Human Rights Condition in Cambodia

1 Human Rights Condition in Cambodia Introduction Cambodia is a country located in Southeast Asia. It was emancipated from French colonial rule in 1953. The country faced the brunt of the Vietnam War that spilled over to its borders and faced years of atrocities under the war. Cambodia was to eventually re-engineer into a socialistic nation as The People’s Republic of Kampuchea. In 1993, Cambodia became the kingdom that it is today. The past three decades have seen a great violation of basic human rights in the country. The injustices carried out within its borders are some of the most bewildering in the present age. Records have shown that there have been prolonged atrocities in Cambodia that remain largely unaddressed. The apex of this scourge was witnessed from 1975 through to the year 1979. This was the time when the infamous political outfit called Communist Party of Kampuchea who were informally called Khmer Rouge was in reign. This paper examines the state of human rights in Cambodia, and suggestions are put forward to help manage the issues of human rights violation in the country.

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2 The Khmer Rouge brought chaos and discord into Cambodia; laws were rendered redundant and the justice system was disbanded violently with the murder of judges and barristers that ensued. Under the rule of this party, a genocide that wiped out a huge number of the population was witnessed. War crimes that affected mostly innocent civilians were carried out on a shocking scale. The rest of the population sank into severe trauma as they survived to watch the mowing down of over a quarter of the nation. CPK pushed over two million people out of their homes and forced them to work. The conditions under which they lived were deplorable; they went without food, were severely impaired by diseases and worked to excess exhaustion.

This regime used unorthodox ways of supposedly rooting out elements of rebellion and nonconformers. CPK resorted to using violence and torture against people who did not share in their ideologies. Communities were targeted on ethnic basis and religious orientations, thus extrajudicial killings of lobby group leaders became rampant (Kiernan, 2008).

The murderous reign of the Khmer was crushed in 1979, and things started to take a positive turn. Although there has been advancements in the state of affairs, the circumstances have not changed in a drastic way since there have been stumbling blocks in ridding Cambodia of injustices. The end of the civil war in 1998 would have been perceived as the marking of an end of an era of gross human rights violation. The civil populace of Cambodia is yet to enjoy total emancipation from the painful effects of absence of respect of human rights. The country’s judiciary is still the same old shell of a justice system that served in the dictatorial rule. The courts institution is more of an execution body than a tool for delivering justice. Corruption runs deep in the system and is filled with impunity (Gottesman, 2004). The powerful in the society are above the law, while ordinary civilians have to buy justice and are on the receiving end of a rotten system that does not abide by the rule of law.

3 The custodians of the law are ironically the perpetrators who break the laws they are supposed to uphold. Minority groups in Cambodia are still denied basic rights on the basis of ethnicity. These ethnic groups are those that are not part of the Khmer tribe. This shows that the ghosts of the former authoritarian regime that terrorized people in the past and committed genocide still haunt Cambodia. So terrible is the situation that human trafficking has become a trade that is done without any remorse within the borders of the country. This archaic practice has become hard to curb, with the situation worsened by the fact that the police force is doing little to nip this trade. The upholding of women’s rights was embodied in the post 1993 constitution, and laws were supposed to protect women against oppression and vulnerability (Totten, 2009). This notwithstanding, women continue to face unfair treatment under cultural practices that leave them disadvantaged as compared to their male counterparts. Little has been done to ensure that women are given equal opportunities in society. Instead, women are still being subjected to unnecessary suffering.

The police departments in the Southeast Asian country have become synonymous with gross abuse of power and perpetration of extra-judicial killings. The police cells have ceased to be a holding bay for holding suspects as they await justice. Instead, the cells have become torture chambers where victims, who are sometimes innocent, are subjected to mistreatment and even death. Street justice has taken the role of the law and courts mob justice is common because the populace does not have faith in the courts, and the police are encouraging the practice (Brinkley, 2011). The situation is made worse by the fact that there are no laws that provide avenues of punishing police officers who commit torture and execute suspects.

The court systems are so inefficient that the masterminds of the mass murders and displacements have not faced justice. It has gone down in history as one of the worst cases of

4 genocides on mankind, but none of the administrators of the Khmer regime have been apprehended to stand trial for committing genocide. This, in itself, is a monumental display of how badly off Cambodia is when it comes to justice and upholding the values of human rights. In 1992 a peace keeping mission, a contingent of the United Nations (UN) went to Cambodia and set up a foundation for democracy and liberalization of government politics. This was supposed to develop a framework upon which Cambodia would unchain itself from the past dark history.

The efforts of UN seemed to have done little to improve the situation (Etcheson, 2005). Since then, more lobby groups of local orientation have come up to advocate for better human rights in the country. These groups have recorded little success in ending bad governance, bringing changes to the police force, ensuring that the rule of law is upheld, and ensuring that leaders who have committed human rights crimes are brought to book.

The constitution of Cambodia guarantees that everyone is allowed to voice their opinions and join any organization that is lawful and aims for meaningful agendas. International laws also protect freedom to associate and express opinion. This, however, has not been enjoyed in Cambodia because the government gags the press and civil society, and has not shown tolerance for those with differing political views. In 2005, unlawful detention of lobby group leaders was widely witnessed. Later in 2006, those who came out to defend the rights of the vulnerable were met with threats, while community leaders who pushed for human rights were intimidated (Grant & Kirton, 2007).

Those who stand out to fight for human rights continue to face hurdles in their quest for justice for the oppressed. Government units give these activists a hard time in an attempt to push them over to abandon their agendas. The craftiest tool used by government is denying registration to these groups; therefore, all activities of the activists are rendered by the law as

5 illegal. In some cases they face imprisonment, beatings and those that are of foreign nationalities are deported defenders continue to be the target of harassment, intimidation and other obstructions to their work. Leaders of unions and representatives of vulnerable minority groups have been arrested and false charges brought upon them in court. Police have dispersed peaceful demonstrations violently. The government has also issued blanket bans on peaceful protests and marches (Peou, 2007).

The Royal administration in Cambodia has developed strategies aimed at increasing economic growth in the country. The policies have worked against public welfare because the government has dedicated attention to allocating natural resources and land to private developers. The economy of the country might be growing, but this makes no sense because the majority of the population, who are peasants, continues to languish in abject poverty. Only the few rich individuals benefit from the growing economy and they are mostly office holders in the monarch or are cronies of the government. In 2008, a total of 222,539 hectares were allocated to private corporations through a government economic plan which was marred by controversy. In a sharp contrast and display of lack of concern for the rights of the poor in Cambodia, only a paltry 2,075 were allocated to the poor and those who did not have land. The government has purposely neglected over three quarters of the population when it comes to land policy. These are the people who are supposed to be served by their government, but the rich are the beneficiaries of these concessions. There has been phenomenal failures of the Royal Government to address key issues of land rights for the poor and landless in Cambodia (Sambănth, Jaṃrẏan & Kārbārsiddhi, 2009).

A worse issue regarding land is concerning evictions of the poor from their indigenous homes. Community land has been grabbed by powerful individuals and converted into private

6 property. Citizens have been displaced to pave way for private corporations who are contracted by the government to put up projects in the disguise of national development. Little has been done to find alternative resettlement land for these peasants, and they have been forced to live as internal refugees on temporary structures despite the fact that they are in their own country. The government has failed to put in place a compensation framework for the victims of such evictions (Sambănth, Jaṃrẏan & Kārbārsiddhi, 2009). Moreover, the locations to which they are transferred lack basic amenities and infrastructure. The living conditions are deplorable and sanitation is low. This is an extreme case of neglect and irresponsibility on the part of the government.

Non-governmental organizations have raised concerns about the human rights condition in Cambodia. The United Nations has launched several inquests into the matter to investigate the real issues on the ground in the Southeast Asian country. However, these organizations have faced challenges because the administration is not willing to allow independent bodies to freely investigate the situation. In some cases, civil societies are denied entry into the country and their officers are subjected to harassments by the police (Sambănth, Jaṃrẏan & Kārbārsiddhi, 2009).

Sometimes they face arbitrary arrests and detention. Various reports have been done by human rights watch groups and the UN, but the challenge lies in implementation of the recommendations. It is only the government of Cambodia that has the final decision and ultimate powers to bring real change.

Suggested Strategies or Approaches in Managing the Specific Issues For the human rights situation to be restored to sanity in Cambodia, the international community should come together and push the Cambodian leadership fraternity to review their policies to focus on the poor, and not the rich in society. The International Criminal Court should

7 charge and prosecute those who have committed crimes that are gross against humanity in the country. World super powers like the United States of America should show concern and come in to aid in ousting the atrocious regime in Cambodia.

There should be elaborate systems through which affected people should be able to make their grievances heard and acted upon. This will mark the most important building block towards bringing justice to practical heights in Cambodia. There should also be instituted a major shakeup in the court system to ensure that justice is not only served to the affluent and powerful, but equality will also be established from this judiciary. It is appreciated that corruption is rooted in the court system. Plans should, therefore, be put in place to evaluate the credibility of the judges and relieve the rogue ones off their duties.

If independence cannot be counted on in the judiciary, then special tribunals should be set up to act as channels where citizens can find independent and unbiased justice. In cases where the Cambodian government is found to be uncooperative, the international community should take stern measures against it. This will be the last but highly necessary resort in resolving the human rights situation in Cambodia. Reforms should be made in the land sector to ensure that the landless peasants are allocated land to improve their livelihoods. During situations where people have to be displaced to pave way for infrastructure development, policies should be formulated to ensure that those affected are compensated fairly and adequately (Doyle, 1996).

Conclusion It has come to light that Cambodia has been a pricking thorn in the face of the world when it comes to the condition of human rights in the country. Since the country was plunged into the Vietnam War, the people of Cambodia have suffered great torture. The end of the War did not bring relief to the people because atrocities continued under the Khmer Rouge, which

8 oversaw the slaughter of millions of people. The police and justice systems in Cambodia have continued to contravene the same laws they are supposed to protect. The poor people of Cambodia have been given discriminative justice, and there has been unfairness in land issues.

Although the human rights condition in the Southeast Asian country is in a deplorable state, the international community, the United Nations and NGOs have tried their best to solve the situation. The solution to this situation lies in the Cambodian government cooperating with the international community in cleaning up their systems.

9 List of References Brinkley, J 2011, Cambodia's curse: The modern history of a troubled land, PublicAffairs, New York, NY. Doyle, MW 1996, Keeping the peace: Multidimensional UN operations in Cambodia and El Salvador, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Etcheson, C 2005, After the killing fields: Lessons from the Cambodian genocide, Praeger, Westport, CT. Gottesman, E 2004, Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge: Inside the politics of nation building, Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai. Grant, CH, & Kirton, RM 2007, Governance, conflict analysis and conflict resolution, Ian Randle Publishers, Kingston.

Kiernan, B 2008, Genocide and resistance in Southeast Asia: Documentation, denial & justice in Cambodia & East Timor, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick.

Peou, S 2007, International democracy assistance for peace building: Cambodia and beyond, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke Pokempner, D 1992, Political control, human rights, and the UN mission in Cambodia, Asia Watch, a division of Human Rights Watch, New York, NY Sambănth, K, Jaṃrẏan, N & Kārbārsiddhi, M 2009, Land grabbing & poverty in Cambodia: The myth of development, Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights Phnom Penh.

Totten, S 2009, Plight and fate of women during and following genocide, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick.