Andrew Nachemson | Publication date 09 February 2018 | 14:43 ICT
p
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, seen in April 2016. AFP/Mohamed El-Shahed
New bipartisan legislation introduced today in the US Senate seeks to impose a new array of sanctions on Cambodia and postpone any discussion of forgiving the country's $506 million war-era debt.
The bill, drafted by Republican Senator Lindsay Graham and cosponsored by Senators Dick Durbin, Ted Cruz, Ben Cardin, and Patrick Leahy, is meant to “support the successful implementation of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement in Cambodia”.
All sanctions proposed by the bill, titled “Cambodia Accountability and Return on Investment Act of 2018”, would remain in effect until the Cambodian government restores the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), releases all political prisoners and makes other changes.
CNRP president Kem Sokha was arrested in September on widely decried charges of “treason” and accused of working with the US government to overthrow Cambodia. The CNRP was summarily dissolved in November, with some political observers warning that Cambodia had effectively become a “one-party dictatorship”.
The legislation opens by banning the appropriation of any funds for the assistance of the Cambodian government. The bill also supports visa bans for high ranking officials “involved in undermining democracy”, a measure already approved by the Trump administration in December.
It would also freeze the US assets of those covered by the visa ban and require require financial institutions to declare all property they own in the US. The legislation would oblige the Treasury secretary to oppose any loans or financial assistance to the government of Cambodia from any international financial institution, “other than to meet basic human needs”.
“The Secretary of State may not negotiate for or establish a program of debt relief,” the bill continues.
Cambodia’s war-era debt has been a wedge issue between the two countries, with Prime Minister Hun Sen repeatedly demanding that it be forgiven.
Government spokesman Phay Siphan dismissed the significance of the proposed sanctions.
“We still have good cooperation and relation," he said. "I don’t worry, it’s politics, Cambodia still looks at the US as a friend."
Asked about the Cambodian government’s repeated accusation that the US was involved in a plot to topple the government, he said, “that’s completely different”.
“We respect US interests, as well as we want the US to respect our interests," he said. "I hope that in the future, everything is going to be OK."
Former CNRP vice president Mu Sochua, who left the country last year, praised the potential new sanctions and also recommended the addition of economic sanctions.
"These sanctions are a must to restore democracy," she said. "The international committee as a whole should follow and speak with one voice."
In a slightly different theme, the bill also authorizes the use of US state-funds for Khmer-language programs to “educate the people of Cambodia”.
The programs would focus on the role China played in supporting the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, in which nearly 2 million Cambodians died of execution, disease and malnutrition in the 1970s. It would also showcase America’s role in the Paris Peace Agreement and in “providing assistance for the development of Cambodia from 1991 to 2017”.
No comments:
Post a Comment