Jakarta (ANTARA News) – The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) urged Indonesia to lead the ASEAN in addressing human rights violations in Cambodia, peaking during and after the election on July 29, that may threat regional stability.
“We truly laud what the international community has done to support the Cambodian people, but what we need more now is the regional voice,” CNRP Deputy Director for Foreign Affairs Monovithya Kem remarked here on Monday.
Kem and CNRP Vice President Mu Sochua fled to Indonesia under the threat of persecution and arrest by the ruling government after they announced their party Cambodia People`s Party`s (CPP`s) victory in the election.
Amnesty International stated that 27 human rights defenders and political activists were put in jail, while thousands of others, including media and civil organizations, are the subject of criminalization of the lithe ruling government, as part of their efforts to crush public criticism, even in a peaceful manner.
“This election is unacceptable even before it began,” Sochua noted.
Sochua also expressed confidence that Indonesia would be able to lead the ASEAN`s voice to address injustice and non-democratic ruling by President Hun Sen in Cambodia.
“We believe in Indonesia, as you had given hopes to the people of Cambodia when you were co-hosting the Paris Peace Accord to stop the genocide in our country,” Sochua noted.
Indonesia and France had co-hosted the Paris Peace Accord 1991 to end the conflict and genocide that had begun in the 1970s.
Monovithya Kem, who is also daughter of Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha, stressed that the ASEAN`s role to raise the issue of human rights violations in Cambodia would apply some pressure on President Sen to release all opposition figures.
“The ASEAN cannot ignore us, as Cambodia is part of the association and what happens in Cambodia might cause instability in the region,” she cautioned.
Kem Sokha is one of the opposition figures, who was jailed by the authority, and President Sen had refused to pardon him despite his terrible illness.
The CNRP has called on the international community to fully reject the election result announced unilaterally by the CPP and National Elections Committee on July 29.