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UPDATE - CAMBODIA
20 June 2007
Government's banning of report, threat by governor's brother show lack of
commitment to free expression, says Human Rights Watch
SOURCE: Human Rights Watch
**Updates IFEX alerts of 15 and 6 June 2007**
(HRW/IFEX) - The following is a 15 June 2007 Human Rights Watch press
release:
Cambodia: Donors Must Hold Government Accountable
Banning of Forest Report Mocks Commitments to Human Rights
(New York, June 15, 2007) - Cambodia's international donors should not
accept any more empty promises from the Cambodian government on human
rights, the rule of law and good governance, Human Rights Watch said today.
The annual Consultative Group meeting of donors is scheduled to take place
in Phnom Penh on June 19-20, and donors are expected to pledge more than
US$600 million in additional aid for the next year.
Human Rights Watch said that the Cambodian government has made virtually no
progress in the past decade on key pledges to donors on the rule of law or
judicial independence. Impunity for human rights violations remains the
rule. Corruption is rampant. Natural resources are still being plundered.
Those who report on such abuses are threatened or harassed and sometimes
subject to violence.
"The $5 billion in aid plowed into Cambodia in the past decade has yielded
little in return for the donors or the Cambodian people," said Brad Adams,
Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The meeting has become an empty
annual ritual, with the government making and breaking promises every year.
There will be more promises made this year, but without serious donor
pressure they, too, will be broken."
Human Rights Watch called on the Cambodian government to rescind its June 3
order to "ban and collect" the recent report by Global Witness. The report,
"Cambodia's Family Trees," alleges illegal logging by individuals close to
Prime Minister Hun Sen. It also claims that the government's promises to
end illegal logging have been broken, that the army, military police and
police are deeply involved in illegal logging, and that funds from illegal
logging support Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit, which has been
responsible for human rights abuses.
The government should officially repudiate reported statements by Kompong
Cham provincial governor Hun Neng, Hun Sen's brother. Hun Neng reportedly
said on June 11 that "If they come to Cambodia, I will hit them until
their heads are broken."
"The government's reaction to the Global Witness report shows its lack of
commitment to freedom of expression and public debate, and its continued
thuggish behavior," said Adams. "Donors should insist that the government
undertake a credible judicial investigation into the criminal activities
detailed in the report, rather than resort to violent threats against its
authors. Donors often complain about a lack of political will from the
government, but this will be a test of their political will, too."
Human Rights Watch said that donors have a major role to play in
determining Cambodia's future by continuing their assistance to civil
society and insisting that the government fully comply with commitments
made at successive donor meetings dating back to 1993. After billions of
dollars of donor support over the past 14 years, it is time for a clear and
unambiguous signal to be sent to the government. Donors should make it
clear that they can no longer accept previously unmet promises.
For more than a decade, donors have been providing aid equivalent to
roughly half Cambodia's national budget. As donors have noted, good
governance is directly linked to a country's pace of development. There is
little doubt that Cambodia's development continues to be slowed by the
country's poor governance.
"If donors are serious about development in Cambodia, they should start
generating momentum for real reform," said Adams. "They need to emphasize,
not marginalize, the links between human rights and development."
Development assistance and budgetary support should be contingent on the
government meeting agreed benchmarks on human rights, the rule of law, and
good governance, such as:
- Tackling impunity for human rights abuses, including the many
extrajudicial killings carried out during and after the July 1997 coup by
Hun Sen's government;
- Ceasing to harass and threaten civil society activists and opposition
party members;
- Ensuring that the rights of individuals and organizations to defend and
promote human rights are protected, including the right to peacefully
criticize and protest government policies, in accordance with the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1998 United
Nations General Assembly Declaration on Human Rights Defenders;
- Creating an independent and restructured National Election Committee;
- Liberalizing electronic media ownership rules, including allowing
transmitters of private, critical media to be as strong as those of
pro-government private stations;
- Complying fully with previous Consultative Group commitments to address
corruption and misuse of natural resources and other state assets; these
include public disclosure of information concerning management of land,
forests, mineral deposits and fisheries, as well as the location of
military development zones; and,
- Passing legislation on asset disclosure and anti-corruption that meets
international standards, and appointing an independent, international
external auditor for government finances.
Past meetings of the Consultative Group have been attended by 18 countries
and five intergovernmental organizations: Australia, Belgium, Canada,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand,
Norway, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the
United States, plus the Asian Development Bank, the European Commission,
the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Development Program,
and the World Bank.
"The donors' list of conditions hardly changes over time, and the
government simply ignores them year after year," said Adams. "Hun Sen
continues to run circles around the donors, making the same empty promises
every year and laughing all the way to the bank."
For additional Human Rights Watch reporting on Cambodia, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=cambod
For further information, contact Sophie Richardson, Washington, DC, mobile:
+1 917 721 7473; Brad Adams, London, mobile: +44 79 0872 8333; or Human
Rights Watch, Washington Office, 1522 K Street, N.W., Washington D.C.
20005-1202, U.S.A., tel: +1 202 371 6592, fax: +1 202 371 0124, e-mail:
hrwdc@hrw.org, Internet: http://www.hrw.org/
The information contained in this update is the sole responsibility of
Human Rights Watch. In citing this material for broadcast or publication,
please credit Human Rights Watch.
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