Killing Fields producer Lord Puttnam in Cambodia row
Cambodia has been criticised for its repression of garment workers demonstrating for higher wages
The British film maker, David Puttnam, helped inspire a generation of
foreign correspondents with his highly acclaimed film The Killing
Fields, which featured the experiences of journalists during the Khmer
Rouge reign of terror in Cambodia. He has now made a return to the
country with controversial comments about the current Cambodian
government.
Lord Puttnam ran into hot water on a visit to attend a 30th
anniversary screening of his much acclaimed film about the Cambodian
genocide.
Lord Puttnam has taken on a role as British trade envoy for the countries of Indo-China.
A "little knowledge is a dangerous thing," ran a headline in
the English-language Cambodia Daily after Lord Puttnam was reported to
have praised efforts by the current Cambodian government to combat
corruption.
Veteran foreign correspondents, who covered the war in
Cambodia, accused the film producer of naivety for failing to see the
true nature of the government of Hun Sen, which is accused by human
rights groups of widespread corruption and repression.
Transparency International's latest corruption perceptions
index ranked Cambodia behind only North Korea in East Asia. The Asian
Development Bank also found that corruption was the main area of concern
for improving the business environment and governance in Cambodia.
Lord Puttnam was visiting the country in his capacity as a trade representative for the British Prime Minister, David Cameron.
"I don't think I've ever been anywhere where I have received
such an absolute answer from government on the issues of stopping and
stamping out corruption," he was quoted by the newspaper as telling an
audience in the capital, Phnom Penn.
Hun Sen, now Asia's longest serving ruler, is accused of corruption and repression of government critics
He also cautioned the current generation of foreign
journalists on their approach, saying they must decide whether their
role was "to inflame or to inform".
Veteran correspondent, James Pringle, who covered the war in
Vietnam and Cambodia for the Reuters news agency, wrote in the Cambodia
Daily that journalists, some diplomats and local film makers appeared
stunned by Lord Puttnam's comments.
Who were the Khmer Rouge?
- Maoist regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979
- Led by Saloth Sar, better known as Pol Pot
- Abolished religion, schools and currency in effort to create agrarian utopia
- Up to two million people thought to have died of starvation, overwork or by execution
- Defeated in Vietnamese invasion in 1979
- Pol Pot fled and remained free until 1997 - he died a year later
He said The Killing Fields was
one of the best films he'd ever seen, but that Lord Puttnam was
completely out of touch with modern Cambodia.
Nate Thayer, who famously interviewed the Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, in 1997, said the Killing Fields was a great film but that Lord Puttnam's comments were an embarrassment.
"Hun Sen was plucked from his previous job as a Khmer Rouge
military commander by the invading Vietnamese army, appointed the
youngest prime minister on earth, and now holds the distinction of being
the longest serving dictator on the planet."
The Killing Fields told the story of the New York Times
correspondent, Sydney Schanberg, and his Cambodian assistant, Dith Pran,
who was forced to stay in the country after the Khmer Rouge captured
Phnom Penn and drove its residents into the countryside.
Dith Pran was eventually reunited with Schanberg in a refugee
camp across the Thai border after a miraculous escape through the
horrors of the Khmer Rouge genocide.
The film inspired a new generation of journalists and won
much acclaim from the correspondents who had experienced the war and its
aftermath first hand.
As many as two million people are thought to have lost their lives during the Khmer Rouge genocide
Lord Puttnam told the BBC that the criticisms he had received were polemical and had misrepresented his comments.
"I'm not a fool, but I was very impressed with the younger
politicians that I met. The old cadre of politicians is moving on and
the new generation is very impressive," he said.
He went to Cambodia as part of a tour of Indo-China to promote British investment and better relations.
Human Rights Watch in January accused the Hun Sen government
of harsh repression culminating in the recent deaths of five striking
garment workers, who were shot by police while demonstrating for higher
pay in the capital.
"Hun Sen's government violates human rights on a daily basis
by violently preventing the opposition, trade unions, activists and
others from gathering to demand political change," said the organisation
in a report in January. "Countries at the Human Rights Council should
condemn this brutal crackdown and insist the Cambodian government engage
in serious reforms."
Garment workers have been leading protests against the Cambodian government
The former Australian foreign minister, Gareth Evans, who
played an important role in the diplomacy that brought the war in
Cambodia to an end, says that he's giving up hope of meaningful reform
under the current government.
"The recent killings repeat a pattern of political violence
that recurred all too often at crucial moments in Cambodia's history,"
he said on his website. He called for current leaders to be "named,
shamed, investigated and sanctioned".
Lord Puttnam said the lesson he had learned from his years of work with Unicef was that engagement was the best approach.
"Gareth Evans is no longer foreign minister," he said "I doubt he would advocate disengagement if he was."
He said that he was focused on what might be the future of the nation and its people and rejected the politics of despair.
"Time will tell if I've simply been gullible - should that be
the case I'll undoubtedly appear somewhat naïve and foolish," he said.
Lord Shit Puttnam, you are the dumbest Briitish man ever. You probably thought Hitler was a great man too? Where have you been and what have you eating all this time? You are an embarrassment to mankind.
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