VZCZCXRO1203
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0016 0071049
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071049Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0274
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 000016 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM CB
SUBJECT: 30 YEARS AFTER THE KHMER ROUGE: MUCH TO CELEBRATE, 
BUT OPPORTUNITIES LOST 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary and Comment:  The commemoration of the 30th 
anniversary of the January 7 "fall of the Khmer Rouge" marks 
a milestone in Cambodia's progress towards peace, stability, 
and development.  However, the event was also a lost 
opportunity to put past divisions behind and embrace all 
elements of Cambodian society, including those with differing 
political ideologies, to share in the nation's remarkable 
achievements and to call for accountability for those 
responsible for the atrocities.  Rather, this historic event 
was marred by political polarization and officials 
co-mingling praise for the RGC with claims that it is 
exclusively the CPP which has delivered Cambodia to its 
current state of peace and prosperity. End Summary and 
Comment. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Forty to eighty thousand onlookers packed the 
Olympic Stadium for a three-hour ceremony commemorating 
January 7, 1979, the day when Vietnamese and Cambodian 
soldiers entered Phnom Penh, leading to the eventual "fall" 
of the four-year, brutal Khmer Rouge regime.  An array of 
students, officials, diplomats, and average citizens watched 
as speeches were delivered, floats and bands marched by, and 
important sectors of society, including workers and 
minorities, demonstrated their support for the country's 
laudable achievements, in a carefully choreographed 
"patriotic ceremony." 
 
¶3. (SBU) However, while stressing the national nature of 
January 7th and highlighting the significant progress the 
nation has achieved, especially in developing the economy and 
reducing poverty, Senate President Chea Sim (who is also the 
President of the CPP) attributed the success achieved thus 
far to the "correct direction and ...wise leadership of the 
CPP."  In his remarks, he also emphasized the importance of 
national reconciliation, democracy and pluralism, equitable 
distribution of the benefits of recent economic prosperity, 
good governance and combating corruption, and respect for 
human rights.  But, the generally commendable thrust of the 
speech was marred by the concluding paragraphs' focus solely 
on the CPP. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In the days leading up to the ceremony, opposition 
party members and civil society representatives were critical 
of the emphasis on the CPP, rather than the government or the 
nation as a whole.  Some people criticized the perceived 
"forced" participation in the ceremony of thousands of 
impressionable Cambodian students and the "hijacking" of the 
event by the CPP.  Others argued January 7 marked the 
beginning of a decade-long Vietnamese occupation and that 
only with the October 23, 1991 signing of the Paris Peace 
Accords did Cambodia truly turn the page on the tumultuous 
chapter in its history. (Note:  Cambodia commemorated the 
signing of the Paris Peace Accords as a national holiday up 
to 2005, when Prime Minister Hun Sen declared it would no 
longer be observed as a national holiday. End. Note.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) CPP members were quick to brand critics as 
"non-patriotic" and "outsiders" who were not present in 
Cambodia to suffer under the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge 
regime.  On Jan 6, Prime Minister Hun Sen lashed out at 
critics of the event during a speech when he branded them as 
"animals."  During the same speech, he issued a fiery rebuke 
that Hun Sen and only Hun Sen is the father of Jan 7 and 
called any one who claims otherwise to be a "king liar."  He 
was reacting to former PM Pen Sovan's earlier claim taking 
credit for the ousting of the Khmer Rouge from Phnom Penh. 
According to the government spokesman, only CPP funds were 
spent on the ceremony.  However, local press report that 
school teachers were asked, some report pressured, to donate 
contributions to the CPP to help support the event. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The 30th anniversary of the displacement of the 
Khmer Rouge from Phnom Penh has also been linked to the 
status of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT).  Recently KRT 
Co-Prosecutors released public statements explaining their 
differences of opinion on the question of whether there 
should be additional submissions.  Some people used this 
opportunity to raise questions yet again about accountability 
for the Khmer Rouge atrocities, pointing out how crucial this 
is to full closure for Cambodians.  During his forty-minute 
speech, Chea Sim made no mention of the need to hold 
accountable those responsible for the horrors committed under 
the Khmer Rouge regime, to deliver much-delayed justice to 
the Cambodian people. 
CAMPBELL