Rights Monitor Sees Continued Need for UN

The UN’s chief human rights monitor in Cambodia said Thurs­day the world body’s presence here will be necessary for the next several years, despite Prime Minister Hun Sen’s assertions two days ago that the majority of the UN’s agencies are not needed in Cambodia.

Cambodia is still too early in its democratic development for UN human rights monitors to leave, said Peter Leuprecht, special representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia.

“If, let’s say in a few years time, the human rights situation were remarkably improved, the question could arise as to whether the office has raison d’etre,” he said.

“But that question is years away, and right now, I think we do have a raison d’etre.”

Leuprecht, in Phnom Penh on a one-week visit that ends today, also said a Tuesday article in The Cambodia Daily about Hun Sen’s comments “stirs up trouble” between his agency and the Cambodian government.

“The work I’m doing here is delicate and must not be misunderstood,” he said. “I’m trying to build a non-adversarial relationship with the government. It doesn’t help when the media stirs up trouble by misrepresenting the facts.”

Leuprecht said that he was angry about an article in Tuesday’s Daily that he said misquoted Prime Minister Hun Sen as saying that he was upset with Leuprecht and the UN Human Rights Com­mission. According to an “official transcript” he had obtained, Leuprecht said that “many” of the quotes attributed to Hun Sen “were exactly the opposite” of what the premier said in a Monday speech.

The paper quoted Hun Sen as saying that the UN was meddling with Cambodia’s sovereignty and said that he was “too busy” to meet with Leuprecht.

Leuprecht said Hun Sen was in fact too busy to meet during his weeklong visit, but added, “I am looking forward to meeting him in the near future.”

The human rights monitor said he had spent the week meeting with several high-level government officials, including National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh and King Norodom Sihanouk, and that he left those meetings “encouraged.”

That does not mean that there are no differences of opinion between his organization and the government, Leuprecht acknowledged. Talks between the UN and the government “are not always easy, because we have very serious issues to discuss,” Leuprecht said.

When asked if he thought his agency would be able to stay in Cambodia, Leuprecht said, “I very much hope so. One of the things that strikes me is the positive notes that I hear among certain circles on how much good we’re doing here.”

Leuprecht said he made several suggestions and raised issues for Cambodia’s development in his report to the UN, which he said will be published within the month.

First and foremost, Leuprecht said, international aid to the country should be increased. Cam­bodia ranks 67th in per capita international aid at a time when aid is most needed. “In these last few years, despite the enormous needs of this country, aid has been going down,” he said.

Second, Leuprecht said his report will suggest building human rights provisions into aid programs, but not making them “conditional” to aid.

Third, Cambodia needs to continue to work on human rights reforms, such as building the capacity of the judiciary and fostering democracy, Leuprecht said, adding that the commune elections potentially represent “a good first step.

“What Cambodia needs is the building of trust and confidence and the building of certain values such as pluralism and democracy,” Leuprecht said, reading from a draft of his own report.

Leuprecht said he understands the concerns of election-monitoring NGOs, who have been critical of the commune election law’s provisions for a centralized national election commission and a NGO coordinating committee.

“The very idea of independent institutions seems to be very hard to accept,” Leuprecht said.

His chief concern about the elections, he said, is “the renewal of political violence. Hun Sen should send out a strong and clear message condemning political violence.”

Leuprecht would not say what steps he or his agency would take to ensure the commune elections—tentatively sched­uled for early next year—are free and fair, except to say, “We are all doing a lot of monitoring, and the government knows that.”

On the topic of the Khmer Rouge draft law, Leuprecht said he was concerned about the points raised by the Constitutional Council, which sent the legislation back to the assembly because the law made reference to an outdated Constitution.

As to how long international monitors should wait before taking action to speed up the process, Leuprecht said, “I have no easy answer to that.”

 

 

 

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