Cambodia Silenced: The End Days Of Democracy?

Cartoon by Sacrava

CCHR – CCPCR – CICA – CITA – CFSWF – CLARI – CLEC – CPN – CTSWF – FTUWKC – IDEA – KKHRDA – LAC – LICADHO – STAR KAMPUCHEA BRIEFING PAPER
Phnom Penh, 1 June 2010

------------

CAMBODIA SILENCED: THE END DAYS OF DEMOCRACY?

1. Introduction

We, the above-mentioned non-governmental organisations (“NGOs”), are currently finalising a report on the state of freedom of expression in Cambodia, due to be published in the coming weeks. In view of the international donor conference scheduled to take place in the Kingdom of Cambodia this week, the purpose of this briefing note is to summarise the content of our report and bring to the attention of the international donor community the perilous state of freedom of expression in Cambodia and its implication for democracy in the Kingdom.

We urge the international donor community to take serious note of the deterioration of freedom of expression as highlighted herein. For over a decade the international community has provided aid to Cambodia but most have remained largely quiet as human rights have been violated and democratic space eroded. It is not enough to throw money at problems and hope the ruling party will act in the interest of the people. Those countries that value democracy and human rights and want to honour their commitment to Cambodia have the ability to make a real impact on the human rights situation in Cambodia by putting genuine conditions on their dealings with Cambodia, making it clear to the Royal Government of Cambodia (the “RGC”) that rights violations will cost them. A number of international donors signed the Agreement on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict and undertook to “promote and encourage respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cambodia…in order, in particular, to prevent the recurrence of human rights abuses”. We call on the international donor community to take responsibility and speak out against the deterioration of rights and democracy in Cambodia. Doing nothing may be judged as tantamount to complicity.

The right to freedom of opinion and expression is the foundation of a democratic society, facilitating progress and development. Without the ability to express views freely, access information and assemble together to address issues of common concern, Cambodians are unable to participate in decision making or hold government to account - all vital tenets of democratic philosophy. Since 2009 freedom of expression has continued to be seriously undermined with the RGC crackdown targeting the pillars of democracy in Cambodia: parliamentarians; the media; lawyers; human rights activists; and ordinary citizens. Cambodia’s democracy is in free-fall.

2. Parliamentarians

Intimidation, harassment and legal sanction have been utilised to undermine legitimate political opposition and consequently democracy. The parliamentary immunity of three opposition parliamentarians – Sam Rainsy, Mu Sochua and Ho Vann – has been lifted to allow for politically motivated criminal charges against them. Opposition parliamentarians face threats of defamation and other charges for expressing opinions on matters of public interest. Anarchic debating rules further stymie their ability to express opinion in the chief debating chamber of the Kingdom, the National Assembly. The veil of democracy may remain in Cambodia, with elections taking place every five years; however, in a climate where the legitimate role of opposition is thwarted and opposition voices silenced, these trappings are rendered meaningless and we fear it evidences a movement towards a de facto one-party state.

3. The Media

Excessive use of repressive legislation and a climate of fear made real by the prosecution and imprisonment of journalists such as Hang Chakra, editor of the opposition-aligned newspaper Khmer Machas Srok and the intimidation and harassment of Dam Sith, editor of opposition-aligned newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer, have acted to prevent open-journalism, ensuring that many media professionals use self-censorship to avoid offending the State or other powerful actors. Democracy is not just about consent to be governed but about having a citizenry that is adequately informed in order to exercise that consent. Freedom of expression and the freedom of press are fundamentally important in ensuring that Cambodians are given a real opportunity to understand the nature of the RGC and make an informed choice in the next general election. The gag on journalists is stifling democracy and human rights in Cambodia.

4. Lawyers

Lawyers play a pivotal role in any democracy and have the potential of being great levellers between the powerful and the less powerful by providing access to justice through the courts. Charges of defamation have been used to intimidate and harass lawyers who represent those opposing the RGC, as was seen when defamation charges were brought against opposition member of parliament Mu Sochua’s attorney, Mr. Kong Sam Onn. Such action has the very real possibility of stripping lawyers of their role as levellers, affecting their willingness to represent opposition members or others who have filed complaints against the powerful, allowing for violations to go unchallenged and impunity to persist.

5. Human Rights Activists

The space within which human rights activists can express their concerns and voice their opinions is shrinking by the day, and is becoming even more precarious with the proposed enactment of an NGO law. Human rights activists have been intimidated, harassed and punished for simply fulfilling their mandate. Criminal charges of incitement have been used against those who speak out about injustices. Rights groups have been prevented from holding public forums to discuss issues of public concern. There is a danger that if the repressive action against human rights activists continues Cambodia could reach a point of no return where there is ultimately no room for activists to speak out on human rights abuses.

6. Ordinary Citizens

Ordinary citizens have also found the space within which they can voice their opinions and concerns diminishing. The ‘criminalisation’ of certain opinion, particularly that related to corruption and allegations of authoritarian rule, has denied Cambodians a voice. In the past year, a student was arrested and convicted for banners he had raised at his home saying “Absolutely fighting against community policy”. Early this year The Phnom Penh Post reported that distributors of leaflets that said that Cambodia was a puppet of communist Vietnam had been warned by the RGC to be careful or be arrested. Protestors from communities affected by land grabbing and illegal concessions have been brutally silenced by police. The exercise of freedom of expression acts as a safety valve for both stability and change, allowing people who may otherwise be inclined to use violence to let off steam. There is a real risk - in a nascent democracy such as Cambodia - that the continued suppression of the right of freedom of expression may remove this safety valve in a way that puts in jeopardy the peace and development towards which many have spent the last three decades working for.

3. Recommendations to the International Community

In light of the above therefore, we make the following recommendations:

• Demand that the RGC fulfill its obligations in protecting and promoting the human rights of Cambodians.
• Urge the RGC to take action to implement the 91 recommendations it accepted as part of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Cambodia’s human rights record process.
• Speak out publicly when the RGC fails to respect freedom of expression. Where possible the international
• community should raise human rights issues at the diplomatic level and speak in a unified voice.
• Adopt a human rights-based approach to aid and take a tougher line on linking financial assistance to the RGC demonstrating real commitment to, and tangible improvements in, human rights.
• Maintain funding and technical support to local NGOs and others working towards the realisation of human rights in Cambodia.
• Speak out in support of parliamentarians, the media, lawyers, human rights activists and ordinary citizens who are being persecuted for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression. This support can be an invaluable source of strength and confidence for Cambodians who risk so much in their struggle for the fundamental right to freedom of expression and democracy.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Ou Virak, President, Cambodia Center for Human Rights (CCHR)
Tel: +855 12 404051
Email: ouvirak@cchrcambodia.org

Ms. Naly Pilorge, Director, Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO)
Tel: +855 12 803650
Email: contact@licadho-cambodia.org

Mr. Yeng Virak, Executive Director, Community Legal Education Center (CLEC)
Tel: +855 12 801235
Email: virakyeng@clec.org.kh

Cambodia’s opposition leader denounces the authoritarian drift of Hun Sen’s regime

Sam Rainsy deplores the authoritarianism of Cambodia's prime minister who is in power for the past two decades (Photo: AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

15 December 2009
By Jacques Follorou
Le Monde (Paris, France)
Translated from French by Tola Ek

L'article en français se trouve en fin du texte anglais.

“For now, I am an alibi for democracy to Hun Sen, my country’s prime minister, however I think that he will kill me before he quits power.” Opposition leader Sam Rainsy already escaped two assassination attempts: in 1997 and 1998. “To Hun Sen, I am a guarantor to the foreigners that he respects freedom, but in reality, his regime never ceased to harden up.”

Currently in Paris, where he once lived, Sam Rainsy uses his quick wit and his oral gift to describe the development of the Cambodian society. Symbolizing an elite in exile before returning back home to take on political position, he looks ten years younger than his actual 60-year-old age. A former Finance minister between 1993 and 1994 in the coalition government, he embodies an alternative to the old decaying Hun Sen regime. The latter is in fact one of the oldest leaders in the world who still in power, and he is also the leader of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) which advocates a Vietnamese-inspired model of market economy.

In November, the political hardening of Cambodia was translated into a crisis with Thailand, its neighbor. Diplomatic relations were cut off between the two countries after Hun Sen decided to offer asylum to Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Thai prime minister who was sentenced in his country to two years in prison for embezzlements. Cooperation agreements between the two countries were suspended following Thaksin’s nomination as personal advisor to the Cambodian prime minister.

“Hun Sen is pouring oil on fire with Thailand to weaken it within ASEAN, but also to hide the strengthening of his relationships with Vietnam, his other neighbor,” Sam Rainsy said.

Unexpected resistance

However, as head of the Cambodian opposition – the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) –that counts 26 MPs and 7 senators, “the worst” is inside of the country itself. According to Sam Rainsy, “Hun Sen is held by his throat.” He recently reduced salaries for police officers, soldiers and civil servants and he is also initiating property tax, as well as taxes on motorcycles, the most popular transportation means in Cambodia. “Yet, he promised never to touch lands or popular transportation means.”

According to Cambodia’s opposition, public freedom is also seriously threatened. “The novelty is that he is now attacking militants at the base, not just the leaders only. Public meetings without authorization and demonstrations are prohibited, this regime holds itself up only through fear,” Mr. Sam Rainsy indicated.

The traditional political equilibrium which was assured by the weight of the royalist is no longer working. “Before, the royalists were the alternative to communism, but, since 1995, they only act as a guarantor and they allowed Hun Sen to remain in power.”

Likewise, according to Sam Rainsy, Hun Sen’s virulent attacks against the international tribunal currently trying the former Khmer Rouge leaders in Phnom Penh reveal “the regime’s true nature.” “He (Hun Sen) criticizes new charges brought up by the special tribunal because he is afraid to reveal openly the stranglehold of the former mid-level Khmer Rouge cadres who are now the main actors of the current regime.”

Nevertheless, according to the Cambodian opposition leader, “the authoritarian drift” of the regime would be blocked by unexpected resistance. The increasing use of mobile phones in the country contributes to the advancement of plurality during election campaigns and also to the distribution of alternative information to the regime’s media propaganda. The opening up of competition in some market segments, such as telecommunication, would loosen up the country’s stranglehold. “When a dictatorship wants modernity, it must accept a dose of freedom,” Mr. Rainsy indicated.
--------
Le chef de l'opposition cambodgienne dénonce la dérive autoritaire du régime de Hun Sen

15.12.09
Jacques Follorou LE MONDE

"Pour l'instant, je suis l'alibi démocratique de Hun Sen, premier ministre de mon pays, mais je pense qu'il me tuera avant de quitter le pouvoir." Le chef de l'opposition cambodgienne, Sam Rainsy, a déjà échappé, en 1997 et 1998, à deux tentatives d'assassinat. "Pour Hun Sen, je suis une caution pour les étrangers attestant qu'il respecte les libertés, mais en réalité, ce régime ne cesse de se durcir."

De passage à Paris, où il a vécu dans le passé, il use d'un esprit vif et d'un certain don de la formule pour décrire l'évolution de la société cambodgienne. Symbole de cette élite exilée avant de revenir au pays exercer des fonctions politiques, il fait dix ans de moins que ses 60 ans. Ex-ministre des finances entre 1993 et 1994 dans un gouvernement de coalition, il entend incarner une alternative au régime vieillissant de Hun Sen. Ce dernier est l'un des plus anciens dirigeants au pouvoir au monde et leader du Parti du peuple cambodgien (PPC), qui prône un modèle communiste d'inspiration vietnamienne tourné vers l'économie de marché.

Le raidissement de la politique du Cambodge s'est traduit, en novembre, par la crise déclenchée avec son voisin, la Thaïlande. Les relations diplomatiques ont été rompues entre les deux Etats après qu'Hun Sen a décidé d'offrir l'asile à l'ex-premier ministre thaïlandais, Thaksin Shinawatra, condamné dans son pays à deux ans de prison pour malversations financières. Les accords de coopération ont été suspendus après la nomination de Thaksin comme conseiller personnel du premier ministre cambodgien.

"Hun Sen jette de l'huile sur le feu avec la Thaïlande pour l'affaiblir au sein de l'ASEAN (l'Association des nations de l'Asie du Sud-Est), mais aussi pour masquer le renforcement de ses relations avec le Vietnam, son autre voisin", estime Sam Rainsy.
Résistances inattendues

Mais, selon le chef de l'opposition cambodgienne, dont la formation politique, le Parti de Sam Rainsy (PSR) compte vingt-six députés et sept sénateurs, "le plus grave" se trouve à l'intérieur du pays. "Hun Sen est pris à la gorge", selon M. Rainsy. Il vient de réduire les salaires des policiers, des militaires et des fonctionnaires, et il a instauré un impôt foncier ainsi qu'une taxe sur les motos, moyen de locomotion très répandu au Cambodge. "Il avait pourtant promis de ne jamais toucher à la terre ou aux transports populaires."

Les libertés publiques, d'après les opposants cambodgiens, seraient également menacées. "La nouveauté, c'est qu'il s'attaque désormais aux militants de base et pas seulement aux chefs, les réunions publiques sans autorisation et les manifestations ont été interdites, ce régime se maintient par la peur", assure M. Rainsy.

L'équilibre politique traditionnel assuré par le poids des royalistes ne fonctionnerait plus. "Avant, les royalistes étaient l'alternative au communisme, mais depuis 1995, ils ne sont qu'une caution et ont permis à Hun Sen de se maintenir au pouvoir."

De même, les prises de position virulentes de Hun Sen contre le tribunal international jugeant actuellement, à Phnom Penh, d'ex-chefs khmers rouges dévoileraient, selon Sam Rainsy, "la vraie nature du régime". "Il critique les nouvelles poursuites engagées par le tribunal spécial, car il craint que n'apparaisse au grand jour l'emprise des ex-cadres intermédiaires khmers rouges jouant aujourd'hui un rôle de premier plan dans le régime".

Néanmoins, à en croire le chef de l'opposition cambodgienne, "la dérive autoritaire" du régime s'opposerait à des résistances inattendues. La multiplication des téléphones portables dans le pays contribuerait à faire avancer la pluralité dans les campagnes et à diffuser une information alternative à celle donnée par des médias tenus par le régime. L'ouverture à la concurrence de certains marchés, comme les télécommunications, desserrerait l'étau imposé sur le pays. "Quand une dictature veut la modernité, elle doit accepter une certaine dose de liberté", estime M. Rainsy.

ITUC: Police violence also left scores of workers injured in Cambodia, a country renowned for worker rights violations

A Catalogue Of Crimes Against Trade Unionists

Wednesday, 19 September 2007
Press Release: ITUC
International Trade Union Confederation

New ITUC Worldwide Report Reveals Catalogue of Murder, Violence and Intimidation Against Trade Unionists

An appalling total of 144 trade unionists were murdered for defending workers¹ rights in 2006, while more than 800 suffered beatings or torture, according to the Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights Violations, published by the 168-million member International Trade Union Confederation. The 379-page report details nearly 5,000 arrests and more than 8,000 dismissals of workers due to their trade union activities. 484 new cases of trade unionists held in detention by governments are also documented in the report.

"Workers seeking to better their lives through trade union activities are facing rising levels of repression and intimidation in an increasing number of countries. Most shocking of all is the increase of some 25% in the number killed compared to the previous year", said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder. "In many of the countries highlighted in the report, repression continued during 2007", he added.

Colombia remained the most perilous place in the world for union activity, with 78 killings, almost all of which were carried out with impunity by paramilitary death squads linked to government officials or acting at the behest of employers. Of 1,165 murders documented between 1994 and 2006, only 56 perpetrators have been brought to trial, and a total of 14 have been sentenced. A wave of anti-union violence in the Philippines is also documented in the Survey, with 33 unionists and worker-rights supporters murdered, in some cases by killers acting in collusion with the military and the police. The report gives accounts of mass dismissals, beatings, detentions and threats against workers and their families used, sometimes routinely, in countries in each region of the world.

Dictatorships and authoritarian governments in Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, North Korea and several Gulf countries maintained their suppression of independent trade unions, with more than 100 Chinese workers detained in prisons and forced labour camps in appalling conditions. The Zimbabwean government continued its violent repression of the country¹s trade union movement. Of 265 participants in a trade union protest who were arrested by the authorities, 15 including the top leaders of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions were severely beaten whilst in detention.

The Survey also reports growing government hostility to fundamental workers¹ rights in some industrialised countries, in particular in Australia, where the government¹s deceptively-titled "WorkChoices" legislation stripped workers of a raft of rights and benefits, and imposed heavy restrictions on union activity, with harsh penalties for individual workers and union officials. The government launched prosecutions against 107 construction workers, who faced heavy fines for taking industrial action in support of a health and safety representative who was dismissed. In the United States a National Labour Relations Board Ruling deprived millions of the right to organise, extending the definition of the term "supervisor", while in Switzerland the government, in a move eventually defeated by the ITUC¹s Swiss affiliate, tried to invalidate the authority of the ILO¹s Committee on Freedom of Association with regard to Swiss labour laws.

The anti-union activities of a number of multinational companies, including repeat offenders such as Coca Cola subsidiaries and suppliers, Wal-Mart, Goodyear, Nestlé and Bouygues come under the spotlight. Heavy repression by suppliers to well-known global brand names, especially in the textiles and agriculture sectors, is also described. Several multinationals took advantage of an increasingly hostile environment in Poland to clamp down on workers¹ rights and conditions.

Women workers in particular continued to face repression, particularly given the exploitation of the mainly female workforce in Export Processing Zones in Asia, Africa and Latin America, with numerous instances of dismissal and outright refusal by employers to recognise even the most fundamental rights of their employees. In Morocco women textile workers stood trial for organising a strike, while in Mauritius women workers taking part in a sit-in were beaten by police. Abuse of women domestic workers, amongst the most exploited of the world¹s 90 million migrant workers, is also a prominent feature in several countries, notably in the Gulf States.

In Asia-Pacific, repression of workers in particular in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, included the dismissal of nearly 5,000 workers for their union activities, and killings of workers in Bangladesh, India as well as in Nepal where two unionists were killed by the army during pro-democracy demonstrations co-organised by the country¹s trade union movement. Police violence also left scores of workers injured in Cambodia, a country renowned for worker rights violations, and in Malaysia. Violence against trade unionists in Cambodia continued into 2007, where union leader Hy Vuthy was assassinated in February. In Thailand, the military coup led to harassment and dismissal of trade union members and leaders, and in common with a number of other countries in the region, migrant workers were particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

Along with the appalling toll of murders in Colombia, violence against trade unionists elsewhere in Latin America included the killing by police of two miners in Mexico and injuries to 41 others, while 15 Ecuadoreans were seriously injured during brutal repression by the police and army of a union-organised demonstration against a free trade agreement with the USA. A woman teachers¹ union leader escaped an assassination attempt in Guatemala, where the long-established pattern of anti-union violence continued into 2007 with the murder of port workers¹ union leader Pedro Zamora on 15 January. Anti-union activities by Export Processing Zone employers and by plantation owners, including several cases of large-scale dismissals and intimidation of workers, took place in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Workers organising unions or participating in strike action in Argentina, Peru and several other countries were dismissed en-masse. Workers were arrested for taking part in union activities in nine countries in the region.

Workers in Africa also faced gross violations of their rights to union organisation and representation. Security forces attacked a union-organised demonstration in Guinea, killing some 20 demonstrators and injuring many more. One municipal worker was killed and several injured during a union protest in Morocco, while in South Africa police fired on striking newspaper employees and some 18 other trade unionists were injured by police in separate incidents. As in Asia, mass dismissals were a common feature, principally in Kenya, where more than 1,000 striking flower plantation workers were sacked, and several of them were injured by police. Public service and education workers faced anti-union discrimination in Algeria, Benin and Ethiopia, where the government continued its harassment of the Teachers¹ Association. The Djibouti union centre UDT was subjected to heavy government harassment, and one of its senior officials had to flee the country in fear for his life. The Libyan and Sudanese governments also maintain heavy restrictions on freedom of association, while Egypt also imposes limits on union rights.

Tentative steps towards trade union rights in Oman and positive developments in Bahrain were overshadowed by continued severe restrictions or outright bans on union activity in much of the Middle East, notably in Saudi Arabia. Restrictions on freedom of association also continued in Jordan, Kuwait and Yemen, and the Syrian authorities exercised virtually total control of the official trade union organisation, the only one allowed. Many migrant workers throughout the Middle East faced hazardous and exploitative working conditions without any effective legal recourse. Iraqi trade unionists faced ongoing and targeted violence. Among the many attacks, one of the most appalling involved a health union leader who was abducted, tortured with an electric drill and then shot to death. Iran continued to deny basic rights to its workers, cracking down hard on independent trade union activity with mass arrests and detentions including that of a 12 year old girl who was beaten and thrown into a police van. Mansour Osanloo, head of the Tehran bus drivers¹ union, was held in solitary confinement for four months, and beaten and arrested a second time in November. Following his release on bail, he was once again arrested by the authorities in July 2007 and remains, along with several colleagues, in prison.

Continued violence in Palestine also affected the trade union movement. In one case, masked men threw a hand-grenade a union-run radio station and then set it on fire, injuring four people. Continued restrictions on movement of Palestinians between the West Bank and Gaza by the Israeli authorities made trade union activities even more difficult.

In Europe, systematic repression of independent trade unionism remained a feature in Belarus, and the European Union pledged to withdraw trade preference benefits due to the failure of the Lukashenko regime to respect core ILO standards. Employers in Azerbaijan and Turkey were responsible for serious anti-union harassment, while government interference in legitimate trade union affairs was documented in Bosnia/Herzegovina, Lithuania and Moldova. Labour law changes in Russia and Georgia also undermined adherence to union representation and collective bargaining rights.

Yet there is a positive message too. In the foreword to the report, ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder points out that "Despite all the difficulties, millions of women and men remain firm in their commitment to, or are discovering the benefits of, trade union action".

Saluting the courage of all those who stand up to anti-union repression despite the obvious personal danger they face, Ryder added that "International solidarity action by trade unions around the world has brought much-needed support to workers whose fundamental rights are being violated. In many of the cases documented in our Survey, global trade union pressure on governments and companies has brought results."

"Nevertheless," he warned, "there are few if any signs of overall improvement since the end of 2006, and governments need to face up to their responsibilities to make sure that global standards adopted at the International Labour Organisation are fully respected everywhere in the world".