Calm, mostly, prevails
Although International Human Rights Day ended in the forceful eviction of protesters from outside the US embassy last night, monks and their supporters who spent days marching to the capital met with no opposition in the morning as they defied a ban on marching to the National Assembly.
The 1,000-strong group was among tens of thousands who marked the day in the streets and parks of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Included were 5,000 opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party supporters who rallied at the capital’s Freedom Park and more than 15,000 people who greeted CNRP leader Sam Rainsy in Siem Reap later in the day. …
The five groups of monks, who marched a combined 1,000 kilometres from different parts of the country beginning on December 1, blocked the road outside the assembly, calling for an end to rights abuses.
The restrained response from police amounted to a compromise on the government’s part, Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said. …
Across the city at Freedom Park, about 5,000 CNRP supporters gathered as party leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha took to the stage to call for rights to be respected and to remind the crowd why the opposition party continues to boycott the National Assembly.
To raucous applause, Rainsy told the crowd he wished to imitate Nelson Mandela’s struggle against apartheid, as the world tuned in to watch a memorial service for the late former South African leader being held in Johannesburg. …
Ahead of the authorities’ 12pm deadline for the CNRP supporters to disperse from Freedom Park, Rainsy and lawmaker-elect Mu Sochua led about 2,000 supporters the short distance from the park to Wat Phnom, where they joined about 5,000 members of Friends of December 10.
From signs condemning corruption and the violation of women’s rights to vociferous speeches calling for the protection of natural resources and ethnic minorities, the message from the several thousand strong crowd and civil society groups at Wat Phnom was clear: poor rights protections are undermining social justice in Cambodia.
In a joint statement, the 33 NGOs that organised the event praised a few recent developments from the government, including an increase in factory workers’ minimum wage in May and the provisional release of land activist Yorm Bopha from prison last month.
But the groups targeted old bugbears such as the continued lack of an independent judiciary, land grabbing and forced evictions, basic labour rights and threats against human rights defenders. The lack of a freedom of information law and poor government transparency – areas of reform that the prime minister has asked to be expedited in the post-election period – were also singled out. …
After Rainsy’s departure, Wan-Hea Lee, country representative for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, spoke to an audience that had thinned considerably. …
Cambodia would be hard-pressed to achieve true social justice and respect for human rights without a responsive government, she said, hinting that the ruling party needs to do more to integrate the ideas of the people into its policies. …
In a statement released yesterday, Prime Minister Hun Sen pledged his government’s support for human rights. …
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/calm-mostly-prevails
