Concluding Statement on the 2024 National Election for the Rule of Law of the Commission of Inquiry for Cambodia, 10 September 2022
As we move towards the Cambodian national elections, scheduled for mid-2023, it is important to give special attention to how the Hun Sen government’s long-standing and systemic human rights and rule of law violations affect the electoral process and how the international community should approach the results of the 2023 elections. Especially over the last few years, the Hun Sen government has made elimination of the leading political opposition party, and the persecution of its leaders and members, the principal focus of its campaign of abuses. The French Criminal Court decision of 2 February 2022, finding probable cause to believe that Hun Sen and the Generals heading his Personal Bodyguard Unit were substantially involved with, and criminally responsible for, the 1997 grenade attack on an opposition political party rally in Freedom Park that killed 16 and wounded many more, further emphasizes the need to give prominent attention to the upcoming elections, and to how the Khmer and international communities should be dealing with the coming election process.
As the United Nations Human Rights Committee prominently noted at the conclusion of its compliance review hearing on Cambodia on 11 March 2022, it is impossible to consider the 2023 elections “free, fair and legitimate” when the main political opposition party is outlawed and eliminated from participation in the election process, when its leaders are arrested, forced into exile, and subjected to a Mass Criminal Trial that grossly violates due process and rule of law standards, and when all other forms of public opposition, criticism, or even objective reporting, are repressed or eliminated by the government. An election held under these conditions does not deserve to be recognized or taken seriously by the international community.
Given the extensive nature of these problems, careful consideration needs to be given to the recommendations made by Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch early on in this process – namely, that the Khmer community totally boycott the election process as presently constituted, and that the international community refuse to accept an election’s pre-determined results.
Consistent with that approach, substantial efforts must be made to convince foreign governments, and international organizations like the United Nations, to withhold official recognition of the legality of the Hun Sen government, absent major changes in the electoral process, and substantial improvements in eliminating the policies of repression that make meaningful and effective political opposition and public criticism impossible.
What are the specific steps that must be taken to bring Cambodia into compliance with the wide range of human rights and rule of law standards that are presently being violated on a widespread and increasing basis by the Hun Sen government? That is the key question that we all need to be asking, and demanding answer for. Those steps must include, at a minimum:
All arrests and criminal prosecutions of opposition political leaders and members must end, and those already under criminal restraints must be freed, with criminal sanctions and penalties removed, including the court order making the main opposition political party illegal.
All restrictions and restraints on media outlets and civil society groups inconsistent with Cambodia’s obligations under international law must be lifted so that these groups can operate and exercise their free expression and association rights without improper interference.
Consistent with international rule of law standards, some form of internationally supervised or administered accountability effort must be initiated to hold to account those responsible for the systemic abuses that have been taking place on such a widespread basis.
In early 2023, the Commission of Inquiry will convene a special hearing on the Cambodian electoral process to assess whether sufficient and meaningful progress has been made so as to legitimate the 2023 national elections and its results. Without that significant progress, there is no reason for the elections to take place, or for the international community to accept their pre-determined results if they are held as presently constituted. In 2023, the Commission of Inquiry also plans to be moving into an accountability phase. Recognizing that past monitoring and fact-finding efforts have not been sufficient to produce meaningful and effective change and improvement, we will be working with other groups to determine how to convert the substantial body of evidence of gross and systematic violations of internationally recognized human rights and rule of law standards by the Hun Sen government into a process that can work more effectively to hold Hun Sen and his principal officials accountable in meaningful ways. The French Criminal Court decision of 2 February will be one important model that we will use.