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The Supreme Court dissolved the largest opposition party last year after allegations of preparing a coup d'etat against the government.
His leader, Kem Sokha, was imprisoned. Others went into exile. Members have been portrayed as politicians for five years. Since then, critical newspapers and human rights organizations have been harassed and frightened.
– The worsening human rights situation and the ongoing campaign against the media and civil society prompted us not to observe the July 29 elections. From Phnom Penh to DN
There is no doubt that Hun's party wins the elections and that the 65-year-old leader, who became prime minister in 1985, can continue to rule Cambodia, looking more and more like a dictatorship. Previously, he was able to have at least one democratic facade. Nowadays, he does not even pretend to care about human rights and freedom of expression – not with the huge investments and the solid financial support that his country receives from China, which does not even Never poses a problem to the opposition prisoners
Opposition is the campaign with the own index – as a mark that they boycott the election. He talks about the ink on the finger that voters receive when they emit their voice, so that they can no longer vote.
But now, the campaign of pure fingers has taken the wrath of Hun Sens. Cambodian authorities have threatened heavy fines for those in social media who have a fingerprint without ink. The government claims that an invitation to the electorate is contrary to the electoral laws and that the cases will therefore be brought before the courts.
Voting is not mandatory, but calling others to vote in the eyes of the government is a crime. According to Interior Minister Sar Kheng, anyone who publishes an image of himself with a "clean finger" may be fined from $ 1,250 to $ 5,000, a huge sum for most Cambodians.
– The more they do, the more we will fine them, said the interior minister, while acknowledging that the law does not give the authorities the right to intervene.
According to political opponents Prime Minister Hun Sen tries to take advantage of a vague clause in the electoral law.
But voting as it is interpreted in the Constitution is a right, not something that is mandatory – so it is not illegal if a Cambodian does not vote or speak for others not to vote, says Cambodian lawyers critical. Invoking others not to vote is not the same as physically preventing them from voting, she argues.
Threatening to impose fines and penalties when there is no law, is to abuse power, says Lao Mong Hay's lawyer in Radio Free Asia.
The Fingertime campaign is the last group of straw to protest against a man and an increasingly harsh system. But the question is how many Cambodians who ultimately dare to challenge the authorities.
Civil society has been largely silenced by corrupt legal systems and administrative measures of Cambodia, as Naly Pilorge has described to the organization Licadho
. The last big independent magazine Phnom Penh Post was bought in May. by a Malaysian businessman. He also owns a marketing company that has already been known to work for the Cambodian government.
It has often been profitable to know Prime Minister Hun Sen. Foreign companies and local businesses close to the Cambodian government have obtained rights to cultivate rubber and sugar plantations, explode mines and develop large-scale real estate and tourism projects.
Cambodia is more and more a mosaic. A nation in which the region is divided by straight lines and neither tropical forests, national parks or farmland are protected.
Illegal logging on a large scale contributed to the fact that Cambodia's forest area increased from three quarters to 30%. the earth is taken away from them and they are often replaced by a mocker to leave their life behind.
– Thousands of families across the country became landless or affected by land deficiencies when their lands were distributed to powerful business interests with political sentiments, says Naly Pilorge in Licadho.
The looting of the land has not been solved. According to the human rights organization, land-related problems are one of the biggest failures of the government over the past 20 years.
The Facts
In 1975, the Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia. The capital of Phnom Penh was evacuated, the inhabitants were taken to rural areas to cultivate the land and achieve a Maoist utopia. Intellectuals were executed and the country went through a horror vault until 1979, which claimed the lives of 1.7 million people.
In 1985, Hun Sen became prime minister and has since been.
Before Sunday's election, his PCP party broke all political resistance
The main opposition party CNRP was dissolved by the Supreme Court last fall. with the United States having prepared a coup d'etat against the government.
Since then, Hun Sen has condemned critics in a number of areas, forcing independent media to pay huge taxes that they can not afford and scare activists for silence .
DN
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