Lakhan Mehrotra
THE UN Secretary General's Personal Representative in Cambodia,
T
HE UN Secretary General's Personal Representative in Cambodia Lakhan Mehrotra ruffled
more than a few feathers last week at the June 14 meet with impromptu comments calling
Hun Sen a "champion of democracy".
Ambassador Mehrotra was asked by Hun Sen to comment on the day's proceedings about
an hour before the end of the meeting.
THE UN Secretary General's Personal Representative in Cambodia Lakhan Mehrotra ruffled
more than a few feathers last week at the June 14 meet with impromptu comments calling
Hun Sen a "champion of democracy".
Ambassador Mehrotra was asked by Hun Sen to comment on the day's proceedings about
an hour before the end of the meeting.
To the astonishment and horror of many donors, the ambassador said he had always
known that Hun Sen was a "champion of democracy". He then praised the Prime
Minister for making the connection between the rule of law and respect for human
rights as being a fundamental plinth for development, and suggested that he [the
Prime Minister] was the only person in the room to do so.
This came after Canadian Ambassador Gordon Longmuir had delivered a speech reminding
the government that a "critical and sensitive set of questions" needed
to be addressed relating to rule of law, independent judiciary, creating a benign
police authority, and continuing reform of the criminal justice law.
He had added that the protection of human rights must also be addressed.
Many donors expressed outrage at Mehrotra's comments.
"It was reprehensible," said one human rights worker. "In any other
country he would lose his job."
"We couldn't believe that he would say such a thing" said another observer.
Ambassador Mehrotra, in a June 21 interview with the Post, said that he stood by
the statements.
"From 1989 to 1991, Hun Sen emerged as a staunch champion of human rights,"
he said. "He pleaded for references to genocide and crimes against humanity
[in an international trial against the Khmer Rouge]."
"I reminded him at the conference that this championship must continue."
Asked whether he thought it was fair to call the Prime Minister a champion of democracy
bearing in mind the scores of unsolved extra-judicial killings resulting from the
March 30 1997 grenade attack on Sam Rainsy, the July '97 coup, plus the pre- and
post- election violence, Mehrotra responded that he believed Hun Sen was looking
to the future.
"There are indications that he is pursuing that goal [to continue championing
democracy], for example the Khmer Rouge tribunal, which he proposes to establish
- he has promised an international character and standard. This commitment comes
from the Prime Minister to no less a person that the Secretary General of the United
Nations himself ... we can see how far [his commitment] goes."
Asked about his comment that Hun Sen was the only one to have addressed human rights
in relation to development in the room, bearing in mind Longmuir's comments, Mehrotra
said:
"I said that he was probably the only one to link the two."
Ambassador Longmuir said he had no comment on Mehrotra's speech, saying "you'll
have to ask Ambassador Mehrotra himself."
Meanwhile the rest of the first of the quarterly Government-Donor meetings could
be counted as a success for the Government.
The overwhelming response of the donor community was a definite thumbs-up regarding
government performance - particularly in relation to Hun Sen's participation, which
was variously described as "outstanding" and "unique".
"He knew all the details," said one attendee, "in fact he knew them
better than some of his ministers."
Officials presented reports on forestry, demobilization, civil service reform and
fiscal reform, while donors responded with questions, and in many cases, congratulations
for what Asian Development Bank Representative Someth Suos called the government's
"speedy progress" over the last four months.
But while no-one seems to now be questioning the sincerity of the government to press
ahead with reforms, at least at the moment, the real question, in the aftermath of
all the promises and pledges, is whether the government can continue to keep everyone
on the right track over the next few months.
"There was definite political will there," said Jenny Pearson, one of the
NGO delegates at the meeting, "but there is a difference between political will
and [actually getting legislation passed]."
"The next few months are critical," said one diplomat. "It's then
that the reforms will actually start to bite into the pockets of those who are benefiting
from the corruption."
It's a sentiment shared by many donors and observers. In the forestry sector, for
example, the government has definitely made some sound steps towards eradicating
illegal logging. In his report on the sector, Chan Tong Iev, Secretary of State for
the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, announced that the government
had achieved almost a "95% reduction in illegal felling".
Certainly, agrees environmental monitor Global Witness, the government crackdown
has been very effective against the small and medium sized illegal operators. But,
according to Simon Taylor, "many of the key movers and facilitators of this
business are still in control of illegal log stockpiles - in fact, virtually the
entire infrastructure of illegal logging remains in place, which does not give the
crackdown an air of permanence."
In addition, little has been done to regulate the companies who hold legal logging
concessions, may of whom have been documented as perpetrating extensive illegal activities.
The real test in this sector, it seems, is whether the government is willing to dole
out the same tough treatment to the big players.
"I think we have to see how things pan out a bit longer to see if the crackdown
is going to move on from its current situation into something a little more permanent,"
said Taylor.
Other sectors are also likely to throw up unpleasant surprises for some people, for
example within demobilization, where the well-publicized "ghost soldiers"
are being sought out and swiftly decommissioned. While this is good news for Cambodia,
it's bad news for the handful of people who have been profiting from the scam.
The same goes for civil service reform, widely acknowledged to be the sector where
reform is slowest. The government has started to computerize the civil service payroll-
but it's still unclear whether this will effectively weed out the "ghost civil
servants" which plague the bloated civil service. Hun Sen addressed the matter
in his closing speech, at the meeting, pledging that there would be a fully operational
"computerized management system for the payroll by the end of 1999, and a complete
civil service census by March 2000."
Contact PhnomPenh Post for full article
Post Media Co LtdThe Elements Condominium, Level 7
Hun Sen Boulevard
Phum Tuol Roka III
Sangkat Chak Angre Krom, Khan Meanchey
12353 Phnom Penh
Cambodia
Telegram: 092 555 741
Email: [email protected]