US Senators Call for New Leaders in Cambodia
 The Mirror (March 14, 2004)

In another rare action, the US Senate majority leader has added his voice to those of other members of the US upper house to call for new leaders in Cambodia at a time of political deadlock that has continued for more than seven months, in which Cambodia’s thirdterm National Assembly has not been established to approve the new government. Mr. Bill Frist, the US Senate majority leader, recently said: “I want to add my voice to those of you who call for new leaders in Cambodia.” He said that Prime Minister Hun Sen of the caretaker government and the CPP fail to apply the rule of law in order to create favorable conditions for democratic progress and prosperity in the country. 

It is a rare occasion that Senators from the two major US political parties – the Republicans, who are currently in power and the Democrats – which are competing against each other in the presidential election in November, jointly criticize Hun Sen’s leadership style.

The reaction of Mr. Bill Frist expressing his concern over the dangers that confront democratic and human rights activists in Cambodia coincided with dozens of US Senators signing a letter of support to Hun Sen’s rival, the Alliance of Democrats, which consists of Funcinpec and the Sam Rainsy Party.

The event in which terrorists tossed four grenades among peaceful demonstrators opposite the Cambodian National Assembly on 30 March 1997, the investigation of which has not been competed either by United States or Cambodian authorities, has spurred the US Senators to urge the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to resume its probe into the case.   Senators Tom Daschle and Zell Miller are two of the top US politicians from the Democratic Party who joined their voices with prominent Republican Senators Mr. John McCain and Mr. Mitch McConnell to urge the FBI to resume its investigation of the fatal incident seven years ago. In the grenade attack, an American observer, Ron Abney, was wounded, and this gave an opportunity under US law for Washington to send FBI agents to Cambodia to conduct an investigation in which they questioned a number of Hun Sen’s bodyguards and some witnesses, but postponed their investigation for unknown reasons.

Because the FBI’s investigation was not completed and no official results were produced, the US Senators sent a letter to the FBI Director, Mr. Robert Mueller, asking him to lead and renew the investigation. The letter attacks Hun Sen harshly for creating an environment favorable for criminals, Asian mafia, murderers, terrorists, and sexual predators at the cost of the lives of innocent Cambodian girls.

It is observed that the reaction from more US Senators, who jointly criticize and attack Hun Sen at a time when Cambodia is still bogged down in the eighth month of a political deadlock, is an indication that the Washington administration is continuing to follow the political evolution, human rights, and democratic situation in Cambodia and will not allow the CPP and Hun Sen to commit whatever they wish, particularly against the Alliance of Democrats.

Udom Katte Khmer, Vol.12, #1580, 16.3.2004