United Nations: Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in Cambodia
(Part 4 of 4)
III. IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW AND PREVIOUS RECOMMENDATIONS
154. The Commission on Human Rights
in resolution 1997/49 and the General&assembly in resolution 52/135
expressed concern about the serious problem of impunity in Cambodia, in
particular with regard to unlawful acts by the military and the police.
As is clear from the present report, this issue has been a major theme
in the work by the Special Representative. He has pointed out that limited
personnel and economic resources have contributed to the serious problems
within the court system. The United Nations Judicial Mentors Programme
has been a constructive contribution to improvements. The Special Representative
has appealed for more assistance for justice reform in Cambodia. Bilateral
cooperation, mainly with Australia and Japan, has been valuable.
155. The fact that the Supreme Council
of Magistracy finally was convened in December 1997 was welcomed by the
Special Representative. This body will, according to the Constitution,
oversee the functioning of the judicial system and make appointments to
the judiciary. Hopefully, this development will in future protect the judiciary
from political pressure, intimidation by military officers and corruption.
Clearly, decisive measures are still needed to establish genuine independence
of the court system.
156. The General Assembly recommended
the repeal of article 51 of the 1994 Law on Civil Servants, which has been
mentioned by the Special Representative as an obstacle to the principle
of equality of all persons under the law. This section of the law provides
that, except in cases of flagrante delicto, no civil servant may be arrested
or prosecuted for any crime unless the concerned minister gives his consent
in advance. The impact of this provision has been clearly negative and
judges have told the Special Representative about their frustration with
article 51. The Minister of Justice has indeed proposed an amendment but
no action has been taken to that effect.
157. Serious crimes with a political
connotation, including assassinations, have not been clarified. Still,
no one has been arrested or prosecuted in the cases of the killing of four
journalists in recent years and of the grenade attack against the BLDP
meeting in September 1995. The commission set up to investigate the grenade
attack against the KNP demonstration on 30 March 1997 has issued
no official report and no one has been arrested or charged for this crime.
In the opinion of the Special Representative, this pattern of impunity
in politically related criminal cases threatens the freedom of expression.
158. The call by the General Assembly,
the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Representative for
serious investigations into the executions in July/August 1997 has not
resulted in a comprehensive inquiry into these killings or in prosecutions
in the individual cases. The Special Representative has expressed deep
concern about this inaction.
159. Prison conditions continue to
be very poor and the problem of the delayed payments of allocations for
food and necessities to prisons from the State budget remains unresolved.
The co-Ministers of Interior have, however, opened a constructive discussion
on these problems with the Special Representative and have suggested
further international assistance for prison reform. An Australian aid project
in this field has been appreciated.
160. The problem of torture was raised
in a letter of 11 November 1997 by the Minister of Justice commenting upon
the report to the General Assembly. The Minister assured the Special Rapporteur
that the Ministry had paid the highest attention to the problem. This is
welcomed though the Special Representative also has to report that he has
received further information indicating that torture still occurs at a
number of police stations.
161. Two pieces of legislation necessary
for the 1998 national elections were passed by the National Assembly, one
on political parties and the other on the election system. A standing National
Electoral Committee was appointed in late January 1998, a draft law on
the Constitutional Council was submitted to the Assembly and the election
date has been set. However, essential steps are still required to ensure
that the elections will be genuinely free, fair and credible. The Special
Representative has, in particular, pointed at the need to ensure that all
political parties and candidates could make their voices heard without
intimidation all over the country. He has also stressed the importance
of free and equal access to the media. Determined steps to end impunity
are also needed in order to create an open and safe election atmosphere
and to encourage all politicians in exile to return home. Such politicians
should be guaranteed freedom
from arrest and detention in respect of acts done and words spoken prior
to their return,
as stated by H.E.Ung Huot and H.E. Hun Sen to the United Nations
Secretary-General in October 1997.
162. The Royal Government has reacted
positively to the proposal by the Special Representative, and supported
by the General Assembly, about international assistance for the purpose
of assisting Cambodia in responding to past serious violations of Cambodian
and international laws. This is in response to a letter by the two Prime
Ministers on 21 June 1997 which requested support for bringing to justice
those persons responsible for the genocide and/or crimes against humanity
during the rule of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979. The Special Representative
is presently preparing a proposal on this issue.
163. The conditions of workers in
the garment and other industries are still of concern. The Labour Code
is not respected in a number of factories in Phnom Penh and the authorities
delay registration of new trade unions.
164. The Special Representative is
concerned about the lack of progress in the field of women's
rights. The drop-out
rate of girls from school is high, especially at secondary level. Women
are victimized through domestic violence and their access to public health
facilities is insufficient. There is no genuine encouragement of women's
participation in political and public life.
165. The Government has submitted
its report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child. Major efforts are, however, needed to remedy problems in the field
of education, to reform the system of juvenile justice, to put an end to
the practice of recruiting minors for the armed forces and to combat other
hazardous child labour, including child prostitution.
166. There have been police actions
against persons organizing prostitution, including child prostitution,
in Phnom Penh but further measures are needed to protect young people from
being exploited and to rehabilitate children who have gone through such
an ordeal. The Special Representative is particularly concerned about the
frequency of HIV infection among prostitutes, including young ones, and
the lack of preventive and social action to address this acute problem.
The Special Representative has had constructive cooperation with the Ministry
of Interior on the issue of trafficking in persons. During his visit to
the province of Koh Kong in January 1998 the provincial authorities promised
strong intervention against such criminal trade in human beings.
167. The Special Representative welcomes
Cambodia's endorsement of the international treaty banning anti-personnel landmines
in December 1997. However, the draft law prohibiting anti-personnel landmines
at the domestic level was, at the time of writing, still not adopted by
the National Assembly. Stiff penalties are set out to punish violators
possessing, using, producing, trading in, importing or exporting mines.
The Special Representative urges the National Assembly to consider this
law as an absolute priority to ensure that no landmines will ever be laid
again in Cambodia. The adoption of this law might also facilitate the mobilization
of funds from the international community for the enormous and expensive
task of demining.
IV. CONCLUDING REMARKS
168. The Special Representative,
in line with his mandate, has maintained contact with the Government and
people of Cambodia. During his two recent visits he met government representatives
and officials as well as representatives of political parties, non-governmental
organizations and trade unions. Also, the Special Representative has taken
note of a written comment by H.E. Ung Huot and H.E. Hun Sen dated 18 November
1997 on the report to the General Assembly (A/52/489). The discussions
with government representatives have for the most part been constructive,
though the Second Prime Minister made negative public remarks in late January
1998 about United Nations human rights work in Cambodia. It was agreed
that the Special Representative would meet with the Second Prime Minister
during his next visit.
169. In order to fulfil his second
task, to guide and coordinate the United Nations human rights presence
in Cambodia, the Special Representative has stayed in constant touch with
the Cambodia office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The office assists him during his visits in Cambodia as well as during
their preparation and follow-up.
The visit by the High Commissioner for Human Rights in January 1998 was
coordinated to coincide with the presence of the Special Representative.
170. During his visits the Special
Representative met with the Representative of the Secretary-General for
Cambodia, Mr.Lakhan Mehrotra, and other key representatives of the
United Nations system, including UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR, WFP, ILO and UNESCO.
In view of the forthcoming elections it is important that the human rights
programme is coordinated with other related United Nations efforts.
In January 1998, the Special Representative discussed with UNICEF, WHO,
ILO, IOM and UNDP the possibility of establishing an inter-agency task
force to coordinate international support for Cambodian efforts to combat
child prostitution and trafficking.
171. The third task of the Special
Representative is to assist the promotion and protection of human rights
in Cambodia. The present report is part of that endeavour. He has also
contributed by raising concrete problems directly with the authorities
at the central and provincial levels. The cooperation with the Ministry
of Interior has been particularly constructive. Furthermore, the Special
Representative has argued for international assistance for the promotion
of human rights in Cambodia - for reforms of the court and prison system,
education and training of law enforcement personnel, reform of the school
system, support to non-governmental organizations, etc.
172. Although the intention is constructive,
it is in the nature of reports such as the present one that there will
be a focus on critical and negative aspects. There have also been strong
reasons for concern on a number of issues as spelled out in this report.
At the same time, the Special Representative emphasizes that he has encountered
much good will and many persons, within the Government and the judiciary
as well as in the non-governmental sector, who perform heroic work for
the improvement of the human rights situation of Cambodia. They contribute
to genuine progress.
Copyright 1998
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Geneva, Switzerland
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