Thread: Australian MP has condemned Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen as a 'dictator'

Labor MP Julian Hill has condemned Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen as a 'dictator' in an emotionally charged speech marking a peace deal that ended the nation’s bloody civil war.

Victorian Labor MP Julian Hill has urged Australia to "get real" in its approach to Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, accusing the leader of "taking the piss" on human rights and political dissent.
Mr Hill delivered his searing appraisal in a speech to Parliament on the eve of the anniversary of the Paris Peace Accords, which brought an end to Cambodia’s long civil war.
The remarks also came ahead of a meeting between members of the Cambodian community in Australia and MPs in Canberra on Wednesday. The group organised the meeting to bring attention to the anniversary.


Mr Hill warned against attacks on human rights in Cambodia, described the nation as having a "dying democracy" which is under threat from the repression of unjustly detained political activists.
“Hun Sen is taking the piss. It’s time to press reset and seek a co-ordinated approach by like-minded nations,” he told Parliament on Tuesday.
“[His] regime has attacked human rights, killed democracy, given away the Cambodian people's sovereignty, accumulated secret wealth overseas for his family and undermined prosperity in our region.”


The UN-brokered Paris Peace Accords agreement was signed 28 years ago on 23 October, paving the way for an end to the conflict in Cambodia and democratic elections to ensue.
Hun Sen has maintained his grip on power in Cambodia for 34 years, winning every seat in Cambodia’s parliament in elections held in July 2018.
His government has long been accused of silencing political dissent, including banning the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party in September 2017, and cracking down on democracy activists.
'We want Cambodia to have a real democracy'

The President of the Cambodian Association of Victoria, Youhorn Chea, led the delegation of Cambodians meeting with MPs to advocate for preserving democratic freedoms in Cambodia.
Mr Chea vividly recalls life during the civil war in the country of his birth. He lived under the rule of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979 before he came to Australia.
He expressed deep concern for the state of democracy in Cambodia, urging Australian leaders not shirk their responsibility to hold the Hun Sen government to account.


"I know very well what is democracy and what is Khmer Rouge. Hun Sen and the government are the same as Khmer Rouge," he told SBS News.
"At the moment Hun Sen does not believe in democracy at all. He is a dictator...he just put those people in the jail."
Mr Chea arrived in Australia as a refugee in 1982 after escaping conflict and political unrest in his home country by fleeing to the Thai border.
Mr Chea said seeing political repression in his homelands deeply affects the community.
"Not only me but everyone feels very very sad . It is very very bad. They [the Hun Sen government] just put the opposition in jail," he said.
"We want Cambodia to have a real democracy. It is very very sad, very very sad."
Extraordinary speech

Mr Hill was among MPs who met with the Cambodian community in Canberra the night before had delivered his powerful defence of democratic values in the country.

He believes Cambodia's commitment to democracy is being undermined, noting an "appalling deterioration" of human rights documented by monitors.
“Through this historic agreement, Australia and the world made a promise to the Cambodian people to stand up for human rights, peace and democracy. But 28 years on, the world has failed to keep its promise,” he said.
“Instead, Hun Sen's regime has attacked human rights, killed democracy, given away the Cambodian people's sovereignty, accumulated secret wealth overseas for his family and undermined prosperity in our region.”


Mr Hill said Australia needs to do more to bring the regime into line, accusing the Morrison government of failing to take a "stronger stand" against an "authoritative takeover" in Cambodia.
“The Minister for Foreign Affairs and DFAT need to get real,” he said.
“And the 1991 Paris Peace Accords are the place to start. The accords are of continuing legal and moral relevance.”


He directly targeted Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, saying Mr Morrison talks a "big game" but has failed to act to protect political activists facing repression.
“It's not good enough to just keep saying 'all options are on the table' and yet do nothing,” he said.
“People will be entitled to ask, 'What were you doing Prime Minister when democracy was dying in Cambodia?
"Why did you fail to act?”
'What I saw truly shocked me'

On Wednesday the exiled vice president of the banned Cambodian opposition party CNRP, Mu Sochua, was deported from Thailand to Indonesia.
The deportation was triggered after a request was made from Hun Sen’s government.

From there she reportedly returned to the United States to find safety.


In his speech, Mr Hill also cited the treatment towards another former opposition leader, Kem Sokha, who has been detained under House arrest in Phnom Penh.
Mr Hill recently travelled to Cambodia to meet with human rights groups and alleged victims of the Cambodian regime.
His seat of Bruce is home to one of Australia's largest community of Cambodians.
“What I saw truly shocked me, both as a friend of the Cambodian people and as an Australian concerned for a peaceful and stable region,” he said.


“Street protesters are effectively banned and ordinary citizens are harassed by the police just for speaking up on social media.
"The state of democracy in Cambodia was even worse than I thought.”
Human Rights Watch has noted dozens of politically motivated arrests in Cambodia over the past three months, accusing the regime of "heavy-handed repression". But the government has strongly refuted claims of political persecution saying it has responded against a coup plot.


During his time in Cambodia, Mr Hill visited the coastal city of Sihanoukville in Cambodia, which he described as a "wild, wild west of old".
He warned against the "selling out" of the nation to increasing Chinese investment in cities such as this and the perceived facilitation of Chinese military planning.
“It's like the fantasies...casinos, booze, guns, riches, women, you name it,” he said.
“But the promised dreams are not the reality. Sihanoukville is the worst place I have ever been."


Mr Hill blamed Prime Minister Hun Sen for Cambodia's state of affairs.
"Hun Sen...is so desperate to stay in power that he is selling out his country."
"Giving away the Cambodian people's sovereignty to foreign countries and pocketing the cash," he said.
“It may be couched as [Belt and Road Investment] ...[but] the same salami-slicing tactics that the world saw in the South China Sea are happening here."
From next year, Hun Sen has determined the Paris Accords Agreement will no longer be commemorated as a public holiday.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/federal-...U-OvT9acwe4RU8

Far from perfect with this strongman, sure he's selling out his country like many other leaders including our own, but life in Cambodia is better than it was before his perfectly timed defections turned this killing machine into a glorious leader.

Or let's get rid of him a la Marcos and a few other African/ME heads that fell foul of our flexi-standards, that should turn out well.

Originally Posted by jabir

Far from perfect with this strongman, sure he's selling out his country like many other leaders including our own, but life in Cambodia is better than it was before his perfectly timed defections turned this killing machine into a glorious leader.

Or let's get rid of him a la Marcos and a few other African/ME heads that fell foul of our flexi-standards, that should turn out well.

You're not serious, are you?

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

You're not serious, are you?

Sure I'm serious, why shouldn't I be? You want to go for regime change with hand on heart that it has nothing to do with regime change as that is illegal or at best immoral, like we've never done before, right? Or out a 3W leader for failing to meet our standards? Well then what are those standards? Do they apply also to us or only to mass killer wogs? Is that all mass killer wogs or only those that no longer please us? Would that be all mass killer wogs that no longer please us or only those that glorious leaders decide would look good on their sleeve at election time?

And on the practical side, if virtue allows such consideration, don't you think we've seen and know how that tends to work out?

Originally Posted by jabir

Sure I'm serious, why shouldn't I be? You want to go for regime change with hand on heart that it has nothing to do with regime change as that is illegal or at best immoral, like we've never done before, right? Or out a 3W leader for failing to meet our standards? Well then what are those standards? Do they apply also to us or only to mass killer wogs? Is that all mass killer wogs or only those that no longer please us? Would that be all mass killer wogs that no longer please us or only those that glorious leaders decide would look good on their sleeve at election time?

And on the practical side, if virtue allows such consideration, don't you think we've seen and know how that tends to work out?

What I meant was that when he defected from the Khmer Rouge to the Vietnamese and then rode the Khmer Rouge out of town, he definitely improved things.

But to say that he is improving things now by selling out to chinky parasites is absurd.

The problem is that he can't get voted out or you would see most Cambodians wanting rid.

That doesn't mean regime change would necessarily solve things, but the whiney the poo approach of keeping him in power is not being done for the benefit of any Cambodians other then the ones taking backhanders to hand over the keys of the kingdom to the chinkies.

Personally I would like to see him out and proper elections allowed, but you could say that about any of the countries in that neck of the woods where it's really the military that rules the roost.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

But to say that he is improving things now by selling out to chinky parasites is absurd.

Don't know where you got that from, I never posted or implied anything so ridiculous.

The problem is that he can't get voted out or you would see most Cambodians wanting rid.

Sure he can be voted out and in fact he was, but he's still there, because a) the alternative was civil war which some people with a fresh memory might not want and b) strongmen don't get voted out they get shot or very rich; and if shot then next in line becomes the strongman, which is still better than the alternative of a vacuum. That's the way it works in parts of the world where reality trumps polite western democracy...closer home is a prime example.

That doesn't mean regime change would necessarily solve things, but the whiney the poo approach of keeping him in power is not being done for the benefit of any Cambodians other then the ones taking backhanders to hand over the keys of the kingdom to the chinkies.

Personally I would like to see him out and proper elections allowed, but you could say that about any of the countries in that neck of the woods where it's really the military that rules the roost.

The chinkies will eventually take over anyway; let's dismiss all of several other reasons, to go with the simple facts that they are not bound by our rules and they think and plan and invest generations ahead, rather than a political lifetime or two. While Africa, South America and non-Asean Asia are also on their menu, Cambodia is an obvious target as neighbour and no surprise its strongman is selling the keys.

Top of head stuff, who knows, maybe the unpublished parts of the Arean prospectus reflect a similar pattern to that of the EU, just 50 years more advanced, to start out as one thing that's either intended or later adjusted to morph into gradual and eventually full union. Probably not, but we're gaining momentum toward nuts so give it another 20-50 years and anything can happen.

In 50 years time, most of the population of Cambodia will be sitting next to palm oil fields where forests used to be, looking at a puddle that used to be Tonle Sap, wondering when and from where the next load of food aid is coming.

Something like that.

Originally Posted by OhOh

I suspect, if all goes well

All isn't going well, is it you fucking chump.

All over Asia the chinkies are bribing people to steal land, poisoning the fuck out of it and moving on to the next part, like a swarm of chinky locusts.

Harry - please refrain from attempting to be some sort of wannabe Asia expert.

You're quite embarrassing.
Disconnected and ignorant insight.

Originally Posted by HuangLao

Harry - please refrain from attempting to be some sort of wannabe Asia expert.

You're quite embarrassing.
Disconnected and ignorant insight.

Fuck off Jeff. You're an imbecile who has barely travelled outside Bangkok airport - if you've been there at all.

Mummy and daddy are giving you old information.

Originally Posted by OhOh

A leap into the future, better lives. Better food, better educations, better medical care and a long-term improvement.

Yes, the Chinese are so altruistic towards the Uighurs and Tibetans, aren't they ? And all those dams on the upper reaches of the Mekong are only going to improve the downstream environment and the fish catch for all the poor Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai and Laotian people utterly dependent on regular water flows, aren't they ?

You utter clod.

OhOh must have worked hard on this particular piece of chinky arse licking.

He doesn't mention once that the parasites get poor countries to borrow money and pay for all this concrete and tarmac, and then the chinkies use the threat of debt collection to steal their land, crops, fish, etc.

Bunch of chinky locusts.

Originally Posted by OhOh

The "civilised" method of constructing fortified, expensive and worthless "lily pads" enabling air strikes to be called in on young shepherd boys watching over their flocks tends to create backlash and more violent solutions, from both sides, is working so well?

One presumes the new guys on the block took note of the "unexceptional/civilised" worlds attempts to slaughter whole generations of European, North African, Asian, South American, Pacific Island's .... civilians.

By choosing the building transport, communication etc. alternative, links between scattered communities enabling commerce, free movement and prosperity to the locals. Stopping or reducing the starving, desperate million peoples marches/containers of dead souls, to Europe and ameristan As experienced in the last few decades/days.

As some realise, providing opportunities to earn a living, marry and settle down in-situ, tends to reduce mass population movements to alleged "greener pastures".

The new guys on the bloc, calculated a million miles of tarmac and concrete bridges is worth more than millions of dead souls.

Dead souls don't produce ongoing, expanding in numbers,wealth generating citizens and multi billion Yuan additional sales opportunities.

Increasingly more of the worlds "forgotten/thrown away" countries are investigating, joining and reaping the benefits from such enlightened sources offered from countries offering an alternative from the "colonial rape and pillage" they have experienced during the last few centuries.

You being of the colonial vassal mentality, being ordered to do what a foreign power demands, probably enjoy being shafted from every point on the compass.

Needn't confuse them more with a reality then the confusion that's long been displayed.
Their historic [and present] models and activities are largely ignored, only to justify a twisted cultural relativism that works in their favour.

A created illusional world view is quite ingrained.

Originally Posted by HuangLao

Needn't confuse them more with a reality then the confusion that's long been displayed.
Their historic [and present] models and activities are largely ignored, only to justify a twisted cultural relativism that works in their favour.

A created illusional world view is quite ingrained.

Great, now we have two snivelling pro-chinky sycophants.

Why don't you fuck off Jeff, one's enough.

Jeff's Ok...he just becomes loquacious when he's stoned......which is anytime after breakfast.