Obituary for General Duong Sam Ol

Unofficial translation from French

Communiqué from CBC

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A dated photo of General Duong Sam Ol (circled) with other CBC members

The Cambodia’s Border Committee (CBC) in France and Worldwide is saddened to inform you that:

General Duong Sam Ol, former Cambodian Minister of Defense, passed away on Wednesday 05 August 2009 at 8:30PM at the Lagny Hospital at the age of 93.

The cremation ceremony will be held on Monday 10 August 2009 at 2PM at the Père Lachaise Crematorium, 75020 Paris.

For further information, please contact his family at:

Mr. and Mrs. Tan Seng Hoc,
20 Rue de l’Art Theatreala
77186 Noisiel
Tel: 01 72 99 10 95.

General Duong Sam Ol was a founding member of CBC since its formation in August of 1999 in Paris.

He regularly attended our meetings and he always provided pertinent and precious advises.

The Cambodia’s Border Committee (CBC) in France and Worldwide presents our sincere condolences to his family. We also invite all our members to come in large number to his funeral.

May his soul rest in peace.

Sean Péngsè
CBC President

Biography of General Duong Sam Ol

The following information is provided by “Les Personnalités du Cambodge” (Cambodia’s VIPs) published in 1963:

Colonel, Deputy Commander-in-chief of the RAFK.

Born on 15 March 1919 in Lolok Sor (Pursat province), son of Mr. Duong and Mrs. Om.

Maried on 29 June 1944 to Ms. Nem Navan.

Child: Van Thol.

Honor: Commander of the Sowathara Medal, Commander of the Monisaraphon Medal, Officer of the ORC, Gold Medal for the Kingdom Reign, National Defense Medal, Gold Medal for Labor, Knight of the Legion d’Honneur, Colonial Medal.

Additional Information:

Shortly prior to the March 18, 1970 coup d’état which toppled then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk, General Duong Sam Ol and his wife were visiting Beijing. After the coup d’état, General Duong Sam Ol decided to join Prince Sihanouk and was nominated as Minister of Armament. During the 1970-1975 war period, General Duong Sam Ol remained mainly in Beijing and was not actually involved in any fighting per se. Following the Khmer Rouge victory on 17 April 1975, General Duong Sam Ol returned to Cambodia with other Sihanoukists, such as Sarin Chhak, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs. Ong Thong Hoeung, the author of the book “J’ai cru aux Khmers Rouges” (I believed the Khmer Rouge) indicated that, upon their arrival in Cambodia, General Duong Sam Ol, Sarin Chhak, Ang Kim Khoan and several other Sihanoukists were imprisoned in the Boeung Trabek detention center, also known as B-32. Hor Nam Hong was one of the directors of B-32 under the KR regime.

For additional information about General Duong Sam Ol after 1979, please read the article by Baphuon below.