Week 526

Saturday, 22.9.2007: Sok An: 'If Democratization in Cambodia Is Not Successful, Southeast Asian Nations Will Lose Belief in Democracy According to the Model of the Western World'

Norbert Klein Leave a comment

The Mirror, Vol. 11, No. 526

“Phnom Penh: Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An, the Minister of the Council of Ministers, said, ‘If democratization and the creation of the foundations for the respect and the promotion of human rights according to the model of the western world should end in a failure in Cambodia, I believe the nations in southeast Asia will lose confidence in this political model.’

“The Deputy Prime Minister said so to a delegation of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR], led by Mr. Henrik Stenman, the acting director of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, Mr. Fabrizio Hochschild, the head of the Capacity Building and Field Operations Branch of the OHCHR in Geneva as a member, and Mr. Christophe Peschoux, the director of the OHCHR in the Kingdom of Cambodia. They were granted an audience at the Council of Ministers on 20 September.

“According to a source from the Council of Ministers, Mr. Henrik Stenman explained the purpose of the visit: to strengthen the cooperation between the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Royal Government of Cambodia, in order to cooperate and support the Royal Government to promote the protection of human rights in the Kingdom of Cambodia, and to seek agreements on any form of cooperation between the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Royal Government of Cambodia which are constructive and practical.

“The UN officials told the Deputy Prime Minister directly that they really want to cooperate with the Royal Government, to do whatever is possible for the respect of human rights and democracy, they did not come to find any faults of the Royal Government.

“Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An, who is committed to the motto ‘Reduction of violations of the citizens’ rights, and improvement of the quality of laws through the improvement of the quality of lawyers, the quality of judges, and the provision of justice through tribunals at the local level,’ explained that the Royal Government is decidedly against human rights violations, and under responsible leadership of Samdech Hun Sen this is implemented in five main aspects:

  1. Outlook
  2. Strategy
  3. Policy
  4. Action Plan
  5. Implementation Calendar

“The Deputy Prime Minister assured the guests that human rights in Cambodia are promoted and protected, based on the Royal Government’s legal and court reforms.

“Besides the legal regulations, the Royal Government is training officials in the code of ethics of lawyers, the code of ethics of judges, in the creation of centers for legal advice for clients who have no legal knowledge, in the creation of model courts in the provinces, in the creation of centers for legal consultations to solve lawsuits out-of-court, to be implemented in the districts, in order to reduce the number of complaint cases which have to go to the provinces and towns and cause high expenses for the citizens.

“Mr. Sok An said that the Royal Government pays strong attention to human rights issue, because this is fundamental for Cambodia.” Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.15, #4396, 22.9.2007

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Saturday, 22 September 2007

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.6, #1451, 22.9.2007

  • Nuon Chea Taken for Medical Checkup at Calmette Hospital for Three Hours [his health is OK]
  • Gambling Sites and Pornographic Video Coffee Shops Mushroom in Battambang District [Battambang]
  • Prek Pnov Becomes Gambling Site Especially for Cockfighting [Ponhea Leu, Kandal]
  • Trucks Transport Wood Out from Koh Sla Area Day and Night because They Are Allowed by Officials [Kampot]


Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.14, #3270, 22.9.2007

  • Eng Chhay Ieng [Secretary-General of the Sam Rainsy Party]: The Cambodian People’s Party Uses State Fund for Its Supporters [payments are increased for village chiefs and deputy village chiefs who are said to be CPP supporters]
  • Khmer Compatriots Demonstrate Opposite the White House Demanding US Put Pressure on Yuon [Vietnamese] Communist Government [over the issue of Tim Sakhan who has been defrocked on accusation of having perpetrated an offense against the Buddhist law, because he is accused to have destroyed the harmony between Vietnam and Cambodia, now jailed in Vietnam]


Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.15, #4396, 22.9.2007

  • Sok An: ‘If Democratization in Cambodia Is Not Successful, Southeast Asian Nations Will Lose Belief in Democracy According to the Model of the Western World’
  • Nuon Chea Says He Is Not Involved in Crimes as Accused by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal
  • Nine Female Sex Workers Freed from “Chbar Ampov” Guesthouse [where a man’s throat was slit recently by his sex partner] and Three Guesthouse Owners Were Arrested [Siem Reap]


Sralanh Khmer, Vol.3, #511, 22.9.2007

  • Ieng Sary Is Seriously Ill, He Speaks in a Low and Hoarse Voice; Khiev Samphan Prepares His Explanations for the Khmer Rouge Tribunal
  • [Deputy Secretary-General of the Sam Rainsy Party] Mu Sochua Asks International Community to Support Distribution of Khmer National Identification Cards and to Send Observers to Monitor the Elections

Go to last week’s editorial

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