Peter Leuprecht, the UN Secretary-General for Human Rights’ special representative for Cambodia, arrives this evening for his third visit since November.
Leuprecht is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Hun Sen Tuesday morning for about one hour, according to a UN official here. He will also meet separately with Om Yentieng, an adviser to Hun Sen who is also Cambodia’s top rights official.
During Leuprecht’s one-week visit in February, the premier said he was “very busy” and could not meet with the envoy.
Leuprecht, an Austrian who works as a law professor in Canada, will travel to Battambang and Banteay Meanchey provinces this weekend, where he will visit a rice plantation and look into Cambodia’s land disputes, particularly in Poipet.
He is scheduled to meet with King Norodom Sihanouk on Wednesday.
On his first visit Leuprecht met with jailed former Khmer Rouge leaders Ta Mok and Duch at a military prison. On his February trip he met with four alleged members of the Cambodian Freedom Fighters at Prey Sar prison, including the confessed leader of the November attack, Richard Kiri Kim.
The anti-government group staged its failed attack on the capital only days before Leuprecht first arrived in the country, and his subsequent visit with the alleged perpetrators of the assault angered Hun Sen, who warned the UN that they should not try to protect “armed terrorists.”
Leuprecht’s arrival today coincides with an expected verdict and possible sentencing of the 32 CFF suspects. Judicial reform will be one issue he will focus on during his visit.
He will also discuss the expected Khmer Rouge tribunal in his meetings with government leaders. Hun Sen said earlier this week that the Council of Ministers will approve a revised version of the stalled draft law governing the tribunal on Friday, setting the stage for its debate in parliament.
The commune elections scheduled for next year, demobilization and the status of the UN’s human rights office in Cambodia are also expected topics.
The office’s memorandum of understanding with the government expired in February 2000. The UNCHR has been negotiating a new agreement with the government since late last year.
A report presented by Leuprecht at the UN Commission on Human Rights meeting in Geneva in April said the government is resisting giving government employees participating in UNCHR programs “functional immunity,” which is meant to protect freedom of speech against threats of censure and imprisonment.
Leuprecht replaced Thomas Hammarberg of Sweden as the UN’s special human rights envoy in Cambodia last year. Hammarberg irritated the government with his criticism of the its rights record, particularly during the run-up to the 1998 national elections.
Leuprecht’s visit ends June 28. From here, he will go to Bangkok for meetings with diplomats and representatives of UN agencies that keep their regional headquarters there.
