PRESS CONFERENCE BY DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF CAMBODIA

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF CAMBODIA

The Deputy Permanent Representative of Cambodia, Ouch Borith, told correspondents at a Headquarters briefing today that much of the information about events which took place in his country on 5 and 6 July, was untrue. Certain personalities at the United Nations were using it as a forum "to cast opprobrium and calumny" on the Cambodian Government and people. In face of such injustice, he said, he felt obliged to speak out.

Reading from a statement, Mr. Borith said the violent clashes of 5 and 6 July were a direct result of "acts of provocation by First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh and his group of extremist followers". After Prince Ranariddh left Phnom Penh on 4 July, his forces shelled the capital. Following a counter-attack by Government forces, the fighting ended on 6 July. That action was seen as a coup d'etat by outsiders instead of a necessary measure to solve the anarchy by Ranariddh's group. However, it was not a coup d'etat, nor a usurpation of power, nor a conflict between Prince Ranariddh's party -- the National United Front for an Independent, Neutral and Cooperative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC) -- and the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), or between Ranariddh and Hun Sen, nor a revolution.

Prince Ranariddh's secret negotiations and military dealings with the Khmer Rouge threatened Hun Sen's crusade for peace and democracy, Mr. Borith said. Prince Ranariddh had collaborated with the Khmer Rouge despite the fact that government forces were still fighting them. His strategy of provocation included a build-up of armed forces loyal to him, not to the Government; the establishment of secret garrisons in Phnom Penh to house those soldiers; the use of the Khmer Rouge to infiltrate the capital; the illegal importation of weapons to arm the new soldiers and a campaign of violence and intimidation. The Government's success over Ranariddh's forces had liberated the people from the danger of returning to the Khmer Rouge's genocidal regime and paved the way for fair and free elections on 28 May 1988.

The Government measures were not intended to oppose any political party or any individual, other than the "extremist group and its associates" and the Khmer Rouge, Mr. Borith said. The spirit of the Paris Peace Accords and various achievements resulting from the 1993 elections, such as the Constitution, the constitutional monarchy, the National Assembly and the Royal Government and its policies had all been sustained.

The National Assembly, which had been stalled for seven months, resumed its work on 28 July in an opening session attended by 90 of its 120 members, including representatives of all parties, he said. It was true that some members of FUNCINPEC and the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP) who fled the country after the violent clashes in July had refused to return. The Government's appeal on 4 August for them to return home and resume their work was evidence of its efforts to create a climate of confidence, free from fear

and intimidation. Members of both parties who had stayed behind or returned to Phnom Penh had not been harmed.

On 6 August, the National Assembly, in a secret ballot, elected former Foreign Minister Ung Hout from the FUNCINPEC party as first Prime Minister to replace Prince Ranariddh. The acting Head of State, Chea Sim, signed a decree on 7 August approving the replacement, with immediate effect, Mr. Borith said. Many countries accepted the new composition of the Government and the replacement of one personality in the top leadership with a senior minister of the same party. Otherwise, the Government remained the same as the one recognized by 185 countries after the 1993 elections.

Mr. Borith said allegations by the former leader of the Khmer Nation Party and the Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the United Nations that Hun Sen was behind a grenade attack on demonstrators in Cambodia on 20 March were unfounded and wrong. Those who had used the lives of the Cambodian people for their own interest and attempted to plunge Cambodia into civil war again were the real criminals, he added.

The Government had taken strong and firm measures to crackdown on drug trafficking and had arrested many traffickers including a big smuggler, Chao Sokhon, who had been sentenced to 15 years in prison, Mr. Borith said. Despite those efforts, some sources had made up stories to discredit Mr. Sen. Chao Sokhon was the Deputy Commander of Military Police in Kampong Som City and a member of FUNCINPEC. Before his arrest, he had hidden out in the house of Prince Ranariddh's military commander.

No doubt the press was aware of problems faced by the Cambodian Permanent Mission in New York, caused by open rebellion against the Government by "the former Permanent Representative Sisowath Sirirath", Mr. Borith said. Mr. Sirirath had condemned second Prime Minister Hun Sen for masterminding what he referred to as a bloody coup d'etat. He had also openly defied the order of the Cambodian acting Head of State to terminate his mission in New York and report back to Phnom Penh.

On 24 July, Prince Ranariddh had written to the Secretary-General informing him that Mr. Sisowath was the Permanent Representative of Cambodia. However, Mr. Sim, in his capacity as acting head of State, had written to the Secretary-General confirming the termination of Mr. Sisowath's services and Mr. Ung Hout, in his capacity as Foreign Minister, has also written to the Secretary-General that he, Mr. Borith, was the new Permanent Representative. Mr. Borith said that in the meantime he had been forced to work from his home.

Although Cambodia had a unique structure of two Prime Ministers, it had only one Government represented by one Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Mr. Borith said. The Government was located in Phnom Penh, not in Aix-en-Provence, France, and was recognized by 185 Member States. The question of his replacing Mr. Sisowath as Charge d'Affairs had nothing to do

Cambodia Briefing - 3 - 19 August 1997

with the Credentials Committee because there had been no change of Government in Phnom Penh. He said he hoped the unlawful tenants of the premises of the Cambodian Permanent Mission in New York, would be removed according to the laws of the United States and the laws governing Permanent Representatives of the United Nations, so he could work in peace.

A correspondent asked for a response to recent comments in Beijing by Prince Sihanouk. Mr. Borith said Prince Sihanouk, now King Sihanouk, was a symbol of national unity and the nation and the Cambodian people would like him to remain as monarch until the end of his life. Prince Sihanouk had said recently that he did not recognize Ung Hout as first Prime Minister, because that post belonged to his son, Prince Ranariddh. Cambodia was a democratic country and everyone, including the King and the Prince, could say what they wanted. However, the law was the law. Prince Sihanouk had delegated power to Chea Sim who, as the acting Head of State, had appointed Ung Hout as first Prime Minister, following his election by the National Assembly.

Did he deny the reports of violence against members of the opposition in the aftermath of the events of 5 and 6 July? a correspondent asked. Mr. Borith said the issue of threats of violence and intimidation carried out by forces loyal to Hun Sen against opposition party members were really the result of "noisy propaganda" by a handful of men led by Prince Ranariddh. They aimed to defame the Government and Hun Sen, influence international public opinion and camouflage acts of betrayal against the Cambodian people.

In reality, the situation was quite different and the Government had undertaken security measures to protect the entire population, Mr. Borith said. More than two thirds of the parliamentarians from FUNCINPEC, the majority of its Ministers and most of its many members still lived in the country and collaborated closely with their partners in the CPP to ensure the normal functioning of Government institutions. The royal family and members of the opposition had freedom of movement in and out of Cambodia.

Hun Sen had appealed to all accredited international organizations in Cambodia, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to supply information about the acts of barbarism and intimidation in order to try those responsible and prevent such acts in future. Although many statements had been made about the alleged violence, so far there had been no proof. Everyone had spoken about the 40 people who had been killed by the "illegal forces of the Government", but nothing had been said about the 29 soldiers and policemen who had sacrificed their lives for Cambodia to stop the Khmer Rouge returning to power.

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