Letter to H.E. Ban Ki-Moon

October 23, 2010

The Honorable Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary General of United Nations United Nations

Room DC1 -640 New York, NY 10017

Dear His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-Moon:

We, the Cambodian people in Cambodia and around the world, would like to call to your attention continuous violations of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1991. We would like to call upon your Excellency, as a secretary-general of the United Nations and co-president of signatories of the Paris Peace Treaty, along with all other participating countries who signed this treaty on 23 October 1991, to look into the continuous violations of that Treaty by the Vietnamese government and present dictatorial Cambodian government led by Hun Sen.

We refer to article 8 of the Paris Peace Treaty. Addressing the withdrawal of foreign forces out of Cambodia, it is stated that “Immediately upon entry into force of this Agreement, any foreign forces, advisers, and military personnel remaining in Cambodia, together with their weapons, ammunition, and equipment, shall be withdrawn from Cambodia and not be returned. Such withdrawal and non-return will be subject to UNTAC verification in accordance with annex 2”. However, Vietnam currently continues to violate this agreement by hiding both Vietnamese agents, disguised as civilians, and uniformed soldiers who exist in Cambodia with the full support of Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

In addition, supplementary treaty by King Sihamoni signed a supplementary treaty, on 10 October 2005, which rendered the treaties between Hun Sen and Vietnam of 1979, 1980, 1982 and 1985 to be officially legal, and which is constitutionally contradicted to the spirit of the Paris Peace Agreement of 23 October 1991 which has already nullified these illegal treaties as stated in article I that; “To terminate treaties and agreements which are incompatible with its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and inviolability, neutrality, and national unity.” This action audaciously revokes an international agreement facilitated by the United Nations, subsequently discounting the authority of the UN, which is plainly unacceptable and poses a danger to the world.

Section 3, article 15, paragraph 1 of the Paris Peace agreement states that “All persons in Cambodia and all Cambodian refugees and displaced persons shall enjoy the rights and freedoms embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant international human rights instruments”. However, the Hun Sen regime continues to openly violate the rights and freedoms of Cambodians. This is clearly evident the case of the hand grenade on opposition demonstrators on March 30, 1997, causing 16 deaths and 160 injuries, and the coup d’ État on 5-6 July 1997 killing around 300 persons of the opposition party.

The Hun Sen regime continually violates Cambodia’s freedom of expression and speech. In addition to oppressing its people, there is overwhelming evidence that the CPP has eliminated these very important leading humanitarian voices through murder: Chea Vichea, Kim Sambo, and many others who dared to oppose his regime. This dictatorial regime is also continuously carrying out unlawful evictions for land-grabbing, leaving thousands of Cambodians homeless nation-wide up to the present-day.

These are severe violations of the Paris Peace Treaty and the constitution of the Cambodian Royal government that urgently deserve serious attention from the international community.

For these reasons, we urge you, the Secretary-general of the United Nations and the signatory of the Paris Peace Accord, to re-examine and to implement all measures of the 1991 Paris Treaty, so that Cambodia can experience true freedom, sovereignty, independence, and the protection of human rights, as stated in the Paris Peace Accord dated 23 October 1991.

Thank you for your prompt consideration of this matter.

Respectfully yours,

Vong, Khemarin

The Undersigned Cambodian people in Cambodia and around the world

Mr. Vong Khemarin indicated in his email to us: "My letters are sent along with around one thousand three hundred (1300) signatures supporters around the world."