Who is Ron Abney?

Ron Abney (R)

Victims of Hun Sen

Source: World Organization for Human Rights USA

March 30, 1997, Ron Abney, Sam Rainsy, Chan Thou Lay and other peaceful Cambodian protesters were bombed with grenades at a rally against Prime Minister of Cambodia’s Hun Sen’s repressive policies. 150 people were injured and 16-20 were killed.

During the protest, Ron Abney, an American working to further democracy in Cambodia from the International Republican Institute, was wounded by flying shrapnel and hospitalized.

Chan Thou Lay, a citizen of Cambodia, was wounded in her chest in two places. Before the protest, she was warned by Hun Sen’s Bodyguard Unit that a grenade attack would take place if she and her union participated.

Sam Rainsy, a political leader in the Cambodian opposition movement, was saved from death when his bodyguard threw him to the ground and took the fatal grenade blast himself.

An investigation by the FBI, with which Cambodian authorities did not meaningfully cooperate, determined that members of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Bodyguard Unit were responsible for the attack.

When the protesters sought representation against Prime Minister Hun Sen, only Human Rights USA saw a way to challenge his head of state immunity. In the first successful human rights lawsuit in the United States against a sitting head of state, Human Rights USA used the Alien Tort Statute (28 U.S.C.§ 1350; ATS, also called the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA)) Alien Tort Claims Act (1789) and Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 (TVPA), 106 Stat. 73 (1992) to hold Hun Sen accountable for the grave abuses he committed and allowed to take place in Cambodia. 

Human Rights USA won an entry of default judgment against Hun Sen when he failed to appear to defend the case, successfully arguing the inapplicability of the head of state immunity defense in this case. Facing the prospect of a default judgment against him, Hun Sen personally negotiated a settlement agreement, resulting in the release of several political prisoners, a return to Cambodia with immunity of several opposition leaders and some easing of restrictions on opposition political activities in Cambodia.

Ron Abney continued his pro-democracy work, co-founding Voices for Global Change, a project to support powerless people, and helping run an orphanage in Takeo, Cambodia.

Sam Rainsy is participating in Cambodian politics where he works towards democratic reforms.

This case made Human Rights USA the first organization to successfully sue a sitting head of state in U.S. courts for human rights abuses. We are continuing to challenge government official immunity from accountability for torture.

Please go here for copies of the decision in this case and relevant briefs.