Injured Khmer Krom monk during an altercation with Hun Sen regime's "agent provocateurs"
Trial of Venerable Tim SakhornGovernment Suppresses Peaceful Protests for Religious, Cultural, and Land Rights
(New York, January 21, 2009) - The Vietnamese government should immediately free Khmer Krom Buddhist monks and land rights activists in prison or under house arrest for the peaceful expression of their political and religious beliefs, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Khmer Krom is a large ethnic group in the Mekong Delta that is central to Vietnam-Cambodia relations.
The 125-page report, "On the Margins: Rights Abuses of Ethnic Khmer in Vietnam's Mekong Delta," documents ongoing violations of the rights of the Khmer Krom in southern Vietnam and also abuses in Cambodia against Khmer Krom who have fled there for refuge. Wary about possible Khmer Krom nationalist aspirations, Vietnam has suppressed peaceful expressions of dissent and banned Khmer Krom human rights publications. It also tightly controls the Theravada Buddhism practiced by the Khmer Krom, who see this form of Buddhism as the foundation of their distinct culture and ethnic identity.
"Vietnam's response to peaceful protests provides a window into the severe and often shrouded methods it uses to stifle dissent," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The government should be trying to engage in dialogue with the Khmer Krom, rather than throwing them in jail."
Drawing on detailed interviews with witnesses in both Vietnam and Cambodia, the report shows that Khmer Krom in Vietnam face serious restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, association, information, and movement. In researching this report, Human Rights Watch came into possession of internal memos circulated by the Communist Party of Vietnam and Vietnamese government officials outlining their concerns about unrest among Khmer Krom in the Mekong Delta and strategies to monitor, infiltrate, and silence Khmer Krom activists. The documents are included in an appendix to the report.
"The official documents we publish today lay bare the efforts by the Vietnamese government to silence critics," said Adams. "This is bare-knuckled, indefensible political repression."
"On the Margins" provides a rare, in-depth account of a protest conducted by 200 Khmer Krom Buddhist monks in Soc Trang province, Vietnam, in February 2007. Protesters called for greater religious freedom and more Khmer-language education. Although the protest was peaceful and lasted only a few hours, the Vietnamese government responded harshly. Police surrounded the pagodas of monks suspected of leading the protest. Local authorities and government-appointed Buddhist officials subsequently expelled at least 20 monks from the monkhood, forcing them to defrock and give up their monks' robes, and banishing them from their pagodas. The authorities sent the monks back to their home villages and put them under house arrest or police detention, without issuing arrest warrants or specifying the charges against them. During interrogations, police beat some of the monks.
In May 2007, the Soc Trang provincial court convicted five of the monks on charges of "disrupting traffic" and sentenced them to two to four years of imprisonment. Some of the monks were beaten during interrogation. After the demonstrations, the authorities instituted stricter surveillance of Khmer Krom activists, restricted and monitored their movements, banned their publications, and monitored their telephones.
The report also examines rights abuses of Khmer Krom who have moved to Cambodia, where they remain among Cambodia's most disenfranchised groups. Because they are often perceived as ethnic Vietnamese by Cambodians, many Khmer Krom in Cambodia face social and economic discrimination and unnecessary hurdles to legalizing their status.
The Cambodian government has repeatedly stated that it considers the Khmer Krom to be Cambodian citizens. Yet the Cambodian authorities often react harshly when Khmer Krom become too critical of the Vietnamese government, a close ally of the Cambodian government. In 2007, Cambodian police forcefully dispersed a series of protests in Phnom Penh by Khmer Krom monks denouncing the rights abuses they had experienced in Vietnam.
In February 2007, a Khmer Krom monk, Eang Sok Thoeun, was killed in suspicious circumstances after he participated in a protest in Phnom Penh. In June 2007, Cambodian authorities arrested, defrocked, and deported to Vietnam a Khmer Krom activist monk, Tim Sakhorn, who was sentenced in Vietnam to a year in prison. Human Rights Watch called on the Cambodian government to investigate thoroughly the killing of Eang Sok Thoeun, and on the Vietnamese government to allow Tim Sakhorn, placed under house arrest in Vietnam after his release from prison in May 2008, to return to his home in Cambodia if he chooses.
"The killing, imprisonment, and defrocking of Khmer Krom monks sends a chilling message to Khmer Krom activists in both Cambodia and Vietnam," said Adams. "An ethnic group that should enjoy the protection of two countries finds itself stripped of protection by both."
(New York, January 21, 2009) - The Vietnamese government should immediately free Khmer Krom Buddhist monks and land rights activists in prison or under house arrest for the peaceful expression of their political and religious beliefs, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Khmer Krom is a large ethnic group in the Mekong Delta that is central to Vietnam-Cambodia relations.
The 125-page report, "On the Margins: Rights Abuses of Ethnic Khmer in Vietnam's Mekong Delta," documents ongoing violations of the rights of the Khmer Krom in southern Vietnam and also abuses in Cambodia against Khmer Krom who have fled there for refuge. Wary about possible Khmer Krom nationalist aspirations, Vietnam has suppressed peaceful expressions of dissent and banned Khmer Krom human rights publications. It also tightly controls the Theravada Buddhism practiced by the Khmer Krom, who see this form of Buddhism as the foundation of their distinct culture and ethnic identity.
"Vietnam's response to peaceful protests provides a window into the severe and often shrouded methods it uses to stifle dissent," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The government should be trying to engage in dialogue with the Khmer Krom, rather than throwing them in jail."
Drawing on detailed interviews with witnesses in both Vietnam and Cambodia, the report shows that Khmer Krom in Vietnam face serious restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, association, information, and movement. In researching this report, Human Rights Watch came into possession of internal memos circulated by the Communist Party of Vietnam and Vietnamese government officials outlining their concerns about unrest among Khmer Krom in the Mekong Delta and strategies to monitor, infiltrate, and silence Khmer Krom activists. The documents are included in an appendix to the report.
"The official documents we publish today lay bare the efforts by the Vietnamese government to silence critics," said Adams. "This is bare-knuckled, indefensible political repression."
"On the Margins" provides a rare, in-depth account of a protest conducted by 200 Khmer Krom Buddhist monks in Soc Trang province, Vietnam, in February 2007. Protesters called for greater religious freedom and more Khmer-language education. Although the protest was peaceful and lasted only a few hours, the Vietnamese government responded harshly. Police surrounded the pagodas of monks suspected of leading the protest. Local authorities and government-appointed Buddhist officials subsequently expelled at least 20 monks from the monkhood, forcing them to defrock and give up their monks' robes, and banishing them from their pagodas. The authorities sent the monks back to their home villages and put them under house arrest or police detention, without issuing arrest warrants or specifying the charges against them. During interrogations, police beat some of the monks.
In May 2007, the Soc Trang provincial court convicted five of the monks on charges of "disrupting traffic" and sentenced them to two to four years of imprisonment. Some of the monks were beaten during interrogation. After the demonstrations, the authorities instituted stricter surveillance of Khmer Krom activists, restricted and monitored their movements, banned their publications, and monitored their telephones.
The report also examines rights abuses of Khmer Krom who have moved to Cambodia, where they remain among Cambodia's most disenfranchised groups. Because they are often perceived as ethnic Vietnamese by Cambodians, many Khmer Krom in Cambodia face social and economic discrimination and unnecessary hurdles to legalizing their status.
The Cambodian government has repeatedly stated that it considers the Khmer Krom to be Cambodian citizens. Yet the Cambodian authorities often react harshly when Khmer Krom become too critical of the Vietnamese government, a close ally of the Cambodian government. In 2007, Cambodian police forcefully dispersed a series of protests in Phnom Penh by Khmer Krom monks denouncing the rights abuses they had experienced in Vietnam.
In February 2007, a Khmer Krom monk, Eang Sok Thoeun, was killed in suspicious circumstances after he participated in a protest in Phnom Penh. In June 2007, Cambodian authorities arrested, defrocked, and deported to Vietnam a Khmer Krom activist monk, Tim Sakhorn, who was sentenced in Vietnam to a year in prison. Human Rights Watch called on the Cambodian government to investigate thoroughly the killing of Eang Sok Thoeun, and on the Vietnamese government to allow Tim Sakhorn, placed under house arrest in Vietnam after his release from prison in May 2008, to return to his home in Cambodia if he chooses.
"The killing, imprisonment, and defrocking of Khmer Krom monks sends a chilling message to Khmer Krom activists in both Cambodia and Vietnam," said Adams. "An ethnic group that should enjoy the protection of two countries finds itself stripped of protection by both."
7 comments:
this communist regime(vietnam) always talking about improving relationship with cambodian or try their utmost effort to build a strong relationship with cambodian. yet, behind the curtain they're oppressing khmer khrom with no freedom what so ever. The Cambodian gov't should raised this issue with the Vietnamese counterpart to stop oppress Khmer Krom Federation. They should be treated the same way like the vietnamese people living in Cambodia. I dont know why the Cambodian Gov't is so weak or afraid to raise this issue with their master of Hanoi...What a shame. If this basterd wants to be friend with Cambodia they should stop pretending like there is nothing going on back in Khmer Krom land. You cant hide.
hun sen regime systematically oppresses against Khmer krom as they did against the montagnard people. The same thing happened during polpot time. I believe these Khmer rouge just listen to supreme order and policy of their viet masters which is to suppress all Khmer krom and montagnard people who viets want to eliminate from the surface of the world. Khmer rouge always paint Khmer krom or those they want to eliminate as viets or cia ect while they rescue real viets from the killing field to srok yuons waiting that khmer rouge well killed all khmer before these yuons come back to settle in Cambodia after 7 jan 79.
No need to ask why?
What I want to tell Khmer krom people is that, Khmer krom should not feel resentment or disappointment against Khmer as the whole because there are few yuon killing tools who themselves as khmer but executed khmer krom for yuons. These yuon killing tools didn't present khmer but just yuon killing tools the same as the rest of Khmer rouge, created, indoctrinated and handled by yuons to serve yuon political assassination against Khmer and those yuons want to exterminate. The rest of Khmer, your real brothers and sisters feel your suffering as their own. Each coup carry against any Khmer by yuons or their killing tools they take it like their own.
Khmer krom and all people victims of yuons crimes must dare to stand against yuons to defend their rights and life. You are not destined to born victims of viet crimes
The same, I dont think we should treat Khmer krom in South Viet or in Cambodia equal to viets because viets in Cambodia come as invaders and assassins. These yuons can come in Cambodia because yuons have lead genocide against Khmer people to free land and natural resources for these yuons while Khmer krom are native of Kampuchea krom and Cambodia. They are legitimated people of their own land and country while yuons are assassins and invaders. Most of all, yuons didn’t earn it by pacific way by killing other to rob their place. These two things are different and merit different consideration and treatment
Here's what really happened to the monks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loqwzBQrQqo
So you guy always want khmer phnom penh go back to pol pot regime again.You never thought khmer were killed by pol pot.
I don't think anyone wants to go back to live under Communist like Pol Pot, but people still believed that Khmers killed by Vietnamese_Thai ideology of expansion of their territories. The two nations have joined together to get rid of Cambodia. They both were the mighty conspirators.
The Khmer Rouge factions were the objects of the internal objects./.
Hirohito, the murderer helped Vietnam behind and Mahidol King of Thailand joined with Vietnam Communist to wipe out Cambodia, US and UK were unhappy to see King Mahidol went with Communist, and may be he was assassinated by gun shot in his own bedroom because of his committment to Communist. What do you expect Mahidol was born in German and educated in Europe whereas his young brother Aduljadeh was born in the US became King until today.
The West lost war to Communists and Mahidol paid a heavy price, DEATH.
King Sihanouk saw and knew it he took a different avenue, then CIA went after him after the US knew he created Lon Nol and intellectual KR.
There are a lot of sources you can find to read and learn about and why I think this KRT is no use but only fulfill the pockets to those who need salaries.
King Aduljadeh did not kill his own brother, but he cannot say until today for the sake of his nation. See why the King is sad and never smiled. Because million people are relying on his leadership to keep them safe the same as King Sihanouk.
Did King Aduljadeh conspire to assassinate his brother?
12:12AM - do you have some references or reading materials to share with us?
There were two sides who killed King Mahidol.
1- Communist (KGB, the god father of Pridi.)
2- Capitalist (CIA, the god father of King Aduljadeh).
King Sihanouk saw and he run off to China before KGB and CIA can get him. Sihanouk created Lon Nol and created Intellectual KR.
When Sihanouk returned during KR, Vietnamese tried to kill him, then thing went ugly.
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