PHNOM PENHI October 29 — The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) welcomes United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Cambodia and urges her to show leadership by encouraging Cambodia to reverse the drift towards authoritarianism showcased for the world so bluntly during the recent visit of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
As the Secretary of State will no doubt be aware, she arrives in Cambodia only days after the Cambodian Government told the United Nations’ highest ranking official that the UN human rights office in Cambodia would be closed if its director was not removed. The Government also implied that it was ordering an end to further investigations and prosecutions at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. Ban Ki-moon’s visit concluded with a young protestor being beaten unconscious by police in front of a hospital the Secretary General was visiting.
The Government’s unrepentant and belligerent actions in the past week have added further weight to growing international concern about the withering democratic facade and deteriorating human rights situation in Cambodia. In recent months parliamentarians in the European Union, Ireland, Canada, and the United States have raised the issue of human rights in Cambodia either through their own governments or, in the case of the European Parliament, through a resolution directly calling on the Cambodian Government to cease violating the human rights of its citizens. In May, United States Representatives Bill Delahunt (D-MA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) provided bi-partisan sponsorship for the Cambodian Trade Act 2010, an attempt to bring accountability to the Cambodian Government through US trade policy.
The United States is Cambodia’s single largest trading partner, accounting for approximately 60% of Cambodia’s total exports and 70% of its crucial garment exports. It is also one of Cambodia’s largest bilateral aid donors. During his speech at the Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York, President Obama stated that that the countries with which the US will partner under its new Global Development Policy would be those who are not only capable of moving forward economically but those who “promote good governance and democracy; the rule of law and equal administration of justice; transparent institutions, with strong civil societies; and respect for human rights.”
The CCHR urges Secretary of State Clinton to use her visit to convey to Prime Minister Hun Sen and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong that Cambodia’s beneficial economic partnership with the United States will be contingent on real progress in the areas outlined by President Obama. CCHR also encourages the Secretary of State to frankly address the dire state of human rights in the Kingdom, summed up so powerfully in recent days by the Government’s stated intention to terminate the UN human rights presence in Cambodia.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Ou Virak, CCHR President
Tel: +855 12404051
Email: ouvirakcchrcambodia.org
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights is a non-political, independent, non-governmental organization which works to promote democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia.
www.cchrcambodia org
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