HIH 03

HEAV CHIHORN

Cambodias Hun Sen Employs Violence,

Corruption to Maintain Power: Rights
Group
Hun Sens 30-year rule as Cambodias prime minister has been characterized by
intimidation and political manipulation, a U.S.-based rights group said Tuesday, calling on
donors and the international community to press for strengthened democratic reforms in
the country.
In a report released ahead of the anniversary of his taking office on Wednesday, Human
Rights Watch said Hun Sen had repeatedly used violence, repression, and corruption to
stay in power and become the worlds currently sixth longest-serving political leader. Hun
Sens government swiftly dismissed the report without addressing any of its assertions.
Although in recent decades he has allowed limited space for political opposition and civil
society, the patina of openness has concealed an underlying reality of repression, and his
government has been quick to stifle those who pose a threat to his rule, said Brad Adams,
Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
According to the report, Hun Sen has abused his office while in power, repeatedly referring
to politics as a struggle to the death between him and his opponents, and threatening
them with physical harm, while claiming that only his demise or incapacitation could
unseat him from the countrys leadership.
It said that since Hun Sen maneuvered to stay in office after rejecting the results of a
United Nations-administered election in 1993, he and his ruling Cambodian Peoples Party
(CPP) had remained in power by manipulating the elections held every five years since,
including most recently in July 2013.
Cambodia urgently needs reforms so that its people can finally exercise their basic human
rights without fear of arrest, torture, and execution, Adams said.
The role of international donors is crucial in making this happen.
Government dismissal
Hun Sens government dismissed the report Tuesday, accusing Human Rights Watch of
launching a coordinated attack with the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party
(CNRP) to defame the prime minister and the CPP.
The report has totally omitted Hun Sens legacy of sacrifice for the peace and
development of the countrybut that is because Human Rights Watch is blind [to this
accomplishment] and bent the truth, Council of Ministers Press and Quick Reaction Unit

spokesman Tith Sothea told RFAs Khmer Service.

The opposition party has cooperated [with Human Rights Watch] on this twisted report to
defame the government, he said.
CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
List of abuses
Based on official documents, interviews with officials, journalists and academics, and
United Nations records, the report describes Hun Sens role as a commander during the
bloody Khmer Rouge era of the 1970s, his systematic imprisonment of dissidents as prime
minister in the 1980s, and his role in death squads during the U.N. peacekeeping operation
in 1992-1993.
It also documents the role of his bodyguard unit in a deadly grenade attack on opposition
leader Sam Rainsys entourage in 1997, his bloody coup later that yearwhich led to the
execution of more than 100 royalist opposition membersand his repression and
corruption of the past decade, during which campaigners, union leaders and reporters
have been killed in connection with their opposition activities.
In recent years, the report said, Hun Sens government has created a land crisis that has
affected hundreds of thousands of Cambodians.
Additionally, the prime minister has routinely obstructed accountability for international
crimes perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge, relying on his control of a Cambodian judiciary
that also ensures continuing impunity for abuses.
Recommendations
Human Rights Watch urged international governments and donors to press Cambodian
officials to enact and implement major reforms so that neither Hun Sen nor any other
leader in Cambodia can systematically violate human rights and democratic norms.
The rights group called for reforms to the countrys electoral body to ensure its
independence, as well as free and fair polls, and the creation of an independent police
service and commission.
It also proposed forming an impartial judiciary service and independent judicial
commission, banning officers and judges from holding leadership positions in political
parties, and ensuring that authorities respond in a professional manner to allegations of
human rights abuses.
After 30 years of experience, there is no reason to believe that Hun Sen will wake up one
day and decide to govern Cambodia in a more open, inclusive, tolerant, and rightsrespecting manner, Adams said.

The international community should begin listening to those Cambodians who have
increasingly demanded the protection and promotion of their basic human rights.
Call for investigation
Ny Chakrya, the head of human rights and legal aid for domestic rights group Adhoc, said
Human Rights Watchs report was accurate in examining Hun Sens political past.
I agree with the reports findingsit shows serious human rights violations within the
past 30 years, he told RFA.
Ny Chakrya said human rights abuses are getting worse in Cambodia under Hun Sen,
adding that a crackdown by military police on a protest in January last year which left five
garment workers dead showed that government agents are not afraid to violate human
rights and kill in public.
The countrys leader must be held responsible for any unsolved systematic crimes,
because the culprits worked under his orders, he said.
Ny Chakra called on the government to investigate and bring closure to all the open cases
of crimes mentioned in the report in order to clear its reputation.

Vocabulary
Employs

Political manipulation

U.S.-based USA
Donors
Press
Ahead of

Stay in power
Longest-serving
Assertions

Limited space
Patina

Concealed

Underlying
Stifle

Pose

Human Rights Watch

Repeatedly
Demise

Incapacitation
Maneuvered
Remained in power
Crucial

Dismissal

coordinated
Defame

Sacrifice

Accomplishment

Bent

Twisted

Reached for
Abuses

academics

Dissidents

Commission

Death squads

Proposed

Peacekeeping

Impartial

Bodyguard

Banning

Entourage

Allegations

Execution

Inclusive

Tolerant

Royalist

Campaigners


Union

Routinely

Perpetrated
Judiciary
Impunity

Recommendations
Enact

Norms

Polls

Investigation

Accurate

Crackdown
Unsolved

Culprits

Closure

Reputation
,