Post by Bozur on Jan 18, 2006 2:33:18 GMT -5
Editorial
Dictatorship in Cambodia
Published: January 16, 2006
Prime Minister Hun Sen has hardly run Cambodia as a democracy. But now he seems intent on extinguishing what liberty remains. Seth Mydans reported in The International Herald Tribune recently that Mr. Hun Sen is waging political war against human rights groups and political opponents, largely through misuse of defamation laws.
Three prominent human rights activists have been arrested in recent weeks, joining two others facing similar charges. And several other opponents of the government have fled the country, among them the leader of the only significant opposition party. This is clearly a man working to keep his nation under the weight of dictatorship.
Unfortunately, in Cambodia, as in a growing number of other countries, whatever Western leverage was left after the 1970's is being eroded by the economic rise of China. Beijing has become the biggest investor in Cambodia, and doesn't give a hoot about human rights. Western donors are reluctant to put new conditions on aid to one of the poorest and most battered countries in the world.
But there are still things they can do. They must make it clear to Mr. Hun Sen that they don't believe in the legal cover he has thrown over his ambition, and that they firmly oppose his campaign to curtail democracy. Western governments must make sure that the proposed United Nations human rights monitoring council does not reproduce the flaws of the current, discredited Human Rights Commission by deferring to countries that violate rights.
Washington supports the idea of the new council, but its envoy, John Bolton, proposed including the five permanent members of the Security Council as permanent members of the rights council. That plays into the hands of China, which would gain a secure perch from which to neutralize any U.N. action against allies like Cambodia.
Dictatorship in Cambodia
Published: January 16, 2006
Prime Minister Hun Sen has hardly run Cambodia as a democracy. But now he seems intent on extinguishing what liberty remains. Seth Mydans reported in The International Herald Tribune recently that Mr. Hun Sen is waging political war against human rights groups and political opponents, largely through misuse of defamation laws.
Three prominent human rights activists have been arrested in recent weeks, joining two others facing similar charges. And several other opponents of the government have fled the country, among them the leader of the only significant opposition party. This is clearly a man working to keep his nation under the weight of dictatorship.
Unfortunately, in Cambodia, as in a growing number of other countries, whatever Western leverage was left after the 1970's is being eroded by the economic rise of China. Beijing has become the biggest investor in Cambodia, and doesn't give a hoot about human rights. Western donors are reluctant to put new conditions on aid to one of the poorest and most battered countries in the world.
But there are still things they can do. They must make it clear to Mr. Hun Sen that they don't believe in the legal cover he has thrown over his ambition, and that they firmly oppose his campaign to curtail democracy. Western governments must make sure that the proposed United Nations human rights monitoring council does not reproduce the flaws of the current, discredited Human Rights Commission by deferring to countries that violate rights.
Washington supports the idea of the new council, but its envoy, John Bolton, proposed including the five permanent members of the Security Council as permanent members of the rights council. That plays into the hands of China, which would gain a secure perch from which to neutralize any U.N. action against allies like Cambodia.