Son Chhay Request Annulment of Supplemental Treaty

In a letter dated 14 November 2005 addressed to the President of the Consitutional Council, Bin Chhin, Son Chhay, the SRP opposition Member of the National Assembly, requested the annulment of the Supplemental Treaty recently approved by the National Assembly. Along with the letter, MP Son Chhay also included a list of questions he asked during the National Assembly full session held on 11 November 2005.

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A translation of the letter and question list is provided below:

Kingdom of Cambodia
Nation - Religion - King

National Assembly
No. SC 05/76

To The Attention of H.E. Bin Chhin
President of the Constitutional Council

Subject:

Request for annulment of the decision taken by the National Assembly regarding the Supplemental Treaty between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the 1985 Treaty on the delimitation of border adopted by the National Assembly on 11 November 2005.

Based on:

• Article 92 of the Constitution stating: Laws adopted by the Assembly which run counter to the principles of preserving national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and affect the political unity or the administration of the nation shall be annulled. The Constitutional Council is the only organ which shall decided upon this annulment.
• Article 2 of the Constitution stating: The territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Cambodia shall absolutely not be violated within its borders as defined in the 1/100,000 scale map between the years 1933-1953 and internationally recognized between the years 1963-1969.

After noting up to today that the Constitutional Council did not assume its proper function in the probe and annulment of the Supplemental Treaty with Vietnam as prescribed in Articles 2 and 92 of the Constitution, I am reminding the Constitutional Council to meet urgently on this case because this Supplemental Treaty:

• Completely violates Article 2 of the Constitution since the documents used by the Government for the border delimitation with Vietnam are not based on 1/100,000 scale maps printed between the years 1933-1953 and internationally recognized between 1963-1969.
• The 1985 Treaty on the delimitation of border was concluded with Vietnam when Cambodia was under the occupation of foreign invasion troops, when the People’s Republic of Kampuchea at that time was not even recognized by the United Nations and it was still under the pressure and duress of foreign troops at that time.
• The Supplemental Treaty approved by the National Assembly on 11 November clearly showed that it runs counter to the principles of preserving national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity of Cambodia, and in particular, it affects the political unity which includes the opposition from King-Father and the opposition party as well as that of a very large number of the population, even though the National Assembly voted for approval under pressure and duress.

Therefore, I am requesting that the Constitutional Council annul this Supplemental Treaty based on the importance it stresses on its own national and constitutional consciousness.

Please accept, Your Excellency and Members of the Constitutional Council my regards.

Phnom Penh, 14 November 2005,

Son Chhay
Member of Parliament of Phnom Penh

Cc: His Majesty the King of Cambodia

Questions and Opinions
Regarding the Supplemental Treaty
between the Kingdom of Cambodia
and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
on the Document concluded on 27 December 1985

By Member of Parliament Son Chhay
For the National Assembly Full Meeting held on 11 November 2005

I- The National Assembly cannot approve the Supplemental Treaty because:

1. The Supplemental treaty is in complete violation of Article 2 of the Constitution which stated that: “The territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Cambodia shall absolutely not be violated within its borders as defined in the 1/100,000 scale map between the years 1933-1953 and internationally recognized between the years 1963-1969.”
2. According to the Government declaration No. 77 S.C.N. dated 20 October 2005 which is based on the 1985 Treaty on the delimitation of border as defined by the 1/100,000 scale maps prepared by the Service Géographique de l’Indochine (“SGI”) which are not the same as the maps defined in Article 2 of the Constitution.

The reason the 1/100,000 scale maps between the years 1933-1953 were internationally recognized between the years 1963-1969 was because:

• a) The Cambodia-Thailand boundary (1/200,000 scale) maps were “made” in 1907, based on the 1904-1907 Treaty; however, the 1:200,000 maps were re-examined, re-verified, converted into a larger scale (1/100,000) and re-published in the early 1950s.
• b) The Cambodia-Laos Boundary maps were prepared in the 1930s and “made” in 1940-1950 and based on French Decrees in 1904-1929.
• c) The Cambodia - (French) Cochinchina boundary was prepared in 1913-1914 (Svay Reing-E.), 1920 (Tay Ninh-Memot etc), 1930 Hatien-Kampot. The maps were re-examined and verified and “made” in 1951-53. They were based on the 1870-1873 Decrees and a Convention.
• d) The Cambodia-Annam boundary maps were prepared in the 1920s (Yali sheet) and in 1930s (Poste Maitre). The maps were re-examined, re-verified by air photography and were re-made in 1940s-1950s based on French Decrees.
• e) The colonial Service Géographique de l’Indochine (“SGI”) 1:100,000 maps are not all accurate, but the larger U.S. Army Topographic Command, known as the Army Map Service (“AMS”) 1/50,000, also contains errors such in Dak Dam, Ap Phuoc Thien, Bu Gia Map, Khum Trapeang Phlong, Tan Chau sheets. The difference is that the SGI 1/100,000 maps were made by more than one party, but AMS 1:50,000 maps were the product of the United States government alone.
• f) Maps defined in Article 2 of the Constitution:
  In the 1950s, Cambodia corrected errors in some sheets of the SGI 1/100,000 maps. In 1964, Cambodia submitted these corrections to the United Nations. The changes were internationally recognized in 1963-1969, especially by Vietnam.4

It was these maps which the UN Security Council Decision (Doc.S/5741) of 4 June 1964 referred to, and they were printed between 1933-1953, referred to as the 1/100,000 scale maps defined in the 1993 Constitution, and is a reference map used for the legal defense of the territories of Cambodia. We also know that the Government also has copies of these maps.

II- Territorial Losses Claimed by Cambodia from the Supplemental Treaty

Based on the research document published by Steven R. Ratner in the Americal Journal of International Law (1993), and the article published in the Far Eastern Economic Review magazine titled “Land Erosions: Cambodians Question Status of Country’s Border” dated 3 September 1992, the US State Department suggested that under the 1985 Treaty on the delimitation of border between the People’s Republic of Kampuchea and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam gave all the “disputed” areas to Vietnam.

Furthermore, the minute of the meeting of the Permanent Committee of the Council of Minister held in the afternoon on 29 July 1991 with the participation of comrades Hor Nam Hong and Ith Prang in which the discussions of lots division of Khmer maritime domain for auction to foreign companies for oil exploration were contested by Vietnam. We note the following opinion expressed by comrade Hor Nam Hong who said on that occasion: “If the [oil] exploration is not started yet, it is easier during the negotiations. Regarding the issue of the Brévié Line, I clearly understand that the reference made by the French [colonial administration] is only an administration line in order to facilitate the population in that area to complete paper work so they do not have to come all the way to Kampot which is too far, during that time, the three countries [Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos] were under the French administration, in truth, the Brévié line is not a border, and during that time it [Koh Tral or Phu Quoc in Vietnamese] was ours, but let’s not care about it, they [the Vietnamese] took it already, let’s give it to them, let’s not care to claim it back so that we can be at peace, and if they [the Vietnamese] will not recognize this situation, it will be a complicated issue in the future, but let’s solve that another day, for now, we need to resolve the other issue first because we already have arrangements made.”

The [declaration included in the] above document is further proof indicating that the upper officials of the State of Kampuchea had major difficulties regarding the border with Vietnam, and that the delimitation of border between the People’s Republic of Kampuchea and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam dated 27 December 1985 (itself a result of previous treaties dated: 18 February 1979, 7 July 1982, 20 July 1983) actually caused Cambodia to lose disputed territories to the benefit of Vietnam.

III- Can Vietnam Be Trusted In Bilateral Negotiations?

History has shown that Vietnam never accepted the territorial integrity of Cambodia in honesty, and in the recent history, even though Vietnamese leaders had officially promised to our King-Father the respect of Khmer territorial integrity in gratitude to the help provided during the struggle for the unification of South Vietnam, the promises had all been forgotten.

In addition, we also note the report provided by H.E. Var Kim Hong to the meeting held by the Permanent Committee of the Council of Ministers regarding the results of the negotiations over the Cambodia-Vietnam land border, and the request for the decision on the draft Supplemental Treaty to the 1985 Treaty on the delimitation of border between the People’s Republic of Kampuchea and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam dated 8 August 2005 stating: “It is noted that since 1996, the Vietnamese party had changed the President of their border committee 4 times already, whereas Cambodia never made any change. This is a complicated issue as Vietnam always raised new questions during all meetings by claiming that they did not know or they did not have time to study. This cause delays on several occasions, and this requires the patience to explain to the newcomers for them to agree on the work performed by their outgoing president.”

All this shows that even if we currently agree to give the disputed Khmer lands to Vietnam, we will not have peace because when there will be further dispute in the future, since our country is poor, having a small population, and having weak national defense, we will surely lose more disputed territories to the benefit of Vietnam.

[Therefore,] we are asking: If according to the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement which guaranteed the Khmer territorial integrity by the 6 former ASEAN member countries, by the member countries of the Security Council of the United Nation, and by all signatory countries, including Vietnam, why the Royal Government does not seek help to internationally resolve this issue so that we have clear guarantee and equal justice with Vietnam in the final resolution on the issue of Khmer territories? With this question, we are requesting the National Assembly not to provide its support the Supplemental Treaty yet, and it should urgently form an expert and able border committee, and come up with sufficient method to study new alternatives guaranteeing Khmer territories with justice, and also guaranteeing our territories in the future as well so that the Khmer race can also survive.