Cambodia dismisses UN human rights envoy's report as sensational, exaggerated

Om Yentieng

The Associated Press
March 20, 2008

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodia dismissed a U.N. envoy's report criticizing its government for human rights abuses and corruption as sensational and exaggerated, saying the country is on the right track for democracy.

Om Yentieng, head of the government's human rights committee, said the report ignored the progress his government has made in improving rights and the rule of law.

He said the government is disappointed with Yash Ghai, the U.N. secretary-general's special envoy on human rights in Cambodia, who submitted the report to a U.N. Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva.

Many issues described in Ghai's report "are selectively made for sensational purposes and/or overly exaggerated," Om Yentieng said in a statement received Thursday.

His response is the latest shot in the Cambodian government's long-running war of words with Ghai, a Kenya-born professor, whom Prime Minister Hun Sen has called "deranged" for accusing his administration of poor governance.

Om Yentieng, who is also a senior adviser to Hun Sen, described as "unacceptable" Ghai's assertion that the country's justice system has failed to function independently from the executive branch.

"Legal guarantees and security associated with the rule of law are largely missing in Cambodia," Ghai said in a statement on the release of his report.

Ghai said the government's control of the judiciary has bred a "high level of corruption" resulting in victimization of the poor across Cambodia and "legal impunity for ministers, officials and friends of the government."

Cambodia's judicial system is widely regarded as corrupt and susceptible to political manipulation.

The U.N. envoy also slammed the government on the issue of land and property rights.

Thousands of urban and rural dwellers have been "illegally and inhumanely" evicted from land that has been appropriated by corporations and influential individuals, he charged.

He warned that, in the long run, the inability of courts to settle disputes in a fair manner will "aggravate tensions, conflicts and the risk of violence that will be hard to manage."

Om Yentieng responded that Ghai's evaluation "does not fairly reflect the reality in the country" which "is moving on the right track" of democratic and economic progress.