Rong Chhun asks Hillary Clinton to push the Cambodian gov’t to respect human rights
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| Rong Chhun (Photo: Den Ayuthyea, RFA) |
By Den Ayuthyea
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Komping Puoy
Click here to read the article in Khmer
sVar Kim Hong, president of the government border commission, told RFA on 30 October 2010 that, prior to issuing any letter or statement involving border issues or any other border problems, civil society organizations should reflect about them carefully, otherwise, they will face the same fate as opposition leader Sam Rainsy who was sentenced to more than 10-year of jail sentence. (sic!)
Rong Chhun, the leader of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), asked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to help push the Cambodian government to respect human rights and the Paris Peace Agreements on Cambodia which has not been fully applied in Cambodia yet.
The 3-page-long letter issued by CCU and sent to Mrs. Clinton on 30 October 2010, during her visit to Cambodia between 30 October and 01 November, asked her to take measures to make the Cambodian government fully respect the UN conventions, the international conventions and the Cambodian Constitution.
Rong Chhun’s letter raised the issue of constitutional violations in regards to Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as stipulated in Article 2 of the Cambodian Constitution. This article stipulates: “The territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Cambodia shall absolutely not be violated within its borders as defined in the 1/100,000 scale map made between the years 1933-1953 and internationally recognized between the years 1963-1969.” However, to the contrary of this article, in October 2005, the Cambodian government under Hun Xen’s leadership signed a border delimitation agreement with the Vietnamese government based on the 1:50,000-scale map instead, and this is contrary to the spirit of the constitution which was borne out of the spirit of the 23 October 1991 Paris Peace Agreements on Cambodia. Furthermore, Hun Xen’s convention with Vietnam turned into law that was signed and approved for use by the Cambodian king on 30 November 2005.
