Violent rhetoric concerns UN envoy
UN SPECIAL Rapporteur Rhona Smith kicked off an official visit to the Kingdom yesterday by raising concerns over ruling party officials’ increased use of violent rhetoric, singling out Social Affairs Minister Vong Soth’s recent threats to bludgeon protesters with bamboo rods, during a meeting with government rights official Keo Remy.
In a press conference following the meeting, however, Remy was quick to defend Soth’s remarks as merely “an education of the law”.
Smith, who is on a 10-day visit of the country, was meeting with Remy at the government’s Cambodian Human Rights Committee offices in Tuol Kork district, when she raised the issue of the bamboo threat – which Soth had attributed to Prime Minister Hun Sen – and told reporters that Remy had said that he was concerned about the rhetoric as well.
“His Excellency raised that himself, yes. I did raise my concerns, and His Excellency did agree that it was problematic and not helpful before the elections,” she said, without commenting further on the issue.
The run-up to the commune elections in June was marked by a major escalation in ruling party rhetoric, with Hun Sen repeatedly warning of a return to war in the event of an opposition victory, and Defence Minister Tea Banh saying he would “smash the teeth” of opposition supporters if they protested the results of the ballot.
The rhetoric was among CONTINUED
– PAGE 2