Government officials moved Tuesday to dismiss criticism by UN human rights envoy Yash Ghai, who wrapped up his latest visit to Cambodia on Monday with a scathing attack on the government’s handling of land issues.
While calling on Cambodia’s international donors to take a firmer stance on land grabbing issues, Ghai said Monday that Cambodia was not a “rule of law” state.
A lack of respect for the law and its institutions had facilitated land grabbing, and ordinary people viewed the courts as “sites of injustice,” Ghai added.
At a specially convened news conference at the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday afternoon, Secretary of State Ouch Borith said the government was not concerned by Ghai’s negative report on the country’s rights situation, dismissing Ghai’s comments as comical.
“It is laughable [to say] that there is no rule of law here, because then it would be a dictatorship,” Ouch Borith told reporters.
“NGOs and other organizations are helping the country to develop and only a blind man cannot see that. If he does not say these [negative] things, he will get no salary,” Ouch Borith said.
As the UN’s special envoy for human rights, Ghai does not receive a salary.
Ouch Borith also said that the Foreign Ministry would not demand Ghai’s removal as a UN envoy to Cambodia but his continuation in that role is now “useless.”
Minister for Justice Ang Vong Vathana said Ghai’s comments about the government were inappropriate.
“Why does he oppress the government?” Ang Vong Vathana asked. “It depends on him to report to the UN but it should be an accurate one,” he said in a telephone interview.
Interior Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak said the UN envoy “wants to make people oppose the government.”
Khieu Sopheak also said that Ghai’s latest assessment of the country was biased as he had not consulted with government officials.
Ghai began his press conference Monday expressing regret that not one member of the government would meet with him during his visit.
Ouch Borith said Ghai had not given enough advance warning of his visit, while other officials said Tuesday that the envoy was not snubbed.
“Cambodian leaders were in India and officials are busy trying to develop the country, so they have no time,” Ouch Borith said.
Khieu Sopheak said: “Yash Ghai is always trying to teach the government but the lesson we have learnt from him is that he is a long-term tourist, so who would want to meet with him?”
SRP leader Sam Rainsy said Ghai had the courage “to do his duty” and he was surprised by the ferocity of the government’s reaction, particularly claims by one official that Ghai’s comments on land issues were an “incitement to revolt.”
“When you point to oppression you are not inciting the people, but pushing the people who are violating the laws to stop what they are doing,” Sam Rainsy said.
Such comments from a government official were “like something you would hear from the Burmese military junta,” Sam Rainsy added.
Sam Rainsy also condemned the complacency and leniency of the international donor community in their dealings with the government and asked that they be supportive of Ghai’s stand.
Secretary of State for the Council of Ministers Bun Uy said Ghai’s report would not affect the assistance Cambodia received from donor countries.
“[Ghai] has reported many times to the UN, but the IMF and donor countries have still continued to assist and provide funds,” Bun Uy said.
Naly Pilorge, director of local rights group Licadho, said she agreed with Ghai’s assessment and that the situation in regards to access to justice and land grabbing in particular had degenerated.
“I think he is accurate in his analysis,” Pilorge said, adding that it would be more productive if the government sat down with Ghai and tried to address the issues raised.
“These issues have also been raised by local and international embassies and bilateral organizations,” she said.
