Mu Sochua: US Secretary of State will send a delegation to Cambodia

13 September 2009
By San Suwith
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

"...(Mu Sochua) is a traitor to her oath taken before she occupied her position as a Member of Parliament, she swore that she will not allow any foreign countries to disrupt, or to issue political orders both inside and outside the country..." - Phay Siphan, mouthpiece of the Council of Sinisters

Kampot SRP MP Mu Sochua indicated that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will send a high level US delegation to visit Cambodia in the near future. Furthermore, the US State Department will also review the ability of linking various conditions to aid provided by this Superpower to Cambodia.

Mrs. Mu Sochua made this statement one day after giving her testimony to the US Congress Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), and after her discussion meeting with Mrs. Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, on 11 September 2009. She indicated that Mrs. Clinton, the wife of former US President Bill Clinton, is always following up on the Cambodian MP’s situation.

Mrs. Mu Sochua indicated also that Mrs. Clinton accepted her request for the US to play a more active role than before in the review of human rights violations in Cambodia: “Following the testimony at the US Congress, as a member of Parliament who was victimized by the unfair sentencing from the Cambodia court, US Secretary of state Hillary Clinton allowed me to meet her. During the meeting, she immediately raised about the US special attention paid on my case, as well as on the current human rights situation in Cambodia. I asked Mrs. Clinton to send a high level delegation, led by the US special ambassador, set up by her when she came into office. Mrs. Clinton gave a positive answer to my request.”

Mrs. Mu Sochua said that the US will send a letter through Hor 5 Hong when the latter will visit New York at the end of September. This letter relates to the various conditions, in particular, the human rights conditions, that the US attach to its aids.

The high level US delegation that will visit Cambodia to review the human rights condition and the application of the law, will be led by Mrs. Melanne Verveer, President Barack Obama's ambassador at-large for global women's issues. Mrs. Mu Sochua indicated that she personally knew Mrs. Verveer when she was involved in women’s and children’s issues more than 10 years ago.

This US delegation will be accompanied by a deputy director of the US Department of State, as well as by other high ranking US State Department officials.

Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said that Cambodia and the US are equal in front of international law.

While harshly attacking MP Mu Sochua, Phay Siphan added that relying on foreign countries to interfere in Cambodia’s internal affairs is a betrayal of the oath taken in front of the throne: “I see that showing a good example to the Cambodian people, just like what the world sees also, is that the rule of law must be respected. Mrs. Mu Sochua did not abide by this, in particular she is a traitor to her oath taken before she occupied her position as a Member of Parliament, she swore that she will not allow any foreign countries to disrupt, or to issue political orders both inside and outside the country. I want to tell her that, at this time, we are building the rule of law, and not just the rule of law, we are also building independence and sovereignty because the Cambodian people just left a pool of blood and tears. I have a question: is Mrs. Mu Sochua participating in the building of the rule of law and the building of independence for this nation or not? Or is Mrs. Mu Sochua thinking about the past, when Cambodians was experiencing with US and the politicians of that era brought tens of thousands tons of bombs to drop on our kingdom of Cambodia? Recently, Mrs. Hillary Clinton said herself that there is a good relationship and cooperation between Cambodia and the US.”