The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The United States is urging Cambodia to allow diverse participation in next year’s general elections and release women who were imprisoned last month for protesting a property development.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, in
talks Tuesday, discussed the importance of “appropriate participation across the political spectrum” in the 2013 elections.
But Nuland said Wednesday that it was “an issue for the Cambodians” whether opposition leader Sam Rainsy is allowed to take part in the vote. Rainsy lives in exile in France following 2010 convictions in Cambodia that he claims were politically motivated.
This year, Cambodia is the chairman of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations, a regional grouping that Washington wants to engage more
actively as the Obama administration steps up the U.S. diplomatic and
security presence in the Asia-Pacific.
Cambodian’s prime minister, Hun Sen, has dominated the Southeast
Asian nation for nearly three decades. Rights groups accuse him of
squelching dissent and intimidating political opponents.
Last month, 13 women were sentenced by a Cambodian court to 2½ years
in prison for protesting their eviction from the land where their homes
once stood. The case was seen as emblematic of a broader problem of
forcible evictions of poor Cambodians to make way for property
development in its fast-growing economy.
Their houses were demolished in 2010 to make way for a Chinese
company’s development of a hotel, office buildings and luxury houses in
Phnom Penh’s Boueng Kak lake area. The women were found guilty of
aggravated rebellion and illegal occupation after attempting to
reconstruct their homes. Four have reportedly begun a hunger strike in
prison.
Nuland said Clinton urged Cambodia grant the detainees due process,
and said their release “would be a sign of support for freedom of
expression.”
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