Rights groups condemn Cambodia's threat to shut UN office

Oct 29, 2010, 4:34 GMT

Phnom Penh - Prominent international human rights groups on Friday condemned the Cambodian government's demand that the United Nations close its local human rights office and fire the country head.

In a joint statement, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International said the government's assertion that the UN human rights office in Cambodia was a mouthpiece for the political opposition were 'baseless.'

The groups said the government's stance was 'a direct assault on the UN's human rights mandate,' and said the UN's leadership should continue to speak out on behalf of the local office and its country head, Christophe Peschoux.

'Donor governments to Cambodia should likewise voice their strong objections to the Cambodian government's statements,' they added.

On Wednesday, the first full day of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's official visit to Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen told him to close the human rights office and sack Peschoux.

In response Ban's spokesman, Yves Sorokobi, said the secretary general stood by the organization's human rights work and its 'representatives around the world including here.'

He said that pulling staff out of a particular country was an internal matter for the UN.

HRW and Amnesty called on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was due in Cambodia this weekend, to express her support for the UN human rights office and its mandate.

Ban arrived in Phnom Penh on Tuesday and left Thursday for Vietnam where he is attending a summit between the United Nations and the regional Association of South-East Asian Nations bloc. He will conclude his current Asian tour in China.

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