A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-323- 2008
December 23, 2008
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

According to the Cambodian Constitution the country is supposed to be a
liberal democracy, governed by the rule of law and respecting the
international human rights norms and standards. This democracy is a
parliamentary democracy with a representative parliament composed of a
directly elected National Assembly and an indirectly elected Senate. It is
equipped with a system of checks and balances, with separation of powers and
an independent judiciary. Power is vested with the Cambodian people, who
exercise it through the parliament, the government and the judiciary.

However, the institutions for parliamentary democracy and the rule of law
are largely dysfunctional and are dominated by the ruling Cambodian People's
Party or CPP, a former communist party, which has grown in strength after a
setback in the transition from communism in the early 1990s. These
institutional defects and the increasing strength and dominance of the
ruling party are having an impact on the 'democratic space' in Cambodia and
the rights and freedoms of its people and their elected representatives.

In July of this year Cambodia held a parliamentary election in which the
ruling CPP won an overwhelming majority of seats in the National Assembly,
90 out of 123. Four other parties won the rest of the seats with the Sam
Rainsy Party (SRP) having 26, the Human Rights Party (HRP) 3, FUNCINPEC 2
and the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) 2.

The CPP has continued in office with FUNCINPEC and NRP as its allies while
SRP and HRP are in the opposition. When the new parliament was sworn in last
September, the CPP used its overwhelming dominance to force the adoption of
the internal rules or standing orders of its predecessor, despite opposition
from SRP and HRP.

According to Articles 48 and 55 of these standing orders, MPs are seated in
groups, each of which are composed of at least ten members with a leader and
a deputy-leader. MPs from parties with less than ten seats must join a group
of their liking. An MP cannot speak in the parliament unless he or she is a
member of a group, makes a request to speak through the representative of
the group, and gets permission from the National Assembly's Chairman.

The conditions laid down by these standing orders have denied MPs the right
to freedom of speech in the parliament in the exercise of their mandate.
They have already prevented the three MPs from the HRP from speaking in the
National Assembly since they had been sworn in, when they uphold the
independent stand of their party, want to be free to speak their minds
without any inhibition, and refuse to join any group.

By thus denying MPs the right to free speech, these standing orders have
violated one of the fundamental conditions for a parliament to be
representative, which Cambodia's National Assembly is supposed to be, and
for its members to represent their electors effectively, a representation
which Cambodia's constitution has guaranteed. They have therefore violated
Cambodia's own constitution which has fully recognized this condition when
MPs represent not only their constituents but also the whole nation and are
free to speak their minds.

Article 77 of this constitution says: "The deputies in the National Assembly
shall represent the entire Cambodian people, not only Cambodians from their
constituencies. Any imperative mandate shall be null and void."

The same standing orders have run counter to the parliamentary immunity from
prosecution, arrest or detention that MPs enjoy under Article 80 of the
constitution, for opinions expressed in the exercise of their mandate. The
Law on the Status of Members of Parliament (2006) has affirmed as 'absolute'
this immunity.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) holds that Articles 48 and 55 of
the standing orders that deny MPs freedom of speech are unconstitutional,
and urges the National Assembly of Cambodia to remove them without delay so
that Members of Parliament, regardless of whether they are in the minority,
are free to speak their minds without any inhibition in the exercise of
their mandate as elected representatives of the Cambodian people.

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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental
organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong
Kong-based group was founded in 1984.