Cambodia says Khmer Rouge tribunal that convicted 3 is done

November 19, 2018

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia has reiterated it intends to end the work of the U.N.-backed tribunal that last week convicted the last two surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng said the tribunal's work had been completed and there would not be any additional prosecutions for acts that led to the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people in the 1970s. The only other person convicted was the regime's prisons chief.

He cited the terms under which the tribunal, staffed jointly by Cambodian and international prosecutors and judges, had been established, limiting its targets to senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime that was in power from 1975 to 1979. The rules also allow prosecuting those most responsible for carrying out atrocities.

Sar Kheng spoke Saturday at a government ceremony in the northern province of Oddar Meanchey and his remarks were reported Sunday. On Friday, the tribunal convicted and gave life sentences to Nuon Chea, 92, the main Khmer Rouge ideologist and right-hand man to its late leader Pol Pot, and Khieu Samphan, 87, who was the regime's head of state. The sentences were merged with the life sentences they were already serving after an earlier conviction for crimes against humanity.

In nine years of hearings and at a cost exceeding $300 million, the tribunal has convicted only one other defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, who as head of the Khmer Rouge prison system ran the infamous Tuol Sleng torture center in Phnom Penh.

Cases of four more suspects, middle-ranking members of the Khmer Rouge, had already been processed for prosecution but have been scuttled or stalled. Without the cooperation of the Cambodian members of the tribunal, no cases can go forward.

Long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeatedly declared there would be no more prosecutions, claiming they could cause unrest. Hun Sen himself was a midlevel commander with the Khmer Rouge before defecting while the group was still in power, and several senior members of his ruling Cambodian People's Party share similar backgrounds. He helped cement his political control by making alliances with other former Khmer Rouge commanders.

In his remarks, Sar Kheng sought to reassure former Khmer Rouge members that they would not face prosecution. "Because there are some former Khmer Rouge officers living in this area, I would like to clarify that there will be no more investigations taking place (against lower-ranking Khmer Rouge members), so you don't have to worry," said Sar Kheng, who is also interior minister.

He acknowledged that even without more prosecutions, the tribunal still had to hear the appeals expected to be lodged by Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, but aside from that task, its work was finished.

Cambodians vote in polls with main opposition party silenced

July 29, 2018

PHNOM PEHN, Cambodia (AP) — With the main opposition silenced, Cambodians were voting in an election Sunday virtually certain to return to office Prime Minister Hun Sen and his party who have been in power for more than three decades.

Although 20 parties are contesting the polls, the only one with the popularity and organization to mount a credible challenge, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court. Its leaders have called on supporters to boycott the polls, charging they are neither fair nor free.

Along with fracturing the political opposition, Hun Sen's government also silenced critical voices in the media and ahead of the polls, ordered the temporary blocking of 17 websites, citing regulations prohibiting media from disseminating information that might affect security. The blocked websites included those of the U.S. government-funded Voice of America as well as local media.

Hun Sen, whose 33 years in power makes him the world's longest serving national leader, promised peace and prosperity at a rally on the last day of campaigning on Friday, but attacked the opposition's boycott call and called those who heed it "destroyers of democracy." Hun Sen and his wife cast their ballots south of the capital shortly after polling stations opened.

His ruling Cambodian People's Party was alarmed by the last general election in 2013, when the race was close enough for the opposition to claim that it would have won except for manipulation of the voter registration process.

"This Cambodian election is not going to be genuine and it's not going to be free or fair," said Phil Robertson from Human Rights Watch. "The problem is the opposition party - the CNRP - which won 44 percent in the local elections in 2017 has been barred. You're talking about an election without an opposition."

Hun Sen, 65, said that he intends to stay in power for at least two more five-year terms. He was a member of the radical communist Khmer Rouge during its successful five-year war to topple a pro-American government, then defected to Vietnam during Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's 1975-79 genocidal regime that left nearly 2 million dead. He became prime minister in 1985 in a Vietnamese-backed single-party communist government and led Cambodia through a civil war against the Khmer Rouge, which eased off with the 1991 Paris Peace Accords that also installed a democratic political framework.

Exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy made a final appeal to Cambodians by urging them not to vote. On his Facebook page, he said that the sham election was destroying Cambodia's future and called Hun Sen a "real traitor."

Hun Sen on Saturday met with foreign election observers, including those from Russia, China and Indonesia. The U.S., the EU and Japan declined to send poll watchers, saying the election was not credible.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the inclusive elections in Cambodia where civil society and political parties exercise their democratic rights are essential to safeguard the country's progress in consolidating peace.

Last week, the U.S. Congress passed the Cambodia Democracy Act "to promote free and fair elections, political freedoms and human rights in Cambodia and impose sanctions on Hun Sen's inner circle." The measure, which strongly condemns Hun Sen's regime, would bar individuals designated by President Donald Trump from entering the U.S. and block any assets or property they may possess. It suggested a list of those who should be sanctioned include Hun Sen, several of his close family members and about a dozen top officials and military officers.

Cambodian officials and ruling party members rejected the measure as counterproductive interference in Cambodia's affairs. About 8.3 million people are registered to vote. Polling stations close at 3 p.m. and preliminary results are expected on Sunday night.

Associated Press writer Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Cambodian elections a choice between strongman or boycott

July 28, 2018

BANGKOK (AP) — Cambodians voting in the general election on Sunday will have a nominal choice of 20 parties but in reality, only two serious options: extend Prime Minister Hun Sen's 33 years in power or not vote at all.

The key factor virtually ensuring a walkover by Hun Sen's party is the elimination of any credible opposition, accomplished last November when the Supreme Court declared the Cambodian National Rescue Party complicit in trying to overthrow the government in a plot encouraged by the United States. The far-fetched allegation appears unsupported by any evidence.

The court ordered the party dissolved, also banning its leaders from holding office for five years and expelling its members from the elective positions they held. One party leader already was in exile and the other in jail awaiting trial on the treason charge.

Along with fracturing the political opposition, Hun Sen's government silenced critical voices in the media, shutting down about 30 radio stations and gutting two English-language newspapers that provided independent reporting. A law was passed putting burdensome restrictions on the country's brave and vibrant civil society organizations.

With control of the legislature and the bureaucracy, as well as influence over the judiciary, there are no checks and balances on Hun Sen's administration. "Cambodia's election is a sham process that is designed to prolong Hun Sen's authoritarian rule and will plunge the country into further misery and repression," said Debbie Stothard, secretary-general of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights.

The leaders of the now defunct opposition party, most of whom have fled into exile to avoid arbitrary arrest, have called for a boycott of the polls. "Going to vote on 29 July 2018 means that you play the dirty game of a group of traitors led by Hun Sen who is killing democracy and selling off our country," Sam Rainsy, the popular, self-exiled former leader of the CNRP, wrote on his Facebook page earlier this month. "Boycotting that fake and dangerous election means that we uphold our ideals by remaining loyal to our people and determined to rescue to our Motherland."

Ironically, a practice to fight vote fraud — dipping a finger in indelible ink to prevent multiple voting — makes Cambodians who fail to cast their ballots high-profile targets for any officials seeking to spot and punish opposition supporters.

The "Clean Finger" campaign promoted by the opposition is a form of political mobilization, said Mu Sochua, a former lawmaker and CNRP vice president. According to her, not voting, not dipping one's finger in indelible ink, is a political gesture: "This little finger that I have, that each of you have, is a symbol of what we stand for, what you want, democracy, freedom, liberty, justice."

Officials, claiming advocacy of the boycott is illegal, have made several arrests, but the opposition has effectively used social media to publicize its call. Nineteen small parties registered to challenge Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party, but almost all are vanity affairs or vehicles serving as window-dressing to give the illusion of democratic choice.

Hun Sen has always ruled with a carefully modulated amount of repression, swinging between violence and reconciliation, but the slide into more serious authoritarian rule was triggered by the last general election in 2013, when the opposition CNRP won 55 seats in the National Assembly — a gain of 26 seats, while Hun Sen's party lost 22. The race was close enough for the opposition to claim that it would have won except for manipulation of the voter registration process.

In local elections last year, the CNRP showed a similar dramatic upward trend. The results were alarming news for Hun Sen, who at 65 insists he will serve two more five-year terms. Hun Sen can take credit for helping put an end to the long-running threat of the Khmer Rouge, the radical communist group whose 1975-79 genocidal rule left almost 2 million dead. A Khmer Rouge officer himself, Hun Sen defected to neighboring Vietnam, with whose army he returned to help oust his former comrades. He became prime minister in a Hanoi-backed regime, and continued to battle Khmer Rouge guerrillas into the 1990s.

More recently, he has presided over a period of impressive economic growth that has helped fund the expansion of infrastructure, his major campaign promise. But with economic growth came corruption, land-grabbing and cronyism as well as a culture of impunity typical of a broken justice system.

Demographics also appear to work against Hun Sen's party. A younger generation, without firsthand acquaintance of their country's history of war and instability, are less likely to pay heed to his warnings. Economic growth, as well as the expanded horizons that come with a connected, globalized world, fuel rising expectations.

The breadth and depth of Hun Sen's crackdown is a break with his historical behavior, where he teased, taunted, threatened and employed violence against his enemies, but usually paid at least lip service to the norms of democratic rule.

That seems all over now, said Sebastian Strangio, author of a 2014 biography of the prime minister. Hun Sen was beholden to the Western aid donors who funded the massive peacekeeping and nation-building U.N. mission to rehabilitate Cambodia in 1992-1993. Introduction of liberal democracy to replace the classical communist single-party state Hun Sen had been running was part of the deal.

Further financial assistance was needed to develop Cambodia, so Hun Sen at least maintained enough of a democratic framework to satisfy his benefactors. They tolerated a strongman who may not have been desirable but was capable.

If the 2013 and 2017 election results were the motivation for Hun Sen's smackdown of his opponents, China was the enabler, said Strangio, obviating the need for Western development aid by providing hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure loans and other forms of financing with few strings attached.

For its part, Beijing gets a solid political ally in Southeast Asia who can be relied upon in international forums to back up China's position on issues such as territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

"Over the past year we've seen the government decisively roll back the zones of freedom it once preserved in Cambodia as a sop to Western donor governments," said Strangio. "Now the government doesn't really have any need for Western support and they're able to make more permanent adjustments to the Cambodian political landscape in line with their long-held resentments and their current political interests," he said.

Injured former Cambodian PM Ranariddh sent to Thai hospital

June 18, 2018

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian prince who was a candidate in upcoming general elections was transferred early Monday to a hospital in neighboring Thailand after being injured in a road crash that killed his wife, said a fellow politician and a Cambodian news agency.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh, 74, was in a convoy along with senior members of his FUNCINPEC party heading toward Sihanoukville in southwest Cambodia on Sunday morning when a taxi traveling in the opposite direction slammed into his SUV, said a senior party member in the group.

Ranariddh's wife also was standing as a candidate in Cambodia's general election next month. His 39-year-old wife, Ouk Phalla, died in a hospital after the crash, and Ranariddh suffered head injuries and was transferred to Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, for urgent treatment, Sihanoukville police chief Gen. Chuon Narin said.

Ranariddh, who was originally reported severely injured, suffered broken ribs, a politician familiar with his situation told The Associated Press. The politician, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information, said Ranariddh was flown to Bangkok at 1 a.m. Monday for medical care on request from the country's Royal Palace. Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni is Ranariddh's half-brother.

Fresh News, a news agency close to the government, also reported that Ranariddh had been taken to Thailand. Nhep Bun Chin, a FUNCINPEC spokesman, said Ranariddh's condition had improved, but declined to confirm his evacuation to Bangkok.

Health care in Cambodia has a poor reputation, and senior officials, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, as well as the well-to-do, often go abroad for serious medical problems. Ranariddh was Cambodia's co-prime minister for four years in an uneasy power-sharing arrangement with Hun Sen after his party won a United Nations-organized election in 1993. His party's popularity was largely due to its royalist credentials, although Ranariddh's personal relations with his popular father, late King Norodom Sihanouk, were often strained.

He was ousted in July 1997 and fled abroad when long-simmering tensions between him and Hun Sen exploded into two days of bitter fighting in Phnom Penh between his forces and those loyal to Hun Sen. Ranariddh was allowed to return to contest elections the following year but failed to repeat his success at the ballot. He slid into political irrelevancy, as FUNCINPEC became co-opted by Hun Sen, a much savvier and tougher politician than Ranariddh.

Ranariddh is currently president of FUNCINPEC. It holds 41 seats in the National Assembly, but only because seats held by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party were redistributed after CNRP was dissolved.

The dissolution was widely seen as a maneuver to ensure an easy victory for Hun Sen in the general election, with parties contesting the polls generally seen as hopelessly weak or fronting for the ruling Cambodian People's Party so it can claim it ran a fair race by allowing opposition candidates.

Ranariddh is also president of the Supreme Privy Advisory Council to King Norodom Sihamoni. Ouk Phalla, a classical Cambodian dancer reported to be descended from a separate royal family branch, was Ranariddh's second wife.

Cambodia's ruling party has sure lock on Senate election

February 25, 2018

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's ruling party is assured of a sweeping victory in the election of a new Senate after the only real opposition to it was eliminated. The Senate has minor decision-making powers in Cambodian politics, primarily rubber-stamping legislation, but the foregone conclusion of Sunday's vote will be a foretaste of a general election for the National Assembly. The polls in July are sure to sustain the rule of the Cambodian People's Party and long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The only opposition party in Parliament, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, was dissolved in November after aggressive legal challenges by the government were sustained by the politicized courts. Government supporters then replaced the party's members of Parliament and its commune councilors — the voters in Sunday's indirect election.

Hun Sen has been in power for three decades, and while maintaining a framework of democracy, tolerates little opposition. His grip seemed shaken by 2013's general election, when the Cambodia National Rescue Party mounted a strong challenge, winning 55 seats in the National Assembly and leaving Hun Sen's party with 68.

The opposition also made a strong showing in last year's commune council elections, capturing 5,007 of the 11,572 councilor positions. Hun Sen's ruling party then stepped up its steady offensive against critics and opponents. Media outlets seen as critical of the government were forced to shut down, and most senior members of the Cambodia National Rescue Party fled abroad.

"Without the presence of the main opposition that has 55 MPs and 5,007 commune councilors representing the will of the people, there will be no real free and fair competition as determined by the principles of free, fair and inclusive elections," said a statement on the Senate election from the Cambodia National Rescue Party, emailed by Mu Sochua, its former deputy president, now in exile.

"We urge the United Nations and the international community to denounce the holding of the Senate election this week-end and to take immediate and stringent measures including sanctions as a signal that it will not condone dictatorship," it said.

The United States, and last week, Germany, have banned issuing visas to certain Cambodian officials considered responsible for the deterioration of democracy. Rights groups have also been highly critical.

"Unfortunately, the Cambodian Senate will continue to stand as yet another sad reminder of Cambodia's unmitigated descent into outright dictatorship," said Charles Santiago, a member of the Malaysian Parliament and chairman of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, comprising Southeast Asian lawmakers.

Only three small parties with no national following are running Senate candidates against the Cambodian People's Party. The commune councilors elect 58 senators, the National Assembly chooses two, and King Norodom Sihamoni, who wields no political power, names two. Senators serve six-year terms.

National Election Committee spokesman Dim Sovannarum said preliminary results are expected to be announced on Sunday after ballots are counted and the official results are to be announced on March 3.

Cambodian vote in elections testing strongman's power

June 04, 2017

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodians voted in local elections Sunday that could shake longtime ruler Hun Sen's grip on power. Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeatedly warned of civil war if his Cambodian People's Party loses the majority in city and village councils to the main opposition party that made major gains in the last general elections four years ago and claimed it was cheated out of outright victory. The polls could have a major impact on Cambodia's political landscape ahead of 2018 national elections.

Hun Sen and his wife were among the early voters Sunday. His government has been accused of using violence against opponents, but in recent years has stalked its foes mostly in courts. After casting his vote, Kem Sokha, leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, said he expects to win more than 60 percent of the vote. In the last communal elections in 2012, Hun Sen's party received 60 percent compared to the CNRP's 30.6 percent.

On Friday, Hun Sen appealed to political parties to accept the outcome rather than make accusations of irregularities, saying courts can dissolve any party if it challenges the result of the vote. Hun Sen and some of his top ministers have frequently used strong rhetoric leading up to the vote, warning of dire consequences should the opposition win, in what has been seen as an attempt to intimidate voters into supporting him.

The ruling party could take some credit for bringing modest economic growth and stability in a country devastated by the communist Khmer Rouge's regime in the 1970s. Hun Sen left the movement that was responsible for the deaths of some 1.7 million people from starvation, disease and executions before it was toppled in 1979.

This week, Amnesty International accused Cambodia's government of using its grip on the judiciary system to intimidate human rights defenders and political activists. It said in a report that since the 2013 general election, Hun Sen's government has used the courts as a tool to imprison at least 27 prominent opposition officials, human rights defenders and land activists, as well as hundreds of others facing legal cases.

Also early this month, the State Department said the U.S. was urging Cambodia's government to "guarantee a political space free from threats or intimidation" and respect freedom of expression for all its citizens.

Cambodian court upholds life terms for 2 Khmer Rouge leaders

November 23, 2016

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A special Cambodian court on Wednesday upheld the life sentences for the two most senior surviving members of the Khmer Rouge regime, which was responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million people. The court said the massive scale of the crimes showed the two men's complete lack of consideration for the lives of the Cambodians.

The Supreme Court Chamber said the 2014 verdict by a U.N.-assisted Khmer Rouge tribunal was "appropriate" given the gravity of the crimes and roles of the two — Khieu Samphan, the 85-year-old Khmer Rouge head of state, and Nuon Chea, the 90-year-old right-hand man to the communist group's late leader Pol Pot.

"It is a historic day for Cambodia. For the first time in 41 years someone in the national leadership has been held criminally responsible for the crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge regime," said tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen.

The two — who were sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity including extermination, enforced disappearances and political persecution — sat impassively as the lengthy verdict was read out. They were detained in 2007 and started serving their sentences in 2014 inside the Khmer Rouge tribunal's facility, where conditions are much better than ordinary Cambodian prison. They have access to radio and television.

About 1.7 million people are estimated to have died from starvation, disease and execution due to the extremist policies of the communist Khmer Rouge when they held power from 1975 to 1979. "The gravity of the crimes should be reflected in the sentence ... the crimes were not isolated events but occurred over an extended period of time," said Kong Srim, president of the Supreme Court Chamber.

Given the "significant role of the accused, the Supreme Court Chamber considers that the imposition of the life sentence for each of the accused is appropriate and therefore confirms the sentence imposed by the trial chamber," he said, as he wrapped up a two-hour reading of the verdict.

He added that the "massive scale of the crimes" showed a complete lack of consideration for the "ultimate fate of the Cambodian population, especially the most vulnerable group." Lawyers for Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea filed lengthy appeals against their verdicts by the Khmer Rouge tribunal — formally called the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, which was set up in 2006. They had alleged a slew of legal and factual errors, as well as biases by the judges.

They suggested that their clients were unfairly being singled out while the Cambodian government sought to block the tribunal from trying other suspects. "I waited for this moment for 40 years. It has now arrived," said Seak Ny, a 64-year-old woman from the northwestern Pursat province whose husband died of starvation under the Khmer Rouge regime. She said the Khmer Rouge also killed her older brother and his five children when they found out he was a former soldier in the previous regime.

"Today I am happy because these people have received justice," she said, adding she came to attend the tribunal to see the faces of the Khmer Rouge leaders. The two defendants are also on trial in a second case where they are facing charges of genocide against ethnic minorities and foreigners, and implementing policies of rape and forced marriages.

Originally all the charges were to have been part of one trial, but fears that they would die before proceedings could finish led to their case being broken into two parts, known as Case 002/01 and 002/02.

Their two co-defendants, Ieng Sary, the third-ranking Khmer Rouge leader and its foreign minister, and his wife, Ieng Thirith, died during the first phase of their trial. There have been charges made against other suspects in what are known as Cases 003 and 004, but they remain in limbo because of a lack of cooperation from Prime Minister Hun Sen's government.

Hun Sen has threatened to shut down the tribunal if further cases are pursued. He has repeatedly said that if the tribunal targets more defendants, it could incite former Khmer Rouge members to start a civil war. Few people share his belief, since the Khmer Rouge became a spent force almost two decades ago.

Hun Sen himself was a mid-level commander with the Khmer Rouge before defecting while the group was still in power, and several senior members of his ruling Cambodian People's Party share similar backgrounds. He helped cement his political control by making alliances with other former Khmer Rouge commanders.

The tribunal's operations have been complicated by its unusual hybrid nature, which pairs international and Cambodian jurists and works under complicated rules that have slowed progress.

Cambodia embraces China's President Xi on state visit

Phnom Penh (AFP)
Oct 13, 2016

China's President Xi Jinping promised Cambodia hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and loans on Thursday during a state visit to the nation, which is one Beijing's staunchest regional allies.

Hundreds of students waving Cambodian and Chinese flags greeted Xi alongside officials at the airport before his motorcade sped into town for an audience with the royal family and later Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Cambodia has long been a strident supporter of Beijing's communist rulers, who have lavished the poor country with cash.

On Thursday the two leaders signed 31 agreements that saw China give Cambodia $178 million in aid for economic cooperation, a $59 million loan, plus an additional $15 million in military aid.

Xi also forgave a $89 million debt, the leaders said in a joint announcement after a signing ceremony.

China is Cambodia's top foreign investor and has given the country billions of dollars in grants and low-interest loans during Hun Sen's 31-year rule.

In July it offered Cambodia nearly $550 million in aid, days after the kingdom was accused of undermining regional unity by backing Beijing in disputes over the South China Sea.

In recent years Cambodia has become a thorn in the side for neighboring nations hoping to present a unified front against China's island building in the contested waters.

Several Southeast Asian nations have competing claims to parts of the sea and many in the region want to keep pressure on China over its efforts to militarize the sea.

But Cambodia's unwavering support for China has scuppered regional efforts to jointly rebuke Beijing.

Ahead of Xi's trip, a leading Cambodian newspaper published an article signed by Xi that praised the Southeast Asian nation for coming to its defense over the sea row.

"When China acted to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime interests and was devoted to resolving related disputes through peaceful negotiation, Cambodia did not hesitate to speak out to uphold justice," the Chinese president wrote in the article published by Cambodia's Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper.

He also described the two nations' friendship as "beaming with new vitality" and enjoying "deep political trust and win-win economic cooperation".

Large portraits of the Chinese leader and Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni were erected along the streets of the capital Phnom Penh ahead of the two-day visit, which is Xi's first there as president.

Hun Sen regularly praises Beijing's "no-strings-attached" aid, compared to help from the United States and European Union which is often accompanied by calls to address corruption and human rights abuses in his country.

"For Cambodia, China is the most important strategic and economic partner," said Vannarith Chheang, who chairs the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies, adding that Cambodia, in turn, is China's "most reliable friend in Southeast Asia".

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Cambodia_embraces_Chinas_President_Xi_on_state_visit_999.html.

Defender of Cambodia's dwindling forests wins Goldman Prize

April 18, 2016

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The latest crackdown on illegal logging in Cambodia is "just a game" and big timber traders are winning, says Ouch Leng, a former government official who has spent two decades helping poor villagers fight poaching of precious tropical forests.

Leng's tenacious and perilous crusade to stop illegal logging and stop land concessions from forcing Cambodians out of their homes has won him a Goldman Environmental Prize, which honors grassroots environmental activism.

The award follows recent announcements that Cambodian authorities plan to expand protected areas of the Southeast Asian country's forests by about a third. Long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen, whom many consider a backer of the biggest logging group, Try Pheap, recently said he had authorized rocket attacks on illegal loggers.

But Ouch Leng (ook leng) and other critics say reports of raids and other high-profile shows of force against illegal loggers belie the lack of arrests or prosecutions of those cutting and trading in illegal timber.

Asked if the crackdown is for real, he said, "It's just a game." "Nobody was arrested. The media was set up," Leng said during an interview. "The Ministry of the Environment doesn't care. They never go inside the jungle to patrol or arrest illegal loggers."

Much of the timber trade is protected by military units that profit from deals with the loggers, and the stakes of fighting it can be deadly. At least five deaths in Cambodia have been linked to illegal logging since 2007, including that of Leng's fellow environmentalist Chut Wutthy, who was fatally shot in 2012 while showing journalists a logging camp in the southwest's Koh Kong province.

It's a risk shared with other environmental crusaders defying powerful companies and government backers around the world. Honduran indigenous leader and environmentalist Berta Caceres, a winner of a 2015 Goldman Prize, was killed by assailants who broke into her home last month. She had received death threats from police, soldiers and local landowners for her efforts to block construction of a dam.

Leng said he accepts the risks as part of his mission. "I don't expect the government to allow me to live long," he said. Leng wins $175,000 for this year's Goldman Prize, as do five other winners: — Zuzana Caputova, a lawyer who led a campaign to shut down a toxic waste dump in Slovakia.

— Maxima Acuna, a Peruvian farmer fighting major mining companies' efforts to take her land for a gold and copper mine. — Destiny Watford, a Baltimore, Maryland, student who helped prevent construction of a trash incinerator in her area.

— Edward Loure, a Tanzanian communal land rights leader. — Luis Jorge Rivera Herrera, who campaigned to create a nature reserve in Puerto Rico to protect endangered leatherback sea turtles. Leng travels into the forest armed only with a camera and a GPS locator, tracking illegal loggers. At times he works undercover by cooking for loggers, hauling cargo on docks or posing as a tourist.

Showing determination early on, Leng excelled in his studies in mostly rural Takeo province. When his village chief denied him a permit to travel to Phnom Penh to take university exams, he says he hid on a sugar cane train to get to the city. After studying law, he was assigned to the Foreign Ministry, and later to the Ministry of Planning. Drawn into politics, he moved to a nongovernmental organization and began investigating illegal logging.

Marcus Hardtke, a German environmentalist who lives in Cambodia, says the prize is well-deserved. "Ouch Leng is one of a handful of people fighting to stop forest destruction in Cambodia," Hardtke said. "It is up to activists like Leng and affected local communities to make a stand against the short-sighted, greed-driven policies of the Phnom Penh elite. They are doing just that, often at great personal risk."

Lately, Leng's attention has focused on a conflict between local villagers and a Chinese company that is developing a massive resort on a choice swath of coastland near the Thai border in Koh Kong province.

Residents complain they were forced off their land and lost their main livelihood of fishing when they were relocated inland after the government granted a 99-year land lease to China's Tianjin Union Development Group Co., which has built a golf resort and plans a yacht club, casino, villas and other luxury facilities.

"Before, those people could earn $2,500 a year, or about $100 a night fishing. Now they cannot fish because the Chinese company grabbed everything. They have nothing to eat," Leng said. The United Nations says land rights conflicts have become Cambodia's No. 1 human rights issue. Land concessions have forced villagers to make way for plantations and other projects. Meant to promote development, such arrangements often have left communities worse off, critics say.

They've also accelerated the loss of precious, diverse forests of increasingly rare tropical timber, as loggers push ever deeper into protected areas and also clear-cut land of less valuable wood that is sometimes sold as fuel for factories.

Cambodia remained heavily forested until relatively recently, thanks in part to lingering battles with Khmer Rouge guerrillas and massive use of land mines during the Vietnam War. As the economy opened in the early 1990s, investment from China poured in. Forest cover dropped to 48 percent in 2014 from 57 percent in 2010 and 73 percent in 1990, a loss of nearly 3 million hectares of tropical forest. Rosewood, known as "hongmu" in Chinese, is especially prized, and loggers can get $5,000 for a cubic meter of the brightly-hued timber.

Leng, who chairs the Cambodia Human Rights Task Forces organization, says the Goldman Prize money will help support forest patrols and community-level efforts to combat illegal logging. Like many in Cambodia, he views the government's record with skepticism.

"The poverty-reduction policy of the government seems to be just to kill the poor people," Leng said. "Their 'master plan' to improve living standards is set up very well and looks very beautiful. To provide jobs with fair competition and construction of schools, roads, bridges. ... To provide land for the people and conserve their houses," he said. But he added that such talk is generally not put into practice by private companies or the government.

Still, Leng believes he is making headway in convincing the public to resist the loss of their livelihoods and homes. "Many political parties, government officials, students and monks are involved in forest issues," Leng said. "The revolution will come from the land and from the forest."

Cambodia's Kampot pepper wins coveted EU protection

March 02, 2016

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's Kampot pepper, a go-to spice for chefs around the world, has joined an elite group of gourmet food items whose names are protected by the European Union, joining products such as Gruyere cheese from France and Parma ham from Italy.

The coveted designation, known as Protected Geographical Indication, or PGI, works like a trademark protection that certifies the origin of regional foods. It means that any product sold in EU countries calling itself "Kampot pepper" must come from a designated region in southern Cambodia that includes Kampot and neighboring Kep province.

The recognition was awarded to Kampot pepper on Feb. 18, making it the first Cambodian product to receive the label, the EU office in Cambodia said in a statement this week. The peppercorns, which come in white, red and black, are described by gourmet chefs as having a complex flavor with floral overtones. Cambodian farmers from the seaside region on the Gulf of Thailand say the area's microclimate and mineral-rich soil give the pepper its unique taste.

Like so many industries in Cambodia, Kampot pepper's production collapsed in the 1970s during the Khmer Rouge era, when an estimated 1.7 million people died at the hands of the brutal regime and the country's farmland was largely replaced by rice paddies.

The pepper industry's revival came in the 1990s, after peace was restored in Cambodia following the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 reign of terror and years of subsequent civil war. In 2010, Cambodia's Commerce Ministry took a first step toward protecting Kampot pepper by giving it a domestically issued geographical indication status. The government applied to the EU in 2014 to expand the status to the European bloc.

"It is the first Cambodian product to receive this status in the EU, a single market of more than 500 million consumers and 28 countries," Alain Vandersmissen, charge d'affaires of the EU's delegation to Cambodia, said in an email.

"From now on, (Kampot pepper) will benefit from a very high level of protection on the EU market," he said. The pepper is also known in Khmer as Mrech Kampot and in French as Poivre de Kampot. Nguon Lay, president of the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association, sees the PGI designation as a seal of quality that will boost sales of the spice, which is currently grown by 342 families on 184 hectares (455 acres) of land in Kampot and tiny Kep province.

In 2015, the region produced 60 tons of Kampot pepper, of which 70 percent was exported, mostly to the EU, the United States and Japan. "We are delighted that our production has finally been recognized by the world's biggest market, the EU," Nguon Lay said. "The status will help improve our living standard as more and more customers become impressed with our Kampot pepper."

Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker in Bangkok contributed to this report.

UN's Cambodian soldiers clear land mines in divided Cyprus

August 26, 2015

MAMMARI, Cyprus (AP) — Cambodian army Lt. Sovannara Leang says helping clear ethnically-divided Cyprus of land mines has hit home with him.

"This has affected my country as well," said the 32-year-old officer who's been in the army since 2002. "It's a humanitarian issue. It affects people's lives." Land mines remain a scourge for Cambodia where millions of undetected mines left over from three decades of conflict continue to injure, maim and kill.

Leang and his 20-man team where seconded from Lebanon's U.N. peacekeeping force to help clear a parcel of farmland inside a no-man's land that separates breakaway Turkish Cypriots in the north from internationally recognized Greek Cypriots in the south.

U.N. Peacekeeping Force Commander Maj. Gen. Kristin Lund said the team disposed of two anti-tank mines and anti-personnel mine fragments that had shifted into the U.N.-controlled area from an adjacent Turkish Cypriot minefield during winter floods.

The 17,000 square meter (183,000 square foot) parcel will be released for cultivation and grazing. Lund said the U.N. has received a pledge from Turkish Cypriot authorities to clear their minefield in the coming months and eliminate the danger of mines shifting in the area once and for all.

The land mines, like the U.S.-made, World War II-era anti-tank mines the Cambodian team disposed of, are a vestige of defenses set up in the wake of the 1974 Turkish invasion triggered by a coup that aimed to unite Cyprus with Greece.

U.N. led-demining work between 2004 and 2011 removed more than 27,000 mines from inside the 180 kilometer-long (120-mile) U.N.-controlled buffer zone. But Lund said no progress has been made in accessing the buffer zone's remaining four minefields — three controlled by the Greek Cypriots and the other by Turkish forces.

Many more minefields lie on either side of the buffer zone, although all anti-personnel mines have been removed from Greek Cypriot minefields under the country's international treaty obligations. Lund, who's the U.N.'s first and only female peacekeeping force commander, said there's now "real momentum" to move ahead with ridding Cyprus of all remaining minefields amid a positive climate in renewed talks to reunify the country.

Underscoring their commitment to peace, Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci have agreed to open new crossing points across the divide which Lund said has refocused attention on demining needs in those areas.

Earlier, Anastasiades provided Akinci with detailed information about 28 Greek Cypriot minefields in the north. Lund said 25 of those minefields were found to pose no mine risk at all. "I don't think this beautiful island should have any mines at all and this will be to everyone's benefit," Lund said.

Cambodia deports fugitive Russian tycoon

May 17, 2015

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia deported a fugitive Russian tycoon Sunday who was living illegally in the Southeast Asian country after he was accused of embezzling $175 million in his homeland.

Accompanied by Russian authorities, Sergei Polonsky was put on a flight to Moscow via Vietnam early Sunday morning, said immigration official Ouk Hey Sela. Polonsky was arrested Friday in the southern Cambodian coastal town of Sihanoukville, where authorities said he had been living for two years with an expired visa.

The real estate tycoon was charged in Russia in June 2013 with embezzling more than 5.7 billion rubles ($175 million) from 80 property investors. Cambodian police had first arrested him in November 2013 after he was added to Interpol's "red list" of top fugitives, but released him on bail a few months later based on a preliminary ruling against his extradition.

In April 2014, Cambodia's highest court ruled that Polonsky could not be sent back to Russia because the two countries had no extradition treaty. After that ruling, he told reporters that he was innocent of the embezzlement charges and that the case against him was an attempt to gain control of his holdings.

Polonsky first came to public attention in Cambodia in 2012, when he allegedly attacked the crew of a boat after a dispute erupted during a New Year's Eve outing. He was jailed for more than three months on assault charges before reaching an out-of-court settlement. He went to Israel and later returned to Cambodia.

Ouk Hey Sela said Polonksy would not be allowed to return to Cambodia.

Cambodia PM says work on mega-dam will not start until 2018

February 24, 2015

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Construction of a massive dam in southwestern Cambodia will not start until at least 2018, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday, in an apparent effort to stop heavy opposition to the project which has focused criticism on him.

Hun Sen's comments came a day after Spanish activist Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, who had campaigned against the dam, was deported for overstaying his visa. "From now until 2018, there will be no permission to build (the dam)," said Hun Sen, whose mandate as prime minister ends in 2018. "Now I beg you to stop talking about it."

Gonzalez-Davidson was a co-founder of non-governmental group called Mother Nature, which has vocally opposed construction of the hydropower dam in southwestern Cambodia's Koh Kong province. Cambodia has signed a deal to build the mega-dam with China's state-owned Sinohydro, but both sides have said more studies were needed before any construction begins.

The project, one of several dams being built by Chinese companies in Cambodia, sparked strong disapproval from the political opposition and environmental groups. In September, Gonzalez-Davidson led a protest that briefly blocked a government convoy from driving to the proposed site of the dam, in the Areng Valley of the Cardamom Mountains.

Environmental groups say the dam would destroy the natural habitat across a vast expanse of one of Southeast Asia's last great wilderness areas, which contains some of Cambodia's most profuse wildlife, including the world's largest population of almost extinct Siamese crocodiles.

Gonzalez-Davidson's visa expired Friday and the government refused to extend or renew it. On Monday, Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly appealed to Gonzalez-Davidson to leave the country and he was deported Monday evening.

"His visa had expired and he refused to leave Cambodia as ordered from the ministry, therefore we had no choice but to deport him," said Gen. Khieu Sopheak, an Interior Ministry spokesman. Without naming the activist, Hun Sen said Tuesday that foreigners should not give advice to Cambodia on forest conservation or the construction of dams.

Cambodia expels Spanish environmental activist after arrest

Phnom Penh (AFP)
Feb 23, 2015

Cambodia deported a Spanish environmental activist Monday after he was arrested in Phnom Penh, officials said, a move described by a rights group as the government's latest attempt to stifle dissent.

Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, co-founder of the advocacy group Mother Nature, has been an outspoken and long-time campaigner against plans for a controversial dam in a protected forest area in the southwestern province of Koh Kong.

Interior ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak told AFP earlier that authorities were compelled to "expel" him as he refused to leave the country voluntarily after his visa renewal application was refused.

Gonzalez-Davidson, a fluent Khmer speaker who has lived in Phnom Penh for years, was put on a plane bound for Thailand late Monday, an immigration official at the capital's airport, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

The Spaniard, who has been lobbying to halt the construction of Stung Cheay Areng hydroelectric dam, urged Cambodian nature lovers to "stay strong" in a text message to his group before being deported.

"The battle is yours to be won. For Nature, our Life," he said, according to a statement released by Mother Nature.

The organization claims the proposed dam in Koh Kong would flood a valley home to around 1,500 ethnic minority people and destroy a unique ecosystem.

Sopheak said Monday that the activist's visa was not renewed because of complaints filed against him by the energy ministry and the Koh Kong governor.

But Am Sam Ath of local rights group Licadho said the deportation was directly linked to Gonzalez-Davidson's vocal opposition to the proposed dam.

"The arrest will harm the government's reputation," Ath said.

Gonzalez-Davidson was arrested at a Phnom Penh restaurant on Monday and detained just hours after strongman premier Hun Sen warned the defiant activist to leave Cambodia voluntarily or face being blacklisted from the country.

Hun Sen, who marked 30 years in power in January, has said the economic benefits of a series of controversial dams outweigh environmental concerns in a country where a quarter of the population still lacks electricity.

Nine dams, including several funded by China, are set to open by 2019.

Once they are operational the government has said they will together generate more than 2,000 megawatts, serving all of Cambodia's provinces.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Cambodia_expels_Spanish_environmental_activist_after_arrest_999.html.

Critics dog Cambodia's leader as he marks 30 years in power

January 14, 2015

NEAK LOEUNG, Cambodia (AP) — Hun Sen, Cambodia's tough and wily prime minister, marked 30 years in power Wednesday, one of only a handful of political strongmen worldwide who have managed to cling to their posts for three decades.

Since first taking up the job of prime minister at age 33, he has consolidated power with violence and intimidation of opponents that continue to draw criticism from human rights advocates. But he could also take some credit for bringing modest economic growth and stability in a country devastated by the communist Khmer Rouge's regime in the 1970s, which Hun Sen had abandoned as they left some 1.7 million people dead from starvation, disease and executions.

In a speech inaugurating the country's longest, 2,200 meter (7,200 foot) bridge across the Mekong River on Wednesday, Hun Sen, 62, defended his record, saying that only he was daring enough to tackle the Khmer Rouge and help bring peace to Cambodia.

"If Hun Sen hadn't been willing to enter the tigers' den, how could we have caught the tigers?" he said. He acknowledged some shortcomings, but pleaded for observers to see the good as well as the bad in his leadership.

Born to a peasant family in east-central Cambodia, Hun Sen initially joined the Khmer Rouge against a pro-American government. He defected to Vietnam in 1977, and accompanied the Vietnamese invasion that toppled his former comrades in 1979.

The timely change of sides led to his being appointed foreign minister, then prime minister of the Vietnamese-supported regime in 1985. Since then, he has never left the top post despite being forced to temporarily accept the title of "co-prime minister" after his party came in second in a 1993 U.N.-supervised election. Four years later, he deposed his coalition partner in a bloody coup.

"It is superficially true that relative peace and stability occurred during the reign of Hun Sen's three decades in power. But Hun Sen's 'achievements' are only relative to the blackness of the Khmer Rouge," said Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American lawyer and human rights activist.

Historian David Chandler, a Cambodia expert at Australia's Monash University, has characterized Hun Sen as "intelligent, combative, tactical, and self-absorbed." According to the New York-based group Human Rights Watch, Hun Sen has been linked to a wide range of serious human rights violations: extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, summary trials, censorship, bans on assembly and association, and a national network of spies and informers intended to frighten and intimidate the public into submission."

In 2013 elections, it seemed Hun Sen's grip on power had been shaken when the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party mounted an unexpectedly strong challenge, winning 55 seats in the National Assembly and leaving Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party with 68.

The opposition alleged the results were rigged and its lawmakers at first boycotted the legislature. But then, Hun Sen brokered a deal with opposition leader Sam Rainsy and the parliament resumed work, with the longtime leader again appearing unscathed.

Human Rights Watch said in Wednesday's report that "Cambodia is in the process of reverting to a one-party state." "After 30 years of experience, there is no reason to believe that Hun Sen will wake up one day and decide to govern Cambodia in a more open, inclusive, tolerant, and rights-respecting manner," said the Asia director at Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams, who authored the report. "The international community should begin listening to those Cambodians who have increasingly demanded the protection and promotion of their basic human rights."

Cambodians protest Australia resettlement deal

September 26, 2014

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Australia and Cambodia signed an agreement Friday for asylum-seekers who are refused residency in Australia to instead be resettled in the impoverished Southeast Asian country criticized for its deteriorating human rights record.

Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison and Cambodian Interior Minister Sar Kheng signed the memorandum of understanding to resettle an unspecified number of refugees currently held at an Australian-run detention camp on the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru. Most of the detainees arrived by boat from the Middle East and South Asia.

Australia has increased its efforts to deter asylum-seekers from attempting to reach Australian shores by boat, and its current government has vowed that no boat arrivals will ever be resettled in Australia.

But the efforts have concerned activists for refugees, with critics of Australia's resettlement efforts charging that Cambodia is too impoverished to handle asylum-seekers and that its poor human rights record would put them at risk.

"This is a worrying departure from international norms," the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said in a statement. "International responsibility sharing is the basis on which the whole global refugee system works. I hope that the Australian government will reconsider its approach."

Ou Virak, chairman of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said his country was poor and "couldn't give humanitarian support even if we wanted to." "Most of her people do not have access to decent health care, education. Money alone will not able to fix these things for the refugees," he said in an interview by email. "I think they will be left in limbo for years."

The Australian Council for International Development, which promotes foreign aid, declared the planned transfer "unnecessarily cruel." About 100 people demonstrated outside Australia's embassy in Cambodia before the signing, clashing briefly with police.

Neither Morrison nor Sar Kheng spoke to the media after the signing and a champagne toast at the Interior Ministry in Phnom Penh. "Australia will use its expertise and experience to assist Cambodia to strengthen settlement support provided to refugees in Cambodia," their joint statement said. "As part of this commitment, Australia will bear the direct costs of the arrangement, including initial support to refugees, and relevant capacity building for Cambodia."

Morrison told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that Australia would pay Cambodia AU$40 million ($35 million) over four years, plus carry the costs of resettlement. Australia already pays Nauru to house asylum-seekers and has a similar deal with Papua New Guinea. Human rights groups have criticized living conditions for detainees there and expressed concern over the arrangement with Cambodia.

"This deal undermines refugee protection in the region, and around the world, because it makes developed countries think they can pick and choose which refugees they take, and which ones they can offload elsewhere simply by offering development assistance," said Elaine Pearson, the Australia director of Human Rights Watch.

Amnesty International said recent human rights violations in Cambodia include a violent crackdown by security forces on striking workers and activists in January and cites forced evictions, land disputes and land grabbing affecting thousands of people.

Ou Virak said that under international law, Australia needs to provide necessary protection to refugees. "Sending them Cambodia's way is the worst and most irresponsible act Canberra could have done," he said.

In his interview with ABC, Morrison said more than 200 of the 1,200 asylum seekers on Nauru had been assessed to be genuine refugees. The joint statement said an initial small trial group of refugees would be resettled in Cambodia, then others would be sent later. The transfers would be voluntary, and Morrison said the first group should head to Cambodia by the end of the year.

Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report.

Cambodia rules out extraditing Russian businessman

April 25, 2014

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's highest court ruled Friday that a prominent Russian property developer wanted in his homeland for allegedly embezzling millions of dollars cannot be extradited. Sergei Polonsky expressed satisfaction with the ruling and said he will spend up to $100 million developing an island he purchased off Cambodia's southern coast.

Supreme Court Judge Kim Sothavy said Cambodian law does not allow for sending Polonsky back to Russia because the two countries do not have an extradition treaty. The real estate tycoon was charged in Russia in June last year with embezzling more than 5.7 billion rubles ($175 million) from 80 property investors. He was arrested by Cambodian authorities in November after Russian authorities had him added to an Interpol list of wanted criminals, but was released on bail in January this year after a preliminary ruling against extradition.

Polonsky did not attend Friday's hearing. His Cambodian lawyer, Benson Samay, told reporters that the threat of extradition was now over, and his client has the right to stay in Cambodia. Polonsky, speaking to reporters later at his lawyer's office, said he would reveal in the next few months his master plan for developing the island he bought, with facilities to include housing and a school. He said he received permission to develop the island from the Cambodian government a year and a half ago.

He insisted he was innocent of embezzlement charges, and claimed to have owned property worth as much as $4 billion. He described the case against him as extortion carried out by people who wished to put him in prison so they could take control of his holdings.

"Thank you to the Cambodian government, the king, the royal family, the lawyer and my team," Polonsky said. Polonsky first came to public attention in Cambodia in December 2012, when he allegedly attacked the crew of a boat during a cruise off Cambodia's southern coast, near his island. He was jailed for more than three months on assault charges before reaching an out-of-court settlement.

The Russian news agency Interfax reported earlier this month that new fraud charges had been brought against Polonsky, but it was unclear if they had been communicated to Cambodian authorities.

Cambodia suspends Russia tycoon extradition

January 13, 2014

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian court on Monday suspended a request for the extradition of a Russian property developer wanted in his homeland for allegedly embezzling millions of dollars.

The ruling on Sergei Polonsky's fate in a closed-door hearing also saw the 41-year-old businessman released after being detained in Cambodia two months ago following a request by Moscow. It was not immediately clear whether Polonsky could still face extradition at a later date, and court officials were not available for comment.

Polonsky was expected to go on trial in Cambodia for allegedly attacking the crew of a boat after a dispute erupted during a New Year's Eve outing in 2012. Polonsky was charged in Russia last year with embezzling more than 5.7 billion rubles ($175 million) from 80 property investors.

The International Criminal Police Organization, Interpol, recently added Polonsky to its "red list" of internationally wanted criminals for "large-scale fraud."

Cambodian police disperse protesters from park

January 04, 2014

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian police on Saturday dispersed about 1,000 anti-government demonstrators from a park in the capital, Phnom Penh, a day after four people were killed in a crackdown on a labor protest.

Hundreds of anti-riot police moved in after warning the protesters to leave the area known as Freedom Park, where they have camped since mid-December to demand that Prime Minister Hun Sen step down and call new elections. They claim that a July vote was rigged and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party robbed of victory.

At least four people were killed Friday when police opened fire to break up a protest by striking garment workers demanding a doubling of the minimum wage. The latest crackdowns indicate a hardening of the government's response to opposition and labor protests, which have been generally peaceful since the elections.

One measure of the seriousness of the situation was an unusual statement issued by the Defense Ministry after Friday's deaths, affirming the military's loyalty to the government. The statement said the army would take whatever action was necessary to defend the government, the king and the constitution. It said that the armed forces regretted learning that some opportunists and politicians insulted the government and incited people to oppose Hun Sen's leadership by bringing about instability.

Rumors were rife in Phnom Penh on Saturday that arrest warrants were issued for opposition and labor leaders, though officials denied that was the case. The park — a venue for political demonstrations — was cleared after Phnom Penh Gov. Pa Socheatvong sent a letter to opposition leader Sam Rainsy banning the use of the park this and next weekend, as well as marches through the city's streets, citing security reasons. The letter said the ban would be lifted once the situation improved.

Major rallies are held at the park on weekends, and the turnout was expected to be larger than usual this time because of anger at Friday's fatal confrontations with workers. While police who cleared Freedom Park were not visibly armed, they acted forcefully and were joined by unidentified plainclothes men carrying iron pipes, who milled around the area afterward in an effort to discourage the protesters from regrouping.

Lang Rith, a 29-year-old demonstrator from southern Takeo province, said he was hit with baton on his back as he tried to run away from the park. "They beat us like they beat animals. I am very scared," Lang Rith said.

The opposition party CNRP issued a statement calling on its followers to maintain a policy of non-violence and appealed to civil society groups and foreign embassies to serve as witnesses to government violence.

The local human rights group LICADHO earlier said in a statement that at least four civilians were shot dead and 21 injured Friday in what it described as "the worst state violence against civilians to hit Cambodia in 15 years."

"The use of live ammunition was prolonged and no efforts appear to have been made to prevent death and serious injury," it said. "Reports suggest that security forces were also injured after being hit with stones."

The U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, Surya Subedi, said Friday's incident was the third time since the disputed elections that authorities have shot into a crowd and caused fatalities. He called for an independent investigation into whether excessive force was used. He also expressed concerned about increasing violence by some demonstrators.

The United States said it deeply regrets the loss of life in the violent clashes between protesters and government security forces. The State Department said that the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh has been in contact with representatives from all sides to urge the exercise of maximum restraint and respect for the rule of law.

The standoff over wages presents Hun Sen with a dilemma, as increasing violence could drive the workers into a tighter alliance with the opposition, providing a vast pool of people for their increasingly confident street demonstrations. But the government is also close to the factory owners, whose exports fuel the economy and who are generally seen as financial supporters of Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party.

Cambodian opposition rally's last day draws 20,000

October 25, 2013

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — About 20,000 Cambodian opposition supporters on Friday wrapped up a three-day demonstration to petition foreign embassies and the U.N. for intervention in what they claim was a rigged election.

While the international community is very unlikely to intervene in Cambodia's domestic affairs, the rallies served to highlight the opposition's demand for an independent probe into the July 28 poll, which it says returned Prime Minister Hun Sen to power illegitimately.

Throngs of cheering demonstrators marched through the capital this week as they delivered petitions to the French, British, U.S., Australian, Russian, Japanese, Indonesian and Chinese embassies and to the U.N. human rights office. The rallies ended peacefully.

Official election results extended Hun Sen's 28-year rule and gave his party 68 seats in parliament, compared to 55 for the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party. The party says it was cheated out of a victory and that it will boycott parliament until the government has met its demands.

According to the petition — which the opposition says was thumb printed by 2 million people — the Cambodian government's failure to investigate election irregularities and its inauguration of the National Assembly without the opposition "take Cambodia back to a one-party system of governance."

The three-day demonstration coincides with the 22nd anniversary of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords on Cambodia, which laid the groundwork for U.N.-sponsored elections after the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge and years of civil war that followed. The countries that received opposition petitions were all signatories to the 1991 Accords.

The government denies election fraud, and has rejected opposition demands for an independent investigation. It maintains that its inauguration of a new parliament in September was legitimate and has filled parliamentary commissions with ruling party members.

Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said that intervention from abroad was "not going to happen." Moreover, he said, seeking outside help was counterproductive to building democracy from within Cambodia.

"By going abroad, you're actually re-confirming this attitude of we need to depend on the U.N. jumping out of the sky, out of a plane or whatever, to rescue us," he said. The Australian embassy said in a statement Friday that it had received the petition and that its ambassador, Alison Burrows, "urged both parties to continue their dialogue including on electoral reform."