Newsletter:
Cambodia in review
A publication of the Royal Embassy of
Cambodia to the United States
May 1998
Vol. III No 27
Letter To The Editor Of The Washington Post
In response to the Washington Post April 3, 1998 editorial, H.E. Ambassador Var Huoth
wrote to the Editor of the newspaper
a letter dated the same day, which read as follows:
I would like to take issue with your April 3, 1998 editorial titled" Cambodia's
Climate of Fear", which reflects the one-sided
and sensational views on Cambodia. I would like to emphasize that the return of Prince
Ranariddh to Cambodia is in
accordance with the Four-Pillar peace plan put forward by the Japanese Government, and the
Friends of Cambodia
expressed their strong support for that initiative. The full endorsement by the Royal
Government of Cambodia (RGC) was based on its real intention to bring peace and national
reconciliation to Cambodia.
The editorial alleged that the Prince himself had been mostly holed up in a hotel..,
reflecting the pervasive climate of fear in
Cambodia. It is extremely biased and inappropriate to use this argument to depict a
climate of fear in Cambodia. Prince
Ranariddh is free to travel and to visit any place where he intends to. It is completely
up to him to decide where he would
like to go or stay. The Post claims that the Prince's presence will not mean much if he
cannot rebuild his party. The Post
cannot blame the others for the internal division of the Prince's party. It is up to his
own ability and charisma to rebuild his
party. In a democratic country it is normal for party members to defect from one party to
another or to leave one party
and set up another party.
The editorial suggested that the election could be credible only if human rights and
poll monitors are permitted to return and if
opposition politicians have access to a free press. I would like to clarify that most of
the human rights groups have so far been
in Cambodia. There is not a single human rights group being prevented to freely operate in
Cambodia or being forced out of
Cambodia as alleged by the Post. International observers are invited to observe the
upcoming election in Cambodia. The
United Nations Secretary General Special Representative in Phnom Penh, together with the
National Electoral Commission (NEC), will coordinate the activities of international
observers. The NEC hopes that there will be 1500 international observers on Election Day.
The Post also failed to report that there are over 50 newspapers publishing everyday,
critical of government. Nobody can
prevent the rights of journalists to write or report in Cambodia. Some of them even went
as far as to criticize His Majesty the
King and that approach is unacceptable in Cambodia. The RGC already set up a Commission to
investigate the killings of
various political party members and is committed to punish those responsible for any human
right violations. Any comments
suggesting that this or that party be accountable for the killings before the
investigation is completed is irresponsible.
Sincerely yours,
Var Huoth
Cambodia Protests Human Rights Report
On April 8, 1998, the Office of the Spokesman of the Royal Government of Cambodia issued a
Press Release in protest of
the human rights remarks by Mr. Thomas Hammaberg on Cambodia as in the following content:
The Royal Government of Cambodia has noted with interest the statements made by some
human rights activists both in
Phnom Penh and in Geneva, Switzerland concerning the most recent report by the UN Special
Representative for Human
Rights in Cambodia. Since it has not yet had the opportunity to see either the remarks by
Mr. Thomas Hammaberg or the
report upon which his remarks were based, the Royal Government of Cambodia cannot comment
on the substance of the report.
The Royal Government does, however, strongly object to the manner in which the report
has been leaked to the press. Once
again, the Royal Government is being subjected to a campaign by some human rights
activists who are not interested in
resolving problems, but who only want to use human rights issues as a means to criticize
the Government.
This objective of this campaign is quite at odds with the public position of UN
officials that they are only interested in
promoting dialogue with the Royal Government. Specifically, the local head of the UN
Center for Human Rights (UNCHR) declined to comment on the most recent Hammaberg report,
except to say that it would not be made public until two weeks after the Royal Government
had a chance to see it and prepare a response. For this particular case, this seemingly
evenhanded and unbiased position of UNCHR director Rosemary McCreery is completely
undercut by the following facts:
- Mr. Hammaberg discussed the report before the UN Commission in Geneva;
- Mr. Hamburg's remarks were given to the foreign press corps in Phnom Penh
even before he delivered them in Geneva; and
- Other human rights activists leaked details about the report to the media.
The events of this week have all of the hallmarks of an orchestrated campaign against
the Royal Government. The above
chronology clearly indicates that there are those human rights activists who do not care
to work with the Royal Government
to resolve outstanding problem and differences of opinion, but rather to see the human
rights issue as a tool to attack the
Cambodian Government; worse still, those human rights activists are not interested in
letting the Royal Government analyze
and respond to the report. They leak the results beforehand in order to create a negative
impression in the mind of the public. For those in the Royal Government who have been
following this issue, these actions by certain human rights activists come
as no surprise. Sadly, they have come to expert such biased and unprofessional antics and
the ongoing lack of regard for the
host country.
Memorandum on Japanese Peace Plan
In response to various comments on the political situation in Cambodia, the Spokesman
Office of the Royal Government of
the Royal Government of Cambodia issued a memorandum pointing out the exact content of the
Four Pillars initiative put forward by the Japanese Government. The Royal Embassy of
Cambodia hereby published in its entirety:
1. The Japanese peace proposal received general support from the Royal Government of
Cambodia, from Prince Ranariddh
and his friends. Despite some doubt about its viability expressed by its critics, everyone
seemed to be eager to stick to it and
to push it through towards speedy implementation. Let us now look at what stage it has
moved, whether it still has some
steam and continues on its course or whether it has flip-flopped and is on a free fall and
will collapse after the Prince's supporters had parachuted him back to Phnom Penh.
2. It is worthwhile to recall the four pillars of the Japanese peace proposal, which required that:
(i) Prince Ranariddh must break all his undeniable ties with the outlawed Khmer Rouge.
(ii) A cease-fire must be declared and effectively followed by the integration of the
former royal army loyal to the Prince
into the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.
(iii) The trial of Prince Ranariddh must proceed without delay to be followed by the
royal amnesty granted by His Majesty
King of Cambodia upon the request of the Prince's family members.
(iv) Prince Ranariddh is allowed to participate freely and in time in the upcoming
general elections provided that he fully
respects the law and the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
3. The above four point-peace proposals enjoyed international support and should not be
allowed to be hijacked by anyone
in the middle of its flight. The international endorsement of the Japanese peace plan was
not given lightly. It is an
acknowledgment based on concrete facts that:
- Prince Ranariddh indeed maintained an unholy alliance with the Khmer Rouge who were
indeed brought into the cities to
be used as the backbones of the military coup de force in July 1997 to eliminate his rival
ahead of the general election
scheduled for 1998.
- Prince Ranariddh indeed used his position to smuggle more sophisticate weapons to
more effectively crush his opponents.
Fortunately, some of these weapons were seized by competent authorities, proving without
any doubt the culpability of the
Prince and some of his generals.
- Based on the above facts, the Prince and his generals must be tried for their crimes,
but the royal pardon may be requested
only for the Prince.
- The royal pardon for the Prince, who is not above the law, paved the way for the
Prince to return home and to take part in
the upcoming general elections provided that he respects the rules of law and the
Constitution of the Kingdom.
4. Today, Prince Ranariddh, escorted by UN officials and by some foreigners, is back to
Phnom Penh. His return has been
possible thanks to the assurances and guarantees offered much earlier by the Royal
Government for his safety after the royal
pardon had been granted. But more specifically, it was made possible thanks to the sincere
implementation of the Japanese
peace plan by the Royal Government of Cambodia when after declaring its full support, it
set about to fulfill its obligations
under the terms of the peace plan as follows:
(i) Declared the cease-fire and reintegrated those soldiers and army officers who volunteered to return.
(ii) The speedy trial of Prince Ranariddh and the full endorsement of the royal pardon
to be granted by His Majesty
the King and the subsequent royal pardon without delay.
(iii) Provided the safe return of the Prince Ranariddh as promised as well as his
political freedom in his capacity as head
of a political party running for the next election.
(iv) Made successful efforts to amend some electoral agendas to remove any obstacle on
the way of Prince Ranariddh's
participation in the poll. For instance, the obligation of residence for candidates has
been removed and registration dates
have been changed just to suit the situation of the prince.
5. All the above performance by the Royal Government of Cambodia, was it done under
pressure or by the honest
implementation of its obligation as a responsible government devoted to the promotion of
peace, stability and happiness
of the Cambodian People as a whole?
Friends of Cambodia may take any comfort or draw any satisfaction out of this positive
development for which the Royal
Government of Cambodia is most grateful for their sincere contribution. The Royal
Government of Cambodia has the strong
belief that it has clearly identified the superior interests of the Cambodia People well
apart from the well above of the vested
interest of a single person, a common mortal. Any mix-up will only lead to disaster for
the whole nation.
6. The four points peace plan appeared to be very simple and must be implemented
comprehensively, without creating any
new obstacles. Friends of Cambodia must pay due and equal attention to the obligations of
Prince Ranariddh under the provisions of the same peace plan. Failure to do so means its
hijack or its free fall. It means also a humiliation:
First: Prince Ranariddh must sever all his well known relations with his long term
allies, the outlawed Khmer Rouge who ,
under the US law, have been classified as an international terrorist group. The failure to
condemn this unholy alliance and
the Prince's failure to publicly declare his official divorce with the Khmer Rouge should
open the eyes of the rest of the
world on the unholy scheme of a few, under the slogan of democracy and human rights, to
subjugate the Cambodian
People by using a Cambodian Prince as an instrument of subjugation. Real friends of
Cambodia must keep up the pressure
and cooperate with the Royal Government of Cambodia to deny the Khmer Rouge any safe haven
and to bring them to trial
for crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity. Any silence on this crucial issue of
the Khmer Rouge reveals a crisis of conscience of the persons involved. Failure of Prince
Ranariddh to publicly disassociate himself from the Khmer Rouge will
not liberate him from being a political hostage of the Khmer Rouge.
Second: Prince Ranariddh must prove that his order to cease-fire has been carried out
by his troops. If not, he must
disassociate himself from them and declare them outlawed. Failing to do that will deny him
and his party the rights to run in
the election according to political party law.
Third: The royal pardon was granted only to Prince Ranariddh and should not be used to
impose the same for his convicted
generals because it is not part of the Japanese peace plan and it is tantamount not only
to creating new conditions which would
further complicate the process of implementing this peace plan, but also to destroying the
law and order as well as the security
and safety of the nation and people . Therefore, this attempt to torpedo the Japanese
peace plan should be denounced with
vigor. Prince Ranariddh must make a clear choice: to stay with the Cambodian people or
with criminals, to order his troops to
reintegrate into the royal army or to declare them renegades.
Fourth: If Prince Ranariddh really wishes to take part in the upcoming elections, he
must respect the rules and regulations of
the electoral law and party law as well as the Constitution on the same footing as any
other political parties. The Cambodian
people are sovereign and aspire to peace, freedom, democracy and the respect of human
rights. No single person can
pretend to alone hold the truth of democracy.
7. Friends of Cambodia should understand that the full endorsement of the Japanese
peace plan by the Royal Government
of Cambodia was based on its real intention to bring peace and national reconciliation as
well as on the full implementation
of every
element of the peace plan, not on an unfulfilled promise just to be convenient for any
individual to return and to satisfy some
who have vested interests, including some media eager to create a sensation as well as to
mislead.
On April 9, 1998, There was a signing ceremony between H. E. Uch Kiman, Secretary of
State of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia, represented the Royal Government of
Cambodia and H.E. Gildas Le
Lidec, French Ambassador to Cambodia represented the French Government, on $4.5million
Dollars in aid granted to
Cambodia. Of the total aid package, $2.5 million will go to improve facilities at Phnom
Penh's Calmette Hospital and the remaining $2 million will be spent for the first stage of
a renovation project at the Cambodian Institute of Technology.
Extra Funds For The Upcoming Election In Cambodia
Australia, European Union and Japan have pledged to provide extra funds for the
election in Cambodia scheduled on
July 26, 1998. The decisions were made after the meeting of the Friends of Cambodia in
Bangkok on April 20, 1998.
"Australia will provide an additional $A750,000 ($US483,150) in assistance for the
Cambodian elections," said Foreign
Affairs Minister Alexander Downer. "Free, fair and credible elections are a vital
step in the restoration of peace and stability
in Cambodia." Previously, Australia pledged to provide $A1.35million ($US870,000) in
assistance for the election in Cambodia.
The EU has pledged to increase its funding to help Cambodia hold the election from 11.5
millions dollars to 12.6millions
dollars. The additional funds will be used to increase the number of EU-sponsored election
observers to 95 and speed up
the registration process. European Commission Ambassador to Thailand Michel Caillouet said
at the news conference that
he was increasingly confident free and fair elections could be held even if it would be a
difficult election in the Cambodian context.
"Japan will give Cambodia an extra 250,000dollars to hold the general election
scheduled for July 26," Japanese Foreign
Ministry Spokesman Sadaaki Numata said. "The pledge was in response to a request from
the United Nations for assisting
UN monitoring in preparation for the election." Last month, Japan pledged to donate
three million dollars to Cambodia to
help with the election. Mr. Numata stressed that it seemed the minimum necessary political
environment in Cambodia was
in place for the implementation of the elections.
National Television Station Inaugurated
On April 3, 1998, The new National Television Station, built with the Japanese
assistance, was inaugurated and put into
service. The construction of the new national television station began on January 30, 1997
and cost nearly 8 million dollars.
"The new Cambodian national television station will be used to contribute to the
free and fair election scheduled to take
place in July in Cambodia. Equal opportunities to use the state's network will be given to
all political parties that have
registered for the elections," said Information Minister Ieng Mouly during the
opening of the inauguration ceremony.
"In order to have orderly, free, fair, and acceptable elections in the near
future, Cambodia needs not only financial, material,
and technical assistance but also urgently needs continued development aid to ensure
normalcy in social life," said Samdech
Chea Sim, Acting Head of State on a pre-recorded address televised by the station. "
I would like to appeal to politicians
and political parties to close the chapter on political crisis and the bitter conflict of
the past, and to set their minds on a noble
political contest in accordance with liberal democracy. I appeal to them to firmly adhere
to non-violent and peaceful ways to
solve big and small problem."
On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia and people of Cambodia, Samdech Chea Sim
expressed his profound
gratitude to the Japanese government for their generous aid and contributions to
developing Cambodia.