Congressmen Condemn Cambodia’s ‘Pervasive Corruption’

Left to right: Rep. Ed Royce (R-California), Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Virginia), Rep. Jim Moran (D-Virginia), Rep. Joseph Cao (R-Louisiana)

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
14 October 2009

Four US congressmen have issued a resolution to the House of Representatives censuring the Cambodian government’s apparent political repression of dissent and “pervasive corruption.”

The resolution cites the killing of an opposition journalist last year, as well as reports from the US State Department, the United Nations and other watchdogs, as underpinnings for the resolution, which condemns “pervasive corruption of the Kingdom of Cambodia.”

Government and ruling party officials dismissed the resolution.

House Resolution 820 was introduced Oct. 8 by representatives Ed Royce, a Republican from California; Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia who is the co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission; Jim Moran, a Democrat from Virginia; and Anh Josept Cao, a Republican from Louisiana.

“The Cambodian government is often complicit in the sex trade industry, and endemic corruption has exacerbated the problem of human trafficking,” the resolution says, citing a 2009 State Department trafficking report that found pervasive corruption and collusion and indirect involvement by police and judicial officials in the trade.

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