Agence France-Presse
12/11/2007
PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia lashed out at the UN's special envoy for human rights on Tuesday after he accused the government and courts of failing to provide justice and leaving the population in fear of authorities.
After a 10-visit to Cambodia, UN rights representative Yash Ghai said the courts had failed the nation's people, especially in cases of land grabbing, which left victims of evictions with little hope of ever finding justice.
During his visit, Ghai said not a single Cambodian official was willing to meet with him.
But the foreign ministry's secretary of state Ouch Borith said Ghai's remarks were "unacceptable" and "amusing."
He said government leaders were unable to meet with Ghai because they were "busy with working to develop the country and to promote economic growth to eliminate poverty for the people."
"What Ghai did does not suit his role as a diplomat and the UN secretary general's representative, as well as a so-called protector of human rights," Ouch Borith said, calling Ghai a "tourist."
He said Cambodia always worked to "cooperate with the UN in order to build democracy and human rights."
Ghai, a Kenyan lawyer who has clashed repeatedly with the government over his blunt appraisals of Cambodia's rights record, said earlier this year that impunity for human rights violations threatened the rule of law there.
He also wrote a report that accused the government of systematically abusing human rights to keep a grip on power.
Relations between the government and UN rights envoys have historically been poor, with Prime Minister Hun Sen calling Ghai "stupid". He has also described Ghai as "rude" and a "god without virtue".
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