Lawmaker Requests UN Envoy Promote ‘Culture of Dialogue’

 Cambodia Daily | 24 March 2016

The U.N.’s human rights envoy to Cambodia on Wednesday met with Eng Chhay Eang, an opposition lawmaker who heads the National Assembly’s human rights commission and requested the rapporteur’s assistance in rekindling positive relations with the ruling party.

In her second day of official meetings, Rhona Smith met with Mr. Chhay Eang and eight other members of the bipartisan commission to hear about its work.

The CNRP lawmaker said he informed the special rapporteur that the commission had received more than 500 complaints in 2015, of which around 70 percent were related to land disputes, with most of the remainder related to the judicial system.

“We discussed the work of the human rights committee, including the complaints the committee assists with, especially regarding the land disputes and mechanisms to solve the complaints,” Mr. Chhay Eang said.

The lawmaker said he asked Ms. Smith to use her position to try to persuade the leaders of both parties to restore the “culture of dialogue,” a political truce meant to bring civility to the political arena. The interparty peace collapsed late last year when two CNRP lawmakers were beaten outside the National Assembly and an arrest warrant was issued for opposition leader Sam Rainsy.

“At the end of the meeting, I requested that she encourage the leaders of both parties to strengthen the culture of dialogue because sometimes we face difficulties in doing our work because it’s related to politics,” Mr. Chhay Eang said.

He said he decided not to directly bring up the case of Mr. Rainsy, who is living in exile to avoid a two-year prison sentence for defaming Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, or that of deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha, who was ousted as first vice president of the National Assembly in October, a move that experts called illegal.

“I did not talk about any of this, because I think Rhona Smith seemed to have talked with the National Assembly about them,” he said, referring to a meeting she had with Nguon Nhel, the acting Assembly president, on Tuesday.