Fri, 17 January 2014
Kevin Ponniah
UN human rights envoy Surya Subedi yesterday said he was “alarmed” by
anti-Vietnamese language used by the opposition party to rally its
supporters, a message he said he had conveyed to Cambodia National
Rescue Party leaders during his visit.
Speaking at a press conference to conclude his visit, Subedi said he
had told CNRP leaders that tolerance and racial harmony would be crucial
for the future of Cambodian democracy.
“I am alarmed by the anti-Vietnamese language allegedly used in public by the opposition,” he said.
Subedi also noted attacks on several Vietnamese-owned businesses during
violent clashes between striking garment workers and authorities on
January 3.
“Dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred,
incitement to racial discrimination, as well as acts of violence or
incitement to such acts against any race or group of person of another
colour or ethnic origin … have no place in a democratic society,” he
said.
In talks with him, CNRP leaders had denied they meant what others had
inferred from their statements, Subedi added in response to a question,
without specifying what those inferences were.
“Whatever measures other people [had] inferred from their statements,
it was not their intention. They were not implying that,” he said.
“People were perhaps inferring different conclusions from that, but they
[CNRP leadership] assured me they will [work], and they have worked,
within a democratic framework and respecting tolerance and racial
harmony.”
Vietnamese illegal immigrants living and working in Cambodia, as well
as Vietnamese companies holding economic land concessions and alleged
Vietnamese land-grabbing, have been a frequent theme of CNRP rhetoric
both before and after the election.
In December, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights criticized the
opposition initially for using “harmful language” against Vietnamese and
later, in a follow-up statement, for singling out Vietnamese for
criticism.
During Subedi’s last visit to the Kingdom in May, senior minister and
Cambodian Human Rights Committee head Om Yentieng complained that
Subedi never targeted the opposition. At the time, Yentieng said
Subedi’s reports were weaker than European football arbitrators for not
mentioning racial discrimination by the opposition and compared Subedi’s
work to “an arrow shooting at one side of the government”.
Perhaps in response, Subedi’s press statement following that visit
urged all sides to “refrain completely from exploiting racial
sentiments” but did not specifically name the CNRP, in contrast to
yesterday’s much stronger statement.
CNRP leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha could not be reached for
comment yesterday, but a statement from the party released August 27
clarified its position on the Vietnamese issue.
“The CNRP opposes violence, racism, xenophobia and discrimination,” it said.