30 July 2011
By Arnaud Dubus
Liberation (France)
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
"Cambodia is slowly sinking into a predatory authoritarian regime like those established by Zine Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and Muammar Qaddafi of Libya."
In the early 90s, there was an illusion that the massive operation undertaken by the United Nations to rehabilitate Cambodia after decades of war had "rooted" democracy there. A new constitution was drafted. The election, judged reasonably free and fair, took place in 1993 with a turnout of almost 90%. A civil society sprouted on the wasteland of a rejuvenated country. Cambodia was an exception in the region, leaping from an autocratic post-Khmer Rouge regime to a liberal government, a kind of "Cambodian miracle" that defies the lessons of history.
Since then, this dream has eroded steadily, especially since the Prime Minister, Hun Sen, has marginalized the political opposition following the 2008 election. The majority of local human rights representatives no longer wanted to be cited personally. The risk of being thrown in jail for criticizing the mighty Hun Sen and Bun Rany, his wife who bears the title "Honorable Wise Doctor," is just too much to bear. Christophe Peschoux, the director of the Phnom Penh office of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR), had to leave the country in May after Hun Sen asked all government agencies to stop cooperating with him.
Nothing illustrates better the deterioration of fundamental freedoms than the issue of farmers who face forced eviction from their lands to make way for rubber plantation or sugar cane companies whose owners are closely linked to the government. "When the victims complain against the powerful people, judges do not pay attention them. But when private companies complain about the victims, the judges and prosecutors rush in [to meet the companies’ demands]," a Cambodian activist said.
The mixing of political and business interests is quite dizzy at times: for example, a senator who is a close friend of the Prime Minister grabs for himself a plot of land with the support of the military, next, he benefits from the passing of a law by the National Assembly that provides financial guarantee to the project on the plot of land. Cambodia is slowly sinking into a predatory authoritarian regime like those established by Zine Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and Muammar Qaddafi of Libya.
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Au Cambodge, les droits de l’homme sur une mauvaise pente
30/07/11
Par Arnaud Dubus
Libération
Il y avait au début des années 90 une illusion selon laquelle l’opération massive des Nations unies pour réhabiliter le Cambodge après des décennies de guerre avait «enraciné» la démocratie. Une nouvelle constitution avait été rédigée. Des élections, jugées raisonnablement justes et libres, avaient eu lieu en 1993, avec un taux de participation de près de 90%. Une société civile vivace bourgeonnait sur les friches d’un pays rajeuni. Le Cambodge faisait figure d’exception dans la région, passant d’un bond du régime autocratique post-Khmers rouges à un gouvernement libéral, une sorte de «miracle cambodgien» qui défiait les leçons de l’histoire.
Ce rêve s’est effrité progressivement, particulièrement depuis que le Premier ministre, Hun Sen, a marginalisé l’opposition politique après les élections de 2008. La plupart des représentants des organisations locales de défense de droits de l’homme ne veulent plus, désormais, être cités nommément. Le risque de se faire jeter en prison pour avoir critiqué le tout puissant Hun Sen ou son épouse, Bun Rany, laquelle porte le titre d’«honorable docteure pleine de sagesse», est tout simplement trop important. Le directeur du bureau de Phnom Penh de la commission des Nations unies pour les droits de l’homme, Christophe Peschoux, a dû quitter le pays en mai, après que Hun Sen a demandé à toutes les agences gouvernementales de cesser de coopérer avec lui.
Rien n’illustre mieux la dégradation du respect des libertés fondamentales que la question des paysans expropriés manu militari de leurs terres pour faire place à des sociétés de plantations d’hévéas ou de cannes à sucre, dont les directeurs sont étroitement liés aux gouvernants. «Quand les victimes portent plainte contre un puissant, les juges n’y prêtent pas attention. Mais quand des firmes privées le font, les juges et les procureurs se précipitent», explique un militant cambodgien.
La confusion des intérêts est parfois confondante : tel sénateur, ami proche du Premier ministre, s’octroie un terrain grâce à l’appui des militaires, puis bénéficie du vote d’une loi par l’Assemblée nationale qui accorde une garantie financière au projet. Le Cambodge s’enfonce lentement dans un autoritarisme prédateur qui n’est pas sans rappeler l’édification des régimes de Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali en Tunisie ou de Muammar al-Kadhafi en Libye.
1 comment:
Bun Rany Hun Sen and Hun Sen should be ashamed of themselves for wanting so much honor and respect that they do not at all deserve.
They continue to accept and encourage more honorary degrees knowing consciously and very well that they do not deserve all of them.
This is the character of Cambodian leaders and it has shown so far that it does not matter who is in power; they simply have no attributes required of a leader since they all come to power by forces and demagoguery.
Honorary degrees are generally awarded for one of three reasons:
1. To recognize extraordinary intellectual or artistic achievement;
2. To honor service to the university and to the wider society; and
3. To recognize men and women who might serve as examples to the institution's student body.
An honorary degree, it is said, honors both the grantee and the spirit of the institution.
Honorary degrees are generally not awarded to any of the following:
current faculty or staff with some institutions extend the ban to retired faculty members from that institution; current Trustees or members of the Board of Regents; and
current holders of political office.
If Bun Rany Hun Sen and Hun Sen strongly believe that they have done great things for Cambodia and her people then one degree should be enough and there is no need to entertain and encourage more from obscure low-class universities and local academy who give such degrees for the purposes of getting things back in return whether in the form of personal profit or company gain.
Remember that they should not receive them at all considering that they are holding political positions or offices!
I would not write this comment if they were happy with just one or two of such degrees
It seems like the degrees bestowed upon her are to indicate her intelligence; thus she should know better and clearly that the bestowers of those degrees could not have thought of her as being intelligent; otherwise, they wouldn't dare to praise her so sincerely on the outside, but quite insincerely on the inside. After all, she herself realizes how much she knows about knowledges in the universe.
Title such as "Honorable Wise Doctor" clearly indicates the insincerity of those who confer it and much more the stupidity of a person upon which such a title is bestowed.
Hopefully, one day she does not start to belive that she is God in human form!
Anet Khmer
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