Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-03-13-Speech-4-138"
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"en.20030313.6.4-138"2
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".
Mr President, honourable Members, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission is entirely of one mind with Parliament in its view that the recent violent deaths of many Cambodian politicians, which a number of Members have mentioned, give cause for grave concern. The Commission very much hopes that the political climate will not deteriorate still further at a time when preparations are being made for Cambodia's forthcoming parliamentary elections.
The Commission also gives voice to the hope that the investigation mounted by the royal government into the background to the riots on 29 January this year will help make the country more stable. I am able to assure you that the Commission, in close consultation with the EU's Member States, is following further developments in Cambodia with close attention. The Commission is, moreover, concerned about the situation of the media in Cambodia. Free expression of opinion in the press is, admittedly, permitted, but the publicly owned media continue to be under government control to an immense degree.
This is a point that has already been made by the EU committee that was sent to observe last year's local elections, and it has also been made by the Commission in its representations to the Cambodian authorities. A preparatory mission, led by the Commission and consisting of experts on elections and representatives of the Member States, was in Cambodia from 27 January to 4 February. It is on the basis of the information they brought back with them that a decision will be taken on whether, and if so how, to support the electoral process, and, above all, on whether sending an EU mission to observe the elections on 27 July makes sense, is advisable or, indeed, feasible.
All those in Cambodia with whom we have entered into dialogue have spoken in favour of the EU being involved in the electoral process and have expressed the view that the observers' mission at the time of last year's local elections had done a great deal to further a climate of confidence and transparency during the election process. The outcome of the preparatory mission, which drew attention both to positive and objectionable aspects of the preparations for the elections, led the EU Member States to endorse the Commission's recommendation that a mission be sent to observe the forthcoming elections. The Commission notes with satisfaction that Parliament has supported this decision.
I will turn now to the problem with the civil disabilities imposed on Christian associations. A decree of 14 January for the prevention of conflicts between individual religious groupings permitted – and I quote – ‘all activities connected with religious propaganda and proselytism, including the dissemination of notices and information brochures, only within religious institutions’.
Permission for such activities in public can, however, be obtained from the Ministry for Education and Religious Affairs. These provisions apply not only to Christians, but also to all religious bodies, and were introduced to reduce the risk of conflicts and clashes motivated by religion. In the absence of any in-depth legal analysis, it would appear that this decree, like other measures enacted to date by the Ministry for Education and Religious Affairs, does not necessarily constitute a violation either of the Declaration on Human Rights or of the Cambodian Constitution."@en1
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