Rights Visit

The government has claimed that Surya Subedi, the UN’s special rapporteur for human rights, wrote to Prime Minister Hun Sen to “apologise” for statements he made earlier this month. At the end of his third mission to the country, Subedi told a news conference he was “disappointed” that a meeting with Hun Sen scheduled for June 17 had been cancelled because of the premier’s ill health. The next week, Hun Sen criticised him in a speech, saying Subedi conveyed disrespect with his choice of words. Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong confirmed that Subedi sent a letter to Hun Sen this week that contained an apology to the prime minister. “The meaning was firstly to apologise to Samdech [Hun Sen], secondly to wish that Samdech recovers soon, has good health and a long life, and the third point was about the positive aspects of his third visit to Cambodia,” he said. But Christophe Peschoux, country director of the UN human rights agency, said the letter did not contain an apology, and instead touched on issues Subedi would have addressed in his meeting with the premier.