Dear Editor,
Having read Tony Guterres’ letter (Post, January 26), I
would like to make the following comments.
First, it’s unfair, and too narrow a view, to evaluate
Cambodia’s past co-operation with the UN in a few paragraphs. Twenty years of
co-operation have brought many tangible benefits, from a democratic transition
to socio-economic development and the building of human resources.
Many of the post-conflict nations where the UN has helped
broker peace are still marred by divided armed factions, but Cambodia has
developed not only its domestic well-being but has contributed to the
international community by turning itself from a recipient country of
peacekeeping forces to a dispatching country of such forces.
Second, the United Nations Security Council is not an
exclusive club for perfect countries (if there is such a thing in this world).
UN bodies belong to every member country. As such, they have a fair
representation not only in terms of region but also level of development.
It’s common for member states to have different opinions
from the UN, and UN bodies are not always right. The UN consists of many
countries that naturally have their own agendas. Who would say UN was sane
enough to recognise the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime after 1979?
Finally, having more than 100 countries support Cambodia’s
candidature means they recognised Cambodia’s ability to represent the voice and
interests of the many vulnerable countries in this world, and its ability to
actively participate in maintaining peace and security in the world, based on
its experiences in peacebuilding and national reconstruction.
Sim Vireak
Sim Vireak
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(Phnom Penh Post, 26 January 2012)
Security Council bid shameful
Tony Guterres
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Dear Editor,
I read in yesterday’s Phnom Penh Post that Prime Minister
Hun Sen is still working hard on winning a seat on the United Nations Security
Council for 2013-2014.
The Prime Minister talks about more than 100 countries
apparently supporting such a bid.
Those countries
should be ashamed of themselves, given this government's actions over the past
two years, which include:
- threatening to expel the highest-ranking United Nations official in the country (resident co-ordinator Douglas Broderick);
- threatening to close down the UN Human Rights office in this country;
- requesting the removal of the UN Human Rights country director in Cambodia;
- interfering in the proceedings of the UN-sponsored Khmer Rouge tribunal (the latest example being the saga regarding the appointment of Judge Kasper-Ansermet);
- unlawfully incarcerating a UN employee for six months in a clear case of intimidation against the UN;
- violating the UN convention on the protection of refugees by deporting Uighur and Montagnard asylum-seekers;
- maintaining Cambodia among the most corrupt countries in the world (according to a Transparency International survey);
- maintaining Cambodia as the worst country on the rule-of-law index (as ranked by the World Justice Project);
- continuing a systematic campaign of unlawful evictions, land grabs and human-rights violations; and
- continuing its efforts to shrink the overall democratic space by clamping down on freedom of expression and the political opposition (as per today's Human Rights Watch classification of Cambodia as “not a free country”.
Giving Cambodia a seat on the UN Security Council at this
time would translate into the UN endorsing and rewarding the government's
"rogue" actions against UN institutions and principles.
The UN and its member states should uphold the values and
principles of UN membership. Giving a seat to Cambodia would do the exact
opposite.
The media needs to put the facts straight to avoid having
such a surreal bid materialise.
Tony Guterres
Phnom Penh