AKP Phnom Penh, March 09, 2022 — The following is the Statement by Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Cambodia H.E. SOKKHOEURN AN, at the 49th Session of the Human Rights Council “General Debate on Item 2: High Commissioner’s Oral Update” on Mar. 08, 2022:
“Mr. President,
Madam High Commissioner!
1. My delegation shared the perspective of Mr. President over the politicisation of this Council and the biased version of a supposed hierarchy among categories of human rights.
2. We note with great dismay that Madam High Commissioner was ill-advised and selective when it comes to situation in Cambodia.
3. To state that the casino workers’ strike is lawful is erroneous. The court had declared it illegal since last December. The residents had complained of being disturbed by this month-long unlawful protest. Authorities exercised utmost restraint and even knelt down to plead their compliance with the Covid-19 protocols. At least 130 protesters had tested positive. Madam High Commissioner, is a proscribed protest disrupting public order and abusing public health measures a constitutional exercise of the peaceful assembly?
4. An inter-ministerial meeting headed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior is convened on 09 March 2022 to address the month-long politicised labour dispute.
Mr. President,
Madam High Commissioner!
5. An absence of one political party in the coming election, due to its violation of the laws, does not detract Cambodia from pluralism. Regardless of the results, an indisputable fact is that voters are able to choose one among the 17 political parties already inscribed in the contest, whose equal political rights and dignity, whether large or small, must be respected.
6. To conclude, we witness the year-long sheer silence of the OHCHR on dangerous populist rhetoric of certain opposition elements in Cambodia, whose approach is to spread disinformation, throw indiscriminate insults and slanders, incite racial hatred and xenophobia, and call on sedition with cash offer. Are these what you name legitimate conducts under international law, Madam High Commissioner?
I thank you!”
Source: Agency Kampuchea Press