Officials voice concern over Cambodia's commitment to democracy
By Todd Bullock
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The United States condemns the recent detention of two prominent Cambodian human rights activists and is concerned over a growing trend by the Cambodian government of targeting civil society leaders and political opposition through arrests.
"This is the latest in a series of arrests and lawsuits targeting critics of the Cambodian government, the cumulative effect of which is to call into question the Cambodian government's commitment to democracy and human rights," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a January 3 press briefing.
On December 31, 2005, Cambodian police detained Kem Sokha, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), and Yneg Virak, director of the Community Legal Education Center (CLEC), on defamation charges apparently stemming from a banner displayed at a December 10, 2005, International Human Rights Day rally in Phnom Penh that allegedly accused Prime Minister Hun Sen of selling Cambodian land to Vietnam.
Additionally, Cambodian authorities detained on January 4 Pa Nguon Teang, deputy director of the CCHR, on similar defamation charges.
According to the State Department, CCHR receives $800,000 from the United States government for its activities, which include radio programs and public forums that give citizens the opportunity to express their concerns on current issues. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill also held a discussion with Kem in May 2005 on the political situation in Cambodia. (See related article.)
"We urge the Cambodian government to reverse the erosion of freedom and democracy," McCormack said, adding that U.S. Embassy officials in Phnom Penh immediately raised objections to the arrests with senior Cambodian government officials.
ARRESTS CONTINUE "EROSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS" IN CAMBODIA
"The U.S. government is extremely disappointed that this is again another step in the erosion of human rights that we've seen since the beginning of the year," U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph Mussomeli said December 31, 2005, following the detentions. "We are concerned that this may be part of a broader plan to quash the opposition."
Following the bloodshed under the Pol Pot regime and the end of Vietnam's occupation in 1989, more than 4 four million Cambodians participated in 1993 elections, which established the Royal Government of Cambodia as a constitutional monarchy with a multiparty democracy. However, despite relative stability from 1993 to 2003, political violence between parties continued to be a problem, according to a country analysis provided by the U.S. State Department. National Assembly elections in July 2003 failed to give any one party the two-thirds majority of seats required under the constitution to form a government.
In July 2004, the National Assembly approved an addendum to the constitution to require a vote on a new government and to end a political stalemate. The vote approved a new coalition government consisting of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and the National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, and Peaceful Cambodia (FUNCINPEC), led by Prince Norodom Ranariddh, with Hun Sen as prime minister and Prince Ranariddh as president of the National Assembly. The Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) -- led by founder Sam Rainsy, a former member of parliament from Cambodia's Kampong Cham province -- and representatives of nongovernmental organizations argued the addendum was unconstitutional, and the SRP boycotted the vote.
In February 2005, the National Assembly voted to lift the parliamentary immunity of SRP members Rainsy, Cheam Channy and Kong Piseth and in August 2005 a military court brought charges against the latter two. (See related article.) In December 2005, Rainsy was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 18 months in prison for allegedly defaming the prime minister and Prince Ranariddh. (See related article.)
"They [the Cambodian government] have scared the hell out of the opposition, and it becomes more difficult to take these trappings of democracy as the real thing each time another voice is silenced," Mussomeli said, adding that the prospects for credible elections in 2008 are being impaired.
"If you're going to be a real democracy, you have to allow free speech," he said.
See also "Lawmaker Concerned by Threats to Basic Freedoms in Cambodia."
For additional information on U.S. policies, see East Asia and the Pacific, Democracy and Human Rights.
The text of a January 6 statement by McCormack on Cambodia is available on the State Department Web site.
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