PDAS STEPHENS MEETS CAMBODIA'S POLITICAL AND CIVIL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000131

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP FO, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP AND G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL CB
SUBJECT: PDAS STEPHENS MEETS CAMBODIA'S POLITICAL AND CIVIL
SOCIETY ELITE

REF: PHNOM PENH 109


1. (SBU) Summary. EAP Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State Kathleen Stephens visited Cambodia January 20-24.
Stephens spoke at EAP Management Conference, met with PM Hun
Sen (reftel) and visited a number of USG-funded programs.
She also met Interior Minister Sar Kheng, Foreign Minister
Hor Namhong and various other political and civic leaders.
During Stephens's meeting with Interior Minister Sar Kheng,
she pressed the minister to ensure that the upcoming
Cambodian elections would be transparent and urged continued
cooperation on the issue of Trafficking-in-Persons (TIP). The
Ambassador also used the opportunity to ask the Minister to
help rectify problems with the draft anti-TIP law. The PDAS
and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong shared views on North Korea
and Burma. During a lively exchange among Cambodia's civil
society and opposition leaders at the Ambassador's residence,
Stephens heard about the shortcomings, as well as successes,
of the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC). At a breakfast
hosted by the DCM with Cambodia's preeminent female political
leaders, the PDAS heard of their efforts to lift the role of
women in Cambodia. End Summary.

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Meeting with Interior Minister
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2. (SBU) Expressing his hope that relations between the US
and Cambodia would "last forever," Interior Minister Sar
Kheng thanked the US for assistance in political, human
rights, security, and development issues. He described
Cambodia's trafficking in persons (TIP) ranking upgrade from
Tier III to Tier II Watchlist as an encouraging step for
which he and the Ambassador should both claim some credit.
The Minister said that it was important that the US lift
sanctions on military assistance to Cambodia, and expressed
excitement about the upcoming visit of a US naval frigate.
Preparations for April 1 local elections are coming along
well, he noted, and the government expects elections to go
smoothly. He was "pleased and proud" that Cambodia had not
experienced the terrorism and transnational crime problems
that other countries in the region had.


3. (SBU) PDAS Stephens noted that Washington sees
opportunities to move ahead even more strongly in areas where
we cooperate together. She emphasized that the US and other
countries will be watching the local elections closely and
would hope to see nonviolent elections with improvements in
transparency and management. Similarly, TIP is a
high-profile issue that some people use to make judgements
about countries, Stephens said. Sar Kheng responded that
Cambodia needed a democratic environment, multiple political
parties, and elections; local elections, in particular,
deepened the democratic process and culture in Cambodia.
Cambodia's TIP cooperation would continue as the RGC
implemented the recently signed anti-trafficking MOU with
USAID.


4. (SBU) The Ambassador encouraged the Minister to weigh in
on an on-going debate between the Ministries of Women's
Affairs and Justice about punishments provided for in the
draft anti-TIP legislation, which some observers fear is too
lenient. The Minister agreed that he "saw the problem" but
noted that, for now, the Ministry of Justice was in charge of
looking at punishments in all laws. (Note: Based on the
current Ministry of Justice-endorsed draft of the anti-TIP
law, maximum sentences for child-sex offenders would be
reduced from 10 to 20 years under current law to just two to
five years. In addition, the draft law allows judges to fine
offenders between USD 1,000 and USD 2,500 in lieu of a prison
sentence. The Ministry of Women's Affairs has been
attempting to amend the draft's language to ensure more
stringent sentences. End Note.)

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Meeting with Foreign Minister
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5. (SBU) Foreign Minister Hor Namhong spoke of the
improving relationship between the U.S. and Cambodia by
highlighting the close cooperation on counterterrorism as
well as thanking the U.S. for aid in fighting HIV and bird
flu. The FM then addressed the ASEAN-U.S. enhanced
partnership, hinting that Asian countries were working
together in an increasingly coordinated bloc. Turning to
North Korea, he reiterated Cambodia's condemnation of the
missile test but asked that the U.S. show flexibility in the
six-party talks. The FM told Stephens that South Korea had
asked Cambodia to pass a message to the DPRK encouraging

PHNOM PENH 00000131 002 OF 002


peaceful dialogue which Cambodia had done in 2006. The FM
also asked the U.S. to support Cambodia's membership in APEC.



6. (SBU) The PDAS said 2006 was a good year for bilateral
relations. She emphasized that a "nuclear" North Korea is
unacceptable. Raising the issue of Burma, she stated that
ASEAN had a responsibility to highlight Burma's behavior.
Turning to Cambodian domestic issues, the PDAS reiterated USG
hopes that the upcoming commune elections would be conducted
in a free and transparent manner. Concerning the ongoing
problems with the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, she stated that it
would be embarrassing for Cambodia if the effort fell apart.
The FM responded to the issue of Burma by saying that it was
better to engage Burma than to contain it and asserted that
ASEAN leaders were privately pushing for reform. He also
asked that PDAS re-convey his invitation( first issued during
their pull-aside in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in July 2006) to
Secretary Rice to visit Cambodia and see Angkor Wat.

SIPDIS

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Dinner with Civil Society and Opposition leaders
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7. (SBU) During a dinner hosted by the Ambassador, the PDAS
heard from opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) MP and Party
Whip Son Chhay that Cambodian democracy is regressing to a
highly centralized one-party-controlled state similar to that
which governed Cambodia in the 1980s. Roland Eng, Cambodia's
ambassador-at-large and former Ambassador to the U.S., argued
that democracy is in transition, not in decline. Suwanna
Gauntlet, the country director of environmental NGO WildAid,
noted her group's relationship with the government has been
excellent and the Prime Minister has personally helped her
aims in forest and wildlife conservation. In contrast, Margo
Pickens, Country Director for the Cambodia Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Kek
Galabru, president of the human rights organization LICADHO,
discussed the inhumane way victims of land disputes are being
treated and described how little the RGC has done to help
them. When asked by the PDAS why people still vote for the
ruling party, Ly Korm, president of the Cambodian Tourism and
Service Workers, mentioned that the CPP has provided
stability after a long civil war. Former political prisoner
and president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights Kem
Sokha thought that divisions in the opposition explained the
CPP's hold on power. The PDAS also heard about the role of
the younger generation in fostering development and the
weakness of provincial and local governments in Cambodia.

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Breakfast with Cambodia's Female Political Leaders
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8. (SBU) At breakfast hosted by the DCM, the PDAS met four
of Cambodia's preeminent female political leaders.
Interestingly, Mu Sochua, the opposition SRP Secretary
General, described as "mentors" both Princess Norodom Marie
Ranariddh, head of Cambodia's HIV/AIDS Authority, and Kim
Sathavy, Cambodia's first female Supreme Court judge. She
also characterized as a protg Ing Kantha Phavi, the
Minister for Women's Affairs. Phavi added that as women's
affairs minister she promoted passage of the domestic
violence law that Sochua helped draft when she was in charge
of the same ministry. Sochua displayed clear discomfort with
her decision to leave the FUNCINPEC party to which Phavi and
Ranariddh still belong, but she argued a certain "kinship"
still bound the women together. Turning to Cambodia's
justice system, Sathavy, who is not a member of any political
party, admitted the court system is not credible. However,
it is improving, she added, arguing that the concept of a
professional judiciary is young in Cambodia. Particularly
troublesome for the courts, she noted were the many land
disputes that the courts had to adjudicate. Princess
Ranariddh and Phavi both mentioned that they were facing
problems with land that they owned.


9. (U) PDAS Stephens did not have the chance to clear this
message.
MUSSOMELI