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PHNOM PENH (Khmer Times) – Cambodia National Rescue Party vice president and lawmaker Kem Sokha called yesterday for reforms to the court system in a meeting with the new United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, Rhona Smith.
After the meeting with Ms. Smith, Mr. Sokhha said judicial reform is the key to ensuring equal political, social and economic opportunities for Cambodians.
“If the court system is not reformed to become truly independent, then human rights issues in Cambodia can’t be solved,” he said. “The international community has to help reform the court system.”
The Cambodian People’s Party has been accused by rights groups and the opposition of using the court system as a tool to punish its critics.
CNRP Senator Hong Sok Hour and 14 CNRP activists have been jailed over the past few months. The activists were jailed for participating in a violent protest at Freedom Park in 2014.
The CPP has also been accused of using the courts to cut political deals with the CNRP. In exchange for political deals it releases jailed CNRP activists, rights groups and the opposition say.
“These CNRP activists would be released if the court system were independent,” Mr. Sokha said yesterday.
Judicial Reforms
Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said there are problems with the court system here but the government has been working to lessen them.
“We fired the chairman of the Phnom Penh municipal court and we arrested some officials,” he said, referring to the firing of court chief Ang Maldey in February.
Mr. Siphan also said reforming the court system requires training a new generation of lawyers and judges. The lacked of trained professionals here means that it not yet possible for courts to attain the same level of quality as those in the United States or France, he said.
The government is focusing on training students to become lawyers and judges, he added.
While the Ministry of Justice has undertaken some reforms, a report published last week by the International Bar Association listed widespread problems within the judiciary, including pervasive graft.
After interviews with lawyers, judges and civil society groups, they reported endemic bribery on the part of judges, bailiffs and court clerks. They also described political pressure from members of the government that influence court decisions.
“Culture of Dialogue”
Ms. Smith, who is on a fact-finding mission here, also met with Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday, pledging to respect Cambodia’s national sovereignty while calling for cooperation on human rights issues.
“I met with Ms. Rhona Smith during a meeting with H.E. Sok An. She highly values the government’s respect for human rights and she wants to learn from Cambodia more than to tell Cambodia what to do,” Mr. Siphan said.
According to Mr. Sokha, he and Ms. Smith also discussed the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations and the status of the “culture of dialogue,” the agreement between the two parties for civility and cooperation that has frayed in recent months.
“It is better for the two parties to meet than not,” Mr. Sokha said. “Although we get little benefit from the culture of dialogue, it is better than nothing for the nation and to avoid violence also.”
Mr. Siphan said that under the culture of dialogue, the two parties should not defame each other.
Mr. Sokha should be ashamed of asking for help from foreigners, Mr. Siphan continued, saying that the CNRP vice president “should not be considered a Cambodian.”
“He is a lawmaker, who as the first vice president of National Assembly abandons his own sovereignty, looking to foreigners as a teacher and his leader,” Mr. Siphan said.
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