Informal Note on the Press Conference by Thomas Hammarberg, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights in Cambodia

Geneva, 6 April 1998


In introductory remarks, Mr. Hammarberg, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights in Cambodia, said the main emphasis of his report was the phenomenon of impunity. When the Commission on Human Rights was in session last year a peaceful and authorized demonstration in Phnom Penh outside the parliament building was attacked by hand grenades. At least 16 people died and over a hundred were injured. The Commission in its resolution on Cambodia, strongly condemned this act of violence and asked for investigations and prosecutions. Mr. Hammarberg said he would have to report to the Commission today that no action had been taken. No report was made on the investigation, no one was arrested or prosecuted for these very serious human rights violations. This was unfortunately indicative of the present situation in Cambodia.

In early July 1997, the composition of the Government was changed by military force, Mr. Hammarberg continued. Subsequently the dominating party in the Government, the Cambodian People’s Party, published a list of wanted people. One of those on the list was the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Interior who was captured outside the Embassy of Singapore, brought to the Ministry of Interior and shot. Following this event, the Special Representative received several reports of executions of military and intelligence personnel linked to the party that had won the election; the Funcinpec party. In August 1997, Mr. Hammarberg submitted to the Government a Memorandum detailing 41 cases of such executions. The Second Prime Minister, in a meeting, then promised to examine this report carefully, carry out investigations and see to it that those responsible would be prosecuted and sentenced. By December, nothing was done.

Following a visit by the High Commissioner for Human Rights in January of this year, two experts would be sent to Cambodia to observe whether any investigations had been carried out. The two experts, Mr. Peter Burns, member of the Committee Against Torture, and the former Head of the Indian FBI, would be accompanying the Special Representative to Cambodia in two weeks time. To date, there had been no prosecutions.

Mr. Hammarberg said an additional 50 cases of executions were examined and confirmed by his team in Phnom Penh since August 1997. A memorandum on these cases would be submitted to the Government on his return to the country in two weeks time. Mr. Hammarberg said the situation was serious in particular in the light of preparations for free and fair elections.

On impunity and crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge, Mr. Hammarberg said the Commission invited last year the Cambodian Government to discuss this matter. The then two Prime Ministers, HRH Ranariddh and HE Hun Sen then sent a letter to the Secretary-General asking for assistance to start proceedings against the leadership of the Khmer Rouge. The General-Assembly, in November, authorised the Secretary-General to appoint a team of expert to go to Cambodia to assess evidence and propose further measures. Mr. Hammarberg said he was presently consulting with various experts in order to prepare a proposal to the Secretary-General for such a team to be appointed and sent to Cambodia.

Concerning, the much publicised trials against prince Ranariddh and other members of his party, Mr. Hammarberg said that from a human rights point of view these trials were unacceptable. The executive had repeatedly stated, from July 6 1997 onwards, that those under prosecution and later charged were guilty of the crimes. Moreover, there were a series of inaccuracies and shortcomings during the course of the trials.

This had led the Special Representative to conclude the basic requirements for a fair trial were not met. He regretted the impression was created that the trials were called on by the international community as part of a process towards a peace deal which would enable the candidates and parties to take part in the election. From a human rights point of view, it was unfortunate to use mock trials as an element of peace building. Mr. Hammarberg said he would update his report on this issue.

The report of the Special Representative also dealt with many other problems, such as the rights of the child, economic and social rights, the right to education, the situation of indigenous peoples in Cambodia and the treatment of women.

Responding to a question on the 50 new cases of executions, Mr. Hammarberg gave a number of examples of persons executed. On January 27, a teacher in the province of Prey Veng, who was an active member of the opposition party, Khmer Nation Party, was killed as well as his four year old daughter. On 19 February, in a village in the Banteay Meanchey province, the wife and two other members of a defected army captain were arrested by soldiers in the night and then executed.

To an additional question, Mr. Hammarberg said the 50 persons executed were royalist supporters connected to prince Ranariddh and to the military or intelligence security side of his machinery. The 41 executions mentioned in the report took place from early July until the third week of August. From the end of August to March of this year an additional 50 cases were reported to his team in Phnom Penh and investigated by them.

Mr. Hammarberg said he had repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction at Government investigations and lack of proceedings. In certain cases all the details were known and proceedings should be engaged. For example, the circumstances of the above-mentioned case of the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Interior were known. If no action was taken on such a crystal clear case, one could only presume that there was no political will to move on. It was important to foster an atmosphere in the country where it was felt the Government was doing something to install justice.

Asked what the chances of prince Ranariddh’s survival were, Mr. Hammarberg said he did not want to speculate on people’s chances of survival or even on their protection.

To a question on the upcoming elections, Mr. Hammarberg said should elections be held today they would not be fair. Many of the basic requirements for free and fair elections were not fulfilled. Not only was there insecurity about the safety of politicians but also the possibilities for parties and politicians to be heard through the media were limited and unfairly distributed. There was a need for some dramatic improvements for fair elections to take place. A meeting in New York would be held on Wednesday of this week to assess the situation and determine what role the UN should play in the elections.

The assumption so far was that there would be an attempt by the UN to support elections and coordinate the work of international observers in order to make an international contribution to the election as effective as possible. Only on this condition could free and fair elections take place, Mr. Hammarberg stated, adding that this remained an open question. To date elections were scheduled to take place on July 26. This was the date set by the Parliament although there were still discussions about further delays.

To a question on the exact nature of the Government, Mr. Hammarberg said it was a coalition Government made up of three parties. The Cambodian People’s party, the Funcinpec party and the Buddhist Liberal Democratic party. It was a very complicated situation and many parties would run in the election in July.

Concerning impunity enjoyed by the Khmer Rouge, Mr. Hammarberg said a resolution of the Khmer Rouge problem was absolutely necessary for the country. There was a feeling that justice should be made even if it was too late. He expressed the hope that the experts, to be sent to Cambodia to examine the evidence, would come up with a model which would gain international support. Discussions were underway to see whether such proceedings could take place inside Cambodia itself. The question was then whether security could be guaranteed and one could avoid political interferences.

Asked whether it was possible to set up an international tribunal or whether the problem should be resolved by the Cambodians themselves, Mr. Hammarberg responded that it was one of the options the experts would explore. There had been proposals to further extend the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia so as to address this issue. Problems could arise, however, in getting necessary political support in the Security Council. This was made clear from consultations within that organ after consideration of the letter sent by the then two Prime Ministers, HRH Ranariddh and HE Hun Sen. If one could guarantee a fair trial, he felt it would be extremely valuable to have the proceedings take place in Cambodia.

Asked whether one particular country in the Security Council was opposed to such a development, Mr. Hammarberg said it seemed none of the five permanent members were happy with this approach. He had no detailed information on their exact position. It seemed, however, that some members had indicated more interest since the summer.

Recalling that a trial of Khmer leaders had already taken place in 1979 after the Vietnamese invasion, a correspondent noted the outcome of a trial in Cambodia would very much depend on who was in power. Mr. Hammarberg said the proceedings in 1979 were not recognised as a fair trial. The advantage of the present situation was that there was full political support by all parties. In addition, the approach included international support, possibly international judges and a prosecutor.

The experts to be sent to Cambodia would go through the evidence and see if there was sufficient material to start proceedings. They would then assess what legal instruments should be used, both in national law and international law, and decide whether it was possible to have a trial in the country. If not they would consider other options. A correspondent noted that a UN worker had been attacked in Cambodia. Had other UN staff recently received threats as a result of problems between the human right’s centre and the Government? Responding, Mr. Hammarberg said last Thursday a Khmer staff member was severely beaten and threatened by the police in Phnom Penh when he was on a monitoring mission.

To a question on the 60,000 refugees, Mr. Hammarberg said it was very important that they have a chance to return to vote in the July elections. Moreover, the fact that they were in Thailand or along the border was proof of a lack of security. Measures should be taken to ensure peace during the election campaign.