Profile: Seng Theary - A fighting woman

Seng Theary, Esq., trained in the US, and a champion of human rights in Cambodia (Photo: Cambodge Soir Hebdo)

11 March 2008
By Kang Kallyann
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr

Any kind of injustice revolts her, the lawyer is fighting against human rights violations in Cambodia and she is dedicating her life to accomplish this mission.

“If someone hates a Cambodian woman, I feel that I am being aimed at also.” Seng Theary does not support discriminations. On the eve of the International Women Day, she estimates that the rights of Cambodian women are still limited. “Society does not give them an official spot, even though the State declared the equality (of rights) between men and women,” she said with regret.

Raised in the US, the lawyer now works to develop similar rights in Cambodia as those in her adoptive country. Furthermore, for the last two years, she is heading the Center for Social Development (CSD), a Phnom Penh-based organization dedicated to the defense of human rights. Since its formation in 1995, the CSD fight to promote dialogue between the citizens and to encourage national reconciliation, mainly through public forums. CSD also pushes for good governance and for the follow-up on the upcoming July general election. In addition, CSD also performs observations on judiciary work in Cambodia.

Dressed in modern fashion, with a English-accent, Theary is a woman filled with courage. Behind her though, lies a very dark background. She gave an account of her life in 2005, in a book she published, “Daughter of Killing Fields.” Born in 1971 in Phnom Penh, she survived the KR regime. She lived in the province of Svay Rieng, near the Vietnamese border, an area where the KR massacres were the most intensified. Her parents did not escape though, their disappearances still remain intact in her memory.

In the beginning of February 2007, she was among of the first witnesses who were heard by the trial case against the former KR leaders. During Nuon Chea’s hearing, she provided an account of herslef being thrown into jail at the age of seven, along with her younger brother. She remained there for five months and was one of the five survivors in that area. Along with other surviving members of her family, she reached the Thai border in November 1979, and through an uncle, she was able to move to the US one year leater.

With a curious mind, the young Theary decided to study law. She wanted to understand how human rights could be violated under the KR regime. “I think I had the chance to settle and being educated in this country where human rights (is respected).” Theary graduated in 1995 in International political science from Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service. In 2000, she obtained her J.D. degree from the University of Michigan. She was admitted to the New York State Bar Association, and she is currently waiting to be admitted to the Cambodian Bar Association.

During her first return to Cambodia in 1995, she collaborated as a volunteer for various human rights defense groups. Theary also taught English to government workers at the Ministry of Justice, through the Cambodian American National Development Organization (CANDO). She also worked as a legal aid for poor people at the Legal Aid of Cambodia. In about 18-month, she learned a great deal about human rights – the most important element, according to Theary – in the Cambodian society. Still pursuing after injustices, she wrote a report on the children of prisoners. She visited 20 jails between 1996 and 1997 and she denounced the lack of a special detention center for minors. “Normally, they should be separated from the adults, this is not the case in Cambodia,” she said.

In January 2004, this woman who cherishes her independence, is settling definitively in her birth country. Single at 37, she is dedicating her life to her work. She is one of the judges of the TV program “Youth Leadership Challenge” which selects youths to be sent to the US for their studies. Theary is also the co-founder and vice-president of the Women’s Association of Small and Medium Business (WASMB) and a member of the Cambodian Living Arts Association. In spite of all her work, the lawyer still pursues her life long mission: to participate in the development of the Khmer society.