A journalist lies on the road after being beaten by municipal security
personnel near Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park in May.
Cambodia has again deferred a litany of key recommendations to improve
its human rights standing that were proffered by other states at a review
earlier this year.
Back in front of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva
yesterday, the government also rejected four recommendations it had initially
accepted, a move which an international rights federation described as
“unprecedented behaviour”. Another four previously agreed measures were
deferred.
The decision now lowers the number of accepted
recommendations from 171 in January, when the review was held, to 163.
Every UN member state must regularly undergo the
Universal Periodic Review process, which sees other states review its rights
record and offer specific recommendations to improve it.
Cambodia was offered 205 recommendations at its review
in January and was criticised at the time for deferring 34 of them, including
lifting restrictions on peaceful demonstrations, formulating clear instructions
on the use of firearms by security forces in line with human rights standards
and “impartially” investigating excessive force used by authorities against
protesters.
Yesterday, as January’s review was formally adopted,
Cambodia chose to take those recommendations “on notice”, rather than accepting
them, after having been given almost five months to consider their position and
respond.
“These recommendations are noted and are under
consideration among the inter-ministerial [sic] in order to make sure they
reflect the situation on the ground and [are] in line with national, regional
situation,” Cambodia said in an addendum to the UPR report.
Accepted recommendations relate to issues including
improving detention conditions, increased cooperation with UN rights bodies,
eliminating child labour, judicial reform and the creation of a national human
rights body.
The government also accepted some recommendations
related to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and protecting human
rights defenders, despite deferring others that touch on similar themes.
Key donor states present at the council yesterday
voiced disappointment with Cambodia’s decision to defer so many
recommendations.
The US delegation criticised Cambodia’s “lack of
respect” for freedom of assembly and the “harassment” of trade union activists,
while noting “with disappointment” that Cambodia had not accepted its
recommendation to repeal or amend certain articles of the Penal Code relating
to defamation.
The UK delegation said it “strongly encouraged” the
government to agree to its recommendations that an urgent review of economic
land concessions take place before the current moratorium is lifted.
It also urged the government to comply with another
recommendation to “ensure the draft cybercrime law does not curtail freedom of
expression”.
According to Nicolas Agostini, UN delegate for the
International Federation for Human Rights, which represents local rights groups
Adhoc and Licadho, “by ‘un-accepting’ recommendations it had previously
accepted, [Cambodia] is setting a new low” for the UPR.
“By refusing to respond to recommendations to
investigate cases of use of excessive force against protesters, including
killings, the Cambodian government is unambiguously saying that its officials
and affiliates can act with impunity,” he said in an email.
But Ney Samol, Cambodia’s permanent representative to
the UN, said the acceptance of 163 recommendations “reflects further strong
commitment and seriousness that Cambodia has made, [is making] and will
continue to make towards the promotion and protection of human rights”.
Soun Bunsak, executive secretary of the Cambodian
Human Rights Action Committee, said that he was somewhat optimistic that the
government, despite deferring several recommendations, would make more of an
effort to implement them this time around.
“To me, I see that the ruling party has been losing
more seats in the National Assembly, so I think … they might try to make the
effective implementation of those recommendations so that they can gain back
popularity from the population.”
In a statement, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights
said the government appeared to be taking “a more realistic approach” this
time, after failing to implement any of the recommendations it accepted in
2009.
“That being said, it is within the power of the
Cambodian government to put into effect all of these recommendations; the RGC
just needs the political will to do so,” CCHR freedom of expression project
coordinator Ramana Sorn said.
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated
in Singapore since 1994.
No comments:
Post a Comment