Erin Handley | Publication date 23 March 2018 | 17:24 ICT
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Protesters gather outside the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh following the arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha last year. A new US spending bill predicates foreign funds for Cambodia on the release of all political prisoners. Heng Chivoan
The United States Senate has passed a $1.3 trillion spending bill that looks to cut funding for Cambodia unless it releases all political prisoners and reinstates the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party.
The passage of the omnibus bill on Friday, which averts a US government shutdown, has yet to be signed into law by US President Donald Trump.
The mammoth document says none of the funds made available to assist the Cambodian government will be forthcoming unless the Secretary of State reports that Cambodia is “taking effective steps” to respect the rights enshrined in Cambodia’s constitution.
That includes the “restoration of the civil and political rights of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, media, and civil society organizations” and “the restoration of all elected officials to their elected offices”.
The bill also says US funding is dependent on the “release of all political prisoners, including journalists, civil society activists, and members of the opposition political party”.
The CNRP – the main challenger to strongman Hun Sen’s ruling party and his 33-year reign – was forcibly dissolved last year ahead of the upcoming election this July, stripping lawmakers and elected local government officials of their roles and driving many abroad.
The CRNP’s leader, Kem Sokha, was jailed on suspicion of “treason”. Two other political party leaders have been arrested, along with journalists, human rights defenders and environmentalists.
Opposition leader Kem Sokha is escorted by police following his midnight arrest in Phnom Penh last September. AFP
The bill also attempts to curb China’s influence in Cambodia by saying that unlocking funds depends on Cambodia strengthening “regional security and stability, particularly regarding territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the enforcement of international sanctions with respect to North Korea”.
Funds will be made available, however, for “democracy programs” into research and education surrounding the Khmer Rouge, while excluding the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, and money will be poured into “programs in the Khmer language to counter the influence of the People’s Republic of China in Cambodia”.
When asked if Cambodia would release political prisoners to access the US funding, government spokesman Phay Siphan replied: “In a word, no.”
“The US is not our boss. Cambodian people are our boss. We respect the court [and] we cannot take any money to overrule our constitution or our court,” he said.
“We stand very firm to protect what we call rule of law.”
The UN special rapporteur to Cambodia recently lamented the Kingdom’s “rule by law” – weaponising the law to fulfill political ends – while international observers have repeatedly decried Cambodia’s corrupt courts.
Siphan maintained Cambodia did not abide by the edicts of any foreign country, but maintained the US was still “a friend, not a foe”.
When asked about what is widely seen as Cambodia’s “pivot to China” due to billions in Chinese funding in the Kingdom, which has seen Cambodia undermine statements on the South China Sea in the past, Siphan denied any untoward interference.
“China has nothing to do with Cambodia,” he said. “They cannot order us [around].”
Sam Rainsy, whose newly-formed Cambodia National Rescue Movement has been seeking targeted sanctions from the international community, welcomed the provisions in the spending bill as “good news” and said he hoped that more would follow.
Mu Sochua, a deputy opposition president who fled the country in October, said the bill showed it was "time to put statement into action".
The bill also allocates funds to continue restricting visas “to individuals involved in undermining democracy in Cambodia, including the family members of such individuals”, a policy announced by the Department of State on December 6 last year.
The US Embassy has been approached for comment.
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