[Vietnamization: Elections] Cambodia Orders Expulsion of Foreign Staff Members With American Nonprofit

Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia during a factory visit in Phnom Penh on Wednesday. Cambodia Orders

Expulsion of Foreign Staff Members With American Nonprofit

New York Times | 23 August 2017

BANGKOK —Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday ordered foreign staff members of an American nonprofit that receives support from the United States government to leave the country within a week, part of an apparent attempt to silence opposition voices in the lead-up to national elections next year.

Cambodia is ruled by one of the world’s longest-serving leaders, Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose Cambodian People’s Party received a strong challenge from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party in local elections in June.

The American nonprofit, the National Democratic Institute, is loosely affiliated with the United States’ Democratic Party, and has provided training to various Cambodian political parties, including those from the opposition. Local news media organizations with ties to the ruling party have accused the organization of conspiring against Mr. Hun Sen.

On the Cambodia page of its website, the National Democratic Institute includes a critical description of the grip Mr. Hun Sen’s party has on the country.

“The governing Cambodian People’s Party continues to dominate after 30 years under the same leader,” the site says. “Citizens are limited in their engagement of elected officials, and mistrust between civil society and government impedes a fully inclusive and participatory democracy."

In a statement, Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry blamed the nonprofit for operating “with total contempt” while its application to comply with a law requiring registration of such groups was pending. The statement also referred to the nation’s tax code without specifying what the organization may have done to run afoul of tax regulations.

The action against the organization drew a sharp rebuke from critics of the government.

“There have been multilevel efforts by the government and government institutions to restrict and repress the opposition party, civil society and the media,” said Naly Pilorge, deputy director of advocacy at Licadho, a Cambodian human-rights organization.

Voting during local elections in Phnom Penh in June. The ruling Cambodian People’s Party received a strong challenge from the opposition in those elections. CreditSamrang Pring/Reuters

“Whether it’s the courts or the tax department or new legislation, all these mechanisms are being used by the government to crack down on its critics,” she said.

Also facing a tight deadline is The Cambodia Daily, an independent newspaper that has served as a training ground for local reporters and budding foreign correspondents alike.

The newspaper has been issued with a tax bill of more than $6 million, which it contests. On Tuesday, while at an environmental event in the capital, Phnom Penh, Mr. Hun Sen implied that the newspaper, which was founded by an American journalist, was a “thief” and said it needed to “pack up and leave” if it failed to pay back taxes. The deadline to pay is Sept. 4.

The action has alarmed free-speech advocates, who say the paper has aggressively pursued worthwhile topics.

“The Cambodia Daily has tried to apply international standards of news writing in Cambodia, and it has aggressively covered sensitive issues, like corruption, land-grabbing and illegal logging,” said Moeun Chhean Nariddh, director of the Cambodia Institute of Media Studies. “But unfortunately Cambodian democracy is very young. Press freedom is still fragile.”

At least a dozen Cambodian journalists have been murdered since the early 1990s. Human-rights activists have been fatally shot in broad daylight. In recent days, other news media organizations that have aired views critical of the government have been threatened.

The Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance has also raised questions about the legal and tax status of Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, which both receive United States government funding. Local radio stations supportive of the opposition have been silenced.

“Every day that we get to put out a newspaper is a good day for us,” said Jodie DeJonge, the editor in chief of The Cambodia Daily, which has clashed for decades with government officials and tycoons over its investigative pieces. “There is still a free press in Cambodia, and we are going to rely on that until they come and put yellow tape around the building.”