Opposition law-makers prevented from inspecting border markers along Cambodia-Vietnam border |
Note by School of Vice
This is one of the main reasons why Sihanouk [in all
likelihood caving in to Hun Sen’s/Hanoi’s pressure] publicly and 'indirectly'
urged the UN to leave Cambodia following the 1993 election which marked the end
of the UNTAC mission in the country. There was a suggestion at the time that
the UN could leave some sort of monitoring presence in Cambodia [particularly,
along her troubled border areas] so that any such infringements on her
sovereignty by any of her neighbours could be verified and resolved through the
Paris Peace Accords framework which 'guarantees' or ensures the inviolability
of Cambodia's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
As we have subsequently witnessed with regard to the
hijacking of the work of the ‘hybrid’ KRT trial, the personal verbal attacks
upon the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Prof Subedi by Hun Sen in
recent times, the derailing of the 30 March 1997 grenade attack investigation
by the FBI [because a US citizen was injured in the incident] and so on,
guaranteeing Cambodia's right to exercise her full independence and sovereignty
has always been an uphill struggle. Yet, the haste by Sihanouk to appease the
Hun Sen regime in his rather vague and optimistic expectation of "peace
and political stability" even following on from decades of turmoil and
devastation has effectively neutered all the international effort that had previously
gone into realising the PPA in 1992 on Cambodia's long term and definitive political
settlement, and thus, it can be argued, pushing Cambodia and the issue of its
survival and sovereignty back to square one.
"The UN can leave some of its personnel behind, but be assured they will be used!"
-Sihanouk in a
national radio broadcast, 1993
This is typical Sihanouk-speak; a direct-indirect signal to
his target audience as to his actual intentions or decisions and displeasure
over unresolved matters. The statement is obviously a coded message to the
international community: 'Thank You for assisting us thus far, but for our
sake, please leave us alone'. And alone the country now finds itself like a
helpless abducted girl being gang-raped left, right, east, west and
centre ... with no one to witness the scene of the crime.
1 comment:
We did not have another choice, because the mission of the UN was limited. But we still asked the UN to stay, in case they were able.
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