YouSaid · the spoken record

Samdech Norodom Sihanouk

lines on the record: 78
first: 1985-09-24
most recent: 1991-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

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“My delegation is encouraged by the progress that has been made in settling the conflicts affecting Afghanistan, Lebanon, Cyprus and Western Sahara. We also welcome the progress that has been achieved in South Africa towards the dismantling of apartheid and the negotiations that are taking place for the purpose of establishing there a democratic and non-racial regime. While working to establish peace and national reconciliation and to achieve a comprehensive political settlement of its problem in accordance with the United Rations peace plan, Cambodia will contribute actively to the building of a better world where peace and prosperity, with justice and democratic freedoms, will prevail.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“We encourage their efforts and hope that, now that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea have become full Members of this Organisation, the process of reunification will be accelerated. Korea is one country, not two. My delegation supports the efforts of the Palestinian people to recover their fundamental national rights. We hope that the international peace conference will take place soon and that, on the basis of Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), it will succeed in securing the right of all the countries and peoples in the Middle East, including Palestine and Israel, to live in peace and stability within borders recognised by the international community.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“For its part, Cambodia will adopt a policy of neutrality and non-alignment and of solidarity with all the peoples struggling against injustice and discrimination and for freedom, and with all those countries that are fighting to obtain respect for human rights. seIf-determination and everything else included in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the five principles of peaceful co-existence and those of non-alignment. My delegation warmly supports the wise and highly patriotic proposals for the reunification of Korea put forward by Marshal Kim II Sung, President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Me are happy to note that contacts between the two parts of Korea have increased with a view to achieving national reconciliation, which will lead, at a later stage, to reunification.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“I wish to take this opportunity to draw attention to a matter that concerns me deeply. For many years I have been deeply disturbed by the almost total saturation of Cambodian soil with land mines. These mines have already crippled a great number of our people - men and women - and they pose a constant danger to life. Today I appeal for a world-wide ban on the use of mines - beginning in Cambodia. Over the past year we have seen major changes in our world - changes that augur well for the future of international relations. Detente between East and West continues to develop. Several nations have achieved independence and freedom without bloodshed.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“The immense damage caused by the floods will involve us in an extra effort to rebuild our country. In response to the appeal that I made on 23 August for emergency-relief assistance for our unfortunate compatriots who were the victims of this disaster, a number of countries took immediate steps to come to our help. I wish to express our heartfelt thanks to the United Nations and our Secretary-General and to Australia, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Hew Zealand and Viet Nam, as well as in the international organizations that replied so promptly to my appeal. With their generous help, we have been able, to a certain extent, to restore normality in the regions affected. To those countries that are able to provide further assistance to our people I appeal that they do so as soon as possible.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“I wish to express once again to them our everlasting and profound gratitude for their constant compassion and generous hospitality, protection and varied assistance to more than 350,000 Khmer refugees on Thai soil. I should like also to express my gratitude to all those countries which have been kind enough to grant asylum to thousands of Cambodian refugees, as well as to all the relief and humanitarian assistance bodies of the United Nations and the governmental and non-governmental agencies of many countries which have for approximately 13 years now been giving help and assistance to our unfortunate compatriots living in camps along the Thai-Cambodian border. As the people of Cambodia prepare for a more stable and harmonious future, they are having to cope with severe floods caused by storms and torrential rains.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“On behalf of Cambodia and its Supreme National Council and its people, I wish to express our deep and sincere gratitude to all the countries, peoples and personalities concerned, particularly those of the Association of South-East Asian Nations. Australia and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the two co-Chairmen of the Paris International Conference on Cambodia, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and his distinguished colleagues. Without their combined, tireless and noble efforts, we should not have been able to reach the present stage of the peace process. I wish to pay a particular and respectful tribute to Their Majesties the King and Queen of Thailand, to the Royal Thai Government and to the Thai people.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“During the past three months the Supreme National Council of Cambodia has adopted by consensus a number of very important decisions on the military and civil arrangements contained in the draft agreements for a comprehensive political settlement. This has been achieved thanks to the spirit of compromise and of national reconciliation that has been nurtured by all the members of the Supreme National Council. I pay a tribute to the patriotism and commitment to the ideals of peace and national unity shown by the 11 other members of the Supreme National Council and their trust in their elected President. This has allowed us to overcome great difficulties and resolve major problems at the meetings held in Pattaya, Beijing, Pattaya again and New York.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“The Paris International Conference on Cambodia, which will resume its work on about 21 October 1991, will permit us to finalise and sign the long-awaited agreement on the comprehensive settlement of the Cambodia conflict. The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) will soon be in a position to help the Supreme National Council to make Cambodia an independent State with full territorial integrity and a liberal democracy, neutral, non-aligned and friendly to all those countries that respect our independence, our territorial integrity and our neutrality. The Supreme National Council and UNTAC constitute the two key inseparable elements of the United Nations Peace Plan for Cambodia.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“A new era of peace is opening up before us, and, while it is true that the road leading us to a future of national reconciliation, national unity and general development in peace is still a long and painful one strewn with obstacles, it is also full of hope and the desire to see our homeland resume the place it deserves in the family of nations and achieve progress and development. The progress achieved in Jakarta and Pattaya in June 1991, in Beijing in July 1991, in Pattaya again in August 1991 and, most recently, in New York - where the major issues relating to a cease-fire, the cessation of external military aid, the demobilisation of armed forces, political and electoral systems for Cambodia and the declaration of fundamental human rights were settled - augurs well for the future.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“It is understood, of course, that Cambodia fully respects his own free choice. After 12 years of war, destruction and suffering, my country, Cambodia, and its people are once again united. This monumental achievement has been made possible thanks to the help and continuous support for a period of several years of all justice-loving and freedom-loving countries, true friends of Cambodia and its people, and also thanks to the will of all Cambodian patriots who have united to put an end to the bloody and destructive Cambodian tragedy that lasted from 1970 to 1990.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“He are aware that, having worked so hard and made so many sacrifices in the service of the United Nations and the peoples of the world, he has decided not to request a new mandate but to take a well-deserved retirement. Nevertheless, our Cambodia has the conviction that the United Nations and the peoples of this Earth still have a very great need of his services and of his invaluable assistance in overcoming the difficulties that exist in certain parts of the world. Thus we take the liberty of expressing the warm wish that he will agree to continue at the helm of the United Nations for some years to come. He are persuaded that a great many countries would renew their trust in him in defending the great ideals of peace and development to which all peoples are profoundly attached.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Resolution 44/226, which the General Assembly adopted last year, provided relevant guidelines for global discussions on the transfer of technology and financial resources, and should safely guide our discussions preparatory to and during the international Conference on Environment and Development. It is again poverty in the developing countries that largely explains the resort to drug trafficking. Ghana has, without hesitation, joined in the international effort against the drug menace. We have passed laws that prescribe severe penalties, including confiscation of property, huge monetary fines and long prison terms. We have also adopted policy measures aimed at it.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“The depletion of the ozone layer that leads to global warming is the direct consequence of industrialization in the developed world. In the developing world, the necessity to eke out existence from the land and water has shown up as desertification and pollution. The Beijing Declaration of June this year aptly recognized that the inequities in current international economic relations not only have constrained the economic development of the developing countries, but have also undermined their capability to participate effectively in global environmental efforts.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Under his leadership the United Nations has been reborn and its prestige increased through the active and fruitful cooperation between the Member earnings are diverted into debt-servicing, the prospect of many of our economies regressing into a state of subsistence is not idle speculation. The concern that the International community, through the General Assembly, has shown over the accelerating degradation of the global environment and the drug menace should encourage us to appreciate the unsustainability of the world's development models and life-styles. While in the industrialised countries it is prosperity that is at the root of environmental degradation, in the developing countries it is poverty that accounts for that state of affairs.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“This year we welcome to our Organisation seven new Member States: the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Supreme National Council of Cambodia welcomes them to our Organization, conveys its warmest greetings to their respective Governments and peoples, and assures them of its desire to establish with them friendly and fruitful relations. Their presence within our Organization is a testimony to the great vitality and growing prestige of the United Nations. I take this auspicious opportunity to pay the warmest possible tribute to His Excellency the Secretary-General for his noble and tireless activities in the service of many countries and peoples that have faced great difficulties.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“It is in my capacity as President, of this Supreme National Council and on behalf of the new united, independent and sovereign Cambodia and its people what I have today the honour and the privilege of addressing this Assembly. My delegation welcomes with deep satisfaction. Sir, your election to the presidency of the forty-sixth session of our General Assembly. It is a special tribute to your people and your country, Saudi Arabia. I am delighted to convey to you my warmest congratulations. We believe that your experience and well-known competence will ensure the success of our proceedings. I also pay a sincere tribute to His Excellency Guido De Marco, eminent son of Malta, who by his remarkable personal diplomatic qualities and wisdom so successfully led the proceedings of the forty-fifth session of our General Assembly.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“Within the framework of the peace plan for a comprehensive political settlement of the Cambodian conflict - a plan adopted on 28 August 1990 by the five permanent members of the Security Council and unanimously approved by the Security Council in its resolution 668 (1990) and by acclamation by our General Assembly in its resolution 45/3 of 15 October 1990 - the Supreme National Council of Cambodia was created. The Council is the sole legitimate organ embodying the sovereignty and unity of Cambodia, and the sole source of authority during the transitional period until free and fair elections can be held, organised and supervised under United Nations control.”
1991-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 46 (1991)
“The appalling natural calamity, which plunges Mexico into mourning, has upset the international community by its exceptional size. On this painful occasion, I would like, on behalf of the people of Kampuchea and their coalition Government, and on my own behalf, to assure the Mexican Government and the valiant people of Mexico of our profound sympathy and sincere condolences.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“They have shown that, united, we can successfully take up this tragic challenge, involving a whole continent. Ninth,, and last, we consider that the Contadora group is the best instrument to resolve the crisis in Central America by peaceful means, and to restore peace and stability on the basis of respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States in the region. The recent setting up by four important Latin American countries of a group in support of the Contadora Group will not fail to give a new impetus to its action so as to prevent the situation in the region from dangerously deteriorating, and it will help to realize its noble objectives. We continue to lend our support and encouragement to the Contadora Group.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“The people of Kampuchea, a small and impoverished country, a victim of the VietnamesG genocidal war of aggression, feel part of and are deeply affected by the misfortunes and sufferings of their African brothers and sisters. They will continue to offer their very modest contributions to the commendable efforts of our Secretary-General and the international community to alleviate those sufferings. We congratulate all those countries that have granted emergency assistance to the victX^., and have provided manifold forms of aid to the African programs of action at the national and regional levels, with a view to finding a long-term structural solution to the crisis. They have responded positively to their international responsibility, a responsibility which falls to us all as human beings.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Those sanctions, which should undoubtedly be more stringent, in combination with increased moral, material and diplomatic assistance to the just struggle of the South African peoples, are likely to induce the defenders of apartheid to listen to reason. Eighth, the persistent drought, coupled with the catastrophic phenomena of desertification and compounded by external economic factors, continue to claim tens of millions of victims in Africa. We wish to reaffirm our solidarity with and our admiration for all the African peoples and Governments who are struggling with courage, tenacity and dignity to cope with this unprecedented economic and social crisis.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Tension in southern Africa will continue to worsen as long as the Pretoria regime refuses to give up its policy of apartheid, its illegal occupation of Namibia, and its aggression against and destabilization of neighboring countries. Slaughter, arrests, and arbitrary mass detentions which have been taking place since the imposition of the state of emergency in South Africa have aroused the indignation and condemnation of the whole international community. They show that the apartheid regime cannot be reformed and that only its elimination can bring about the establishment of a free, united and democratic society in South Africa. We welcome the sanctions adopted by developed countries against the Pretoria regime.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Seventh, our support for and solidarity with the African liberation movements remains unchanged, especially with respect to the courageous and legitimate struggle of the Namibian people under the leadership South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), for their national independence in a united Namibia including Walvis Bay and the coastal islands. The brutal repression of the Namibian people and the establishment by the apartheid regime in Pretoria of a so-called interim government in Namibia, are aimed only at perpetuating the illegal occupation of Namibia, in violation of United Nations resolutions, particularly Security Council resolutions 385 (1976) and 435 (1978), which remain the only valid basis for a peaceful, just and lasting settlement of the problem of decolonialization of Namibia.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Fifth, the situation in Lebanon, which cannot be dissociated from the situation in the Middle East, continues to be a matter of concern to the international community. We sincerely hope that national harmony can be restored so as to ensure peace and security in the country, safeguard national independence and unity and ensure territorial integrity. Sixth, the war between the two neighboring and brotherly countries, Iran and Iraq, has continued unabated for over five years, with a heavy toll in human lives and material resources for both sides. We urge the two countries to listen to the appeals of the international community, to put an end to this bloodshed and to start negotiations for a peaceful settlement of this conflict.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“He continue to support the struggle of the Arab countries and that of the Palestinian people under the leadership of the PLO to achieve this goal. The terrorist acts that follow one on another make it increasingly difficult to solve the problem. We condemn all of them, particularly the one that occurred yesterday at Tunis against the headquarters of the PLO, which was in addition a violation of Tunisian sovereignty. We hope that the current efforts to bring the parties concerned to the conference table will prove fruitful so that this commemorative year of the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations will be the starting point of a settlement of the Palestinian problem and that of the Middle East, which have already lasted all too long.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Certainly, the Afghan people will never allow themselves to be subdued and the only solution to the Afghan problem remains the total withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan so that the Afghan people can exercise their right to self-determination and decide themselves on their form of government and political, economic and social system, without foreign interference in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions. Fourth, in the Middle East, a just and lasting peace cannot be established without the recognition and exercise of the Palestinians' right to self-determination, the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of foreign territories by force, and the right of all States in the region to coexist in peace and security.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“The meetings and talks between the delegations of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of South Korea concerning economic and parliamentary affairs and questions relating to the Red Cross have already achieved encouraging results, which augurs well for further progress towards the peaceful reunification of Korea. We trust that those meetings and talks will continue to develop favorably for the good of the whole Korean people and nation. Third, we renew our fraternal support for and solidarity with the valiant Afghan people and the heroic Mujahideen, who are waging a struggle similar to ours; we express our profound admiration to them and our warm congratulations for their outstanding victories against the Soviet forces of aggression and occupation.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“On this occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations and its Charter, we should like solemnly to renew our unswerving solidarity and support. First, we renew our firm and cordial solidarity with our brothers and sisters of Laos, who are waging a strenuous and brave struggle for the survival of their motherland and national identity against Viet Nam's absorption. Second, we support the patriotic and realistic proposal put forward by President Kim II Sung to hold parliamentary talks between the National Assemblies of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of South Korea so as to ease tensions in the peninsula, put an end to mistrust and confrontation, and create a climate conducive to mutual understanding and confidence for a peaceful and independent reunification of Korea.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“We are therefore confident that our Organization will do its utmost to discharge its responsibilities more fully in maintaining peace, and that in this field it will not only strengthen the role of our Assembly but also the office of the Secretary-General, in order to make his admirable diplomacy still more efficient. We trust that resolutions adopted by our Assembly designed to put an end to foreign occupation and to restore peace will be implemented more effectively than they have been so far. The people and the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea, who have been waging for almost seven years a resolute and strenuous struggle to regain the independence of their homeland and their right to self-determination, always support the peoples of all continents who are fighting for the same ideals.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“This accumulation of crimes against humanity by the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and its proteges in Phnom Penh obviously removes all justification for the Vietnamese invasion and occupation of Cambodia. The United Nations Charter, human rights and international law are treated with contempt by the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, endorsed and supported by the Soviet Union and some 20 countries in its orbit and that will, alas, tarnish the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations and the International Year of Peace in 1986.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“We can see that the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam encourages torture when it does not engage in the practice itself. Not only do the two acolyte regimes regard as worthless the United Nations mottoes and slogans on peace, tolerance, conciliation and co-operation among peoples and nations, but they are endangering everything that provides guarantees for the dignity of human beings. The violation of human rights, the suppression of fundamental freedoms, the absence of any serious judicial procedures, the common practice of torture, the recourse to political assassination, all these constitute an extremely serious threat to those rights which the United Nations has the duty to protect at all costs.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Amnesty International was concerned about reports that some of the prisoners held in the Central Prison in Phnom Penh, were kept in fetters and in unlit cells, especially during their period of interrogation. Detention for 're-education' purposes without charge or trial appeared to be widespread ... In June 1983, the Phnom Penh authorities confirmed that more than 100 were being detained in a camp in Takeo, some having been held for up to three years." (continued in French) The testimony I have just quoted is more than alarming. It shows that the Heng Samrin and Hun Sen regime, which is desperately trying to present its best possible image to those few visitors from the free world, has been unable to deceive their vigilance and shrewdness.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Refugees from western provinces also reported the arrest, ill-treatment and torture in June 1983 of villagers by Vietnamese soldiers present in the country who suspected them of helping the armed operation of the guerrillas. Amnesty International was unable to estimate the number of people detained on political grounds Among the individual cases it investigated was that of Mao Ayauth, a former-television and radio producer who was working in the Government's information service and was reportedly detained in 1381. Amnesty International learned of the release at the end of 1982 of Nam Bunnaraya, Director of the orchestra of - the Kampuchean radio, after 18 months detention without charge or trial. Most political detainees were believed to be detained without charge or trial ...”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“In July 1983, refugees arriving at camps near the western border reported that widespread arrests had taken place in the army and administration of the Government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea and among the peasants ... Starting in April 1983, 300 people were reportedly arrested in the western provinces of Simreap, Oddar Meanchey and Battambang. Among them were said to be Chan Seng, the Governor of Siemreap province, Keo Ha, his former deputy, as well as military officers, teachers and village cadres ... Villagers were reportedly arrested during the year 1983 for protesting against arrests, military conscription and forced relocation. Further arrests of government officials were reported in October and December 1983 in Karapot and Kompong Cham provinces. Amnesty International had no information on the reasons for these arrests.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Sy is reported to have died of a heart or circulatory ailment in a Moscow hospital last December." In The New York Times of 26 August 1985, Barbara Crossette says: "Cambodian refugees reaching Thailand have said civilians are also being used as 'human mine detectors'. & staff director of Cambodia's National Military Training School said recently that what he called 'manual' mine detection was being carried out along the border." The following are excerpts from the 1984 report of Amnesty International, pages 231 and 232: "Amnesty International's main concern was the reported detention without trial by the authorities of the People's Republic of Kampuchea of people they suspected of opposing their policies or of supporting groups engaged in armed resistance against them ...”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Medical supplies are also reported to be inadequate to deal with the sick, the bulk of whom contract malaria on top of other complaints ... So Saren, former deputy director of Phnom Penh's 500-bed Kampuchean-Soviet Friendship Hospital, said the forced labor program was initiated in March 1984 ... So claimed opposition to the labor program is muted but widespread. Western aid workers and other independent sources confirm what they say is a tremendous amount of bitterness over the Vietnamese-directed plan, particularly the way women are being conscripted to make up the work force quotas. One of the more prominent critics, according to So, was the regime's late Prime Minister, Chan Sy, who is said to have complained to the Vietnamese that it would lead to an unacceptable number of deaths.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“h Khmer doctor who recently defected from Phnom Penh claims each of Cansbodia' s provinces is committed to supplying up to 25,000 to 30,000 workers over an unspecified period of time to build and repair access roads, clear jungle, lay minefields, and construct elaborate anti-infiltration barriers along the malaria-infested frontier. Conscripts range in age from 18 to 45 and there is general agreement that quotas have been established for each district, ranging as high as 3,000 ... Disease is apparently so rampant that many of the medical workers themselves go down with malaria, hepatitis and viral infections and are unable to work for weeks after their return ... The death rate among the labor conscripts is unknown but diplomatic sources say many are wounded by mines ...”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Some prisoners reportedly died of beatings, others from malnutrition and disease." In the Far Eastern Economic Review on 26 August 1985 there is an article entitled "Cambodia: forced human bondage" by John McBeth in San Ro Changan which reads: "From Rattanakiri and Preah Vihear provinces in the North and North East to Pursat in the West, tens of thousands of Cambodians are being pressed into national defense work - a euphemism for an ambitious Vietnamese plan to seal the "Shai-Kaspuchea border ... Diplomats ... have confirmed the reports ...”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Torture methods, according to former prisoners, included electric shocks, being trussed up and suspended from the ceiling while being beaten, being shackled by the legs to stirrups above the floor to force the body into a painful off-balance position and having a plastic bag pulled over the head and closed around the neck until the prisoner fainted.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“'In Cambodia, there simply does not exist the recognition of civil liberties or human rights on a basis recognized by the world community,' said Floyd Abrams, the constitutional expert and First Amendment lawyer, who is a member of the American team ... 'When you put together a society,' Mr. Abrams said in an interview on Tuesday, 'in which people are arrested without charges being made and jailed without being convicted, in which confessions are forced and torture seems to be commonplace, you simply are not talking about a society that seriously recognizes the rule of law.' ... Vietnamese are playing an extensive role in the security apparatus of the Phnom Penh Government. Vietnamese were reported present o- actively taking part in every interrogation and torture ...”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Beatings were often supplemented with prisoners being suspended from ceilings, given electric-shock treatment, having plastic bags put over their heads, having powdered lye blown in their faces, and having metal contraptions tightened around their heads. Prisoners, estimated to number in the thousands, were often kept for months in windowless cells and forbidden to make any comment about the Vietnamese presence in their country, not even to cite it in their 'confessions'." In The New York Times of Thursday, 15 November 1984, there is an article entitled "Hanoi linked to Cambodian torture" by Barbara Crossette, dated from Bangkok, Thailand, 14 November: "A visiting American civil rights group says that Vietnamese Government officials are widely involved in the arrest and torture of Cambodian citizens ...”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“The delegation cited what it called a 'pervasive reluctance' in the international community to examine current Kampuchean human rights abuses." The following are excerpts that appeared in The Canberra Times of Friday, 14 December 1984: "The Vietnamese-backed Government of Kampuchea routinely and brutally torture political prisoners, a United States human rights group said yesterday. A report by the New York-based Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights said, 'The rule of law is not respected in any serious sense in the People's Republic of Kampuchea' ... Beatings with truncheons, metal pipes or rifle stocks appeared to be the most common form of torture.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“The report directed its sharpest criticism at the People's Republic of Kampuchea ... The Lawyers Committee concluded that 'beatings - with truncheons, metal pipes or rifle stocks - appear to be the most common form of torture', but that more sophisticated methods involving electric shocks, and metal vises for the head are sometimes used. 'Persons suspected of supporting resistance activity are typically arrested without charges being made, imprisoned without being sentenced or convicted, and kept in jail for indeterminate periods', the report said. The New York-based Lawyers Committee said its three-member delegation was the first human rights team to visit Kampuchea, as Cambodia is now known, in at least 15 years.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Following this information on the military situation in Kampuchea, I now have the duty to take up the most important subject of the systematic and increasingly serious violations of human rights of which the Heng Samrin and Hun Sen regime and its Vietnamese protectors are guilty. May I quote again, in this respect, some testimonies of fully reliable independent investigators, I shall first quote excerpts from a Washington Associated Press report from The Japan Time of Friday, 14 December 1984. "The Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights said a delegation it sent to Kampuchea in November found evidence that 'for the hundreds or perhaps thousands of political prisoners who inhabit [Kampuchean] jails, beatings are commonplace and more sophisticated forms of torture usual'.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“'The situation is at its worst since the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in December 1978', said one Western diplomat. 'The guerrillas have penetrated deeply and are operating throughout the country, including the Phnom Penh area ...'. Confirmed guerrilla raids have occurred this year in districts near Phnom Penh ...". (continued in French) I would add, for the information of representatives, that I had the honor to receive last August in Kampuchea's free zone, representatives of foreign media and television, and two ambassadors from friendly nations who presented their credentials to me.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Civilians throughout Phnom Penh are to join regular army and militia units in 'vigorously performing patrol and guard duties, particularly during the curfew hours, in the streets, along the rivers and major communication lines and at entries and exits of the city to contribute to the safety of important party and State targets', the official report said. The report obtained by United Press International was the first indication that civilian guards and tightened road surveillance have been added to Phnom Penh's long-standing dusk-to-dawn curfew. Western diplomats confirmed that the internal security of Cambodia .is deteriorating, which is raising the concerns of 160,000 Vietnamese occupation troops and the Hanoi-installed Heng Samrin regime in Phnom Penh.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“It has been learned from Khmer sources that there have been growing numbers of arrests in the capital, Phnom Penh ... Westerners have been discreetly dissuaded from visiting markets. When Mr. Hun Sen recently received representatives of humanitarian organizations, he told them he feared one of their members might have been killed or taken hostage. The 2,000 or so Soviet experts in the country move around only by helicopters in rural areas." "United Press International, Bangkok, 8 August 1985; Excerpts: "The Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh is pressing civilians into guard duty and tightening security in the face of increased guerrilla attacks, according to an official Cambodian report ...”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“The price is weaker security in the Cambodian interior, a soft underbelly which the [guerrillas] are exploiting." "Le Monde, Wednesday, 17 April 1985; James Burnett; Excerpts: "It is conceded in Phnom Penh that 'kicking over [by the Vietnamese army] the anthill [of the Khmer resistance]' has not solved all the problems. Far from it. The plan now is to neutralize groups of resistance fighters scattered all over the country. A tough job ... And people know the danger is very real ... The threat of an 'enemy assault' on Phnom Penh was taken seriously. Vietnamese advisers kept plying the Cambodian authorities with security directives. Security measures in the capital's market places and the 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, which had been in force for the past five years, were tightened up.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“A ferry operating on the southern estuary of the Tonle Sap, or great lake, was reportedly destroyed by guerrillas in January ... Independent sources generally agree that the [guerrillas] were by no means crippled militarily by the successful Vietnamese campaign to deprive them of their border sanctuaries ... The bulk of the [Democratic Kampuchea guerrillas] simply melted away in their normal small units of no more than 10 men to continue the guerrilla campaign inside Cambodia ... The Vietnamese appear to be paying the price of concentrating their best occupation troops in an effort to seal the Cambodian-Thai border and deprive the resistance of any sanctuary there.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)