Civil society groups in Cambodia have delivered a petition to the embassies of all 18 signatories of the Paris Peace Agreement, as well as the United Nations office in Phnom Penh, calling for action to safeguard Cambodia’s national sovereignty.
On Wednesday, demonstrators marched to the embassies, urging governments to honour the commitments set out in the 1991 accord, which guaranteed Cambodia’s independence and territorial integrity.
Vorn Pao, president of the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association, told reporters the petition asked the co-chairs of the agreement to convene an urgent meeting to ensure the signatories respond firmly to what he described as acts of aggression by neighbouring Thailand.
He said the Paris Peace Agreement was designed to protect Cambodia from foreign encroachment and that the submission was intended to secure international support in resolving the current border dispute with Thailand.
The petition also called for the release of 18 Cambodian soldiers captured by Thai forces and requested humanitarian intervention for civilians displaced by recent clashes along the frontier.
Ros Sotha, head of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee, spoke at the march. He said the border conflict with Thailand highlighted violations committed by Thai troops, particularly damage caused to the Preah Vihear temple, which Cambodia insists lies within its territory.
Ros Sotha added that Thai military activities, including the movement of troops and the planting of landmines, continue along Cambodia’s border provinces. He said these actions demand urgent attention from the signatories of the Paris Peace Agreement.
Meanwhile, the Thai newspaper The Nation reported that Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told his Malaysian counterpart, Anwar Ibrahim, that Bangkok preferred to resolve the dispute bilaterally rather than through international observers.
The Cambodia-Thailand border tensions have escalated into armed clashes lasting five days. Phnom Penh has described the fighting as a war of aggression, while Thailand’s Second Army Region Commander Boonsin Padklang has pledged to seize further temples inside Cambodian territory before his retirement.
