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Cambodia’s Democracy On Trial
ជាការចូលរួមចំណែកបន្ថែមទៅអ្វីដែលអ្នកស្រីអ៊ីណូសបានពន្យល់ក្បោះក្បាយហើយនោះ លោកហ៊ុនសែនហាក់បានត្រៀមសំរួចអាវុធបំផ្លាញប្រជាធិបតេយ្យទុកជាបណ្តើរៗមានដូចជាច្បាប់គណបក្សនយោបាយ គណៈកម្មការជាតិរៀបចំការបោះឆ្នោត និងច្បាប់គ្រប់គ្រងអង្គការសង្គមស៊ីវីលជាដើម។ ច្បាប់ទាំងអស់នេះ តើអាចនឹងប្រើប្រាស់ទៅអនាគតបានទេក្នុងទិដ្ឋភាពមួយដែលគណបក្សប្រជាជននឹងក្លាយជាបក្សជំទាស់នោះ?
Adding to that Enos has clearly articulated, Hun Sen has backup several tool to undermine democracy such as ratifying the political party law, the Natinal Election Committee, and the LINGO Law. Shall these laws be enforced when Cambodian People Party (CPP) has become the opposition party?
Cambodia’s Democracy On Trial
Olivia EnosContributor PolicyI write about international human rights and national security.
![Anti Government Protestors Demand Freedom Of Opposition MP's Arrested During Demos](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/452211134/960x0.jpg?fit=scale)
Last week, Cambodia’s opposition leader Kem Sokha was brought before the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on politically-motivated charges of treason. If found guilty, he could serve up to 30 years in prison.
Kem Sokha isn’t the only one on trial. Cambodia’s democracy is, too.
After nearly 35 years as commander-in-chief, Prime Minister Hun Sen has run Cambodia’s democracy into the ground – so much so that it can hardly be called democratic today.
Hun Sen targeted Kem Sokha when it became clear that he and his opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) posed a real electoral threat. The 2013 elections were uncomfortably close for Hun Sen; the CNRP won 55 of the 123 parliamentary seats.
These elections proved a turning point. Hun Sen refused to continue the mirage of democracy in Cambodia and went full-fledged despot on the Cambodian people.
Kem Sokha’s arrest and detention in September 2017 was an early nail in the coffin of Cambodia’s democracy. His arrest was quickly followed by a broad crackdown on civil society and, eventually, Cambodia’s Supreme Court decision to dissolve the opposition. The majority of Cambodia’s opposition leadership now lives in exile abroad.
Even prior to last week’s trial, Kem Sokha already endured a lot. He lived for two years under arbitrary imprisonment and house arrest where he was denied access to much-needed medical care and isolated from other members of the CNRP, including his own family members.
The evidence for Cambodia’s political deterioration in undeniable. The question is whether it can pave the way for new leadership that embraces political reform in the future? The international community is watching closely as this trial proceeds and weighing carefully its responses.
The U.S. has already taken a number of steps to hold Cambodia’s rogue leadership accountable. Last December, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned several Cambodian companies and individuals—including Try Pheap and Khun Kim—for engaging in corruption.
This was the second time that Cambodians were designated under Global Magnitsky for their involvement in undermining democracy. Treasury previously designated Hun Sen’s notorious bodyguard, Hing Bun Hieng, in June 2018, just ahead of that year’s rigged general elections.
Moreover, Washington has repeatedly signaled its displeasure through statements and condemnations of sham elections, numerous requests to release Kem Sokha (prior to his release from house arrest in November 2019), and even legislation in Congress proposing the revocation of Cambodia’s preferential trade status.
The European Union (EU) is currently considering whether to revoke its own version of preferential trade status and is expected to hand down its decision in February.
The proceedings in Kem Sokha’s trial will no doubt have bearing on the actions of both the U.S. and the EU. As the U.S. noted when it sanctioned both Try Pheap and Khun Kim, corruption and poor governance are threatening to U.S. interests in Asia:
The United States prioritizes anticorruption efforts as a key part of its vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, recognizing good governance as integral to U.S. foreign policy and national security interests and in line with U.S. values.
If conditions in Cambodia continue to deteriorate, and it hands down yet another unjust sentence to as high-ranking a government official as Kem Sokha, the U.S. will have no choice but to take further action.
Read More …Global brands urge Cambodia to reform labor amid EU sanction threat
Global brands urge Cambodia to reform labor amid EU sanction threat
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Global clothing and shoe brands, including Adidas, PUMA and Levi Strauss have written again to Cambodia’s longtime leader saying the country’s record on labor and human rights threatens to bring down sanctions on its crucial garment industry.
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The letter urges the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen to amend a trade union law, repeal the law on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and drop all outstanding criminal charges against union leaders.
“The credibility of Cambodia’s apparel, footwear, and travel goods sectors are at stake,” said the letter, seen by Reuters.
“We are concerned that the labor and human rights situation in Cambodia is risking the loss of trade preferences for Cambodia,” they added.
Government spokesman Phay Siphan did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment on Friday.
Labour Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said he had not seen the letter but said it “might contain the same out of date concerns that we have already addressed according to the Cambodian law and legal process”.
The European Union will decide next month whether or not to strip Cambodia of its “Everything but Arms (EBA)” initiative after a European Commission report found that Hun Sen’s government has cracked down on the opposition, civil society groups and the media.
The European Union accounts for nearly half of Cambodia’s exports, the country’s largest industry, which employs about 700,000 people and accounts for 40 percent of gross domestic product.
The letter, sent to Hun Sen on Wednesday, represents major apparel and footwear companies, including Adidas, Levis Strauss, New Balance, Puma, Ralph Lauren, Under Armour, VF Corporation and American Apparel & Footwear Association.
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UN EXPERTS SAY KEM SOKHA TRIAL IS “TAINTED”
(English version below) – UN EXPERTS SAY KEM SOKHA TRIAL IS “TAINTED”
ថ្ងៃនេះ ខ្ញុំចូលរួមជាមួយអ្នកជំនាញឯករាជ្យរបស់ អ.ស.ប ពីររូបទៀតក្នុងការអំពាវនាវឲ្យអាជ្ញាធរកម្ពុជាធានានូវយុត្តិធម៌សម្រាប់លោក កឹម សុខា ដែលការកាត់ទោសពីបទក្បត់ជាតិរបស់លោក បានចាប់ផ្តើម នៅទីក្រុងភ្នំពេញនៅសប្តាហ៍នេះ។ យើងសូមអំពាវនាវម្តងទៀតឱ្យដកចេញជាបន្ទាន់នូវលក្ខខណ្ឌធានានៅក្រៅឃុំដែលមានការរិតត្បិត ផ្តល់សិទ្ធិនយោបាយរបស់លោកឡើងវិញ និង ធានាសិទ្ធិរបស់លោកក្នុងការទទួលបានសំណង និងជួសជុលការខូចខាតផ្សេងទៀត។
សេចក្តីប្រកាសព័ត៌មានពេញលេញដែលត្រូវបានចូលរួមដោយអ្នករាយការណ៍ពិសេសស្តីពីការលើកស្ទួយ និងការពារសិទ្ធិសេរីភាពនៃគំនិត និងការបញ្ចេញមតិ និង អ្នករាយការណ៍ពិសេសស្តីពីឯករាជ្យភាពរបស់ចៅក្រម និងមេធាវី អាចរកបាននៅទីនេះ៖ https://cambodia.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/pressstatementsource/KemSokhaTrial_Final_KH.pdf
Today two other independent UN experts in calling on Cambodian authorities to ensure justice for Mr. Kem Sokha, whose treason trial began in Phnom Penh this week, joined me. We repeated earlier calls for the immediate removal of all restrictive bail conditions on Mr. Sokha, for the reinstatement of his political rights, and for his enforceable right to compensation and other reparations.
The full news release, which was joined by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, can be found here: https://bit.ly/30ylqJE
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The Longest Failed Regime in the World
Comment: អានចំណងជើងក៏យើងដឹងច្បាស់ថាលោកហ៊ុនសែនឈ្នះរហូតតែសម្រាប់ប្រយោជន៌និងអំណាចគាត់ បក្សពួក និងក្រុមគ្រួសារតែប៉ុន្តែ។ អ្នកនិព្វន្ធដែលប្រើវោហាសាស្ត្រដក់ជាប់អារម្មណ៌នេះបានបញ្ជាក់ដោយខ្លឹមសារខ្លីតែមានអត្ថន័យជក់ចិត្តនោះគឺទីបំផុតលោកហ៊ុនសែនអាចធ្វើអ្វីគ្រប់បែបយ៉ាងអោយតែរក្សាអំណាចបានរួមទាំងតំលៃជាតិទាំងមូលត្រូវបានលក់ដូរឬពុះជ្រៀកយ៉ាងណាក៏ដោយ។
The Longest Failed Regime in the World
Original Source for Academic Reference: LARB, By Charles Dunst
JANUARY 6, 2020
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HUN SEN’S REIGN was never supposed to last this long. The Vietnamese Communists who in 1979 installed him, then a tongue-tied mid-20s ex–Khmer Rouge commander, as their puppet foreign minister certainly did not expect this. Neither did the international community.
Sen has defied all expectations, emerging from the Mekong River–hugging lowlands of Kampong Cham to rule Cambodia as prime minister, first in the Vietnamese-controlled People’s Republic of Kampuchea, then under the United Nations’s democracy-focused eye, later as the country’s co-premier, then again on his own, and now still solo, but increasingly under China’s influence. Throughout these near-tectonic shifts, one thing — Sen’s self-interest — has remained constant.
January 14, 2020, will mark 35 years since he came to power. But Sen, who’s only 67, has no apparent intention of stepping down, although he seems to be priming his son Hun Manet for succession. Meanwhile, his autocratic crackdowns have intensified, and the Cambodian condition remains dire: Corruption is endemic, and some 80 percent of Cambodians survive on subsistence farming. The kleptocrat may now wear Cambodian rather than French colonial colors, but for the country’s rural majority life is distressingly similar to its previous analogues.
Still, Sen’s self-crafted legacy hinges mainly on a narrative of deliverance. He claims to have ended Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge period and brought about a newfound era of peace, stability, and marginal development. “Your contemporary poverty and stability,” Sen’s narrative seems to tell Cambodians, “is better than the state of war in which you’d be without me.” But his true legacy is of autocracy, of fear and corruption, and, ultimately, of contempt for and betrayal of those Cambodians who he has long failed to serve.
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Sen spent his early years in Kampong Cham, but by the mid-1960s his parents had sent him, then either 12 or 13, to live and study at a pagoda in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Autocratic and self-indulgent Cambodian leader Prince Norodom Sihanouk ordered the public execution of alleged traitors in 1969, and anti-Sihanouk sentiment took hold of some of Sen’s friends; at least one was arrested. Fearing his own potential detainment, Sen fled to Kampong Cham, settling in Vietnam-bordering district of Memot, according to 2015 Human Rights Watch report “30 Years of Hun Sen.”
The United States was at this point entrenched in the Vietnam War and drowning Cambodia, officially neutral but allowing North Vietnam to use its territory, in more bombs than the Allies dropped on the Axis during the entirety of World War II. This bombardment killed at least 200,000 Cambodians and helped the Khmer Rouge recruit followers. The ultra-nationalist Maoists would eventually kill about two million people, a quarter of Cambodia’s population. But they gained popular support by promising to stop the bombing.
Sen bore witness to this explosive rain, instilling in him what he says was anti-American sentiment. It was this anger, coupled with a standard Cambodian respect for Sihanouk, that seems to have brought him, like countless others, to join the Khmer Rouge. Scholar Ben Kiernan asserted in the late 1990s than Sen was by 16 already a courier for them.
Then, on March 18, 1970, US-favored General Lon Nol deposed Sihanouk, transforming Cambodia from a neutral to an American-aligned state and forcing the monarch into Chinese and North Korean exile. Stung by betrayal, Sihanouk agreed to lead the Khmer Rouge’s resistance, urging people over the radio to join their insurgency. He also appeared in propaganda films and booklets that “helped the Communists recruit peasants in Cambodia and gave respectability to their cause,” The New York Times reported. The paper of record charitably noted that “[i]n the end, King Sihanouk helped bring Pol Pot to power.”
The New Yorker’s Philip Gourevitch was later less forgiving: Sihanouk’s “name became the Khmer Rouge’s greatest recruitment tool, and the most extreme Communist movement in history swept to power on royal coattails.” By the end of April, the teenaged Sen was a Khmer Rouge platoon leader, and in 1971 he began to rise through their ranks, putting him well within its political and military structures, per Human Rights Watch. But in April 1975, he was wounded by shrapnel, leaving him unconscious for about a week — and without a left eye. While still recovering, Sen was promoted; he rejoined his regiment in Memot in May.
Around this time, Cambodia’s Muslim Cham communities began to oppose the Khmer Rouge. The guerrillas detested the Cham and Vietnamese living in Cambodia, viewing both as having no place in their agrarian Khmer utopia. They rounded up Chams, forced them to eat pork, banned their traditional language, and burned their Qur’ans.
In the fall of 1975, two eastern Cham villages rose up; the Khmer Rouge cracked down viciously in what amounted to My Lai–style massacres. Hun Sen was at the time a commander in those parts of Cambodia, but he has repeatedly denied his regiment’s involvement. Numerous other accounts contradict this though, implicating Sen’s unit, Battalion 55, in certain attacks. Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, wrote in 2015:
According to one testimony by a former Sector 21 regiment combatant, after the unrest broke out and had already spread to Svay Khleang, Battalion 55 was dispatched from the border to suppress it. This is corroborated by the account of a Krauch Chhmar resident who observed Sector 21 troops moving into battle, saying that the units that suppressed the Cham unrest in 1975 were Krauch Chhmar District Military forces, based at the district seat on the Mekong, and Battalion 55[.] […] The attackers bombarded the village with 60 and 82 millimeter mortar rounds, while also firing on villagers with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, killing hundreds of villagers.
Cambodia’s UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal, whose mandate extends only to the group’s senior-level officials — which Sen was not — has for years crawled along, delivering justice at a snail-like pace, largely because of Sen’s opposition to its continued operation. But in November 2018, it finally ruled Khmer Rouge crimes against Cham and Vietnamese to constitute genocide.
So I sat, in the sterile courtroom on Phnom Penh’s coral-dusted outskirts, surrounded by Cham survivors and their descendants, delicately capped men and headscarved women, as the tribunal made its ruling, prompting tears to flow — and implicating, at least by association, their prime minister in the worst of all crimes.
“How far Mr. Hun Sen participated in these brutalities is not known,” Steven Erlanger once reported for The New York Times. “[B]ut it is hard to imagine that he stood aside.”
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Hun Sen says that by 1976 he began to disagree with certain Khmer Rouge practices, namely their attacks against Vietnamese border villages. The Communists, who took control of Cambodia in April 1975, were also pursuing mass internal purges. So, in June, Sen because of his disagreements (and probably fearing purging) defected to Vietnam, embarking upon a new chapter of opportunism and puppetry.
By December 1978, Hanoi had become fed up with the Khmer Rouge’s Vietnamese massacres and invaded Cambodia to oust their former allies. Sen returned with a force of exiled Cambodians he’d formed to assist Vietnam (“Cambodia’s historical archenemy,” as Anthony Bourdain once wrote). By January 1979, Vietnam had forced the Khmer Rouge back into the jungles from which they came, and from where they would wage war for over a decade.
Vietnam after plundering Phnom Penh announced the names of those who would lead its puppet Cambodian government to be known as the People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK). This list, The New York Times reported, comprised an array of “unknown” Cambodian defectors including Hun Sen, the 26- or 27-year-old who would be the foreign affairs minister.
The PRK was a police state of which Sen, following the arrest and death of his predecessors, became prime minister on January 14, 1985. He was 32, and in control of the PRK’s armed forces and security units, which he wielded ruthlessly to imprison thousands of political opponents who were then tortured using “electric shocks, hot irons and near-suffocation with plastic bags,” according to a 1987 Amnesty International report. Meanwhile, food was scant, malnutrition widespread, and infrastructure ruined; war with the Khmer Rouge continued; Vietnam’s presence remained dominant.
Sen, there only by the grace of Hanoi, was Vietnam’s malleable marionette.
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