BBG Watch Commentary
Thanks to statements and efforts by the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh and Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) member, former U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe, the Cambodian government lifted its ban on Khmer-language programming from overseas ahead of the July 28 national elections.
After the announcement of the lifting of the ban, Ashe made this statement:
“We are pleased that the Cambodian government has decided to allow broadcasting by all groups on the upcoming elections, but restrictions on media freedom remain,” said Victor Ashe, a BBG board member and the vice chair of Radio Free Asia. “An important part of all democracies to allow full media coverage of all candidates and campaigns with the people making the final decision on election day, Furthermore, the people of Cambodia deserve nothing short of complete freedom of the press at all times.”
While a crisis has been averted, the BBG’s International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), which is in charge of both agency’s management and transmissions, has come under criticism from a BBG Watch commentator for over-reliance on local FM rebroadcasting in countries ruled by authoritarian governments, for being caught by surprise by the Cambodian government’s ban announcement and for not having an emergency response plan ready to launch.
Sources told BBG Watch that the Cambodian government lifted the ban thanks to behind the scenes actions by U.S. diplomats and BBG Governor Victor Ashe. Ashe visited Cambodia three times in the last three years, most recently in May.
In a statement issued after the Cambodian government announced the ban, Ashe said:
“I am extremely troubled by the Cambodian government’s actions today. By denying its citizens access to unbiased news and information in this critical time it is undermining its own legitimacy and blatantly repudiating the very democracy it claims to espouse. When I visited Cambodia in May, I met with leaders in the media and civil society. I know first-hand how much they rely on the reporting of RFA and VOA.”
After the Cambodian government changed its position, the BBG issued the following press release:
BBG Welcomes Lifting Of Foreign Media Ban In Cambodia, Urges Complete Media Freedom
The Broadcasting Board of Governors welcomed the decision by the Cambodian government this weekend to lift its ban on Khmer-language programming from overseas ahead of the July 28 national elections, but called for continued international vigilance regarding remaining restrictions on media in Cambodia both before the elections and beyond.
“We are pleased that the Cambodian government has decided to allow broadcasting by all groups on the upcoming elections, but restrictions on media freedom remain,” said Victor Ashe, a BBG board member and the vice chair of Radio Free Asia. “An important part of all democracies to allow full media coverage of all candidates and campaigns with the people making the final decision on election day, Furthermore, the people of Cambodia deserve nothing short of complete freedom of the press at all times.”
Ashe, a former U.S. ambassador to Poland from 2004 to 2009, has visited Cambodia three times in as many years — most recently in May, when he met with leaders in media and civil society on behalf of the BBG and RFA.
The Cambodian government lifted the ban after an international outcry that included statements from the U.S. State Department, the BBG, RFA and Voice of America, both of which are supported by the BBG and have Khmer-language programs.
RFA will continue to provide this programming on shortwave radio as well as through its websites and social media platforms. VOA will continue providing news and information broadcasts on direct-to-home satellite, web streaming and shortwave and AM radio broadcasts from outside Cambodia. Both are in a position to add shortwave frequencies should the Cambodian government reverse course and restrict media freedom even further during the coming month.
The U.S. embassy in Cambodia issued a statement today calling the decision to drop the ban on foreign broadcasts “a positive development in line with the requirements of a democratic electoral process.” The embassy urged the Cambodian government “to ensure full press freedom, including during the campaign period up to and including the day of the national elections, and to take other steps recommended by the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia.”