Very recently the Cambodian authorities spurned the recommendations made by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights following its review of Cambodia’s implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). When asked about the recommendations, Cheam Yeap, a Member of Parliament from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, who usually speaks on behalf of the government, said: “I think it is usual for UN human rights bodies to blast the ruling party and look on the (Cambodian) government as their enemy.”
Cheam accused the UN of lacking “checks and balances” before it criticized the Cambodian government. Expressing his nationalism, he questioned as to whether, through such recommendations, “the UN loves the Khmer (Cambodian) people more than Khmers love the Khmers.” When asked about the Committee’s call for “a moratorium on all evictions” which have affected and continue to affect hundreds of thousands of people across Cambodia, he said such a call was “interference by foreigners in Cambodia’s issues.”
From the 11th to the 12th May 2009, the Committee’s 18 experts reviewed Cambodia’s implementation of the IESCR pursuant to Articles 16 and 17 of this international human rights instrument. On 20 May it adopted its concluding observations which were issued two days later. In these observations the Committee noted some progress the Cambodian government had made to fulfil its obligations under the IESCR. However, based on the copious evidence it had received, the Committee has expressed a number of concerns and made over twenty recommendations to the Cambodian government.
Among its recommendations the Committee has called on the Cambodian government to:
- enact its long-promised Anti-Corruption Law without any further delay;
- intensify its efforts to modernize and improve the work of the judiciary;
- review its the current policy regarding concession of land for economic purposes by conducting environmental and social impact assessments, and consulting relevant stakeholders and communities;
- implement the 2001 Land Law without further delay, and register communal lands without contravening the spirit of this law;
- review its employment policies and develop a strategic employment plan to promote youth employment;
- ensure that the principle of equal pay for work of equal value for men and women is fully and clearly reflected in the legislation, and that the legislation is strictly enforced;
- implement a moratorium on all evictions until the proper legal framework has been in place and the process of land titling has been completed, in order to ensure the protection of human rights of all Cambodians, including indigenous peoples; and,
- take all necessary measures to combat the culture of violence and impunity, and protect human rights defenders.
It is regrettable that the Cambodian authorities have reacted with such hostility to such recommendations, hostility which has seemed to be ingrained in the Cambodian political culture. When they were in power over thirty years ago, the Khmer Rouge, whose leaders are being tried by a UN-backed tribunal at the moment, had shown their vehement hostility to calls by some governments at the meetings of the UN Human Rights Commission for action to end human rights violations in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge charged that such calls were “interference into the internal affairs of Cambodia.”
Such a negative attitude towards the UN has now become the Cambodian government’s hallmark whenever there is any unfavourable statement on its human rights performance. However, by adopting such an attitude, the Cambodian authorities have only caused doubts about their sincerity and commitment as a party to the international human rights instruments.
Cambodia is bound by international human rights obligations under the Paris Peace Agreements of 1991 which concluded a war that had ravaged it in the 1980s. Under these accords, it has undertaken to observe and respect human rights and to adhere to all relevant international human rights instruments.
It adhered to the ICESCR in 1992. As a State party and pursuant to Article 17 of the ICESCR, it should have submitted its first report on the implementation of the ICESCR in 1994, but it did not do so until 2008, a delay of 14 years. Furthermore, it did not even send a special delegation for the review which was held in May 2009. The Cambodian ambassador to the UN was the lone representative at the hearing. These gestures are not a good testimony that the Cambodian authorities are honouring their international obligations and are committed to the economic, social and cultural rights of their people.
The attacks on the Committee’s recommendations have only highlighted the Cambodian government’s failure to understand that the review of its implementation of the IESCR, and any subsequent recommendations the Committee might formulate for State parties, are all an integral part of this particular treaty to which Cambodia is a party. Being hostile to the Committee’s recommendations is utterly unjustifiable and only confirms the Cambodian government’s neglect of its obligations under the IESCR and its denial of economic, social and cultural rights to its people.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly urges the Cambodian government to fully honour its obligations under the IESCR, take the Committee’s review as a constructive dialogue and its recommendations as a help for it to honour these obligations and not as any criticism of its human rights record. The Cambodian government should take these recommendations seriously and find ways to heed them. It should not hesitate to enlist the participation of the civil society and seek international assistance for the implementation of these recommendations so as to ensure the realization of the economic, social and cultural rights of its people.
