Monday, August 17, 2009

Women Linked Arms Around Cambodia's Mu Sochua

(Photo: SRP)

08/16/09
By Stephanie Guyer-Stevens
Women's eNews
correspondent


When Cambodia's opposition politician Mu Sochua was given a guilty verdict in early August riot police in Phnom Penh were ready to quell protesters. As part of Sochua's inner circle that day, Stephanie Guyer-Stevens offers an eyewitness account.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (WOMENSENEWS)--It's monsoon season here and dawns often bring a sodden feeling and gray rain.

But on August 4, when Mu Sochua arrived at the Phnom Penh courthouse, the air crackled with intensity.

As the world knows by now, the Cambodian member of parliament and internationally-renowned leader in women's rights was given a guilty verdict for defamation against Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, leader of the majority Cambodian People's Party.

Human rights groups have denounced the verdict as politically biased and Sochua's supporters showed up to signal their support.

I was among them.

Chanthol Oung, founder of Cambodia Women's Crisis Center, is a friend and close ally of Sochua.

She and I had worked closely over the years. When Oung learned about Sochua's impending verdict, she knew how critical the outcome would be for Cambodia. So she asked me to go as an international witness and to document the proceedings. I knew about Sochua and her work but had never met her.

My co-worker Rachel Leventhal and I left San Francisco on July 31, arriving in Phnom Penh August 2. The next day, the day before the verdict, Sochua came to meet us at my hotel. As soon as we met, Sochua took us into her inner circle and requested that we document the verdict from the inside as much as possible.

We ate ice cream on the verandah of my hotel, talked about the case and the current political climate in Cambodia.

Determinedly Unafraid
Sochua was relaxed, friendly, outgoing. She seemed determined to not be moved into fear.

She asked us to meet her early the next morning at party headquarters, as we would travel with her to the courthouse to hear her verdict.

Early the next day at the party headquarters, we bundled into Sochua's car, along with a cameraman from German television, and drove across Phnom Penh through the quiet gray morning.

Getting out of the car, we were greeted with a crowd of about 50 journalists and hundreds of supporters filled the intersection.

About a dozen policemen on the scene were visibly edgy.

After the court adjourned, police tried to prevent Sochua from speaking to the crowd and tried to block journalists from approaching her.

Rather than engage in confrontation, Sam Rainsy, the leader of the opposition party that carries his name and of which Sochua is a member, quietly told the group to continue walking--and they did.

One to two hundred of Sochua's party members and supporters, surrounded by journalists, staged an impromptu march to the Independence Monument, Cambodia's symbol of democracy and freedom. The monument was erected after the overthrow of French colonial rule in 1954. The march ended back at party headquarters, a walk of about two to three miles.

One man walked almost the whole way on crutches, until finally someone gave him a ride on the back of a motorbike.

Police and Military Forces Grew

The longer we walked the larger the police and military force grew around us.

A core group of us, which included members of the Women's Wing of the Sam Rainsy Party, ended up linking arms to stay together and to surround Sochua, who led the way carrying a candle.

It was fitting that Sochua attracted this envelope of female supporters.

As one of Cambodia's first female lawmakers, along with Chanthol Oung, Sochua helped to write the Cambodian Constitution, which includes laws opposed to discrimination against women.

Sochua was the first head of the Ministry of Women for the newly formed democracy. After she stepped down from that role in 2007, she joined party politics, campaigning with the Sam Rainsy Party to represent her home district, Kampot Province, in Parliament.

She has received numerous international awards for her work on human rights, particularly for her efforts to stop sex trafficking, and has been a vocal women's rights advocate both in Cambodia and internationally for decades.

But in that group of women, she saw herself, and was seen, as a sister.

Each time we reached a major intersection the police tried to break our intertwined arms.

It became a civil rights march, where we tried to exercise the freedoms of democratic people. Our treatment proved the limitations of that freedom.

After about three hours, we neared the Independence Monument. As the march went on, the numbers of police continued to grow, with increasing degrees of weaponry. At times they tried to separate us from each other.

Some men were pulled out of our group. The police and military managed to isolate my group; a knot of about 10 with Sochua at its center.

We marched ahead. Now, instead having supporters all around us, we were in the middle of police in riot gear.

"They're protecting us," one woman joked.

As we got closer to the monument the police stepped up their force against us. They pushed in on us with their riot shields to stop our movement on all sides.
Sochua Never Faltered

It was hard to continue but Sochua, in the lead, never faltered.

The rest of us gripped each other's arms ever more tightly and continued to walk forward.

Finally the group of marchers behind us managed to catch up.

By the time we reached the Independence Monument, Rainsy, other party members, supporters and the flock of journalists were back together with us.

During the march, calm had reigned.

But after arriving at party headquarters several hours later, emotions ran high. There was elation at getting back safely mixed with anger over the injuries of the men who had been protecting us.

We had seen the police roughing a few people up along the way, but didn't know the extent of the injuries until we arrived back at party headquarters. Eventually all the men who had been injured also made it back.

We had also seen some other Westerners--possibly human rights observers--get singled out by the police along the way. But when we asked around party headquarters afterwards no one knew who they were. We only knew that, in the end, there were no arrests.

Many said they felt demoralized by the guilty verdict.

"Today is a day of darkness for Cambodia," said Sochua. "The guilty verdict is a clear result of the politicization of the courts."

After leaving her 2007 post as director of the Ministry of Women, Sochua, who is the mother of three girls, ran for election as a member of parliament for the Sam Rainsy Party, building her campaign among the country's most disenfranchised: as the representative of the very rural Kampot Province.

Since then, she has continued to steadily reach out to the common people of Cambodia, employing an Obama-style strategy of building on the grassroots.

After the march, I asked Sochua about the crowd of people in the streets closest to the party headquarters. Was this the neighborhood with the most supporters for their party? She emphasized to me that all of Cambodia was supportive of the opposition party, but most were afraid to speak out.

"The opposition party is not the minority," Sochua said after the rally. "We are the voice of all the people of Cambodia, but most people are afraid to speak for fear of reprisal. That is why I must do what I do. I voice their concerns."

Escalating Conflict

The verdict was the latest episode in an increasingly heightened exchange between Hun Sen and Sochua over the past year.

In April of 2008, Sochua confronted Cambodian People's Party officials for illegally using government vehicles and staff when she came across them campaigning in the countryside in her provincial district. The officials were driving a government car to campaign for Hun Sen for the July 2008 election.

Sochua attempted to take a picture of the car but the officials forcibly stopped her, ripping her shirt open in the process. Sochua then tried to hold on to the car until someone could take a photograph. The car began to drive away, towing her several meters until she let go.

Later that month, Hun Sen gave a speech to her party's supporters, in which he described Sochua as "strong leg," a term considered degrading towards women.

She sued him for defamation.

Hun Sen countersued claiming that he wasn't referring to her in his speech and that her lawsuit constituted defamation of his role of Prime Minister.

At the courthouse on August 4, police blockaded all journalists and all but a handful of Sam Rainsy Party members from going into the courtroom with Sochua. The verdict only took about 15 minutes.

Most likely due to unexpected international attention to the case, Sochua's punishment was relatively light: a little more than $4,000. Sochua has said she will appeal the fine.

Many human rights groups in Cambodia see Sochua's guilty verdict as another sign of escalating oppression by the ruling party.

"This verdict is a significant blow to freedom of expression," said Naly Pilorge, director of LICADHO, a Cambodian human rights nonprofit.

Pilorge predicted that the verdict will discourage members of the National Assembly from publicly speaking their minds. "It is yet another example of the perilous state of democratic freedoms in Cambodia," she said in a briefing after the march.

Stephanie Guyer-Stevens is executive producer of Outer Voices. She has been documenting women's rights leaders in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands since 2003.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now, she has a voice; very strong one--and everyone around the globe is behind you. In retrospect, I'm glad Hun Sen decided to take you to court based on his groundless law suit, and at the same time, he created the opportunity for you and the rest of us.

--Janitor

Anonymous said...

Disgrace Mu Sochua’s problem all along, is that she is trying to be a politician. She's not, never has been and quite obviously, never will be. She should have just been herself, provide alternative policies and show Khmer people what a great alternative MP opposition she would be. Instead, her foray into being a politician has been a disaster. She comes across as pretending to be something she's not. Now, her political career is on the line and herself also in the hot water.

While the nation is facing complex economic, social and environmental issues disgrace Mu Sochua tried to promote her political stunt, aimed to get media attention. If this wasn’t such a clear demonstration of her selfish pursuit of personal ambition it would be laughable. There is no doubt that Mu Sochua has no real regard for the best interest of the nation. She is driven solely by a desire to become a “Champion of Women or new Aung San Suu Kyi” by any means available to her, even if that has the potential to destabilize the country. Even worse she now says that she will appeal her case against Prime Minister Hun Sen to the Appeal court following the announcement of her guilty verdict by the Phnom Penh municipal Court.

People of integrity admit their faults, make amends and are judged fairly...Disgrace Mu Sochua is lacking in integrity and common sense and tries to change Cambodia into her own world. As long as Cambodia’s Court doesn’t issue any verdict which is fitted for her political stunt, she will scream for the justice all day long.

May God bless Samdach Hun Sen and the CPP (The winner party)

Khmer Australian

Anonymous said...

1:34 PM

I will personally lynch you when your master is toppled--remember that, kid.

--Janitor

Anonymous said...

ករណីអ្នកស្រី មូ សុខហួរ គឺគ្រាន់តែជាល្បិចកល
នយោបាយមួយរបស់គាត់ក្នុងការឆ្លៀតយក
ចំណេញខាងនយោបាយដល់គណៈបក្សប្រឆាំង
ដែលប្រជាជនខ្មែរអស់មានជំនឿរលើអ្នកប្រឆាំង
ប្រុសៗខ្លៈទៅហើយដោយសារការរត់ចុៈចូលជា
មួយគណៈបក្សប្រជាជនកន្លងមកនេះ។
ដោយសំអាងយកលេសជាភេទស្រ្តី អ្នកស្រី មូ សុខហួរ សង្ឃឹមថាទាក់ទាញមតិក្រុមអ្នកអគតិ
ដែលស្អប់គណៈបក្សប្រជាជនរួចទៅហើយនោះ
ដើម្បីយកលេសវាយប្រហារលើបក្សប្រជាជន
បន្ថែមទៀត។ ដូច្នេះគេគួរតែឈប់ផ្តល់សេចក្កី
សំខាន់ដល់រឿងនេះដែលនាំងបំពុលបរិយាកាស
សង្គមខ្មែរយើងបង្កើតជាភាពអាប់អួរដោយសារ
គំនិតប្រយោជន៏ផ្ទាល់របស់ក្រុមអ្នកប្រឆាំងដែល
តែងយកការបង្ខូចកិត្តិយសប្រទេសជាតិខ្លួន
ជាដើមទុនក្នុងការរកជំនួយថវិការឧបត្ថម្ភក្រុម
និងបក្សពួករបស់ខ្លួនដែលបណ្តោយឲ្យបរទេស
កាន់តែបានចិត្តមើលងាយខ្មែរជាបន្តទៅទៀត។

Thes Meas said...

Mu Sochua told Guyer-Stevens," all Cambodians behind the oppositions".
Mu Sochua that was pure lied.
Mu Sochua do not make Cambodia look bad any more, you make Cambodia look bad enough already.
measthes@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

2:28 PM

There’s a paucity of great leaders in Cambodia because of the dearth of good governance in Cambodia, that's when this audacious and tenacious leader comes in to play--I give you "Mu Sochua."

Folks, she's (and her colleague)the only hope to save our depleted natural resources.

--Janitor

Anonymous said...

Disgrace Khmer Australian
You have been brainwashed by your Master and his CPP ( Corrupted People's Party )
You and your Master are just like Khmer Rouge when they were in charge of the country . They thought they will last forever and no one could do anything to them , but now they are in jail feelling sorry for what they did. Disgrace Khmer Australian, you and your Master will get the samething .. sooner or later .

Anonymous said...

measthes@yahoo.com
If Mu Sockua made Cambodia look bad why did people around the world support her and blame Hun Sen instead of Mu Sockua ? Are you talking from your head or your heart according to who you like regardless of what happened ? I havent seen any NGO, UN or people outside the CPP support Hun Sen for what he did to Mu Sockua and to Opposition supporters. Does that tell you anything Measthes@yahoo.com ?

Anonymous said...

Well it’s past midnight and it’s Tuesday morning in Cambodia. Mu Sochua has lost of people back her up. She has her White man who cans helps and provides suggestion to fuck over Cambodia again. Two hours Body!...We can wipe the whole country and you can’t escape to ask for help. Who sues Samdech Deychu Hun Sen first? Who causes problem? Answer my question!. There was a little thing during his speech, Mu Sochua sues Hun Sen. Hey don’t be ashamed. An Egg don’t hit a Rock. Don’t you think you are tough and want to be famous. You can’t Mu Sochua I can’t stand to hear your voice.

(for those who write long sentense I will not read it. If you think you are perfect and can write, I would sugget public your comment into a book)

Angkorianma Krama Man

Anonymous said...

Do I want to go and visit Cambodia anytime soon? No. boycott Cambodian tourisism. don't go there for the next few years.

Anonymous said...

Dear ah youn krohom ankarian 1:06AM your comment it doesn't make senses ,you forget to take your crazy peel? My suggestion to you go to get the mouse killer and drink it because you are suck.

Anonymous said...

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គាត់បានរួចផុតអំពីរបបពលពតគឺដោយសារគណបក្សប្រជាជនដែលលោកបានជួយឲ្យផុតពីបនប្រល័យពូជសាស្រ្តមិនមែនលោកស្រីមួសុខហួជួយពួកគាត់ទេដួច្នេះសូមលោកស្រីកុំសូវសង្ឃឹមពេក។
ប្រជាពលរដ្ធខ្មែរមិនបានរស់នៅស្រុកកំណើតមែន
ប៉ុន្តែពួកគាត់យល់ដឹងណាស់ថាតើបក្សណាបានធ្វើឲ្យប្រទេសរីកចម្រើនហើយគណបក្សណាធ្វើឲ្យខ្មែរ
ហិនហោច។បើគណបក្សប្រជាជនមិនឲ្យលោកស្រី
ចូលស្រុកក៏លោកស្រីពុំអាចធ្វើអ្វីគេបានទេពីព្រោះ
លោកស្រីធ្វើនយោបាយប្រឆាំងរដ្ធាភិបាលមានន័យថាលោកស្រីជាជនក្បត់ជាតិហើយកុំសូវខំពេក
ល្មមៗបានហើយខ្មែរមិនបានសុខយួរហើយសូមកុំ
ខ្មែរពិបាកទៀត។

Anonymous said...

thank god, cambodia isn't like the olden days when demonstration like this is unheard of or unprecedented under the previous regimes even going back before the stupid KR era. any way. thank god that cambodia is blessed and changed so much since then. of course, cambodia will continue to reform and evolves into economic prosperity, etc... god bless our beloved cambodia and all our beautiful khmer people and citizens.

Anonymous said...

Cambodia has so many potential for tourist to visit Cambodia. Cambodia is saved; we have many modern hotels and other place for you to visit to. In Phnom Penh is whatever you want it to be. It can be the gracious host, showing off its historic and cultural interests. It can be a family destination, with comfortable and affordable accommodation in Cambodia. Cambodia is welcomed you all the time.

Angkorianma Krama Man

Anonymous said...

3:12AM
You lure us to die under Hun Sen dictator country ? Must be the day that we are stupid as your self ,the world know verywell that is suck to go to your democrazy planet Cambodia the black is become white.
Keep up on your preaching

Anonymous said...

Hey 3:36 AM,

You are making the country to look bad. Cambodia is not the only country has corrupted. You only know about Cambodia, you don't know what the other country like.

AngkorianKM

Anonymous said...

Hey 3:36 AM,

You are making the country to look bad. Cambodia is not the only country has corrupted. You only know about Cambodia, you don't know what the other country like.

AngkorianKM

Anonymous said...

3:47Am
I am reside in Cambodia I wanted to see the Cambodia is a good place to live. If others countries eating shit you wanted Cambodia does it too,why don't you just start to eat shit first so the others folks can follow you?

Anonymous said...

To 4:19 AM,

If you are residing in Cambodia, you know what has been changed the past years. You are talking about eating 'Shit' wouldn't you like to eat first then I'll follow you. Sure! you can eat 'Shit' and suck my Khmer cum!

AngkorianM Krama Man

Anonymous said...

Hey youn troller4:19AM
Did you the one who start Cambodia not only the corrupt country?
That is just my request ,why you get piss,actually you are not a stupid as your comment,you know what is wright and what is wrong but it turn to pick which is to defense you take the corrupt leader Hun Sen,you comment is conflict with your thinking so the conclusion you are one of the corrupt officer that suck Cambodian blood to enrich to your self as well as the others Hun 's clans.

Anonymous said...

MAN look!...you keep making Cambodia down to hell. Yes Cambodia is not the ONLY country that is corrupted. You only know about your own country. My friend watch more news okay? Stop making bad on Cambodia. You should be taking care of your family.

AngkorianKrama Man

Anonymous said...

Egg should not smash with rock should be out of date. Cambodian people should not remain small or as egg forever by this theory. Just because they are government or holding big position that doesn't mean they are always right or able to do whatever they want. They do bad thing or disrespect other people, they need to come down. Everyone should stand up and demand for their right just like Ms. Mu Sochua

Anonymous said...

Hey Mr. youn rouge who can speak khmer 6:45AM.
I would inform you that today date is the modern day not at youn rouge time ,you wanted to shut ours up it must be the day.
The junk people like you should be demolish,because compare to the long worm(teniya) you worse why Cambodia is shrinking and continuous to be vanished because of ah koun me yiekcong like u.
Got it?

Anonymous said...

Mu Sochua is Khmer Ang San Suyi. She is audacious and tenacious woman who dare stand up for justice and doesn't hide her fear like other Khmers.