IV

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 195

Concerning the crisis in Cambodia.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 23, 1997

Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. HAMILTON, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. PORTER, Mr.

FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. BERMAN, and Mr. LEACH) submitted the following

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Concerning the crisis in Cambodia.

Whereas during the 1970s and 1980s Cambodia was wracked

by political conflict, civil war, foreign invasion, protracted

violence, and a genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge

from 1975 to 1979;

Whereas the Paris Agreement on a Comprehensive Political

Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict led to the end of 2

decades of civil war and genocide in Cambodia, demonstrated the commitment of the Cambodian people to

democracy and stability, and established a national constitution guaranteeing fundamental human rights;

Whereas the 1991 Paris Peace Accords set the stage for a

process of political accommodation, national reconcili-
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ation, and the founding of a state based on democratic

principles;

Whereas the international donor community contributed more

than $3,000,000,000 in an effort to secure peace, democracy, and stability in Cambodia following the Paris Peace

Accords and currently provides over 40 percent of the

budget of the Cambodian Government;

Whereas the Cambodian people clearly demonstrated their

support for democracy when over 93 percent of eligible

Cambodian voters participated in United Nations sponsored elections in 1993;

Whereas since the 1993 elections, Cambodia has made significant progress, as evidenced by the decision last month

of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to extend

membership to Cambodia;

Whereas notwithstanding the notable societal and economic

progress since the elections of 1993, concern has increasingly been raised regarding the fragile state of democracy

in Cambodia, in particular the quality of the judicial system, which has been described in a United Nations report

as thoroughly corrupt; unsolved attacks in 1995 on officials of the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party; and the

unsolved murders of journalists and political activists;

Whereas tensions within the Cambodian Government have

erupted into violence in recent months;

Whereas on March 30, 1997, 19 Cambodians were killed and

more than 100 were wounded in a grenade attack on a

peaceful political demonstration in Phnom Penh;

Whereas in June 1997 fighting erupted in Phnom Penh between military and paramilitary forces loyal to First
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Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Second

Prime Minister Hun Sen;

Whereas on July 5, 1997, Second Prime Minister Hun Sen

deposed the First Prime Minister in a violent military

coup d’etat;

Whereas at least several dozen opposition politicians have

died in the custody of Hun Sen’s forces, some after being

tortured, and hundreds of others have been detained due

to their political affiliation;

Whereas democracy and stability in Cambodia are threatened

by the continued use of violence to resolve political differences;

Whereas the administration has suspended assistance to

Cambodia for 1 month in response to the deteriorating

situation in Cambodia; and

Whereas the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

(ASEAN) has decided to delay indefinitely Cambodian

membership: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that—

3 (1) the forcible assault upon the democratically

4 elected Government of Cambodia is illegal and unac5 ceptable;

6 (2) the recent events in Cambodia constitute a

7 military coup against the duly elected democratic

8 Government of Cambodia;

9 (3) the authorities in Cambodia should take im10 mediate steps to halt all extralegal violence and to
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1 restore fully civil, political, and personal liberties to

2 the Cambodian people, including freedom of the

3 press, speech, and assembly, as well as the right to

4 a democratically elected government;

5 (4) the United States should release the report

6 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning

7 the March 30, 1997, grenade attack in Phnom

8 Penh;

9 (5) the United States should press the authori10 ties in Cambodia to investigate fully and impartially

11 all abuses and extralegal actions that have occurred

12 in Cambodia since July 4, 1997, and to bring to jus13 tice all those responsible for such abuses and extra14 legal actions;

15 (6) the administration should immediately in16 voke section 508 of the Foreign Operations, Export

17 Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations

18 Act, 1997 (Public Law 104–208), as it is required

19 to do;

20 (7) the United States should urgently request

21 an emergency meeting of the United Nations Secu22 rity Council to consider all options to restore peace

23 in Cambodia;

24 (8) the United States should encourage the Sec25 retary General of the United Nations to expand the
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1 monitoring operations of the United Nations Special

2 Representative on Human Rights in Cambodia;

3 (9) the United States and the Association of

4 Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should coordi5 nate efforts to restore democracy, stability, and the

6 rule of law in Cambodia;

7 (10) direct United States assistance to the Gov8 ernment of Cambodia should continue to be sus9 pended until violence ends, a democratically elected

10 government is reconstituted, necessary steps have

11 been taken to ensure that the election scheduled for

12 1998 takes place in a free and fair manner, the mili13 tary is depoliticized, and the judiciary is made inde14 pendent; and

15 (11) the United States should call for an emer16 gency meeting of the Donors’ Consultative Group for

17 Cambodia to encourage the suspension of assistance

18 as part of a multilateral effort to encourage respect

19 for democratic processes, constitutionalism, and the

20 rule of law.

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