Ministry defends media policy
CAMBODIA’S Ministry of Information has defended as legitimate its recent crackdown on independent press outlets, calling it a “warning to all media” in a missive to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations that appears to have been made public accidentally.
The document, dated November 23, addresses the recent closure of 21 radio stations broadcasting Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and opposition party programming, ostensibly over licensing issues, as well as the shuttering of the Cambodia Daily over a $6 million tax dispute.
Versions of the document were posted in the past two days to the homepage of the ministry’s website, as well as to the website of its press agency, Agence Kampuchea Press, only to be removed yesterday following an inquiry from a Post reporter.
Formatted as responses to questions posed by the UN, the ministry maintains the government did not use the law as a means to restrict or shut down independent media. It also denied that the radio stations had been closed without warning.
“In fact, freedom of the press and freedom of publication is really widely open up and has been assured by the Constitution and relevant laws, as we can see through [the] growing … number of media and the progress of the information and broadcasting sector in Cambodia,” the
Commissioner Chhay Sinarith, who heads the ministry’s powerful Internal Security Department. He is also a member of the l ong-ruling Cambodian People’s Party’s powerful Central Committee, and was appointed to the party’s 25-member “propaganda and education committee” in 2015.
Sinarith declined to comment yesterday, referring questions to National Police spokesman Kirth Chantharith.
“[Sinarith] had saved information for a long time” before making the slides, Chantharith said, adding it took only “one or two weeks” to put the presentation together.
One of the slides, titled “Structure of Colour Revolution in Cambodia”, features a rudimentary flowchart with a who’s-who list of organisations that have appeared in the government’s crosshairs.
Land rights NGOs Equitable Cambodia and Sahmakum Teang Tnaut, both of which have been singled out for criticism by authorities in recent months, are named as local NGOs involved in revolution. Equitable Cambodia was even slapped with a one-month suspension by the Ministry of Interior related to its advocacy on behalf of villagers locked in a land dispute with a wealthy ruling party senator.
The now-dissolved CNRP also appears on the chart, as do now-shuttered or restricted media outlets such as Voice of Democracy, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Sarika FM and FM 105. And international actors who have been closed or criticised also appear, such as the National Democratic Institute – which was expelled from the country – and the US Peace Corps.
The Cambodian Center for Human Ri g ht s d o e s not appear i n t he f l owchar t , though it is mentioned elsewhere i n the slides as the o r g a ni s a t i o n f o unded by former CNRP President Kem Sokha, who is currently awaiting trial on widely condemned “treason” charges.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Sunday declared that the oftcritical NGO “must close”, and the Ministry of Interior is investigating his claims that it served foreign interests.
Provincial police chiefs contacted yesterday confirmed that they had received the documents and disseminated them widely to provincial, district and commune authorities.
“We took [the slides] from the National Police [leaders] . . . This was presented by General Chhay Sinarith,” said Mondulkiri Provincial Police Chief Ouk Samnang, who maintained the documents proved the existence of a treasonous plot organised by CNRP leaders.
“Mondulkiri province is not different than other provinces across the country, and they have disseminated this information too,” he added.
Kandal Provincial Police Chief Eav Chamroeun said that after presenting the slides to his officers, they understood the colour revolution plot “100 percent”. He also accused The Phnom Penh Post of being part of the plot, though the newspaper’s name does not appear in the documents.
“These documents seem to be a very clear indication that the intention is to completely shut down political space in the country in the lead-up to next year’s general election,” said Jonathan Sutton, a researcher on government repression in Southeast Asia at the University of Otago in New Zealand.
Towards the end of the presentation, there is a list of suggestions for authorities to implement i n the f uture. Some echo recently l eaked statements by Hun Sen, i n which he called for internal party reform and better government services.
Under the subheading “Practical Actions”, the document urges authorities to “try to combat inactiveness of civil servants at every level by having encouragement and sanction policies”, to “gather information related to land and house conflicts” and to “not let the conflicts grow”.
Other directives are more punitive in nature. For example, one clause calls on authorities to “strongly control all foreigners as stated in the immigration law”. Another appears to lend credence to concerns of more actions to come, calling on officials to “strengthen the implementation of Lango [the Law on Associations and NGOs] and Political [Parties] Law by taking serious action against illegal activities”.
Both pieces of legislation have been widely criticised – Lango for granting the government authority to restrict NGOs that are not “neutral”, and the recently amended Political Parties Law for crippling the CNRP ahead of its dissolution.
“This implies that the attacks on civil society will not just be limited to the CNRP and a few other organisations,” Sutton said yesterday.
“I would not be at all surprised to see this crackdown continuing for some time, until the only functioning organisations left are those which are completely subservient to the CPP.”