October 13, 1997

On behalf of the Cambodian Delegation I would like to express our sincere congratulations to H.E. Hennadiy Udovendo, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Ukraine, on his election to the Presidency of the 52nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

I would like to express the Kingdom of Cambodia's thanks and admiration to the President of the 51st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, His Excellency Mr. Razali Ismail of Malaysia, for the significant contributions he has made over the course of his term in office.

I would like to thank the distinguished Secretary General, H.E. Kofi Annan for his very skillful and effective works, which have been so fundamental to the success of this organization. My country has seen and benefited from the Secretary-General's excellent efforts. I would also like to extend my thanks and best wishes to all distinguished Representatives of member States for their valuable support to Cambodia's reconstruction process.

It is also my pleasure to announce to you that my Government enjoys a very close cooperation with the distinguished Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Cambodia, the Honorable Lakhan Mehrotra. His presence is extremely important to Cambodia. Mr. Mehrotra performs a valuable duty and is highly commended by my Government and the people of Cambodia.

Furthermore, my government highly appreciates the works of the Honorable Thomas Hammarberg, the UN Secretary General Special Representative for Human Rights in Cambodia. The UN Center for Human Rights in Phnom-Penh under his direction has performed quite well. Press freedom and multi-party system characterize Cambodia since the general elections 1993.

On this occasion, may I assure you and all distinguished delegates that the Royal Government of Cambodia never condones any human rights abuses. My government fully cooperates with the UN Center for Human Rights (UNCHR) and highly appreciates the latter's assistance in the defense of its citizen's human rights in accordance with the Paris Peace Agreements and the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia. The Royal Government of Cambodia (RCG) has, for instance, declared an open access for the UNCHR Cambodia Office and the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit detention centers across the country. We also would like you to know that the welfare of our citizens, their rights and freedoms, their honor and dignity are at the center of our daily preoccupation. Let me express one more time our deep appreciation for the help of the UN Center and all other organizations for Human Rights in Phnom-Penh.

May I take this opportunity to put some record straight to clarify and to dispel once for all the allegations, the accusations that there was a military Coup d'Etat, a power grab and so on and so forth. A campaign to distort the fact was underway and our distorted perception becomes reality in our mind.

Let us face the hard fact and the simple truth: the very brief armed clashes, which broke out on 5-6 July 1997 took us all by surprise. We were aware of a military build-up, of the infiltration of Khmer Rouge soldiers into the City, of smuggling of huge amount of weapons into Cambodia, of psychological warfare and terrorist campaign to destabilize the country. But we were not aware that all these were parts of a prepared coup with the approval of Prince Ranariddh to destroy the Royal Government from within, to destroy his coalition partners from behind. Even most of the senior members of the Prince's ruling party, FUNCINPEC, were not aware of the scheme. When the planned coup failed and aborted ahead of schedule by their own arrogance, we, members of FUNCINPEC, were left to our own destiny. The Prince and his close aides fled the country and blamed the whole mess on the Government forces and Samdech HUN SEN who were quick to extinguish the flame of a civil war. It is misleading to refer the government salvation as a coup d'Etat as has been alleged. It was at all times a legitimate action to prevent Cambodia from slipping into anarchy of a civil war and a possible second genocide. All is now back to normal. All state institutions remain in place:

- The Monarchy with His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk as King of Cambodia.
- The Constitution is unchanged. - The coalition character of the Royal Government remains intact.
- The Royal Government adheres to the principles of liberal democracy and pluralism.
- The Royal Government of Cambodia respects all international Agreements and Conventions, among them the Agreements on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia's Conflict signed in Paris on October 23, 1991 and continues to enjoy full, and friendly bilateral and multilateral relationship with all UN member States and UN Special Agencies.
- The National Assembly has been reconvened to adopt laws and decrees submitted by the Royal Government. It is expected that the National Assembly will soon adopt all those laws related to the holding of a free, fair and democratic election in 1998.

POLITICAL STABILITY AND GENERAL ELECTION

The Royal Government of Cambodia is committed to upholding the Constitution to maintain political stability, and peace, to further promote democracy, the respect of human rights and the freedom of expression in Cambodia, in line with the provision of the Paris Peace Agreements, to preserve the existing coalition resulting from the General Election organized and supervised by the UN. The two major parties, FUNCINPEC and CPP, continue to work together better in the Royal Government and are committed to organize free and fair general election scheduled for May 1998.

In this regard, two necessary laws will soon be adopted by the National Assembly, namely the Law on national election and the Law on the political parties. To further strengthen the Royal Government's preparations for a free and fair democratic general election, the neutralization of all armed forces and the civil administration is under way so that they be at the disposal of the elected government and not of any particular political parties.

His Majesty the King will preside over the first meeting of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy, a body that will assure the independence of the judicial system as required by the Constitution. Once the Supreme Council of the Magistracy is functioning, the establishment of the Constitutional Council will follow. These two institutions will form the basis in making the Kingdom of Cambodia a State governed by the rules of law. Another important aspect of the electoral law is the creation of a neutral and independent electoral commission.

ASEAN

We recognize ASEAN as the very vehicle for regional peace, security, stability, shared opportunities and common prosperity. It is easy for us to identify ourselves with ASEAN as we are in the heart of ASEAN. We are ready to join ASEAN and we respect ASEAN principles. We enjoy excellent relations of friendship, cooperation and good neighborliness with all our ASEAN brothers. We are grateful for their support and assistance in our preparations to join ASEAN after having helped us in the restoration of peace and national reconstruction like - brothers and sisters in the same family, we have our own problems but we help each other in time of need. As we are also member of ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and apart our own efforts, we also welcome the role of ASEAN to assist us in the maintenance of political stability, security and peace in Cambodia.

LAND MINES

As you may be aware, Cambodia is the hardest hit nation in the world in term of land mines. His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah NORODOM SIHANOUK and my Government are very concerned about that issue. We would like to make a solemn appeal to the nations of the world to help us in this regard. The Royal Government and the people of Cambodia pay great tribute to all generous Donor Countries for their assistance to our efforts to rid the country off the scourge of land-mines as it takes years to do so.

The Kingdom of Cambodia salutes the outcome of the recent Conference of Oslo. She would also like to pay her deepest respect to the late Diana, Princess of Wales for Her dedication to the ban of anti-personnel land mines. The demise of the Princess is a tragic loss for humanity, the Cambodian people and in particular for those handicapped because of the perverse effects of landmines. We wish that Her Foundation continued to relieve the misfortune of land-mine victims throughout the world. Cambodia supports the Land-Mine Treaty adopted recently in Oslo and is ready to sign it in Ottawa, in December.

DRUGS AND RELATED CRIMES

The Royal Government of Cambodia wishes to deeply thank the United States of America, France and other countries for their strong support and cooperation. Like other countries, Cambodia is a victim of a rapid escalation of the traffic of drugs and related crimes. The Royal Government joins with the UN Agency and other countries in the region, namely Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar in fighting the illegal production and trafficking of drugs. The Government has made significant efforts to combat drug related problems. Recently several casinos in Phnom Penh were closed. We also focus our efforts to fight the problem of prostitution and traffic of minors. Once again Cambodia is pleased with the serious consideration given by ASEAN and the Dialogue Partners to drug trafficking and other related transnational issues such as economic crimes, including money laundering, as these activities constitute a serious threat to the security of the countries in the region. We need international assistance to resolve these issues which are close to the hearts of many of all of us here today as well as our citizens.

ECONOMIC SITUATION

A fundamental issue for the attention of every member of the international community is the widening gap between rich and poor nations. This gap is directly related to the nature, organization and health of the world economy. Vital decisions determining the shape and nature of the world economy are, however, well outside the control of a vast majority of nations, particularly those in the third World.

The Cambodian people will always cherish in their hearts the sacrifice made by the international community on their behalf, especially those eminent persons who dedicated themselves to the cause of peace and democracy in our country. The Royal Government of Cambodia presided over by myself and H.E. Samdech HUN SEN is strongly committed to the spirit of the Paris Peace Agreements. We will do everything within our power to bring happiness and prosperity to our people in pursuing the National Program for the Rehabilitation and the Development of Cambodia (NPRD) launched in February 1994.

Despite difficulties and other adverse social constraints the Royal Government of Cambodia remains strongly committed to maintain political stability, social peace and security in order to move forward on the path of economic and social development. At this point I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound thanks to all our partners for their generous support in providing Cambodia with technical and financial assistance, among others the United States of America for its recent decision to provide the GSP status to the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Despite our relative economic progress, the Royal Government of Cambodia is currently facing budgetary constraints. In order to successfully organize the elections in May 1998, Cambodia indeed needs technical and financial assistance from friendly countries. International observers are cordially invited during the national election in May 1998. In summary, Cambodia remains confident in its consistent efforts to restore the national economy and integrate itself into the mainstream of the region. Cambodia will make a positive contribution to regional peace, stability and economic development. At the same time, the Royal Government is ever mindful of its responsibility to protect Cambodia's natural heritage, both in the interest of its people and the world at large.

REFORM OF THE UN

The Cambodian delegation sincerely admires H.E. Kofi ANNAN for his initiatives and ability to deal with the financial crisis of the Organization and to introduce fundamental reforms of the UN to prepare this world Body to meet the challenge of the next century. Out of full understanding that the Secretary General cannot transform the UN alone and his fundamental proposals for reform requires the support and real commitment of all Member-States, Cambodia to the best of her ability, is ready to grant every support to this very important undertaking. With her modest resources, Cambodia promises to honor her contribution to the UN. Cambodia is in favor of a reform process, which takes into account the economic priority of the developing countries. Cambodia welcomes the decision of the United States - major contributor to the UN budget- to settle its arrears with the UN. This will considerably relief this world organization from its present financial difficulty. Especially, Cambodia welcomes the intended reforms in the UN Security Council that include among others the expansion of the number of its permanent and non-permanent members.

On behalf of the Second Prime Minister, Samdech HUN SEN, and on behalf of the Cambodian delegates, I would like to, once again, express our sincere gratitude and thanks to all the eminent Heads of Delegations of all the member States, for their understanding and continued support for Cambodia and her people.