Newsletter:
Cambodia in review
A publication of the Royal Embassy of
Cambodia to the United States
June 1998
Vol. III No 28
Letter to the Editor of the New York Times
In response to the New York Times April 25, 1998 editorial, H.E. Ambassador Var Huoth
wrote to the Editor of the
newspaper a letter dated April 27, which reads as follows:
Re: "A Hollow Election in Cambodia" (editorial, April 25): the editorial
suggested that so far Hun Sen has shown no
willingness to allow even a remotely fair election. The Times fails to mention that the
Royal Government of Cambodia
(RGC) and the National Assembly of Cambodia have adopted several laws in preparation for
the elections, namely the
electoral law, the law on political parties, the law to place the military in a neutral
position, and the law on the establishment
of the constitutional council. The New York Times should recognize the fact that on April
19, 1998 the European
commission, Japan, and Australia pledged to provide additional funds for the upcoming
election in Cambodia. This
decision is an encouragement to the Cambodian people. The recent meeting of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations working group on Cambodia comprising
representatives of Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand and an international
grouping of aid donors, The Friends of Cambodia, have supported the July 26 election.
During a daily briefing recently,
Mr. Sadaaki Numata, Japanese Foreign Ministry Spokesman, said that it seemed the minimum
necessary political
environment in Cambodia was in place for the implementation of the elections.
Your allegations that the government denied Prince Ranariddh and other politicians
access to radio or television are
misleading. In the course of the electoral campaign, all political parties will have
access to the media as stated in the
election law. Recently, Mr. Chheng Phon, Chairman of the National Election Committee (NEC)
stated publicly that equal access to the media would be granted to all political parties
that have registered for the election. Early this month Information Minister Ieng Mouly
confirmed that position. It is worth noting that in Cambodia there are several private
radio stations, television stations and newspapers that are not registered in the name of
any party. Previously, one or two political parties
have insisted that they should open radio or television stations in the name of their
party, which is in contravention to the regulations of the Information Ministry.
Contrary to the New York Times' claim that the government has blocked opposition
parties from registering and stacked
the election commission with its supporters, I wish to emphasize that so far, there are
already 39 political parties registering
to compete in the upcoming election and that the NEC's composition was approved by the
National Assembly, born out
of the UN supervised elections in 1993, in a vote of 75-15.
The New York Times is correct in saying that the RGC welcomed the return of Prince
Ranariddh. It is incorrect to say that
the RGC has restricted his political activities. Prince Ranariddh is free to travel
anywhere he would like to and to have full access to the media. The RGC has a duty to
protect him as it has to the heads of other political parties.
With reference to your assertions that Hun Sen seized power in a "so-called
coup," I would like to state that Prince Ranariddh
was found guilty of cooperating with the hard-line Khmer Rouge to overthrow the RGC and of
illegal importation of weapons.
His Majesty the King later granted him complete amnesty. If the government did not act in
time on July 5-6, 1997, the Khmer
Rouge would have been in the city as in April 1975, when Khmer Rouge took power in Phnom
Penh. As in that situation, the
Cambodian people would have been the direct victims once again.
Sincerely yours,
Var Huoth
Supports for International Tribunal To Try Pol Pot
On May 6, 1998 the Office of the Spokesman of the Royal Government of Cambodia issued a
statement which reads as
follow:
1. The Royal Government of Cambodia had earlier requested the UN Secretary General and
President Bill Clinton to
help set up an international tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge leadership responsible for
crimes of genocide committed
between 1975 and 1979, crimes against humanity and other related war crimes.
2. Even though Pol Pot was reported to have died, the Royal Government of Cambodia
still thing that the Khmer Rouge
leaders should be tried.
3. The Royal Government of Cambodia is of the view that the immediate task of the
government is to strengthen the overall
situation and political stability in order to establish a solid basis for the holding of a
free and fair election.
4. The Royal Government of Cambodia and the Cambodian people, at this particular
juncture of their history are fully
engaged and committed to the holding of free, fair and democratic elections scheduled for
26 July 1998. All efforts, together with the support of the international community, are
now concentrated on this democratic process, the success of which will bring long-lasting
peace, national reconciliation and socio-economic progress to the nation.
5. In view of the above consideration, the Royal Government of Cambodia deems it
necessary to give appropriate attention
to the issue of setting up a national or international court of justice after 26 July 1998
general elections in Cambodia. Efforts
at national or international level should not distract or disturb the holding of the
upcoming free and fair general elections in
Cambodia.
6. The Royal Government of Cambodia is most grateful to the international community for
any assistance designed to bring
about a successful conclusion for the two major commitments, namely the success of the
holding of a free and fair general
election scheduled for 26 July 1998 and the long overdue trial of the Khmer Rouge leaders
responsible for crimes of
genocide in Cambodia.
Second Prime Minister's
Visit to Thailand
At the invitation of H.E. Mr. Chuan Leekpai, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand,
H.E. Samdech Hun Sen, Second
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia led a Royal Government delegation for an
official visit to the Kingdom of
Thailand from 6 to 7 May 1998.
During the visit, H.E. Samdech Hun Sen held talks with his counterpart, H.E. Mr. Chuan
Leekpai, on bilateral cooperation as
well as on regional and international issues of common interests. On the bilateral issue,
the two sides discussed the repatriation
of more than 60,000 Cambodian refugees in Thailand, including Khmer Rouge civilians and
disarmed guerillas fleeing, fighting
on the border. They also discussed security along the border of both countries. The two
leaders also discussed landmine
clearing along their common border as well as demarcation of the land and sea boundaries.
Two agreements were signed after
the talks:
1- The Treaty on Extradition
2- The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Government of the Kingdom of
Cambodia and the Government
of the Kingdom of Thailand on the Cooperation in Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances
and Precursor Chemicals control.
The visit was concluded in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and friendship.
On April 23, 1998 the Royal Government of Cambodia appealed to the international
community to help the internally
displaced people (IDPs) in Cambodia. The Embassy publishes the statement in its entirety
as follows:
The successful implementation of the pacification policy and win-win solution by the
Royal Government of Cambodia and its
armed forces has finally brought fruitful results to the land of Cambodia. The recent mass
defection to the Phnom Penh
Government's side of our brotherly compatriots living under the controlled areas of the
outlawed Khmer Rouge rebels led by
Ta Mok, Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan makes the military strength and morale of the Khmer Rouge
come to the lowest point
in their history and gives a clear signal that their movement, which keeps destabilizing
and destroying the Cambodian nation
and people, has come to an end.
With the return of peace and the achievement of territorial unity, the Royal Government
could not only put an end once and
for all to the long-time suffering and misery of our people, specially those living and
farming in the areas where fighting has occurred but also in the first place that of the
internally displaced people (IDPs).
So far, the Royal Government and some local and international organizations, namely the
Cambodian Red Cross and World
Food Program, have streamlined their effort to respectively reintegrate those defectors in
the society and stabilize the living
conditions of the internally displaced people who have returned home. So far, it is
estimated that there are around 35,000
IDPs across the country; 6,277 in Banteay Meanchey—4,882 in Siemreap—4,800 in
Battambang—2,050 in Pursat—
1,628 in Preah Vihear—1,650 in Koh Kong—and the remaining number is in
Anlongveng and other former Khmer Rouge controlled areas. However, all these very limited
reliefs provided so far could not yet answer the real demand and shortages faced by the
internally displaced people who do need an active and strong support from all concerned.
In this respect, the Royal Government of Cambodia wishes to appeal to all friendly
countries and international and local
organizations to consider the possibility to provide humanitarian assistance to the
internally displaced people in the
above-mentioned areas so that the latter could renew and stabilize their life with the
return of a full peace. The Government
strongly hopes that this appeal will be positively answered.
Donation to His Majesty
The King
On behalf of His Majesty, Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia, Her Majesty Norodom
Monineath, Queen of Cambodia,
accepted on May 13, 1998, four trucks, plus spare parts, donated by the Chinese
government. The donation, as stipulated by
the exchange of notes signed on October 21, 1996, between the Cambodian and Chinese
governments, were worth over
120,000 U.S. dollars. The trucks, said Queen Norodom Monineath at a ceremony here for the
hand-over of the donation,
was the third installment of aid materials from the Chinese Government for His Majesty the
King's work team. At the
ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia, Yan Tingai and Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister of Royal Affairs Kong Som Ol signed documents to finalize the delivery
procedure.
First Prime Minister visited Vietnam
H.E. Ung Huot, First Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia, accompanied by
members of the Royal
Government of Cambodia and senior officials, paid an official and friendly visit to the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam on
June 1-2, 1998, at the invitation of H.E. Phan Van Khai, Prime Minister of Vietnam.
During his visit, H.E First Prime Minister Ung Huot held talks with his counterpart
H.E. Phan Van Khai, Prime Minister of
Vietnam on June 1, 1998. Both sides informed each other of the situation in their
respective countries in an atmosphere of
friendship and mutual understanding. They discussed concrete measures to strengthen
friendly relations and cooperation
between the two countries. They also exchanged views on various regional and international
issues of mutual concern.
Both sides expressed satisfaction in the bilateral relations, especially cooperation in
trade, agriculture and forestry, and
communications and transportation. Both sides expressed their desire to build a common
border of peace, friendship and cooperation. The two sides agreed to hold a meeting of the
two countries' border expert groups in late June 1998.
On the field of transportation and tourism, the two sides agreed to assign the
concerned Ministries to make essential
preparations for the signing of the agreements on sea transportation and tourism
cooperation in the not too distant future.
After the talks, Cambodian First Prime Minister Ung Huot and Vietnamese Prime Minister
Phan Van Kai witnessed the
signing of two agreements covering transportation and information and of a memorandum on
the cooperation in the fight
against drug trafficking.
No Khmer Rouge Structure
Applied in Cambodia
On May 6, 1998, H.E. Ambassador Var Huoth replied to Stephen J. Morris' article on
Cambodia published in the
Washington Post with the following content:
Stephen J. Morris' article on the situation in Cambodia may have left the readers in
doubt that the political structure of the
Khmer Rouge is currently applied in the central government of Cambodia ["Return of
the Khmer Rouge," May 6]. I would
like to clarify as follows:
The allegation that Second Prime Minister Hun Sen has presided over a restoration of
the Khmer Rouge is totally wrong. Mr.
Morris should be aware that when the Khmer Rouge took power and conducted killings in
Cambodia from 1975 to 1978, the
Cambodian people, the direct victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide, waited for the help from
the outside for too long. Should
the patriotic Cambodians who came to the rescue in 1979 be blamed for the restoration of
the Khmer Rouge regime? It was
Premier Hun Sen in 1987 who initiated the historic process of national reconciliation in
Cambodia by approaching the then
Prince Norodom Sihanouk in Paris that led to the signing of Paris Peace Agreement on
Cambodia. Second Prime MinisterHun
Sen strongly advocated the multi-party system and free market economy in the debate of the
First Session of the Constitutional
Assembly of Cambodia elected soon after the 1993 UN-supervised elections in Cambodia.
While suggesting that there is no genuine accounting for the atrocities of Pol Pot's
time can be made while Hun Sen is in power,
the article fails to mention that in 1979 the Municipal Tribunal of Phnom Penh, with the
attendance of foreign lawyers, including
the US, had sentenced Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, and Khieu Samphan to death in absentia. A great
amount of documents at Tuol
Sleng Prison in Pol Pot time have been well kept and opened for all genocide researchers.
A few years ago, it was Premier
Hun Sen who insisted that the remains of the victims under the Khmer Rouge time should be
kept as evidence instead of hastily
cremating them as proposed by some Cambodian personalities.
Cambodian people have suffered too much and too long. Peace is the best option that the
Cambodian people would like to
choose. The collapse of Anlong Veng, the last stronghold of the hard-line Khmer Rouge, is
the great success for the people
and government of Cambodia. The integration of the Khmer Rouge rank and file into the
civil society is the correct path to achieve the above objective. However, this will not
preclude the option of bringing the Khmer Rouge leaders to justice. The Royal Government
of Cambodia has officially declared that the amnesty for Ieng Sary, who was sentenced to
death in
absentia by the verdict of the Cambodian Tribunal in 1979, is not an obstacle to bring him
to justice in the future. Late last month, Ieng Sary said he would stand trial if it
served the interest of his nation. The RGC had earlier requested the UN Secretary General
and President Bill Clinton to help set up an international tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge
leadership for
their crimes against humanity and other related war crimes.
U.S. Pushed for the Trial
of Khmer Rouge Leaders
After a two-day visit to Cambodia in late April, The Honorable David Scheffer, U.S.
Ambassador-at large for War Crimes
Issues said the United States is determined to bring the surviving rebel leadership to
justice for atrocities they committed.
"The most senior living Khmer Rouge who conceived, planned and directed the crimes
against humanity, genocide and war
crimes against the people of Cambodia and others between April 1975 and January 1979 must
be held accountable for these
crimes," he said. "We believe their continued freedom constitutes a threat to
peace and security in this region, and we all have
profound responsibility to the victims of that regime to vigorously pursue those
responsible." He added that U.S. President Bill
Clinton and Secretary of State, Madeline Albright "are determined to achieve this as
soon as possible" and the issue merited
"examination on a daily basis."
European Envoy visited Cambodia
During a two-day visit to Cambodia in late May, H.E. Derek Fatchett, Minister of State
at the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office of the United Kingdom and as a European Union Representative, held talks with H.E.
Ung Huot, First Prime Minister
and H.E. Samdech Hun Sen, Second Prime Minister on the progress of the preparations for
the elections in Cambodia,
scheduled for July 26, 1998.
The Co-Prime Ministers warmly welcomed H.E. Fatchett's visit to Cambodia and considered
his visit as an encouragement for
the elections in Cambodia. On behalf of the Cambodian people, the Co-Prime Ministers
thanked the European Union for its
assistance for the process of elections in Cambodia, which has helped Cambodia to move
towards democracy.
On his part, H.E. Fatchett thanked the Royal Government of Cambodia for its efforts in
bringing to an end the investigation into
the killing and the death of British mine clearing expert Christopher Howes, who had been
kidnapped while performing his task
in Siemreap province. H.E. Fatchett also urged the Government of Cambodia to continue the
investigation with a view
tobringing those responsible for his death to justice.
Through H.E. Fatchett, the Co-Prime Ministers conveyed the RGC's condolences to the
family of Christopher Howes, who
sacrificed his life for the cause of peace in Cambodia. The Co- Prime Minister also
informed their guest that His Majesty The
King of Cambodia had advised the RGC to name a Phnom Penh street after Christopher Howes,
as a memorial and an
expression of gratitude to him.
Asked by the reporters before the end of his visit to Phnom Penh on the question of the
election in Cambodia, H.E.
Fatchett said that there have been positive moves toward a free, just and credible
election in Cambodia. "Our judgement at
this stage is that the process has sufficient strength to enable the European Union to
continue its commitment to the
elections," he said.
Final Result on the Voter Registration in Cambodia
The National Election Committee (NEC) said in its statement on June 19,1998 that voter
registration formally ended as
planned on 15 June, 1998. Ten registrations were granted a three-day extension and
registration ended in these areas on
June 18, 1998.
The final result shows that some 5.4 million Cambodians registered to vote in the July
elections, representing 98,66 percent
of the eligible voters. This demonstrates the Cambodian people's strong determination to
exercise their right to choose their leaders of their choice and the tireless efforts made
by the registration teams to complete the voter registration successfully.
Worth noting that so far there have been 15,863 local observers and 92 international
observers registering with the NEC as
official election observers.