EDITORIAL: Still Cambodia’s strongman

Published on October 23, 2005

Hun Sen is now empowered by voters, but that doesn’t give him the right to stick to his old authoritarian ways. Even for a man who has been there and done that, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is now roving towards a dangerous place. It may be nothing compared to what he has gone through in his personal and political lifetime, but in a country where politicians play for keeps, one can never be too careful.

Over the past weeks, the strongman of Cambodia has unleashed a wave of fear that has forced critics and opposition figures to flee the country. Among those who went into hiding are leading rights advocates, trade unionists and opposition politicians, the very people whose institutions could help Cambodia grow and prosper as a democratic nation.

“This is the most severe assault on dissent in Cambodia since the aftermath of Hun Sen’s coup in 1997,” Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch’s Asia director, said in a statement last week. “International donors and embassies must make it clear to Hun Sen that they will not tolerate the reversal of the important strides made in basic human rights during the last decade.”

The crackdown appears to have stemmed from criticism over the government’s handling of border disputes, with critics accusing Hun Sen of giving up or selling land to Vietnam.

At least six people, including a teachers’ union leader and the head of a radio station, have been arrested or targeted by defamation lawsuits related to the border issue.

Two Cambodians named in the lawsuits have fled to Thailand seeking assistance from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

“These events raise a number of concerns relating to freedom of expression, which is enshrined in Cambodia’s constitution and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights,” said a statement from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special envoy to Cambodia, Peter Leuprecht.

The UN International Labour Office on Friday urged Cambodia to release a union leader and several other Cambodians jailed for having criticised the government’s sensitive border policies.

The Geneva-based global labour body said their detention constituted serious interference with civil liberties. Trade-unions have called on Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government to release them immediately.

Rong Chhun, president of the Independent Teachers’ Association, was arrested after criticising a controversial border treaty signed between Cambodia and Vietnam earlier this month.

Besides the fact that cracking down on people who disagree with your views is unacceptable, it may also be a politically dangerous move. History shows that political opposition to Hun Sen has lost little time taking him to task for any dealings with neighbouring Vietnam, the country that initially paved his way to power.

But regardless of the political consequences, the bottom line is that the people of Cambodia deserve better than this.

No one doubts Hun Sen’s power or legitimacy to run Cambodia. From a young field commander with the Khmer Rouge to the head of the Cambodian government, Hun Sen has accomplished much in one lifetime. He went through the long march and came out first on the finish line. There were lots of hiccups along the way, and, as here in Thailand, questionable means were employed before the public got the chance to exercise its right to vote.

But years after all the strife and bloodshed that Cambodia has experienced, one would have hoped that Hun Sen had turned over a new leaf. As the democratically elected leader of a nation that has so much to offer the world, it goes without saying that Hun Sen needs to do better in the prime-ministerial post. And like anywhere else, democracy in Cambodia is not an end in itself.

With a democratic system in place one would hope that the Cambodian leader would actually embrace democratic values. Not only does he have to respect freedom of expression, he needs to ensure that it is protected.

 

Hun Sen already has unprecedented and unchallenged power. It is really sad to see him clinging to his old ways. If Hun Sen continues on his current course, he risks losing whatever moral authority he has managed to accumulate throughout his political career.