A nation in Asia; was part of French-ruled Indochina until 1946; Also called: Kampuchea, People's Republic of Kampuchea.
(formerly Khmer Republic 1970–76, Democratic Kampuchea 1976–79, and People’s Republic of Kampuchea 1979–89) country in SE Asia, bounded N and NW by Thailand, N by Laos, E and SE by Vietnam, and SW by the Gulf of Thailand.
government
Under the 1993 constitution, which provides for a constitutional monarch with limited powers, the king is said to “reign but not rule”. The cabinet is appointed by the king on the basis of assembly support. He has the power to make appointments but only in consultation with senior ministers, and can declare a state of emergency with the consent of the prime minister and cabinet. Control of the cabinet is shared by the two main political parties under a co-premier system. There is a directly elected, 120-member national assembly, serving a four-year term.
history
The area now known as Cambodia was once occupied by the Khmer empire, an ancient civilization that flourished during the 6th–15th centuries. After this, the region was subject to attacks by the neighboring Vietnamese and Thai, and in 1863 became a French protectorate. A nationalist movement began in the 1930s, and anti-French feeling was fueled 1940–41 when the French agreed to Japanese demands for bases in Cambodia, and allowed Thailand to annex Cambodian territory.
During World War II Cambodia was occupied by Japan. France regained control of the country 1946, but it achieved semiautonomy within the French Union 1949 and full independence 1953. Prince Norodom Sihanouk, who had been elected king 1941, abdicated in favor of his parents and became prime minister as leader of the Popular Socialist Community 1955. When his father died 1960, he became head of state.
Khmer Republic
Sihanouk remained neutral during the Vietnam War and was overthrown by a right-wing revolt led by pro-US Lt Gen Lon Nol in 1970. Lon Nol first became prime minister (1971–72) and then president (1972–75) of what was termed the new Khmer Republic. His regime was opposed by the exiled Sihanouk and by the communist Khmer Rouge (backed by North Vietnam and China), who merged to form the National United Front of Cambodia. A civil war developed and, despite substantial military aid from the US during its early stages, Lon Nol's government fell 1975. The country was renamed Kampuchea, with Prince Sihanouk as head of state.
Khmer Rouge regime
The Khmer Rouge proceeded ruthlessly to introduce an extreme communist program, forcing urban groups into rural areas, which led to over 2.5 million deaths from famine, disease, and maltreatment. In 1976 a new constitution removed Prince Sihanouk from power, appointed Khieu Samphan (the former deputy prime minister) president, and placed the Communist Party of Kampuchea, led by Pol Pot, in control. The Khmer Rouge developed close links with China and fell out with its former sponsors, Vietnam and the USSR.
Vietnamese influence
In a Vietnamese invasion of Kampuchea launched 1978 in response to border incursions, Pol Pot was overthrown and a pro-Vietnamese puppet government was set up under Heng Samrin. The defeated regime kept up guerrilla resistance under Pol Pot, causing over 300,000 Kampuchean refugees to flee to Thailand in 1979 alone.
resistance movement
In 1982 the resistance movement broadened with the formation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, of an anti-Vietnamese coalition and Democratic Kampuchea government in exile with Prince Sihanouk (then living in North Korea) as president, Khieu Samphan (political leader of the now less extreme Khmer Rouge) as vice president, and Son Sann (an ex-premier and contemporary leader of the noncommunist Khmer People's National Liberation Front [KPNLF]) as prime minister.
The coalition received sympathetic support from ASEAN countries and China. However, its 60,000 troops were outnumbered by the 170,000 Vietnamese who supported the Heng Samrin government, and the resistance coalition’s base camps were overrun 1985. During 1982–91 the US aided the KPNLF and the Sihanoukist National Army (ANS)— allies of the Khmer Rouge—with millions of dollars in “humanitarian” aid and secret “nonlethal” military aid.
Vietnamese troop withdrawal
Hopes of a political settlement were improved by the retirement of the reviled Pol Pot as Khmer Rouge military leader 1985 and the appointment of the reformist Hun Sen as prime minister. A mixed-economy domestic approach was adopted and indigenous Khmers promoted to key government posts; at the same time, prompted by the new Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Vietnamese began a phased withdrawal. In spring 1989, after talks with the resistance coalition, the Phnom Penh government agreed to a package of constitutional reforms, including the adoption of Buddhism as the state religion and the readoption of the ideologically neutral name State of Cambodia. Withdrawal of the Vietnamese army was completed Sept 1989.
continued civil war
The United Nations (UN) continued to refuse recognition of the Hun Sen government and the civil war intensified, with the Khmer Rouge making advances in the western provinces, capturing the border town of Pailin in Oct 1989. The Phnom Penh government was left with an army of 40,000, backed by a 100,000-strong militia, against the resistance coalition's 45,000 guerrillas, half of whom belonged to the Khmer Rouge. In Sept 1990 the USSR and China reportedly agreed to a mutual cessation of arms supplies to their respective Cambodian clients. In Nov 1990 a peace settlement was proposed by the UN Security Council, but rejected outright by the Phnom Penh government.
accord reached
Guerrilla fighting intensified Jan 1991 but, for the first time in 12 years, a cease-fire was implemented May–June 1991, and an accord was reached by the all-party Supreme National Council in Pattaya, Thailand, between Prince Sihanouk, the guerrillas' nominal leader, and the Hun Sen government. Subsequent meetings in July, Aug, and Sept 1991 added flesh to this accord, including an understanding that the Cambodian government and the Khmer Rouge-led rebel alliance would disband 70% of their armies prior to UN-run elections, which would be held on the basis of proportional representation.
end of civil war
On 23 Oct 1991, after nearly four years of intermittent negotiations, a peace agreement was signed in Paris, ending 13 years of civil war. The UN peacekeeping operation provided for a UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) to be established within six months. It would administer the country in conjunction with the Supreme National Council (comprising representatives from Cambodia's four warring factions) until the UN-administered general elections in 1993.
return of Sihanouk and Khmer Rouge
The ruling Kampuchean People’s Revolutionary Party, anxious to make itself more attractive to voters, formally abandoned its Marxist-Leninist ideology Oct 1991 and changed its name to the Cambodian People’s Party. Heng Samrin was replaced as party chair by the powerful Chea Sim and the party endorsed a multiparty democratic system, a free-market economy, and the protection of human rights. It upheld Buddhism as the state religion and declared support for Prince Sihanouk’s future candidacy for the state presidency. Prince Sihanouk returned to Phnom Penh on 23 Nov 1991 after a 13-year absence. As the “legitimate head of state” until the presidential elections, he administered the country in conjunction with Prime Minister Hun Sen and UNTAC during the transition period.
Khieu Samphan, leader of the Khmer Rouge, also returned to Phnom Penh but was forced to fly back to Thailand after being violently attacked by an angry mob. Despite promises Aug 1992 that the Khmer Rouge would cooperate in the peace process, they were still refusing to disarm in Oct.
restoration of human rights
In Jan 1992 hundreds of political prisoners began to be released from Cambodia's jails and it was announced that freedom of speech and the formation of new political parties would be allowed.
first free elections
In the UN-administered elections June 1993 (which saw a 90% turnout, but were boycotted by the Khmer Rouge), the royalist United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC) won a surprise victory, under the leadership of Sihanouk's son Prince Ranariddh. In Sept 1993 Sihanouk once again became Cambodia's king, naming Prince Ranariddh as executive prime minister and Hun Sen as deputy premier under the terms of the new constitution. UNTAC announced its mission as successfully completed, although the Khmer Rouge still controlled one fifth of the country and continued its offensive.
Khmer Rouge banned
During 1994 a rift emerged between Sihanouk and Premier Ranariddh, the former favoring negotiations with the Khmer Rouge and the latter urging for the group to be outlawed. An attempted coup by Prince Norodom Chakrapong, an estranged son of Sihanouk, and dissident general Sin Song was quashed July 1994, and in the same month parliament voted to outlaw the Khmer Rouge. Three Westerners abducted by Khmer Rouge guerrillas in July were later murdered, despite pleas by Prince Sihanouk for their safe release.
legacy of civil war
Cambodia has the highest percentage of disabled inhabitants of any country. In a population of 8.5 million, there are 30,000 amputees, all mine-related casualties. Between 200 and 500 people are maimed each month by stray landmines.