VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPF #0419/01 0731112
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 141112Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8191
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 2217
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1583

C O N F I D E N T I A L PHNOM PENH 000419 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2017 
TAGS: PHUM KJUS PREL CB
SUBJECT: UN HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL CANCELS TRIP TO CAMBODIA 
 
Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Margaret McKean, Reason 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
 ¶1.  (SBU)  Summary.  UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights 
in Cambodia, Yash Ghai, has canceled his planned visit to 
Cambodia, according to the UN Human Rights Office.  UN Human 
Rights Office Director Margo Picken said that Yash Ghai's 
visit was postponed for reasons unrelated to Cambodia.  She 
hopes that the Cambodian government will respond to Yash 
Ghai's latest human rights draft report, as Ghai would like 
to incorporate the RGC's comments in his presentation of the 
report to the Human Rights Council, although the date of that 
presentation has now been postponed.  Cambodian government 
reaction to Yash Ghai's report has been negative; civil 
society representatives and members of the political 
opposition have welcomed his findings and recommendations. 
End Summary. 
 
Yash Ghai Continues to Stir Controversy 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Media reports over the past week have noted that 
Yash Ghai, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in 
Cambodia, will not be coming to the country as planned.  Many 
in Cambodia erroneously jumped to the conclusion that he 
canceled his visit because senior members of the RGC refused 
to meet with him, explained UN Human Rights Office Director 
Margo Picken.  Picken noted that her organization had sent 
forward a request for meetings with the Prime Minister and 
other senior officials.  She added that Yash Ghai had already 
decided to cancel his trip before her office had received the 
official RGC response due to reasons unrelated to Cambodia. 
The only member of the RGC designated to meet with Yash Ghai 
was Om Yentieng, the PM's advisor on human rights matters. 
Given the paucity of official meetings, some in town had 
speculated that the Special Rapporteur altered his plans 
accordingly, and decided Cambodia was not worth the trip. 
Margo Picken assured us that was not the case, and Ghai will 
return at a future date. 
 
¶3.  (C)  The report issued by Ghai, however, has received 
negative reaction on the part of some RGC officials, said 
Picken, while many others have dismissed the findings as 
unfounded.  Picken said that her office had reassured the 
government that RGC comments and responses to the report 
would be welcome, and that Yash Ghai would incorporate them 
into his presentation before the Human Rights Council.  His 
report, continued Picken, was to be presented in Geneva this 
month during the 4th session of the Human Rights Council. 
However, due to the Council's full agenda and lack of clarity 
over the continuation of the country-specific mandates, the 
individual presentations by Special Rapporteurs reportedly 
have been postponed -- possibly until the as-yet unscheduled 
5th session, said Picken.  The RGC is hopeful that the single 
country mandates and the Special Rapporteur role for 
individuals such as Yash Ghai will be done away with by the 
Human Rights Council, and Picken worries that the Japanese 
government is supportive of this position at least for 
Cambodia. 
 
¶4.  (U)  NGOs have described Yash Ghai's report as 
confirmation of a human rights situation well-known to their 
respective organizations, and say that the Special 
Rapporteur's conclusions are nothing new.  Although organized 
according to relevant government institutions whose work 
bears on human rights matters, many of Yash Ghai's findings 
mirror those in the Embassy's annual human rights report 
submission.  When asked why the Embassy does not receive the 
same level of RGC criticism as that levied against Yash Ghai, 
SRP MP Son Chhay said that the Cambodian government's history 
of poor relations with the UN Human Rights Office and the 
individuals in the Special Rapporteur position is one reason. 
 More important, he noted, was the RGC's desire for good USG 
relations.  The UN will continue its programs of assistance 
to Cambodia irrespective of the government's poor treatment 
of one of its entities, he added. 
 
¶5.  (C)  Comment.  Yash Ghai's report, coming out at more or 
less the same time as our own human rights report, has become 
a lightning rod for RGC wrath at a time when the government's 
tolerance of criticism by outsiders is particularly thin. 
Many CPP and government officials are talking openly about 
how particularly thin-skinned the Prime Minister is at this 
juncture -- going into elections, still smarting over donor 
criticism at the GDCC meeting in February, and reeling from 
the Open Society Justice Initiative's reference to the UNDP 
audit at the ECCC for allegations of unfair hiring practices 
and corruption.  We would be interested in any information 
that US Mission Geneva has regarding the dynamic among Human 
Rights Council members over the issue of the single country 
mandates.  End Comment. 
MUSSOMELI