US Imposes Visa Bans, Halts Aid After Cambodia's 'Neither Free Nor Fair' Election

The U.S. is taking punitive measures against Cambodia over concerns that the Southeast Asian country's national elections were "neither free nor fair." The measures include imposing visa bans and bringing some foreign assistance programs in Cambodia to a halt.

Cambodia's longtime ruling party, the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), declared a landslide victory Sunday and said it won 120 of 125 available seats. The elections were criticized for being unfair as there was virtually no opposition.

Autocratic leader Hun Sen, 70, who has been in power for 38 years, announced plans to pass on the prime minister's position to his son Hun Manet, 45, who won his first parliamentary seat Sunday.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the U.S. "is troubled that the July 23 Cambodian national elections were neither free nor fair."

"Ahead of the elections, Cambodian authorities engaged in a pattern of threats and harassment against the political opposition, media, and civil society that undermined the spirit of the country's constitution and Cambodia's international obligations," Miller said in a statement. "These actions denied the Cambodian people a voice and a choice in determining the future of their country."

"In response, the United States has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on individuals who undermined democracy and implemented a pause of certain foreign assistance programs," Miller added.

The recent Cambodia elections saw CPP pitted against 17 other smaller parties, none of which had enough support to truly pose a challenge to the ruling party.

The only meaningful opposition was the Candlelight Party, which was disqualified in the run-up to the elections due to a registration technicality. Critics saw this as one of Hun Sen's tactics to stifle any credible opposition.

During Hun Sen's heavy-handed rule, he has been accused of a number of human rights violations from media clampdowns to arbitrary killings.

Ahead of the July elections, the U.S., the EU and other Western countries announced they would not send official observers. Countries that did send official observers include Russia and China.

The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, which works to advance human rights and democracy in the region, urged all democracies of the world to condemn the recent national elections in Cambodia.

"The international community must not fall into the trap of legitimising this pantomime," Eva Kusuma Sundari of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights said.