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Hun Sen ហ៊ុន សែន
Hun Sen speaking at the World Economic Forum in East Asia (2010)
Prime Minister of Cambodia
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 November 1998
Monarch	Norodom Sihanouk Chea Sim (Regent) Norodom Sihamoni
Preceded by	Ung Huot
In office 1 May 1989 – 21 September 1993 Alongside Norodom Ranariddh: 2 July 1993 – 21 September 1993
President	Heng Samrin Chea Sim Norodom Sihanouk
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Norodom Ranariddh
Prime Minister of Kampuchea
In office 14 January 1985 – 1 May 1989
President	Heng Samrin
Preceded by	Chan Sy
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1952-08-05) 5 August 1952 (age 59) Peam Koh Sna, Indochina (now Cambodia)
Political party	CPP
Spouse(s)	Bun Rany

This article contains Khmer text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Khmer script.

Hun Sen (Khmer: ហ៊ុន សែន; born 5 August 1952)^[1] is the current Prime Minister of Cambodia and leader of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which has governed Cambodia since the Vietnamese-backed overthrow of the Khmer Rouge in 1979. Since the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1993, the CPP has been in a coalition with the royalist Funcinpec party.

His current, full, honorary title is Samdech Akeak Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen (Khmer: សម្តេចអគ្គមហាសេនាបតីតេជោ ហ៊ុន សែន). The title "Samdech" was attached to his name in 1993 by King Norodom Sihanouk. It is only an honorary title and does not give him further powers. He has a glass eye, the result of a wound sustained during the Khmer Rouge offensive against Phnom Penh in April 1975. Hun Sen is currently the longest serving leader in South East Asia and is one of the longest serving prime ministers in the world, having been in power through various coalitions since 1985.

Political career[link]

Hun Sen came to power with the Khmer Rouge and served as a Battalion Commander in the Eastern Region of Democratic Kampuchea (previous name of Cambodia). After falling out with the Khmer Rouge Hun Sen fled to Vietnam. ^[2] Hun Sen was selected by the Vietnamese for a leadership role in the rebel army and government they were creating for Cambodia. When the Khmer Rouge regime was overthrown, Hun Sen was appointed as Foreign Minister of the Vietnamese-installed People's Republic of Kampuchea/State of Cambodia (PRK/SOC) in 1979 and in 1985 he was made Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Prime Minister, after the death of Chairman Chan Sy until 1990, (with a brief interruption from 1986 until 1987). As Foreign Minister, Hun Sen was a key figure in the Paris Peace Talks, which brokered peace in Cambodia.

In 1987, Amnesty International accused Hun Sen's government of torture of thousands of political prisoners using "electric shocks, hot irons and near-suffocation with plastic bags."^[3]

From 1993 until 1998 he was Co-Prime Minister with Prince Norodom Ranariddh. Norodom Ranariddh was First Prime Minister and he was Second Prime Minister. However, the actual power resided in the hands of Hun Sen because most of the high officers in Cambodia including the military were CPP members which led Norodom Ranariddh to be jealous of his Co-Prime Minister and led to a power struggle, directly resulting in the July 1997 military conflict.

In 1997, the coalition was shaken by tensions between Ranariddh and Hun Sen. FUNCINPEC began to collaborate with the remaining Khmer Rouge rebels (with whom it had been allied against Hun Sen's Vietnamese-backed government during the 1980s), aiming to absorb them into its ranks.^[4]

In response, Hun Sen launched the 1997 Cambodian Coup, replacing Ranariddh with Ung Hout as the First Prime Minister and himself still as the Second Prime Minister until the CPP's victory in the 1998 election and thus becoming the country's sole Prime Minister in 1998. During that year the media broadcast him as the Strong Man of Cambodia which he later said was premature, and that the July 1997 was merely, the government taking action against the paramilitary anarchy that was sponsored and brought to Phnom Penh by Norodom Ranariddh.

In an open letter, Amnesty International condemned the summary execution of FUNCINPEC ministers and the "systematic campaign of arrests and harassment " of political opponents.^[5]

The elections of July 2003 resulted in a larger majority in the National Assembly for the CPP, with FUNCINPEC losing seats to the CPP and the Sam Rainsy Party. However, CPP's majority was short of the two thirds constitutionally required for the CPP to form a government alone. This deadlock was overcome and a new CPP-FUNCINPEC coalition was formed in mid-2004. When Norodom Ranariddh was chosen to be Head of the National Assembly and Hun Sen became again sole Prime Minister of Cambodia.

Corruption[link]

Some political opponents of Hun Sen accuse him of being a Vietnamese puppet. This is due to his position in the government created by Vietnam while Cambodia was under Vietnamese military occupation and the fact that he was a prominent figure in the People's Revolutionary Party of Kampuchea (now known as the Cambodian People's Party), which governed Cambodia as a one-party state under Vietnamese military occupation from 1979 until elections in 1993. However, there seems to be no concrete evidence to show that this accusation has merits at all. Hun Sen and his supporters reject such charges, saying that he represents only the Cambodian people.

Forced evictions and Sale of Cambodian land[link]

Hun Sen's government has been responsible for the sale of land to foreign investors in 2007-08 resulting in the eviction of thousands of residents from their homes.^[6]

Hun Sen was implicated in corruption related to Cambodia's oil wealth and mineral resources in Global Witness 2009 report on Cambodia. He and his close associates were accused of carrying out secret negotiations with interested private parties and taking money from those who he would grant rights to exploit the resources. However, the credibility of this accusation has been questioned by government officials and especially Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself.^[7]

Personal life[link]

Hun Sen is married to Bun Rany. They have six children, 3 sons and 3 daughters: Manet, Mana, Manit, Mani, Mali and Malis. The youngest, Malis was adopted. Hun Manet is a 1999 West Point Academy graduate and obtained his PhD in Economics at the University of Bristol. In 2010, Manet was promoted Major General in the Royal Cambodian Arm Forces (RCAF) and became the Deputy Commander of the Prime Minister's Body Guard headquarters.

Although Hun Sen's birthday is officially celebrated on April 4, 1951, he had revealed that his actual date of birth was August 5, 1952.^[8] He had apparently lied about his date of birth to appear older when joining the Khmer Rouge as a youth.

See also[link]

	Cambodia portal
	Biography portal

• Modern Cambodia
• Politics of Cambodia
• People's Republic of Kampuchea

Footnotes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Harish C. Mehta and Julie B. Mehta. 1999. Hun Sen: Strongman of Cambodia. Singapore: Graham Brash Pte Ltd. ISBN 981-218-074-5
• Elizabeth Becker. 1986, 1998. When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge. New York: Public Affairs. ISBN 1-891620-00-2
• Biography of Hun Sen Cambodia New Vision ~ newsletter of cabinet of Cambodia's Prime Ministerial office

v t e Prime Ministers of Cambodia since 1970 Khmer Republic: Lon Nol | Sisowath Sirik Matak | Son Ngoc Thanh | Hang Thun Hak | In Tam | Long Boret Democratic Kampuchea: Penn Nouth | Khieu Samphan | Pol Pot People's Republic of Kampuchea: Pen Sovan | Chan Sy | Hun Sen State of Cambodia: Hun Sen | Sen-Ranariddh Coalition | Norodom Ranariddh Kingdom of Cambodia: Norodom Ranariddh | Ung Huot | Hun Sen

Prince Norodom Ranariddh (born January 2, 1944) is the second son of former king Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and a half-brother of the current king, Norodom Sihamoni.

Biography[link]

Prince Norodom Ranariddh grew up in Phnom Penh and he lived in France for many years. He was appointed a lecturer in law at the University of Aix en Provence, and remains one of the world experts in aspects of maritime law. Until recently he still gave lectures at the university, even when he was Prime Minister.

For most of the period of the Vietnamese Occupation of Cambodia 1979-1989, Prince Ranariddh led the Royalist movement, FUNCINPEC. When the monarchy was restored in 1993, his political party won the elections, the first free elections since 1972. As such he is regarded by many Cambodians as the man who brought democracy back to the country. He became Prime Minister, but had to serve jointly with his father's rival Hun Sen who had lost the 1993 elections but wanted to hang onto power and insisted that he remained in the government. By agreement, the two first shared the title of Prime Minister with Ranariddh as First Prime Minister, while Hun Sen became Second Prime Minister. Prince Ranarddh tried to reform the country but was obstructed by Hun Sen. These differences came to a head in July 1997 when Rannaridh was ousted by Hun Sen in a bloody coup d'état which saw some of Prince Ranariddh's supporters being killed, and his house looted.

After initially fleeing the country, Prince Ranariddh returned to Cambodia to participate in the national elections held in 1998. Because it had not been allowed to campaign freely, his party suffered heavy losses but managed to form a new coalition with Hun Sen and Prince Ranariddh became Chairman of the Cambodian National Assembly.

When King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated in October 2004, with Ranariddh being a likely choice for king owing to his popularity. However, he renounced his interest in the post, and later that month he was part of the nine-member throne council which convened and chose Norodom Sihamoni to be the next king.

He was chairman of the Funcinpec political party but was removed by a party vote on October 18, 2006, which was led by once his closest advisor and general Gen. Nhek Bun Chhay.

Subsequently he established the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), which outpolled Funcinpec and is currently the third largest party in Cambodia.^[2] In the 2008 national election his new party won two seats in the national assembly.

Return from exile[link]

Monarchical styles of Norodom Ranariddh
Reference style	His Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Royal Highness
Alternative style	Sir

After Prime Minister Hun Sen was re-elected in the 2008 Cambodian elections, King Norodom Sihamoni granted a royal pardon upon the request of the re-elected Prime Minister. Ranariddh had been sentenced in absentia to 18 months imprisonment in March 2007 in a political show trial over a US$3.6 million property sale. The court ruled he improperly sold his former political party headquarters and used proceeds from the sale to purchase another property in his own name. The building had actually part of the house of his father-in-law, Eng Meas (who had been murdered by the Communists), and had been given to him and his wife in 1991 because his own house was occupied by a Russian diplomat who did not want to vacate it.

When he returned, half of the house became the party headquarters, and he lived in the other half. All serious commentators on Cambodia viewed the court ruling as a political move to try to remove the influence of Prince Ranariddh and force him from the country, and this is what happened. Shortly after he was pardoned, he read out a letter on television thanking King Sihamoni, his half brother, for giving him "full freedom in order to join in the development of the nation." The prince also thanked Prime Minister Hun Sen for helping to arrange the royal pardon for him and said that he would return to Cambodia soon: he subsequently returned, and has retired from politics taking part in promoting charity work in the country partly through the Norodom Ranariddh Foundation.

On December 12, 2008, King Norodom Sihamoni selected him as chief advisor of his advisory court, the Privy Council.[3] His official title is Samdech Krom Preah Norodom Ranariddh President of the Supreme Privy Council to HM the King of Kingdom of Cambodia with the rank of Prime Minister.[4]

Family[link]

Ranariddh has two wives:

1. Princess Marie to whom he was married in his youth, but the couple failed to re-certificate their wedding according to Cambodian law and this was used to claim that Princess Marie was not his legal wife and prevented her from using the title of Princess. Having two wives is illegal under Cambodian law.

1. Ouk Phalla, a former royal ballet dancer (and a distant member of the Royal family through the Sisowath line) with whom he has a son.

Before he was pardoned, he was living in Kuala Lumpur with his second wife and his son, Prince Norodom Sothearidh. ^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

v t e Prime Ministers of Cambodia since 1970 Khmer Republic: Lon Nol | Sisowath Sirik Matak | Son Ngoc Thanh | Hang Thun Hak | In Tam | Long Boret Democratic Kampuchea: Penn Nouth | Khieu Samphan | Pol Pot People's Republic of Kampuchea: Pen Sovan | Chan Sy | Hun Sen State of Cambodia: Hun Sen | Sen-Ranariddh Coalition | Norodom Ranariddh Kingdom of Cambodia: Norodom Ranariddh | Ung Huot | Hun Sen

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Kem Sokha (Khmer: កឹម សុខា) is the President of the Human Rights Party in Cambodia. He was born on 27 June 1953 in Takéo, Cambodia.

Politics[link]

National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia 2008–Present • LAND RIGHTS. Active opponent of illegal evictions. • CIVIC AND POLITICAL RIGHTS. Initiator of grassroots empowerment and advocacy in Cambodia. Ø Hold weekly town hall meetings on village level nationwide Ø Developed Voice of Human Rights, a daily radio program that raises awareness of human rights, specifically civic and political rights, violations

Senate of the Kingdom of Cambodia 1999-2002 • HUMAN RIGHTS. Leading advocate for respect of human rights. Ø Chaired the Senate Commission on Human Rights and Reception of Complaints

National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia 1993-1998 • HUMAN RIGHTS. Leading advocate for respect of human rights. Ø Chaired the National Assembly Commission on Human Rights and Reception of Complaints Ø Discovered a “secret prison” torturing political prisoners and issued a report on the case, resulting in death threats from government military • CORRUPTION LAW. The first legislator to introduce an anti-corruption draft. Ø Introduced the Anti-Corruption and Asset Declaration draft laws Ø Brought the introduction of the bill to media and international attention Ø Raised awareness of corruption in Cambodia through media and international advocacy • OTHER INITIATIVES. The first legislator to propose establishment of a number of national institutions. Proposed the creation of the Supreme Council of Magistracy Ø Proposed the creation of the National Assembly Commission on Human Rights and Reception of Complaints Ø Proposed the creation of National Human Rights Commission and Ombudsmen

Civil society[link]

Chairman 2005-2007 Alliance for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia (AFEC) • Led a yellow ribbon campaign to demand freedom of expression • Organized and led two historical marches: a three-day Buddhist march demanding the government to decriminalize defamation charges and a fifteen-day rights march promoting freedom of expression, non-violence and political tolerance The Buddhist march resulted in the abolition of jail time for defamation in 2006.

President 2002-2007 Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) • Established nationwide networks of more than 9,000 grassroots activists • Conducted human rights trainings and public forums at commune level across Cambodia • Founded CCHR’s Voice of Democracy radio program, a news radio program that focused on human rights issues

Chairman 2000-2007 Cambodian Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism • Collaborated with other country members of the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism to advocate for respect of human rights in the region • Collaborated with members of Cambodian Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism, which consists of representatives of government institutions, parliamentary human rights commissions, and NGOs to promote respect for human rights in Cambodia • Advocated for an independent court in Cambodia and establishment of an independent national human rights commission

Chairman 1991-1992 Human Rights Vigilance of Cambodia • Founded Human Rights Vigilance of Cambodia, the first human rights organization in Cambodia • Raised awareness of human rights violations in Cambodia through international advocacy • Accepted complaints and provided legal assistance to victims of rights violation

Political appointments[link]

• Elected President of the Human Rights Party 2008–Present • Deputy General Secretary of the FUNCINPEC party 1999-2002 • Deputy General Secretary of the Union of Cambodian Democrats formed by opposition political parties in exile after a coup data in 1997 1997-1998 • General Secretary of the Son San Party, a split from Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP) 1995 to 1998 • General Secretary of the BLDP 1992 to 1995

Highlights of major activities and events[link]

• Was one of the leaders of a months-long demonstration participated by tens of thousands to contest the fraudulent results of the 1998 general elections • Took refuge at the U.S. Embassy Cambodia for 50 days after a security threat from the government for organizing a mass demonstration • Co-organized the celebration of Human Rights Day in 2005, joined by local NGOs, and displayed banners with written expressions/concerns by citizens • Was accused and falsely charged for defamation based on the above banners on December 31, 2005 • Was imprisoned for the charge and released 17 days after political pressure from international community • Successfully organized and led a march demanding decriminalization of defamation charges which has protected other rights activists from imprisonment since then. Kem Sohka was named a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International during his detention.^[1]

Education[link]

Kem Sokha has a Master of Science in Biochemistry from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague, Czech Republic and a law degree from the Royal University of Law and Economics, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

See also[link]

• Cambodian Center for Human Rights
• Ou Virak

References[link]

External links[link]

• Human Rights Party
• CCHR - Cambodian Center for Human Rights website
• Newsweek article
• Cambodia arrests rights activist, Guy De Launey, BBC, Phnom Penh
• Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism
• Institute of Chemical Technology
• Cambodian Leader Cracks Down in Bid to Solidify Power--New York Times
• BBC: While in U.S., Cambodians Get a Lesson on Rights From Home
• Cambodian Center for Human Rights