Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Khmer Kampuchea Krom

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Supporters rally: Monks need help, rights groups told

Ven Sieng Sovannara (Photo: Suon Bora)

Thursday, 29 December 2011
Mom Kunthear
The Phnom Penh Post

Supporter yesterday urged human rights groups to help two Khmer Kampuchea Krom monks – one who was fired from his pagoda and another who was accused of inciting protesters – because they said they had done nothing wrong.

The Khmer Kampuchea Krom association wrote a letter to Licadho, Adhoc, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights and the UN Office of Higher Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, calling on them to intervene to help the Buddhist monks.

In early November, Mok Kampoul district officials in Kandal province forced Khmer Kampuchea Krom Buddhist monk Chea Sovannaphum to leave the Keo Monyvorn pagoda without reason.

Last week, Khmer Kampuchea Krom Buddhist monk Sieng Sovannara, who lives in Samki Raingsey pagoda, was summonsed to Phnom Penh Municipal Court to face accusations of inciting protesters involved in a land dispute in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district.

Hun Xen’s regime continues to misrepresent Khmer Krom Associations

30 July 2011
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by O Keo
Click here to read the article in Khmer


http://www.box.net/shared/u58nc2148sg36n0idq02

Human rights problem is a problem that national and international opinions consider as a major issue in any country in the world. Furthermore, such problem should be protected from being violated. This is particularly true to minorities living in a country where they do not have their own ruling government because it is easy for them to face neglect when their rights are violated. Such is the case of Khmer Kampuchea Krom people.

Tin Zakariya reports below:

Click here to listen to the audio program in MP3

Anonymous leaflets distributed in Phnom Penh

Dear Readers,

An anonymous reader sent us the following leaflet and informed us that hundreds of them have been distributed in Phnom Penh during the night of 17 June 2011. The Cambodian authorities arrested many girls in Phnom Penh and accused them of distributing these leaflets.

Leaflet title: "Cambodia should wake up to free their nation from the Yuons and replace the traitor Hun Xen out in order not to allow the confiscation of their lands, and not to allow the killing of Khmers like what happened on the Koh Pich bridge."

KI-Media would like to apologize for posting the wrong leaflet earlier.

Cambodia: NGOs concerned for the fate of asylum seekers

01 Mar 2011
Source: Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS)

After the closure of the centre for Montagnard asylum seekers, NGOs worry about the fate of new arrivals, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (AFP)

Human Rights Watch expressed concerns that after the refugee centre closes, the Cambodian government will screen future Montagnard asylum seekers under a procedure that does not meet international standards.

Phnom Penh, 28 February 2011– Following the closure of the centre managed by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on 15 February, human rights organisations have called on the Cambodian government to ensure it offers protection to asylum seekers.

Seventy Montagnards, part of ethnic minority tribes from Vietnam's Central Highlands, had been housed at the facility in Phnom Penh. Late last year, the government ordered UNHCR to close the centre by 1 January, saying that the Montagnards would either need to be resettled in third countries or returned to Vietnam. This deadline was later extended to 15 February.

According to UNHCR, 55 Montagnards had been resettled in Canada and the US before the deadline, while a further 10 are currently awaiting settlement. The applications for the remaining 10 were unsuccessful and are to be sent back to Vietnam.

Vietnam and Cambodia join force to threaten Khmer Krom people

Beating of Khmer Krom monks by cops serving the atheist regime in Phnom Penh
(Photo: Reuters)

19 Feb 2011
By Kim Pov
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Soch
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Discrimination against Khmer Krom people living in Cambodia still remains even though high ranking Cambodian officials claimed that Khmer Krom people are full Cambodian citizens.

Source from the Khmer Krom Association in Cambodia indicated that no Khmer Krom people are seen fleeing Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam) to seek refuge in Cambodia during the period starting from the end of 2010 until now.

Ven. Chan Sophat, President of the Khmer Krom monk-students and students, said that even if the fleeing situation by Khmer Krom refugees has calmed down, it does not mean that the situation in Kampuchea Krom has been better. Quite to the contrary, the slowdown in the fleeing of Khmer Krom is due to pressure in Kampuchea Krom and the difficulties faced by Khmer Krom people in Cambodia, in particular the intense discrimination they face in Cambodia currently: “They have many ways in [Kampuchea] Krom, sometimes they try to act nice with you, but they also threaten you when they can do it.”

Talking over the phone with RFA from Kampuchea Krom, Mrs. Neang Han, a 45-year-old woman, discussed about land protests and other protests led by Khmer Krom people which are no longer taking place after a lot of them were arrested and jailed one after another, and also some resolution with small token provided [to the protesting Khmer Krom people] were observed following the protests.

Degar- Montagnards: Refugees Repatriated to Vietnam

February 17, 2011

Vietnamese asylum-seekers in Cambodia will likely be subject to persecution upon their return.

Below is an article published by Radio Free Asia:

A group of Vietnamese refugees, most of whom fled their home country because of religious persecution, are facing repatriation after the Cambodian government on Tuesday closed a center operated by the United Nations’ refugee agency in Phnom Penh.

Several members of the Montagnard ethnic group said they were unsure of what reprisals they would face upon their return to Vietnam’s Central Highlands, where they say they have endured land confiscation and repression at the hands of the single-party communist government.

Spokesman for Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Koy Kuong said that Montagnard refugees who had not been given refugee status and accepted by a third country for resettlement would be required to return home.

"Today is the last day, the day that the site has to be completely shut down," he said, adding that no new center would be allowed to open in the future.

Hanoi welcomed the closure of Montagnard refugee camp by its henchmen in Phnom Penh

Cambodian closure of camp welcomed

February, 17 2011
VNS

HA NOI — The Vietnamese Government highly values the Cambodian Government's closure of its temporary camp in Phnom Penh for ethnic minority people of the Central Highlands of Viet Nam, in accordance with the schedule Cambodia had previously announced, said a spokesperson from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry.

Nguyen Phuong Nga told reporters yesterday that "the Vietnamese State always prioritises promoting socio-economic development in remote and mountainous areas in order to improve all aspects of the lives of ethnic minorities, including those in the Central Highlands."

"In reality, the Central Highlands has been one of the regions that has enjoyed a high economic growth rate and the lives of ethnic minorities in all fields have been further improved over recent years," she went on to say.

Montagnards return to Vietnam from Cambodia

2/16/2011
By Agence France-Presse

Ten ethnic Montagnards returned to communist Vietnam from Cambodia on Wednesday, authorities in Hanoi said, rejecting concerns that the group could be mistreated.

They were among more than 1,700 Montagnards who fled to Cambodia in 2001 and 2004 after security forces crushed protests against land confiscations and religious persecution.

Members of the largely Christian Montagnards backed US forces during the Vietnam War.

The 10 -- who did not qualify as refugees -- had been in a group of 75 Vietnamese Montagnards living at a United Nations refugee centre in Cambodia, which decided to close the facility. Phnom Penh gave the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) until Tuesday to shut it down.

Civil society concerned over the security of Ven. Tach Preichea Koeun

Ven. Thac Preichea Koeun, the editor of a weekly paper covering the Khmer Krom community, fears deportation from Cambodia due to the content of his editorials.

03 September 2010
By Ouk Savoborey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

"We see that when Vietnam is affected, it becomes a NO, NO because the Viets have strong influence on Cambodia,” Thach Setha, Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community President

Venerable Thach Preichea Koeun, a Buddhist monk who wrote political articles involving the Vietnamese authority in the Cambodian newspaper Prey Nokor News, has not recovered his full rights to get back his monk ID and his passport as of yet.

The Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community Association has expressed its concerns over the safety of Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun because he wrote articles related to the living conditions of Khmer Krom people who are under the boot of the Viet government in South Vietnam. His articles were published in the Prey Nokor newspaper which is sold in Phnom Penh.

Thach Setha, President of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community Association, said on Friday 03 September that the security of Ven Thach Preichea Koeun is not stable yet because he wrote articles critical to the Viet government and published them in the Prey Nokor newspaper, so much so that all his moves were followed [by government security agents] and his passport and monk ID were confiscated: “He is facing problem due to the pressure from both the [government] authority and the monk officials. The pressure was imposed on him so that he stops writing for the Prey Nokor newspaper. We see that when Vietnam is affected, it becomes a NO, NO because the Viets have strong influence on Cambodia.”

In response to the problem above, Yan That, the abbot of Wat Ang Ta Minh Pagoda, said on 27 August that Ven. Thach Preichea Keoun asked to find refuge in the pagoda. However, the pagoda committee rejected his request because they were afraid that the pagoda could face problems as they said that Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun is politically involved with the Prey Nokor newspaper. Yan That said that Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun traveled and stayed in Thailand for one month after Wat Botumvatey and Wat Ang Pothinhean pagodas did not allow him to stay there. When he returned from Thailand, he asked to stay at Wat Ang Pothinhean Pagoda, but he was rejected again. Then, he had to ask for refuge from lay people, but because of the Vossa season (monk recess period), he was not allowed to travel anywhere, that was why cops from the ministry of Interior asked Wat Ang Ta Minh to provide refuge for him for the Vossa season and they ordered the abbot of the pagoda to look after Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun and prevent him from going anywhere. Because of that, Yan That asked to confiscate Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun’s passport and ID: “I ask to keep his passport and his ID, I took his ID number so I can report him as staying here to the deputy top monk in charge of my pagoda, and he did not follow the Vossa season rule. When I did that, he [Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun] wanted to accuse us of creating hardship on him. So we advised him and told him to stay quiet, not to listen to the security cops, I am helping him, there is nothing for him to worry about.”

At the same time, Khieu Kanharith, the minister of Information, said on 02 September: “Therefore, it’s a problem between monks. I cannot comment on it because I don’t know how the monk rules are affected, but, the newspaper is still in operation, they can publish it on the Internet.”

Ven. Thach Preichea Keoun told RFA recently that the abbot of Wat Ang Ta Minh Pagoda confiscated his passport and monk ID after he received the order from officials of the ministry of Interior and the ministry of Cult and Religion: “They confiscated them because they said that I publish the Prey Nokor newspaper. They confiscated so that I cannot go anywhere, they want me to stay in one location only.”

On Friday, the abbot of Wat Ang Ta Minh Pagoda said that UN human rights officials paid a visit to Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun on Thursday 02 September. The UN officials did not meet with the abbot.

SRP points finger at Vietnam

Thach Le prays after his hearing at Takeo provincial court earlier this week. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Friday, 03 September 2010
Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

THIS week’s conviction of four men for distributing anti-government leaflets in Takeo province may have come at the behest of the Vietnamese government, an opposition lawmaker said yesterday.

Yont Tharo, a Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian and head of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Cultural Centre, connected the convictions with comments made by a top Vietnamese security official in Phnom Penh last month. The official praised Cambodia’s cooperation in disabling anti-Vietnamese “plots” – especially the activities of Khmer Krom activists.

“The sentence of the [men] in Takeo was in parallel to the cooperation raised by Vietnam, on the border issue and the issue of Khmer Krom activists. We see that [Cambodia] has clearly followed the requests from Vietnam,” Yont Tharo said.

On August 3, Vietnamese Vice Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang told a conference in Phnom Penh that “cooperation and positive assistance” from Cambodia had helped to “disable plots and operations of hostile forces opposing the Vietnamese revolution”.

In his speech, Tran singled out Khmer Krom activists in the Mekong Delta region as a target of the joint efforts, which he said had recently led to the arrest of one person for illegal possession of weapons and three others for anti-Vietnamese leafletting in the border area.

In the case heard in Takeo provincial court on Monday, three of the men – including one employee of local rights group Licadho – were jailed after being sentenced to two years in prison. A fourth suspect was convicted in absentia and sentenced to three years in jail.

The three were arrested in May for distributing anti-government leaflets in Takeo province, which borders Vietnam, ahead of the January 7 Victory Day celebrations marking the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime.

The fliers reportedly stated that the day should not be viewed as one of liberation, but as the day Cambodia became “abused and occupied” by Vietnam, which supported the overthrow of Pol Pot.

Takeo provincial police commissioner Ouk Samnang could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, did not comment specifically on whether Vietnam helped in the arrest of the three men, but said Cambodia maintained close law enforcement links with many other countries, including the United States, France, Australia, Thailand and Laos.

“We do not concentrate just on Vietnam,” Khieu Sopheak said. “But the cooperation with neighbouring countries is like tooth and tongue.”

He said the three men were arrested for publishing disinformation about current Cambodian leaders and “looking down” on former King Norodom Sihanouk.

Khmer Krom: Editor Fears Possible Deportation

The editor of a weekly paper covering the Khmer Krom community fears deportation from Cambodia due to the content of his editorials.

Below is an article published by The Phnom Penh Post:

The editor of a weekly paper covering the Khmer Krom community said yesterday he was afraid of being deported after the chief of the pagoda where he lives asked him to resign from his position, apparently at the behest of the government.

Thach Prei Chea Keoun said yesterday that the chief of Ang Taminh pagoda on Sunday asked him to resign from his position and confiscated his passport and identity card.

“I have refused to resign, but now I am afraid that I will be arrested and sent back to Vietnam,” he said.

The pagoda chief, Yan That, could not be reached, but Kim Wann Chheng, a Khmer Krom assistant to Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng, said yesterday that the government wanted Thach Prei Chea Keoun to resign from Prey Nokor News.

“So far, I have not received his resignation letter,” Kim Wann Chheng said. “We asked him to resign because we are concerned about his safety and his reputation, because his editorials are sometimes against the government’s policies and may cause him to get into trouble.”

He went on to deny that Thach Prei Chea Keoun’s passport and identity card had been confiscated permanently, saying Yan That had likely assumed temporary custody of them “to keep them safe”.

Thach Prei Chea Keoun said his paper received a licence from the Information Ministry last January and began publishing in February.

He said the content of the paper was primarily related to “news about the culture and geography” of the Khmer Krom, Vietnam’s ethnic Khmer population.

He said that he had already been denied permission to live at two pagodas in the capital – Wat Botum and Wat Mohamontrey – because of concerns on the part of Buddhist leadership about his role at the newspaper.

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said yesterday that he was unaware of the editor’s case, but that he considered it “against the Buddhist principles” for a monk to work for a newspaper.

"02 September Gift": Leaflets distributed in Phnom Penh on 02 Sept 2010 (English translation)

"If this leaflet would be translated into English,it would be nice.Some young Khmer generations living overseas could not read it; KI Media,please translate it into English."

Translated from Khmer by Soy

Nationalist Khmer Voice

02 September Gift
For the anniversary of the death of Communist Yuon Ho Chi Minh and
the Hun Xen group of national destruction who are oppressing Khmer Krom monks and people

02 September is the anniversary of the death of the Yuon Indochinese communist leader by the name of Ho Chi Minh who died on 02 September 1969. What the Yuons are commemorating is to praise Ho Chi Minh who had sacrificed everything in his plan to aggress the Cambodian territories, both in Kampuchea Krom and Cambodia proper, and who brought death to millions of Cambodians from both Kampuchea Krom and Cambodia since the Pol Pot regime until now.

The communists and the Phnom Penh puppet regime of Heng Xamrin, Chea Xim and Hun Xen are destroying Khmer Krom and all Khmers by every means possible. Case in point: the communist Yuon leaders ordered their puppets in Phnom Penh to successively oppress Khmer Krom monks and people with the aim of eliminating Khmer Krom people, not just in the Kampuchea Krom territories, but also in Cambodia proper as well.

To please their Hanoi bosses, the Phnom Penh puppets, which included the Hun Xen’s CPP party, put into motion their boss’ orders by arresting innocent people and unjustly charging them with crimes through false accusations. The latest victims are the following Khmer Krom people who are accused of distributing [anti-government] leaflets: Thach Le, Thach Vannak, Chea Sokchoeun, and Ven. Thach Cung Phoung.

Therefore, all Cambodians, in particular Cambodian intellectuals and nationalists, must wake up and be on alert on the Khmer killing policy set up by the communist Yuons who are hidden under the CPP banner, as well as by the [Yuon] spy agents disguised as Cambodians who are currently occupying Cambodia and oppressing Cambodians.

Passport confiscated from Editor-in-chief of Prey Nokor News

Venerable Thach Preichea Koeun, Editor-in-chief of the Prey Nokor News

01 September 2010
By Taing Sarada
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Soch

Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun, the editor-in-chief of the Prey Nokor News and a monk native from Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam) who resides at Wat Ang Ta Minh Pagoda, Dangkao district, Phnom Penh city, indicated that, on 29 August, the abbot of the pagoda confiscated his passport as well as his monk ID.

Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun indicated that the measure taken by the abbot was done based on the request made by the Phnom Penh city police.

He also indicated that on 26 August, Kim Van Chheng, a high-ranking official from the ministry of Interior and a personal adviser to Sar Kheng, the minister of Interior, called him and asked him to write a letter promising to stop writing or publishing the Prey Nokor News because Kim Van Chheng accused the newspaper of publishing anti-government articles.

Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun expressed his fear and his great concerns over this issue: “I am fearful and concerned because my documents [ID] and passport were confiscated by the abbot already! I don’t have the right to go anywhere! My newspaper received the proper authorization from the ministry of Information, but they accuse the newspaper of all sorts of things!”

He added also the Prey Nokor News received proper authorization from the ministry of Information.

Touch Naroth, the Phnom Penh city police commissioner, declined to comment on the confiscation of the venerable’s ID and passport.

Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun indicated that in April, the Phnom Penh police force surrounded his monk residence at Wat Botumvatei Pagoda because he asked kids to distribute the Prey Nokor News to the public free of charge, but, the authority accused him of distributing political leaflets instead. He was later chased out of Wat Botumvatei Pagoda by the abbot.

Editor-in-chief of Prey Nokor News threatened and harassed by the Cambodian authority and the Viet embassy in Phnom Penh

Venerable Thach Preichea Koeun, Editor-in-chief of the Prey Nokor News

Venerable Thach Preichea Koeun threatened by the Cambodian authority for his involvement with Prey Nokor News

31 August 2010
VOKK.net
Translated from Khmer by Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

A letter sent over by Venerable Thach Preichea Koeun, the Editor-in-chief of the Prey Nokor news, that the Voice of Kampuchea Krom (VOKK) Radio received today, indicated that the Cambodian authority threatened him by accusing him of involvement with the Prey Nokor newspaper.

The report indicated that on 05 April 2010, a group of cops, officials from the ministry of Cult and Religion, the city hall, as well as cops from Phnom Penh city’s Daun Penh district, came to surround monk housing No. 17 located at Wat Botumvatey Pagoda, the residence of Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun, with the intention of arresting him. However, Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun fled his residence on time as he did not feel safe there.

He then went to stay at Wat Ang Pothinhean Pagoda at the outskirt of Phnom Penh city until this past 26 August. Then, he met with the same problem again when a group of cops and officials from the ministry of Cult and Religion came to threaten him for the second time. Due to lack of security and his fear of being arrested by the Cambodian authority, on 27 August, he fled to live at Wat Ang Taminh Pagoda, located in Dangkao district, Phnom Penh city. As soon as he arrived at Wat Ang Taminh, cops from the ministry of Interior and officials from the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh, as well as Vietnamese cops from Hanoi called to force the abbot of Wat Ang Taminh Pagoda to refuse to provide refuge for Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun.

Up to now, Ven. Thach Preichea Koeun is still staying at Wat Ang Taminh Pagoda, but cops from the ministry of Interior ordered the abbot of the pagoda to confiscate his ID card and his passport on 29 August.

In his letter, Ven. Thack Preichea Koeun, the Editor-in-chief of the Prey Nokor News, called on the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation (KKF), on the various local and international human rights organizations to help intervene in his case and to help provide safety for him as well.

The Xmer government will not discuss Khmer Krom problems with the Yuon prez

Khmer Krom protest in Washington DC

25 August 2010
By Kim Pov
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Prior to the visit of the Yuon president to Cambodia, last month, several high ranking Yuon cops asked Cambodia to take measures against Khmer Krom associations that lead activities deemed to be anti-Viet in Cambodia. The opposition accused such request by Hanoi as a serious interference in Cambodia’s sovereignty

Khieu Kanharith, the government spokesman, indicated that the Khmer Krom problems will not be included in the discussions between the Khmer king and the Yuon president during the latter’s visit to Cambodia between 26 and 28 August 2010.

Khieu Kanharith indicated that the visit was made based on an invitation from King Sihamoni and the main goal is to push forward the diplomatic ties with Cambodia only, as for the Khmer Krom problems, there is nothing to talk about anymore.

Khieu Kanharith said: “Talk about what? Pagodas? They [Khmer Krom] already have pagodas, they have Khmer Kampuchea Krom associations, they have their own villages, what else is there to talk about?”

Two days prior to the visit of, Nguyen Minh Triet, the Yuon president, to Cambodia, the Khmer Krom Community sent a letter to King Sihamoni, asking him to raise a number of issues involving the problems faced by Khmer Krom people and discuss them with the Yuon president.

Thach Setha, President of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community, indicated that several Khmer Krom people were arrested for protesting to demand freedom rights in Kampuchea Krom, the land that is currently being occupied by Vietnam and renamed South Vietnam. Furthermore, the Viets prevented Khmer Krom from forming Khmer Krom associations there and they also crack down on religious rights and the practice of Khmer Krom customs and rites as well.

Thach Setha added: “Because we see that the situation [in Kampuchea Krom] is very serious, and we see also that the Yuons are exercising too much of their influence on Khmer Krom people. In Kampuchea Krom, they [Yuons] do not allow us to form associations or organizations, whereas the Yuon leaders can come to our villages as they please, they came to meetings in pagodas and they threatened any organizations or associations from doing any real activities, it’s so incredible.”

The land of Kampuchea Krom, also known as Cochinchine, extends over an area of 67,700 square-kilometers, and it fell into the Yuon control in 1949. Up to now, only the Khmer Krom people rise up to protest and demand the respect of their human rights, the respect of their religion and to demand back their lands confiscated by the Yuon regime. Currently, there are many Khmer Krom people who are jailed because of their protest against the Yuons.

Prior to the visit of the Yuon president to Cambodia, last month, several high ranking Yuon cops asked Cambodia to take measures against Khmer Krom associations that lead activities deemed anti-Viet in Cambodia. The opposition accused such request by Hanoi as a serious interference in Cambodia’s sovereignty.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Political Repression

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Hun Xen's regime helps the Yuon regime to break down Khmer Krom in Kampuchea Krom

Tran Dai Quang

Vietnam applauds Cambodia's help in combating 'plots'

Wed, 04 Aug 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - A senior Vietnamese government official has welcomed efforts by the Cambodian government to combat "plots" by ethnic Cambodians in southern Vietnam, local media reported Wednesday.

Tran Dai Quang, Vietnam's deputy minister of public security, made the comments to 200 government officials during a meeting in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, the Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported.

"With the cooperation and positive assistance of the Cambodian armed forces, Vietnam's police force has struggled to disable plots and operations of hostile forces opposing the Vietnamese revolution," he said.

Tran said combined efforts against Khmer Krom - ethnic Cambodians living in southern Vietnam - had resulted in the arrests of three people for handing out leaflets, and another for possession of a weapon.

He accused Khmer Krom activists of trying to "oppose and destroy."

Human rights groups have long complained that Khmer Krom face discrimination and persecution by the Vietnamese and Cambodian authorities in both southern Vietnam and Cambodia.

In January last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Hanoi of engaging in repressive activities in a bid to prevent the nationalist aspirations of the Khmer Krom minority in the Mekong Delta region.

HRW's report documented violations against Khmer Krom in Vietnam and against others who had fled to Cambodia. At least one Buddhist monk was deported to Vietnam by Phnom Penh.

HRW described the tactics Hanoi was using against Khmer Krom as "bare-knuckled, indefensible political repression."

The Phnom Penh Post quoted Cambodian opposition parliamentarian Yont Tharo, who heads a Khmer Krom cultural organization in Phnom Penh, as saying that actions by the authorities that affected freedom of expression were "unacceptable."

Hanoi and Phnom Penh have a close relationship, stemming from Vietnam's assistance in overthrowing Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge government in 1979.

Vietnam is also one of the biggest investors in Cambodia, with interests in telecoms, banking, mining and land concessions.

More Khmer Krom arrested

Ven. Thach Vannak

Dear President Thach Ngoc Thach, Bang and Friends:

This is the sad information regarding to two innocents Khmer Krom who were accused and arrested by Cambodian authorities to imprison at Takeo province. Former Ven. Thach Vannak who fled to Cambodia because of Vietnamese authorities’persecution was arrested on June 2, 2010 because Cambodian authorities searched his computers and saw the documents of Khmer nation leaders 1-2 and the root of 7 January and Mr.Thach Le who was arrested on May 28, 2010.

After they were arrested to imprison at Takeo no one helps his cases so far. I have just received the information from the wife of Victims and their friends who seek assistances. Therefore, I would you please help release this information to make their cases public concerned and get any intervention to free them.They are innocent people and become victims because they downloaded the books mentioned above to read.

I hope that you will kindly consider on this matter and made it publicly concerned.

Respectfully yours,

Sar Serey

A Monk Without a Country

A Cambodian policeman kicking a Khmer Krom monk

17 May 2010
By Charlie Lancaster of South East Asia Globe

"The best part of the last three years was when I spoke at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. All the struggles I have survived, all the pain I have endured, all the tears I have cried were all worth it because for that very moment I knew the world would hear my people’s cry for help. I knew that the world would try to persuade Vietnam to do the right thing by changing their treatment policies toward indigenous people."

Born in 1968, Tim Sakhorn is perhaps the most famous Khmer Krom activist alive today. He was granted political asylum in Sweden in July 2009.

How does it feel to be reordained? Do you wish you were re-ordained in Cambodia?

I am very happy to be a monk again because it has been my way of life, and it has been my culture. Being out of my robe and out of the temple, I feel so lost. I wanted to re-ordain in Cambodia but Freedom of Religion is limited there. In April 2009, upon my release from the Vietnam Government, I came back to Cambodia hoping to seek some justice and re-ordain myself. But I did not receive any; the Cambodian government did not even issue me an identification card. Thus, I was forced to escape from my country and seek refuge in Thailand.

If you were to return to Cambodia, would the authorities recognize you as a monk?

I don’t think Cambodia government will recognize me as a monk because they are responsible for my arrest, defrock, deportation and imprisonment in Vietnam. I feel unsafe in Cambodia because I am an activist and when you protest, you risk your life. On February 27, 2007, one of my fellow Khmer Krom monks, Ven Eang Sok Thoeun, participated in a demonstration in front of the Vietnam Embassy in Phnom Penh in response to the injustices of the imprisonments in Vietnam. The next morning was found with his throat slit in his own temple.

I am just a monk and there is no judicial system to regulate the government, so I am powerless against what the government wants to do.

You’ve had a difficult three years, what were the best/worst moments since you were deported in 2007?

My last three years of experience has been a life changing one and I know I am fortunate to still have my life. The worst part was not when I was imprisoned with 26 other men, they beating me. It was not when I was beaten, kicked, punched or starved. Not even when they injected me with unknown substances. It was when I sat in my jail cell and realized I have no sovereignty over my own life and my own belief. The Vietnam government has been silencing Khmer Krom people for centuries. And when I tried to stand up, I became one of their prisoners just like many Khmer Krom heroes. It hurt me even more when I realized I was just one of the many voiceless victims. It broke my heart to see how Cambodia Supreme Patriarch monk – Venerable Tep Vong and its government deported me; I thought the government of Cambodia would protect its people and me. But I was wrong; Vietnam and Cambodia were working together and took the human rights away from Khmer Krom people.

However, I would not hesitate to go through all the ordeals again because I feel my story would help inform the world of the struggles my people are going through each day; all in the effort to preserve our culture, language, and history. I was lucky to be able to participate in the 9th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and through the Youth Caucus my voice and concerns were heard. And to stand up as my concerns were voiced was my best moment of my life. All the struggles I went through, all the pain I have endured, all the tears I have cried were all worth it because for that very moment I knew the world would hear my people’s cry for help. I knew after that moment the world would try to persuade Vietnam to do the right thing by changing their treatment policies toward indigenous people.

What have you learned since 2007?

I’ve learned that there are certain monks like Supreme Patriarch, Venerable Tep Vong, Venerable Long Kimleang and his fellow monks, Om Lam Heng, Sao Chanthol, Noi Chruek, Cheas OM, who accused me of undermining the relationship between Cambodia and Vietnam, have abandoned their ways of non-violence. They physically forced me to defrock and threw me civilian clothes. It was my first time witnessing and experiencing monks who went against the teaching of Buddhism.

We are monks and we believe in non-violence but these monks were equivalent to barbarians. I do not think they should continue the teachings of Buddhism if they themselves can abide by them.
I have learned that the Vietnam government has no legal system and transparency to protect the victims of human rights by offering them a fair trial.

However on the lighter side, I have learned that there is hope out there for victims of crimes against humanity like myself. There are countries out there that will help. Maybe one day, Krom Krom people can freely believe in what we choose and end the oppression from the Vietnamese Government.

What was it like to be in a Vietnamese jail?

I was stripped from my position as a monk, deported from a country that I thought would protect me, and I was given an unfair trial in a country that is trying to erase my culture. When I entered that jail cell, I had no hope of every returning home alive because there had been many stories of Khmer Krom prisoners who die in prison. I was beaten, torture, intimidate, and injected with unknown substances still to today I do not know what they have injected me with. The unknown substances num my body and I notice each day I got weaker and weaker.

I was a human being, a monk who preached the teachings of Buddhism but once I was defrocked and imprisoned into the Vietnam jail system, I was not a human being anymore. The way they treated me was worst than how they would treat wild animals. I was put into solitary confinement for so long that I could not keep track.

The smell, the noise, the dirty atmosphere of the cell is still embedded in my head. I knew that I would never be the same after my experience in that Vietnamese jail cell. I still have nightmares about the place because every minute of my life spent in that cell I thought I was going to die.

What are you advocating for?

I want my Khmer Krom people to be recognised as the indigenous people of Kampuchea Krom (southern Vietnam). I want Vietnam to respect the fundamental basic human rights such as freedom of religion.

I want to see Khmer Krom children have the same opportunity as Vietnamese children. I want to see that our Khmer culture is taught in school and I want to see the Vietnam Government respect and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). I would happily give away my life so that future Khmer Krom children can have the right to learn their own culture, so that when people ask them who they are, they can proudly answer that they are Khmer Krom and not lie and answer that they are Vietnamese.

Will you continue campaigning?

I will continue the struggle for solidarity for Khmer Krom people and seek justice for my people and myself. I am just a single man but I will gladly give away my life so that my culture will have chance to survive.

How does it feel to be a symbol of the Khmer Krom advocacy movement?

I am lucky to still have my life and continue the struggle to help my people seek justice. But there are many others who face the same problem as me but probably have lost their lives. For over a century my people have been silenced, thus the world does not know us. The world only knows Vietnam and that it is an up and coming country but they do not know the exploitations our Khmer Krom endures. Our land taken away, policy reforms made to benefit the Vietnam Government and our culture reaching a closer step to extinction.

When did you receive political asylum in Sweden?

I received a political asylum from Sweden in July 2009.

Where are you living, what are you doing on a day-to-day basis? Are you working?

I am living in Stockholm, Sweden and I attend school every day. I don’t go to work yet and I get my monetary supplement from the Swedish government. The Swedish government has been very supportive and helpful. I am forever in their debt.

You were recently re-ordained in the United States. What is your impression of the US, the people, the lifestyle, politics

My impression of the United States is that the people seem to be very free. I have never seen people protest freely such like the one I saw in New York City. I dream that one day my people can freely protest and have our issues incorporated into the laws that will dictate our lives.

My experience in the US makes Cambodia and Vietnam ways of politics seem primitive. Where we had to keep what we believe hidden, and if we express them like how I did we would risk being imprisoned. There is no open dialogue between the government and the indigenous people like at the United Nations.

Do you feel free?

How can I feel free when my people back at home are suffering? How can I feel free when I know my culture is slowly dying? When the Vietnam Government recognises Khmer Krom as indigenous people then I would feel free but as of now, I feel more of a victim. I am just a monk without a country.

Can you return to Cambodia without fear of retribution?

Cambodia does not protect Khmer Krom, Cambodia government is working with Vietnam Government and sometimes they act as one when it’s human right related issue. I return home after my release from the Vietnam, to see if Cambodia government can help me but they did nothing to help.

The government promises that if Khmer Krom immigrates to Cambodia they will receive citizenship but in reality it is very far from the truth. Khmer Krom did not receive identification cards and cannot work or vote. But because Cambodia promises to give citizenship to Khmer Krom, we cannot seek refugee status from UNHCR. Cambodia government does not help Khmer Krom and it seems they do not want to help me. I fear for my safety to return to Cambodia because I can easily lose my life.

What about your family in Cambodia, will they join you in the States or stay in Cambodia?

Yes, they will join in Sweden because they are also in danger of losing their lives.

Do you feel cheated?

To be honest, yes. The Vietnam government signed “The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” on 13 September, 2007, but they do not respect the declaration. Since the UNDRIP has not been implemented, to me it is nothing more than great set of laws written on a piece of paper. But the world congratulates Vietnam for signing the UNDRIP and yet they have not done anything to live up to their promise. The Vietnam Government continues to deny the status of the Khmer Krom as Indigenous Peoples.

What is the future of the Khmer Krom?

I do not know what the future holds for Khmer Krom but if the Government of Vietnam continues to deny the status of Khmer Krom as the rightful Indigenous people and the government continues to deny the basic human right such as, freedom or religion, Khmer Krom culture will die.

What is in your future?

My future is to be monk. I am a Buddhist monk; I want to be a teacher. I can teach Khmer Krom children about Khmer language, history, culture, and peace.

Do you have a message for the Cambodian or Vietnamese government?

I hope they will do the right thing and recognize the rights of Indigenous people and respect basic human rights.

Do you have a message for the people of either country?

I wish all Khmer Krom people will continue the struggle to seek our human rights because together we can achieve it. If we don’t do it now, we will never have a better future tomorrow. Each and every day our culture is slowly eroding and we can stop this with solidarity.

"The worst part of the last three years was not when I was imprisoned with 26 other men in one cell. It was not when I was beaten, kicked, punched or starved. Not even when they injected me with unknown substances. It was when I sat in my jail cell and realised I have no sovereignty over my own life and my own belief.”

Tim Sakhorn is a Buddhist monk and human rights activist who advocates for the rights of southern Vietnam’s ethnic Khmer minority, popularly known as Khmer Krom. The 42-year-old monk was arrested and defrocked in Cambodia in June 2007 before being deported (illegally) and jailed for a year in Vietnam on charges of undermining national unity. At the time, Human Rights Watch said that the politically motivated prosecution of Sakhorn was a thinly veiled attempt by the Vietnamese and Cambodian government to stop peaceful dissent by the Khmer Krom minority in both countries. He reportedly had no legal representation during his trial.

“I was given an unfair trial in a country that is trying to erase my culture,” Sakhorn says adding that the Vietnamese refuse to recognise the Khmer Krom as indigenous peoples and actively persecute the minority by forcing them to adopt Vietnamese names and speak Vietnamese. They are also punished for practising their form of Thervada Buddishm and prevented from accessing education and health care. "I knew that I would never be the same again after my experience in the Vietnamese jail.”

Sakhorn was born in southern Vietnam, but fled the country with his family when border fighting broke out between the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces in 1978.

Like other members of the Khmer Krom minority living in Cambodia, Sakhorn and his family were recognised by the government as Cambodian citizens. But in reality, they are treated like second-class citizens.

“Khmer Krom living in Cambodia are not given identification cards and cannot work in many sectors or vote,” he says. In 2002, he was made abbot in Takeo province by Cambodia’s supreme Buddhist patriarch, Tep Vong – the same man who defrocked him five years later.

“I’ve learned that certain monks like Venerable Tep Vong and his fellow monks have abandoned their non-violent ways. It was the first time I witnessed and experienced monks who went against the teaching of Buddhism.”

Upon his release, he returned to Cambodia but, fearing for his life, he fled to Thailand where he sought political asylum. “I felt unsafe. There is no judicial system to regulate the government.”

Sakhorn was granted asylum in Sweden and he is now living in Stockholm. Having been a monk for 17 years he says he was lost when out of his robe, but last month the Buddhist community in Massachusetts re-ordained him. After three years of suffering, he has found his voice again and is hopeful of a promising future.

“The best part of the last three years was when I spoke at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. All the struggles I have survived, all the pain I have endured, all the tears I have cried were all worth it because for that very moment I knew the world would hear my people’s cry for help. I knew that the world would try to persuade Vietnam to do the right thing by changing their treatment policies toward indigenous people.