Bangkok Post
Sar Sambath, a veteran anti-graft crusader from Cambodia, says it's time that critics started acknowledging some of the successes his country was having in fighting corruption. He spoke recently with the Post's Achara Ashayagachat.
Q. How has Cambodia so far embarked on its anti-corruption mission?
A. Cambodia joined the SEA-PAC in the same group with Thailand in 2007 and we've been a member of the ADB-OECD (anti-corruption) Initiative for Asia, not to mention that we've abided by the UN convention on anti-corruption and put in place relevant laws in compliance with international best practices.
Q. How are those laws being implemented ?
A. You have to understand that Cambodia has been fighting against corruption since 1999 during the time of the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia. We've been restructuring and modernising the anti-corruption work throughout this past decade. From 2006-10, anti-corruption work was reformulated and the (anti-corruption) institution was adopted in the April 2010 law. We've just amended two more articles and the fully fledged law has just taken force in August 2011.
Q. Could you cite some concrete successes?
A. The major problem (for anti-corruption work) is to arrest and prosecute high-ranking officials but we have had two significant cases right after the launch of the new unit.
A prosecutor of a Pursat provincial court has been sentenced to four years' imprisonment, thanks to our work. Also, the secretary-general of the anti-drug authority has been arrested and is now under prosecution facing 32 counts. The trial could begin within a month due to our strong evidence and investigation that has been undertaken for some time.
Q. But critics have always said the law and the trial would only be there to silence the opposition of the ruling power.
A. No. We deal with corruption at all levels; there is zero tolerance in our unit. The three-star general and the prosecutor also belonged to the (ruling) Cambodian People's Party.
And these [cases] will spread the message that no one is spared.
Q. Are there any other obstacles to implementing your mission? Budget?
A. I have no figures with me now, but our annual budget is adequate and not an obstacle to embarking on our work. We have 200 staff, and we are placing more emphasis on education throughout the nation to raise awareness of anti-corruption work.
Q. Any collaboration with the civil society?
A. We've launched a campaign and reached out to people and so far have gradually gained the public's trust in our work. There are more complaints and appeals to us as they see how we work. Of course, we encourage civil society to become a good partner in this endeavour. We've listened to them [to gather] preliminary information but we will consider whether further investigation is needed (of those issues). If a probe is required, we have our own team to find out and reach out and we will forward [details] to a prosecutor to pursue the next process.
Sar Sambath, a veteran anti-graft crusader from Cambodia, says it's time that critics started acknowledging some of the successes his country was having in fighting corruption. He spoke recently with the Post's Achara Ashayagachat.
Q. How has Cambodia so far embarked on its anti-corruption mission?
A. Cambodia joined the SEA-PAC in the same group with Thailand in 2007 and we've been a member of the ADB-OECD (anti-corruption) Initiative for Asia, not to mention that we've abided by the UN convention on anti-corruption and put in place relevant laws in compliance with international best practices.
Q. How are those laws being implemented ?
A. You have to understand that Cambodia has been fighting against corruption since 1999 during the time of the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia. We've been restructuring and modernising the anti-corruption work throughout this past decade. From 2006-10, anti-corruption work was reformulated and the (anti-corruption) institution was adopted in the April 2010 law. We've just amended two more articles and the fully fledged law has just taken force in August 2011.
Q. Could you cite some concrete successes?
A. The major problem (for anti-corruption work) is to arrest and prosecute high-ranking officials but we have had two significant cases right after the launch of the new unit.
A prosecutor of a Pursat provincial court has been sentenced to four years' imprisonment, thanks to our work. Also, the secretary-general of the anti-drug authority has been arrested and is now under prosecution facing 32 counts. The trial could begin within a month due to our strong evidence and investigation that has been undertaken for some time.
Q. But critics have always said the law and the trial would only be there to silence the opposition of the ruling power.
A. No. We deal with corruption at all levels; there is zero tolerance in our unit. The three-star general and the prosecutor also belonged to the (ruling) Cambodian People's Party.
And these [cases] will spread the message that no one is spared.
Q. Are there any other obstacles to implementing your mission? Budget?
A. I have no figures with me now, but our annual budget is adequate and not an obstacle to embarking on our work. We have 200 staff, and we are placing more emphasis on education throughout the nation to raise awareness of anti-corruption work.
Q. Any collaboration with the civil society?
A. We've launched a campaign and reached out to people and so far have gradually gained the public's trust in our work. There are more complaints and appeals to us as they see how we work. Of course, we encourage civil society to become a good partner in this endeavour. We've listened to them [to gather] preliminary information but we will consider whether further investigation is needed (of those issues). If a probe is required, we have our own team to find out and reach out and we will forward [details] to a prosecutor to pursue the next process.
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