Macau Daily
Friday, 04 January 2008
Prime Minister Hun Sen lashed out yesterday at the UN rights envoy to Cambodia, saying he should deal with violence in his homeland Kenya before demanding reform from the government in Phnom Penh.
The attack against Kenyan lawyer Yash Ghai was the latest in an ongoing row between government officials and the envoy over his scathing assessment of Cambodia's rights situation.
Calling him the "human rights emperor", Hun Sen said Ghai needed to turn his attentions to Kenya instead of unfairly scrutinising Cambodia.
More than 340 people have been killed in Kenya in a wave of bloodshed triggered by last week's disputed presidential polls.
"Now the bloodshed in Yash Ghai's Kenya has almost created a killing field ... he has criticised Cambodia for the same things that are happening in his own country," Hun Sen said in a speech broadcast over state radio.
"I am sending a message to the UN secretary general to send Yash Ghai to work in his own country rather than Cambodia," Hun Sen added.
Before leaving Cambodia after his latest visit last month, Ghai, who was snubbed by government officials, said the country's judiciary has failed, leaving the population in fear of going to court and threatening the rule of law.
The rebuke spurred Cambodia to lodge a formal complaint against Ghai with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Ghai has repeatedly clashed with Cambodian leaders in the past due to his unusually blunt assessments of the government's reform failures.
Hun Sen has said he would never meet with Ghai, who was appointed as the UN rights envoy in November 2005.
The premier has called Ghai "stupid," "rude" and a "god without virtue."
On Thursday he offered to send Cambodian peacekeepers into Kenya under the UN flag "in order to tell Yash Ghai that Cambodia is not only capable of handling its problems, but that we can also help others."
Friday, 04 January 2008
Prime Minister Hun Sen lashed out yesterday at the UN rights envoy to Cambodia, saying he should deal with violence in his homeland Kenya before demanding reform from the government in Phnom Penh.
The attack against Kenyan lawyer Yash Ghai was the latest in an ongoing row between government officials and the envoy over his scathing assessment of Cambodia's rights situation.
Calling him the "human rights emperor", Hun Sen said Ghai needed to turn his attentions to Kenya instead of unfairly scrutinising Cambodia.
More than 340 people have been killed in Kenya in a wave of bloodshed triggered by last week's disputed presidential polls.
"Now the bloodshed in Yash Ghai's Kenya has almost created a killing field ... he has criticised Cambodia for the same things that are happening in his own country," Hun Sen said in a speech broadcast over state radio.
"I am sending a message to the UN secretary general to send Yash Ghai to work in his own country rather than Cambodia," Hun Sen added.
Before leaving Cambodia after his latest visit last month, Ghai, who was snubbed by government officials, said the country's judiciary has failed, leaving the population in fear of going to court and threatening the rule of law.
The rebuke spurred Cambodia to lodge a formal complaint against Ghai with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Ghai has repeatedly clashed with Cambodian leaders in the past due to his unusually blunt assessments of the government's reform failures.
Hun Sen has said he would never meet with Ghai, who was appointed as the UN rights envoy in November 2005.
The premier has called Ghai "stupid," "rude" and a "god without virtue."
On Thursday he offered to send Cambodian peacekeepers into Kenya under the UN flag "in order to tell Yash Ghai that Cambodia is not only capable of handling its problems, but that we can also help others."
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