US Official: Culture of Dialogue is Broken

[geovalin]

Nine days after the murder of outspoken political activist Kem Ley, the United States’ Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski said the political situation in Cambodia had deteriorated. The assistant secretary of state’s visit comes at a time of heightened political tensions with the arrests and detention of government critics and human rights workers drawing the ire of local residents and the international community.

Mr. Malinowski made it clear that the US government had a firm position of neutrality and would neither oppose nor support any of the country’s political parties. But he asserted that the US was in support of the democratic process and freedom of expression, condemning the imprisonment of Adhoc human rights workers in particular. “What we support here and everywhere in the world is a process that gives everybody a fair and equal chance to express their views, advance their interests and to compete in the political arena. We think this is the right thing to do and we also think this is the key in any country to maintaining stability and peace,” said Mr. Malinowski.

The assistant secretary of state described Mr. Ley’s murder as tragic and said he had met with the slain critic’s family to express his condolences over the death, but stopped short of laying blame on the current administration, although many in the public believe Mr. Ley’s murder was politically motivated. Prime Minister Hun Sen denounced the killing immediately, later dismissing a political motive and asserting that no one had more to lose than the ruling Cambodian People’s Party which he heads.

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