The UN human rights mandate in Cambodia: the challenge of a country in transition and the experience of the special rapporteur for the country

Abstract

Thanks to the commitment on the part of the national actors, the work of the civil society organisations, international support and the work of the UN special rapporteurs for the country, Cambodia has made encouraging progress in promoting and protecting human rights in the country, but still has a long way to go to meet the international benchmark in this regard. Thus, the UN human rights mandate in Cambodia is still very much relevant as there is still a job to do. Without a meaningful dialogue with the government it is difficult to make a difference to the lives of the people of Cambodia. As expected by the Human Rights Council, the approach of the current special rapporteur has been a constructive one in his dealings with the government. As an international lawyer, he has regarded that the central element of his work should be to ensure that the Cambodian Government is doing everything possible in order to enable the people of Cambodia to enjoy the rights embodied in the international human rights treaties ratified by the country.

Keywords:

• human rights in Cambodia
• land and housing rights
• freedom of expression
• independence of the judiciary
• Human Rights Council
• the UN human rights mandate in Cambodia

Notes

This article emanates from a public lecture that the author delivered in his personal capacity at the Lauterpacht Centre for Research of International Law at the University of Cambridge on 27 November 2009 and a presentation given by the author at an international academic conference at the University of Leeds on 25 June 2010. This article also draws on the material contained in the 2010 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia: A/HRC/15/46 of 16 September 2010. The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author and not necessarily those of the United Nations nor those in his official capacity as the UN special rapporteur.

‘UN Envoy Welcomed, Warned’, The Phnom Penh Post, June 17, 2009, p. 1.

The Paris Peace Accords of 1991 consist of the following main agreements concluded by 19 countries which included all major powers of the day, the neighbouring countries of Cambodia, some regional powers and other states which had a significant interest in Cambodia: The Agreement on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict; the Agreement concerning the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and inviolability, neutrality and national unity of Cambodia; Declaration on the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Cambodia; and Annexes 1 to 5 to the Paris Peace Accords. See http://www.usip.org/library/pa/cambodia/agree_comppol_10231991.html (accessed 30 August 2010).

Case File 001/18-07-2007/ECCC/TC (Kaing Guek Eav) of 26 July 2010. See also Open Society Institute, ‘Recent Developments at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia: September 2010 Update’, Open Society Justice Initiative, http://www.justiceinitiative.org (accessed 30 August 2010).

The Tribunal was established in accordance with the agreement between the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia concerning the prosecution under Cambodia Law of crimes committed during the period of Democratic Kampuchea, 6 June 2003. See http://www.eccc.gov.kh/english/ (accessed 30 August 2010).

Article 17 of the Agreement on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict of 1991 reads as follows: ‘After the end of the transitional period, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights should continue to monitor the human rights situation in Cambodia, including, if necessary, by the appointment of a special rapporteur who would report his findings annually to the Commission and to the General Assembly.’

Article 3 (3) of the Agreement Concerning the Sovereignty, Independence, Territorial Integrity and Inviolability, Neutrality and National Unity of Cambodia of 1991 reads as follows: ‘The United Nations Commission on Human Rights should continue to monitor closely the human rights situation in Cambodia, including, if necessary, by the appointment of a Special Rapporteur who would report his findings annually to the Commission and to the General Assembly.’

See supra note 6.

See generally, David Weissbrodt, ‘The Three “Theme” Special Rapporteurs of the UN Commission on Human Rights’, American Journal of International Law 80 (1986): 685–99; Helena M. Cook, ‘The Role of the Special Procedures in the Protection of Human Rights: The Way Forward After Vienna’, Review of the International Commission of Jurists 50 (1993): 31–55; Marc J. Bossuyt, ‘The Development of Special Procedures of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights’, Human Rights Law Journal 6 (1985): 179–210; Lyal S. Sunga, ‘The Special Procedures of the UN Commission on Human Rights: Should they be Scrapped?’, in ed. Gudmundur Alfredsson et al. International Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms: Essays in Honour of Jakob Th. Moller (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2001), 233–77; Paulo S. Pinheiro, ‘Musings of a UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights’, Global Governance 9 (2003): 7–13; Jeroen Gutter, ‘Special Procedures and the Human Rights Council: Achievements and Challenges Ahead’, Human Rights Law Review 7 (2007): 93–107; Ingrid Nifosi, The UN Special Procedures in the Field of Human Rights (Oxford: Intesentia, 2005); Menno T. Kamminga, ‘The Thematic Procedures of the UN Commission on Human Rights’, Netherlands International Law Review XXXIV (1987): 299–323; Bertrand Ramcharan, The Protection Roles of UN Human Rights Special Procedures (Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2009).

Para. 4 of the UN General Assembly Resolution 60/251: A/RES/60/251 of 3 April 2006.

As of May 2010, according to the Ministry of Agriculture's public information, economic land concessions had been granted to 85 companies covering a total land area of 956,690 ha. NGOs' estimates are higher. See http://www.elc.maff.gov.kh/index.html (accessed 30 August 2010).

A/HRC/12/40 of 31 August 2009.

A/HRC/15/46 of 16 September 2010.

The Cambodia Daily, January 29, 2010, p. 12.

See also Ted Piccone, Catalysts for Rights: The Unique Contribution of the UN's Independent Experts on Human Rights (Washington DC: Brookings Institute, US, October 2009), 15, para.19.

Resolution adopted unanimously by the Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union at its 187th Session, Geneva, 6 October 2010: Case No. CMBD/01 – Sam Rainsy – Cambodia.

‘Sam Rainsy Raps “Kangaroo Court”’, The Phnom Penh Post, September 24, 2010, p. 4.

Paragraph 9 of the resolution: A/HRC/15.L.17.

Similar provision was included in the resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council in 2009: A/HRC/RES/12/25 of 12 October 2009.

A/HRC/RES/9/15 of 24 September 2008.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Surya P. Subedi

1