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1 1 (August 4, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/goveihg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con r sWan I infon ing I Lji s arch Se >1914 Updated August 4, 2022 Cambodia Overvew U.S. relations with the Kingdom of Cambodia have become strained over the past decade, particularly as Cambodia's relationship with the People's Republic of China (PRC) has grown closer and after Prime Minister Hun Sen banned the main opposition party in 2017. The U.S. government has sought to remain engaged in Cambodia while calling on Hun Sen to restore political rights and resist PRC influence. The U.S. government has provided support to Cambodian civil society and has imposed restrictions on foreign assistance and sanctions on some Cambodian officials. In 2017, the Cambodian government suspended Angkor Sentinel, an annual exercise between U.S. Army Pacific and the Royal Cambodian Army that was first held in 2010, saying that security forces were needed for other purposes. In 2018, the U.S. government suspended military assistance to Cambodia in response to the government's suppression of the political opposition. The two sides continue to cooperate on activities aimed at accounting for U.S. Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the Vietnam War era. Two bills introduced in the 117th Congress, S. 3052 and H.R. 4686, would impose sanctions on senior Cambodian officials the President has determined have directly and substantially undermined democracy or engaged in serious human rights abuses. Politics and Human Rights Hun Sen has been the nation's head of government for 37 years, including as premier of the Vietnam-backed Republic of Kampuchea between 1985 and 1993. Since 1993, he has headed the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and served as prime minister of Cambodia, including as co-premier between 1993 and 1997. In 2021, the CPP reportedly endorsed the eldest son of Hun Sen, West Point graduate Hun Manet, as his successor. The king of Cambodia and head of state, a largely symbolic figure, is Norodom Sihamoni, who succeeded his father, Norodom Sihanouk, in 2004. Between 1993, when the United Nations administered Cambodia's first national elections following the 1991 Paris Agreements, and 2017, democratic institutions and practices had gradually evolved to allow widespread civic and political participation. During this period, Cambodia developed a vibrant civil society and a relatively free print media. The Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP)-a union of two opposition parties led by Sam Rainsy, a long- time opposition leader, and politician and human rights activist Kem Sokha-made significant gains in the 2013 parliamentary election and 2017 local elections. In November 2017, the Supreme Court of Cambodia, allegedly at the behest of the government, issued a ruling that dissolved the CNRP for conspiring with the United States to overthrow the government. After banning the CNRP, the government charged Kem Sokha with collaborating with the United States to foment a popular overthrow of the CPP. Sam Rainsy, facing numerous charges and convictions that many observers view as politically motivated, lives in self-imposed exile in France. Since 2021, Cambodian courts have convicted nearly 90 former CNRP politicians and opposition activists of crimes against the state. Facing a significantly hindered opposition, the CPP won 80% of commune council seats in the June 2022 local elections. The Candlelight Party, a recently revived opposition party that has attracted former CNRP members, won 18%. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported pre-election threats, intimidation, and obstruction. The next parliamentary election is scheduled for July 2023. Figure I. Cambodia at a Glance Source: Map: CRS; other information: Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook, 2022. Hun Sen also has clamped down on civil society and the media in recent years. In 2017, the Cambodian Foreign Ministry applied a restrictive new law on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to expel the U.S. government-funded National Democratic Institute, which was engaged in democracy promotion programs in Cambodia, on the grounds that it was not registered with the government. Roughly 25 human rights NGOs still operate in Cambodia, according to the Department of State, although they face increasing repression. Human rights groups report that the Cambodian government restricts freedom of expression and the press in various ways, including through defamation lawsuits, criminal prosecutions, tax penalties, approval of permits and licenses, and occasional violent attacks on journalists by unidentified perpetrators. In 2017, the government closed more than one dozen radio stations that sold airtime to U.S. government-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, which, facing political and economic pressure from the Cambodian government, closed its Phnom Penh office. Authorities also ordered the English-language Cambodia Daily, considered an opposition newspaper, to 'C

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