UN HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL CANCELS TRIP TO CAMBODIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L PHNOM PENH 000419

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2017
TAGS: PHUM KJUS PREL CB
SUBJECT: UN HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL CANCELS TRIP TO CAMBODIA

Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Margaret McKean, Reason 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (SBU) Summary. UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights
in Cambodia, Yash Ghai, has canceled his planned visit to
Cambodia, according to the UN Human Rights Office. UN Human
Rights Office Director Margo Picken said that Yash Ghai's
visit was postponed for reasons unrelated to Cambodia. She
hopes that the Cambodian government will respond to Yash
Ghai's latest human rights draft report, as Ghai would like
to incorporate the RGC's comments in his presentation of the
report to the Human Rights Council, although the date of that
presentation has now been postponed. Cambodian government
reaction to Yash Ghai's report has been negative; civil
society representatives and members of the political
opposition have welcomed his findings and recommendations.
End Summary.

Yash Ghai Continues to Stir Controversy

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2. (SBU) Media reports over the past week have noted that
Yash Ghai, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in
Cambodia, will not be coming to the country as planned. Many
in Cambodia erroneously jumped to the conclusion that he
canceled his visit because senior members of the RGC refused
to meet with him, explained UN Human Rights Office Director
Margo Picken. Picken noted that her organization had sent
forward a request for meetings with the Prime Minister and
other senior officials. She added that Yash Ghai had already
decided to cancel his trip before her office had received the
official RGC response due to reasons unrelated to Cambodia.
The only member of the RGC designated to meet with Yash Ghai
was Om Yentieng, the PM's advisor on human rights matters.
Given the paucity of official meetings, some in town had
speculated that the Special Rapporteur altered his plans
accordingly, and decided Cambodia was not worth the trip.
Margo Picken assured us that was not the case, and Ghai will
return at a future date.


3. (C) The report issued by Ghai, however, has received
negative reaction on the part of some RGC officials, said
Picken, while many others have dismissed the findings as
unfounded. Picken said that her office had reassured the
government that RGC comments and responses to the report
would be welcome, and that Yash Ghai would incorporate them
into his presentation before the Human Rights Council. His
report, continued Picken, was to be presented in Geneva this
month during the 4th session of the Human Rights Council.
However, due to the Council's full agenda and lack of clarity
over the continuation of the country-specific mandates, the
individual presentations by Special Rapporteurs reportedly
have been postponed -- possibly until the as-yet unscheduled
5th session, said Picken. The RGC is hopeful that the single
country mandates and the Special Rapporteur role for
individuals such as Yash Ghai will be done away with by the
Human Rights Council, and Picken worries that the Japanese
government is supportive of this position at least for
Cambodia.


4. (U) NGOs have described Yash Ghai's report as
confirmation of a human rights situation well-known to their
respective organizations, and say that the Special
Rapporteur's conclusions are nothing new. Although organized
according to relevant government institutions whose work
bears on human rights matters, many of Yash Ghai's findings
mirror those in the Embassy's annual human rights report
submission. When asked why the Embassy does not receive the
same level of RGC criticism as that levied against Yash Ghai,
SRP MP Son Chhay said that the Cambodian government's history
of poor relations with the UN Human Rights Office and the
individuals in the Special Rapporteur position is one reason.
More important, he noted, was the RGC's desire for good USG
relations. The UN will continue its programs of assistance
to Cambodia irrespective of the government's poor treatment
of one of its entities, he added.


5. (C) Comment. Yash Ghai's report, coming out at more or
less the same time as our own human rights report, has become
a lightning rod for RGC wrath at a time when the government's
tolerance of criticism by outsiders is particularly thin.
Many CPP and government officials are talking openly about
how particularly thin-skinned the Prime Minister is at this
juncture -- going into elections, still smarting over donor
criticism at the GDCC meeting in February, and reeling from
the Open Society Justice Initiative's reference to the UNDP
audit at the ECCC for allegations of unfair hiring practices
and corruption. We would be interested in any information
that US Mission Geneva has regarding the dynamic among Human
Rights Council members over the issue of the single country
mandates. End Comment.
MUSSOMELI