Cambodian elections: Free and fair or done deal?

By Melanie Gilbert 

LOWELL — National general elections in Cambodia take place on July 23, but nobody is holding their breath on the outcome of the contest.

That’s because former Khmer Rouge commander and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has held power for more than 38 years, has threatened, outlawed or arrested away his popular opposition, effectively creating a one-party, one-man rule called the Cambodian People’s Party.

U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, chair of the Congressional Cambodia Caucus, along with U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and other congressional leadership, led the reintroduction of the Cambodia Democracy and Human Rights Act, bipartisan and bicameral legislation that would hold the Cambodian government accountable for abuses and corruption that undermine democracy and human rights in Cambodia. In addition to Massachusetts Democrats Trahan and Markey, the legislation is co-led by three Republicans: U.S. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey and U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Marco Rubio of Florida.

“On the eve of Cambodia’s general election, the Cambodia Democracy and Human Rights Act reaffirms America’s support for free, fair elections and the upholding of democratic values in Cambodia,” Trahan said in a statement released by her office.

Among other actions, the legislation would apply sanctions on anyone — including senior officials of the Hun Sen government, military or security forces of Cambodia — who have been involved in significant corruption or human rights abuses. It would also codify the State Department’s existing visa restrictions for individuals engaged in such activity.

Ever since the opposition party, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, won 44% of the popular vote in the general election in 2017, the government has led widespread crackdowns across many sectors, but most forcefully against political opponents and activists.

Kem Sokha, the president of the CNRP, was arrested and charged with treason and conspiring to overthrow the government of Cambodia. He was sentenced to 27 years of house arrest.

Former members of the Cambodian Parliament and vice presidents of CNRP — Mu Sochua and Eng Chhai Eang — had to flee the country. They now live in exile in Providence, Rhode Island, and Lowell, respectively.

As a result, in the 2018 general election, the CPP secured every parliamentary seat, an electoral victory that the White House said was ‘‘neither free nor fair and failed to represent the will of the Cambodian people.”

The CNRP held a rally for democracy on July 9 in Lowell, that featured passionate speeches followed by a march that culminated in an effigy and mock burial of Hun Sen.

Another opposition party, the Candlelight Party, founded in 1995, that won 23% of the popular vote in the 2022 local elections, was recently banned by the Hun Sen government.

Election abuses are but just one facet of the Hun Sen government, which has also engaged in widespread crackdowns on democratic institutions such as journalists, free press and political activists. Numerous human and democratic rights abuses are laid out in the bill introduced by Trahan.

Cambodian-American lawyer Theary Seng remains jailed in Cambodia, convicted in 2022 for conspiracy to commit treason and incitement to create social disorder.

Like many in the Cambodian diaspora, Seng’s parents were murdered by the Khmer Rouge. She came to the U.S. as a child, eventually graduating from Georgetown University and Michigan Law School. She recently started a 10-day hunger strike demanding her release, as well as to call attention to the Hun Sen regime.

In the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018, Congress expressed serious concerns with the rule of law and civil liberties in Cambodia and stated that the promotion of human rights and respect for democratic values in the Indo-Pacific region is in the United States’ national security interest.

The State Department issued a 2022 report on Cambodia that wrote of endemic corruption and a thriving human trafficking network.

“For many years, members of the ruling elite, including personal family members and advisors of the Prime Minister, have been individually linked to businesses implicated in trafficking in persons into Cambodia,” the report said.

The European Union has also acted against the Hun Sen government’s violations of civil and political rights. And last month, the social media giant Meta’s oversight board called for the suspensions of Hun Sen’s Facebook and Instagram accounts for inciting violence.

Trahan represents Lowell, home to the second-largest Cambodian community and the largest Cambodian population per capita of any city or town in the nation.

Free and fair elections in Lowell and in the commonwealth have elevated numerous Cambodian Americans including Sokhary Chau, the first Cambodian-American mayor; Rady Mom, the first Cambodian-American elected to a state legislature; Vanna Howard, the first Cambodian-American woman elected as a state representative; and Rithy Uong, who was the first Cambodian-American elected to a city council in the country. Currently, Cambodian Americans Vesna Nuon and Paul Ratha Yem sit with Chau on the City Council.

“A free and fair election in Cambodia would ensure that competing parties had an equal opportunity to share their visions for the nation’s future and make their case to voters — with an independent press able to provide independent coverage of the race,” Trahan said on Tuesday. “There’s a bipartisan belief in Congress, as showcased by the introduction of my bill, that the Cambodian people are being denied the chance to truly choose their leaders in this election. The lack of a true election means we’ll never know if the inevitable result — another term for Prime Minister Hun Sen — is actually the will of the Cambodian people.”