Autocratic Government
UN Special Representative Leuprecht calls on the "National Assembly to immediately restore immunity to all three members. The lifting of the immunity and the arrest of [Cheam Channy]come as the latest of several actions in recent months which casts doubts on the commitment of the two parties in Cambodia's coalition government, the Cambodian's People Party and FUNCINPEC, to a genuine pluralistic democratic system. These developments raise concern about an increasingly autocratic form of government, and the future of democracy in Cambodia."
The British Embassy also expressed concern over the lifting of immmunity of the three SRP MPs.
So it seems that the Strongman and SKP are willing to isolate Cambodia from the rest of the world. They don't care any more about democracy. What do they have to gain? Suppress the opposition so that they can rule absolutely? We can dismiss SKP. He's just a puppet now. He's helping himself so that the Strongman can help him.
MP Cheam Channy is still in the military prison. He is denied any visitation from his fellow MPs. He is treated like a criminal by a military judge who has not talked to him yet. What kind of justice is that?
These people have guns to remain in power. They make a mockery out of the rights of the people.
Wake up Khmer people!
Please offer your viewpoints by clicking on the COMMENTS link below
The British Embassy also expressed concern over the lifting of immmunity of the three SRP MPs.
So it seems that the Strongman and SKP are willing to isolate Cambodia from the rest of the world. They don't care any more about democracy. What do they have to gain? Suppress the opposition so that they can rule absolutely? We can dismiss SKP. He's just a puppet now. He's helping himself so that the Strongman can help him.
MP Cheam Channy is still in the military prison. He is denied any visitation from his fellow MPs. He is treated like a criminal by a military judge who has not talked to him yet. What kind of justice is that?
These people have guns to remain in power. They make a mockery out of the rights of the people.
Wake up Khmer people!
Please offer your viewpoints by clicking on the COMMENTS link below
posted by Proleung at
8:25 AM
4 Comments:
Cambodia is a mobocracy
The vote by the Cambodian National Assembly to strip immunity from three members of the opposition party, Sam Rainsy, Cheam Channy and Chea Poch proves again and again that Cambodia is not a democracy but a mobocracy.
In mobocracy, CPP and FUNCIPEC Assembly members might vote whatsoever to be law of the land because they formed together a solid majority of more than two-third. Because they did not respect the bill of rights, Cambodia democracy became an ugly mobocracy. Cambodia Supreme Court became a masquerade because she cannot stop what is a unconstitutional law to become law.
So, with a solid majority of more than two-third, CPP and FUNCIPEC Assembly members, for example, might pass the law to condemn Kem Sokha as traitor to the nation.
So, with a solid majority of more than two-third, CPP and FUNCIPEC Assembly members might vote the law that condemns the minority to die if HUN SEN wants it.
Even they might appoint a HORSE to be the President of the Assembly if HUN SEN wants it.
KING SIHAMONI, you should take side during this political crisis. Cambodia wants to know what do you want to do. When flagrant injustice menaces life of your people who used only legal means to right what was wrong doing by your Royal Government and by the President of the Royal Assembly, you should advise your Royal Government what should be done. When the Royal Government did not want to listen to you, you should make it known by your people.
Being King, you should be courageous to defend the weak, the poor and the innocent. You should combat the injustice. You ought to combat the masquerade HUN SEN/RANARIDDH law and the masquerade HUN SEN/RANARIDDH justice.
KING SIHAMONI, you should talk. It is your duty. Choose is courage. (Courage c’est choisir, prendre initiative et acte.) In order to save the monarchy you ought to stop your brother from committing irreparable action. You should stop Hun Sen from committing crime against his political opponents.
Moral leadership is the most powerful arm the king disposes to defend Cambodia freedom.
Be courageous! Be a good King!
Don’t say the King is powerless. It is not true; nobody believed it.
The King has an enormous moral power. The King can change a minority into an active majority if the King did right. If you don’t act now to save Cambodia freedom, what is the meaning of the Monarchy? The Monarchy exists only for an unique purpose, return Cambodia to her greatness.
Dear Sam Raingsy and Kem Sokha, you are our only hope for a Free Cambodia.
I support you.
Baphuon
--------------------
Note:
Mobocracy = government by the mob
By
Anonymous, at 12:27 PM
UN RIGHTS EXPERT CALLS ON CAMBODIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO RESTORE IMMUNITY
TO THREE MEMBERS7 February 2005
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights in
Cambodia, Peter Leuprecht, issued the following statement today:
"In view of the well-documented lack of independence of Cambodia's
judiciary, the Special Representative is most concerned about the lifting
of the immunity on Thursday, 3 February 2005 of three Sam Rainsy Party
members of the National Assembly, Sam Rainsy, Chea Poch and Cheam Channy,
and the arrest of the latter on the same day.
The National Assembly vote was taken in closed session by hand-count.
Ninety-eight of 103 members voted to remove the immunity of Chea Poch.
Ninety-seven of 104 members voted to remove the immunity of Cheam Channy
and Sam Rainsy. Sam Rainsy and Chea Poch immediately left the country.
The lifting of the immunity and the arrest come as the latest of several
actions in recent months which cast doubts on the commitment of the two
parties in Cambodia's coalition government, the Cambodian People's Party
and FUNCINPEC, to a genuine pluralistic democratic system. These include a
refusal to grant the Sam Rainsy Party any seats in the commissions of the
National Assembly, an agreement between the two ruling parties to postpone
the constitutionally required Senate elections, and a failure to ensure
that village chiefs are selected by the elected commune councils as
provided for in the Law on Commune Administration.
While the lifting of the immunity of Sam Rainsy and Chea Poch relates to
defamation complaints, the arrest of Cheam Channy is linked to an
accusation made by the Prime Minister on 18 July 2004, three days after the
formation of the new Government on 15 July, that the Sam Rainsy Party was
organizing a secret military force. Few outside military intelligence and
the Military Court seem to have given credibility to these allegations, and
senior CPP government officials have publicly declared that the authorities
have found no evidence of an armed force being created.
Cheam Channy was arrested at approximately 7 p.m. on 3 February following
the lifting of his immunity and a warrant for his arrest issued by the
Office of the Military Prosecutor. Charges include "organized crime" and
"fraud" according to Article 36 and Article 45 of the Provisions relating
to the Judiciary and Criminal Law and Procedure Applicable in Cambodia
during the Transitional Period (UNTAC Law). Cheam Channy was taken to the
Office of the Military Prosecutor for questioning, and then to the Military
Prison in Phnom Penh which is adjacent to the Prosecutor's Office. Efforts
by the Office of the High Commissioner in Cambodia to obtain access to him
continue.
The Special Representative calls for Cheam Channy's immediate and
unconditional release. Cheam Channy is a civilian and, as such, is not
subject to military jurisdiction.
Immunity is intended to protect members of the National Assembly from
possibly groundless proceedings or accusations that may be politically
motivated or made in bad faith. Its proper working is fundamental to
guaranteeing the independence of the National Assembly. Article 80 of
Cambodia's 1993 Constitution provides that: "The accusation, arrest or
detention of a member of the Assembly shall be made only with the
permission of the Assembly or by the Standing Committee of the Assembly
between sessions, except in case of flagrante delicto. In that case, the
competent authority shall immediately report to the Assembly or to the
Standing Committee for decision." It further provides that: "The decision
made by the Standing Committee of the Assembly shall be submitted to the
Assembly at its next session for approval by a 2/3 majority vote of the
Assembly members".
These developments raise concerns about an increasingly autocratic form of
government, and the future of democracy in Cambodia. The Special
Representative calls on the National Assembly to immediately restore
immunity to all three members of the National Assembly, to make public the
minutes of its closed meeting, and to ensure that members of the opposition
party are given seats in its commissions".[End]
By
Anonymous, at 8:56 AM
REUTERS
Reut11:18 02-07-05
U.N. rights envoy demands Cambodia release opponent
GENEVA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The U.N. Secretary General's special envoy to
Cambodia on Monday demanded the authorities free a detained member of the
opposition Sam Rainsy Party and said he feared for the future of democracy
there.
The lifting of the parliamentary immunity of three party members, including
its leader, and the arrest of one of them, cast doubts on whether the
government was committed to a
``pluralistic democratic system,'' Peter Lamprecht said.
The country's National Assembly voted on Thursday to lift the parliamentary
protection of Sam Rainsy, a former finance minister, and two allies, Cheam
Channy and Chea Poch, after Prime Minister Hun Sen brought a defamation
suit against Rainsy.
Rainsy, who also holds French citizenship, fled to Paris, but Channy was
arrested by military police and charged with starting a militia to oppose
Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge officer.
``The Special Representative calls for Cheam Channy's immediate and
unconditional release,'' the office of the U.N. High Commission for Human
Rights quoted Lamprecht as saying in a statement.
``Cheam Channy is a civilian and, as such, is not subject to military
jurisdiction,'' it added, noting that parliamentary immunity should protect
members against ``possibly groundless proceedings or accusations that may
be politically motivated.''
Rainsy has accused Hun Sen of trying to blow him up in a 1997 grenade
attack that killed at least 16 people. In response, the premier filed a
defamation suit of his own and pushed to strip his political rival of his
parliamentary immunity.
The United States has called the moves against the three opposition figures
a ``major setback'' for Cambodia's fledgling democracy.
Referring to the accusation against Channy, Lamprecht, said ``few outside
military intelligence and the Military Court seem to have given credibility
to these allegations.''
``These developments raise concerns about an increasingly autocratic form
of government, and the future of democracy in Cambodia,'' the statement
quoted him as saying.[End]
By
Anonymous, at 8:58 AM
REUTERS
INTERVIEW-
Cambodia opposition head urges sanctions on rulers
By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent
(Additional reporting by John Decker)
WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - U.S. and other aid donors who keep
impoverished Cambodia afloat must step up pressure to halt the
``totalitarian drift'' in the Southeast Asian country, exiled opposition
leader Sam Rainsy said on Friday.
Cambodia's beleaguered opposition drew strength from U.S. President George
W. Bush's call in his inaugural speech to fight tyranny, but ``dictators
should fear concrete action from the U.S. in the form of sanctions,'' he
told Reuters.
``One of those sanctions would be a visa ban for the ruling elite who like
to come to the U.S. to spend their ill-gotten money and to send their
children to study here,'' Sam Rainsy, a former finance minister, said in an
interview in Washington.
He and colleague Chea Poch fled Cambodia last week after Sam Rainsy accused
Prime Minister Hun Sen of trying to blow him up in a 1997 grenade attack
that killed at least 16 people. Hun Sen countered with a defamation suit.
Hun Sen was also behind an effort that saw Sam Rainsy stripped of his
parliamentary immunity.
``I have escaped many assassination attempts and they have tried to bring
me to court,'' Sam Rainsy said. He said his trip to the United States this
week to lobby U.S. officials and lawmakers to pressure Phnom Penh would
bring more threats.
Cambodia has been wracked by instability as it struggles to emerge from
three decades of war and genocidal Khmer Rouge rule.
``The most important thing now is to seek support from friends of Cambodia
to stop the totalitarian drift in my unfortunate country,'' he said.
In December, international donors announced they would give Cambodia $504
million in 2005, a slight cut from previous years. Donors, including
leading aid-giver Japan, complained about failure to cut corruption or
carry legal reforms.
Earlier on Friday, retired Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk wrote a letter
to Hun Sen urging a political solution. He called on the political foes to
withdraw lawsuits they had brought against each other and to restore Sam
Rainsy's parliamentary immunity.
Sam Rainsy said he welcomed Sihanouk trying to help ease the crisis. But he
said that to work, the former monarch's plea ``needs the pressure from the
international community.''
``If friends of Cambodia can lend their support to the king so that the
king's proposal is effectively implemented this would be an acceptable
solution for everybody,'' he said.
Sam Rainsy said Hun Sen's crackdown was a response to growing criticism at
the government's ``appalling record'' of violence, corruption, deepening
poverty and illiteracy.
``Discontent is growing and the ruling party is afraid of the growing
popularity of the opposition,'' he said. ``They have made Cambodia a beggar
country.''[End]
By
Hann, at 10:08 AM
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