Cambodia's prime minister yesterday called a UN human rights representative "totally deranged" and said he was no longer welcome in the country because of his recent remarks about the government's crackdown on dissent.
Hun Sen's comments came one day after Yash Ghai, the UN secretary-general's special representative for human rights in Cambodia, said the political situation in the country had deteriorated under the prime minister's rule.
Hun Sen called Ghai "totally deranged" and said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan "should remove him" from his position as special envoy.
"Don't come to give other people advice," said Hun Sen, who is known for being sensitive to outside criticism.
Ghai, who ended a 10-day visit to Cambodia on Tuesday, said at a news conference that the government was not "very committed to human rights."
"Some of the improvements have taken place not because of but in spite of the government," he said, crediting local advocacy groups for working to promote human rights in Cambodia.
In a thinly veiled reference to Hun Sen, the UN official said that power is immensely concentrated around "one individual" and that "the situation has not changed fundamentally" despite the prime minister's recent move to stop prosecuting his critics for defamation. Hun Sen said last month he favored decriminalizing defamation after freeing several critics jailed for defaming him.
"I have talked to judges, politicians, and everyone is so scared, and it seems that everything depends on one individual. That's not really a precondition under which human rights can flourish," Ghai said.
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