The coup d¹etat that ousted Norodom Ranariddh, the elected First Prime Minister who won the United Nations Sponsored elections in 1993 was a well-designed and well-executed plan to grab power by Hun Sen, a former senior Khmer Rouge official and the Second Prime Minister in the now defunct Royal Coalition Government of Cambodia (RCGC).

Hun Sen¹s grand design to become the strongman in Cambodia could not have succeeded (1) if the Paris Accords were completely implemented, (2) if the major powers, especially Japan and the United States did not appease Hun Sen's murderous, dictatorial and oppressive behavior, (3) if Cambodians were not forced to lower their moral and ethical standard instead of upholding the minimum universally accepted standard of democratic and human rights principles, and the rule of law by setting the Khmer Rouge system as the standard of measurement of performance of political leaders in Cambodia, and (4) if King Sihanouk remained politically neutral.

The root causes of the July 5th coup by Hun Sen against Ranariddh can be traced back to the incomplete implementation of the 1991 Paris Accords, especially the clauses regarding the takeover of the five government ministries (Foreign Affairs, Economic, Finance, Defense, and Interior) and the central bank by the United Nations Transitional Authorities in Cambodia (UNTACI), and the civil and military administration reforms. The non-execution of these, two important clauses allowed Hun Sen and his Cambodian People's Party (CPP) to retain all the administrative and military power in Cambodia at the central and local levels.

Hun Sen never recognized the results of the elections despite the fact it was internationally supervised and certified by the United Nations and other neutral observers. Immediately after the elections, Hun Sen instigated a secession movement in seven Eastern provinces of Cambodia. This act of rebellion by Hun Sen was not condemned by the international community. Instead, he was rewarded by being given equal share of power in the coalition government imposed by Sihanouk for personal reason.

With all the power in his hands, Hun Sen started a systematic plan to eliminate all those who oppose his plan to become the dictator of Cambodia. Hun Sen deliberate destruction of all opposition is based on physical intimidation and elimination, and political maneuvering. In this context, many reporters and editors have been mysteriously murdered broad day light, the political gathering of opposition parties such as the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP) and the Khmer Nation Party (KNP) came under grand grenade attacks, in which several people were killed and wounded. The clearest case against Hun Sen in these murderous attacks is that they were always preceded by Hun Sen¹ explicit and graphical warnings of what was going to happen. As Hun Sen himself puts it ³Hun Sen always does what he says."

Another proof of Hun Sen's deliberate decision to suppress the opposition is that until today these perpetrators have never been apprehended.  Although, in a recent leaked FBI report on a recent hand grenade-attack against a KNP gathering last June 19 peoples were killed and more than 100 people were wounded, Hun Sen body guards were reported to be directly involved. Sadly, the protest against these attacks from the Japanese and the US embassies in Phnom Penh were weak and ineffectual. Hun Sen were encouraged in his murderous and anti- democratic acts by the misconception on the part of the major powers that Hun Sen is a reformed democrat and an efficient leader. Hun Sen's organization and method of governance is efficient; this efficiency is not to build but to kill. As to his perceived reformed attitude toward democracy, his actions speak louder than his words. Hun Sen is no Democrat, he is a killer. Hun Sen is known to have an uncontrollable temper which in normal circumstances is not fit to participate in any responsible state function, let alone to be the leader of a country.

The expediency to find a scapegoat in the Cambodian imbroglio the major powers to set the Khmer Rouge as the standard by which to judge the improvement in the economic and political development in Cambodia and to assess the performance of the Cambodian leaders. By asking the Cambodian people to lower their moral and ethical standard led to the condoning of the excesses of the Cambodian leaders. In other words, by setting the Khmer Rouge as the standard of performance of the Cambodian leaders amounts to making them unaccountable for their criminal act against the Cambodian people. More importantly, it allows Hun Sen to set the standard of code of behavior which has nothing to do with the normal rule of law in a civilized society. For instance, Hun Sen's decision to pardon leng Sary - the number two leader in the Khmer Rouge organization - is a clear case where a Khmer Rouge is a good one if he is pro Hun Sen, and a bad one if he is not a Hun Sen supporter. So, it is hypocritical for the State Department to criticize Ranariddh for having flirted with the Khmer Rouge. The reality is that as William Shawcross, a British writer and Journalist, has recently written that the Khmer Rouge, as a political group, has been dead since the signing of the Paris Accords and the collapse of the wall of Berlin, because they have no ideological basis to continue to exist. The only thing which has kept them going up to now is the oppressive, corrupt and brutal Cambodian government under Hun Sen and Ranariddh.

King Sihanouk has been an active participant in the Cambodian political scene since the independence of Cambodia in 1953. Being a shrewd and charismatic leader he was effective in keeping all his opponents off guarded for a long period of time. Behind his charming personality, he is an autocratic leader and without moral and democratic principles. Whenever the situation suits him, he allied himself with any political group, including the Khmer Rouge, which can enhance, his personal power. He has never allowed any Cambodian to be prepared to take over the power should he leave the political arena. That is why he has never been trusted by most educated Cambodians. He is well known for his mercurial character, He is unpredictable and has no principle. His recent support of Hun Sen's coup is motivated not by his desire to stop the suffering of the Cambodian people but rather by his desire to provide material and political security for his wife Queen Monineath (formerly Monique Izzi). One should remember, that not long ago Sihanouk floated the idea of trying to change the constitution to allow his wife to becomes Queen upon his death. That idea was shot down by most political parties. Recently, it is reported that in order to gain Sihanouk's support, Hun Sen and Chea Sim have built a huge mansion for Queen Monineath. In view of this information, Sihanouk can no longer be considered a neutral party in the current Cambodian crisis.

There is little doubt to most impartial observers that Hun Sen is the coup leader against an elected prime minister, Norodom Ranariddh.  He is now undertaking a mopping up operation against those who relive to accept his dictatorial and murderous regime. It is incomprehensible that the world community, especially a principled and moral country like the United States continues to condone and accept Hun Sen's use of force.

WCCPD would like the following steps to be taken by the US Government in order to stop the use of force as a means to settle a political dispute. If this kind of behavior is allowed to be an accepted means to settle dispute, this may lead to further bloodshed down the road. Cambodia is not China where economic interests could backfire if sanctions were to be taken. Cambodia is insignificant in terms of economic interests for the United States, but it is important from the moral and regional policy¹s point of view. More specifically, we would like the following measures to be taken in consideration by the United States Government:

(1) not recognize the Hun Sen regime, even with the approval of Sihanouk.

(2) revive the Paris Accords in its totality, by allowing a free and fair election, and by setting up the prerequisites such as the unbiased and open electoral law, a civilian and military administrative reform, a constitutional court a legal reform, without which the CPP has and will have an unfair advantage over the opposition parties.

(3) suspend immediately all economic, technical and financial assistance, bilateral or multilateral, with the exception of strictly humanitarian ones, until such time as the rule of law and the Paris agreements are fully implemented.

(4) ask the State Department, especially the US Ambassador to Phnom Penh who prides himself of being a good friend of Hun Sen to stop coddling with him.

(5) consider the possibility of setting up a technocratic caretaker government whose terms of reference are to implement the Paris Accords in its entirety, and to set up all the necessary judicial, legal and administrative institutions for a democratic society in Cambodia within a limited period of time (two to three years) and organize a free and fair election under international supervision after that period.

We strongly feel that by taking these measures, the Cambodian people will be given a fair and reasonable chance to have a durable peaceful and stable society and the US $2.8 billions, (a sizable portion of which has come out of the American  taxpayer¹s pocket) that the international community has already invested in helping improve the suffering of the Cambodian people will not be wasted.  For these reasons, WCCPD is most grateful if the Honorable Doug Bereuter, chairman of the Subcommittee of Asia and the Pacific of the House international Relations Committee would be so kind as to accept our position paper as representing one of the views of the Cambodian-American community on this recent tragic event in Cambodia for the hearing on Cambodia scheduled for Wednesday July 16, 1997, at 2:00 pm.

Approved by WCCPD Board of Directors

PekThov Tan
Chairman

July 15, 1997

Contacts:
Washington, DC                Prof. NaranhKiri Tith           202-466-3376

Massachussetts                 Mr. SoKom Taing                508-845-3649

New York Area                   Mr. SamOeun Var                 914-429-2958

                                              Mr. PekThov Tan                201-568-9696