Open letter from the Cambodian Center for Human Rights to the Secretary General of the UN congratula​ting him on his re-electio​n and calling on him to review the nature of the UN’s relationsh​ip with Cambodia

Dear all,

The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (“CCHR”) today, 30 June 2011, releases an open letter written by CCHR President Ou Virak, in his capacity as a civil society leader and as a victim of the Khmer Rouge, to the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, congratulating him on his re-election and calling on him to review the nature of the UN’s relationship with Cambodia.

Please find attached this open letter in English. A Khmer translation will follow shortly.

For more information please contact CCHR President Ou Virak at +855 12 40 40 51 or

ouvirak@cchrcambodia.org

Thank you and kind regards,

CCHR

CCHR Open letter to the Secretary General of the UN congratula​ting him on his re-electio​n and calling on ...
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On Cambodia Genocide Court & UN Quittings in Protests, Ban Ki-moon Puts Off Substantive Comment for 2d Term

Ban in Cambodia, Peschoux and Ban follow through on human rights & ECCC not shown

By Matthew Russell Lee

Inner City Press

UNITED NATIONS, June 14 -- A week after Ban Ki-moon on June 6 met with the Asia Group of states at the UN seeking a second term as Secretary General, controversy swirled around the dropping of a genocide case by the UN affiliated Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

On June 13, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky:

Inner City Press: a number of international staff have left because the third case was sort of suspended without investigation by the judges. So, it says, this is what I wanted to ask you, it said that these staff members wrote to the Secretary-General before they quit. I wanted to know if that’s true and I wanted to know what he thinks, given the controversy that surrounded his visit to Cambodia; does he have any comment at all on what is viewed as sort of disorder in the court or shutting down of the inquiry into the Khmer Rouge era there?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Probably a little later today, Matthew.

During Ban's trip to Cambodia last October, Hun Sen spoke of the removal of the head of the UN human rights office in Phnom Penh, Christophe Peschoux. Ban offered little defense of him. Nesirky called it “an internal personnel matter” and when Peschoux left earlier this year, Nesirky's office through his deputy Farhan Haq had “no comment at this time,” or since.

But on June 13 a comment was promised, and 24 hours it was issued -- a statement on the ECCC. The statement is long and detailed but is hardly responsive to the human rights and accountability questions raised. As on Peschoux, it says that Ban's UN will “not comment on internal United Nations administrative or staffing processes.”

Eschewing comment, it says that public scrutiny will come at some unspecified later date. Ban is expected, with Asia Group support, to get a second five year term as Secretary General on June 16 in the Security Council, then June 21 in the General Assembly.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Interference

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

After Ban Ki-moon Said Stood Behind UN Rights Rep in Cambodia, His Leaving Draws No Reaction, like ECCC

Monday, May 09, 2011
By Matthew Russell Lee
Inner City Press

UNITED NATIONS, May 9 -- When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Cambodia last October, Prime Minister Hun Sen “ordered” him to remove the head of the UN human rights office in Phnom Penh, Christophe Peschoux.

Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky about it. Nesirky called it an “internal personnel matter,” then added that Ban stands behind the office and, by implication, its staff.

Now six months later, Peschoux has been chased from the country. Human rights groups call it “worrying.” Mr. Peschoux himself has said that in Cambodia

“human rights are tolerated to the extent that they do not challenge the political, economic and financial interests of the ruling elite. That’s where the red line runs. If you cross that line, trouble starts... Of course I’m leaving because it has become impossible for me to continue to operate in this environment.”

Given this, one might have expected Ban Ki-moon to have some follow up comment, if not to have actually defended Mr. Peschoux. But when Inner City Press on May 9 asked Ban's acting deputy spokeman Farhan Haq about Peschoux's leaving Cambodia, Haq said “we do not have any comment at this stage,” nor “any reaction.”

Ban in Cambodia, Peschoux and  

Ban follow through on human rights not shown

Back on April 12, Inner City Press had asked Haq about Cambodia:

Inner City Press: there is a lot of controversy about the UN-backed Court [Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia] there. Some are saying that the President told Ban Ki-moon that there should be no more prosecutions and that the Court should be wound down. And advocates are saying that the UN hasn’t spoken up in defence of the Court’s mandate. Does the Secretary-General have a view on whether this Court should go on in a non-politicized fashion, or, as many say, should be moving to dismiss future cases beyond those it has?

Acting Deputy Spokesperson Haq: The Secretary-General fully supports the work of the Extraordinary Chambers in Cambodia, and he believes that it is up, ultimately, to the senior officials of the Extraordinary Chambers to proceed with their work as they see fit.

Since then, concerns have only grown. Ban Ki-moon and human rights: que pasa? Watch this site.

Au revoir Mr. Peschoux, THANK YOU for your dedication to the disposessed Cambodians!

Christophe Peschoux, head of the UN office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, works from his office in Phnom Penh.(Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Top UN official leaves Cambodia amid rights concerns

08 May 2011
AFP

"There are regretfully few other checks against Hun Sen's increasing domination and authoritarianism, which has been expanding like a dark cloud over Cambodia's politics and society" - Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch

PHNOM PENH: Sad and relieved. That is how the director of the United Nations human rights office in Cambodia said he felt about leaving the country after effectively being forced out of his post by the government.

Christophe Peschoux, who headed the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for four years, left Phnom Penh on Saturday after admitting it had become "impossible" to work in the country following numerous run-ins with the leadership.

The 52-year-old Frenchman angered officials by speaking out on controversial issues, prompting Prime Minister Hun Sen to demand the UN remove him and the foreign ministry to issue a letter ordering officials to freeze him out.

"Human rights are tolerated to the extent that they do not challenge the political, economic and financial interests of the ruling elite," Peschoux said.

"That's where the red line runs. If you cross that line, trouble starts," he told AFP days before heading to Geneva to take on a senior UN role.

Rights groups say his departure comes as the ruling Cambodian People's Party is curbing freedoms and silencing critics in a bid to consolidate power ahead of local elections in 2012 and a 2013 general election.

‘Sometimes we have to speak out, we cannot remain silent’: Peschoux

Christophe Peschoux, country head of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, is pictured at his office in Phnom Penh yesterday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Friday, 25 March 2011
Thomas Miller
The Phnom Penh Post

After a long career in Cambodia, including four years as head of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Christophe Peschoux said this week he will step down at the end of April to take a senior position with the office in Geneva.

Although Peschoux said in an interview yesterday with The Post that he brought cooperation between his office and the government to “unprecedented levels”, senior officials called for his ouster last year.

Prime Minister Hun Sen made the appeal during a meeting in October with visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, following a request to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay in August and a public warning from Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong in July.

CCHR concerned by removal of principled UN head (in Khmer)

CCHR concerned by removal of principled UN head

UN Rights Office Important, Valuable: Clinton

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says keeping the UN office open would provide "good results and reputation for the Cambodian government." (Photo: AP)

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Tuesday, 02 November 2010

“The human rights situation in Cambodia compared to the past is deteriorating.”

Members of the opposition joined with local rights groups in supporting the UN's local human rights office, a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called it a “valuable resource.”

The Cambodian government has said it wants to close the rights office, and Prime Minister Hun Sen told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon he wanted the office head in Cambodia to be sacked.

But Clinton said on a visit here Monday the office provided technical assistance to the government and NGOs. “We think the work is important and we'd like to see it continue,” Clinton said.

Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, welcomed the support and said the office was necessary to monitor ongoing rights abuses in the country.

“The human rights situation in Cambodia compared to the past is deteriorating,” he said.

Pung Chiv Kek, president of the rights group Licadho, said the UN rights office provided resources to Cambodians and the government.

Keeping it open would provide “good results and reputation for the Cambodian government,” she said.

Thun Saray, head of the rights group Adhoc, said the closure of the office would “make concerns and hesitation from the international community in providing aid to Cambodia.”

Addressing concerns over the office on Monday, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters the government has not made a decision on whether to close the office.

Open Letter to Sec. Gen. Ban Ki-moon from representatives of Cambodian Civil Society

Backflip on UN expulsion

Hor 5 Hong (L) and Khieu Kanharith (R): The prophets of evil on the hellish Hun Xen team?

Sunday, 31 October 2010
Cameron Wells 
The Phnom Penh Post

The government has apparently done an about face on its stance over the closure of the United Nations human rights office in Phnom Penh.

An official has contradicted previous claims that the government had requested the unconditional closure of the office.

In a meeting with visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen proposed that Christophe Peschoux, the long-time head of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, resign from his post.

“If Mr Peschoux is not removed, then the UN human rights office in Phnom Penh will be closed,” Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said after the meeting.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith confirmed later that the office would be closed regardless, quoting Hun Sen as having requested the closure of the OHCHR office on the grounds that “other countries in the world don’t have human rights offices, and Cambodia doesn’t want this office either”.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong has backed away from Khieu Kanharith’s comments, insisting the government would ask the UN to close the office only as a last resort.

“He [Peschoux] is a spokesperson for the opposition party and does not cooperate with the government of Cambodia,” he said.

Koy Kuong said said Peschoux had failed to adhere to the agreement between the government and the UN that established the office.

“We don’t just want to close [it], we just want the UN to replace Christophe Peschoux,” he said. “If they do not replace him, they [the UN] should close down the office.”

He called the OHCHR “unnecessary” and said there were countless human rights groups capable of filling its role, but reiterated that the office’s closure would only come as a last-ditch measure if Peschoux was not removed.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VONG SOKHENG

Rights groups condemn Cambodia's threat to shut UN office

Christophe Peschoux

Oct 29, 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - Prominent international human rights groups on Friday condemned the Cambodian government's demand that the United Nations close its local human rights office and fire the country head.

In a joint statement, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International said the government's assertion that the UN human rights office in Cambodia was a mouthpiece for the political opposition were 'baseless.'

The groups said the government's stance was 'a direct assault on the UN's human rights mandate,' and said the UN's leadership should continue to speak out on behalf of the local office and its country head, Christophe Peschoux.

'Donor governments to Cambodia should likewise voice their strong objections to the Cambodian government's statements,' they added.

On Wednesday, the first full day of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's official visit to Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen told him to close the human rights office and sack Peschoux.

In response Ban's spokesman, Yves Sorokobi, said the secretary general stood by the organization's human rights work and its 'representatives around the world including here.'

He said that pulling staff out of a particular country was an internal matter for the UN.

HRW and Amnesty called on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was due in Cambodia this weekend, to express her support for the UN human rights office and its mandate.

Ban arrived in Phnom Penh on Tuesday and left Thursday for Vietnam where he is attending a summit between the United Nations and the regional Association of South-East Asian Nations bloc. He will conclude his current Asian tour in China.

Cambodia criticised on trial

Oct 29, 2010
AFP

WASHINGTON - HUMAN rights groups on Thursday criticised Cambodia's leaders for opposing a new Khmer Rouge trial and urged US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to show support for the UN-backed court.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday that a second trial due to start early next year of cadres from the genocidal regime would be the last, voicing fear that further prosecutions could plunge the country back into war.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch in a joint statement said they 'strongly condemn' statements by Cambodian leaders against the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

'This attack by the government on the OHCHR Cambodia office should be seen as a direct assault on the UN's human rights mandate, encompassed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international human rights conventions, many of which Cambodia has ratified,' they said.

The statement said that Mrs Clinton, who visits next week, 'should publicly express support for the OHCHR Cambodia office and the UN's human rights mandate'. UN chief Ban Ki Moon visited Phnom Penh on Thursday and said that the decision whether to pursue more Khmer Rouge cadres would be up to the court.

The court has been investigating whether to open a third case against former Khmer Rouge cadres, but has faced political opposition. Mr Hun Sen was once a mid-level Khmer Rouge member himself before turning against the movement. His government has said that domestic courts can handle any further cases, accusing well-paid foreign lawyers of seeking to try more suspects for their own benefit.

SRP Condemns Threats to Close UN Office in Cambodia

October 28, 2010

SRP CONDEMNS THREATS TO CLOSE UN OFFICE IN CAMBODIA

The Sam Rainsy Party, Cambodia’s second largest political party, strongly condemns threats made by Prime Minister Hun Sen during his October 27 meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to close the UN human rights office in Cambodia.

The SRP feels compelled to remind the Cambodian government that a UN human rights office operating in Cambodia is part of the implementation of the 1991 Paris Agreements on Cambodia that are binding all the signatories.

Article 17, in Part III entitled “Human Rights,” of the Agreement on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict, stipulates, “After the end of the transitional period, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights should continue to monitor closely the human rights situation in Cambodia, including, if necessary, by the appointment of a Special Rapporteur who would report his findings annually to the Commission and to the General Assembly.”

Article 3, point 3, of the Agreement Concerning the Sovereignty, Independence, Territorial Integrity and Inviolability, Neutrality and National Unity of Cambodia, confirms, “The United Nations Commission on Human Rights should continue to monitor closely the human rights situation in Cambodia, including, if necessary, by the appointment of a Special Rapporteur who would report his findings annually to the Commission and to the General Assembly.”

In order to “monitor closely the human rights situation in Cambodia,” the concerned UN body must operate and maintain an office in this country. Any attempt to close the existing UN office would be a serious breach to the Paris Agreements on Cambodia, all the more so given the deteriorating human rights situation in this country.

SRP Members of Parliament

KR Tribunal too hot for Khmer Rouge Hun Xen to handle

Cambodian President Hun Sen, left and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon inspect honor guard in Phnom Penh, 27 Oct 2010 (Photo: VOA - R. Carmichael)

Cambodian Premier says No More Khmer Rouge Trials

Robert Carmichael, Voice of America
Phnom Penh 27 October 2010

Camdodia's prime minister says the four former Khmer Rouge leaders awaiting trial next year would be the last to be prosecuted.

Unilateral decision

Hun Sen put not one, but two, shots across the bow of the United Nations, during a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who arrived late Tuesday on a two-day official visit.

The first shot was that he was against allowing the international war crimes court in Phnom Penh to prosecute any more former Khmer Rouge members.

The court is a hybrid U.N.-Cambodian tribunal, funded mainly by donations from U.N. member states.

The second shot - the prime minister wants the United Nations to shut its local human rights office, after firing the office's country head, Christophe Peschoux.

UN reaction

Ban is not scheduled to speak to the media until Thursday, but his spokesman, Yves Sorokobi spoke to VOA.

He says matters of staffing are purely the preserve of the United Nations, and the organization stands by all of its staff, including Peschoux. But when it comes to the matter of the office itself, that is a matter of bilateral cooperation. And that means if Cambodia no longer wants a U.N. human rights office, then in the long term there is not much the United Nations can do about that.

"This has been a matter of bilateral cooperation," noted Sorokobi. "The secretary-general in his meeting with the prime minister today discussed this matter. There was no decision made there by the secretary-general, and I believe that now that the government has made its position clear, the secretary-general will consult."

Tribunal's work

The Khmer Rouge tribunal began its work in 2006, and earlier this year sentenced Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Comrade Duch, the defendant in the first case, to 30 years for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It is scheduled to begin the second case, against four former leaders of the movement next year.

International investigators had opened dockets into another five unnamed former Khmer Rouge, and those five constituted Cases Three and Four.

But today Prime Minister Hun Sen effectively shot those down.

Reasoning behind decision

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith told VOA that Hun Sen is against those cases for several reasons.

He says the prime minister believes those being investigated were not high-ranking members in the Khmer Rouge and their prosecutions would fall outside the deal between the United Nations and Cambodia to establish a tribunal in the first place.

"The second reason [is] he said that the primary goal of setting up this court, is first to find justice for the Cambodian people, and two is to preserve the peace and political stability in the country," Kanharith said.

Despite the prime minister's declaration the second trial will be the last, Sorokobi says the United Nations stands committed to the idea of judicial independence at the court.

"Again, this is a matter for the court officials, for the independent councilors to decide, and we have to give them the space that they need to make the proper decision. There should be no political interference with their work," Sorokobi said.

Accountability

Later, Mr. Ban told the staff at the war crimes tribunal headquarters outside Phnom Penh he is firmly resolved those kinds of acts the Khmer Rouge is accused of should never happen again.

He said accountability, justice and the fight against impunity were the standards during his tenure as secretary-general.

Cambodian PM wants U.N. rights official sacked

Wed Oct 27, 2010
By Prak Chan Thul

"Human rights figured strongly in their discussions ... and I can confirm that the secretary-general stressed the notable role and value of (the U.N.) office in Phnom Penh, and that of course includes the person who heads that office," Nesirky told reporters.

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia's outspoken prime minister told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday to remove a local U.N. representative and instruct Khmer Rouge war crimes prosecutors to limit the scope of their investigation.

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, who attended a meeting between Ban and Hun Sen, said the long-serving premier threatened to close the office of the United Nation's human rights body if its representative, Christophe Peschoux, was not replaced.

"Peschoux has not been working on human rights issues with the government but has been the spokesperson for opposition parties," Namhong told reporters, quoting Hun Sen as telling Ban.

"Remove Peschoux. If Peschoux is not removed, the human rights office in Cambodia will be closed," he added.

In New York, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky indicated Ban had defended Peschoux at the talks with Hun Sen.

"Human rights figured strongly in their discussions ... and I can confirm that the secretary-general stressed the notable role and value of (the U.N.) office in Phnom Penh, and that of course includes the person who heads that office," Nesirky told reporters.

CREATE CONFLICT

Hun Sen also urged Ban to ensure that prosecutors in the joint Cambodian-U.N. Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal did not seek more indictments, which he said could create conflict in the war-scarred country.

The five-year-old, multi-million-dollar tribunal is preparing to hear its second case, dubbed 002, against four former top cadres of Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist regime, which is blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians from 1975-1979.

The current government, which includes several former Khmer Rouge members, has been accused by justice advocates and former victims of trying to stall the tribunal and interfere with judges to avoid being implicated themselves.

Hun Sen, himself a former foot soldier, has previously said he hoped the court would run out of funds because he was concerned its investigations would reopen old wounds and trigger another civil war.

"We must think of peace in Cambodia," Namhong said, relating Hun Sen's comments to Ban. "This tribunal is a failure if it requires a case 003."

Ban, who leaves Cambodia on Thursday, was greeted by angry protesters asking him to intervene in hundreds of land dispute cases.

Rights groups and foreign aid donors complain state officials are forcibly evicting farmers, villagers and city residents to sell prime land to foreign and local businesses.

Spokesman Nesirky said the United Nations was open to receiving a petition.

"If there is some kind of written communication that these people who are protesting against eviction would like to hand over, I'm sure that that will be possible," he said.

(Additional reporting by Patrick Worsnip at the United Nations; Editing by Miral Fahmy and Jerry Norton)

Ban Ki-moon to Hun Xen: Deciding who to prosecute remained the responsibility of the court [... not the whim of a rogue dictator]

UN: Khmer Rouge tribunal must be free from politics

Oct 27, 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - The United Nations said Wednesday that Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal must be free from political interference and insisted all parties respect the judicial process.

That was in reaction to comments by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Wednesday that the international war crimes court would only be allowed to prosecute four Khmer Rouge leaders currently in custody.

UN spokesman Yves Sorokobi said Ban, who is in Cambodia on an official visit, had told Hun Sen at their meeting that deciding who to prosecute remained the responsibility of the court.

'We have to give [court officials] the space that they need to make the proper decision,' Sorokobi said. 'There should be no political interference with their work.'

Earlier on Wednesday Hun Sen told Ban he wanted the UN's human rights office to close, something Sorokobi said the secretary-general would take into consideration, since the presence of a human rights office was a matter of mutual agreement.

But when it came to Hun Sen's demand that the UN fire the country head of its Cambodian human rights office, Sorokobi said that was an entirely different matter.

'Pulling staff out of a particular country or not is a matter of internal personnel issues,' he said. 'In the meantime we fully stand by the work of the human rights commissioner and by her representatives around the world including here.'

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said earlier that Hun Sen had a number of reasons - including a perceived threat to political stability - for opposing the prosecutions of five more former Khmer Rouge cadres.

The Khmer Rouge is considered responsible for the deaths of up to 2.2 million people in the 1970s. The tribunal was established to try senior surviving leaders and those considered most responsible for crimes of that period.

Also on Wednesday police dispersed dozens of people facing eviction who had gathered on the roads on which Ban's motorcade was travelling. Earlier this week they petitioned the UN for a meeting with the secretary-general.

Land-grabbing and evictions are an issue in Cambodia, with tens of thousands of people thrown off their land in recent years. On Monday the activist organization Human Rights Watch called on Ban to address the issue.

Ban arrived in Phnom Penh late Tuesday and visited the tribunal on Wednesday. Earlier this year, the court convicted former Khmer Rouge security chief Comrade Duch of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The UN chief is scheduled to depart on Thursday for Vietnam, where he will attend a summit between the United Nations and the regional Association of South-East Asian Nations bloc. He will conclude his current Asian tour in China.

Cambodia's brutish rogue dictator threatens and throws a tantrum at the UN, will the world allows him to dictate his whim?

Hun Sen limits tribunal's remit, wants rights office shut (1st Lead)

Oct 27, 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodia on Wednesday told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon that the international war crimes court would only be allowed to prosecute four Khmer Rouge leaders currently in custody.

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said the UN-backed court would not be allowed to try another five suspects currently under investigation.

The government previously said that trying more suspects for the crimes of the Khmer Rouge movement, responsible for an estimated 2 million deaths in the 1970s, could destabilize Cambodia.

Prime Minister Hun Sen also told Ban that he wanted the UN to close its local human rights office and to dismiss country director Christophe Peschoux, Khieu Kanharith said.

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters that Peschoux should be sacked on the grounds that he was a 'mouthpiece' for the political opposition.

A UN spokesman was not available to comment on either subject.

Also on Wednesday police dispersed dozens of people facing eviction who had gathered on the roads on which Ban's motorcade was travelling.

Residents from the Boeung Kak lake area in central Phnom Penh had earlier submitted a petition to the UN requesting that Ban meet with them to discuss efforts to evict them from land many have lived on for decades.

The site was leased to a company linked to a senator from the ruling Cambodian People's Party. Hundreds of people have already been evicted, and thousands more have been told they will lose their homes.

Aimee Brown, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Phnom Penh, said Ban knew about requests to meet him, but said his office had not yet decided on whether he would do so.

'He's definitely aware that there are protestors, and he is aware of the petitions that have been received,' Brown said.

Land-grabbing and evictions are an issue in Cambodia, with tens of thousands of people thrown off their land in recent years as values rocketed. On Monday Human Rights Watch called on Ban to address the issue during his visit.

Ban arrived in Phnom Penh late Tuesday and was scheduled to visit the tribunal Wednesday. Earlier this year, the court convicted former Khmer Rouge security chief Comrade Duch of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The UN chief is scheduled to depart on Thursday for Vietnam, where he will attend a summit between the United Nations and the regional Association of South-East Asian Nations bloc. He will conclude his current Asian tour in China.

Hun Xen wants UN Christophe Peschoux sacked, will Ban Ki-moon let Hun Xen dictates his capricious whim?

UN Right Envoy Christophe Peschoux, a thorn in Hun Xen's only good eye?

PM wants UN official sacked

Oct 27, 2010
Reuters

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA'S outspoken prime minister told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday to remove a local UN representative and instruct Khmer Rouge war crimes prosecutors to limit the scope of their investigation.

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, who attended a meeting between Ban and Hun Sen, said the long-serving premier threatened to close the office of the United Nation's human rights body if its representative, Christophe Peschoux, was not replaced.

'Peschoux has not been working on human rights issues with the government but has been the spokesperson for opposition parties,' Namhong told reporters, quoting Hun Sen as telling Ban.

'Remove Peschoux. If Peschoux is not removed, the human rights office in Cambodia will be closed,' he added.

Hun Sen also urged Ban to ensure prosecutors in the joint Cambodian-UN Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal did not seek more indictments, which he said could create conflict in the war-scarred country.

The five-year-old, multi-million-dollar (US) tribunal is preparing to hear its second case, dubbed 002, against four former top cadres of Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist regime, which is blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians from 1975-1979.

UN representative stood by his comments after threatened with expulsion

Chistophe Peschoux (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Sunday, 11 July 2010
By Khmerization
Source: Yun Samean, RFA

Mr. Christophe Peschoux (pictured), UN Representative of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, said he stands by his comments after he was threatened with expulsion by the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs over his criticism of the swift extradition of two Thai bomb suspects recently, by bypassing due legal process, reports Radio Free Asia.

His criticism has received swift reaction from the Cambodian Foreign Ministry which accused him of interfering in the internal affairs of Cambodia. In a strong worded statement, the Foreign Ministry warned Mr. Peschoux that he would be expelled if "such activities" are repeated in the future.

Mr. Peschoux said he will reply to Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in writing, saying that his letter will detail further his legal analysis based on international human rights regulations which Cambodia has the obligation to respect under international laws.

He added that he and the UN will continue to cooperate with the Cambodian government to strengthen legal framework relevant to exiling and extraditing people from Cambodia.

Mr. Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Cambodian Foreign Ministry, said on Saturday 10th July that he has not yet received Mr. Peschoux's letter, but still maintained the Ministry's earlier statement that Mr. Peschoux had interfered in the internal affairs of Cambodia.