Thursday, 13 December 2007
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday he would never see the UN human rights envoy to the kingdom following his scathing appraisal of the nation's judicial system.Hun Sen said he has the right not to see Yash Ghai, a Kenyan lawyer, and accused the UN rights representative of highlighting "only negative points" of his government."Every time he comes, he always causes trouble," Hun Sen said, adding he "will never meet" Ghai and called him "a long-term tourist.""His country is 100 times worse than our country," the premier said, adding Ghai will "never get along with me." Hun Sen was speaking at the opening ceremony of a student building.Ghai said Monday that Cambodian courts have failed to provide justice, leaving the population in fear of going to court.The UN envoy was speaking at the end of a 10-day visit, during which he said no Cambodian government officials met him.Ghai has repeatedly clashed with Hun Sen and Cambodian officials in the past due to his unusually blunt assessments of Cambodia's reform failures.Hun Sen has never met the Kenyan lawyer, who was appointed as the UN rights envoy in November 2005.Relations between Cambodia's government and UN rights envoys have historically been poor, with Hun Sen calling Ghai's predecessor Peter Leuprecht "stupid" -- a term he also used to describe Ghai, along with "rude" and a "god without virtue."
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