H. Res. 195
In the House of Representatives, U.S.,
July 28, 1997.
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, dem-
onstrated the commitment of the Cambodian people to
democracy and stability, and established a national con-
stitution guaranteeing fundamental human rights;
Whereas the 1991 Paris Peace Accords set the stage for a
process of political accommodation, national reconcili-
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, democ-
racy, 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
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Cambodian voters participated in United Nations spon-
sored elections in 1993;
Whereas since the 1993 elections, Cambodia has made sig-
nificant 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 increas-
ingly been raised regarding the fragile state of democracy
in Cambodia, in particular the quality of the judicial sys-
tem, which has been described in a United Nations report
as thoroughly corrupt; unsolved attacks in 1995 on offi-
cials 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 preliminary reports by eyewitnesses and reports in
Phnom Penh to the FBI of witness intimidation indicate
that forces loyal to Hun Sen were involved in the March
30, 1997, grenade attack;
Whereas in June 1997 fighting erupted in Phnom Penh be-
tween military and paramilitary forces loyal to First
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;
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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 dif-
ferences;
Whereas internal Cambodian Government reports and inves-
tigations by United States drug enforcement agencies
have reported that Hun Sen and his forces have received
millions of dollars in financial and material support from
major international drug dealers; that Hun Sen has pub-
licly threatened violence against any Cambodian official
who attempts to arrest alleged drug barons Teng Bumma
and Mong Rethy; and in a July 23, 1997, press con-
ference in Cambodia Teng Bunma admitted to providing
$1,000,000 to Hun Sen to fund the ongoing coup and is
providing his personal fleet of helicopters flown by Rus-
sian pilots to ferry Hun Sen’s troops to suppress demo-
cratic forces in western Cambodia;
Whereas representatives of the United Nations and the Gov-
ernment of Thailand estimate at least 30,000 Cambodian
refugees (including wounded civilians and malnourished
children) displaced by the ongoing fighting are massed,
without assistance, in northwest Cambodia near the bor-
der of Thailand;
Whereas the administration has suspended assistance to
Cambodia for 1 month in response to the deteriorating
situation in Cambodia; and
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Whereas the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) has decided to delay indefinitely Cambodian
membership: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Represent-
atives that—
(1) the forcible assault upon the democratically
elected Government of Cambodia is illegal and unaccept-
able;
(2) the recent events in Cambodia constitute a mili-
tary coup against the duly elected democratic Govern-
ment of Cambodia;
(3) the authorities in Cambodia should take imme-
diate steps to halt all extralegal violence and to restore
fully civil, political, and personal liberties to the Cam-
bodian people, including freedom of the press, speech,
and assembly, as well as the right to a democratically
elected government;
(4) the United States should release the report by
the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning the
March 30, 1997, grenade attack in Phnom Penh;
(5) the United States should declassify and release
all reports by the United States Drug Enforcement
Agency related to Cambodia that were compiled between
1994 and the present;
(6) the United States should press the authorities
in Cambodia to investigate fully and impartially all
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abuses and extralegal actions that have occurred in
Cambodia since July 4, 1997, and to bring to justice all
those responsible for such abuses and extralegal actions;
(7) the administration should immediately invoke
section 508 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financ-
ing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1997
(Public Law 104–208), as it is required to do;
(8) the United States should urgently request an
emergency meeting of the United Nations Security
Council to consider all options to restore peace in Cam-
bodia;
(9) the United States should encourage the Sec-
retary General of the United Nations to expand the
monitoring operations of the United Nations Special
Representative on Human Rights in Cambodia;
(10) the United States and the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should coordinate ef-
forts to restore democracy, stability, and the rule of law
in Cambodia;
(11) direct United States assistance to the Govern-
ment of Cambodia should continue to be suspended until
violence ends, a democratically elected government is re-
constituted, necessary steps have been taken to ensure
that the election scheduled for 1998 takes place in a free
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and fair manner, the military is depoliticized, and the ju-
diciary is made independent;
(12) at least a substantial share of previously ap-
propriated United States assistance to the Government
of Cambodia should be redirected to provide humani-
tarian assistance to refugees and displaced persons in
western Cambodia through nongovernmental agencies or
through Cambodian civilian, political, or military forces
that are opposing the coup; and
(13) the United States should call for an emergency
meeting of the Donors’ Consultative Group for Cam-
bodia to encourage the suspension of assistance as part
of a multilateral effort to encourage respect for demo-
cratic processes, constitutionalism, and the rule of law.
Attest:
Clerk.