An elderly underprivileged Khmer woman holds all the money she has (less than 1 USD (United States Dollar) 1 USD = 4000 Cambodian riels) in her left hand at a bus station in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Photo © John Brown All Rights Reserved
Cambodia's Foreign Ministry is complaining again. Last month the Ministry complained about Cambodia's urban poor when Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told an audience in Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.A.,
"the squatters always demand money. When they get the money, they go build another hut to live in, then demand money again. They are professional squatters"
This time the Foreign Ministry takes aim at the American ambassador Carol Rodley.
According to a story that appeared June 3rd 2009 written by the Associated Press:
"Cambodia on Tuesday protested the U.S. ambassador's recent assertion that corruption saps the Southeast Asian country of up to $500 million a year that could otherwise be used for development.
U.S. Ambassador Carol Rodley said Sunday the lost money could be used to construct 20,000 six-room school buildings or pay every Cambodian civil servant an additional $260 a month.
Rodley, who was speaking at a concert to popularize the fight against corruption, also expressed the hope that a long-delayed anti-corruption law would finally be enacted this year."
In a letter to the U.S. Embassy, Cambodia's Foreign Ministry said it was "very much regrettable that a representative of a foreign government has made such an allegation based on a biased assessment and without any proof."
It said the $500 million figure was invented by a think tank, the Economic Institute of Cambodia, which it charged is associated with the political opposition.
(It's important to note here that Chapter IV Article 51 of the Constitution of Cambodia states, "The Kingdom of Cambodia adopts a policy of Liberal democracy and Pluralism.")
The Foreign Ministry letter said that Rodley's statement was not in keeping with the good relations between Cambodia and the United States, and that the diplomatic corps "must maintain their neutrality and refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Cambodia."
A 2007 report prepared by Global Witness states, "Hun Sen responds even
to muted criticism by declaring that attempts to remove him will cause the country to fall back into conflict and instability." [298]
During an August 29 2001 speech Hun Sen said, “If Hun Sen says something, he will do it. I have not come to cheat you, I have not come to cheat you. And I don’t know how to cheat people. I don’t know how to cheat people, Hun Sen doesn’t know how to cheat people. Hun Sen means honest. That’s it.” [137]
In a September, 2008 speech that lasted five hours, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen remarked, "NGOs are out of control...they insult the government just to ensure their financial survival."
But Cambodia has long been criticized by foreign donors for its high level of corruption.
In 2004, a study prepared for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said that Cambodia lost an estimated $300 million to $500 million annually to various forms of corruption.
Please see my related post, Corruption Is Not A Crime In Cambodia
offering proof of corrupt practices in Cambodia.
DECIDE FOR YOURSELF
The independent anti-corruption watchdog group Transparency International perennially ranks Cambodia among the world's most corrupt countries. Its 2008 Corruption Perception Index Report placed the country at 169 out of 183. Cambodia dropped 41 places on the 2008 Paris-based Reporters Without Borders press freedom index for 2008 compared to the previous year.
As I've said before, Mr. Hun Sen is the man in charge of restoring Cambodia to an "Island of Peace" based on a multi-party liberal democracy and he knows how to do it without anyone's help.
NGOs, FOREIGN DONORS even FOREIGN AMBASSADORS, PLEASE LEAVE HIM ALONE!
APPENDIX
137 Speech by Prime Minister Hun Sen, 29 August 2001.
298 This observation is based on Global Witness’ monitoring of political developments in Cambodia over a period of 12 years. For specific
references to the prime minister claiming that his removal would cause instability, see the following articles: Reaksmey Heng, ‘CPP Election
Losses Would Mean Instability, Hun Sen Warns’, Voice of America, 15 March 2007; Yun Samean, ‘Hun Sen Gives up Poet Dreams, Stays in Politics’, Cambodia Daily Weekly Review, 8-12 January 2007; Pin Sisovann and Lor Chandara, ‘PM Says His Death Would Cause Chaos’, Cambodia Daily, 26 January 2005; Pin Sisovann, ‘PM: Would-be Rebels Should ‘Prepare Coffins’’, Cambodia Daily, 20 June 2005.
John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS
My Mondo Library Photography
Photo © John Brown All Rights Reserved
Cambodia's Foreign Ministry is complaining again. Last month the Ministry complained about Cambodia's urban poor when Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told an audience in Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.A.,
"the squatters always demand money. When they get the money, they go build another hut to live in, then demand money again. They are professional squatters"
This time the Foreign Ministry takes aim at the American ambassador Carol Rodley.
According to a story that appeared June 3rd 2009 written by the Associated Press:
"Cambodia on Tuesday protested the U.S. ambassador's recent assertion that corruption saps the Southeast Asian country of up to $500 million a year that could otherwise be used for development.
U.S. Ambassador Carol Rodley said Sunday the lost money could be used to construct 20,000 six-room school buildings or pay every Cambodian civil servant an additional $260 a month.
Rodley, who was speaking at a concert to popularize the fight against corruption, also expressed the hope that a long-delayed anti-corruption law would finally be enacted this year."
In a letter to the U.S. Embassy, Cambodia's Foreign Ministry said it was "very much regrettable that a representative of a foreign government has made such an allegation based on a biased assessment and without any proof."
It said the $500 million figure was invented by a think tank, the Economic Institute of Cambodia, which it charged is associated with the political opposition.
(It's important to note here that Chapter IV Article 51 of the Constitution of Cambodia states, "The Kingdom of Cambodia adopts a policy of Liberal democracy and Pluralism.")
The Foreign Ministry letter said that Rodley's statement was not in keeping with the good relations between Cambodia and the United States, and that the diplomatic corps "must maintain their neutrality and refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Cambodia."
A 2007 report prepared by Global Witness states, "Hun Sen responds even
to muted criticism by declaring that attempts to remove him will cause the country to fall back into conflict and instability." [298]
During an August 29 2001 speech Hun Sen said, “If Hun Sen says something, he will do it. I have not come to cheat you, I have not come to cheat you. And I don’t know how to cheat people. I don’t know how to cheat people, Hun Sen doesn’t know how to cheat people. Hun Sen means honest. That’s it.” [137]
In a September, 2008 speech that lasted five hours, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen remarked, "NGOs are out of control...they insult the government just to ensure their financial survival."
But Cambodia has long been criticized by foreign donors for its high level of corruption.
In 2004, a study prepared for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said that Cambodia lost an estimated $300 million to $500 million annually to various forms of corruption.
Please see my related post, Corruption Is Not A Crime In Cambodia
offering proof of corrupt practices in Cambodia.
DECIDE FOR YOURSELF
The independent anti-corruption watchdog group Transparency International perennially ranks Cambodia among the world's most corrupt countries. Its 2008 Corruption Perception Index Report placed the country at 169 out of 183. Cambodia dropped 41 places on the 2008 Paris-based Reporters Without Borders press freedom index for 2008 compared to the previous year.
As I've said before, Mr. Hun Sen is the man in charge of restoring Cambodia to an "Island of Peace" based on a multi-party liberal democracy and he knows how to do it without anyone's help.
NGOs, FOREIGN DONORS even FOREIGN AMBASSADORS, PLEASE LEAVE HIM ALONE!
APPENDIX
137 Speech by Prime Minister Hun Sen, 29 August 2001.
298 This observation is based on Global Witness’ monitoring of political developments in Cambodia over a period of 12 years. For specific
references to the prime minister claiming that his removal would cause instability, see the following articles: Reaksmey Heng, ‘CPP Election
Losses Would Mean Instability, Hun Sen Warns’, Voice of America, 15 March 2007; Yun Samean, ‘Hun Sen Gives up Poet Dreams, Stays in Politics’, Cambodia Daily Weekly Review, 8-12 January 2007; Pin Sisovann and Lor Chandara, ‘PM Says His Death Would Cause Chaos’, Cambodia Daily, 26 January 2005; Pin Sisovann, ‘PM: Would-be Rebels Should ‘Prepare Coffins’’, Cambodia Daily, 20 June 2005.
John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS
My Mondo Library Photography
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