Wrap-Up Statement by Brad Adams for the Special Election of the Commission of Inquiry for Cambodia, 23 September 2023

Good afternoon. My name is Brad Adams, former Asia Director of Human Rights Watch. Before that I lived in Cambodia for 5 years, working as Chief of the Legal Assistance Unit of the Cambodia Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. I investigated and saw firsthand the dead bodies from extrajudicial killings by Hun Sen and the CPP, interviewed journalists and human rights defenders facing death threats and arrest, and met with villagers being forced off their land to make way for corrupt business deals by some of the richest and most powerful leaders in the CPP, army, and police.   

You may remember that the idea for initiating the work of the Commission of Inquiry arose from an information sharing and strategic planning meeting that I convened and chaired with leaders and members of the Khmer community on July 18, 2021, almost exactly two years ago. The Commission of Inquiry for Cambodia has therefore asked me to provide this review of the work of the Commission “next steps.” This is particularly important and timely in the aftermath of the rigged “selection” not “election” on Sunday, and the ever-increasing repression in Cambodia.  

For the past two years, the Commission of Inquiry for Cambodia has been conducting a series of fact-finding hearings focused on the longstanding human rights abuses, the decreasing space for civil society and independent media, and the increasing use of harsh laws and a politically controlled court system to erase all forms of opposition to one-party rule. As of today, democracy is dead in Cambodia. Our challenge is to find ways to revive and strengthen it.  

Our efforts have had some important positive impacts, including encouraging the United Nations to take some important initiatives to challenging the Hun Sen government’s policies and practices, and encouraging the Khmer community itself to undertake a series of grassroots monitoring and advocacy efforts. Over the past six months a number of United Nations’ officials and agencies at the highest levels, including Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez, have issued a series of very hard-hitting statements and reports condemning Hun Sen’s human rights and rule of law campaign, and concluding that the scheduled 23 July 2023 national elections could not take place on a free, fair and legitimate basis unless major reform measures that the UN recommended were properly implemented. In the end, no democracy has recognized this sham process as legitimate. We need to build on this in the coming months. 

At the same time, inspired by the work of our Commission, and the powerful words and actions of the United Nations, the Khmer community developed and put into action a major new Urgent Action Case Alert system, modeled along the lines of the one so successfully used by Amnesty International, to identify and file complaints at the grassroots level on the most serious human rights abuses and cases. They also organized a grass roots, community-based effort to monitor and report on whether, and to what extent, the Hun Sen government was acting to implement the “Action Plan of Reform Measures” that the United Nations recommended as essential to make fair and legitimate elections possible. 

But given the adamant refusal of the Hun Sen government to implement the United Nations’ recommended reform measures, and the UN’s inescapable conclusion that the July 23 national elections were not in fact being conducted on a free, fair and legitimate basis, the international and Khmer communities now must deal with this simple but urgent question: What steps can we now take to move Cambodia on an effective and meaningful basis in the direction of human rights, rule of law, and democracy?   

This is the question that everyone is asking, and that the Commission of Inquiry seeks to provide some help in answering as we conclude our current set of fact-finding hearings.   

We need to look at the experiences of other democracy and rights building movements in places like South Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, and even Myanmar. Each of them had major successes and faced setbacks along the way. Each offers lessons. The unusually strong and very positive actions of the United Nations over the past six months, together with the new grassroots initiatives of the Khmer community with their Urgent Action Case Alert System and community-based monitoring efforts, are also one part of a longer-term strategy.  

None of us wanted or expected Cambodia to be in such a dark place 30 years after UNTAC. Cambodia should be a thriving democracy in the heart of Southeast Asia, with multi-party elections, peaceful changes of power, a thriving civil society, independent tv, radio, and newspapers, and an honest, independent court system holding the government accountable. All of that was promised in the Paris Peace Agreements and the 1993 Constitution, but Hun Sen and the CPP have killed each of these promises.  

We know what we want; the question is how to get there as quickly as possible. 

We must organize an ongoing, long-term and comprehensive series of advocacy efforts if we are going to make a series effort that will produce meaningful change. 

Let me suggest a few “first steps” that we can take along these lines, recognizing that these steps must be taken as part of a much larger and more comprehensive package of advocacy actions. These are the initial advocacy actions we can take to make a meaningful difference for Cambodia.      

First, on November 1, the Commission of Inquiry, with the help of a number of other international groups, will be convening a “strategic planning session” with a panel of international experts to help us identify a plan for effective advocacy. Everyone is encouraged to register in advance for that virtual meeting, and to participate on an active basis. 

Second, on June 14, we responded to a United Nations “Call for Submissions,” by providing a detailed review of the work of the Commission of Inquiry, and of the most urgent problems, cases and issues that need attention in Cambodia. You must follow-up by presenting the Khmer Community’s voice in a forceful and effective way at each of the upcoming United Nations’ meetings where Cambodia’s human rights and democracy failings are on the agenda. The next major opportunity at the UN is the September/October session of the UN Human Rights Council when it considers the annual report of the Special Rapporteur for Cambodia. It is important for UN Member States to hear directly from Cambodians that the July 23 coronation of Hun Sen and the CPP was nothing more than a theatrical exercise that should confer no legitimacy on a murderous and corrupt regime. 

Another important date is September 23, 2023, which is the deadline for us to make written submissions to the UN Human Rights Council for what they call their Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process for Cambodia. This happens only every 4-5 years and is the primary UN forum where Cambodia’s human rights issues are presented and reviewed. Civil society submissions are welcome, so we must all play a major role in this process. This includes the review session at the UN in Geneva in April 2024. This is a full-blown hearing and offers a variety of ways for the Khmer Community to get their views and concerns before the members of the Human Rights Council. We have to take part in those sessions in a meaningful, highly active way, including by organizing what is called a “side session” at which diplomats and media attend and participate in a wide-ranging and open discussion of the realities facing Cambodians under one-party rule. 

While the UN is important, just as important is advocacy with key governments and parliaments, including the US, EU, France, Germany, Australia, Canada, UK, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia (I didn’t mention China because they would refuse to meet). Each plays a key role in pushing for democracy and rights; imposing sanctions; as investors; or as key leaders in UN voting on Cambodia.  

We must keep our eyes open to new opportunities that may present themselves in the upcoming months, such as the possibility of a more democratic government in Thailand and the reality of a more progressive one in Germany led by a Green Party foreign minister. And we must react to the kind of stupid and counterproductive behavior of countries like Australia, which issued a welcome statement criticizing the July 23 charade while also announcing a large package of development aid. These kinds of mixed messages only empower Hun Sen to believe that he can continue on his dictatorial path.  

We should be pushing the EU to follow through on the EBA process. Hun Sen laughed at the 20% reduction in access to the EU market because he knew this was a half-hearted sanction. But if the EU followed its own law and insisted on respect for human rights for preferred access to its market, things would change in Cambodia. Not everything, but important progress could be made on subjects such as labor and environmental rights. Remember, we are simply asking the EU to implement its own law.  

The same is true with Magnitsky sanctions. Most of the Dirty Dozen still have not been sanctioned even though the US, UK, and others have made it clear that they accept HRW’s report. The US Treasury and State Department are simply dragging their bureaucratic feet. We need to light a fire under them. The same is true with the Cambodia Democracy and Human Rights Act. Passage of this through Congress, where Hun Sen has no friends, should be straightforward and a big priority for the Khmer community.  

The current situation can and must be reversed. We don’t have to accept those manufactured and pre-determined results. This is a huge challenge to the Khmer community. It is critical that you work together, drop old rivalries, forge new alliances, and encourage a new generation of activists to join you in this fight. I’m not going to pretend that this is not a huge challenge, but it’s one that collectively we have faced and overcome in the past. Otherwise, there would be no 1991 Paris Agreements and no 1993 Constitution. So, while it’s sad and frustrating to be in this position, we know we can do it. The looming departure of Hun Sen from head of government to head of the CPP will not lead to meaningful change overnight, but it does mark the beginning of a new era and a new opportunity to find effective ways to promote meaningful change, and to move the Khmer community and Cambodia forward on the path to human rights, the rule of law, and democracy. Let’s join together to take that positive path!