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Cambodia in review

A publication of the Royal Embassy of Cambodia to the United States
August 1998
Vol. III No 30

CONTENTS

• Letter To the Editor of the Washington Pos
• Preliminary Results of the Election
• Statement of the Joint International Observers Group
• The Elections Reflect the Will of the Cambodian People
• International Opinion On The Election In Cambodia
• UN Report On The Investigation Into The Alleged Killings
• A UN-Sponsored Panel Set Up To Bring The KR To Justice

• Constitutional Council Investigates The Complaints In Relation To The Elections

On August 12, 1998, H.E. Ambassador Var Huoth responded to an article written by Mr. Stephen Morris on August 9, 1998, which reads as follows:

Cambodia's election was evaluated by well-respected international and local observers as sufficiently free and fair despite Mr. Stephen J. Morris' op-ed article stating to the contrary [Brutocracy Wins, August 9, 1998]. On Friday last week, the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan also expressed his satisfaction with the result of the election and said Cambodia's future government reflects the will of the Cambodian people for reconciliation, pluralism and development.

On the question of observation, Mr. Morris failed to mention that there are 35,000 representatives of different political parties including CPP, Funcinpec, Sam Rainsy and almost 30,000 local independent non-governmental organizations' representatives (COMFREL, COFFEL, NICFEC) present in every polling station to closely observe the election across the country. Ironically, the irregularities were raised after the Election Day. Yet, the representatives of different political parties in each polling station also signed a paper at the end of the Election Day recognizing that the elections were conducted peacefully and orderly.

Furthermore, the independent National Election Committee (NEC) also addressed the complaints of some parties by recounting the ballots in a number of provinces. The recounting in 10 communes from four provinces (Take, Camping Sep, Purest, and Camping Cham), which alleged there were serious irregularities, has so far proven that no frauds occurred.

I would like to emphasize that there is no change of the formula for the allocation of seats by the NEC as claimed by the article. According to the electoral law adopted in September 1997, the electoral system is proportional representation by the greatest average. This point is clearly prescribed in Article 118 of the electoral law. The greatest average formula is generally known as the D' Hondt system, named after a Belgian mathematician who created this formula. Neither the NEC nor Sam Rainsy/Funcinpec parties can change the law.

With regards to the amnesty to the Khmer Rouge, I would like to clarify that the amnesty was given only to Ieng Sary by the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) with the consent of His Majesty the King and of over one hundred members of the National Assembly. However, this will not be an obstacle to bringing him to justice if he is found guilty. The RGC already requested the UN Secretary General and US President to help set up an international tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge leadership for their crimes against humanity and other related crimes.

I would also like to stress that if Cambodia is lawless as claimed by the article, there should have been no elections taking place in Cambodia. The Cambodian people are proud to organize the election by themselves, which cost much less than the UNTAC election in 1993. The high voter turnout (more than 90 percent) represents the will of the Cambodian people. One should not underestimate them. They knew very well that the vote was secret. As a result, they voted for 3 parties (CPP, Funcinpec and Sam Rainsy) out of 39 parties. This is the decision of the Cambodian people that deserves to be respected.

Yours sincerely
Var Huoth

With reference to the information released by the National Election Committee (NEC) on August 13, 1998, 93.74 percent of the Cambodian people who registered for the July 26 election voted on the polling day or 5,057,679 out of 5,395,595 registered voters went to the polls. The official preliminary results released by NEC on August 5, 1998 showed that the Cambodia's People Party won 2,030,802 votes, or 41.2percent, the Funcinpec Party 1,554,374 votes, or about 31.5 percent and the Sam Rainsy Party 699,653, or about 14.2 percent of the total valid votes cast.

Worth noting that there are 122 seats at the National Assembly. According to the NEC preliminary results, CPP is expected to win 64 seats, Funcinpec Party 43 seats and Sam Rainsy Party 15 seats.

The official final result is due to be released by the end of this month.  

The Royal Embassy would like to publish in its entirety the Statement of the Joint International Observers Group (JIOG) representing more than thirty countries issued on July 27, 1998, which reads as follows:

In its Statement of Friday 24 July, two days before polling day, the Joint International Observers Group made an assessment of the Electoral Process in Cambodia on the eve of the elections, covering the Registration Procedure and the Election Campaign Period. A number of generally encouraging factors were emphasized as well as a number of serious concerns.

The time has now come to present the JIOG's assessment of the polling and counting procedures, based on the reports received from the JIOG's almost 500 international observers in the field. A consolidated statement will be made at a later stage, when these observers have been debriefed after their return to Phnom Penh and their full reports have been thoroughly analyzed.

The JIOG believes that the atmosphere and the procedures of the Polling Day and Counting Day in the 1998 Elections arranged by the Cambodians themselves, represent a major achievement and step forward compared with similar circumstances during the 1993 Cambodian parliamentary elections. The JIOG commends and applauds the National Committee and through it all Election workers in the country for impressive work done in a short period of time and under difficult circumstances. In addition, the JIOG wishes to warmly praise the dedicated work of trained national observers, such as COMFREL, COFFEL and NICFEC, in connection with the election.

The reports received by the JIOG thus far have been, in the main, encouraging. The climate on polling day was peaceful and calm. In general the polling achieved democratic standards and on the day it appears that people felt able to vote without fear of reprisal. Except for the shameful attack Sunday morning in Anlong Veng, with deplorable loss of human lives, no serious case of violence have been reported nor, at this stage, any serious irregularities that could have a significant effect on the integrity of the voting process. The very high number of registered voters who turned up at polling Stations to cast their ballot has yet again given a clear signal to Cambodian leaders and the international community alike that the Cambodian people are embracing democracy and are determined to decide their own political future.

Against this background, it is the impression of the JIOG that what could be observed by us on polling day and counting day was a process which was free and fair to an extent that enables it to reflect, in a credible way, the will of the Cambodian people. In the end, efforts to intimidate sections of the Cambodian population appear not to have significantly influenced the conduct or the climate of the polling day itself.

The JIOG will continue to observe the electoral process in the most thorough way possible. We would like to underline again that respect for the principles of human rights must be observed in that process, and that no violations of those principles can be acceptable to the international community.

The JIOG believes that all parties should accept the result of the election without any attempt to undermine the original outcome.

The JIOG would also like to underline, that its final conclusions on the electoral process will be subject to full acceptance of the voters' verdict through appropriate conduct in the post-election period by all parties and subject to the vote tabulation and complaints and appeals processes being carried out satisfactorily. If the results are respected in this way, the 1998 parliamentary elections will mark a major step forward in this country's democratic development.

In response to the New York Times July 30 editorial, H.E. Ambassador Var Huoth wrote to the Editor of the newspaper a letter dated the same day with the following content:

I take exception to your editorial [Cambodia's Imperfect Election, July 30]. Your editorial lacks sufficient ground to deride the election in Cambodia as imperfect, when the most recognized international and local independent observers declare otherwise.

The report of the Joint International Observer Group, which represents some 34 countries, said the election was free and fair to represent the will of the Cambodian people. And the joint preliminary statement of the IRI/NDI observer delegation, which previously condemned the elections before a single vote had been cast, said polling went smoothly and congratulated the Cambodian people for demonstrating their commitment to democracy.

The election in Cambodia was conducted under the observation of more than 70,000 electoral officials, 35,000 parties' officials, 30,000 independent NGOs and 700 international observers. Most witnessed the electoral process from start to finish. The ballot boxes were placed overnight with the national election committee officials and with close observation by officials of different parties and independent NGOs. Each ballot box was multi-locked to prevent fraud and the keys were held by different party officials. There was no room for manipulation.

Former Congressman Steven Solarz, who co-chaired the joint US IRI/NDI delegation, said the ruling party appeared not to have used the electoral machinery to distort the results. Furthermore, in an interview with BBC East Asia on July 28, 1998, former US Ambassador James Lilley, who also co-chaired the IRI/NDI delegation, said that on election day, he pursued at least five different reports of irregularities and every one of them turned out to be false. Clearly, Cambodia's leaders did not manipulate the elections.

Moreover, I am puzzled as to how you reached you conclusions when your own reporter on the ground, Seth Mydans, wrote a much more balanced view of the electoral process in the same issue in which your editorial appeared.

In general, the election reflects the will of the Cambodian people. Your description to the contrary marginalizes and negates the legitimate efforts of the Cambodian voters and thousands of international and local observers.

On August 7, 1998, UN Secretary General Kofi Anna said he is pleased that the election in Cambodia was held on schedule on July 26. He congratulated the Cambodian people on the overwhelming turnout of voters. He also noted with satisfaction that the polling process was primarily peaceful and orderly.

"The international observers assessed the election as free and fair. I am delighted with this. These elections were first a success for Cambodia and the Cambodian people," said French President Jacques Chirac on an August 12 letter addressed to His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia. President Chirac further added that it was essential for the main political parties to respect the will of the Cambodian people.

"The Cambodian elections were free and fair," said a statement issued by a Philippine Observers Group on August 14. The statement further said that credible election were one of the conditions for the membership of Cambodia to the ASEAN and on this basis, the delegation recommended Cambodia's entry into ASEAN.

"The Cambodian elections last month were held in a peaceful manner and democratic, credible way with the participation of 91 percent of the electorate," said Mr. Yasushi Akashi, a former head of the United Nations Transitional Authorities in Cambodia (UNTAC) after delivering a keynote address at a human rights seminar organized by the United Nations Association of Singapore on August 15. He expressed his hope that all Cambodian political parties would find it possible to accept the results of the elections and that efforts for making a coalition government may contribute to greater stability in that country.

"The European Union (EU) calls upon all political parties in Cambodia to respect the election results and to seize this opportunity for national reconciliation," said a statement on July29 by the EU's Austrian Presidency. "The EU notes with particular satisfaction that the initial report from the Joint International Observers Group has concluded that the election can be considered credibly, free, fair and representative. The European Observer Unit, as well as the UN and other observer groups, reported that the elections were conducted in an orderly manner."

On July 27, 1998, the Ministers, attending the Fifth ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in the Philippines, declared in a statement that they agreed that the holding of free, fair and credible elections was an important step towards enhancing peace and stability in Cambodia. The Ministers welcomed the huge vote turnout in the 26 July 1998 elections and the initial reports that the voting process was generally peaceful. They also expressed the hope that the next stages of counting ballots and the proclamation of the winners would also be peaceful and orderly.

"Virtually all voters queried assured us that they were confident about the secrecy of their ballots. Moreover, polling stations were organized in a way that enabled voters to cast their ballots in private, which lent credibility to their assurances," said the joint preliminary statement issued on July 28, 1998 by the U.S. based International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute. "Whatever the political affiliations of the election officials may have been, these officials generally conducted themselves in an impartial and efficient manner and seemed committed to a legitimate process… As for the counting of ballots on July 27, we were impressed with the apparent efficiency and transparency of the count at the commune level, where we observed it. National observers and party agents reinforced our tentative assessment that the count was thus far without significant problems."

"Our views of the overall situation is that the polling and counting has taken place in a basically free atmosphere," the Asian Network For Free Elections said in a statement on July 28. "The Cambodian people has demonstrated their commitment to the democratic process by participating in the voting. The people deserve leaders who will follow their example of their behavior and commitment at the polling stations in finally bringing peace and prosperity to their country."

The United Nations Office for Human Rights in Cambodia issued a report on August 19, 1998, dismissing most allegations of politically motivated killings in the run-up to the July 26 elections.

Cambodia Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (COHCHR) said in its report that it received complaints of more than 30 political killings between May 20 and polling day on July 26 but had found only a handful were supported by solid evidence. "The Office's investigation into these deaths has found that fewer than half a dozen of these case may be politically motivated," the report said.

The report further noted that widespread intimidation of opposition supporters following the poll did not appear to be centrally coordinated. "No evidence had been found however that the intimidation tactics were coordinated, but rather a widespread expression of triumphalism after the electoral victory of the CPP," the report said.  

United Nation Secretary General Kofi Annan announced on August 13, 1998 in a letter to the President of the General Assembly that he appointed a special panel to study the possibility of arresting and bringing to trial the Khmer Rouge leaders held responsible for the death of more than two million Cambodians under their harsh rule from 1975 to 1979.

The panel will be composed of three international jurists and headed by Sir Ninian Stephen, a judge and former governor-general of Australia who until last year served as a member of the Hague-based international war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The other are Rajsoomer Lallah, a judge from Mauritius, and Stephen Ratner, an international law professor from the United States.

The panel will evaluate the existing evidence with a view to determine the nature of the crimes that the Khmer Rouge leaders committed from 1975 to 1979. It will also assess, after consulting the governments concerned, the feasibility of bringing the Khmer Rouge leaders to justice, their apprehension, detention and extradition or surrender to the criminal jurisdiction established. It also will explore options for bringing the Khmer Rouge leaders before an international court.

"I would like to share the wish of the Cambodian people that justice ultimately be served on those who share his guilt for one of history's most notorious reigns of terror," said Kofi Annan in the letter.

"The Constitutional Council (CC) will be able to hold an audience to judge and decide on complaints about election conducted by various political parties in the next seven to 10 days. This is because, having receiving the complaints, the CC needs to look through each one of them to see which conform to legal procedures and are valid and which should be settled first before the others," said Chan Sok, Chairman of the CC on August 17, 1998.

The following three issues are raised in the complaints lodged by the Sam Rainsy Party and the Funcinpec Party: intimidation, refusal to recognize the election results, and a request that the National Election Committee recount the ballots, he said.

After a preliminary look at them, Mr. Chan Sok said the CC found that the complaints appeared trivial because most of them were inadequate. This is due to, for instance, a lack of witnesses and evidence and so forth. However, the CC will investigate in details before making any decisions in this regard.

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