Commemorative Speech
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His Excellency Dr. SOK An, Deputy Prime Minister Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers High Representative of Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HUN
Sen Prime
Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia at the Celebration Ceremony of the 5th
Anniversary of the Inscription of the Temple of Preah Vihear on the World
Heritage List
Phnom Penh, 7 July 2013
Excellency Pa Socheatvong, Governor of Phnom Penh Municipality
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Youth,
I am overjoyed to be with you again today here where five years ago I
stood with our Cambodian delegation and with you all, in celebration of the
hard-gained victory of 7 July 2008 in Quebec, Canada.
With the inscription of the Sacred Site of the Temple of Preah Vihear on
the World Heritage List of UNESCO, we were successful in gaining recognition of
the outstanding universal value of the Temple and also in upholding the value
of international law (as expressed in the Decision of the International Court
of Justice (ICJ) of 15 June 1962).
The achievement of the inscription of the Temple of Preah Vihear in 2008
was not achieved overnight. Indeed, even as far back as 1992, the Temple of
Preah Vihear was one of the sites placed on the Tentative List of sites by
which we indicated we hoped one day to have inscribed on the World Heritage
List. Then in 2001 we began a systematic campaign of preparation of documents,
communication, direct individual contacts and briefings to gain support for the
formal nomination submitted in 2006. In 2007 in Christchurch, New Zealand,
Cambodia was able to reverse the prevailing trend in the World Heritage
Committee, orchestrated by certain circles in Thailand, aiming to block the
inscription of the Temple of Preah Vihear on the World Heritage List.
Then, in a spirit of conciliation (highly appreciated by the members of
the Committee), we agreed to follow the path of consensus, allowing the
inscription process to remain open until the Committee session in 2008, where the
site would formally be inscribed.
In fact, the 31st
Session of the World Heritage Committee recognised that “the Sacred Site of the
Temple of Preah Vihear is of great internationalsignificance and has
Outstanding Universal Value..., agrees in principle that it should be inscribed
on the World Heritage List and notes that the process for inscription is in
progress”. (Decision No 31 COM 8B.24 (July 2007)
In 2008, despite a further reverse turn by Thai delegation and its subsequent attempts, sometimes vehement,
to block the listing of Preah Vihear, the Cambodian delegation was able to gain
the support of most members, and finally, the 21-member Committee decided by consensus to inscribe the Sacred
Site of the Temple of Preah Vihear on the World Heritage list. (Decision 32 COM
8B.102, Quebec, Canada July 2008)
Unfortunately, joy at our success in Quebec was not shared by everyone.
Just one day after we stood here on the podium in the Olympic Stadium, a
violent reaction against the successful inscription of the Temple of Preah
Vihear was unleashed by the Yellow Shirts and their allies. On 15 July 2008,
Thai troops crossed the border and occupied the areas in the vicinity of the Temple
of Preah Vihear and launched incursions on a number of occasions and locations
between 2008 and 2011, causing damage to the temple and firing heavy ammunition
including cluster bombs well inside Cambodian territory. Several people were
killed and injured, while thousands were made homeless and
displaced.
In response to these repeated attacks, the Royal Government of Cambodia launched a successful
multi-faceted campaign to protect the Temple and our national sovereignty and
territorial integrity through a combination of diplomacy, politics, cultural
heritage and also military and legal aspects. Under leadership and direct
command of Prime Minister Samdech Techo
Hun Sen, our brave men and women, with the spirit of support and solidarity
of our people, stood firm defending our nation and territorial integrity. In
addition to a successful military defence, we were forced to take the issue to
the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to seek an interpretation
of its 1962 judgment that unequivocally declared Cambodian sovereignty over the
Temple of Preah Vihear and its vicinity.
We are now awaiting the final decision of the Court, but in its Decision
on Provisional Measures of July 2011, the Court already made some important
rulings. It accepted Cambodia’s request for interpretation by unanimously
rejecting Thailand’s request for it to reject the Cambodian request. Further
the Court ordered that “Thailand shall not obstruct Cambodia’s free access to
the Temple of Preah Vihear”.
Despite these challenges, the Royal Government has pressed on with our
program of further conservation and development of the Temple of Preah Vihear
and its surrounding area, of course welcoming international assistance in this
great task.
During these past five years:
We established a new village for our compatriots (refugees in the area)
with housing, pagoda, vocational training, integrated into the landscape, which
named as the Samdech Techo Eco-Village by the local people.
We consolidated the National Authority of Preah Vihear responsible for
the preservation and development of the Temple of Preah Vihear.
To develop tourism in the region and provide employment opportunities
for our people, we have provided a faster and better road between Kampong
Thom, or Siem Reap and Preah Vihear, and we are now in completing the
development of the important Samdech Techo Eco-Global Museum (including
culture, ethnology, archeology and fauna and flora).
This action has led us to pay special attention to ethnic minorities in
the region. It is, indeed, a constant in the policy of the Royal Government
under the leadership of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, to consider the
ethnic and religious minorities in Cambodia as our compatriots with full rights
and duties.
The region around the Temple of Preah Vihear has many inhabitants from
the Kuy ethnic minority, who were renowned even in pre-Angkorian times for
their skillful metal-working and their ability to capture wild elephants,
raise and trainelephants, both for work and for military deployment. This Kuy
mastery of metal work produced the weapons used by our forefathers to establish
the mighty Khmer Empire and to cut the stones used in building our magnificent
temples.
The new museum displays photographs and artefacts showing the
distinctive features of Kuy culture and society that have resulted from the
research project undertaken since 2010 by the Royal Academy of Cambodia, the
Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, APSARA and the National Authority of Preah
Vihear. This work has revealed the sites of more than 200 ancient metal forges in the provinces of
Preah Vihear, Siem Reap, Kampong Thom and Oddar Meanchey. The government has
approved the establishment of a National Park of some 100km2 to help preserve these sites that
provide invaluable historical evidence of our heritage.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Youth,
During these past years, the world began to know us better, and began to
speak of the “Cambodian model” (civic peace and national reconciliation
alongside economic development, as outlined in the rectangular strategy) and
our country gained more esteem and sympathy. In addition, our conciliatory
approach in UNESCO bodies was appreciated by both big and small countries.
Cambodia successfully stood in the elections for the World Heritage
Committee for the four-year term 2009 to 2013. In 2009, the Royal Government of
Cambodia launched an international election campaign and many missions were
organised in different continents to win support from all of the five electoral
groups of UNESCO, to seek support for Cambodia. This campaign was successful,
and Cambodia was elected with the second largest number of votes, immediately
after Switzerland.
After becoming a member, Cambodia was elected as Vice-President of the
World Heritage Committee for the year 2010-2011, and at that time we proposed
to host a Committee session in Cambodia. In order to secure a positive decision
by the Committee, it was necessary once again to launch quite a campaign,
requiring a great deal of care and patience,
As a result, in St. Petersburg,
Russian Federation,in July 2012, the 36th Session of the Committee
took the unanimous decision was to accept the offer of Cambodia to host the 37th
Session of the Committee from 16 to 27 June 2013, with myself given the honour
of being elected as Chairperson for 2012-2013.
Let me expand a little here on the remarkable success of this 37th
session, which has just ended, considered by many members of the Committee,
States Parties, Advisory Bodies and observers as one of the best organised and
most successful sessions held during the four decades of the World Heritage
Committee.
This is the first time that a country with limited resources and
revenues (one of the world’s LDCs) has been responsible and honoured to welcome
such a large number of delegates. Not only was it the biggest international
conference ever held in Cambodia, with 1,465 participants,
coming from 128 countries, and 673 jounalists, it was also the largest meeting
compared with other meetings ever held by the World Heritage Committee, which
has held sessions held in 25 different countries across the globe.
A total of 19 properties were newly inscribed on the World Heritage
List, bringing the total to 981, while the committee examined the State of
Conservation of 140 properties. Some 234 decisions were taken on the basis of
52 working documents during the 12 days of the 37th Session.
During this session a number of contentious and sensitive issues were
resolved following patient negotiation and consensus building. As shown in the
video of the closing session, delegates as well as the Director of the World
Heritage Centre, pointed to the steady hand and calm leadership in which a
number of potentially explosive issues were resolved without acrimony or
deadlock on the floor. In this regard may we take particular note of the State
of Conservation reports on Panama and on The City of Jerusalem and its
Ramparts, and of the decision to refer until next session the proposal by the
Russian Federation for inscription of the site of Bolgar.
The logistics, transport and conference facilities at the Peace Palace
provided by Prime Minister Samdech Techo
Hun Sen for the 37th Session were highly praised, and the
ever-smiling and helpful liaison officers, youth volunteers and drivers were singled
out for special mention. The security and safety of the conference and all
delegates was assured in a calm and efficient manner as they moved back and
forth from their hotels to the conference venue and around the city each day,
and as they travelled to Siem Reap for the closing ceremony. It was quite a
surprise for many delegates to see how modern and vibrant is our capital city
of Phnom Penh, with good quality hotels and restaurants of many types as well
as tourist and cultural sites to visit, and the delegates remarked on the warm
welcome they received from people everywhere during their visit. They were able to see with their own eyes the
real Cambodia, in contrast to the often negative picture portrayed in the
press.
Of particular interest were the cultural elements of the program. The
opening ceremony had an unexpected headline-catching event with the hand-over
to Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen
by the President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York of two Pandava
statues- Sahadeva and Nakula- looted from Prasat Chen of Koh
Ker Site in the early 1970s. The deep appreciation of Cambodia for this gesture
of restitution was shown by an award presented to the President, as well as to
senior UNESCO officials. At the reception following the opening ceremony,
delegates also got a taste of Cambodia’s two art forms already inscribed on the
world list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, namely the Royal Ballet and Sbek
Thom, including the very first performance of a new creation combining these two
forms.
The closing was scheduled to be marked with great pomp and ceremony at a
cultural performance at the Elephant Terrace in Angkor Thom, including hundreds
of performers in Angkorian costume, and six elephants. Sadly, following a
torrential downpour and heavy winds, the event had to be quickly re-located
indoors, according to our Plan B. Delegates expressed amazement at the
efficient and courteous attention given by all the Cambodian staff and
volunteers, and by the fine dinner and magnificent dance performance. One head
of delegation remarked: “It’s a miracle!”
The President of UNESCO’s Executive Board, Ms Alissandra Cummins
concluded: “From this 37th Session, it is evident that Cambodia will
continue to play a vital role in advancing the mandate of UNESCO in the area of
cultural heritage”.
In short, both in the closing session and in the corridors, delegates
expressed not only satisfaction with the arrangements, but also happiness at
being in Cambodia and working in the Committee to achieve what can be described
as a great and beautiful victory. They also had the opportunity to better
understand our culture, civilization and heritages as well as our successful
preservation and development experiences.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Youth,
The International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and
Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC-Angkor) which is part of the
World Heritage community has brought tremendous benefits to our country. The
successful listing of Angkor in 1992 was followed by the establishment of this
Committee,co- chaired by France and Japan, with UNESCO providing the
Secretariat. Now regarded as a model for international cooperation in heritage
protection and management, the ICC-Angkor framework permitted the temples of
Angkor to be removed from the In Danger List in 2004, and the mobilisation of
over US$250 million in funds for nearly 70 projects undertaken by 32 working
groups from 23 countries. Likewise, the
listing of the Temple of Preah Vihear has begun not only to assure for the
preservation of the temple itself, but also to generate tangible benefits for
the local inhabitants of the area.
Cambodia’s rich cultural heritage from our ancient civilisations which
has become known to the world is one of the mainstays of the tourism sector of
our economy. In 2012, Cambodia welcomed 3.5 million tourists and we are
expecting this number to grow to 5 million by 2015. As Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen stated in his opening speech
of the 37th Session, culture is key to the new concept of green
development.
Being a member of the World
Heritage Committee and especially hosting this 37th Session of the
World Heritage Committee has put Cambodia and its heritage on the television
screens and front pages of newspapers around the world.
But beyond these significant material benefits, all this patient and
painstaking work in preserving and safeguarding our cultural heritage has
provided something even more precious, enabling our people tofurther uphold the
soul of the nation and Cambodia to reclaim its place on the world stage,
renowned since Angkorian times as a kingdom of culture and a kingdom of wonder.
And so, let us today celebrate the 5th anniversary of the
inscription of the Temple of Preah Vihear as a symbol of Cambodian pride and as
part of the heritage of humanity!
Long live the Kingdom of Cambodia, Kingdom of Wonder!