"What The Government Decides, We Have To Respect."

What was lost in the controversy regarding the shutting down earlier this week of the Miss Landmine Pageant in Cambodia, is the issue of the power of the government to do just that. The Minister of Social Affairs for the government of Cambodia just declared definitively that the pageant would not go forward, deeming it to be in questionable taste. And that, my friends, was the end of the discussion on the matter.

Think about that. And think about the freedoms that we have that others around the world do not.

A citizen of Norway, Morten Traavik, desired to expand the Miss Angola Landmine pageant to Cambodia, a country that has a lamentable battle with land mines. The desire was to bring further attention to this issue, while changing the public perception of the beauty of people with disabilities.

Public pressure didn't force Traavik to shut it down. The government didn't just condemn it -- it legally barred the pageant from occurring. Without question, and without appeal.

And now the government of Cambodia has taken it even one step further.

Traavik, disappointed that the government will not allow the pageant to continue, wanted to do something to support the young women who had prepared themselves to participate in this year's pageant. His goal was to hold a dinner, a banquet, to honor them, and to award each of them a gift of $200.

The Government says he can't even do that. In fact, the government has instructed its "provincial offices" to offer no assistance to the women in their efforts to travel to Phnom Penh to attend the banquet.

They can't even have a banquet! So sayeth the Minster of Social Affairs. And imagine having to notify the government every time you wanted to travel anywhere.

"If they refuse to let me meet with Cambodian citizens ... as a private person, that is an even more blatant example of an authoritarian system," Traavik said.

Regardless of this ridiculous, repressive decision, Traavik feels that he must comply:

"I'm a Norwegian citizen.... But for my Cambodian friends and partners, I have to put their well-being in front of everything else," he said.

Worse still, Cambodia's top disability rights group, the Cambodian Disabled People's Organisation (CPDO), turned their back on the pageant as well. The CPDO not only withdrew their support from Traavik, they put out a statement PRAISING the Minister for shutting down a pageant they had previously supported!

"We would like to express our gratitude for the valuable recommendations of ... [Minister of Social Affairs] Ith Sam Heang, who offered his timely advice to the CDPO," the statement read.

Way to hang in there and fight, CPDO! ADAPT would hang its head in shame.

The CPDO then clearly acknowledged that if the rights of Cambodians with disabilities are being trampled by the government, people shouldn't expect the CPDO to do anything about it.

CDPO's executive director, Ngin Saorath, said that the organisation works closely with the ministry on a variety of projects and must maintain good relations. "What the government decides, we have to respect," he said.

God Bless America.