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Cambodian dissident tests ASEAN unity

Exiled Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy arrived in Jakarta on Thursday triumphant but treading carefully following repeated attempts by the government in Phnom Penh to coax fellow ASEAN member states to reject the one-time finance minister and stay out of domestic affairs

Dian Septiari and Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, November 15, 2019

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Cambodian dissident tests ASEAN unity

Exiled Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy arrived in Jakarta on Thursday triumphant but treading carefully following repeated attempts by the government in Phnom Penh to coax fellow ASEAN member states to reject the one-time finance minister and stay out of domestic affairs.

The leader of the now-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was barred last week from flying to Thailand in an attempt to return to his country overland, which Phnom Penh insists is part of a scheme “to topple the government [...] with the help of foreign powers”.

He flew to Malaysia instead and met with a number of ruling and opposition members of parliament before deciding to fly to Jakarta on Wednesday, at which point he was blocked again from taking a Malaysian Airlines flight on “the instruction of Indonesian authorities”, the airline told Reuters.

Upon his arrival, Rainsy brushed off concerns that he had faced difficulties entering the country, but later said it was “very meaningful” for him to be able to come to Indonesia, a nation he praised for setting an example for ASEAN on democracy and human rights.

“Even without saying anything, I am here [...]. Indonesia respects my human rights, [which are] not respected in my country,” he told reporters at a hotel in South Jakarta.

Rainsy held talks with Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Mercy Barends and National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chairman Ahmad Taufan Damanik, saying he intended to brief them on the human rights situation in Cambodia in “solidarity among human rights defenders”.

Mercy refused to comment when approached by The Jakarta Post, while Ahmad said they had discussed the latest developments in democracy and human rights in Indonesia, as well as Indonesia’s perspective on human rights in the region.

“As an important pillar of ASEAN and a friendly country, Indonesia ought to take on the role of mediating political divisions in Cambodia. This is to ensure the ASEAN region will be more committed to [promoting] democracy and human rights,” Ahmad told the Post on Thursday.

Cambodia has cracked down on dissidents in recent weeks, and the initial travel restrictions on Rainsy ahead of his visit to Jakarta call into question ASEAN’s commitment to democracy and human rights — a component of the ASEAN Charter that is increasingly being undermined by the group’s insistence on nonintervention in other countries’ affairs.

Defiant: Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who heads the Cambodia National Rescue Party, arrives in Jakarta on Thursday, where he met with National Commission on Human Rights commissioners.(JP/Dian Septiari)
Defiant: Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who heads the Cambodia National Rescue Party, arrives in Jakarta on Thursday, where he met with National Commission on Human Rights commissioners.(JP/Dian Septiari)

Activists and lawmakers in Southeast Asia have criticized ASEAN governments and urged them to resist pressure to
arrest dissidents entering their territories.

“Under pressure from the Cambodian government, [ASEAN governments] have been in collusion to bar members of the CNRP from realizing their rights and freedoms,” regional human rights organization FORUM-ASIA said in a statement on Thursday.

Last week, CNRP deputy chairwoman Mu Sochua was briefly detained upon arriving in Malaysia after a visit to Jakarta, during which Cambodia’s envoy to Indonesia attempted to gatecrash a press conference where she was speaking, threatening arrest.

Cambodia also detained 70 people in relation to Rainsy’s homecoming plan, before Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered their release on Thursday “for the sake of national unity”, AFP reported.

The ordeal with Rainsy has also exposed fault lines among ASEAN countries.

While Rainsy and Sochua managed to hold meetings with Malaysian politicians including Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan reminded ASEAN countries about the importance of noninterference.

Balakrishnan told Kompas daily it was important for ASEAN members to respect one another and uphold the principle of nonintervention, citing differences in systems of governance.

Indonesia, meanwhile, has tried to remain neutral in the affair, with Foreign Ministry officials saying they upheld the universal principles of freedom of speech and democracy but also the principle of nonintervention.

Political figures such as Anwar Ibrahim from Malaysia and Xanana Gusmao of Timor Leste have long enjoyed freedom of association and movement in Indonesia, meeting freely with lawmakers, activists and journalists without the slightest pressure from their governments – so long as they do not meet with Indonesian officials.

The Foreign Ministry’s acting spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah, said that someone “who has legal documents for a holiday and wants to benefit from Indonesia’s visa exemption for tourists and doesn’t misuse it for political activities in Indonesia cannot be barred from entering Indonesia for holiday”.

The Cambodian Embassy in Jakarta released a statement Thursday condemning Rainsy’s activities, calling him a “fugitive” and asking Indonesian authorities to take action because he “did violate the Indonesia visa for tourists already”, adding that that he was engaging in political activities in Indonesia and had discredited “a fellow friendly ASEAN country”.

Activists previously asked Indonesia to resist detaining dissidents based on the nonrefoulement principle — an international law principle that forbids countries from repatriating people who are likely to be in danger of persecution.

Indonesia’s top ASEAN official, Jose Tavares, said the issue was not discussed at the ASEAN level and that each member state respected each other’s domestic affairs — but not so much that there is absolutely no criticism.

“We look at issues that may have an impact on peace and stability, but for someone who is simply visiting, I don’t see the connection [with noninterference],” he told the Post, dismissing extradition. (tjs)

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