PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRINCE RANARIDDH OF CAMBODIA

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRINCE RANARIDDH OF CAMBODIA

At a Headquarters press conference this morning, Prince Norodom Ranariddh said that the United Nations should continue to recognize him as the legal and democratically-elected First Prime Minister of Cambodia despite the coup d'état of 5 July by the Second Prime Minister Hun Sen. He said that the United Nations must preserve its achievements and its credibility. The Royal Government of Cambodia led by him and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen was formed as a direct result of the elections organized by the United Nations in May 1993. To endorse the violent ouster of the First Prime Minister and other members of Parliament would be to reject and betray the will of the Cambodian people as expressed through the elections. Those elections cost the United Nations nearly $3 billion and 66 lives. This would be a distressing message to other struggling democracies around the world.

The United Nations must uphold democratic principles, he continued. The United Nations-sponsored elections and the subsequent promulgation of the Cambodian Constitution had been denied by the coup d'état. The United Nations should not recognize the unconstitutional replacement of the First Prime Minister.

He called on the United Nations to defend human rights in Cambodia. According to a detailed report by the United Nations Human Rights Centre (UNHRC) in Phnom Penh, there had been numerous atrocities and extra-judicial executions of his supporters and members of the opposition parties. Mr. Hun Sen had denied the validity of the investigations and demanded the replacement of the staff of the centre. Acceptance of a Hun Sen-led delegation to the United Nations would contribute to the deterioration of human rights in Cambodia.

The United Nations must promote peace, he said. Acceptance of the delegation led by coup leader Hun Sen and Ung Huot would be a de facto recognition of their illegal government, presently engaged in a bloody civil war against democratic forces. Mr. Hun Sen had rejected the cease-fire proposed by King Norodom Sihanouk, the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other peace-loving nations. If recognized by the United Nations, the Hun Sen regime would likely be more adamant in refusing a peaceful solution, as soon as possible, to the civil war in Cambodia.

The Prince also said that the United Nations must ensure the holding of free and fair elections. Mr. Hun Sen staged the coup d'etat because he knew he would lose in any free and fair elections. His coup was aimed at delaying or perverting the elections due in May 1998. Without the restoration of legality and the return to the normal functioning of democratic institutions, there were no guarantees for the holding of free and fair elections next year. Any de facto recognition of the Hun Sen regime would jeopardize those elections.

Cambodia Press Conference - 2 - 17 September 1997

The United Nations must understand the difficult position of King Norodom Sihanouk, he continued. In recent letters to him, the King continued to recognize him as the legal First Prime Minister of Cambodia. Therefore, there was an inconsistency between that position and the issuance on 2 September of credentials in favor of Messrs. Hun Sen and Ung Huot whom the King had labeled "Cambodian Hitler" and "puppet", respectively. It was obvious that the King issued those credentials because he was forced to; he was in a situation reminiscent of those he endured when he was held hostage by Pol Pot from 1975 to 1979.

In a letter dated 5 September, the King stated that, while residing in Cambodia, he had only two alternatives: either to sign anything submitted to him by the "men in power" in Phnom Penh, or to abdicate the throne, Prince Ranariddh said. In signing the credentials for Messrs. Hun Sen and Ung Huot, he adopted the first alternative. However, in a 10 September letter to him, the King said he would adopt the second alternative "when his present mission in Cambodia ends". The credentials signed by the King had no legal force because, according to the Cambodian Constitution and to Government practices since 1993, the King was only to sign proposals jointly submitted by both Prime Ministers. Since the legal First Prime Minister did not agree with the draft credentials, those credentials did not meet the constitutional requirement, and were therefore invalid.

He said that in view of those considerations, which underlined the complexity of the present situation in Cambodia and the necessity to restore peace and democracy in that war-torn country, the United Nations should delay any decision about the representation of Cambodia for eight months, until the holding of free and fair elections next May. He added that a similar action was taken regarding the competing applications of Sierra Leone. In addition, ASEAN had delayed the admission of Cambodia until the forthcoming elections.

A correspondent asked who, then, would represent Cambodia at the current session of the General Assembly and what would happen in the short term. The Prince replied that, in his capacity as First Prime Minister, he had submitted to the Secretary-General a list of the delegation. But besides that, Mr. Hun Sen had submitted another one signed by the King. That question was best left to the Credentials Committee, he added.

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