Hun Sen says UN rights body is welcome but redundant in Cambodia

Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa
Published: Tuesday September 26, 2006

Siem Reap, Cambodia- The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights in Cambodia was welcome to stay, even though in his opinion its role was limited and it was more useful elsewhere, Prime Minister Hun Sen told a human rights seminar Tuesday. Opening the two-day conference in the northern city, Hun Sen's comments, although tongue in cheek, appeared to be another tentative step towards patching up an old rift between the UNHCRC and the government which had at one point seen a senior government official threaten to cut the body's mandate.

"If the UN understands that it is necessary to continue to keep your human rights office here in Cambodia, please keep it, but if you want to close I will not oppose that either," Hun Sen told the meeting.

"If you want to stay, at least Cambodia can continue to make money from your rent," he added.

Hun Sen jokingly reiterated comments made earlier this year in which he referred to UNHCRC staff as "tourists" who lacked understanding of the country, and suggested countries which were not so peaceful may be more in need of the body's services.

"The most important thing is, what is your job here?" he asked. "I think you should move to Afghanistan or Baghdad, Iraq. That might be better than here, but I don't think you will go there. There is fighting."

Last March Hun Sen angrily denounced UN human rights envoy Yash Ghai and called for him to be sacked after Ghai told a news conference that power was too centralized in Cambodia and he believed that this had impacted on the country's human rights record.

In May, senior government lawmaker Cheam Yeap was quoted in local media as saying that the UN body may be thrown out of Cambodia if it failed to cooperate more fully with the government's human rights committee, headed by Hun Sen's advisor Om Yentieng.

The conference has attracted delegates from Australia, Canada, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Office of the UN High Commission in Geneva.

Geneva-based UNHCRC representative Marianne Haugaard later declined to comment on the prime minister's speech, saying she was not in a position to do so.

The meet is co-sponsored by the Cambodian government and will discuss strategies to strengthen the human rights record in the region as well as Cambodia.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa