[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 285 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 285

 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of State should 
      make improvements in Cambodia's record on human rights, the 
    environment, narcotics trafficking and the Royal Government of 
   Cambodia's conduct among the primary objectives in our bilateral 
                        relations with Cambodia.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 29, 1996

   Mr. Roth (for himself and Mrs. Feinstein) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of State should 
      make improvements in Cambodia's record on human rights, the 
    environment, narcotics trafficking and the Royal Government of 
   Cambodia's conduct among the primary objectives in our bilateral 
                        relations with Cambodia.

Whereas the Paris Peace Accords of 1991 and the successful national elections of 
        1993 ended the genocide in Cambodia, brought two decades of civil war 
        nearer to cessation, demonstrated the commitment of the Cambodian people 
        to democracy and stability, and led to the creation of a national 
        constitution guaranteeing fundamental human rights;
Whereas since 1991 the international community has contributed almost $2 billion 
        to peacekeeping and national reconstruction in Cambodia and currently 
        provides over 40 percent of the budget of the Royal Government of 
        Cambodia (RGC);
Whereas recent events in Cambodia--including the arrest and exile of former 
        Foreign Minister Prince Sirivudh, the expulsion of former Finance 
        Minister Sam Rainsy from the FUNCINPEC Party and the National Assembly, 
        a grenade attack against the independent Buddhist Liberal Democratic 
        Party of Cambodia, mob attacks against pro-opposition newspapers, the 
        assassination of journalist and Khmer National Party member Thun Bunly, 
        and harassment of other journalists--suggest that Cambodia is sliding 
        back into a pattern of violence and repression;
Whereas rampant corruption in the RGC has emerged as a major cause of public 
        dissatisfaction, which--when expressed by opposition politicians and the 
        press--has resulted in government crackdowns;
Whereas Cambodia has been added to the Department of State's list of major 
        narcotics trafficking countries;
Whereas the RGC--in contravention to the Cambodian Constitution--has sanctioned 
        massive deforestation and timber exploitation which has devastated the 
        environment, endangered the livelihoods of many of the country's 
        farmers, and helped finance both the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and 
        the Khmer Rouge in their civil war; and
Whereas the desire to cite Cambodia United Nations peacekeeping success story 
        has stifled official international expressions of concern about 
        deteriorating conditions in Cambodia: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) among the primary objectives in U.S. policy toward 
        Cambodia should be improvements in Cambodia's human rights 
        conditions, environmental and narcotics trafficking record, and 
        the RGC's conduct;
            (2) the Secretary of State should closely monitor 
        preparations for upcoming Cambodian elections in 1997 and 1998 
        and should attempt to secure the agreement of the RGC to full 
        and unhindered participation of international observers for 
        those elections to ensure that those elections are held in a 
        free and fair manner complying with international standards;
            (3) the Secretary of State should support the continuation 
        of human rights monitoring in Cambodia by the United Nations, 
        including monitoring through the office of the United Nations 
        Center for Human Rights in Phnom Penh and monitoring by the 
        Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General 
        for Human Rights in Cambodia; and
            (4) the Secretary of State should encourage Cambodia's 
        other donors and trading partners to raise concerns with the 
        RGC over Cambodia's human rights, environmental, narcotics 
        trafficking, and governmental conduct.
                                 <all>