27 August 2011
By Ratha Visal
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Soch
Click here to read the original article in Khmer
A report from Ratanakiri indicated that a CPP provincial official threatened to kill anybody who would join the opposition SRP party.
A resident of Norng Hay village, Seda commune, Lumphat district, Ratanakiri province, had accused Thom Bun Thong, the principal of the Norng Hay elementary school and a local CPP official, of discrimination and of violating the villagers’ rights to choose their political party.
The resident added that, in the past, he did not yet join any political party, but that he has a good relationship with another village resident who is a SRP activist. Because of that, Thom Bun Thong, the school principal, accused him and threatened him. The resident indicated that he was concerned for his safety: “I am reporting this so that everybody hear about it, so that there are arrangements made for me, so that there is a resolution for me. I am afraid that one day in the future, somebody could sneak and kill me…”
On Saturday 27 August, Thom Bun Thong confirmed that it was his unintentional mistake because he was too drunk: “He was my student, that’s why I said that [to him]. I was wrong in what I said, I admit that. I did not threaten him at all. I know that he joins the SRP, I did not threaten him and I was not angry with him, I ask for an arrangement, there is nothing wrong.”
Kong Srun, the deputy president of the CPP party in Lumphat district and also deputy-district governor, said that it could be individual problem, but not a party problem. He added that the CPP’s goal it to have its party members adhere to loving and helping the people and that they respect the law. “Joining a political party is the people’s right, they have no right to force others. But to have us threatening others to absolutely join our party – otherwise, they would be killed – the CPP does not need people who threaten and violate others’ rights.”
On Friday 26 August, the ADHOC human rights group in Ratanakiri province, received a report about threat issued and request for its intervention in this case. ADHOC was also asked to follow up on the violation of freedom rights case against villagers who join a political party.
Chhay Thy, a provincial ADHOC official, confirmed that he will investigate this report in order to find out whether discrimination was true or not. He added that ADHOC will send a letter to ask for intervention from the local authority to summon those involved in this case in order to prevent the situation from deteriorating further. “According to his explanation, it even involves shooting and such. This is an action to discourage the people’s freedom rights and it is also a political threat.”
During the 2008 election, Funcinpec, the SRP and the CPP competed for 5 commune councilor seats in Seda commune, however, only CPP candidates were elected during that election. Sok Khet, a SRP activist from Seda commune indicated that he was also scorned and threatened by Thom Bun Thong several times in the past also, but he did not reply back.
6 comments:
Are you serious KI? This CPP member is just a school principal. He doesn't have any power to execute or jail anyone. Would president Obama be responsible if one of democrat party members threaten to kill a republican member? Would KI take responsible if one of your members verbally attacked another people?
SHORT LIVE AH SI-ACH MOHA SICHO HUN SEN !!!
Chea Sim
Cambodia is a scary country to be doing anything to compete or object hunsen and the ccp. I respect those opposition members and those who seek justice in cambodia. They put their lives at risk all the time and in cambodia the road is too narrow to do the right thing because what is right is not dictate by the law but by the cpp members and their corrupted judicial system.
New khmer.
That has been one of the C Pee Pee strategies.
SRP must counter it by denouncing openly to the Cambodian people and the world communities, requesting them to take some concrete actions against the puppet government.
The same input will produce the same output.
To obtain a different output, the opposition parties must stop most of the government fraudulent electoral acts.
Why CPP members are so cheap like this?
LONG LIVE SAMDACH MOHA DECHO HUN SEN 2099!!!
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