Cambodia: Japan’s Premier Should Seek Election Inquiry

Japan Needs to Back Words with Actions, Demand Rights Improvements

Human Rights Watch, November 14, 2013

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 

(Tokyo) – Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should publicly call for an independent, internationally assisted investigation into election irregularities in Cambodia when he meets with Prime Minister Hun Sen, Human Rights Watch said in a letter today. Abe is scheduled to visit Cambodia on November 16 and 17, 2013.

Cambodia’s July 28 National Assembly elections were marred by fundamental structural flaws and serious irregularities that meant that they were neither free nor fair, Human Rights Watch said. Abe should give meaning to the values he expressed in a January 28 policy speech in which he proclaimed Japan’s intention to pursue “diplomacy based on the fundamental values of freedom, democracy, basic human rights, and the rule of law.”

“Japan’s leaders have too often engaged with rights-abusing governments without mentioning human rights,” said Kanae Doi, Japan director at Human Rights Watch. “By pressing Hun Sen on the fundamentally flawed elections, Prime Minister Abe has a chance to show that Japan really means what it says when it comes to human rights and democracy.”

Human Rights Watch called on Abe to use his visit to:

·      Press for an independent, internationally assisted investigation into the elections;

·      Meet with leaders of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party;

·      Ensure Japan engages in vetting in its security assistance;

·      Demand improvements in the trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders; and

·      Ensure development aid promotes and protects human rights.

“Japanhas been the leading bilateral donor to Cambodia since the signing of the 1991 Paris Agreements on Cambodia, but has refrained from speaking out when elections have been tainted and the government has committed serious human rights abuses,” Doi said. “Failure to speak out now would undermine the right of millions of Cambodians to choose their own government through free and fair elections.”