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CAMBODIA’S LOOMING POLITICAL

AND SOCIAL CRISIS

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

JULY 9, 2013

Serial No. 113–37

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

MATT SALMON, Arizona 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

TOM COTTON, Arkansas 

PAUL COOK, California 

GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina 

RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

TREY RADEL, Florida 

DOUG COLLINS, Georgia 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

LUKE MESSER, Indiana 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

ALAN GRAYSON, Florida 

JUAN VARGAS, California 

BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, Massachusetts 

AMI BERA, California 

ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California 

GRACE MENG, New York 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio, Chairman 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

MATT SALMON, Arizona 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

DOUG COLLINS, Georgia 

LUKE MESSER, Indiana 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

AMI BERA, California 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

WITNESSES 

Mr. John Sifton, director, Asia Advocacy, Human Rights Watch ........................ 6

Ms. Evi Schueller, legal consultant, Cambodian League for the Promotion 

of Defense of Human Rights ............................................................................... 15

Mr. Patrick Merloe, director, Election Programs, National Democratic Institute ........................................................................................................................ 26

Mr. Daniel Mitchell, chief executive officer and managing director, SRP International Group ..................................................................................................... 38

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING 

Mr. John Sifton: Prepared statement .................................................................... 9

Ms. Evi Schueller: Prepared statement ................................................................. 17

Mr. Patrick Merloe: Prepared statement ............................................................... 28

Mr. Daniel Mitchell: Prepared statement .............................................................. 40

APPENDIX 

Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 62

Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 63

The Honorable Steve Chabot, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Ohio, and chairman, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific: Material 

submitted for the record ...................................................................................... 64

(1)

CAMBODIA’S LOOMING POLITICAL AND 

SOCIAL CRISIS 

TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2013

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 o’clock p.m., in room 

2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Steve Chabot (chairman 

of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. CHABOT. Good afternoon, the committee will come to order. 

I understand the ranking member will be here in just a moment, 

but rather than keep everyone waiting I will go ahead and give my 

opening statement. We welcome our colleagues, as well as our distinguished witnesses, to the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific 

hearing this afternoon. 

There is no doubt that today the Cambodian people are better off 

than they were in the late ’70s under the Khmer Rouge when as 

many as 2 million Cambodians were murdered. But while the region has significantly changed since the days of the Cold War, 

Cambodia has taken very few steps to open its political system and 

move toward a more transparent and responsive regime. The past 

30 years have shown that Cambodia’s dictator, Prime Minister Hun 

Sen, has not and will not tolerate real political debate. The upcoming national elections have only underscored the deterioration of 

the human rights landscape in Cambodia over the course of the 

past few years. 

On October 23, 1991, 19 countries joined together to sign the 

Paris Peace Agreements which offered a political settlement aimed 

at ending the tragic conflict and continuing bloodshed in Cambodia. 

It also laid out the process for building a just and democratic Cambodia anchored in human rights and the rule of law. The United 

Nations maintained a mission in the country until 1993 to supervise the ceasefire, prepare Cambodia for its new constitution, and 

help ensure that its first general elections were free and fair. 

It was this agreement that planted the seeds for an environment 

in which the respect for human rights could be protected and could 

grow. Twenty years have passed since Cambodia held its first national elections, but the vision for the Cambodian people that the 

international community put in writing is not yet a reality. Cambodia remains consumed by a corrupt political system that is becoming more authoritarian with each passing day. Hun Sen and 

the ruling Cambodian People’s Party do not foster democratic disVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:59 Aug 20, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AP\070913\81869 HFA PsN: SHIRL
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course or respect the fundamental freedoms that will allow the 

Cambodian people to live more prosperous and fulfilling lives. 

Despite the large amount of foreign aid the U.S. and international community has provided to the Cambodian Government 

and its people for the purposes of promoting human rights, civil 

and political liberties, improving educational standards, combating 

health risks and increasing food security, Hun Sen is taking every 

action to make it nearly impossible for this aid to be effectively 

used in a political and social structure that is mired in corruption. 

On July 28, Cambodia will hold its fifth election behind a false 

veil of democracy during which Hun Sen will win his fourth term 

as prime minister through the incitement of political violence, corruption and nepotism. This victory will only ensure a political, social, and economic future for the Cambodian people that is both uncertain and dire. The list of intimidating and repressive actions 

taken by the CPP is long. Last month they expelled 27 elected opposition legislators from the National Assembly and attempted to 

prohibit radio stations from broadcasting all Khmer-language foreign news. It also refuses to allow opposition leader Sam Rainsy 

from running in the upcoming election, has made death threats to 

human rights activists and organizations, and inhibits other opposition party members from running effective campaigns. In addition to severely restricting freedom of speech and association, Hun 

Sen has warned the Cambodian people that if they do not reelect 

him, civil war will return. 

I commend the international community for its decision to not 

send election monitors to Cambodia and legitimize Hun Sen’s illegitimate victory, but declaring the election not free or fair is not 

enough. U.S. policy toward Cambodia needs to change and the 

Obama administration needs to take a much tougher approach to 

Asia’s longest ruling dictator. I intend to introduce legislation 

which complements a bill Senators Graham and Rubio introduced 

last month, urging the State Department and USAID to not support the national elections if the U.N. recommendations made in 

July 2012 by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of 

human rights in Cambodia are ignored, and political opposition 

parties and leaders are excluded from the election. 

So far neither has happened. The legislation also calls for the 

U.S. to withhold foreign assistance to the Cambodian Government 

if the elections are not judged credible and competitive. Cutting off 

direct aid to the Cambodian Government, specifically foreign military financing and international military education and training 

funding, is a tangible action the U.S. can take to show its condemnation of the upcoming fallacious and undemocratic election. I 

also urge Secretary Kerry to issue a condemnation of the elections. 

A Department press release is not enough and will only highlight 

the Administration’s indifference toward Hun Sen’s actions and the 

human rights of the Cambodian people. 

Today, the real question is how much leverage does the U.S. still 

have in Cambodia and with Hun Sen, and how can the U.S. leverage its assistance to better address the growing human rights 

abuses in Cambodia at a time of incredible political instability? We 

have seen Cambodia’s political and economic ties with China significantly grow, which has impacted the effectiveness of U.S. assistVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:59 Aug 20, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AP\070913\81869 HFA PsN: SHIRL
3

ance to advance the rule of law, democracy and human rights. Chinese loans, infrastructure development, investment, and aid has 

grown alongside Cambodia’s resistance to address these abuses, 

which calls into serious question the Administration’s decision to 

increase military financing to Cambodia and our overall aid strategy. 

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses this afternoon regarding all the issues that I mentioned. I now yield to my good 

friend from the American Samoa, the ranking member, Mr. 

Faleomavaega, for his opening remarks. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I also would 

like to offer my personal welcome to our distinguished witnesses 

here this afternoon. 

Mr. Chairman, lately our country seems to be on a mission to stir 

up discord here, there and everywhere in parts of the world where 

we could use our allies and partners. It is my hope that in the case 

of Cambodia we will proceed more cautiously. When I served as 

chairman in this subcommittee I held two hearings about Cambodia because I believe the United States needs to make right what 

we have done wrong in Southeast Asia. History shows that the 

United States failed Cambodia miserably, yet the title of today’s 

hearing presupposes that Cambodia is to blame for not being democratic enough for our liking. In their testimony, however, I am 

hopeful that our panel of esteemed human rights witnesses will advocate more for and on behalf of Cambodia in calling upon the 

United States, for example, to forgive Cambodia’s debt. 

During the Lon Nol period from 1970 to 1975, Cambodia incurred a debt of about $276 million through the provision of the agricultural commodities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As of 

December 2011, with accrued interest applied to successor governments in Cambodia, the amount of debt now is over $460 million 

with about $437 million in arrears. Yet, Marshal Lon Nol seized 

power in 1970 in a military coup against Prince Sihanouk with the 

encouragement—with the encouragement—of the United States in 

order to create a buffer state for the United States forces then engaged in the war in Vietnam. 

Lon Nol’s government, the Khmer Rouge Republic, was chaotic, 

dictatorial and corrupt and dependent upon large quantities of U.S. 

financial assistance, including the loans which created the current 

debt. Marshal Lon Nol’s regime was overthrown on April 1, 1975 

when he fled into exile, and the United States abandoned, Mr. 

Chairman, abandoned Cambodia and its people. The Khmer Rouge 

Republic was followed by the coming to power of the Khmer Rouge 

led by Pol Pot, also known as Brother Number One. The Khmer 

Rouge was one of the most brutal regimes of the 20th century, responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people out of 

a population of only about 7.5 million. Its heartless motto was, and 

I quote, ‘‘To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss.’’

As chairman of the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee I visited 

Cambodia twice. No one came away from that experience without 

wanting to lend a helping hand. To this day I cannot erase from 

my mind the images of Tuol Sleng or the killing fields where babies 

were torn out of wombs or beaten against trees until their skulls 

cracked open, where men, women and children, families like yours 

4

and mine were tortured, suffocated, skinned alive and buried alive. 

I am sickened by the reminders of genocide, of shoes and shirts 

soaked in blood that are still scattered in the killing fields of Cambodia. 

According to his Excellency Cham Prasidh, Cambodia’s Minister 

of Commerce, whom I have had the privilege of meeting, who lost 

both parents to the Khmer Rouge, only 69 intellectuals survived 

the genocide. From ashes, Cambodia has been forced to rebuild and 

has looked to anyone for help. In my discussion with Minister 

Prasidh, I was particularly struck by his words when he said to 

me, Eni, when you are drowning you do not care about the color 

of the hand that is saving you. 

Sadly, history suggests that the U.S. played a role or a part in 

Pol Pot’s rise and these days now China, not the United States, is 

one of the largest sources of foreign assistance to Cambodia, lending a hand of some $800 million in aid and loans in 2006 to 2007. 

The United States provided a little over $100 million in the same 

period. While China continues to assist, even announcing that it 

will spend $9.6 billion building a brand new seaport in Koh Kong 

Province and a 400 kilometer railroad connecting it to a steel mill 

in Preah Vihear Province, and here we are pointing fingers at 

Cambodia. 

When will we realize that Cambodia is important to U.S. security 

interests? When will we approach the U.S.-Cambodia relations a 

little more responsibly? If we are serious about human rights in a 

country that we failed—we failed—Mr. Chairman, so miserably, we 

should consider these remarks from a member of the American 

Chamber of Commerce who recently said, and I quote, ‘‘One way 

of addressing the human rights issues is to promote the investment 

of responsible capital.’’

I agree this is the way forward. I commend Chevron, Dairy 

Queen, ConocoPhillips, Prudential, Caterpillar, and other United 

States firms for the role they are playing to better Cambodia’s economic lifestyle. I also commend the Bush administration for lifting 

a 10-year ban on direct bilateral aid to Cambodia in February 

2007. And I thank U.S. State Department Special Representative 

for telling reporters in Phnom Penh this year, in January, the pivot 

to Asia is not only security focused, it is an economic focus. Because in order for us to be successful in the long term we have to 

be economically involved in this region. 

I would suggest, Mr. Chairman, that we get economically involved by forgiving and recycling Cambodia’s debt. The United 

States has a history of forgiving debts by countries in which there 

was past U.S. military involvement including some $4.1 billion—

billion—of Iraq’s debt in 2004, $24 million forgiveness of BosniaHerzegovina’s debt in 1999, $538 million of former Yugoslavia’s 

debt in 2002. The United States also has a long history in Asia of 

using incurred debt to fund U.S. assistance programs. We forgave 

Jordan some $500 million of their debt. So it is my sincere hope, 

Mr. Chairman, that our human rights activists will speak more for 

recycling or forgiving Cambodia’s debt, as I believe this course of 

action will lead to the outcome for a better results in the economic 

needs of the people of Cambodia. 

5

I welcome our witnesses, especially Mr. Dan Mitchell who traveled all the way from Cambodia as a member of the American 

Chamber of Commerce so that he could share with us his perspective about how important it is at having an economic relationship 

with Cambodia. It seems to me that we talk about human rights, 

these people have got to be fed. Human rights violations according 

to the Chinese outlook about human rights, I remember President 

Zemin when we visited him in Beijing and said, oh, it is very fine 

you talk about human rights. You know what human rights is to 

us? If I don’t put food on the table of that family I have violated 

their human rights. That just in terms of somewhat of a different 

interpretation what human rights means to some people in other 

parts of the world. 

I am sorry, Mr. Chairman, I have taken too much of your precious time, but I do thank you for the extra minute that you have 

given me. Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from our witnesses. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you very much, Mr. Faleomavaega. We will 

now recognize the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Holding, for 

the purpose of making an opening statement. 

Mr.HOLDING. Thank you Mr. Chairman, I have a brief statement. 

With the national ‘‘elections’’ in Cambodia slated for the end of the 

month, this hearing is timely to examine our involvement in the 

country in terms of both foreign and military assistance, and to examine the multitude of human rights concerns that have been 

widely reported on. And as you pointed out, Mr. Chairman, much 

of Cambodia’s budget is funded by foreign assistance from a few 

nations, obviously including the United States, and what have we 

seen in return for all of this international investment? We see a 

government that has been tightening their control over the country, 

a rule of law that is now nonexistent, a human rights record that 

has been widely and justifiably criticized, and elections put on 

merely to placate the international community. 

So I hope that the witnesses can outline today how we can more 

effectively leverage the dollars we provide and if we should be increasing our military assistance to Cambodia like the State Department has requested in Fiscal Year 2014, or if we should be conditioning our aid until we see progress in terms of freer elections, 

movement to address human rights concerns, and an increased emphasis placed on improving the rule of law. So I thank you, Mr. 

Chairman, and I yield back. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you very much. The gentleman’s time is expired. 

I would now like to introduce our very distinguished panel here 

this afternoon. I will begin with John Sifton who is the Asia Advocacy director at Human Rights Watch where he works primarily on 

South and Southeast Asia. He previously served as the director of 

One World Research, a public interest research and investigation 

firm. Prior to that he spent 6 years as a researcher in the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch. Mr. Sifton has also worked for the 

International Rescue Committee on Afghanistan and Pakistan 

issues, and at a refugee advocacy organization in Albania and 

Kosovo. He holds a law degree from New York University and a 

6

bachelor’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis. We welcome 

you this afternoon. 

Our next witness will be Evi Schueller who has been a legal consultant for the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense 

of Human Rights in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for over 2 years. Her 

primary focus is on rule of law issues and on the related harmful 

impact of improper land concessions on land rights. Before working 

for LICADHO she was counsel to the Assistant Attorney General 

Civil Division for the United States Department of Justice and a 

litigation associate with Morrison & Foerster LLP in San Francisco. We welcome you here this afternoon, Ms. Schueller. 

Our next witness will be Patrick Merloe who is a senior associate 

and director of Electoral Programs at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and has over 30 years of experience 

in promoting citizen empowerment, governmental accountability, 

and public policy advocacy. He oversees the Institute’s programs 

concerning nonpartisan citizen election monitoring and advocacy 

for electoral integrity, political party electoral integrity activities, 

constitutional law reform efforts and international election observation. Mr. Merloe has worked in more than 65 countries for NDI, focusing on conflict-sensitive states and countries that are vulnerable 

to authoritarian tendencies. He is a frequent public speaker and 

has worked with the United Nations and other governmental organizations dealing with human rights and rule of law issues. Mr. 

Merloe has a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and completed his undergraduate education at Temple University. We welcome you here, Mr. Merloe. 

Our final witness here this afternoon is Daniel Mitchell. He is 

the CEO and managing director of SRP International Group, an investment and advisory firm focused on developing opportunities in 

Asian emerging markets. Prior to joining SRP International, Mr. 

Mitchell was head of Strategic Planning and Mergers & Acquisitions for Ford Motor Company’s Automotive Components Division, 

and a manager in charge of Strategic Planning for Mitsubishi Motors. He sits on the American Cambodian Business Council’s Board 

of Governors and is the founding member of the AMCHAM Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. Mr. Mitchell holds an 

MBA from Miami University of Ohio, which is very close to my district, but is actually in Speaker Boehner’s district. My staff director, brother, and my son graduated from that institution. I almost 

went there myself. I had a full football scholarship offered but went 

somewhere else. Still a great university. 

Again, I want to thank the panel for being here this afternoon. 

We will begin with Mr. Sifton. The same rules will apply to all; we 

have a 5-minute rule. There is a lighting system. The yellow light 

will give you a warning that there is 1 minute to wrap up. When 

the red light comes on, we would appreciate it if you wrap up your 

testimony. Mr. Sifton, you will be our first witness this afternoon. 

STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN SIFTON, DIRECTOR, ASIA 

ADVOCACY, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 

Mr. SIFTON. Thank you for inviting me to testify today. Many of 

us in the human rights community really appreciate your attention 

7

to Cambodia which is an all too often overlooked country, seen by 

many to lack geostrategic significance. 

Mr. Chairman, as you suggested yourself just now, Cambodia at 

this moment is standing on a precipice of sorts. Over 20 years after 

the Paris Peace Agreements, over 30 years since the mass crimes 

against humanity and genocide that occurred, the country’s civil 

and political situation remains highly problematic. Human rights, 

democracy, the rule of law—things that were promised in the 1991 

Paris Agreements remain troublingly elusive. The problem here 

isn’t inertia or habit, it is the result of a set of particular political 

facts, a particular person, in fact, and a particular party—Cambodia’s ruler Hun Sen and his party, the Cambodian People’s 

Party. 

Hun Sen and the CPP control almost every aspect of governance 

and civil life in Cambodia including the military and police forces. 

All of Cambodia’s top military and police commanders sit on the 

CPP’s central committee. Hun Sen, in power since 1985, has consolidated his CPP based rule so that he controls almost every lever 

of power in Cambodia, and no decision of any significance is made 

without his or his party’s consent. One of the results of this situation is that Cambodia’s supposed democratic governance is not, in 

fact, democratic. 

Now given that Cambodia is set to hold elections less than 20 

days from now, I thought it would be useful to provide a quick review of the last four elections to explain the context and the reality 

of this upcoming one, and that is what I have done in the written 

version of my testimony which is submitted for the record. I would 

note here that in the first election after the Paris Agreements in 

1993, Hun Sen and his party actually lost and yet, unwilling to accept the results of the elections, he threatened to go to war with 

the opponents to ensure his continued leadership. 

I also note the major violence in the run-up to the country’s second elections in 1998, including a March 30th, 1997 grenade attack 

on opposition leader Sam Rainsy across the street from the National Assembly, an attack in which the FBI concluded that Hun 

Sen’s bodyguard unit was actually implicated. And I note that in 

July 1997, Hun Sen carried out a coup against his co-prime minister and installed a pliant politician in his place. Do you remember 

this Newsweek cover from 1997? Perhaps you don’t. But this is the 

vision of Hun Sen that we had at that time, 15 years ago. 

His forces in the wake of that coup carried out a wave of violence 

and summary executions that led to congressional hearings like 

this one here in the United States, international condemnation and 

a disruption of aid to Cambodia. That was 15 years ago. A lot of 

blood was spilled, people were killed and images of bodies floating 

down the Mekong River were carried by media services around the 

world. In 2003 and again in 2008, Hun Sen and the CPP again 

dominated the electoral process. Then as now, they controlled the 

appointments, the membership of the national election committee 

as well as the courts. That was how it was then and that is how 

it is today. 

At this time, the leader of the opposition, Sam Rainsy, is not 

even able to campaign. He has been living in exile, convicted in 

absentia in a politically motivated case, and he is not even on the 

8

ballot as a candidate. And notably, the small slate of standing opposition candidates were, as you said, kicked out of the Parliament 

last month for spurious and politically motivated reasons. Although 

Sam Rainsy recently announced that he plans to return to Cambodia in 10 days’ time to campaign for his party’s candidates, he 

is likely to be arrested and jailed upon return. 

The United States has already told Hun Sen and his colleagues 

that an election with a leader of the opposition banned from the 

contest and small the opposition dispersed, the legitimacy of such 

an election is in question. If Sam Rainsy is actually put in prison 

when he returns, the question is essentially answered. The election 

will not be a legitimate democratic exercise. What will occur on 

July 28th and what is occurring beforehand is an illegitimate theatrical enterprise aimed at appeasing the international community. 

So the main question for the United States now is not what the 

Administration can do or demand in the next 19 days, but what the 

United States will say and do after the election. What will the 

United States do to address this and will they again condone what 

amounts to fake democracy? That is the question before us now. 

I will end by essentially saying that Human Rights Watch believes that it is time for a stronger U.S. policy on Cambodia. There 

is a great deal that can be done to improve the situation there. The 

United States can use its empowerment of groups in Cambodia 

through USAID funding who serve as a check on Hun Sen’s power. 

They can stand more visibly with dissidents and activists who seek 

to expose government abuses. And the United States can disassociate itself from Hun Sen. Cutting aid to military assistance, IMET, 

FMF, is a given at this point in our view. There are several other 

ideas that I would like to run through in the question period, but 

we are hopeful that Secretary Kerry, as you said, will speak himself after the election and condemn the exercise, and not just leave 

it to State Department spokespersons. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Sifton follows:]

9


81869a-1.eps

lJ nited States Congress 

House Committee on Foreign Affairs 

Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific 

Hearing of July 9, 2013: 

Cambodia's Deepening Political and Social Crisis 

Testimony of John Sifton 

Asia Advocacy Director 

Human Rights Watch 
10


81869a-2.eps

Thank you for inviting me to testify today. Human rights groups, domestic and 

international, appreciate your committee's attention to Cambodia, an often-overlooked 

country, seen without geopolitical significance. 

Cambodia at this moment in history stands on a precipice. Over 20 years after peace 

agreements signed in Paris to end Cambodia's civil war, over 30 years since mass crimes 

against humanity and genocide occurred, the country's civil and political situation 

remains highly problematic. While basic economic and health indicators have risen over 

these past decades, this has been in spite ot: not because of the Cambodian government, 

which is deeply corrupt and continues to prioritize budgeting for security forces over 

basic human services. Human rights, democracy, and the rule oflaw-promised to 

Cambodians in 1991 by the Paris agreements and signed by the United States and 17 

other nations-remain elusive in Cambodia. 

The problem is not one of habit or inertia. Rather, it is the result of particular political 

facts-a particular person and a particular party: Cambodia's ruler, Hun Sen, and his 

party, the Cambodian People's Party. 

Mr. Chairman, you explained the issue succinctly in a hearing earlier this year, when 

questioning Assistant Secretary of State Joe Yun, when you said: "Hun Sen's party, the 

Cambodia People's Party, CPP, controls almost every aspect of governance and civil life 

in Cambodia, including the military and police forces." As you also noted: "Every single 

top military commander also sits on the CPP's central committee." 

That is exactly right. Hun Sen, who has been in power since January 1985, has been 

allowed to consolidate his CPP-based rule so that he controls almost all levers of power. 

No decision of any significance is made without his or the party's assent. 

And one of the results of this situation is that Cambodia's supposed democratic 

governance is not, in fact, democratic. 

Given that Cambodia is set to hold elections less than 20 days from today, it is useful to 

provide a quick review of the last four elections, to explain the context and the reality of 

the upcoming one. 

In 1993, in the first election after the Paris Peace Agreements, Hun Sen and his party 

actually lost. At this point in time, it should be noted, Hun Sen had already been Prime 

Minister for eight years, and the CPP had ruled for 14 years. Unwilling to accept the 

results of the U.N. administered elections, Hun Sen threatened to go to war with 

opponents to ensure his continued leadership. The international community, fearful of a 

resumption in hostilities less than two years after the Paris agreements and desperate to 

claim success in the post-contlict process, capitulated. At the barrel of a gun, Hun Sen 

became a "co-prime minister" of Cambodia and the CPP held on to control of the military 

and police. 
11


81869a-3.eps

In the run-up to the country's second elections in 1998, on March 30, 1997, opposition 

leader Sam Rainsy was the target of a grenade attack in a public park across the street 

from the National Assembly. Sixteen people were killed and 150 injured. Among the 

injured was a US citizen, so the FBI was involved in an investigation of the attack, and it 

should be noted that the FBI concluded that Hun Sen's bodyguard unit was implicated in 

it, a direct implication that Hun Sen himself had directed the attack. 

The attacks by Hun Sen did not make the opposition falter, however. And having failed 

to cow his political opponents into submission, in July 1997 Hun Sen earned out a bloody 

coup against his co-prime minister, installing a pliant politician in his place and ensuring 

control of the electoral machinery for the 1998 elections. Senior leaders in the CPP 

opposed military action, but Hun Sen ignored them. His forces carried out a brutal wave 

of violence and summary executions that led to congressional hearings here in the United 

States, international condemnation, and a disruption of aid to Cambodia. 

At the time, the situation was so dire-and Hun Sen's willingness to use force to remain 

in power so clear-that a senior State Department official visiting Cambodia on the eve 

of the elections asked one of my colleagues, rhetorically, why anyone even wanted the 

election to proceed, given that it would likely result in more violence and, even if the 

opposition won the vote, Hun Sen and the CPP would not relinquish power. 

And that's exactly what happened. A lot of blood was spilled, people were killed, and 

images of bodies floating down the Mekong River were carried by media services around 

the world. 

The election proceeded and, not surprisingly, Hun Sen and the CPP "won". When one 

member of the national election commission asked for the ballots from a large province 

to be produced for a recount, he was threatened with death and went into hiding. The 

opposition led massive street protests that paralyzed Phnom Penh and delayed formation 

of a new government for months. But in the end the United States and other countries 

pressured the opposition to vote in a new government with itself as a junior partner. 

In 2003, and again in 2008, Hun Sen and the CPP again dominated the electoral process. 

Then as now, the CPP controlled appointments and membership of the National Election 

Commission, making it a deeply biased body. It controlled the courts that would 

ostensibly adjudicate election disputes. 

This is how it was then - and this is how it is today. The CPP controls almost all state and 

private television and radio stations, ensuring a constant stream of pro-government 

propaganda and an equal stream of vitriol about the opposition. The CPP publicly tells 

communities that they will be rewarded if they vote for the party and penalized if they 

vote for the opposition through the withholding of state resources for things like schools, 

health clinics, and roads. Senior military and police officials openly campaign for the 

cpp in defiance of Cambodian law. With the country's long history of political violence, 

one can imagine what a poor villager in a remote area thinks when a general shows up 

and tells him or her who to vote for 
12


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Neither the 2003 nor the 2008 election were considered by observers to be free and fair or 

to have met international standards. The CPP increased its dominance in both elections, 

soaring past the two-thirds majority needed in the National Assembly to amend the 

constitution. 

Our latest assessment and that of other independent observers is that the same structural 

problems related to the election commission, courts, media, and use of state resources 

pervade the electoral process. The only good news to report is that the CPP has engaged 

in much less violence than in previous years. This appears to be because it believes that 

its control over the situation is so complete that violence is not necessary. 

Indeed, unlike in the last election, the leader of the opposition, Sam Rainsy, is not able to 

campaign since he is living in exile, convicted in absentia in a politically motivated case. 

And he is not on the ballot as a candidate. Moreover, the small slate of standing 

opposition candidates currently in parliament were kicked out of Cambodia's parliament 

last month for spurious and politically motivated reasons; rendering the opposition's 

powerlessness complete. 

The United States has told Hun Sen and his colleagues that an election with the leader of 

the opposition in exile, and with its small opposition bloc in parliament dispersed, calls 

into question the legitimacy of the election - and indeed it does. 

A simple test for any observer who has had the good fortune ofliving in a democratic 

country is this: would you accept an election as "free and fair" or "credible," or whatever 

euphemism is used, given the facts above? 

Human Rights Watch does not accept the premise that an election like this is "good 

enough" for Cambodians. 

What will occur on July 28, and what is occurring beforehand, is a deeply illegitimate 

enterprise, aimed at appeasing an international community that is all too often willing to 

play along with Hun Sen's theatrics for whatever diverse or trivial reasons. 

The main question for the United States now is not what the administration can do or 

demand in the next 19 days before the election, but what the United States will say and 

do after the election. 

Will the United States again condone this charade? 

Again, Hun Sen has been in power since 1985-over 10,000 days as Cambodia's head of 

government. He is among the top five longest ruling world leaders, and Asia's longest 

serving strongman. He has endured since 1985 seven US ambassadors and five US 

presidents. He has said he wants to be in power for many more years. 
13


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* * * * * 

Human Rights Watch believes it is time for a stronger U. S. policy on Cambodia. 

Human Rights Watch believes the United States can still do a great deal to improve the 

situation there. 

The United States can increase its empowerment to groups in Cambodia who serve as a 

check on Hun Sen's unaccountable power. 

The United States can stand more visibly with dissidents and activists who seek to expose 

government abuses. 

And the United States can disassociate itself from Hun Sen, who regularly showcases his 

supposed friendship with the US government as a way of belittling and intimidating 

political opponents. It should be noted that Hun Sen uses photographs of himself with 

President Obama, taken during the President's trip to Phnom Penh last November, in 

campaign materials and other promotional material for the CPP. 

Another smart policy initiative is for the United States to cut its support to the 

Cambodian military, which serves no important strategic purpose of the United States 

and merely gives the Cambodian military - which is utterly a creature of the CPP -

further undeserved legitimacy 

But most important of all is for the US to take the lead in working with the European 

Union, Japan, and even ASEAN governments to make it clear that the days of the 

strongman are over, that one-man and one-party rule are not acceptable in the 21 sl 

century, that massive corruption that takes resources from the poor to benefit the regime 

will be met with a strong policy response by bilateral and multilateral donors, and that the 

lack of rule oflaw and human rights will continue to retard meaningful progress in 

Cambodia. 

This will only happen with consistent and high level engagement by senior US 

otlicials-US otlicials who keep the pressure on Hun Sen and the CPP and avoid sending 

the kind of mixed messages we've seen so often over the past 20 years. 

The Obama administration missed an important opportunity in November last year, 

during the East Asia Summit, held in Cambodia. As we said at the time, President Obama 

should have made a strong public statement while in Phnom Penh about human rights and 

democracy. That he and his team missed that opportunity was disappointing not only to 

us but to many human rights and civil society groups in Cambodia. 

After July 28, however, the Obama administration can start to make amends by speaking 

out loudly about the democratic deficit in Cambodia, and encouraging other world 

leaders to do so too. We are hopeful that Secretary Kerry too, with his long experience in 
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81869a-6.eps

Cambodia and personal relationship with Hun Sen, will speak clearly and unequivocally 

about the need for change in Cambodia. 

There is an increasing realization in the U.S. government that it's time to stop letting Hun 

Sen get a pass; that it's time for the United States to change its policies and begin an 

approach more like what we have discussed here today. 

Human Rights Watch hopes that this hearing, and this committee's continued interest in 

Cambodia's future, can serve as an incentive for the U.S. government to do so. 

Thank you. 
15

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you very much, Mr. Sifton. 

Ms. Schueller, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF MS. EVI SCHUELLER, LEGAL CONSULTANT, 

CAMBODIAN LEAGUE FOR THE PROMOTION OF DEFENSE OF 

HUMAN RIGHTS 

Ms. SCHUELLER. Thank you. 

Mr. Chairperson and members of the subcommittee, thank you 

for inviting the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense 

of Human Rights, LICADHO, to participate in this important hearing. My testimony will summarize key points from LICADHO’s 

written statement. 

The past couple of years have seen a deterioration of the human 

rights landscape in Cambodia. Much of this trend can be linked to 

the significant acceleration and the issuance of long term, large 

scale land leases through 2012. As of May 2013, over 2.2. million 

hectares have been granted to private firms in the form of such 

leases, the vast majority of which have been issued in disregard of 

safeguards expressly provided for in the Cambodian land laws. 

Since 2003, over 400,000 Cambodians have been affected by land 

disputes. 

Human rights defenders, particularly those working in land 

rights, have been targeted for harassment, threats, unjustified 

criminal charges and violence. State forces including the military 

continue to provide assistance and protection to private companies 

involved in land disputes with villagers, as well as taking part in 

forceful and occasionally lethally violent evictions. The following is 

a non-exhaustive list of recent violence perpetrated by members of 

the military. 

On December 12th, 2011, a commanding military officer acting 

as a security guard for a private company shot at a group of villagers injuring three. The villagers had been demonstrating against 

the clearing of farmland by the company. On January 18, 2012, 

military personnel acting as security guards for TTY Company 

opened fire on a group of civilians who had gathered to prevent 

clearing of their farmland by the company’s excavators. Four villagers were injured by bullets. Four men were eventually convicted 

and sent and sentenced to a paltry 2 to 3 years with each sentence 

also significantly suspended. 

On April 26, 2012, well known environmental activist Chut 

Wutty was shot dead in a remote corner of the Cardamom Mountains while investigating illegal logging. Military police officer In 

Rattana was also killed by gunfire and two other members of the 

military were present. Government officials put forward an array 

of bizarre and contradictory explanations for the death before finally pinning the shooting on Rattana, based on an implausible 

scenario which was never substantiated with credible evidence. 

And on May 16, 2012, a large military operation saw hundreds of 

soldiers, military police and police, aided by a helicopter, storm a 

remote village in Kratie Province. Authorities claim the operation 

was organized to arrest three ringleaders in an alleged succession 

plot. Villagers, meanwhile, say that the attack was motivated by an 

ongoing land dispute with Casotim, a firm that claims villagers are 

infringing on its large land concession. The operation resulted in 

16

the shooting death of a 14-year-old girl, Heng Chantha. There has 

been no indication of any investigation into the shooting, nor have 

there been any arrests. 

Events over the past month have also significantly undermined 

Cambodia’s upcoming national election and are threatening its legitimacy. LICADHO has investigated numerous attempts to intimidate or obstruct members and supporters of opposition parties at 

the commune and village levels. In the first 5 months of 2013, a 

total of 18 cases of politically motivated intimidation were documented. 

In June of this year, the National Assembly’s Permanent Committee, which is comprised entirely of ruling Cambodian People’s 

Party members, stripped all opposition party members of their parliamentary status as noted. This left the legislative body with an 

unconstitutionally small membership of just 94. Regardless, the 

body has continued to pass politically motivated legislation and to 

begin consideration and debate of the country’s 2014 budget. The 

removed Parliamentarians have also been stripped of their parliamentary salaries and immunity. 

In late June, the government also issued two separate orders 

seeking to drastically censor the media. The more expensive of the 

two orders was revoked on June 29th, following loud public outrage. We are extremely grateful to the United States and its Ambassador to Cambodia, William E. Todd, for taking an immediate 

and firm public position against the ban, an act which no doubt 

played a large role in the ban’s reversal. The earlier order, however, issued on June 21, also bans all media from broadcasting foreign reports regarding opinion polls, surveys and election results. 

This ban remains in place and will take effect on July 23, 5 days 

before election day. 

In light of these and other abuses as described in our written 

statement, we respectfully suggest that the United States review 

its military aid and cooperation with the Cambodian military to 

take into consideration the deteriorating conditions of human 

rights in Cambodia. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Schueller follows:]

17


81869b-1.eps

1>5!~I!lilii\e ~emlrn\~~lIill>5j remljj 

LIC.AI>~O 

Written statement presented by Ms. Eva Schueller, Legal 

Consultant for the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense 

of Human Rights (LICADHO), to the United States House of 

Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

Hearing entitled, "Cambodia's Looming Political and Social 

Crisis," before the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, on 

Tuesday, July 9, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. 

Introduction & Executive Summary 

The Cambodian League for the Promotion & Defense of Human Rights 

(LICADHO) is a Cambodian NGO operating since 1992. Employing more 

than 140 staff, with offices in Phnom Penh and 12 provinces out 

of 24, LICADHO investigates and documents rights violations; 

provides legal, medical and other assistance to victims and 

affected communities; conducts human rights campaigns and events 

with unions, grassroots groups and communities; and advocates for 

tangible improvements in rule of law in Cambodia. 

The past couple of years have seen a marked deterioration of the 

human rights landscape in Cambodia. The issuance of long-term, 

large-scale land leases has accelerated significantly, while the 

safeguards expressly provided for in Cambodian land laws have 

continued to be almost entirely ignored. Human rights defenders 

have been targeted for harassment, threats, unjustified criminal 

charges and violence, particularly when their activism has 

related to land rights. 

The nation's corrupt and politically-influenced justice system 

has prosecuted more and more high-profile government opponents, 

while State personnel and well-connected individuals have 

continued to enjoy almost unfettered impunity. 

Military Abuses in Relation to Land Grabbing 

State forces, including military soldiers, continue to provide 

assistance and protection to private companies involved in land 

disputes with villagers, as well as taking part in forceful - and 

occasionally lethally violent - evictions. The following is a 

non-exhaustive list of recent violence perpetrated by members of 

the military. 

On December 12, 2011, a commanding military officer from 

Battambang's Phnom Preuk district shot at a group of villagers, 

Online U.£.a~tl.Q::.~~I!.p<Jcia.Qi9.· ~~"\LfE£§book.£9:.:1f£§..qJ19· ""-"C!}~!!,,E,~''''''''-'-'0f,eE'!:'' 

Provincial Offices: Battambang: (053) 952 828· Banteay Meanchey: (054) 958 861 • Koh Kong (035) 936116 • Kampong Cham 

(042) 941 464 • Kampong Chhnang (026) 988 637 

Kampong Speu. (025) 987 220 • Kampong Thom. (062) 961 292· Kampot (033) 932 663 • Pursat (052) 951 496 • Siem Reap. (063 

964066· S,hanoukville (034) 933 716· Svay Rieng (044) 945 833 
18


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Page of9 

injuring three. The villagers had been demonstrating against the 

clearing of farmland by Soun Mean Sambath company, which was 

granted a 4,095 hectare Economic Land Concession (ELC) in the 

area in April 2011, resulting in the ongoing land conflict with 

residents. The military officer was acting as a security guard 

for the company. 

On January 18, 2012, military personnel acting as security guards 

for TTY Co. Ltd opened fire on a group of civilians who had 

gathered to prevent clearing of their farmland by the company's 

excavators in Kratie's Snuol district. Four villagers were 

injured by bullets. None of the authorities present during the 

shooting proceeded to arrest the perpetrators at the time. Four 

men - three security guards and TTY's general manager - were 

quietly tried in late December 2012, and convicted of illegal use 

of firearms and intentional acts of violence with aggravating 

circumstances. Their sentences ranged from two to three years, 

though in each case the sentence was suspended for between six 

months and a year. 

On April 26, 2012, well-known environmental activist Chut Wutty 

was shot dead in a remote corner of the Cardamom Mountains while 

investigating illegal logging. Military police officer In 

Rattana was also killed by gunfire, and two other members of the 

military were present. Government officials put forward an array 

of bizarre and contradictory explanations for Wutty's death, 

before finally pinning the shooting on Rattana, based on an 

implausible scenario which was never substantiated with evidence, 

and closing the case. 

On May 16, 2012, a large military operation saw hundreds of 

soldiers, military police and police, aided by a helicopter, 

storm a village in Kampong Domrey commune, Kratie province. 

Authorities claim the operation was organized solely to arrest 

three ringleaders in an alleged "secession n plot. Villagers, 

meanwhile, say that the attack was motivated by an ongoing land 

dispute with Casotim, a firm that claims villagers are infringing 

on its large land concession. The operation resulted in the 

shooting dead of a 14-year-old girl, Heng Chantha. There has been 

no indication of any investigation into this shooting, nor have 

there been any arrests. The government has dismissed the killing, 

calling it an accident. 

Jo. ~ ~ Recornmenda tions : 

We respectfully suggest that the United states urge the Royal 

Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) to issue a written order calling 

for all military personnel not to take part in civilian land 

conflicts. We also suggest that the United states review its 
19


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Page of9 

military aid and cooperation with the Cambodian military to take 

into consideration the deteriorating conditions of human rights 

in Cambodia. 

Elections 

Events over the past month have significantly undermined 

Cambodia's July 2013 National Assembly Election and are 

threatening its legitimacy. 

Key opposition party leader from the Cambodia National Rescue 

Party (CNRP), Sam Rainsy, remains in exile, and the CNRP deputy 

leader, Kem Sokha, has been under a character assassination 

campaign which has included a criminal complaint for defamation 

and multiple lawsuits. The Committee for Free and Fair Elections 

in Cambodia (Comfrel), an association which includes LICADHO as a 

member, said in March 2013 that Cambodia's fifth National 

Assembly elections in July are likely to be the least fair in the 

20 years since the United Nations organized the historic 1993 

poll. Comfrel concluded that Cambodia's democracy is 

uincreasingly fragile" and "showed trends toward 

authoritarianism." 

Pluralism has degraded significantly since Cambodia's UNsponsored elections in 1993. The CPP currently holds 1,592 of 

1,633 commune chief positions nationwide, and 90 of 123 National 

Assembly seats. The number of National Assembly seats won by the 

CPP has consistently risen with each election, from 58 seats in 

1993, to 64 in 1998, 73 in 2003, and 90 in 2008. Voter turnout 

and voter registration numbers have fallen with each election. 

These numbers should not be taken merely as a sign of increasing 

CPP support. Voting irregularity is rampant, and increasing with 

each year. An independent audit of 4,900 voters conducted in 2013 

found that 10.4 of registered voters simply did not exist, and 

that at least 9% of past voters were unfairly removed from voting 

lists. The audit was conducted by the National Democratic 

Institute (NDI) and the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free 

and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Nicfec), and covered voters in 

all 24 provinces. For the 2008 elections, only 7. of names on 

the election rolls were found to not match real people. The audit 

also found that birth dates for voters only matched election 

rolls 631: of the time, compared to 78" in 2008. This alone could 

lead to hundreds of thousands of voters being turned away when 

they go to vote in July. 

LICADHO has also investigated numerous attempts to intimidate or 

obstruct members and supporters of opposition parties at the 

commune and village levels. In the first five months of 2013, a 
20


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Page 4 of9 

total of 18 cases of politically-motivated intimidation were 

documented. In recent weeks, LICADHO noted a sharp increase in 

destruction of opposition party sign boards, especially in Svay 

Rieng, Prey Veng, Kandal, and Takeo provinces. Such acts have 

often been preceded by verbal threats from political activists 

and/or local officials affiliated with the ruling party. 

In February for instance, authorities in a village in Kampong 

Chhnang province threatened more than 500 villagers that their 

names would be removed from voter lists if they attended a public 

forum with Kem Sokha. A number of villagers were pressured into 

thumbprinting documents which they did not understand. In March, 

a CPP deputy village chief and an accomplice attacked a CNRP 

activist with a knife and a wooden stick after the victim started 

to discuss politics in a village of Svay Rieng province. The 

activist escaped unharmed. And when a CNRP member put up a party 

signboard in another village in Svay Rieng province in April, a 

machete-wielding CPP supporter destroyed the signboard and 

threatened the activist. 

As the election nears, more election-related machinations have 

come to light. In June of this year, the National Assembly's 

Permanent Committee, which is comprised entirely of ruling 

Cambodian People's Party members, stripped all 27 opposition 

party Members of Parliament IMPs) of their parliamentary status, 

as well as two additional non-ruling party affiliated MPs. As per 

Cambodia's Constitution, because this expulsion took place within 

6 months of a national election, the seats left empty by the 

purged legislators were effectively terminated and will remain so 

under until after the election. 

Cambodia's Constitution, however, also states that the National 

Assembly INA) - the country's key legislative organ - must 

consist of at least 120 members. With all opposition party 

members unseated without possibility of replacement, the NA now 

consists of just 94 members. Regardless, the body has continued 

to pass politically-motivated legislation and to begin 

consideration and debate of the country's 2014 budget. The 

removed parliamentarians have also been stripped of their 

parliamentary salaries and immunity, leaving them far more 

vulnerable to politically-motivated lawsuits or trumped-up 

criminal charges during election campaign. 

In late June the government also issued two separate orders 

seeking to drastically censor the media in the run up to the 

elections. The more expansive of the two orders issued by the 

Ministry of Information prohibited FM radio stations from 

broadcasting all Khmer-language foreign news programs and from 

reporting on foreigners playing any role in the campaign. It was 
21


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Page 5 of9 

initially designed to last through election day, but was revoked 

on June 29 following loud public outrage over the information 

black-out. We are extremely grateful to the United states and its 

Ambassador to Cambodia, William E. Todd, for taking an immediate 

and firm public position against the ban - an act which no doubt 

played a large role in the ban's reversal. 

An earlier order, issued on June 21, also bans all media from 

broadcasting foreign media reports regarding opinion polls, 

surveys and election results. This ban remains in place, and will 

take effect on July 23, five days before election day. 

Local Khmer media are not as free to report on sensitive issues 

as their foreign counterparts, in part due to their vulnerability 

to domestic judicial threats. This can result in self-censorship. 

Ownership of local media is also dominated by the ruling party 

and television networks are entirely controlled by the ruling 

party. As a result, foreign-produced Khmer-language radio, such 

as Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, remain the predominant 

sources of reliable information for the majority of the Cambodian 

population. 

Perhaps most alarmingly, the past week has seen 13 individuals 

working for outspoken local human rights NGOs receive death 

threats expressly referring to their activism. Twelve of the 

threats were delivered over the phone from a man identifying 

himself as a Colonel, which is a ranking in both Cambodia's 

military and police forces. 

'" ;. ... Recommendation: 

We suggest that the United states consider these recent attacks 

on Cambodia's fragile democracy and review its aid package as 

noted above. 

Land Rights and Tenure 

As of May 2013, over 2.2 million hectares have been granted to 

private firms in the form of long-term leases, mostly through the 

country's Economic Land Concession (ELC) scheme. In just the half 

of the country where LICADHO has offices, land grabbing has 

affected over an estimated 400,000 Cambodians since 2003, helping 

to create a growing underclass of landless villagers with no 

means for self-sustenance. The vast majority of, if not all, ELCs 

have been issued in violation of either Cambodia's 2001 Land Law, 

its Subdecree on ELCs, or both. The laws' requirements regarding 

size, prior Environmental and Social Impact reports, prior 

consultations and consent of affected communities, transparency, 

and fair and adequate compensation have been routinely ignored. 
22


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Page 6 of9 

Efforts to enforce the requirements in civil lawsuits have been 

met with years of court inaction or retaliatory criminal charges. 

In late 2012, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human 

rights in Cambodia Surya P. Subedi assessed the impact of land 

concessions in a detailed report, and concluded that ~[tJhere are 

well documented serious and widespread human rights violations 

associated with land concessions." He went on to state that "the 

overwhelming conclusion drawn from petitions, letters, studies, 

peaceful protests, violent demonstrations, legal complaints, 

land-dispute statistics and my own direct observations is that 

land concessions are only benefiting a minority." The Special 

Rapporteur questioned the impact of concessions on Cambodia's 

long term economic and political stability. 

The government has asserted that Cambodia's land problems have 

been addressed by the Prime Minister's May 2012 directive 

suspending new ELCs and mandating a review of existing ELCs. 

Both aspects of the directive, however, have been problematic. 

According to the Cambodian government, any ELC that was in some 

undefined stage of private ~negotiations" prior to the directive 

could continue through to issuance. Given the wholesale lack of 

transparency surrounding the ELC process, this vague exception 

allowed for at least 16 new ELCs to be granted after the 

purported ban, totaling well over 80,000 hectares. 

Similarly, LICADHO is unaware of any systematic review taking 

place, as required under the directive, and none of the 

problematic concessions repeatedly detailed in reports have been 

cancelled. On the contrary, in July 2012, the government 

published a list of ELCs that revealed that two large problematic 

concessions that had been revoked in 2011 had actually since been 

reinstated. 

More importantly, the May 7 directive does nothing to address 

past violent forced evictions and rights violations such as 

crackdowns on demonstrations and arbitrary criminal prosecutions. 

Nor does it offer any compensation or legal remedies to assist 

the hundreds of families who continue to suffer as a result of 

losing their homes and/or their farmland to previously awarded 

concessions. The directive also does not address ongoing abuses 

such as exploitative labor conditions, environmental degradation 

and threats to water supplies, and the refusal to allow residents 

free access to community forests. Most egregiously, multiple 

reports have recently confirmed the extensive use of child labor 

on certain concessions. 

In response to increasing outcry over land conflicts, and as a 

pre-election strategy, the Prime Minister announced a new land 
23


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Page 7" of:) 

titling scheme in June 2012, as a follow up to the earlier 

directive on ELCs. The scheme involves over 2,000 student 

volunteers dressed in military uniforms, who have since 

crisscrossed the country to measure land and issue titles. While 

a push to expedite the issuance of land titles is laudable in 

theory, the program completely bypassed established state 

institutions set up explicitly to perform such duties. The 

program is also being implemented in a secretive manner, with no 

provisions for independent monitoring, with civil society 

organizations explicitly told to stay away. There have been 

numerous credible reports of landholders, especially in 

indigenous communities, being intimidated or tricked into 

accepting terms dictated by the volunteer students. Such 

individual titles undermine extensive efforts to protect 

indigenous communities through communal land titling. There are 

also credible reports of landholders being told their new titles 

would be revoked if the ruling party loses the elections, or 

being told their official title would only be delivered after a 

successful election. Exclusions from adjudication have also been 

documented, especially in Phnom Penh. 

Most notably, the Prime Minister has publicly asserted that his 

land titling program would disappear if his party was not reelected, and that titles issued as part of the program would be 

revoked. This highlights one of the most glaring flaws of the ad 

hoc titling program: it is privately funded by the Prime Minister 

and his party allies, and is not a government program in the 

traditional sense of the word . 

.. 11>- ... Recommendations: 

We respectfully suggest that the United States urge the Cambodian 

government to conduct a transparent and publicly disclosed land 

demarcation/classification process as soon as possible, and to 

bring the land titling program back within a relevant state 

institution, where it belongs. There is still no national 

registry of state public versus private land. The confusion over 

classifications perpetuates conflict and confusion. 

We also ask that the United States renew its calls for a genuine 

end to forced evictions, and for fair and adequate compensation 

as guaranteed by Cambodian and international law to those who 

have already been forcibly displaced. 

Lack of Rule of Law and Human Rights Defenders 

Recent years have seen multiple high profile examples of a 

complete failure to adhere to rule of law throughout Cambodia's 

justice system. In reality, the role of the justice system, in 
24


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Page of9 

LICADHO's opinion, is still by large to perpetuate impunity for 

state personnel and their associates; persecute political 

opponents and other critics of the government; and protect the 

economic interests of the rich and powerful. Given the lack of 

progress made in judicial reform over the past 15 years, there is 

no reason to believe that the Cambodian government's repeated 

promises of reform are sincere. 

Corruption and political interference in the police and Judiciary 

are still the major obstacles to rule of law in Cambodia. The 

gravest of crimes - including murder, torture, rape, and 

trafficking of woman and children - continue to go unpunished if 

the perpetrators have money or influential connections. In 

particular, state personnel - including government officials, 

police and military officers - and their families enjoy a high 

level of impunity to commit crimes and abuses, both in the course 

of their duties and in their private time. The higher-ranking an 

official, the more protection from prosecution he or she enjoys. 

The climate for human rights defenders in particular has soured 

dramatically since 2009, creating the country's worst human 

rights environment in more than a decade. The year 2012 was 

particularly bad. In April, environmental NGO leader Chhut Wutty 

was killed in the middle of the forest while investigating 

forestry crimes with journalists. Wutty's murder was followed by 

a 20-year prison sentence against independent radio station owner 

Mam Sonando in October in a blatantly political case dictated by 

the Prime Minister over national television. Sonando's release at 

the appellate level highlighted the political and baseless nature 

of the original conviction, as the court suddenly switched the 

charges to a lesser crime that had never been discussed prior to 

the verdict announcement. Numerous high-profile NGO staff were 

also harassed by the courts. And at least 17 leaders from Phnom 

Penh communities facing eviction spent time in prison on spurious 

charges related to their activism. At least ten human rights 

defenders remain in prlson. 

Members of Phnom Penh's Boeung Kak Lake community, who are 

involved in a long-running land dispute with a company run by a 

ruling party Senator, continue to be physically and judicially 

harassed by authorities. Leading Boeung Kak activist Yorm Bopha 

was arrested in September 2012 and convicted in December on 

charges of causing "intentional violence." She received a 

sentence of three years. There is no evidence - including from 

government witnesses - that Bopha physically harmed anyone. She 

was, however, a key leader in the movement calling for the 

release of the Boeung Kak 15, a group of activists from the Phnom 

Penh community that were imprisoned on false charges earlier in 

2012. The Prime Minister has openly weighed in on the case, 
25


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Page of9 

claiming Bopha was a simple perpetrator and not a political 

prisoner, but it is clear that authorities targeted her for her 

activism. Bopha was named an Amnesty International Prisoner of 

Conscience in late 2012. Her appeal was unsuccessful, though the 

last year of her sentence was suspended. She remains in prison 

pending a review by the Supreme Court. 

The case of Chhouk Bandith, a former municipal governor who in 

February 2012 brazenly shot at a crowd of striking garment 

workers, injuring three, in Svay Rieng province, is another 

example of ongoing impunity for well-connected officials. The 

charge against Bandith, a woefully inadequate allegation that he 

unintentionally caused injury, was actually dropped in December 

2012, but reinstated by the Court of Appeal in March 2013. 

Bandith failed to appear for his trial in mid-June 2013, and was 

convicted and sentenced to a mere 1.5 years in prison. He has not 

yet been arrested. 

Finally, the recent re-arrest of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun -

scapegoats in the 2004 murder of union leader Chea Vichea - was a 

shocking setback. The pair, widely acknowledged to have been 

framed, had been freed in December 2008 by the Supreme Court, in 

a decision which ordered further investigation into the killing 

amid extensive evidence of their innocence. The Court of Appeal 

reheard the case in November 2012, but prosecutors offered no new 

evidence. Nonetheless, the appeal Judges found Born Samnang and 

Sok Sam Oeun guilty again and ordered them back to prison to 

serve the remainder of their 20-year sentences . 

.. 11>- ... Recommendations: 

We respectfully suggest that the United States urge the Cambodian 

government to take effective action to improve the independence 

and impartiality of its legal system and to conduct serious 

investigations into unresolved grave human rights violations, 

including the assassinations of politicians, journalists and 

trade unionists, and bring the persons responsible to justice. 

Specifically, we suggest calling for the immediate release of 

Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun as a first step towards combatting 

impunity. 
26

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Merloe, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF MR. PATRICK MERLOE, DIRECTOR, ELECTION 

PROGRAMS, NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTE 

Mr. MERLOE. Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. 

Thank you for the opportunity to address the conditions in Cambodia leading up to the crucial July 28th elections. I will briefly 

summarize my written submission to the committee and ask that 

it be included in the record. 

Mr. CHABOT. Without objection, so ordered. Please pull the 

microphone a little bit closer too, just to make sure everybody in 

the room can hear you. 

Mr. MERLOE. Thank you. Since the beginning of Cambodia’s 1992 

transition, NDI has been involved in a series of programs that covers a range of issues with activists, political parties, and institutions in Cambodia to help create democratic governance and respect for human dignity. Though there has been progress in some 

areas, Cambodia’s government is mired in a corrupt, semi-authoritarian political system, while Hun Sen and the ruling CPP have 

stunted Cambodia’s democratic development even though they receive large amounts of international aid. 

The international community in our view therefore needs to intensify support of Cambodians who are seeking and striving for democracy and human rights, while making it clear that a Cambodian government that lacks democratic legitimacy is a threat to 

nation’s stability and cannot be treated as a reliable partner. Otherwise, the spirit as well as the provisions of the 1991 Paris Peace 

Agreements will ring hollow. 

Mr. Chairman, Cambodia’s electoral process again is not measuring well against international standards. Cambodia’s National 

Election Committee, the NEC, is not an independent and impartial 

body. Recommendations put forward last year by the U.N. Special 

Rapporteur on Cambodia, as you noted, are important for ensuring 

democratic elections but have largely remained unaddressed, which 

casts a shadow across the upcoming polls. While violence is less of 

a factor and concern than it has been in past Cambodian elections, 

the threat of violence is still a factor. 

That Prime Minister Hun Sen threatens civil war and the return 

to a Khmer Rouge-like era if citizens vote for members of the opposition is an illustration of this. He has repeatedly attacked CNRP 

vice president Kem Sokha, even accusing him of pedophilia and 

statutory rape, while among other things, Sokha faces charges of 

defamation for calling the CPP’s campaign dirty, an ironic and illuminating fact. The CNRP president, Sam Rainsy, as you have 

noted, is forced into self-imposed exile in the face of a politically 

motivated prison sentence. Nonetheless, he has recently pledged to 

return to Cambodia. 

In June, as was noted by my colleague, an all-CPP parliamentary 

committee voted to remove all opposition members from the National Assembly. That is the antithesis of an inclusive political 

process and reflects on the electoral environment. All television stations are affiliated with the CPP, while the opposition’s media outVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:59 Aug 20, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AP\070913\81869 HFA PsN: SHIRL
27

reach is limited to a small number of independent radio stations, 

and these too are under threat. 

Mr. Chairman, serious flaws in Cambodia’s voter registry create 

real potentials for both illegal voting and disenfranchisement of a 

large number of qualified voters. In February, NDI and two Cambodian civil society organizations known as NICFEC, and the Centre for Advanced Studies, conducted an impartial, systematic audit 

of the voter registry. The voter registry audit found that the registration rate has decreased by 5 percent since 2008, which contrasts starkly with the NEC’s claim that 101.7 percent of the eligible population is on the voter roll, a dubious statistic. 

While approximately 81 percent of the people on the roll are 

valid, about 18 percent of the names are invalid. That creates the 

potentials for ghost voting, that is, using the invalid names to cover 

for manipulated, illegal voting or for underage illegal voting and 

other impersonation. In contrast, NDI found that 10.8 percent of 

the eligible citizens who think that they are on the registry are not. 

That creates the potential for significant disenfranchisement. And 

in addition, the voter registration audit found that numerous polling stations in which more than half of the voters have been deleted from 2012; the over-deletion itself creates the possibility for 

significant disenfranchisement that could undermine electoral integrity. Rather than using this information from the voter registration audit and other independent sources, the government has reacted hostilely. 

Mr. Chairman, in the face of sustained resistance to reform by 

the ruling party, supporting Cambodians who are seeking democracy and human rights and a better material life is all the more 

important. The current political situation calls for the redoubling 

of such efforts going forward. Thank you Mr. Chairman. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Merloe follows:]

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Statement by Patrick Merloe, 

Senior Associate and Director of Electoral Programs 

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) 

before the 

U.S. Honse of Representatives Committee on Foreigu Affairs 

Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific 

July 9, 2013 

Hearing on "Cambodia's Looming Political and Social Crisis" 

Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee: 

Thank you for tbe opportuuity to appear before you today 10 testify on the state of aHairs in 

Cambodia, It has now been 20 years since the United Nations-led transition and the country's 

UN-administered elections, Yet. despite progress in some areas. Cambodia remains mired in a 

conupl. quasi-authoritarian political system that has persisted even though the country receives 

massi ve amounts of aid to improve its governance, 

Wbile many other developing countries have dramatically improved the responsiveness of their 

democracies over the past two decades. largely as a consequence of citizens demanding greater 

transparency and accountability. Prime Ylinister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People's 

Party (('PI') have instead limited. rather than encouraged. democratic discourse, The 

intemational community therefore needs to enhance even further its support of Cambodians who 

are striving for democracy and human rights. while making it clear that a Cambodian 

governme11llhal lacks democratic legitimacy is a threat to the nation's stability and call1lot be 

treated as a reliable partner. 

Cambodia has experienced significant decline over the past several years with regard to freedom. 

human rights. and political space, Now. more than ever. a robust civil society, an infonned 

electorate. and a level playing field for political parties are essential to protecting the tights of all 

Cambodi,ms, it is therefore critical that the lj,S, government continue to support Cambodian 

democrats and civil society advocates in fulfiliing the aspirations of the Cambodian people for an 

accountable. transparent and democratic leadersbip that respects fundamental freedoms and 

delivers a better life for citizens, 

One important step in improving Cambodia's governance is addressing the prohlems 

sUD'ounding the country's elections, There is much more to developing democracy and 

respecting human rights than organizing genuine elections; nonetheless, authentic elections arc a 

prerequisite for democracy and require the free exercise by citizens of a broad range of human 

tights, The character of 8n election process reveals mucb about whether a government accepts 

that its authority derives from the free expression oftile will of its people, a precept ensbrined in 

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 
29


81869c-2.eps

While violence is less of a concern than it has been in past Cambodian elections, it is still a 

factor, and significant challenges remain to the delivelY of credible and fair elections for the 

country's citizens, Opposition leaders face retaliation for their pmtieipatiol1 in the political 

process, For example, Kem Sokha, vice president of the Cambodian National Rescue Party 

(CNRP), has been threatened with prosecution by the government, and a politically-motivated 

conviction with an 11-year prison sentence has led CNRP President Sam Rainsy to self-imposed 

exile, More broadly, the intimidating rhetoric of and actions by the CPP, severe restrictions on 

fi'cedom of speech and association, and the failure of the partisan National Election Committee 

(NEe) to address systemic problems in the election process threaten the quality and legitimacy 

of the elections scheduled to take place on July 28, 

The political environment in Cambodia has grown increasingly tense in recent months, with the 

CPP taking measures to reduce the space for political discourse, In early Junc, a parliamentary 

committee made up entirely ofCPP memhers voted to remove all opposition memhers from the 

National Assembly, an action the U.S, State Department said "deprives the Cambodian people of 

their voice and hurts the democratic process in Cambodia," Their removal paved the way for the 

rapid passage or a politically-motivated bill aimed at discrediting the opposition and removed the 

opposition lVlPs' immunity, exposing them to subsequent lawsuits and criminal charges, 

Prime Minister Hun Sen has taken to the airwaves to threaten civil war and a return to a "Khmer 

Rouge-like" era if citizens vote for members oftlle opposition, He has also repeatedly attacked 

and made unsubstantiated allegations against opposition leader Kem Sokha, including 

accusations of pedophilia and rape. Dozens of protests against Sokha, allegedly organized or 

facilitated by the CPP, have heen broadcast across the country on television and radio, I State 

funding and offices have been used to transcribe and translate numerous speeches by opposition 

members, reportedly doctored, with the aim of pi acing the opposition in a negative light' There 

are now four criminal charges filed against Sokha, including one for defamation for calling 

CPP's campaign "dirty." There have been reports of the ruling party mobilizing state resources 

in its campaign, with civil servants, police and military officials leaving their offices to actively 

campaign across the country,l 

Tn this restrictive environment, and despite obstruction by local authorities, CNRP party leaders 

have been actively campaigning, traveling the countryside to introduce the party and its platform 

through small meetings and events. Given that all television stations are affiliated with the ruling 

party, the opposition's media outreach is limited to a small number of independent radio stations, 

These too are under threat: the Ministry ofInformation recently issued a ban on broadcasting 

from Radio Free Asia, Voice of America, and Radio France International for the entire campaign 

period, Further, the ban prohibits coverage of election activities and reports on problems with 

the elections during the final week of the campaign, The ban was praised by the National 

Election Committee as "necessary to prevent an imbalance in the media," The NEC director 

further said there should be no coverage of "negative points of the government" Although the 

2 
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81869c-3.eps

Ministry of Information claims to have rescinded the ban on foreign broadcasts, restrictions on 

coverage during election week have not been lifted. 

The National Election Committee is not an independent or neutral body. Despite 

recommendations over the years by numerous domestic and international organizations and 

elections experts to create an independent body, that simply has not happened. The 

commissioners, the majority known to be affiliated with the ruling party, are appointed in an 

opaque manner, and appointments oflower election bodies are done with limited transparency, 

creating a lack of credibility in their work. 

Mr. Chairman, the broad concerns regarding Cambodia's political situation and infringements on 

the rights of Cambodian citizens are covered by others at this hearing. I would like to focus my 

remaining comments on one critical area concerning the right to vote, that is the flaws in the 

nation's voters list uncovered by NDT's voter registry audit (VRA); flaws which could lead to 

significant disenfranchisement on election day. 

In February 201 3, NDI and two Cambodian civil society organizations, the Neutral and Impartial 

Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (NTCFEC) and the Centre for Advanced 

Studies (CAS), conducted a VRA of Cambodia's 2012 voters list. A VRA is an impartial, 

systematic, scientific, and independent evaluation of the quality of the voters list and is a proven 

method used by independent organizations worldwide. NDI has organized VRAs in Cambodia, 

in advance of the 2008 national elections, as well as in many other countries around the world. 

The VRA consists of two tests: a test of names on the voter registry, and a test of citizens' 

registration results. For the first test, names were randomly selected from the voter registry, and 

attempts were made to contact those voters to check the validity and accuracy of the information 

on the list. In the second test, eligible citizens were chosen randomly from the population and 

surveyed on their registration information to ascertain if they were on the voter registry. 

NTCFEC volunteer observers deployed to 414 communes across Cambodia in February 2013 to 

interview 4,893 respondents. All communes, polling stations and respondents were selected 

using statistically representative random sampling. The VRA employed rigorous data quality 

control mechanisms involving NDI and CAS audits, as well as targeted redeployment of 

interviewers and re-checking by NTCFEC operators to verify data. 

The results of the VRA are discouraging. Overall, the VRA found a decline in the quality of 

Cambodia's voters list since 2008 with regard to comprehensiveness, accuracy and validity. The 

registration rate for Cambodian voters has decreased since 2008, with 82.9 percent of eligible 

citizens on the list, compared to 87.9 percent prior to the 2008 general election. This contrasts 

starkly with the NEC's statistic that the number of names on the voter registry represents an 

impossible 101.7 percent of the eligible voting population. In certain provinces, the NEC has a 

registration rate as high as 109 percent. Using the National Institute for Statistics' population 

figures, the rate jumps to over 130 percent in some provinces. 

Nearly 11 percent of citizens surveyed who believed they were registered for this year's elections 

could not be found on the list. Further, almost 8 percent of eligible citizens who reported voting 
31


81869c-4.eps

in the 2008 National Assembly or 2012 commune council elections were no longer on the voters 

list. 

Mr. Chairman, NDI believes the disenfranchisement of such a high percentage of eligible voters 

is a cause for serious concern. The VRA found that 92.8 percent of eligible citizens, including 

68.8 percent of citizens surveyed who were not found on the voters list, plan to vote on election 

day. This would result in thousands of people showing up at the polls and being unable to vote, 

creating the possibility of confusion and conflict. 

Other discrepancies abound. While 80.7 percent of names on the registry are valid and up-t0-

date, only 63.6 percent of the names on the voter registry could be verified as people currently 

living where they are registered. Also, 17.1 percent of respondents were found to reside most of 

the time in other locations. More than one in 10 names on the list could not be found. NDI is 

concerned that the presence of such a high number of potential "ghost" voters on the list presents 

an opportunity for fraud on election day, by using those invalid names to cover fabricated votes 

or illegal under-aged voting. Parties interested in using invalid names would simply need to 

obtain a Statement of Identity for Electoral Purposes, an identification document from the 

commune councils, 97 percent ofwhich are controlled by the CPP. In 2008, there were 

widespread reports of these fonns, previously called I 018s, being used by underage citizens and 

non-citizens under false names. 

As part ofNDT's election data analysis, the Institute found other anomalous changes in the voter 

registry Analyzing publicly-available data from the NEC, NOl found numerous polling stations 

in which more than half the voters had been deleted from the list in 2012. This would indicate 

that more than half of the people in the area either died or permanently relocated in one year. If 

there were significant over-deletions in those areas, disenfranchisement could affect electoral 

integrity. NOl also found provinces in which the voter registry went up by almost 15 percent in 

one year, inconsistent with the birth rates and migration patterns in that province. 

NDI and other organizations have made numerous recommendations to the NEC regarding the 

voter registry and voter registration process. Most critical in advance of the July election is 

providing opportunities for citizens to check their registration status at the village level and 

register to vote if they are not found on the registry. This is necessary to correct the significant 

disenfranchisement found in the audit. For the longer term, there need to be systemic changes to 

address the voter registration system's key problem: the absence of a unique citizen/voter 

identifier that would allow proper maintenance of voter registries in a context marked by 

incomplete civil records and increased population mobility. A full list of these 

recommendations, as well as summarized findings from the VRA, has been attached to this 

testimony. 

NOl, NICFEC, and CAS presented the results of the VRA and recommendations to the NEC on 

March 20,2013, and publicly released a summary report the following day. Feedback from the 

NEC has been largely negative. The NEC rejected the results, alleging that "unclear points" in 

the VRA cast doubt on its accuracy, and refused to implement any of the report's 

recommendations. The NEC also rejected the findings of an audit conducted by another local 

4 
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NGO, the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia, which found that 1.25 million 

eligible voters could lose their right to participate in this year's elections. 

The NEC's responses demonstrate a misunderstanding of the YRA methodology, and the NEC 

has gone to great lengths to discredit and misrepresent the study. More troublingly, the NEC has 

demonstrated little interest in ensuring the right to vote for Cambodians. Rather than using the 

information from two separate independent studies to attempt to enfranchise a significant number 

of citizens who will not be able to vote on election day, the government has chosen to respond to 

the audits as a threat to its hold on power. Given the current political environment in Cambodia 

and efforts by the CPP to maintain control over the country's politics and media, however, this is 

not surprising. 

Mr. Chairman, concerns with the voter registry are only some of many problems surrounding 

Cambodia's upcoming elections. Yet they provide a clear example of the current electoral 

situation in Cambodia, as they highlight not only challenges voters face as they attempt to 

exercise their right to vote, and they also illustrate the government's continued refusal to take the 

steps necessary to ensure that their elections meet international standards. 

In a report to the UN Human Rights Council last year, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights 

in Cambodia Surya Subedi (the Special Rapporteur) warned, "There are major flaws in the 

administration of elections in Cambodia and urgent and longer-term reforms are needed to give 

Cambodians confidence in the electoral process and in the workings of the National Election 

Committee." In that report, the Special Rapporteur issued a series of important and timely 

recommendations for developing electoral integrity and building public trust in an inclusive and 

fair political process, but those recommendations, like others offered by international and citizen 

election observers remain mainly unaddressed. The European Union also issued a statement 

encouraging the government to hold a "transparent and credible election." The government has 

responded to these and other statements with vitriol, refusing to consider the suggested reforms 

and accusing the authors of interference in internal affairs. 

1''i1r. Chairman, the government's growing hostility to constructive democratic discourse has also 

affected Nl)T's work in the country Since the 2008 national elections, hl)T has been able to 

carry out its democracy programs in Cambodia with only minor, generally local, interference. 

However, the approach of the national elections has made it increasingly difficult for~lH to 

conduct activities in Cambodia. In addition to the YRA, )';01 and its local partners have 

organized a number of progl ams around this year's elections. These include multiparty 

candidate debates, which will be broadcast on television and radio, as well as a sample-based 

observation of polling places. These programs havl' been complicated by recent developments: 

for example, numerous aspects ofthe debate program have been changed or altered, from the 

content of the debate questions, to the number and party atliliatioll of participants, to securing a 

television broadcast pal1nership, thereby limiting their usefulness in helping Camhodian voters to 

make informed electoral choices. 

Each of these programs, as well as ]\il)I' s other activities in the country, is designed to support 

and strengthen the democratic process in Cambodia by creating a space for dialogue and debate 

to inform citizens and expose them to the various political options available to them. At the 

5 
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81869c-6.eps

same lime, these programs provide opportunities for citizen oversight with the aim to engender 

reform of the country's troubled electoral system. In the face of sustained indifference toward 

the ruling par1y, 

on policy issues is 

for a redoubling of these effOlts. 

and encouraging interaction between officials and citizens 

to any hope of progress. The current political situation calls 

More than 20 years ago, the Paris Peace Accords established the rule of law, respect for human 

rights and democracy as the essential elements for governance in Cambodia, and the 

international community has much to gain by continuing to support Cambodian citizens who are 

strivi ng to achieve the spirit and requirements of those accords. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee. 

6 
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81869c-7.eps

APPENDIX: 

NDI REPORT ON THE VOTER REGISTRY AUDIT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

(May 2013) 

Exercising the fundamental right to vote in most countries depends largely on the existence of an 

accurate and complete voter registry. The maintenance and upkeep of such a voter registry can 

be particular! y challenging in countries with insufficient records, transient populations or weak 

infrastructure. Moreover, voter registries are susceptible to manipulation for electoral advantage. 

Inaccurate voter registries have led to numerous post-election conflicts in elections held around 

the wor!d and have disenfranchised many eligible voters. In Cambodia, some political parties 

and civil society groups have expressed concerns about the accuracy of the voter registry and a 

lack of confidence in the registration process. Verification of the accuracy of a voter registry 

through a voter registry audit (VRA) can help to detect and deter electoral fraud, correct 

administrative errors, and promote broad public confidence in the process on election day and 

beyond. 

The Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (NICFEC), the 

Center for Advanced Studies (CAS), and the National Democratic Institute for International 

Affairs (NDI) conducted a VRA of Cambodia's voters registry that will be used for the July 2013 

national elections. This VRA complements two previous audits conducted in 2007 and 2008 by 

NICFEC, CAS and the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL), with 

assistance from NO\. 

A voter registry audit is a systematic, scientific, and independent assessment of the quality of the 

voter registry. It does not focus on voter registration as a process or on every eligible voter in 

Cambodia, but uses statistical methodology to produce a contextual report on the overall quality 

of the voter registry. A VRA is a method that is used by independent election observers around 

the world and has been proven to be reliable and accurate internationally. In some cases, audits 

have exposed fundamental flaws in an already suspect process. Generally, VRAs have been 

welcomed as a helpful tool for successfully identifying and leading to corrections of 

irregularities in voter registries and, more importantly, promoting confidence in election 

administration and the legitimacy of the results. 

The VRA included two types of field tests: Iist-to-people test and people-to-Iist test. The list-topeople test seeks to ensure that every name on the voter registry belongs to an actual person who 

is eligible to vote. This is done by attempting to identify and then locate a representative sample 

of people whose names are selected at random from the voter registry. The VRA also verified a 

sample of names recently deleted from the list to assess whether the deletion records were valid. 

7 
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81869c-8.eps

In a people-to-list test, the obj ecti ve is to determine what proportion of people eligible to vote is 

listed on the voter registry. These two field tests are also used to evaluate the accuracy of voters' 

personal data, including name, date of birth and address, in the registry. 

In February 2013, NICFEC deployed trained volunteers to 414 communes across Cambodia to 

interview 4,893 respondents. All communes, polling stations and respondents were selected 

using statistically representative random sampling. The VRA employed rigorous data quality 

control mechanisms involving NDi and CAS internal auditors, the targeted redeployment of 

interviewers, and the re-checking by NICFEC staff to verify data. The VRA assumes a margin of 

error of ±2.5% and the level of confidence was 95%. 

The VRA provided a number of salient findings about the quality of the current voter registry, 

including 

• 82.9% of eligible citizens are registered voters. This represents a decline from the 2008 

VRA, which showed an 87.9% registration rate. It represents a discrepancy with the 

National Election Committee's (NEC) statistic that placed the number of registered 

voters is at 101.7% of the eligible population4 (People-to-list test.) 

10.8% of eligible citizens who thought they were registered were not found on the voter 

registry. Furthermore, 7.8% of eligible citizens were not on the voter registry even though 

they said they voted in the 2008 and/or 2012 elections. (People-to-list test.) 

• 80.7% of names on the registry are valid and up-to-date, with 63.6% of names belonging 

to eligible voters living in that community and 17.1% of names belonging to eligible 

voters who lived temporarily in another location. The remaining 18.3% of names on the 

list were invalid, with 0.5% confirmed deceased, 74% permanently relocated, and 104% 

unknown to people in that community5 (List-to-people test.) 

• 94% of the people in the deletion list were incorrectly removed. This represents no 

progress since 2008, despite extra measures taken by the NEC and commune councils to 

prevent false deletions. (Deletion list-to-people test.) 

• The accuracy of voters' personal data (name, date of birth and address) in the registry 

declined compared with 2008, with only 63% of dates of birth and 864% of names 

matching information in the voters' ID documents. In 2008, 78.97% of dates of birth and 

87.88% of names matched. (Both tests.) 

• 96.5% of respondents on the voter registry indicated they plan to vote in the July 

elections. However, 74% of respondents who were not found on the voter registry said 

they intend to vote. 

These discrepancies revealed by the VRA may have implications on public confidence in the 

upcoming elections. It is possible that a large number of eligible citizens will arrive at the polls 

on election day only to discover that their names are not on the voter list because they were 

incorrectly deleted or believe they are registered when in fact they are not. 

4 NEC calculates the registration rate bv dividing the eligible population bv the number of names on the voter 

registry_ 

5 This phenomenon can be found in mallY VRA results and is also known as --ghost voters.-· 

8 
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81869c-9.eps

The percentage of eligible voters who have registered has decreased since 2008, even though the 

overall size of the registry has increased. The existence of unknown, deceased or relocated 

names on the registry could present an opportunity for electoral abuse or fraud on election day if 

proper oversight and safeguards are not in place. The list is less accurate than it was five years 

ago, potentially indicating a lack of progress on creating or distributing identity documents in 

Cambodia and inviting possible confusion at the polls for people to prove their identity. 

To respond to these challenges, the VRA partners recommend the following measures to be 

implemented before the July 2013 elections in Cambodia: 

• Due to the significant number of eligible citizens who believe they are registered but are 

not, the NEC should organize another period for voters to check their names on the voters 

list and register if needed. 

Given the rate of inaccuracy of voters' personal data and the high percentage of unknown 

voters on the list, the NEC should provide access for independent monitors to observe the 

identification of voters by standing directly behind the polling station clerk and should 

provide monitors with access to the voter list used in the polling station. 

To avoid the possible misuse of invalid names on the list by ineligible people (under 18 

years of age, non-citizens), the Ministry of Interior and NEC should prohibit further 

issuance of the Statement ofIdentity for Electoral Purposes 6 

• Considering the high internal migration rate, NEC should open a mechanism to allow 

voters who are away from their electoral district at the time of the election to vote. 

• To build public confidence in the voter registry, the NEC should allow independent 

observers and political parties to access the voter registry in its entirety in an analyzable 

format. This is common practice in established democracies and would allow the VRA to 

expand upon its findings and provide more comprehensive infonnation. 

In the longer tenn, there is a dire need for fundamental electoral refonn. Changes in the voter 

registration and list compilation process are necessary to ensure all eligible citizens have the 

right to vote, to prevent and remove invalid names on the registry, and to mitigate the potential 

for manipulation and fraud. The VRA partners recommend the following measures: 

The Government of Cambodia and the NEC should consider the adoption of a more 

efficient voter registration system that would better address the increasing rate of internal 

migration and would enfranchise unregistered citizens who may learn too late they are 

not on the list. This could include a change to a continuous or automatic registration 

system,7 which would allow for changes or corrections to the voter registry closer to 

electi on day. 

An impartial, unelected professional local body should be assigned or created to register 

voters, removing this responsibility from the elected and partisan commune councils. 

• To increase the accuracy of the list and ease the registration process and voting for 

6 The Statement of Identity for Electoral Purposes is a tempo:rat:" identification paper for citiLens \\'110 have no 

documentation to allow them to register and vote. Statement of Tdcntitics arc distributed by the commune councils. 

, An automatic registration \\ould require a complete civil registry: when citiLens turn 18 years old. their names 

would bc automatically added to the voter registry. 

9 
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cItIzens, the Ministry of Interior should complete the civil registry and expedite the 

distribution of national ID cards to all citizens. 

The NEC should take steps to improve its data management systems at all levels of 

election administration. This includes a more coordinated oversight of data collection and 

entry, the systematic use of Khmer spelling and fonts, and current and synchronized IT 

systems. 

The Royal Government of Cambodia and the National Assembly should enact the necessary laws 

and allocate appropriate resources to allow these recommended reforms to occur. 

10 
38

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Mitchell, you will be our final witness here this afternoon. 

You are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF MR. DANIEL MITCHELL, CHIEF EXECUTIVE 

OFFICER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, SRP INTERNATIONAL 

GROUP 

Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. Chairman, distinguished committee members, thank you for the opportunity to testify at this hearing today. 

By way of background, I am a native of Illinois. I have served 

in the Army Reserve and National Guard to include the Ohio National Guard. I worked for several large manufacturing companies 

including Ford and Mitsubishi. I founded SRP International Group 

and have been involved in agriculture, forestry and manufacturing 

in Cambodia over the past 13 years. I am a member of the Board 

of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia, 

AMCHAM, and the founding member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. 

My objective here today is neither to attack or defend the current 

government of Cambodia. There are human rights and corruption 

issues. The country’s dynamic NGO community and press regularly 

report and document these issues. The issues presented are serious 

and some of them are acknowledged by the government. My effort 

here today is to provide objective information and reasoned assessments based upon my experience on the ground. I believe it is essential that the policy initiatives by the United States to deal with 

each challenge be informed, look to the future and remain engaged. 

The AMCHAM has played its role through workshops over the 

past several years that began with USFCPA compliance and have 

expanded to include the U.N. Guiding Principles for Business and 

Human Rights. Positive government actions have included government land titling program that has issued over 3 million land titles 

to villagers. Additionally, management of ACLEDA Bank, holder of 

over 90 percent of bank loans in Cambodia, reports that one-third 

of their new loans are using these new land titles as collateral. 

This is progress. A lack of consistency, however, on the government’s implementation of their other programs have frustrated 

both the informed business community and the population at large. 

But tangible progress has been made. In this context, I would 

argue that while Prime Minister Hun Sen may be a strong man he 

is not a dictator, neither is his party monolithic. Consequently, the 

prime minister must have consensus backing for his initiatives 

from a variety of constituencies. Since the late 1990s, Cambodia’s 

progress has been significant and sustained. I was fortunate 

enough to be a founding partner in an enterprise that was the first 

large scale investment of institutional financial capital in Cambodia, in this case, European pension fund money. We were only 

able to reach this milestone within the requisitely international 

legal compliance, social and environmental responsibility criteria 

they mandated. We demonstrated that it is possible to meet these 

criteria in Cambodia. 

As an entrepreneur I became interested in Cambodia because of 

its tremendous untapped human potential, but this is also one of 

the country’s greatest challenges. Cambodia faces major demoVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:59 Aug 20, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AP\070913\81869 HFA PsN: SHIRL
39

graphic issues with over 50 percent of its population under 25 

years old, and an estimated 300,000 new entrants to the workforce 

annually. Absorption of these new workers and increasing the overall population standard of living will require a real GDP growth of 

7–8 percent. That growth requires significant capital investment. 

This must be socially and environmentally responsible investments 

and address the gaps and the skills of graduates of Cambodia’s 

education system. The issue of youth skills and employability is of 

increasing significance and has greater long term social crisis potential than the current human rights issues capturing the headlines. 

Economic security is the most basic of human rights. American 

companies and those from other developed countries can lead by 

example in the area of fair labor practices, environmental sustainability, and corporate social responsibility. Our behavior sets the 

standards in marked contrast to experience with Chinese investors 

who have created serious issues for local population. But in our absence the Chinese stand ready with both investment and aid. We 

can be sure that human rights and corporate social responsibility 

are not discussion points in these negotiations. Rather than withdrawal of U.S. aid, I would advocate reallocation of portions to programs for the development of democracy. 

Cambodia-U.S. relations are at a crossroad. History has provided 

the leadership of both countries with the opportunity to work together to achieve common objectives that are of universal appeal. 

I will look forward to your questions in further discussions. This 

is a summary of a longer written statement. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Mitchell follows:]

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Daniel Mitchell 

CEO SRP International Group 

House Committee on Foreign Affairs 

Cambodia's Looming Political and Social Crisis 

July 9,2013 
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81869d-2.eps

Background of SRP International Group Ltd. In Cambodia 

SRP International Group Ltd. (SRP) an investment, and advisory focused on developing 

opportunities in the frontier markets of Southeast Asia. The industry sectors company focuses in 

commercial reforestation, agriculture manufacturing. It engages in start-up operations as well as 

support of other companies seeking to establish operations in these markets. 

SRP has been active in Cambodia for over 13 years. Beginning with feasibility studies in 1999 and 

2000. SRP's first nursery operations were established 2002 employing over 200 people at its peak. 

The first sites were planted from 2003 through 2006. In 2008, SRP International formed a joint 

venture with Capricorn Forest Fund K/S of Copenhagen Denmark. The joint venture Monsoon 

Timber K/S owns Grandis Timber Limited in Cambodia. This venture marked the first investment of 

institutional capital (in this cash Danish and Swedish pension fund money) in Cambodia. In 2009, 

Grandis Timber completed the negotiation of a 9,820 hectare economic land concession (ELC) in 

Kompong Speu province. This site is currently under development under a commercial reforestation 

plan to establish it as a teak planation, employing an average of 800 persons. Through close 

cooperation with villagers, and officials of both local and national government, Grandis Timber is 

one of the few ELC's in Cambodia that does not have significant land tenure conflicts with the local 

populations. The policies and procedures have been reviewed by multiple NGO's and international 

aid agencies and are considered some of the best practices in the region. These processes have been 

reviewed by the German aid agency GIZ and the Ministry of Land Management and Urban Planning. 

Many of the basic elements can be found in governments land titling program of 2011 and 2012. 

From 2008 until 2012, I served as the CEO of Grandis Timber and remain on the board of directors of 

Monsoon Timber K/S, its parent company, in which SRP is a shareholder. Over the past 14 years in 

Cambodia I have been directly involved in a wide range of the issues that challenge Cambodia today, 

including foreign direct investment, land tenure and labor. I have directly interfaced with 

government officials from the national from numerous ministries, as well as provincial district, 

commune and village level officials. 

Since 2011, I have served on the board of governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in 

Cambodia (AMCHAM). and am the founding member of the Chambers Corporate Social 

Responsibility (CSR) Committee. My testimony is as a resident of Cambodia and as well as an 

investor with over 80% of my personal net worth invested in the country. 

Demographics and Employment: Cambodia's Looming Social Crisis? 

Cambodia's total population 15.2 million (CIA Fact Book 2013 Estimate). Because of high mortality 

rates and low fertility rates during the Khmer Rouge period and the periods of civil conflict that 

followed, the country has experienced a baby boom beginning in roughly 1980 and continues today. 

With a median age of 23 and a birth rate of 2.72 children/woman, (well above the 2.10 

children/woman considered replacement rate), the effects of this baby boom can expected to 

continue for the next the decade. 

Today 54% of the population is 24 years old or below. In 2011, the Cambodian workforce was 

estimated to be 7.9 million (CIA Fact Book 2011 Estimate). With an estimated 300,000 new entrants 
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81869d-3.eps

in the workforce, SRP estimates the current workforce as 8.8 million. Based on the sustained birth 

rate annual new entrants could grow the 400,000 over the next 15 years. 

Cambodia's skewed demographics present specific economic and social challenges. A minimum 

3.4% annual nominal GDP growth is required to maintain current productivity per worker of 

US$1620/worker, and will challenge GDP per capita growth. While the overall GDP growth rate has 

been steady near 7% annually for the past few years, youth unemployment is a growing issue and 

has potential to create social instability. Historically, approximately 54% of the workforce has 

entered into subsistence farming (which had a close correlation with deforestation rates). This 

translates to roughly 150,000 jobs annually and 75,000 ha annually. In the future however, the 

agriculture sector, as it currently exists, will not to be able to absorb these new workers. Growth in 

the industry and service sectors is becoming more critical. 

Business Environment in Cambodia 

The Cambodian government has long recognized the need for foreign direct investment (FDI) to 

rebuild its economy. To attract foreign investment, the government passed the first Law on 

Investment in 1993 with amendment in 2003. The law includes guarantees of: 

• 100% foreign ownership for most industries; 

• Non-discrimination of foreign businesses 

• No nationalization of assets or property 

• No price controls 

• No restriction on currency transfers 

Further, the 2003 amendments provided for the establishment of the Council for Development of 

Cambodia (CDC) to serve as a One-Stop shop for foreign investment. Under CDC's Qualified 

Investment Project (QIP) status, the government has developed an aggressive investment incentive 

package which includes: 

Tax holidays; and 

Import tariff exemptions for capital goods and equipment 

This has created one of the most business friendly environments in the region. It is not without its 

issues with the lack of rule of law and corruption key. The government has made first steps toward 

improving these issues through: 

• Recent establishment ofthe National Arbitration Council (NAC), as an alternative for 

businesses to the Cambodian court system; 

o NAC includes foreign arbitration experts and membership of the local and 

foreign business associations. 

• Passage of the 2011 Anti-Corruption Law; 

o Ministries have begun the process of posting what were informal facilitation 

fees (now illegal under the Anti-Corruption Law) as normal tariffs for 

standard ministry functions 
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Cambodia has long had its Government Private Sector Forum which provides a venue for direct 

interaction and communication between the government and the private sector. This system is 

often cited international as one of the best in the region. 

Both the government and the international community recognize the need for Cambodia to diversify 

its economy beyond the garment sector which currently represents approximately 80% of the 

country's exports. Efforts are being made to attract higher tech industries and progress is being 

made in the electronics and food processing sectors. 

Activities of the US Embassv in Cambodia 

The US has historically had a dynamic diplomatic mission in Cambodia. However, under Ambassador 

William Todd, the mission has significantly increased its visibility and its engagement outside the 

embassy walls. In the business community, this engagement takes the form of near daily 

communication with the staff of the mission's economic section, and regular meetings and dialogue 

directly with the Ambassador. Three examples that I have personally been involved in or have firsthand knowledge of are: 

US Ambassadors Youth Council 

With over half of the Cambodian population under 25, the hearts and minds of the Cambodian youth 

are key to the long term relations between the US and Cambodia. Ambassador Todd immediately 

recognized the importance of engaging the kingdom's young people and formed the US 

Ambassador's Youth Council. The purpose of the council is to cultivate young Cambodian leaders 

around the country, engage Cambodian youth on topics of interest, and generate feedback on U.s. 

policy and programs in Cambodia. The 15 members of the council were selected from over 350 

applicants and represent a broad cross section of youth from around the country. 

The ambassador meets with the Youth Council monthly to discuss a wide variety of issues including, 

freedom of information and expression, the political process, corruption, education and job 

opportunities. 

Jobs are a key concern of Cambodia's youth and as a result, one of the first projects the council 

initiated is an internship program in cooperation with the AM CHAM This program has so far involved 

over 40 students and recent graduates who first participated in training in preparation of CV's and 

interviewing skills and then are being place for 3 to 6 months with western companies doing 

business in Cambodia. The program provides quality work experience and prepares the interns for 

what to expect when entering the workforce. I serve as an advisor to the council for this program. 

Other activities of the council have included organized country-wide screenings, beginning at the 

end of March, of the critically acclaimed film "Half the Sky" to raise youth awareness on the 

consequences of trafficking in persons, and engaged in team-building activities with some high 

school students from the U.s. Embassy community who shared an American youth perspective on 

the challenges Cambodian youth face. 
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Human Rights Advisory Council 

Cambodia is home to over 3000 NGO's. The purpose of the Human Rights Advisory Council is to 

work to focus these diverse organizations onto three to four key themes, making the message to the 

Cambodian government more consistent, of a higher intensity and more effective. 

Bridge Project 

Shortly after his arrival in Cambodia, Ambassador Todd and his staff engaged in extended dialogue 

with AMCHAM about the issues and challenges in Cambodia that are inhibiting US trade and 

investment in Cambodia and development of at least a first tangible step toward addressing the 

issue. The among the key issues identified and first steps toward jointly identified solutions were: 

• Lack of rule of law 

o Support of the National Arbitration Council 

• Corruption 

o USFCPA Compliance Seminars 

• Gaps in skill sets and capacity of local employees 

o Planned conference on vocation and technical education 

• Technical skills and understanding among ministerial working level staff 

o Enhanced participation in the joint US/Singapore Third Country Training 

Program (TCTP) 

American Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia (AMCHAM) Human Rights Related Activities 

The purpose of the AMCHAM is the promotion of US business interests in Cambodia. With regard to 

human rights, 

AMCHAM has historically taken the lead in regular (usually annual) seminars regarding 

compliance with USFCPA and has expanded this program to include similar laws enacted by 

the United Kingdom and Australia, 

Nearly 2 years ago, AM CHAM established a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee. 

Promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) among the members of the American 

Cambodia Business Council and its members through the following activities: 

Proposal, coordination and execution of CSR activities of American Cambodia Business 

Council as an organization; 

Serve as a point of contact and liaison between Non-Government Organizations and 

International Aid Agencies and the American Cambodia Business Council members 

fostering enhanced communication and cooperation; 

Serve as an interface with other business / commerce advocacy organizations for CSR 

Issues; 

Provide a forum for the discussion and exchange of ideas of CSR topics and issues; 

Raise the awareness CSR activities of the AMCHAM member companies; 

Complete all of the above within the context of advocacy of mutual benefit to all 

stakeholders involved. 

Activities over the past two years have included: 

Seminar supporting the United Nations Human Rights Office in the role out of the 

UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Right; 

Regular presentations by member companies of their CSR programs; and 
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81869d-6.eps

Development of a group of speakers from AMCHAM member companies to present 

CSR concepts and examples at local university seminars. 

AM CHAM encourages its members to take a leadership role in the promotion of human right in the 

business community. 

Comparison of China's Aid and Investment in Cambodia 

China is very active in Cambodia both in terms of foreign aid and business investment. This factor 

proves especially challenging for the US in the promotion of human rights. Whereas US aid typically 

has stipulations for improvements in human rights, the Chinese are spending more aid money in 

Cambodia and human rights improvements are simply not a Chinese requirement of the Cambodian 

Government. Further, the Chinese stand ready to fill any aid gaps created by suspension or 

termination of aid by the US for human rights issues. 

Whereas, the US has a policy in Cambodia of "no bricks and mortar", the Chinese are only "bricks 

and mortar" focusing on dams, roads, bridges and other highly visible infrastructure projects. 

Consideration should be given to two policy changes: 

• Reallocation of a portion of the aid to tangible infrastructure projects with higher 

visibility to the average Cambodian; and 

• Reallocation to significantly increase spending on programs promoting democracy, 

facilitating the voice ofthe Cambodian population to hold the government 

accountable on human rights issues. 

Chinese investors are active in infrastructure and agriculture sectors, and within each of these 

sectors human rights issues often arise. Corruption, which is a serious issue for US investors and 

businesses, is much less of a concern for the Chinese, who are not governed by an equivalent of the 

US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (USFCPA). This issue makes it challenging for US companies to 

compete. Further, it undermines the initial efforts the government is making to address corruption. 

Within the infrastructure sector, multiple dams are being built which involve displacement of 

villagers and have potentially significant negative environmental impact. Many of the wellpublicized land disputes on ELC's are direct Chinese investments or local partnerships backed by 

Chinese capital. Whereas this is a serious concern to US and other western investors, it is of minimal 

concern to Chinese investors in Cambodia. 

Because of the role of the Chinese, the US should stay engaged both in terms of foreign aid. 

Whatever aid the US withdraws, the Chinese stand ready to fill the gap, with no human rights 

requirements attached. 

Role of US Investment and Trade in Championing Human Rights 

US investment and trade has been at the forefront of promotion of human rights in Cambodia. 

Beginning with the Clinton Administration's 1999 increase in Cambodia's garment sector quota 

linked to labor law development ,enforcement and the cooperation with ILO and other labor related 

organizations through the "Better Factories" and "Better Work" programs. This set program made 
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the largest set of economic and human rights gains to date. It should serve as a model of the 

effectiveness of a "carrot" over a "stick" in efforts to drive change. 

US customers and shareholders have a tradition of holding companies accountable to meeting 

international human rights and environmental standards, whether the national government in any 

given country does or not. With regard to labor and environmental issues, being locally legal is not 

necessarily sufficient. This accountability is critical in frontier economies such as Cambodia with 

weak and/or ineffective government institutions. Fostering US investment in Cambodia, as 

companies are seeking alternatives to China, provides a key point of leverage for improving human 

rights in the areas linked to labor and the environment. 

Conclusion 

This election cycle has been calmer than any previous. Political violence has been nearly non existent 

since the official campaigning started late last month, even in the provinces where before it was 

prevalent. Campaigning convoys of the two main political parties pass each other in the street 

without incident. Sometimes they are rallying in the same parks, again without incidents. While not 

perfection, this is progress. Both parties feel they need to campaign, they are not taking voters for 

granted. 

There are human rights issues in Cambodia. Cambodia has an active and dynamic NGO and 

international aid community and a free and uninhibited press that publish articles critical of the 

government daily, and documenting these issues. My question is, "what has the government 

gained by this?". While it is expected that the CPP will win a majority necessary to form a 

government, it will lose seat in parliament, while having a strong record on economic growth and 

development. I take this as a sign that human rights are moving up the pyramid of priorities for 

Cambodians and that is the a not her sign of a maturing democracy. 

Improving the economy is one of the most effective tools in addressing the root causes of the 

human rights issues that exist. To effect human rights, the US government and business should 

engage rather than shy away from opportunities in Cambodia. A mature democratic process is a 

political manifestation of self-actualization. Requisites for his maturing are individual self-esteem, 

respect for others, problem solving, a sense of belonging, and respect and faith in the democratic 

process. To take a page from Abraham Maslow's playbook, as long as a majority of the Cambodian 

people are concerned about issues at the of his pyramid (such as food, shelter and physical security), 

higher level self-actualization issues necessary to mature their democratic institutions and process 

will receive a lower level of attention. But tangible progress is emerging. 

Context is important. After years of civil war, stability, the type of stability taken for granted in our 

mature democracy, is a high priority to the Cambodian population. The portions of any society that 

have little, have little to lose in the event of civil strife and conflict. In that situation, the society as a 

whole, must rely on its government to maintain stability, and that situation provides the opportunity 

for abuse of power and human rights issues, in the name of maintenance of stability. Today, a 

majority of Cambodians believe the CPP is offering the best alternative for stability; a stability the 

Cambodian population does not take for granted. However, because of the aforementioned issues, 

it is expected that fewer Cambodians believe this than before and that will lead to the loss of seats 

for the CPP in the parliament. That is democracy at work. 
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The business climate in Cambodia provides an opportunity to provide participative economic growth 

that can help the average Cambodian up Maslow's pyramid. Stable employment, a liveable wage 

address the base issues and frees and individual to contemplate higher level issues. This will raise 

the expectations her or she has of the government. 

US companies are looking for alternatives to China, (and now Bangladesh following the tragedies 

there) for labor intensive manufacturing. Cambodia has the untapped and underutilized human 

potential to meet that need. This is an opportunity for US business to invest and support and 

emerging democracy that has demonstrated, if not a perfect human rights record, one substantially 

better than that of China. 

Cambodia is at a crossroads. Cambodian/US relations are at a crossroads. History has provided the 

political leadership of both countries with an opportunity. The opportunity is whether this event will 

mark the beginning of a period of constructive dialogue, enhanced economic cooperation and trade, 

with the resulting improved human rights, and ultimate the transition from an emerging democracy 

to a mature democracy; or period during which Cambodia moves closer into the China's sphere of 

influence, within which neither human rights or democracy will be a priority. Continued foreign aid, 

and enhanced economic investment trade and cooperation provide one of the best opportunities 

following the upcoming elections. 
48

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you. 

Thank you very much to all the witnesses. We will now ask questions and I will begin with myself for 5 minutes. 

The subcommittee hosted an event last month to screen the 

award-winning documentary, ‘‘Even a Bird Needs A Nest,’’ which 

depicts the scourge of forced evictions in Cambodia perpetrated at 

the hands of the government. I reviewed the tape last night myself. 

Unfortunately, the people were speaking Cambodian and it had 

French subtitles. I have not taken French since college. I got the 

gist of it, but a lot of it went beyond. 

Mr. Mitchell, in the past you said that U.S. investment will help 

the human rights situation and difficulties over land disputes in 

Cambodia because it is subject to higher standards, such as the 

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. As you are aware, land grabs have 

become an enormous problem throughout the entire country and 

nearly 1 million people have been forced out of work or have no 

home to go to due to these forced evictions, which have not ceased 

despite Hun Sen’s promises. 

One of my concerns regarding this issue is whether or not U.S. 

companies are involved in these land evictions. How is Cambodia 

implementing the standards established under the Foreign Corrupt 

Practices Act and how has your work helped set the standards in 

Cambodia? Also, you stated in your testimony that Chinese investments in Cambodia have made it increasingly difficult for U.S. 

companies to promote human rights, and at the same time, compete for business. How are you, through the businesses you represent, effectively helping the human rights situation in Cambodia 

and conducting responsible business despite the country’s corruption and lack of rule of law. Also, what are you specifically doing 

to help stop these land grabs and help the Cambodian people? 

I would be happy if Ms. Schueller might want to comment on the 

land grabs, as well. So Mr. Mitchell and then Ms. Schueller. 

Mr. MITCHELL. That is a very long list of questions. 

Mr. CHABOT. It is. You have about 60 seconds to answer them 

all. 

Mr. MITCHELL. Excellent. Forced land evictions at the end of the 

day are just a bad business practice. The economic land concessions 

involved are primarily agriculture, a few of them are involved in 

plantations. There is a need for labor in both in any economic land 

concession. As such, we advocate, we have worked with the Cambodian Government, the Ministry of Land Management, and the 

German development agency, GIZ, the development of what is referred to as the leopard’s skin approach to concessions. It is effectively setting aside space for existing occupants, not relocating 

them, working around them and using them, or providing them 

labor and employment opportunities at a livable wage. This has 

proven very, very successful for Grandis Timber, which I was CEO 

of for 5 years, and is cited in one of the U.N. reports on the land 

grab issue as one of the best practices. 

With regard to USFCPA issues, we at AMCHAM advocate this. 

We hold basically annual seminars on this which has enjoyed the 

support of, I believe it was the Treasury Department, and additionally the Cambodian Government is sending senior level officials. In 

my discussions with officials they know what the USFCPA is and 

49

they know that I as a U.S. passport holder cannot violate that or 

I run the risk of the penalties. 

Chinese investment is a very real issue. Chinese investment is 

not governed by things like USFCPA. The investors at their institutional level are typically state-owned enterprises and they do not 

have the social responsibility or the environmental sustainability 

criteria that U.S. institutional and European institutional investors 

mandate. The more money coming in from those two areas in investment, the more competitive we are in implementing programs 

where we are not asking the government to hold us accountable, 

but rather our investors themselves are holding us accountable. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you. Let me cut you off there because I want 

Ms. Schueller to jump in with the short time I have left. 

Ms. SCHUELLER. I would add just that as Mr. Mitchell mentioned 

there are a small handful of investors that perhaps have obligations from outside investments to comply with certain rules. But 

the fact is that Cambodia’s 2001 land law and its sub-decree on 

economic land concessions already actually provides fairly stringent 

safeguards which are routinely ignored. There are requirements for 

size limitations which are ignored, prior environmental and social 

impact reports, prior consultations and consent from affected communities, transparency, fair and adequate compensation—those 

have all been routinely ignored. 

And these are, we are talking the vast majority are these large 

agricultural, industrial land concessions which also have not only 

past forced violation evictions but they have ongoing rights violations as you mentioned. There has been crackdowns on the demonstrations, arbitrary criminal prosecutions. There has been no offers of compensation or legal remedies to assist the hundreds of 

families that have continued to suffer as a result of losing their 

homes or farmland. 

And I would just want to quickly mention that in May of last 

year, the government asserted that it had addressed many of these 

issues through a directive suspending new land concessions and 

mandating a review of existing concessions, and also by the prime 

minister’s June launch of an ad hoc land titling program using 

thousands of student volunteers. Both the directive and the privately funded titling scheme have been highly problematic. A loophole in the directive allowed for at least 16 new concessions to be 

granted afterwards totaling over 80,000 hectares, and LICADHO is 

unaware of any systematic review of problematic concessions taking place. 

And while the push to expedite land titling is laudable in theory, 

the program completely bypassed established state land titling, institutions set up to perform these duties, so the program has been 

implemented in a secretive manner with no provisions for independent monitoring, with civil society organizations explicitly told 

to stay away, and numerous credible reports from landholders, especially in indigenous communities, being intimidated or tricked 

into accepting terms dictated by volunteer students. Such individual titles undermine these indigenous communities’ communal 

land titling efforts. 

Mr. CHABOT. Okay. Thank you very much. My time is expired. 

I will recognize the ranking member for 5 minutes. Thank you. 

50

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Thank you Mr. Chairman. I thank the witnesses for their testimony. And I know quite obviously we have got 

some real good discussions here. 

Mr. Mitchell, how is it possible for the business community from 

the United States to survive if this is the kind of atmosphere that 

the people of Cambodia face here? What I mean is that we are not 

just using a pocket knife here, we are using a sledge hammer to 

really tell the Cambodian Government and the people that they 

don’t know what they are doing. They are not leaders because they 

don’t come up to the standards that we Americans expect them to 

be in forming a democracy. Sometimes I think we have to understand that democracy means different things to different people 

over different regions. 

If we call ourselves a great democracy, how come we allowed 

nine unelected officials to determine the results of a Presidential 

election we had some years ago? How do we justify to the Cambodians that that is a better form of campaign or democracy when 

the majority of the people did not determine who should be our 

next President? So I want to ask Mr. Mitchell, all the presidents 

of these American companies I know, but we haven’t even discussed the garment industry problem fiasco with Bangladesh, with 

India, with Cambodia, with Laos, with Vietnam. 

What about the consistency, a sense of saying are we doing the 

same thing? Are we pressing other countries about the violations? 

We can talk about supply and demand. Eighty-five percent of small 

arms sold in Mexico comes from America, and the cartels and the 

drugs and all that goes into supply and demand. So what happens 

is a tremendous demand for clothing and garments to come out of 

Asia because of cheap labor. 

Cambodia is one of the prime countries that produces garment. 

Cheap labor, the wages that don’t even come up to standards with 

us. How do you reconcile that the major difference, Mr. Mitchell, 

economically, to suggest oh, American companies are doing very 

well there. Then when I hear our friends, human rights activists 

say, oh, things are so terrible there. Hun Sen is a dictator, is a terrible person. And we seem to have forgotten what happened to the 

killing fields, what these people have had to endure to go through 

in trying to rebuild this country from ashes. 

I am sure that all of you have been to the killing fields, and I 

am telling you, Mr. Mitchell, it is not something that I want to 

share with every American here, what it meant to be to these people. And whether it was Hun Sen or Pol Pot or whatever it is, the 

fact of the matter is Cambodia’s history is quite different. I would 

say 99 percent of the American people do not know that Cambodia 

was a colony of the French for some 100 years, along with Laos and 

Vietnam, before we got involved. And I can tell you, Mr. Mitchell, 

from what I visited and what I saw, these people were treated like 

animals. And France is supposed to be the source of enlightenment 

about democracy and freedom? Give me a break. Mr. Mitchell, 

could you respond to my question? 

Mr. MITCHELL. I will do my level best to respond without any 

disagreement to your assessment. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. And by the way, I have the utmost respect 

for my friends here in human rights. I am a human rights advoVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:59 Aug 20, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AP\070913\81869 HFA PsN: SHIRL
51

cate. But you have got to put it in proper perspective. Let us talk 

about human rights in the Middle East. Let us talk about human 

rights in China. Let us not cherry pick. Let us be consistent. If we 

are going to do this, let us do it with the others too. I am sorry. 

I didn’t mean to interrupt you. I have got 1 more minute left. 

Mr. CHABOT. Were you finished with your response, Mr. Mitchell? 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I am sorry, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. MITCHELL. The United States does not use a consistent yardstick with regard to evaluation of human rights. We don’t have the 

option of critiquing elections in China. We don’t have the option of 

critiquing elections in Lao or in Vietnam, yet we do do business 

with those places. How do U.S. companies survive? Because we set 

our own standards and they are higher. And this isn’t just the 

Americans, the Europeans. And that provides a mechanism for 

weak institutions that are characteristic of frontier markets that 

we, in fact, don’t ask what is legal, it is what is right. What are 

our customers and our investors going to hold us accountable to? 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Mitchell, I have got 6 more seconds, just 

a note of interest. Hun Sen’s son graduated from the military academy at West Point. That is where Eisenhower graduated. That is 

where Nimitz graduated. That is where MacArthur graduated. 

Does that make him a bad person? And I understand that his son 

is one of the most positive results of the kind of advice it is trying 

to give them to make the country better. 

I am sorry, Mr. Chairman, my time is gone. I wish we were at 

the third round already. Thank you. 

Mr. CHABOT. The gentleman’s time has expired. The gentleman 

from North Carolina, Mr. Holding, is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. HOLDING. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Sifton, you mentioned in your preliminary testimony that 

cutting foreign and military assistance is a given, and you alluded 

that you had other suggestions as to how the U.S. could engage the 

Cambodian Government to seek reform. So I will give you a minute 

or so to elaborate on that please. 

Mr. SIFTON. Thank you. I said it was a given because I think 

there is an increasing realization in the State Department and the 

Pentagon and the interagency dialogue that it is time for a new approach to U.S. foreign policy to Cambodia. These are four elections, 

21 years since the Paris Peace Agreements, and we have had five 

U.S. Presidents since Hun Sen took power, seven U.S. Ambassadors. Whatever that attempt has been has not promoted democracy and rights in Cambodia. And so the thinking now is starting 

to tilt toward realization that Hun Sen responds, if he ever responds, more to tough talk than to diplomatic talk. Talk all the 

same, but tough talk in the sense that a warning is put on the 

table. 

The money is not so much the issue. IMET is small, FMF is 

small, but it is symbolically quite potent. The real hurt financially, 

I think, comes in infrastructure lending from international financial institutions like the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, 

IMF and others. The World Bank has currently pulled out of Cambodia because of concerns about, well, many things, but it is currently not there. But the U.S. can use its voice and vote on the 

52

World Bank, IMF, Asian Development Bank, to vote against large 

infrastructure lending. We can pull aid, direct assistance to the 

Cambodian government. 

One thing that should not be on the table though is USAID 

health programming, PEPFAR funding for HIV/AIDS. Pulling that 

stuff will not hurt Hun Sen. It won’t change anything. It will just 

harm ordinary Cambodians. 

Mr. HOLDING. If you pulled out the lending for infrastructure, I 

assume that companies like what Mr. Mitchell works with, I mean 

they would pull out as well. I mean that has got to be an attractor 

to Cambodia that they have access to infrastructure capital. 

Mr. SIFTON. A quick word about the economics. I mean the problem, in my opinion, with the ranking chair and Mr. Mitchell’s suggestion about the role of economic investment is one of cause and 

effect. I agree that corporate social responsibility and responsible 

investment is to the good in every country. But I think it is questionable at best to suggest that these methods will actually promote democracy and human rights. I mean even if we zoom out 

and speak in terms of the macroeconomic situation, having a person in power for 30 years, which is what he will be after this election, is ultimately a destabilizing factor in the country’s future and 

will lead to instability which will lead to serious economic 

downturns far more serious than whatever is lost through the loss 

of investment. 

Mr. HOLDING. One other concern would be—well, first off, China 

provides infrastructure loans to Cambodia as well the other institutions that you talked about. So if we were to block the International Monetary Fund from providing infrastructure loans do you 

think it would drive them closer to China? China would step in and 

provide whatever loans, infrastructure loans that they needed, and 

so long term we would lose any leverage that we might have in 

Cambodia? 

Mr. SIFTON. Well, there is two responses I would add to that. 

One is that I have never quite understood why occupying the space 

would lead China not to occupy the space or attempt to, and China 

can make very good offers of its own and will, regardless of how 

much U.S. investment is put in, first. 

Secondly, after the experience in Burma, I don’t think anybody 

in the U.S. Government really has a problem driving a country into 

the arms of the Chinese. I don’t think the Cambodian Government 

really wants to be in the arms of the Chinese any more than any 

other government anywhere else in the world. So driving folks to 

the Chinese to beg, hat in hand, for infrastructure lending may be, 

in the long term interest, in the sense that ruling a lead of Cambodia, undemocratic as it is, may realize, like Burma did, that the 

future ultimately will be predicated on opening up to the rest of the 

world and not just depending on handouts from the Chinese Government. 

Mr. HOLDING. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. 

Mr. CHABOT. The gentleman yields back. The gentleman from 

California, Mr. Rohrabacher, who is also the subcommittee chairman on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats is recognized for 

5 minutes. 

53

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks for 

holding this hearing. It is significant that we should actually be 

looking at Cambodia after such a long time of ignoring Cambodia. 

It is interesting that our ignoring Cambodia after all of these years 

Hun Sen is still there. It is time for Hun Sen to go. Hun Sen is 

a corrupt, vicious human being who has held that country in his 

grip for decades. It is time for Hun Sen to go. 

We could talk all we want about theory. Let me ask the panel. 

Is Hun Sen a wealthy man now after these decades, or is he a committed public servant and thus has no outside wealth? Can anyone 

answer that question for me? 

Mr. SIFTON. I think it would be difficult to estimate given the 

lack of transparency in Cambodia just how wealthy he and his family are. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Has anyone done any guesstimates as to the 

wealth of Mr. Hun Sen? All right, let us just suggest that knowing 

the Cambodian system and knowing his ability to silence the opposition, let us say that it would really take a great deal of integrity 

for him not to succumb to people who want to give him money in 

order to do things. Let us go to our businessman over here. Can 

people do business in Cambodia without having to pay bribes and 

pay off the government? 

Mr. MITCHELL. Absolutely yes. It requires patience. It takes 

longer. But absolutely yes, you can do business in Cambodia——

Mr. ROHRABACHER. So remember you are on the record now. 

Mr. MITCHELL. Yes, I understand that. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. And there is a lot of people around the world 

who are going to say, here is this American businessman who is 

now saying that Hun Sen is not corrupt when it comes to business 

investments in his country. And if we——

Mr. MITCHELL. That is not what I am saying. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Oh. What is it that you said? Excuse me. 

Mr. MITCHELL. I am saying that it is possible to do business——

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Oh, I see. 

Mr. MITCHELL [continuing]. In Cambodia——

Mr. ROHRABACHER. If Hun Sen’s out of town for a week and 

somebody sneaks in you mean? 

Mr. MITCHELL. No, that is not what I mean. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Okay. 

Mr. MITCHELL. I mean that it is possible to meet the standards 

of USFCPA and the international standards with regard to avoidance of corruption. It requires patience but it can be done. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. I think that when someone says something 

can be done, and you are trying to figure out what, really, someone 

is saying, is if there is a 1-percent chance that it can be done, it 

still can be done, which gives you the——

Mr. MITCHELL. I did it. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Okay. 

Mr. MITCHELL. I did it with European pension fund money behind me. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. All right. 

Mr. MITCHELL. If at any given day they had thought for a moment that I was paying bribes, they would have shut down the 

project. 

54

Mr. ROHRABACHER. All right. Now let me ask you this. You said 

it can be done, just to analyze your words here. It can be done. 

Does that mean that it is commonplace that people can do business 

without having to pay off the Hun Sen regime, or is it——

Mr. MITCHELL. American and Western European companies, yes. 

Companies from developed markets, yes. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. All right. I am happy you are on the record 

as saying that. It does stretch my knowledge because—and you 

may know, you are on the scene. My information about Hun Sen 

indicates that that isn’t the case, but I will have to admit you are 

on the scene and I am very happy you have made a solid statement 

on that. 

Do you know Brett Sciaroni by the way? 

Mr. MITCHELL. Yes, I do. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Okay, send him my best wishes. 

Mr. MITCHELL. I will. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. And a man——

Mr. MITCHELL. I think, rest assured, Brett is probably watching. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Okay. Let me ask you this. And let us remember, Hun Sen would not be in power, Mr. Chairman, if it 

wasn’t for the cowardice of the United States. Let me just suggest 

Hun Sen lost the election that was held after the peace agreement 

in 1991. He lost the election. There was someone else elected prime 

minister. We had 10,000 United Nations troops on the ground at 

that time, and our Ambassador decided, well, a compromise would 

be we will let there be two prime ministers. No, the compromise 

was you should have followed what the election was all about and 

had the person who was elected become the prime minister. 

So whatever problems we face right now with Cambodia can be 

traced back to the cowardice of our government in making sure 

that we stood tall for democratic principles at a time when we 

could have enforced that adherence to the democratic process. So 

now Hun Sen is still there and it is time for Hun Sen to go. Thank 

you. 

Mr. CHABOT. Will the gentleman yield to the ranking member? 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. I would certainly be happy to, my good 

friend. 

Mr. CHABOT. The gentleman is given an additional minute to 

yield to the gentleman. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I just wanted to add a little bit to my dear 

friend from California. Marcos of the Philippines took $8 billion of 

the Philippine treasury. Suharto of Indonesia took $8 billion from 

the Indonesian treasury. Ho Chi Minh took nothing. He died a simple man, and yet, boy, how we demonized this nationalist leader 

among the Vietnamese people. And he was the most evil person because he was a Communist. He was a socialist. All he wanted to 

do was get rid of French colonialism that existed among his people. 

Hun Sen, that is a good question. I am going to help my friend 

from California. My impression, Mr. Chairman, is that if he was 

so rich I don’t think Cambodia would be in the situation it is now. 

And by the way U.S. laws do prohibit the kickbacks or briberies of 

officials when our businesses go overseas to do business. Am I correct in that, Mr. Mitchell? 

Mr. MITCHELL. Absolutely. 

55

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Okay. And I think there has been some 

question too about the wealthier Members of Congress. How do 

they get so wealthy since becoming members of this great institution? I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. CHABOT. Okay. We will begin a second round now. The Chair 

will recognize himself. First of all, I think as chair of the subcommittee it is probably my responsibility to comment that Ho Chi 

Minh was responsible for a tremendous number of deaths and was 

a pretty dastardly person in many respects. Despite the fact that 

Saigon is now named after him, at least officially, even though a 

lot of the people there still call it Saigon. I want to recognize the 

gentleman, the ranking member, who actually served in Vietnam, 

wore the uniform of this country and served there. We certainly respect him greatly for that. 

I would also note, relative to just a point of reference, the gentleman mentioned corruption, and I think it certainly is there. In 

fact, Cambodia is ranked 157th out of 176 countries when it comes 

to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 

2012. So it is ranked pretty darn low. But also, Mr. Mitchell, the 

gentleman who is here—I don’t want to say defending business 

necessarily—but giving a business point of view, I would like to 

think that our American companies around the world, when faced 

with corrupt practices in that country, do follow a higher standard. 

I know Proctor & Gamble, for example, is headquartered in my 

district and I have had lots of conversations about their dealings 

all over the world. They have an absolute policy against that. If a 

country doesn’t cooperate, they will leave in a heartbeat and there 

are a lot of jobs that leave with them. They have high standards. 

GE Aircraft Engines is also headquartered in my district and they 

have the same standards. I would like to commend our business 

community for their practices around the world. I wish other companies in other countries always followed that and they don’t always do that. Some do. A lot don’t. But I think most American 

companies do, and if they don’t, they could be prosecuted for it, as 

we are aware. 

I have used about half of my time in the second round making 

these statements, but I thought they needed to be said. 

As we look at what is happening in Cambodia, the deteriorating 

human rights situation, the political oppression of opposition parties, and restrictions on freedom of expression to name just a few, 

what I would like to ask the panel is, how much leverage does the 

U.S. still have in Cambodia and with Hun Sen as well? How much 

of an impact do American administrations, say press releases or 

pieces of legislation that we pass here in Congress or hearings like 

we are holding here today, to the extent that they are covered in 

that part of the world, or potential action that we might have? Cutting foreign aid has been discussed. Those types of things, what actual power do we have to do some good in that part of the world, 

and specifically in Cambodia? I will go down the line if I can. Mr. 

Sifton? 

Mr. SIFTON. Yes, that is a great question. And I want to emphasize——

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you. My staff wrote it. 

56

Mr. SIFTON. I want to emphasize that a very important thing 

that the State Department and the White House can do is not just 

what they say and what they do after the election, but what they 

do with other capitals. What they do in Tokyo, Brussels, and Paris, 

in particular, as well as in Australia and some other countries, in 

terms of coordinating a coordinated response to what is going on. 

If Tokyo and Brussels and Paris and London and all the rest of 

them, together, make demands about what needs to happen going 

forward toward the next democratic exercise, if they make credible 

warnings to Hun Sen about the price of not meeting those standards, he will cave. He has shown himself again and again of a psychological profile where when pushed against the wall he will deal. 

He is not a particularly stable leader, but when pushed he does go 

back on rationality and doesn’t act crazy to the end of the line. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you, Mr. Sifton. Let me go to Mr. Merloe. I 

had already asked Mr. Mitchell and Ms. Schueller my first question earlier today, so I would like to turn to you as we wrap up. 

Mr. MERLOE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think it is really important to distinguish a few different ways the United States can 

have influence in this circumstance. First, there is the role of the 

U.S. Embassy and USAID on the ground in Cambodia, and we 

have already heard from our colleague about the role of the U.S. 

Ambassador in intervening, and the rolling back of the ban on covering Voice of America and Radio Free Asia and so on within the 

country. The help that has been given to human rights defenders 

has been instrumental and invaluable within Cambodia. There are 

many such things. The role of USAID in giving funding to programs that help promote democracy and human rights and human 

dignity within Cambodia are instrumental, and those sorts of 

things should be continued. 

Second, the role of Congress, the role of the State Department 

and the White House, as has just been said by my colleague: As 

you speak up the world listens, and that brings to bear the whole 

weight of the international community. And, I think we have to 

keep in mind that the new Cambodia was born out of the 1991 

Paris Peace Agreements. In the annexes to that agreement, Number 4 applied to the Constitution, calls for democracy, pluralist political competition and the rule of law. It is not international standards or U.S. standards are foreign or that are being applied or 

somehow imposed on Cambodia. These are the things that the 

Cambodian people have been striving for and risking their lives for 

even during the days of Pol Pot and in the 30 years since. It is our 

role to support them, to come forward, and it is your leading role, 

and the role of this committee is instrumental in that respect. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you very much. I want to thank all the panel 

members. I would like to recognize the ranking member for 5 minutes. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. We are dealing with a dilemma here in 

terms of how do we go about enunciating our foreign policy, as it 

may have been suggested earlier that we become consistent. If we 

do it for Peter, we should do it for Paul. But when it comes to the 

realities as far as diplomacy is concerned, issues become gray and 

57

it becomes muddled because there are so many other factors to 

take into consideration. 

For example, let us talk about the rights of women. Let us talk 

about the rights of women on a worldwide scale, although we can’t 

talk about it in Saudi Arabia because we import over $700 billion 

worth of oil from the Middle East and other countries. So which is 

more important, human rights of women or the oil that we need 

to run our cars? That is where the problem of being consistent 

comes in, not because diplomacy is bad but the reality. It is the reality. 

We never criticized the Russians for their elections. Oh, we did 

kind of dabble a little bit on it, but has Putin given in to the pressures from other democracies that say, hey, Russians, you are not 

doing a democracy here. What are you doing? Putin is a strong 

man. He is a dictator in the opinions of some of our pundits and 

experts here. 

I can talk to you about Indonesia. To a point, 2 million West 

Papuans at the point of a barrel of a gun of the Indonesian military 

under Suharto, you will vote for Indonesia. One thousand West 

Papuan chiefs all voted 100 percent in support of Indonesia’s dictatorship. And guess who took a blind eye to this whole thing? Our 

own U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Why? Because we 

needed Indonesia because we were fighting the Cold War. We 

didn’t care whether they were dictators or whatever, as long as 

they were with us. 

We can also talk about the CIA putting up the Shah of Iran. 

That is another mess that we created and it has nothing to do with 

democracy. So I say this, as I love my country, but sometimes we 

do things. Look what we have done in Iraq and look at Afghanistan. Look at all these areas. Have we really produced the results 

that we wanted? Oh no, don’t worry about it. Well, Iraq has got all 

the oil in the world that will pay back the $1 trillion that we fought 

for some 10 years that we were there in Iraq. One trillion dollars, 

and guess what, ten major oil companies put up a bid for the use 

of the Iraq oil, guess which company won the bid. The Chinese, and 

they never lifted a finger to help us fight Saddam Hussein. 

Anyway, Mr. Chairman, I think my time is up. I am sorry. I 

apologize to my dear brother there, Dana, I know he wants to ask 

some questions. But I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. CHABOT. All right. The gentleman yields back. The gentleman from California is recognized to wrap up the hearing. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. All right, just a couple notes about Ho Chi 

Minh. Let us just note, oh, he died a simple man, did he? Ho Chi 

Minh died in a Presidential palace. He held power, absolute power, 

with a terror in North Vietnam and he sent millions of his people 

to their death. It resulted in 400,000 Vietnamese were killed in his 

desire, what, to create a Communist state. And guess what? He 

was the head of it. He was the one who wasn’t going to have to 

worry about elections because he was in power. No, he was a simple man, all right. 

And then of course what you really have to—by the way, the 

400,000 South Vietnamese that were killed, that is after his troops 

took over South Vietnam. That is not during the process. Not to 

mention I think a few people lost their lives in Cambodia due to 

58

Mr. Ho Chi Minh and his desires and his maneuvers for power in 

Southeast Asia. And yes, the United States tried to oppose him and 

it was a bridge too far and we walked away, and people who allied 

themselves with us were slaughtered. And nowhere was that more 

evident than in Cambodia. 

But now back to where Cambodia is today as compared to then—

and by the way, all those people who died in Cambodia, wasn’t 

there a field commander of Pol Pot named Hun Sen? Am I wrong 

about that? No. So when we are talking about atrocities into millions, there is nobody who comes close enough to Adolph Hitler and 

Joseph Stalin than Pol Pot, and Hun Sen was his field commander 

doing his dirty work. And he ended up on top, why? Because after 

he lost the election that was an honest election back in 1991–92, 

the American Ambassador decided, my goodness, Hun Sen will not 

give up even though he has lost the election and even though we 

had plenty of U.N. troops in there to see that that election was recognized. 

Back to where we are today in terms of, I am sorry. I know that 

Hun Sen has done right by your company and you are protecting 

the interests of your company, but a lot of people think it is very 

corrupt in Cambodia and that there might be a possibility that 

someone doesn’t have to get sucked into it, but it appears by the 

analysis that actually most people think they are going to get 

sucked into it if they go there to invest. In that chart that we were 

just talking about, or the chairman just mentioned, in terms of 

transparency and accountability, yes, Cambodia comes in 157th out 

of 172 countries, and countries like Yemen, Angola, Paraguay, 

Syria, they are all more honest than Cambodia in the analysis of 

this organization that makes its living by trying to do an honest 

analysis of what countries are human rights violators or not. 

Let us put this way. I think that it is a very important thing that 

we are drawing attention to Cambodia today. It is important that 

these arguments get out. I do not blame our business community 

for trying to get in and make a profit. And I do believe what our 

witness said, in his case and in the case of most American companies, because we have made it illegal for them to actually, breaking 

our law for them to try to bribe somebody overseas, these other 

countries don’t have that. Now correct me, am I wrong? Is there 

a large amount of Chinese investment going into Cambodia? Am I 

wrong about that? 

Mr. MITCHELL. You are correct. There is a tremendous amount 

of Chinese investment. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Okay. So my guess is that the Chinese who 

are going in are not going in with the same regulatory burdens 

that our own companies have in terms of honesty and bribes and 

paying people off. And what we have seen and what we have just 

heard testimony, Mr. Chairman, is that the people of Cambodia, 

some people may have owned land for hundreds of years, are finding that their property is being taken from them and their property 

is being stolen from them and often given to foreign investors. And 

what could be more of an insult to your own people than to be making a profit by selling out your people to foreigners who are there 

of course taking advantage of the fact that you can’t have, without 

59

freedom of the press, which is very limited there, that they are not 

going to be exposed. 

So I appreciate you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate my good friend 

Eni. And let me just note, this is a man who fought for his country. 

I was in Vietnam in 1967 but I was not in the military. But let 

me just note that when you said something good about Ho Chi 

Minh, some people I worked with are dead because of Ho Chi Minh 

and they were not bad people. They were very good people. 

And yes, sure, I would yield, yes. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Will the gentleman yield? Just for 30 seconds, Mr. Chairman. I just want to say I wish we had more time 

so my good friend from California and I could debate Ho Chi Minh 

and what he stood for. 

Secondly, we talk about acquisition of lands. There is a saying 

among the American Indians, yes, you stole our land fair and 

square. I would like to talk about that in terms of what we have 

done as a country for the last 236–37 years. It always seems to be 

that if you don’t remember the past you are condemned to repeat 

it. I sincerely hope they will be fair in the same way that the 

American Indians have lost their land. What have we done about 

it? Oh, they are getting spots of it here and there, but I wish it 

could have been more. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. We let them open up casinos and take our 

money, what do you mean? 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Because it is the only means of survival 

they have got——

Mr. ROHRABACHER. All right. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA [continuing]. In terms of economic opportunity. All the states continue their lotteries and their bingos and 

casinos. Oh no, the poor Indians, that Congress has got to see them 

make sure there is no mafia presence or syndicates. No, they run 

the better gaming operations because it is under the auspices of 

the Federal Government. I am sorry. I didn’t mean to——

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I thank my friend from California. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. But of course. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you. The Chair would note that the U.S. Native American policies are not within the purview of this committee, but I am sure Congress does have committees that can deal 

with that issue. We do have India within our jurisdiction but not 

American Indians. I would also ask unanimous consent that committee members be given 5 days to revise their remarks or submit 

questions. 

I want to thank the panel for their testimony. I thought it was 

excellent testimony by all four. We also thank the members of the 

committee for their spirited involvement here this afternoon. If 

there is no further business to come before the committee, we are 

adjourned. Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 3:27 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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81869n.eps

SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING NOTICE 

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

u.s. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

WASHINGTON, DC 20515-6128 

Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific 

Steve Chabot (R-OH), Chairman 

July 6,2013 

TO: MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

You arc respectfully requested to attend an OPEN hearing of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 

to be held by the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific in Room 2172 of the Raybum House Office 

Building (and available live on the Committee \vebsite at \"""\"F\v.fon;iL,rnaft~llrsJHJllse.gOv): 

DATE: 

TIME: 

SUBJECT: 

WITNESSES: 

Tuesday, July 9, 2013 

2:00 p.m. 

Cambodia's Looming Political and Social Crisis 

Mr. John Sifton 

Director 

Asia Advocacy 

Human Rights Watch 

Ms. E,i Schueller 

Legal Consultant 

Cambodian League for the Promotion of Defense of Human Rights 

Mr. Patrick Mcrloe 

Director 

Election Programs 

National Democratic Institute 

Mr. Daniel Mitchell 

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director 

SRP Tntemational Group 

By Direction of the Chairman 
63

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81869m.eps

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

MINUTES OF SUBCOMMITTEE ON _______ --'A"'",:::h,,' &=-:::t""'e::cP'='c"'-ifi:::'c _______ HEARING 

Day_--"T",,.te""sd ...a"'V'---_Date ___ -'7-"-I'i"c'09.,,V-'l-c3 ___ Room ___ -"2,,1"-'72"--__ _ 

Stal'ting Time _---"'Z;J·("'lZ'-Jnrn'''',, __ Ending Time 3:27 pm 

Recesses I~, _: ( __ to _~) <--to _~)( __ to __ ) <--to _~) <--to _~) <--to--l 

Presiding Mcmbcr(s) 

Chairman Steve CJwbot (R-OH, Ranking lJlelllber Ell; Faleomuvaega (D-A')J 

Clteck all o/tlte/ollowing tltat "pply: 

Open Session [l] 

Executive (closed) Session D Televised [l] 

TITLE OF HEARING: 

Electronically Record~taped) [l] 

Stenographic Record [l] 

Cambodia: The Looming Political and Social Crisis 

SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: 

Rep. George Holding (R-NC), Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), Rep. DllIw Rohl'llbacher (R-CA) 

NON-SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: (Mark with an * if they are nol members o/filll committee) 

HEARING WITNESSES: Same as meeting notice attached? Yes EI No 0 

({r "no", please list below and include title, agency, department, 07' organization.) 

STATEMENTS FOR THE RECORD: (List any statements suhmittedfor the record.) 

", , 

I 

;1/, if i :,1 / 1'-' \__ ~_-""/,,-----" -

<~tI?,~itlee Staff Director 

!A . 

TIME SCHEDULED TO RECONVENE ___ -,-

or 

TIME ADJOURNED _-=3,,-:=-2,-"7 p",'",n_ 
64

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE STEVE CHABOT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OHIO, AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC


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81869e-2.eps

KHMER PEOPLE NETWORK FOR CAMBODIA 

s.srwnmG1ruSf1~gssf:~j5'S~~ 

e) The ruling government has used the court system to bar the main opposition party leader, Mr. 

Sam Rainsy, from participating in the supposedly free and fair election 

f) The ruling government hand-picked the officials in fhe National Election Committcc (NEC) to 

serve its interests 

g) The ruling government, through the NEC, has issued and used fraudulent documents for 

ineligible voters in their favor to win the election 

2. Human Rights Abuses: Insurmountable evidence suggests fhat human rights in Cambodia have been 

deteriorating at an alanning rate. 

a) The ruling government has harassed and intimidated the opposition party and its activists in the 

lead-up to the elections and throughout fhe parliamentalY cycle 

b) The 11lling government has created a fearful environment to demoralize the free will ofthe public 

to choose their leader in the election 

c) The 11lling government has tried to block Cambodian people from the access to international 

media such as Voice of America and Radio Free Asia 

d) The ruling government has warned Cambodian people of eivil war andlor fhe retum to fhe 

Killing Fields if they do not vote for fhe Cambodian People's Party (CPP) 

Honorable Members offhe United States Congress, 

We believe that free and fair elections and respect for human rights are two crucial clements to a 

functioning democracy, or which Cambodia's is in peril. As representatives of freedom and democracy, we 

urge you to take necessary actions to havc the current guvernment of Cambodia: 

l. Reform the National Election Committee, as recommended by fhe United Nations Special Rapporteur on 

Human Rights in Cambodia, Dr. Surya Subcdi 

2. Form a court system or judicial bodies and its mechanism outside of the National Election Committee to 

ensure free and fair election 

3. Rc-instate the 28 members of the parliament who were expelled by the ruling government at the 

begimling of the election campaign (in order to meet its constitutional mandate so that Cambodia can 

maintain its status as a legal nation) 

4. Comply willl relevant provisions of the Paris Peace Agreements of 1991 on Cambodia, which we 

believe can guarantee peace and ensure free and fair elections, such as the one held in 1993 
66

Æ


81869e-3.eps

KHMER PEOPLE NETWORK FOR CAMBODIA 

~~miJnSi~G~5St:i63S1~~ 

5. Allow the return of the main opposition leader, Mr. Sam Rainsy, to playa full role in Cambodian 

politics, especially in this coming election 

Should the Cambodian government fails to meet the above demands, we urge the United States to 

invalidate the result of the election. 

As citizens of the United States of America, we understand firsthand what it is like to live in a democracy, to 

have the freedom to pursue liberty and happiness, and clcct those to represent our best interests. At this time, 

Cambodian-Americans and Cambodians worldwide are pleading for someone to intervene and help save 

Cambodia. Please help us by drafting a bill to carry out the actions mentioned. in doing so, the United States 

will not only save 14 million Cambodian people from falling into Comllllmism again, but also strengthen its 

standing as a beacon of hope around the world. 

Thank you for your consideration, and 1 hope to hear .:limn you at your convenience, 

Respectfully Yours, 

!b-'(D(~~ cvw:) 

Hay S. Meas, MD 

Chairman, Khmer People Network for Cambodia (KPNC) 

Telephone: (253) 381-8291 Email: hSlllcas(!')yahoo.colll 

References: 

1. liThe Trap of Saving Cambodia", a documentary film 

2. hll12:j jwww.miarpiherald.com/201.1/05/2·1 /'34191 ')7/ cam bodia -pm-seeks-law-to-punish.htm1 

3. http://lll.Unj~c_\)miqnry/UPC-2Z9JJ1711294 777/ (Asian sugar giant accused of human rights abuses) 

4. lill12~.L~suvw ~s<1Yll(-:(.~cQtni7(J 13/(){)!()3/54(1(135S17 -_C;~11!lb!)di'J~\-\Y5!J)~CJ~<;_-(i1TC51~Q~llJ.h!1111 (Seven Cambodian workers at 

Nike contractor arrested) 

5. !1.:tl!~_0~bi1l.~fl)t.JgreeJl(UIll0l ]'(1\-1 ... COIllO!) J 3/D5iJ 1/Jnn~-j-:£rab~inQ-ill-bo:--and-camb\){lia-hrc~-jl h-hlHlIEin-l i ,)htsi (land 

gabbing in Cambodia and Laos breach Human Rights) 

6, IlltJ):/lblLll'<.mdi...'.re;;.'ntomorr(j'iV,c~IIl./~QJJlQ)LUJ(t}Kt=gElbbml!·-in"':a;ls-and-camb~lgi(l_-JF:{'_u_~hJllJllJ<1!i-l·igJtt5/ 

(Cambodian Official Rejects UN Request for Update on Rights) 

7. hlln //\VW\vJtkLllrg/cnglishiHC'\\'"/~all1b_QdJ-,.I/,,,-J.~SJ1_On-Q52020131 XSS 12.1111111 (Cambodian Opposition Petitions EU, 

UN on Fair Election) 

8. b.11.D.J[~_~:'dy_._b I PD.!J] h~'rtZ!-":OHljll(:'.w::.;i2 () 13· 06··(6/cafl1 bodi a" ri s k~ -vi oicnc.::- i81-1lY~~kc:ti0Jl --Un yyc~l-};t;ll~xah,?)~sa.y~-,hi!!ll 

(Cambodia Risks Violence If July Election Flawed, Sam Rainsy Says) 

9. l}t!p_:.//w~~~\Vj: LI ~f time~.l:oll1/m()h[ lell ~\':J::',--'Jl_-1)lJjl~IHH1)G"ll BS/del.;1 i 10/353 9.~ O/un-l'l1VOv-·un..'cs ·1'<-l i! -r)oll~- i n-ca mhod i.1 

(Visiting UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights to Cambodia Surya P Subedi) 

10. Imp://\v\V_~\:~<;'llmbodi:lda-,1Y~~Qlr;/!1C\v:;,/inli1-::,cn-:')0Y'H10t[0l1al-eicdil1n-i~-alre:hly-w()n1St! 3 ~t?ll!ln ___ ~Q~I[C~~- rs:,&utm mec i lmFI~~&:_1Jlll1~ ~[lJn'p,)i_gJLJI1!n-sen··:-21 \is -llilliuna l-el e...: [ lOll ~i S-i.l! r~ll_.JfYi:'(211 (HUll 

Sen says national election is already won)