Cambodia unfazed by European Parliament criticism
| 10 June 2016
Phnom Penh (dpa) - Cambodia‘s government is unfazed by the European
Parliament‘s calls to reconsider development assistance following the
detention of five NGO workers, a government spokesman said on Friday.
In a resolution passed on Thursday, the parliament called on the European External Action Service to reconsider benchmarks for development assistance to Cambodia in light of the detentions.
"I don‘t have any reaction because it‘s just a resolution. It‘s not a law," Cambodia‘s Ministry of Interior Spokesman Phay Siphan told dpa. "If they criticize us, yes, we accept it as an informal [warning]."
He also asked the European Parliament to respect Cambodia‘s courts and rule of law.
Human rights groups have heavily criticized Cambodia since it detained five NGO workers in late April for allegedly bribing a witness in a corruption case against deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha.
The case is widely seen as politically motivated as the government seeks to discredit the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party ahead of the 2017 local elections and the 2018 national election.
The European Union is one of Cambodia‘s largest donors, and pledged to provide 410 million euros (463 million dollars) in aid between 2014 and 2020. Despite repeated criticism of Cambodia‘s human rights record, the regional bloc has never cut off foreign aid since its bilateral cooperation treaty came into force in 1999.
In a resolution passed on Thursday, the parliament called on the European External Action Service to reconsider benchmarks for development assistance to Cambodia in light of the detentions.
"I don‘t have any reaction because it‘s just a resolution. It‘s not a law," Cambodia‘s Ministry of Interior Spokesman Phay Siphan told dpa. "If they criticize us, yes, we accept it as an informal [warning]."
He also asked the European Parliament to respect Cambodia‘s courts and rule of law.
Human rights groups have heavily criticized Cambodia since it detained five NGO workers in late April for allegedly bribing a witness in a corruption case against deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha.
The case is widely seen as politically motivated as the government seeks to discredit the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party ahead of the 2017 local elections and the 2018 national election.
The European Union is one of Cambodia‘s largest donors, and pledged to provide 410 million euros (463 million dollars) in aid between 2014 and 2020. Despite repeated criticism of Cambodia‘s human rights record, the regional bloc has never cut off foreign aid since its bilateral cooperation treaty came into force in 1999.
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