The Nation
A leading human rights group on Tuesday urged US
President Barack Obama to use his visit to Cambodia next week to
address Prime Minister Hun Sen's "two decades of impunity." Obama,
fresh from his election victory at home, will visit Thailand and Myanmar
over the weekend and Cambodia on Monday to attend a regional summit
hosted by Hun Sen.
Obama will be the first US president to visit Cambodia.
"On his historic first visit to Cambodia, President Obama is uniquely
placed to publicly demand that Hun Sen make genuine reforms so the
Cambodian people can enjoy the same rights and freedoms that Americans
take for granted," said Brad Adams (pictured), Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Adams co-authored a report documenting cases of unsolved killings of
activists, opposition politicians and journalists by Cambodian
authorities over the past two decades.
According to Human Rights Watch, more than 300 people have been killed
in politically motivated attacks since the 1991 Paris Agreements that
paved the way for Cambodia to become a democracy.
HRW alleges that numerous Cambodian authorities responsible for killings have never been brought to trial.
"Instead of prosecuting officials responsible for killings and other
serious abuses, Prime Minister Hun Sen has promoted and rewarded them,"
Adams said.//DPA
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