Cambodia moves towards dictatorship, people afraid to protest
Many liken the regime of Hun Sen to that of the Khmer Rouge. Prison for those who criticise or oppose the government. International donors give billions to the government but fail to ask for respect for human rights.
Phnom Penh (AsiaNews/Agencies) After less than 15 years since it's liberation Cambodia is moving towards authoritarian rule. All those who oppose, are silenced, experts say only the international community can still intervene.
On the 17th of January after weeks of international pressure four civil activists jailed for allegedly defaming the government were freed. They are human rights leaders Kem Sokha and Pa Nguon Teang, trade union chief Rong Chhun and journalist Mam Sonando. All still have to go before courts to defend themselves against criminal defamation charges for criticising a border agreement Prime Minister Hun Sen signed with Vietnam last October.
Analysts are denouncing the systematic arrest of government critics, for offences as laid out in the country's old judicial system.
"The strong impression is that the judiciary is just used by the government to deal with its political opponents and the proponents of civil society and this is extremely worrying," Professor Ghai, who recently retired from the University of Hong Kong, said. "They're using very archaic and unfair laws to bring people before courts. The judiciary knows what is expected of it."
Foremost opposition leader Sam Rainsy knows that only too well. He has been living in exile in France since early last year after his parliamentary immunity was stripped and defamation charges were filed against him by Hun Sen and his partner in the governing coalition, Prince Norodom Ranariddh. He was tried and sentenced in absentia last month to 18 years in jail.
Fellow opposition legislator Cheam Channy was imprisoned for seven years last August for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government. Four other critics face charges or punishment, and other opponents and human rights workers are in exile abroad, fearful of being arrested if they return. Immediately following his release on January 18th, Kem Sokha vowed to push for the abolition of the criminal defamation code so it could not be used against government critics.
Cambodia's recent past is filled with violence. Between 1975 and 1979 during the Khmer Rouge regime at least 1.7 million people were killed. A decade of Vietnamese domination followed, complete with widespread poverty and civil war, until 1992 with Cambodia's peace and freedom declaration, after UN intervention.
Hun Sen and his Cambodia People's Party have since dominated the country's politics. In 1997, he ousted fellow co-prime minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh, of the royalist Funcinpec Party, in a violent coup. The prince went into exile, but later returned after being pardoned by his father, former king Norodom Sihanouk.
"The Cambodian government is getting more and more repressive"- Says Rainsy "It is following the Burmese way and moving towards totalitarianism. This will lead Cambodia towards a Burma-type regime." "The development towards a single political party has been made by use of force," Basil Fernando, director of the Asian Human Rights Commission. "There have been murders and intimidation and attempts to manipulate elections". The result is a re-emergence of the fears of the 1970s and 1980s, the period of the Khmer Rouge.
Hun Sen has rejected such criticism, saying his government had been democratically elected and was not a dictatorship. He defended the arrests.
Professor Ghai said Cambodian groups which had previously campaigned for transparency and human rights were now too frightened to speak out and with many key opponents and activists in exile, it was up to the international community to act.
"Half of the regular budget is funded by bilateral and multilateral institutions," he said. "With that assistance they provide also comes responsibility and the government would really have to pay a lot of attention to those donors if they protested."
"Billions of dollars have been wasted, largely due to corruption, which thrives because of a lack of democracy and authoritarianism". says Rainsy - ""To make international assistance effective, donor nations must ensure that there is a minimum of rule of law, transparency and democracy", or stop all monetary aid.
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