Om Yengtieng: Corruption Denial

On Tuesday June 2, 2009,Prime Minister’s Human Rights adviser Om Yengtieng organized a press conference to deny corruption comment made by US Ambassador Carol Rodley during an anti-corruption event in Phnom Penh three days earlier.

During his speech, Om Yengtieng refers to a unattributed survey done before 2008 in which he claims Cambodian citizens expressed  opinions on corruption, such has:

• Corruption is not a fundamental issue in society (1:15min into the clip)
• Corruption is not such that big of a deal anyway (3:08min into the clip)
• Reeducation his better than prosecution (7:40min into the clip)

Near the end, Om Yengtieng adds:

You asked whether cambodia has corruption or not. I never said cambodia has no corruption […] but endemic corruption as they[critics] accuses, this I can not accept.

For a more independent view on corruption, visit Transparency International, which in September 2008 ranked  Cambodian the 14th most corrupt country in the world.

Corruption has been flagged as one of the most important issue in Cambodia by its generous international donors. Yet, the Cambodian government’s denial (demonstrated in video above), lack of action against corruption and failure to pass the anti-graft law for over a decade has not affected the yearly flow of pledged money.