Cambodian police have stopped American actress Mia Farrow holding a rally at a former Khmer Rouge prison.
Her group was pushed away from a barricade as they tried to lay flowers to commemorate victims of genocide.
Ms Farrow, who is working with the US-based advocacy group Dream for Darfur, was in Cambodia as part of a seven-nation tour of places that have suffered genocide to call attention to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
"My heart - our hearts - are breaking for what happened in Cambodia today, especially for the survivors of genocide," Ms Farrow said after the stand-off with police near Tuol Sleng prison, the Khmer Rouge's main torture centre during its genocidal rule in the 1970s.
Ms Farrow had planned to light an Olympic-style torch at the site to press China to use its influence on the Sudanese government to end abuses in Darfur. China, the next Olympic host, is one of Sudan's major trading partners.
The Cambodian government banned the ceremony several days ago, calling it a political stunt to smear China.
Dozens of police sealed off all roads leading to the former prison, which is now a genocide museum in the capital, Phnom Penh. More than a hundred supporters and onlookers turned out to watch the stand-off and take pictures of the Hollywood star, who had vowed to defy the ban.
When Ms Farrow and seven other activists arrived at one of the barricades, about 170 yards from the museum's gate, they refused to go away and linked their arms in a human chain. Ms Farrow held a bunch of white lotus flowers, a traditional offering for the dead in Cambodia.
Police pushed the group back, shouting, "Go! Go! Go!" and blowing whistles. Miss Farrow and the others eventually backed away and drove off. No-one was hurt or arrested, organisers said.
"Our goal was to deliver these flowers in deepest respect ... to honour those who have perished here in Cambodia and in Darfur and in all genocides everywhere," Ms Farrow said.
Her group was pushed away from a barricade as they tried to lay flowers to commemorate victims of genocide.
Ms Farrow, who is working with the US-based advocacy group Dream for Darfur, was in Cambodia as part of a seven-nation tour of places that have suffered genocide to call attention to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
"My heart - our hearts - are breaking for what happened in Cambodia today, especially for the survivors of genocide," Ms Farrow said after the stand-off with police near Tuol Sleng prison, the Khmer Rouge's main torture centre during its genocidal rule in the 1970s.
Ms Farrow had planned to light an Olympic-style torch at the site to press China to use its influence on the Sudanese government to end abuses in Darfur. China, the next Olympic host, is one of Sudan's major trading partners.
The Cambodian government banned the ceremony several days ago, calling it a political stunt to smear China.
Dozens of police sealed off all roads leading to the former prison, which is now a genocide museum in the capital, Phnom Penh. More than a hundred supporters and onlookers turned out to watch the stand-off and take pictures of the Hollywood star, who had vowed to defy the ban.
When Ms Farrow and seven other activists arrived at one of the barricades, about 170 yards from the museum's gate, they refused to go away and linked their arms in a human chain. Ms Farrow held a bunch of white lotus flowers, a traditional offering for the dead in Cambodia.
Police pushed the group back, shouting, "Go! Go! Go!" and blowing whistles. Miss Farrow and the others eventually backed away and drove off. No-one was hurt or arrested, organisers said.
"Our goal was to deliver these flowers in deepest respect ... to honour those who have perished here in Cambodia and in Darfur and in all genocides everywhere," Ms Farrow said.
1 comment:
This kind of ban is to prove that Hun Sen government is very immatured and is not an independent Government. Cambodian various fractions have signed a peace agreement in 1991 with many other countries to elect a Democracy Government but until now this government is still not working yet. We still have a Government installed by Vietnam and by a mafia style government. Areak Prey
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