Mr. Kevin Doyle
Editor-in-Chief
The Cambodia Daily
129, Street 228
Phnom Penh
August 1, 2006
Dear Sir,
In "Sam Rainsy Promises To Help Relocated People" (July 31, page 15), Cambodian Center for Human Rights Director Kem Sokha is quoted as saying: "Demonstrations are his [Sam Rainsy's] career. He pushes people and when violence occurs he flees."
As a fellow democrat, I hope Kem Sokha has been misquoted. However, The Cambodia Daily could not have invented this story without any authentic indication of Kem Sokha's mindset. Human rights defender Kem Sokha now speaks exactly the same way as Prime Minister Hun Sen's supporters when blaming Sam Rainsy for organizing popular protests to defend victims of human rights abuses.
The first correction to be made is that, to my knowledge, Sam Rainsy has never pushed people to commit any act of violence. Over the last ten years, the opposition leader has led countless peaceful rallies. The only Sam Rainsy-led demonstration that ended in bloodshed was the one held -- with a written authorization from the Ministry of Interior -- in front of the National Assembly on March 30, 1997 to demand the creation of an independent judiciary. After a deadly grenade attack on the crowd of peaceful demonstrators, Sam Rainsy did not flee; he remained in the country the subsequent weeks in order to take care of the victims and their families and to collect evidence to seek justice for them before an independent court.
My second remark concerns Kem Sokha's behavior in 1998, when as an opposition politician trying but unable to flee the country at a time of crisis, he had to secretly seek refuge and to hide himself in the house of a foreign diplomat in Phnom Penh for several weeks in order to escape arrest.
Thank you for publishing my opinion.
Yours sincerely,
Keo Phirum
Phnom Penh
Phone: 012 175 7079
As a fellow democrat, I hope Kem Sokha has been misquoted. However, The Cambodia Daily could not have invented this story without any authentic indication of Kem Sokha's mindset. Human rights defender Kem Sokha now speaks exactly the same way as Prime Minister Hun Sen's supporters when blaming Sam Rainsy for organizing popular protests to defend victims of human rights abuses.
The first correction to be made is that, to my knowledge, Sam Rainsy has never pushed people to commit any act of violence. Over the last ten years, the opposition leader has led countless peaceful rallies. The only Sam Rainsy-led demonstration that ended in bloodshed was the one held -- with a written authorization from the Ministry of Interior -- in front of the National Assembly on March 30, 1997 to demand the creation of an independent judiciary. After a deadly grenade attack on the crowd of peaceful demonstrators, Sam Rainsy did not flee; he remained in the country the subsequent weeks in order to take care of the victims and their families and to collect evidence to seek justice for them before an independent court.
My second remark concerns Kem Sokha's behavior in 1998, when as an opposition politician trying but unable to flee the country at a time of crisis, he had to secretly seek refuge and to hide himself in the house of a foreign diplomat in Phnom Penh for several weeks in order to escape arrest.
Thank you for publishing my opinion.
Yours sincerely,
Keo Phirum
Phnom Penh
Phone: 012 175 7079
1 comment:
You have hit the nail on the head. I think should Kem Sokha should think twice before open his mouth because it can easily damage his reputation.
Chan Makara
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