PRESS RELEASE

ICG condemns violence in Cambodia, calls for political compromise

Phnom Penh, 9 September 1998

Cambodia has been balanced in a precarious position ever since Cambodia's opposition parties refused to recognise the results of national elections held on 26 July 1998. Opposition complaints of intimidation and electoral fraud were dismissed by the ruling party and given only cursory examination by the official bodies set up by the government to oversee the elections. Weeks of rising political tensions finally boiled over into violence on 7 September when two grenades exploded in front of the residence of co-premier Hun Sen, who was away at the time. The government responded by sending in troops to clear protesters from the streets of Phnom Penh and issuing calls for the arrest of prominent opposition figures.

The crackdown on a peaceful, though increasingly tense and confrontational, two-week sit in outside parliament, has left at least two people dead and marks a gross violation of the legal rights of freedom of assembly and freedom of expression of every Cambodian. The government's intervention has done nothing to cool tempers and risks contributing to the country's political instability and spreading civil unrest.

Speaking from ICG's headquarters in Brussels, the group's President, Alain Destexhe, said: "The only way out of this cul-de-sac is for the Cambodian government to withdraw its soldiers, drop dubious legal charges against opposition politicians and resume peaceful and constructive dialogue with its political opponents. The government should also order a full and open investigation into allegations of electoral fraud. Until these allegations are addressed properly, the credibility of this summer's elections will remain in doubt and Cambodia will continue to be embroiled in political turmoil."

ICG believes King Norodom Sihanouk should be encouraged to try once more to open a line of dialogue between the government and the opposition. But achieving progress will also require the active involvement of the international donor community. ICG is calling on donors to tie any resumption of development assistance to political agreement between Cambodia's political parties on the composition and policy programme of the country's next government. The present leadership should be left in no doubt of the high political costs it faces if it continues to move away from democratic ideals and the pledges made under the 1991 Paris Peace Accords.

Read the full report Cambodia's Elections Turn Sour.

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