In Cambodia, the anniversary of the Paris agreements gives rise to divergent interpretations

Signed thirty years ago, on October 23, 1991 under the aegis of the United Nations, the Paris Agreements, initiators of the peace process in Cambodia after two decades of war and the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979), constitute in this kingdom of 15 million inhabitants an eminently political anniversary. In Phnom Penh, it is an opportunity for Hun Sen, 69, and steadfast Prime Minister since 1985, to highlight his contribution to the final rout in 1998 of the Khmer Rouge, responsible for the death of more than two million people. : ” It’s thanks to politics win-win” [de Hun Sen] that Cambodia has finally achieved peace and reconciliation, which are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and that Apronuc [Autorité provisoire des Nations unies au Cambodge, l’opération de maintien de la paix de 1992 à 1993 au Cambodge] had failed to accomplish “, Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn said, in front of Western diplomats, gathered Saturday, October 23 in the Peace Palace, a government building in Phnom Penh. On the occasion of the anniversary of the Paris agreements, the Cambodian Central Bank issued a new note this year showing Hun Sen alongside King Norodom Sihanouk, who died in 2012.

Human rights activists under surveillance, or political leaders in exile, opponents of Hun Sen see October 23 as an opportunity to recall the initial specifications of the UN: the organization of “free and just ”, and the maintenance by Cambodia of a posture of“ neutrality ”in international relations. “The neutrality of Cambodia is a crucial point: the dictatorship of Hun Sen led Cambodia to the side of China, he received a lot of support from this country, and allowed it to build new infrastructure that can have a use. military. However, the position of neutrality is enshrined in the Paris agreements ”, recalled on October 19 at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Bangkok, from Paris, Sam Rainsy, the main opponent of Hun Sen. Several videoconferencing seminars last week brought together personalities critical of the regime, including, from Phnom Penh, where she heads the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, the activist Chak Sopheap: he is “Shocking” according to her, to see that thirty years later, Cambodia is “Still far from fulfilling the objectives of the Paris agreements”, namely to have“Independent power institutions [entre elles].

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