IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 661 

Reaffirming the commitment of the United States to promote democracy, 

human rights, and the rule of law in Cambodia. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 12, 2017 

Mr. LOWENTHAL (for himself, Mr. CHABOT, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. SHERMAN, 

Mr. ENGEL, Mr. ROYCE of California, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. YOHO, and Mr. 

ROHRABACHER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on 

the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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 of a 

Southeast Asian country; 

Whereas the Paris Peace Accords in 1991 provided a vital 

framework, supported by the international community, to 

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

Whereas the United States, for more than 25 years, has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in development aid 


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and other types of foreign assistance to the people of 

Cambodia, funding work in areas such as capacity building for civil society and nongovernmental organizations, 

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); 

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

of the core CPP leadership, with seats on the Central 

Committee of the Politburo of the CPP; 

Whereas the CPP controls Cambodia’s National Assembly 

and can pass legislation without any opposition, and has 

often passed laws to benefit its continued rule and to 

weaken the capacity of the opposition to challenge it; 

Whereas each of the five elections that have taken place in 

Cambodia since 1991 was conducted in circumstances 

that were neither free nor fair, and was marked by fraud, 

intimidation, violence, and the misuse of legal mechanisms by the CPP to weaken opposition candidates and 

parties; 

Whereas in 2015, the CPP-controlled National Assembly 

passed the ‘‘Law on Associations and Non-Governmental 

Organizations’’ (LANGO), giving the Government sweeping powers to revoke the registration of NGOs believed 

to be operating with a political bias, in a blatant attempt 

to restrict the legitimate work of civil society; 

Whereas since the passage of that law, the Interior Ministry 

of Cambodia has announced that it was surveilling sevVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Dec 12, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR661.IH HR661

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eral civil society organizations and their employees for allegedly aiding Cambodia’s main opposition party, the 

Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP); 

Whereas the National Democratic Institute, the International 

Republican Institute, and other similar nongovernmental 

organizations that advance democracy and human rights 

have a long history in Cambodia and respect its unique 

cultural, historical, and religious differences when promoting policies, engaging local partners, and building capacity for civil society, democracy, and good governance; 

Whereas, on April 28, 2016, the Government of Cambodia 

arrested four senior staff members of the Cambodian 

Human Rights and Development Association, as well as 

a former staff member and official on the National Election Committee, and held them in pre-trial detention for 

427 days until they were released on bail 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, on August 23, 2017, Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered the closure of the National Democratic Institute and the expulsion of its foreign staff on 


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allegations that it had violated the LANGO and was conspiring against Prime Minister Hun Sen; 

Whereas Kem Sokha, the President of CNRP, was arrested 

on September 3, 2017, on false charges of treason and 

conspiring with the United States Government to overthrow the Government of Cambodia, and would face up 

to 30 years in prison if convicted; 

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

the removal of restrictions on civil society; 

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 CNRP’s previous leader, Sam Rainsy, remains 

in exile due to an outstanding warrant for his arrest in 

a politically motivated criminal case; 

Whereas the Government of Cambodia has taken several 

measures to restrict the media, especially through politicized tax investigations against independent media outlets 

that have resulted in the closure of The Cambodian Daily 

and Radio Free Asia 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, on October 16, 2017, the Cambodian National Assembly 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 contain numerous restrictions tailored 


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to create obstacles for opposition parties in an attempt 

to maintain the CPP’s hold on power; 

Whereas, on November 15, 2017, Cambodia’s Supreme Court 

dissolved the CNRP, resulting in the expulsion of more 

than 100 CNRP party members from politics for 5 years, 

including the 55 elected CNRP members in the 123-seat 

National Assembly; 

Whereas the next general election in Cambodia is scheduled 

for July 29, 2018, and the CPP continues to use intimidation and misuse legal mechanisms to weaken political 

opposition and media organizations in order to retain its 

power; 

Whereas Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened more than 

5,000 commune councilors and chiefs aligned with the 

CNRP with the loss of their jobs unless they defected 

and joined the CPP; 

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, allowing the CPP to continue to increase restrictions on election monitoring as the 2018 national elections approach; 


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Whereas, on November 16, 2017, President Trump determined that next year’s national elections in Cambodia 

will not be free and fair and announced his intention to 

terminate support for the Cambodian National Election 

Committee and its administration of the election; 

Whereas despite irregularities in the electoral process, the 

CNRP made significant gains in local elections compared 

to previous cycles, making clear that the national elections in 2018, if they are conducted freely and fairly, 

would be competitive; and 

Whereas the Cambodian national elections in 2018 should 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 House of Representatives— 

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 human 

7 rights violations; 

8 (3) supports the decision announced by the Sec9 retary of State on December 6, 2017, to restrict 

10 entry to the United States for individuals involved in 

11 undermining democracy in Cambodia; 

12 (4) urges the President, acting through the Sec13 retary of the Treasury and in consultation with the 


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1 Secretary of State, to consider placing all senior 

2 Cambodian government officials implicated in the 

3 abuses described in the preamble to this resolution 

4 on the List of Specially Designated Nationals main5 tained by the Office of Foreign Asset Control of the 

6 Department of the Treasury under existing sanc7 tions authorities; 

8 (5) 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 a political environment where democracy can 

12 thrive and flourish; 

13 (6) urges the Government of Cambodia to free 

14 Kem Sokha immediately and unconditionally; 

15 (7) urges the Government of Cambodia to rec16 ognize the legitimacy of the Cambodia National Res17 cue Party and the CNRP members, including by re18 instating the 55 CNRP officials elected to the Na19 tional Assembly; 

20 (8) calls on the Government of Cambodia to re21 spect the freedom of the press and the rights of its 

22 citizens to freely assemble, protest, and speak out 

23 against the government; and 


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1 (9) supports efforts toward electoral reforms in 

2 Cambodia to ensure free and fair elections in 2018 

3 monitored by international observers. 

Æ 


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