Justice Must Be Rendered To The Victims Of The 1997 Grenade Attack

Flanked by unidentified person, Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy, right, burns incense sticks and prays at a memorial of victims of a grenade attack in front of Cambodia National Assembly, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, March 30, 2006. On the ninth anniversary of the grenade attack March 30, 1997, the opposition party on Thursday renewed their demand for a serious and independent investigation into the grenade attack that killed some 16 peaceful anti-government demonstrators and injured 114 others. (AP photo/Heng Sinith)

PUBLIC STATEMENT
March 30, 2006

JUSTICE MUST BE RENDERED TO THE VICTIMS OF THE 1997 GRENADE ATTACK

1. Today, the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP, formerly Khmer Nation Party) commemorates the ninth anniversary of the March 30, 1997 grenade attack where at least 16 of its supporters were killed and over 100 others wounded in a peaceful protest in front of the National Assembly in Phnom Penh. As every year on the same day and on the very scene of the attack, SRP members and supporters pay their respects to the memories of those who sacrificed their lives for the cause of democracy and justice.
2. The SRP asks the Royal Cambodian Government to start to seriously investigate this heinous crime in order to render justice to the victims. It reminds the Government that on March 29, 1997 it received an official authorization from them to hold its peaceful protest that was intended to demand the formation of an independent Judiciary. The authorization was signed by then Interior Co-Ministers Sar Kheng and You Hockry.
3. The SRP believes that until there is an independent Judiciary in Cambodia, there is little hope to see the perpetrators of the attack and its mastermind be brought to Court and punished according to the law.
4. The SRP will continue to strive to bring an end to the culture of impunity that prevails in Cambodia. Justice that has been delayed so far must not be denied forever. Victims of the Khmer Rouge regime and their families have been waiting for justice since 1979. Victims of the attack on the SRP-led protest and their families have also been waiting for the past nine years.
5. The SRP is convinced that only Democracy will allow the formation of an independent Judiciary. Therefore, it calls on all democrats to unite in order to bring about a democratic regime with an effective separation of powers that would allow the Judiciary to be free from political interference.
6. In order to bring about a democratic regime in Cambodia the SRP, as the only parliamentary opposition party, must absolutely win the next legislative elections in 2008.
7. In order for the SRP to win the next elections, opposition members and supporters must work harder so as to convince all Cambodians of the need for a democratic change in this lawless country. This is the only way to actually render justice to the heroic victims of the March 30, 1997 grenade attack.

SRP Members of Parliament