III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 279 

Reaffirming the commitment of the United States to promote democracy, 

human rights, and the rule of law in Cambodia. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 3, 2017 

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. RUBIO, Ms. WARREN, Mr. CRUZ, 

and Mr. MARKEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

NOVEMBER 1, 2017 

Reported by Mr. CORKER, with an amendment and an amendment to the 

preamble 

NOVEMBER 16, 2017 

Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble 

RESOLUTION 

Reaffirming the commitment of the United States to promote 

democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in Cambodia. 

Whereas Prime Minister Hun Sen has been in power in Cambodia since 1985 and is the longest-serving leader in 

Southeast Asia; 

Whereas the Paris Peace Accords in 1991 provided a vital 

framework, supported by the international community, 

intended to help Cambodia undertake a transition to democracy, including through elections and multiparty government; 


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Whereas the United States Government, for more than 25 

years, has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in development aid and other types of assistance to the people 

of Cambodia and funded work in areas including civil society, capacity building for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), global health, and the Khmer Rouge Tribunal; 

Whereas despite decades of international attention and assistance to promote a pluralistic, multi-party democratic system in Cambodia, the Government of Cambodia continues 

to be undemocratically dominated by the ruling Cambodia 

People’s Party (CPP), which controls every agency and 

security apparatus of the state; 

Whereas the leadership of Cambodia’s security forces, including all of its top military and police commanders, sit on 

the Central Committee of the Politburo of the CPP; 

Whereas the CPP controls Cambodia’s parliament and can 

pass legislation without any opposition, and has often 

passed laws that benefit its rule and weaken the capacity 

of the opposition to challenge it; 

Whereas each of the five elections that have taken place in 

Cambodia since 1991 were not conducted in circumstances that were free and fair, and each were 

marked by fraud, intimidation, violence, and the government’s misuse of legal mechanisms to weaken opposition 

candidates and parties; 

Whereas in 2015, the CPP-controlled parliament passed the 

‘‘Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations’’, known as LANGO, which gave the government 

sweeping powers to revoke the registration of NGOs 


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found to be operating with a political bias in a blatant 

attempt to restrict the legitimate work of civil society; 

Whereas since the passage of LANGO, the Interior Ministry 

has announced that it was surveilling several civil society 

organizations and their employees for allegedly aiding 

Cambodia’s opposition party, the Cambodia National 

Rescue Party (CNRP); 

Whereas the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI), and other nongovernmental organizations that advance United States 

policy objectives abroad have a long history in Cambodia 

and respect unique cultural, historical, and religious differences when promoting policies, engaging local partners, and building capacity for civil society, democracy, 

and good governance; 

Whereas, on August 23, 2017, Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered the closure of NDI and the expulsion 

of its foreign staff on allegations that it had violated 

LANGO and was conspiring against Prime Minister Hun 

Sen; 

Whereas, on September 15, 2017, Prime Minister Hun Sen 

called for the withdrawal of all volunteers from the 

United States Peace Corps, which has operated in Cambodia since 2006 with 500 United States volunteers providing English language and healthcare training; 

Whereas the Government of Cambodia in 2016 arrested four 

senior staff members of the Cambodian Human Rights 

and Development Association (ADHOC), as well as a 

former ADHOC staff member and official on the National Election Committee (NEC), and held them in pretrial detention for 427 days until released on bail on 


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June 29, 2017, in the wake of sustained international 

pressure; 

Whereas the Government of Cambodia arrested activist and 

women’s rights defender Tep Vanny in August 2016 and 

has kept her in prison for over a year; 

Whereas the prominent Cambodian political commentator 

Kem Ley was assassinated on July 10, 2016, five days 

after a senior Cambodian general publicly called on the 

Cambodian Armed Forces to ‘‘eliminate and dispose of’’ 

anyone ‘‘fomenting social turmoil’’ in Cambodia; 

Whereas Kem Ley had been a frequent critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen, fueling concerns that his killing was politically motivated and ordered by higher authorities; 

Whereas the Government of Cambodia has taken several 

measures to restrict its media environment, including imposing a tax bill amounting to millions of dollars levied 

against independent media outlets that resulted in the 

closure of independent newspaper The Cambodian Daily 

in early September 2017; 

Whereas the Government of Cambodia has ordered several 

radio stations to stop the broadcasting of Radio Free 

Asia and Voice of America; 

Whereas the next general election in Cambodia is scheduled 

for July 29, 2018, and the CPP continues to use intimidation and misuse of legal mechanisms to weaken political opposition and media organizations in order to retain 

its power; 

Whereas the Cambodian parliament in 2017 passed two repressive amendments to Cambodia’s Law on Political 

Parties that allow authorities to dissolve political parties 

and ban party leaders from political activity, and which 


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contain numerous restrictions tailored to create obstacles 

for opposition parties in an attempt to maintain the 

CPP’s hold on power; 

Whereas Kem Sokha, the President of CNRP, was arrested 

on September 3, 2017, and charged with treason and 

conspiring with the United States Government to overthrow the Government of Cambodia, and if convicted 

faces up to 30 years in prison, which sets the stage for 

the CNRP to be dissolved; 

Whereas the United States Embassy in Cambodia has publicly called for the immediate release of Mr. Sokha and 

the removal of restrictions on civil society; 

Whereas the CNRP’s previous leader, Sam Rainsy, remains 

in exile due to an outstanding warrant for his arrest in 

a politically motivated criminal case; 

Whereas Human Rights Watch reported that local elections 

held in Cambodia on June 4, 2017, took place in a 

‘‘threatening environment hostile to free speech and genuine political participation, leading to elections that were 

neither free nor fair’’; 

Whereas international election monitoring groups reported 

fundamental flaws in the electoral process and violations 

of Cambodia’s election campaign rules during June’s 

local election; 

Whereas the Interior Ministry of Cambodia demanded that 

two election-monitoring organizations cease their activities just months after the local elections for allegedly violating the LANGO law, which will allow the CPP to continue to increase restrictions on election monitoring as 

the 2018 national elections approach; 


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Whereas despite irregularities in the electoral process, the 

CNRP made significant gains in local elections compared 

to previous cycles, making clear that national elections in 

2018, if they are conducted freely and fairly, will be 

tightly contested; and 

Whereas national elections in 2018 will be closely watched to 

ensure openness and fairness, and to monitor whether all 

political parties and civil society groups are allowed to 

freely participate: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

3 States to promote democracy, human rights, and the 

4 rule of law in Cambodia; 

5 (2) condemns all forms of political violence in 

6 Cambodia, and urges the cessation of ongoing 

7 human rights violations; 

8 (3) urges Prime Minister Hun Sen and the 

9 Cambodian People’s Party to end all harassment 

10 and intimidation of Cambodia’s opposition and fos11 ter an environment where democracy can thrive and 

12 flourish; 

13 (4) urges the Department of the Treasury, in 

14 consultation with the Department of State, to con15 sider placing all senior Cambodian government offi16 cials implicated in the abuses noted above on the 

17 Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list; 


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1 (5) urges the Government of Cambodia to free 

2 Mr. Kem Sokha immediately and unconditionally; 

3 (6) calls on the Government of Cambodia to re4 spect freedom of the press and the rights of its citi5 zens to freely assemble, protest, and speak out 

6 against the government; and 

7 (7) supports electoral reform efforts in Cam8 bodia and free and fair elections in 2018 monitored 

9 by international observers. 

Æ 


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