the electoral transitions of the 1990s had masked continuities in the concentration of political power.

"Cambodia has been stalled ever since 1993, and the only changes that have taken place since [then] are the replacement of Funcinpec ministers by CPP ministers," he said, adding that major ruling party figures, including Hun Sen, Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng, had dominated their posts like feudal baronies.

"To develop and grow, we have to create dynamics. What we are really creating are lordships and baronies all over Cambodia with other names: We are making okhnas, we are creating ministers," he said.

"Cambodia is completely stalled, without any real direction."

Tangible progress

But others noted that the achievements of the last 15 years had to be seen in historical context.

Chea Vannath, an independent political analyst, said Cambodia's democracy was still in its infancy and the stability of CPP dominance could provide a foundation for future democratic growth.

"[Cambodia] is such a young democracy, [so] sometimes firm control is not such a bad thing," she said, adding that the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party stayed in power for almost 60 years before ceding power to its main opposition rival.

Pointing to recent upheavals in Thailand, Chea Vannath said that having a strong opposition was no guarantee of political stability and democratic development.

"If you put a multi party system with very strong parties into the Cambodian context, you don't know what could happen, especially when you compare [Cambodia] to the situation in Thailand," she said.

Ou Virak said that although the democratic space had narrowed in 2008, that was a better measure of politicians' attitudes than that of the majority of Cambodians.

"In this environment, where you have politicians on both sides lacking a democratic culture, I think you have to go to the people," he said.

He added that democracy would make further advances in Cambodia once people saw its tangible - as opposed to abstract - benefits.

"The one thing lacking is to somehow show that democracy also impacts their pockets, the quality of their life and their ability to send their children to be educated," Ou Virak said.

"I think freedom and democracy, and people making their own decisions, are actually a part of human nature. I think every human being in the world would want to choose."

U.N. mandate necessary in Cambodia

September 10, 2008
By Lao Mong Hay
UPI Asia Online

Column: Rule by Fear

Hong Kong, China — In the 1970s and 1980s, the Cambodian people suffered successively from the extension of the Vietnam War, massive human rights violations and another protected war of ten years commonly known as the Paris Peace Agreements. As an integral part of a comprehensive settlement of the latter war in 1991, Cambodia agreed to adhere to international human rights standards and norms in order to prevent the return of the policies and practices of past rights violations.

Those peace agreements have provided for, among other things, a temporary administration of Cambodia by the U.N. and close monitoring of the human rights situation in Cambodia by the U.N. Human Rights Commission, including, if necessary, by the appointment of a Special Rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia. Since the end of that U.N. administration in 1993, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights opened a field office and the U.N. secretary-general appointed a special representative for human rights in Cambodia to help the country meet its human rights obligations, as well as to monitor the human rights situation.

However, the Cambodian government, which has since been effectively run by the Cambodian People's Party, formerly a communist party, has not been happy with the U.N. human rights mandate. The relationships between the government and the high commissioner's field office, on the one hand, and the secretary-general's special representative, on the other, have been characterized by continued conflicts.

These conflicts have become open and very acrimonious in recent years, when the Cambodian government openly attacked the incumbent special representative, Professor Yash Ghai from Kenya, following the latter's reports and statements criticizing the government's failure to honor its obligations. The government has called once for Ghai's sacking and, having failed, refused to cooperate with him and also threatened to close down the field office.

The U.N. human rights mandate is now being reviewed in the current session of the Human Rights Council beginning this week. This review has caused a lot of anxiety in Cambodia's civil society, as they fear the mandate could end. There is a risk that the Cambodian government would not only cease honoring its human rights obligations but also that any human rights gain achieved since 1993 would be reversed.

The U.N. mandate has contributed to improving a certain number of human rights. The rights of women and children are much better, although violence against women, woman trafficking and child labor remain serious national issues. More Cambodian women are playing an active role in public affairs, and school enrollment of children and girls is higher than before.

The press has more freedom. Legal and judicial reforms have been undertaken, though at a very slow pace. Codes of procedure have been enacted and there is more compliance with them as the police force and judicial officers have gained better technical expertise and training, although the justice system and the police still have a lot of flaws and shortcomings. Resorting to torture and ill-treating accused persons is less frequent, although crowded prisons, lack of hygiene and inadequate food rations remain big problems.

However, despite these positive developments, the Cambodian government has yet to honor many fundamental rights enumerated in the peace agreements. Over recent years, there has been a reverse in the freedom of assembly and association when, in the past, peaceful public demonstrations and protests were practically banned and force was used to enforce it.

As was observed in the latest electoral process, political control of the media persists; the arrest and killing of journalists as well as threats and intimidation continue and at least one journalist has fled the country fearing personal security.

There is no rule of law yet as the judiciary has remained under executive control of the rich and the powerful. As Ghai observed, "State authorities, as well as companies and politically well-connected individuals, show scant respect for the rule of law," and that the courts and legal profession "have failed the people of Cambodia woefully."

There is little respite from deprivation of private property without just compensation as the rich and the powerful have often connived to grab land from the poor and the weak. It has been reported that some 150,000 Cambodians are facing the risk of being forcibly evicted from their homes and lands to make way for development or city beautification. Ghai observed that such people are living in fear: "fear of the state, fear of political and economic saboteurs, fear of greedy individuals and corporations, fear of the police and the courts."

Moreover, the Cambodian government has not fully honored the right of all Cambodian citizens who undertake activities to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms. It has frequently obstructed human rights defenders who frequently face threats and intimidation, or even death. Furthermore, the government has already planned to enact a law to curb the activities of human rights nongovernmental organizations.

These organizations, which have actively promoted human rights, the rule of law and democracy, are at the mercy of the government. There are as yet no national institutions for democracy and the rule of law that are functional, independent and impartial that can protect the rights of Cambodian citizens.

Due to the absence of such institutions and the weakness of civil society organizations, the U.N. human rights mandate is necessary, both for the protection and promotion of human rights and for the development of those institutions in Cambodia.

The Cambodian government must offer a more effective alternative before it calls for an end to its obligations under the Paris Peace Agreements.
--
(Lao Mong Hay is a senior researcher at the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong. He was previously director of the Khmer Institute of Democracy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and a visiting professor at the University of Toronto in 2003. In 1997, he received an award from Human Rights Watch and the Nansen Medal in 2000 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.)

Democracy in Hands of the Winner: Group

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
05 August 2008

Even though the Cambodian People's Party has ruled Cambodia for more than two decades and has now apparently won a landslide victory, the International Republican Institute said Friday it was unclear of the path of democracy.

The outcome would depend on how the election disputes are handled and whether the next government "feels it wants to pursue a democratic path," said IRI's Cambodia country director, John Willis. "A lot of things are in the hands of whoever wins the election and whatever government is formed."

With an apparent 90 National Assembly seats won out of 123, the ruling CPP will have a stronger hold on power, but CPP lawmaker Cheam Yiep said Friday the government would not turn authoritarian.

Meanwhile, Cambodia's grassroots democracy had improved, Willis said.

"Young people are getting more involved with politics," he said.

"We see that a lot of people understand democracy from year to year," said Ly Sothearayuth, a senior program officer for the National Democratic Institute.