PROFILE RAISED ON HUN SEN'S ABUSE O

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Subject: PROFILE RAISED ON HUN SEN'S ABUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS

PROFILE RAISED ON HUN SEN'S ABUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS
26.8.97/THE NATION
REUTER

THE international community needs to help ensure that human
rights are respected in Cambodia in the aftermath of last month's
coup that killed dozens of people and displaced tens of
thousands, Human Rights Watch Asia said.

The New York-based human rights group said in a report received
in Bangkok yesterday that a lack of international agreement on
how to deal with strongman Hun Sen, who ousted his rival co
premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh on July 6, had allowed him to
consolidate power.

"The international community has responded to the coup and its
aftermath with policies that have wavered between firmness and
appeasement," the group said in a report on the aftermath of the
coup.

'The tension that permeated the country's political life over the
past four years ... has erupted into a protracted campaign of
intimidation by Hun Sen's forces," the report said.

Second Prime Minister Hun Sen staged his bloody power grab with
two days of fighting on the streets of Phnom Penh while Ranariddh
was out of the country.

He and the prince had previously ruled in an uneasy coalition
that emerged from UN-sponsored elections in 1993.

"Between 30 to 40 members of [Ranariddh's Funcinpec party] were
killed in custody by forces of [Hun Sen's] Cambodian People's
Party in the first days of the coup and recent findings by human
rights investigators indicate that the extrajudicial executions
are continuing," the report said.

It said dozens of Funcinpec army officers remained in detention
or unaccounted for, while more than 30 parliamentarians and
journalists had fled the country since the coup. Many of the
opposition politicians have come to Thailand.

In addition, tens of thousands of Cambodians have crossed into
Thailand to seek refuge from the fighting between Hun Sen forces
and Funcinpec-led troops over the past seven weeks.

The report called for an end to the executions, arrests and
harassment of opposition party members and military personnel. It
also urged Hun Sen to authorise independent investigations into
all cases of extrajudicial execution and torture documented by
the United Nations Centre for Human Rights (UNCHR).

Hun Sen has demanded an apology from the UNCHR in Phnom Penh and
the replacement of its staff after the centre reported the
executions and torture in the aftermath of the coup.

The Human Rights Watch report also urged the international
community to play a leading role in promoting settlement in
Cambodia and providing financial support to set up an independent
election commission.

It also called on foreign governments to continue to provide
humanitarian aid through non-governmental organisations and urged
them help Cambodians seeking political asylum.

Human Rights Watch Asia said although most nations have applauded
Hun Sen's vow to hold elections as scheduled next May, it said
they would not mean anything if Hun Sen did not ensure full
participation of the opposition in the polls.

"It would be a grave mistake for the international community to
see elections in and of themselves as the solution to human
rights violations," it said.

Meanwhile, in Phnom Penh Khmer Rouge rebels yesterday said Hun
Sen should appear before an international tribunal to answer for
reported political killings and human rights violations.

A statement broadcast on the guerrilla group's clandestine radio,
for years the propaganda mouthpiece of the Maoist movement, also
called for the reinstatement of Ranariddh.

"The puppet Hun Sen and his extremists must face an international
court for mass killings," the radio said. "Cambodia [should]
implement the law and not let the puppet Hun Sen violate
international law, international accords and human rights." 

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