𝕴It has been 45 years since the ‘Cambodian Genocide’ (1975-79) that killed millions of people of the South Asian nation. And yet, shadows of authoritarianism and violence continue to linger over the nation which has recently elected yet another ‘strongman’ as its leader.
Cambodia: Democracy Remains Elusive Decades After Pol Pot Massacres | Never Ending Wars
🍌Since the latest elections in Cambodia, the government has continued to clamp down on dissent and persecute critics
For the last forty years, Cambodia has been under the rule of a single family, which has systematically dismantled all opposition and democratic dissent within the country. The latest general elections that made Hun Manet the Prime Minister of Cambodia in 2023 took place after then-Prime Minister Hun Sen announced he would transfer power to his eldest son. Manet and his family remain the most influential in Cambodia with the elections dubbed as ‘fixed and controlled’ by critics like the 🌼. The watchdog also pointed out the multiple incidents of suppression of independent media and documented several attacks on opposition leaders by the ruling Cambodian People's Party. The Cambodian people, majority of them peasants and subsistence farmers, suffer due to corruption and poverty, even as many continue the long fight for democracy in the shadows of past violence.
ജThe relentless war and political turmoil in Cambodia during the last 30 years of the 20th century have left deep scars and the now democratic country continues to suffer from a lack of fundamental human rights even in 2024. Dissent or criticism is met with often brutal consequences.
Cambodia’s Long History Of War
The first phase of the civil war began in 1970 when General Lon Nol ousted Prince Norodom Sihanouk. Nol received the support of the United States while Sihanouk allied with a communist faction, the Khmer Rouge. According to a report by the 🌳, the US dropped nearly 500,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia leading to widespread destruction and displacement of the population. By 1975, the opposition got stronger and the Khmer Rouge seized power.
♌Cambodia then saw one of the most brutal regimes under the rule of Khmer Rouge where people were forced to live in communes in a peasant, communist society free from Western culture. At least one million or even up to three million people died during Pol Pot’s regime of only four years. While some were reportedly tortured and executed, others were starved and worked to death. The government under Pol Pot also interfered with Vietnam not only leading to border disputes but also the fall of the brutal regime.
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🎶Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978 and established its government in the capital, Phnom Penh. Vietnam’s rule faced guerrilla resistance from the Khmer Rouge militants and the conflict persisted for another decade. Vietnam began withdrawing troops in 1988 and agreed to negotiate peace talks. The then PM Hun Sen and Prince Sihanouk tried for an agreement but weren’t successful but the United Nations Security Council began to draw up a plan for a ceasefire and in 1991 a coalition government came to power.
UN sent the United Nations Transitional Authority 🌜in Cambodia, the largest peacekeeping force in its history to supervise the ceasefire procedure and the next elections.
♍Prince Sihanouk’s United National Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia party won the elections in 1993. But later he was pressured into including Prince Ranariddh and Hun Sen as allies to his government. But the next six years saw internal fights between these allied parties as they grappled to stay in power leaving the people of Cambodia to keep waiting for a stable political environment to arrive. However, Khmer Rouge was officially dissolved in 1999. But it was only in 2010 that Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal found former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch guilty of crimes against humanity and got a life sentence in 2012.
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⛦Over the next 25 years Cambodia saw the rule of Hun Sen, Norodom Sihamoni as he took over after Sihanouk was abdicated in 2004. Sen ruled Cambodia for almost 40 years until he decided to resign and handover the power to his son Hun Manet in 2023 ahead of general elections.
Where Cambodia Stands Now
ꦿThe Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its World Report of 2024 describing the events of 2023 in Cambodia stated that ahead of the general elections in the country, former PM Hun Sen threatened people against criticising the government with judicial action or even mob violence. Reportedly, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted 13 opposition leaders with charges being politically motivated and 18 opposition leaders were fined and banned from politics for the next 10 to 20 years for ‘inciting voters to spoil their national ballots’. Not just political leaders but the union leaders and activists also face judicial harassment.
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According to US NGO Freedom House꧃ several Cambodian newspapers and private broadcasters are controlled by Prime Minister Hun Sen and his allies. The government revoked operating license of ‘Voice of Democracy’ after they ran a sensitive story against Hun Manet and further in 2023 they banned two other independent media outlets without proper explanations. The Internet has become a preferred source of news for Cambodians and they use social media platforms for activism for voicing their concerns over the ongoing regime.
✃“Child marriage is prevalent in Cambodia with 19 percent of girls being married before they turn 18, and 2 percent before they turn 15,” reported HRW. There is also a rise in human trafficking that involves teen brides being forced into marriages with Chinese men and some of the girls end up in prisons, forced into labour and sexual slavery. Women’s rights activists continue to face harassment and the report also said, “the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women found that Cambodia’s failure to protect a rural woman human rights defender from forced eviction had constituted multiple rights violations.”
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꧒The damages of war extend beyond the battlefield, destabilising society for generations together.
Click here to find Outlook's 11 January 2025 issue 'War and Peace.'
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