Hun Sen

Hun Sen was born in Kampong Cham as Hun Buny, the third of six children. His father, Hun Neang, was a resident monk in a local Wat in Kampong Cham province before defrocking himself to join the French resistance and marry Hun Sen's mother, Dee Yon, in the 1940s. Hun Neang's paternal grandparents were wealthy landowners of Teochew Chinese heritage.[14][15] Hun Neang inherited some of his family assets, including several hectares of land, and led a relatively comfortable life until a kidnapping incident forced their family to sell off much of their assets.[16] Hun Nal left his family at the age of 13 to attend a monastic school in Phnom Penh. When Lon Nol removed Sihanouk from power in 1970, he gave up his education to join the Khmer Rouge.[17] Two years later, Hun Nal changed his name to Hun Sen.

Hun Sen came to power with the Khmer Rouge and served as a Battalion Commander in the Eastern Region of Democratic Kampuchea (the state name during the Khmer Rouge government). In 1977, during internal purges of the Khmer Rouge regime, Hun Sen and his battalion cadres fled to Vietnam.[18][19] As Vietnam prepared to invade Cambodia, Hun Sen became one of the leaders of the Vietnamese-sponsored rebel army and government. Following the defeat of the Khmer Rouge regime, Hun Sen was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Vietnamese-installed People's Republic of Kampuchea/State of Cambodia (PRK/SOC) in 1979.

Hun Sen rose to the premiership in January 1985 when the one-party National Assembly appointed him to succeed Chan Sy, who had died in office in December 1984. As the de facto leader of Cambodia, in 1985, he was elected as Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Prime Minister.

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."[20][21][22]

As Foreign Minister and then Prime Minister, Hun Sen played a pivotal role in the 1991 Paris Peace Talks, which brokered peace in Cambodia. During this period Prince Norodom Sihanouk referred to him as a "one-eyed lackey of the Vietnamese".[23] He held the position of Prime Minister until the 1993 UN-sponsored elections, which resulted in a hung parliament. After contentious negotiations with the FUNCINPEC, Hun Sen was accepted as Second Prime Minister, serving alongside Norodom Ranariddh until a 1997 coup toppled the latter. Ung Huot was then selected to succeed Ranariddh. In the 1998 election, he led the CPP to victory but had to form a coalition government with FUNCINPEC.

In 1997, the coalition was shaken by tensions between Ranariddh and Hun Sen. FUNCINPEC entered into discussions with the remaining Khmer Rouge rebels (with whom it had been allied against Hun Sen's Vietnamese-backed government during the 1980s), with the aim of absorbing them into its ranks.[24] Such a development would have altered the balance of military power between royalists and the CPP.

In response, Hun Sen launched the 1997 Cambodian Coup, replacing Ranariddh with Ung Hout as the First Prime Minister and maintaining his position as the Second Prime Minister, a situation which lasted until the CPP's victory in the 1998 election, after which he became the country's sole Prime Minister. During that year the media portrayed him as the Strong Man of Cambodia. He later said that this was premature, and that the July 1997 coup was merely the government taking action against the paramilitary anarchy that was sponsored and brought to Phnom Penh by Norodom Ranariddh.[25] In an open letter, Amnesty International condemned the summary execution of FUNCINPEC ministers and the "systematic campaign of arrests and harassment" of political opponents.[26]

The controversial and widely disputed 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, the CPP's majority was short of the two thirds constitutionally required for the CPP to form a government alone. This deadlock was overcome when a new CPP-FUNCINPEC coalition was formed in mid-2004, with Norodom Ranariddh chosen to be head of the National Assembly and Hun Sen again becoming sole Prime Minister.

Hun Sen with then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on 11 July 2012

On 6 May 2013, Hun Sen declared his intention to rule Cambodia until the age of 74.[27][28]

Hun Sen with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Sochi, 19 May 2016

After the July 2013 general elections both Hun Sen and his opponents claimed victory. In August, Hun Sen continued to pursue his aim of forming a new government.[29] Also in August, in New York, a major, but largely unnoticed, demonstration held in front of the United Nations (UN) on 19 August by Cambodians and Buddhist monks was a crucial prelude to planned mass demonstrations in Phnom Penh later in September 2013 by opposition groups protesting the July 2013 elections and Hun Sen's response. Cambodians in the United States, Canada and elsewhere, with hundreds of Buddhist Monks, peacefully protested in front of the United Nations in New York City in opposition to Hun Sen's deployment of military and security forces in Phnom Phenh and his unwillingness to share political power with opposition groups and seriously address earlier voting fraud and election irregularities from the July 2013 election.[30][31]

After the 2013 election results, disputed by Hun Sen's opposition, one person was killed and others injured during protests in Cambodia's capital, where a reported 20,000 protesters gathered, some clashing with riot police.[32] Following two weeks of opposition protests, Hun Sen declared that he had been constitutionally elected and would not step down nor hold a new election.[33]

On 7 September 2013, tens of thousands of Cambodians, along with Buddhist monks and opposition groups, including Sam Rainsy's Cambodian National Rescue Party held mass demonstrations in Phnom Penh to protest the 28 July elections results which they claimed were flawed and marred by voting irregularities and potential fraud. The groups asked the United Nations to investigate and claimed that the elections results were not free and fair.[34][35]

On 3 January 2014, military police opened fire at protesters, killing 4 people and injuring more than 20.[36] The United Nations and US State Department have condemned the violence.[37][38] US Congressman Ed Royce responded to the report of violence in Cambodia by calling for Hun Sen to step down, saying that the Cambodian people deserve a better leader.[39]

On 10 June 2014, Hun Sen made a public appearance and claimed he has no health problems. He warned that if he were to die prematurely, the country would spin out of control and the opposition could expect trouble from the armed forces, saying he is the only person who can control the army.[40]

Hun Sen with India's Narendra Modi on 27 January 2018

In November 2016, Hun Sen publicly endorsed US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who went on to be elected president.[41]

Following Hun Sen's orders, on 31 January 2017, the National Assembly voted unanimously to abolish the Minority Leader and Majority Leader positions to lessen the opposition party's influence.[42] On 2 February 2017, Hun Sen barred the opposition from questioning some of his government ministers.[43] Furthermore, Hun Sen vowed a constitutional amendment which could potentially see the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party dissolved.[44] This move led to the surprise resignation of opposition leader Sam Rainsy.[45] The controversial law was passed on 20 February 2017, effectively granting the ruling party the right to dissolve political parties.[46]

On 30 June 2018, weeks before the parliamentary elections, Hun Sen appointed his second eldest son, Hun Manet, into higher military positions in a bid to prepare his son for the premiership when he retires in politics or dies, effectively solidifying the Hun political dynasty in Cambodia. Hun Sen has also been conducting image campaigns for his son, which he says was born from a 'supernatural' being and therefore, divine or godly. Political experts have said that Hun Sen's campaigns may lead Cambodia to a dynasty similar to Kim Jong-un's family of North Korea.[47]

Protesters against Hun Sen's dictatorship in Cambodia.

Some political opponents of Hun Sen have in the past tried to accuse him of being a Vietnamese puppet.[23] 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. Hun Sen and his supporters reject such charges, saying that he only represented the Cambodian people.

Hun Sen's government has been responsible for leasing 45% of the total landmass in Cambodia—primarily to foreign investors—in the years 2007-08, threatening more than 150,000 Cambodians with eviction. Parts of the concessions are protected wildlife areas or national parks,[48] and the land sales have been perceived by observers as government corruption. Already thousands of citizens have fallen victims of forced evictions.[49]

Hun Sen was implicated in corruption related to Cambodia's oil wealth and mineral resources in the Global Witness 2009 report on Cambodia. He and his close associates were accused of carrying out secret negotiations with interested private parties, taking money from those who would be granted rights to exploit the country's resources in return. The credibility of this accusation has been challenged by government officials and especially Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself.[50]

Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) has placed bans on public gatherings, driven opposition supporters from the site of former protest meetings 'Freedom Park', and deployed riot police to beat protesters and detain union leaders.[51]

Hun Sen and his political party, CPP, have held near total dominance over the mainstream media for the majority of their rule. Bayon Television is owned and operated by Hun Mana Hun Sen's eldest daughter. Apsara TV is joint-owned by Say Sam Al, CPP Minister of Environment and son of Say Chhum, CPP secretary and the son of CPP Deputy Prime Minister Sok An. CTN, CNC and MyTV are all owned by Khmer-Chinese tycoon, Neak Okhna Kith Meng, one of the State's "Okhna".[52] Okhna is a title granted by the Prime Minister or the Royal Family to high-profile businessmen, and signifies a very close friendship. Okhna are regularly summoned by the Prime Minister to provide funding for various projects.[53]

CPP officials claim that there is no connection between the TV stations and the state, despite the obvious prevalence of nepotism. However, CPP lawmaker and official spokesman Cheam Yeap once stated "We pay for that television [coverage] by buying broadcasting hours to show our achievements,"[54] indicating that those TV stations are pro-CPP because they have been paid for by the state for what is effectively advertising.

A demand for television and radio licences was one of 10 opposition requests adopted by the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) at its "People’s Congress" in October 2013.[55]

Radio stations were banned from broadcasting Voice of America and Radio Free Asia in August 2017. The country's most prominent independent newspaper Cambodia Daily was closed on September 4, 2017, a day after the main opposition leader Kem Sokha was arrested for treason, one of many activists, politicians and critics at present behind bars.[56]

Hun Sen and his wife Bun Rany at the ceremonial reception of the then Vice President of India at Peace Palace, Phnom Penh

Hun Sen is married to Bun Rany. They have 6 children: Kamsot (deceased), Manet, Mana, Manith, Mani and Mali. 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 Armed Forces (RCAF) and became the Deputy Commander of the Prime Minister's Body Guard headquarters. All three of Hun Sen's sons play big roles in his regime.[57] His older brother, Hun Neng, is a former governor of Kampong Cham and currently a member of parliament.

Although Hun Sen's official birthday is 4 April 1951, his true birth date is 5 August 1952.[3] Hun Sen is fluent in Vietnamese, in addition to his native Khmer. Hun Sen also speaks some English after beginning to learn the language in the 1990s, but usually converses in Khmer through interpreters when giving formal interviews to the English-speaking media.[58]

Hun Sen is blind in one eye because of an injury dating to his days as a Khmer Rouge soldier.[59]

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

• Alain Forest (2008), Cambodge contemporain, Indes Savantes, ISBN 2846541930 (in French)
• 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

• Media related to Hun Sen at Wikimedia Commons