PRESS CONFERENCE BY DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF CAMBODIA

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF CAMBODIA

At a Headquarters press conference yesterday afternoon, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the United Nations, Ouch Borith, called on the United Nations Credentials Committee to establish the credentials of his delegation quickly, as it had the authority of the King of Cambodia. Introducing the team accompanying him, he said they were Uch Kim An, Secretary of State of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Cambodia, and Prince Sisowath Charyia, advisor to First Prime Minister Ung Huot.

Mr. Borith said he wanted to inform all friendly countries about the real situation in Cambodia, and about the position taken by his Government concerning the credentials of its high-level delegation to the General Assembly. He stressed that the issue of the credentials of the Ambassador to the United Nations was entirely separate from the issue of the delegation's credentials to the Assembly. The recall home of Prince Sisowath Sirirath, the former Ambassador, was a routine matter, and had nothing to do with the Credentials Committee.

"Some Cambodian expatriates pretend to represent the Kingdom of Cambodia at the fifty-second session of the General Assembly", he said. The group had no legal authority, and represented only themselves. They could not dispute the legitimacy of the Cambodian delegation, whose credentials had been duly endorsed by King Norodom Sihanouk. The credential letter of the Cambodian delegation, led by Mr. Ung Huot, was in strict conformity with the procedures of the General Assembly.

"We should not accept any proposal to let the Cambodian seat vacant at any time", he went on. However, in the spirit of compromise and goodwill, and out of respect for the suggestion of the President of the fifty-first session of the Assembly, the delegation agreed not to occupy the seat in the Assembly until, said Mr. Borith, the Credentials Committee had "approved, without delay, the credentials of the Cambodian delegation".

Mr. Uch Kim An said that there had been no interruption in the Government of the country, and that any attempt to delay the decision of the Credentials Committee would be unacceptable. He said he would like to set the record straight regarding the "confused message" correspondents might have received about the representation of Cambodia to the United Nations. The delegation, to be headed by First Prime Minister Ung Huot, would include Second Prime Minister Hun Sen, he continued. The delegation had received the approval of the King, "the supreme authority of Cambodia". The credentials letter, forwarded to the Secretary-General, conformed with the procedures of the Assembly.

The issue of credentials had come up, he continued, because of the "so- called dispute over the authenticity or the authority of the signature of the King to the credentials letter". But he stressed that in Cambodia the supreme authority for such a United Nations mission rested with the King. "Now a few Cambodian expatriates try to contest the authority of the King." Recently, some people tried to propose that the decisions of the Credentials Committee should be delayed, perhaps until the general elections to be held in May 1998. "We felt that this is unacceptable because this [issue of credentials] has nothing to do with the general elections in Cambodia in 1998."

He said that another confusing issue was the recall of the former Ambassador of Cambodia to the United Nations, Prince Sisowath Sirirath. The Prince was pretending that he continued to represent Cambodia. "In fact, everyone knows that Prince Sisowath Sirirath has been Ambassador of Cambodia to the United Nations for more than 10 years, so his tour of duty has more than expired. We wanted to replace him a long time ago." The decision to replace the Ambassador had been delayed, but the letter of recall had the approval of the King, as was the normal practice of appointing and recalling an ambassador. The letter of recall had been sent to Secretary-General Kofi Annan some time ago. "Therefore, to our minds, Ambassador Sirirath no longer represents the Kingdom of Cambodia." His actions or words on behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia were therefore illegal and should be regarded as void.

The credentials of the delegation, he repeated, had been approved by the King, and he hoped that the Credentials Committee would have no difficulty in deciding who will represent Cambodia. There should not be an issue, because there was only one Royal Government of Cambodia. There was no rival exile government. Any exile or expatriate Cambodian pretending to represent the Royal Government of Cambodia was simply unacceptable, and therefore any attempt to delay the decision on the credentials of the Cambodian delegation would be regarded also as illegal and unacceptable. "We hope that the Credentials Committee will look into the matter and give due consideration to the signature of His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia, as the supreme authority of Cambodia."

A correspondent asked whether it was still the intention of the First Prime Minister to speak before the General Assembly, as scheduled, even if the Credentials Committee had not reached a decision. Mr. Kim An said that it would be a pity if the Credentials Committee did not make a decision. And, it would be an "unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of Cambodia. It would be deplorable", he said.

Pressed further, Mr. Kim An said that even without a decision, his delegation, with the full authority of the King, would hopefully be allowed to "take the floor" at the United Nations, as scheduled. The decision rested with the Credentials Committee.

Cambodia Briefing - 3 - 18 September 1997

Another correspondent, noting reports from Cambodia which indicated that the National Assembly had not approved the composition of the new Government, asked whether Mr. Kim An still felt his delegation had the sole authority to represent Cambodia. Mr. Kim An said that "we have no new government in Cambodia". There had been a continuation of the coalition of Cambodia, the outcome of the 1993 United Nations-sponsored elections. If there was "some small reshuffling of the Government recently, it was due to the fact that some members of the Government just stayed away from the current setup". Therefore, upon introducing the replacement, a number of people in the National Assembly objected to the appointment of a few members. That was quite normal in a democratic society.

Asked what the role of the United Nations should be in the interim, Mr. Kim An said that the situation in Cambodia was clear -- there existed the same coalition Government, the coalition of Parties which won the elections in 1993. The power-sharing arrangement was still the same, and the United Nations should continue to work with the Cambodian Government. The embassies and their missions continued to function normally. And, there were more than 200 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Cambodia, as well as international agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Furthermore, there had been no disruption of bilateral or multilateral relations with Cambodia.

The correspondent, noting fears by many western observers that the situation might deteriorate further and that the arrangement that the United Nations helped broker in 1993 was beginning to unravel, asked whether the United Nations could still be productive in Cambodia. Mr. Kim An said there should be no fear. The situation was a lot better than before. The Government had assured the protection of human rights and democracy. Thus, the role of the United Nations was clear. The United Nations was welcome as the coordinator of observers to the upcoming elections in 1998, and it would play a positive and active role in promoting further democracy in the country.

Asked for clarification of United Nations reports that more than 40 followers of Prince Norodom Ranariddh were executed, Mr. Kim An said that the Government welcomed any assistance in investigating the matter. He would do anything he could to punish those responsible for the killings. It was not clear who were the victims and who were the perpetrators.

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