Um Sam An’s Testimony on the Elimination of Democratic Institutions for the Rule of Law of the Commission of Inquiry for Cambodia, 10 September 2022
At the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s review session on Cambodia on March 9-11, heavy emphasis and criticism properly was placed on actions of the Hun Sen government that have eliminated core elements of democracy over the past several years. Among the government imposed restrictions that drew the most concern were:
The principal and only effective opposition political party was declared illegal and forced to disband by a court decision that was dictated by the government for political purposes.
The government also forced its courts to convene a politically motivated “mass criminal trial” that still is taking place, imposing major jail sentences on over 130 leaders and members of the political opposition under vaguely worded statutes prohibiting actions that might “incite social unrest.”
Independent media outlets that reported on activities critical of the government’s policies and actions were forced to close or give control to the government.
Critics of the government were jailed, beaten or, in the case of youth leader Sin Khon, assassinated.
Civil society groups were monitored, silenced, and in the case of the leading environmental group Mother Nature, forced to close its operations when its six principal staffers were arrested.
The United Nations correctly labeled these actions as “totally inconsistent” with the principles of democracy that the Paris Peace Accords established for Cambodia, and that the Hun Sen government specifically agreed to follow. The Hun Sen government claimed, in its defense, that it was free to determine its own election system, and that the “people of Cambodia had freely chosen a one-party state.” The chair of the government’s delegation claimed that “if people prefer a one-party state, that constitutes democracy.”
The United Nations rejected those claims. Human Rights Committee member Christopher Bulkan (Guyana) pointed out that “at least 40 percent of the Cambodian electorate” had voted in support of the opposition political party in the two national elections that took place before that party was declared illegal for the most recent 2018 elections. Eliminating the political opposition, he concluded, “is not what democracy means,” and constitutes a clear violation of Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees every citizen “the right and opportunity” to vote and to select their representatives without restrictions.
Ending the United Nations Cambodia review session on 11 March, the Chair of the Human Rights Committee, Photini Pazartzis (Greece), said, “the government needs to understand the concepts of pluralism” that allows for free discussion and disagreement with the government, including the rights of free assembly and free expression, even when the government’s positions are criticized. She concluded that the restrictions that the government has imposed on political activities, and on freedom of expression, are not consistent with the Civil and Political Rights Covenant, and are not in accord with international standards.
Applying these findings to the upcoming national elections that will be taking place in Cambodia in 2023, provides clear guidance to the Khmer people and voters, and to the international community more generally, about how the elections should be treated. Unless the now outlawed major opposition political party is allowed to participate in the electoral process and in the balloting in a fair and effective way, the elections should be boycotted, and their results not accepted by the international community of nations. An unfair and closed election is not valid, or consistent with international standards. A one-party state, created by eliminating the political opposition and by severely restricting free expression and criticism of the government, is not democracy, despite what the Hun Sen government claimed before the Human Rights Committee. No fair election means “no vote,” and non-recognition of the pre-arranged results, is the only rational approach to take, both by voters and by the international community.