26 June 2007By Sam Borin
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Kem Sokha said that the request made for him to change his party name is nothing but a demand made by a small number of NGOs, and that he already provided all the necessary explanations to that effect.
Recently, a coalition of 22 NGOs known as “Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee” (CHRAC) issued a statement on 12 June, demanding that Kem Sokha changes his party name from “Human Rights Party” to another one, in order to avoid confusion between the activities performed by a political party and those by NGOs who are independently and truly providing human rights works to serve the interest of the general public.
Kem Sokha said that there is no need for his party to change its name, because it is not against the country’s law. “We believe that the law does not prevent us from naming our party as ‘Human Rights Party,’ there is no such law preventing this. Secondly, it’s not only just in Cambodia, in several other countries, the name of Human Rights Party is also used, and based on our research, we found three such countries. Even for the name of democratic party, organizations are also democratic, and they (political parties) can use it just like the organizations (NGOs) can too, for example: the Democratic Freedom Party, and the Democratic NGO. Furthermore, I believe that this request is made by a small number of NGOs only, and we already explained to them, and we think that what we are doing is not against the law, this is the most important (point),” Kem Sokha declared.
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KI-Media note: CHRAC is composed of a “small” number of 22 “major” human rights NGOs in Cambodia, including: LICADHO, ADHOC, Legal Aid Cambodia (LAC), CCPCR, CDP, CHHRA, CKIMHRDA, CWCC, GENEROUS, IDA, KKKHRA, KID, KKHRDA, KSA, KYA, OUTREACH, TASK FORCE, VIGILANCE. Most of which worked actively for the release of Mr Kem Sokha from jail during the late 2006 and early 2007.
Recently, a coalition of 22 NGOs known as “Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee” (CHRAC) issued a statement on 12 June, demanding that Kem Sokha changes his party name from “Human Rights Party” to another one, in order to avoid confusion between the activities performed by a political party and those by NGOs who are independently and truly providing human rights works to serve the interest of the general public.
Kem Sokha said that there is no need for his party to change its name, because it is not against the country’s law. “We believe that the law does not prevent us from naming our party as ‘Human Rights Party,’ there is no such law preventing this. Secondly, it’s not only just in Cambodia, in several other countries, the name of Human Rights Party is also used, and based on our research, we found three such countries. Even for the name of democratic party, organizations are also democratic, and they (political parties) can use it just like the organizations (NGOs) can too, for example: the Democratic Freedom Party, and the Democratic NGO. Furthermore, I believe that this request is made by a small number of NGOs only, and we already explained to them, and we think that what we are doing is not against the law, this is the most important (point),” Kem Sokha declared.
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KI-Media note: CHRAC is composed of a “small” number of 22 “major” human rights NGOs in Cambodia, including: LICADHO, ADHOC, Legal Aid Cambodia (LAC), CCPCR, CDP, CHHRA, CKIMHRDA, CWCC, GENEROUS, IDA, KKKHRA, KID, KKHRDA, KSA, KYA, OUTREACH, TASK FORCE, VIGILANCE. Most of which worked actively for the release of Mr Kem Sokha from jail during the late 2006 and early 2007.
