Rights group says US military support breaches Congress bill
U.S.-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday released a report claiming that Washington’s ongoing support for Cambodian security forces is inconsistent with U.S. Congress directives regarding aid to Cambodia. HRW charges that last month’s 10-day Angkor Sentinel military exercise, undertaken by members of the U.S. military and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), breaches a bill signed by U.S. President Barack Obama in January. … The U.S. provides $80 million in aid to Cambodia annually, only a portion of which is given directly to the government. The January budget bill suspended all of the direct funding except that for humanitarian aid and human rights training for RCAF. The annual Angkor Sentinel exercises are, ostensibly, training for multinational peacekeeping forces. Photos posted to the official Angkor Sentinel Facebook page show Cambodian soldiers armed with AK-47 assault rifles engaged in combat exercises. “It’s shocking that the U.S. military is providing armed soldiers training in kicking down doors soon after Cambodian armed forces killed protesting workers in Phnom Penh,” Mr. Adams said, referring to the lethal suppression of garment sector protests in January. … Carlyle Thayer, a Southeast Asia expert and emeritus professor at the Australian Defense Force Academy, said that while Cambodia’s recent contributions to global peacekeeping efforts had been “stellar,” the HRW report raised concerns that need to be investigated. …
Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rights-group-says-us-military-support-breaches-congress-bill-59227/
