Opinion: Local Cambodian community rallies for fair elections
Members of the global Cambodian community, including Cambodian Civil Society Organizations, are taking to the streets here in Lexington City, joined in cities throughout the world, to protest against the unconscionable actions taken by Hun Sen and his Cambodian
People’s Party (CPP) towards both citizens and opposition politicians alike by going forward with the July 23 election that will not be free and fair due to the disqualification of the main opposition party (the Candlelight Party). In addition, the last-minute amendment of the election law by Hun Sen and the rubber-stamp National Assembly, which holds that any person that performs their civic right of not voting, is barred from running as a political candidate in the future, violates the core principles of the Constitution and the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement that helped bring about an end to the decades of violence that had plagued the nation and cost millions of innocent people their lives.
Paris Peace Agreements
The signing of the Paris Peace Agreements (PPAs) in 1991 marked the end of over fifteen years of devastating violence and internal strife. The PPAs served as a comprehensive political framework for democracy that included regular and genuine elections, an independent judiciary, and protections of essential human rights and freedoms. These fundamental democratic principles were enshrined within the Cambodian constitution, helping pave the way for the country to be rebuilt and reintegrated within the global stage.
As stated by Gareth Evans, Australia’s former Foreign Affairs Minister, “Peace and freedom are not prizes which, once gained, can never be lost. They must be won again each day. Their foundations must be sunk deep into the bedrock of political stability, economic prosperity and above all, the observance of human rights.”
Tragically the Cambodian government now views these principles with contempt rather than reverence, and the situation related to human rights and democracy has drastically been deteriorating, particularly since Prime Minister Hun Sen used the country’s courts to dissolve the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party in 2017 due to their popularity in prior elections. Human Rights Situation
In recent years, Hun Sen has brutally attacked human rights in the country by openly threatening opposition supporters with legal and physical violence, arresting and jailing countless opposition party leaders, members, and activists under trumped up charges, promoted physical attacks on multiple opposition members, shut down one of the country’s last remaining independent media 2 outlets, Voice of Democracy, and has even forced the defection of political prisoners through means such as depriving those them of desperately needed medical care.
"In recent years, there has been a contraction of civic space—shrinking, shrunken, shrunk,” said Muntarbhorn, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Cambodia. “Especially due to constraints on activities of human rights defenders, environmentalists and non-governmental organizations where they are seen to be critical of the authorities.”
The assault on democracy was essentially completed earlier in May, when the Cambodian National Election Commission rejected the registration of the main opposition Candlelight Party for the upcoming July elections, later affirmed by Cambodia’s Constitutional Council.
The government of Hun Sen is determined to drive the final nail into the coffin of Cambodia’s democracy. As any elections held under the present circumstances cannot possibly be free and fair and are in direct opposition to the Paris Peace Agreements signed by the Cambodian government, the results of such elections must not be recognized nor should any government created be recognized as legitimate by the international community.
Call to Action
Until democracy is restored, we therefore call on the United States, as a signatory to the 1991
Paris Peace Agreements:
● To not recognize the results of the July elections, including Hun Manet – Hun Sen’s
eldest son-as Cambodian Prime Minister;
● To not provide any form of legitimacy to the next government of Cambodia:
● To comply with its obligation as a key signatory of the PPAs.
● To impose targeted sanctions against Hun Sen and his immediate family members, high ranking members of the armed forces involved in serious violations of human rights and corruption, tycoons involved in illegal logging business and land grabs, and judges involved in the dissolution of the opposition parties and sentencing of opposition leaders, members and activists.
Unless the international community takes notice and action immediately, nothing will prevent Hun Sen from further solidifying his decades-long dictatorship, which will only lead to further destabilization of a region that’s been suffering for far too long. The people of Cambodia, of Southeast Asia, and the rest of the world all implore global leaders for their support.
Cambodian-Americans will hold a peaceful protest against the holding of the 23 July election in Cambodia
At: Representative Dan Bishop
On: 07/05/23
Contacts: Kimhun Thit – kimhunthit@gmail.com
Sareoung Vay & Yong Ma
