"White Zone" Op-Ed by Angkor Borei News

"Panhaha Prum Daen Ké Prakaek" a Poem in Khmer by Sam Vichea

Wishes From The Cambodia’s Border Commitee For 2008

La version Française se trouve en bas du texte en Anglais

WISHES
FROM THE CAMBODIA’s BORDER COMMITEE
FOR 2008

Dear Compatriots, Dear Friends,

In Cambodia, 2007 was another “excellent year” for the rulers of the regime and their henchmen, but unfortunately, it was one with alarming worsening of the national social division. Indeed, confronting a display of overflowing opulence by a dominating minority with unbounded power, more lamenting distresses are rising up each day, they are mournful and revolting cries joined by million from others who are broken by misery and injustice. Deforestation and land-grabbing are being pursued in total contempt of the rights of the people and the interests of the country. Two Cambodian societies are pitted against one another and they are dramatically clashing with each other as the stronger ones no longer spare their discrimination and their repression against the weaker ones.

We must pay tribute to the accurate viewpoints presented by the UN Special Envoy, Prof. Yash Ghai, who recently, found that “Cambodia is not a State with the rule of law” and that her citizens, in their everyday living, are in fear of everything, “fear of the state, fear of political and economic saboteurs, fear of greedy individuals and corporations, fear of the police and the courts - describes the plight of numerous communities and families in Cambodia.” A distressing finding on the consequences of a regime which never respect national and international laws, and, in particular, never respect the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements on Cambodia, nor any democratic principle.

One of the telltale signs of the national social division, which were announced by the World Bank in the past few years, are the disproportionate income gaps between the ruling class and the popular masses. The “economic” development, loudly hailed by the regime “super Strongman” Hun Sen and his colleagues, turns out to be, at the social level, an expansion and a reinforcement of the slave system which was, in fact, established since of their arrival to power. Today, the bosses and the nouveau rich people do not recognize any rights, nor do they recognize the dignity of their poor employees and servants. Financial speculations and land disputes are amplified all over the country, along with the steadily increasing number of abusive evictions and savage expulsions by the authorities and their rich sponsors. Tragedies are growing throughout the cities and the countryside, the sound of revolts thunders, and, more than ever, the police force brutally represses all the citizens’ inkling to express their opinions or their dissatisfactions. The same situation can also be found among our compatriots living along the border areas with Vietnam, from Ratanakiri, to Kampot provinces, who are subjected to the rule of the financial opportunists and the encroaching Vietnamese militia. Along the Thai borders, under the new hazardous policy of “two kingdoms, one destination,” our borders are no longer being protected, Thai soldiers even came inside our country, Cambodia, to arrest and removed our compatriots whom they accused of committing “mistakes,” meanwhile, our tourist wealth is placed at the disposal of this neighbor, including our national heritage, such as the Prasat Ta Moan Temple and its surrounding areas which are being annexed by Thailand.

Another sign of social division was opened up for several years now, regarding the issues of Cambodian citizenship and the rights to vote. While million of Vietnamese immigrants almost automatically obtain a Cambodia identity card and thus becomes voters (for the Cambodian People’s Party or CPP), several millions of Cambodian people, unable to grease the paws of the authorities to obtain their ID card, are deprived of one and they are thus considered as foreigners in their own land. Violent religious repressions against Khmer Buddhist monks from Kampuchea Krom (the former Cochinchina) were, in fact, based on the refusal by the current regime to grant them the Cambodian citizenship, whereas they always enjoyed such right up until 1975. However, Mr. Heng Samrin, National Assembly President, declared in May 2007 that “the problems (evictions, harassments and persecutions) of the Cambodian people living in Kampuchea Krom (are) Vietnam’s internal affairs exclusively.” Therefore, in June of this year, Venerable Tim Sakhorn, Abbot of the Cambodian Phnom Den pagoda, located in Takeo province, who lived in Cambodia since 1979, was disrobed by his religious superiors, then, under the pretext that he was born in Kampuchea Krom, he was deported by the regime’s secret police to Vietnam to be judged there for “providing (meager) financial aids” to his unhappy compatriots still living in his native land.

Dear Compatriots and Dear Friends,

We noticed that under the Pol Pot (Khmer Rouge) regime, the worsening of this national social division represented a fatal danger for our Nation and for all of us, Cambodians. Nobody will be able to escape from it. The danger of the Vietnamization of Cambodia grows every single day. We have the sacred DUTY to defend our country, and most of all, to protect our society from this plague, and to protect our brothers and sisters from misery and misfortune. Their misery, misfortune and decline are also the reflections of our own misery, misfortune and decline, whether today or tomorrow. Henceforth, we must show them our fraternity, our compassion for their fates and our constant solidarity with them, we must not scorn them, nor give them up.

This duty cannot be achieved without LOVE, the love of one’s family, of one’s millennium society, of the beautiful traditions and customs of one’s country.

In the name of the Cambodia’s Border Committee, I wish that 2008 will be for each and every one of you a new source of love and energy so that you may bring assistance to our unfortunate compatriots and so that you may be united as a solid block to defend our Nation and our Homeland.

May 2008 be a very good year for all of you, both in Cambodia and all over the world, so that you may have a better life and a greater happiness to live among your respective families.

Done in Paris, December 28, 2007

For the Cambodia’s Border Committee
in France and Worldwide,

Sean Péngsè

o O o

VOEUX
DU COMITE DES FRONTIERES DU CAMBODGE
POUR L’ANNEE 2008

Chers Compatriotes, Chers Amis,

Au Cambodge, l’année 2007 a été encore une « excellente année » pour les maîtres du régime et leurs alliés, mais elle était malheureusement celle d’une alarmante aggravation de la fracture nationale. En effet, face à une débordante opulence d’une minorité dominatrice aux pouvoirs sans limite, se sont élevés chaque jour davantage des cris de détresse, lugubres et révoltants, des millions d’autres brisés par la misère et l’injustice. La déforestation et la dépossession des terres s’étaient poursuivies de plus belle, au mépris des droits des habitants et des intérêts du pays. Deux sociétés khmères s’étaient donc dressées face à face et s’affrontaient dramatiquement, les forts ne ménageant plus leur discrimination et leurs répressions contre les faibles.

Nous devons rendre hommage à la justesse de vue du Représentant spécial du Secrétaire général de l’ONU, M. Yash GHAI, qui a récemment trouvé encore que « le Cambodge n'est pas un Etat de droit » et que les citoyens, dans leur vie quotidienne, ont peur de tout, « peur de l’Etat, peur des saboteurs politiques et économiques, peur de la cupidité des individus et des groupes organisés, peur de la police et des tribunaux, ce qui explique l’extrême misère de nombreuses communautés et familles au Cambodge ». Un constat de plus en plus angoissant sur les conséquences d’un régime qui n’a jamais voulu respecter aucun droit national et international, notamment les Accords de Paris de 1991, et aucun principe démocratique.

L’un des signes de la fracture nationale, signalé depuis quelques années par la Banque Mondiale, est l’accroissement démesuré de l’écart des revenus de la classe dirigeante et ceux des masses populaires. Le développement « économique », tant vanté par le « super homme fort » Hun Sen et ses associés, s’est traduit, au plan social, par l’élargissement et le renforcement du système esclavagiste établi, en fait, dès leur arrivée au pouvoir. Aujourd’hui, les patrons et les nouveaux riches ne reconnaissent aucun droit, ni aucune dignité à leurs pauvres employés ou serviteurs. Les spéculations financières et les conflits fonciers se sont amplifiés partout dans le pays, par le nombre sans cesse grandissant des expropriations abusives et des expulsions sauvages de la part des autorités et de leurs riches commanditaires. Les tragédies se sont multipliées à travers les villes et les campagnes et la révolte gronde, et, plus que jamais, la police réprime brutalement toutes velléités des citoyens d’exprimer leurs opinions ou de manifester leur mécontentement. La même situation se retrouve chez nos compatriotes des zones frontalières avec le Vietnam, de Ratanakiri à Kampot, soumis, eux, à la loi des affairistes et des milices vietnamiens. Du côté thaïlandais, sous la nouvelle politique hasardeuse de « deux royaumes et une seule destination », nos frontières ne sont plus protégées, des soldats thaïs sont même venus arrêtés et enlevés nos compatriotes, « fautifs » à leurs yeux, à l’intérieur de notre pays, pendant que nos richesses touristiques soient mis à la disposition du voisin, et, pour commencer, nos patrimoines, dont le temple ancien Prasat Ta Moan et ses environs, soient annexés par celui-ci.

Une autre ligne de fracture est ouverte depuis plusieurs années par la question de la nationalité cambodgienne et le droit de vote. Alors que des millions d’immigrés vietnamiens obtiennent quasi automatiquement une carte d’identité cambodgienne et deviennent des électeurs (pour le Parti du Peuple du Cambodge, PPC), d’autres millions de Khmers, faute de pouvoir payer les autorités, en sont privés et sont donc considérés comme des étrangers dans leur propre pays. Les violentes répressions religieuses à l’encontre des bonzes bouddhistes khmers originaires du Kampuchea Krom (ex Cochinchine) étaient fondées, en fait, sur le refus du régime actuel de leur accorder la nationalité cambodgienne, alors que, depuis toujours et jusqu’en 1975, ils en jouissaient de droit. M. Heng Samrin, président de l’Assemblée Nationale, a cependant déclaré en mai 2007 que « les problèmes (les expropriations, les brimades et les persécutions religieuses) des Khmers du Kampuchea Krom (relevaient) exclusivement des affaires intérieures du Vietnam ». Ainsi, en juin suivant, le Vénérable TIM Sakhorn, chef d’une pagode cambodgienne de Phnom Den, Takèo, vivant au Cambodge depuis 1979, a été « défroqué » par ses supérieurs religieux, puis, parce qu’il est originaire du Kampuchea Krom, a été emmené par la police secrète au Vietnam pour y être jugé pour « avoir apporté (quelques maigres) secours financiers» à ses malheureux compatriotes de son pays natal.

Chers Compatriotes et Chers Amis,

Nous l’avons déjà constaté sous le régime de Pol Pot, l’aggravation de cette fracture nationale est un danger mortel pour notre Nation, pour nous tous, Khmers. Personne n’y échappera. Le danger de la vietnamisation du Cambodge grandit d’ailleurs chaque jour. Nous avons le DEVOIR sacré de défendre notre pays, et d’abord notre société de la dégénérescence, nos frères et sœurs de la misère et du malheur. Leur misère, leur malheur et leur déchéance sont aussi les images de notre propre misère, de notre propre malheur et de notre propre déchéance, pour aujourd’hui ou pour demain. Dorénavant, nous devons leur témoigner notre fraternité, notre compassion pour leurs sorts et notre solidarité à tous les instants, non pas les mépriser, ni les abandonner.

Ce devoir ne peut s’accomplir sans AMOUR, l’amour de sa famille, de sa société millénaire, des belles traditions et coutumes de son pays.

Au nom du Comité des Frontières du Cambodge, je souhaite profondément que l’année 2008 soit pour chacun de vous une nouvelle source d’amour et d’énergie pour que vous puissiez apporter votre aide à nos malheureux compatriotes et vous unir en un bloc plus solide, pour la défense de notre Nation et de notre Patrie.

Que l’année 2008 soit également une très bonne année pour vous tous, au Cambodge et dans le monde, pour que vous retrouviez une vie meilleure et un plus grand bonheur de vivre au sein de votre famille respective.

Paris, le 28 décembre 2007
P. Le Comité des Frontières du Cambodge
en France et dans le Monde

Sean Péngsè

Ranariddh Calls for Resolving Border Issue with Neighbors, Unifying Democrats

12 Dec 07
By Veasna
Samleng Yuveakchon Khmer
Translated from Khmer and posted online

Cambodia's border issue with neighboring countries, especially with Vietnam and Thailand, continues to be a major worry for Cambodians of all political tendencies. Concerning this vital problem of the country, the president of the Norodom Ranariddh Party [NRP] noted the inability of the current ruling party to resolve this border issue, saying that it is not able to settle the problem even with Thailand with which all the documents are already available.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh reminded all Cambodians about the country's problems, such as the border problem with their neighbors. He said, "Cambodia must reexamine this problem if it does not want to become another Champa."

The prince referred to the motherland of the ethnic Cham people in present-day central Vietnam that was erased from the world map following its annexation by Vietnam.

Because of the policy of Vietnamizing the Cham country, or Champa, the Cham who were the masters of their country have become a minority in their own motherland and have lost all opportunity to easily recover the freedom of their race.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh talked about the danger facing Cambodia due to the policy of annexation pursued by the neighboring countries during a telephone conversation from abroad with the NRP leadership and activists in Phnom Penh a day before the International Human Rights Day during which he discussed Thailand's exploitation of the Cambodian leaders' situation and position of weakness.

He said, "The settlement of the border problem with Thailand cannot be done by the Cambodian Government. I expect the Thais to set up their posts wherever Cambodia cannot reach. They have talked about the White Zone, something that never existed in the past. For example, they planted their new border markers in Otdar Meanchey province."

The prince talked about the problem concerning the planting of border markers with Vietnam, saying that it was done incorrectly.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh said, "The planting of border markers with Vietnam was not right."

He said that although Cambodia made the supplementary law on 10 October 2005 to legitimize the law signed by Hun Sen with Vietnam on 25 December 1985 regarding the Cambodia-Vietnam border, the implementation of the border marker installation was not correctly done.

To emphasize it, the prince noted that in 2006 when the first Cambodian-Vietnamese border markers were planted the ruling Cambodian People's Party [CPP] did not invite the representatives of the FUNCINPEC [National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, and Peaceful Cambodia] Party, which he then headed, to take part in any thorough inspection of the process of planting the markers. And because he kept publicly talking about this issue so that the Cambodian people would know about the incorrectness of the operation to plant the border markers between Cambodia and Vietnam, Hun Sen, prime minister and vice-president of the CPP, ordered Nhiek Bun Chhay to oust him from his post as the FUNCINPEC Party's executive president.

Consequently, Nhiek Bun Chhay, Lu Laysreng, and their cronies staged a party coup on 18 October 2006 to overthrow Prince Norodom Ranariddh despite the fact that two days earlier His Majesty the Heroic King, founder of the FUNCINPEC resistance movement, issued a message affirming that he had handed full ownership of the FUNCINPEC Party to his august son, Samdech Krom Preah [royal title] Norodom Ranariddh.

The president of the NRP also talked about the border problem, saying that His Majesty King Father Norodom Sihanouk prepared documents relating to the Cambodian territory of 181,035 square kilometers and deposited them in Vietnam [as received] during the Sangkum Reastr Niyum [Sihanouk's pre-1970 ruling party] regime.

The prince also talked about the immigration issue, meaning the huge number of Vietnamese nationals who continue to pour into Cambodia without anything or anyone stopping them.

The prince said that Cambodians cannot go in or out in a massive number as immigrants to neighboring Vietnam and Thailand like the Vietnamese nationals are pouring into Cambodia now.

The prince talked about Cambodians going to neighboring countries surreptitiously, working as beggars in the cities of these countries, and regularly being arrested and deported by the governments of Vietnam and Thailand back to Cambodia.

In addition to all of this, the prince pointed out the poverty of the Cambodian people under the leadership of the current government of Hun Sen's CPP.

The prince said that in Cambodia of the times of Sangkum Reastr Niyum headed by His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk in the 1970s Cambodians lived a decent life and were not so poor as to be reduced to beggaring in neighboring countries.

The leadership of the current government of Hun Sen's CPP, although the prime minister has boasted all along that he has been in power for more that 20 years now, has not been able to resolve the poverty problem affecting the Cambodian people.

On the contrary, since the natural resources of the country and the country's national assets have fallen into the hands of the big shots that rely on their power and the rich who rely on their riches, these big shots and rich people have become ever richer while more and more Cambodians have become poor and the poor have become even poorer.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh said that as a solution all democratic, royalist, and liberal parties should unite into a single party in response to the call of the people in order to win next year's election and jointly tackle all these problems of the nation.

Forum tackles growth along Viet Nam-Cambodia border [- Read: VN traget growth of its encroachments inside Cambodia]

01-06-2007
VNS

Ha Noi — Viet Nam and Cambodia border areas should be targeted for increased development co-operation as part of a greater bilateral strategy, concluded a symposium in Ha Noi on Wednesday held to discuss the future of the two countries’ relationship.

Attendees at the symposium pointed to the need to facilitate trade promotion, apply incentives in tax and customs, and intensify the fight against smuggling and counterfeit goods that find their way across the border.

Other issues that were adressed included upgrading border checkpoints, the construction of inter-provincial roads, the planting of cash crops such as rubber, and an increase in cultural exchanges. The seminar was timed to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and Cambodia.

The Treaties Signed By Hun Sen/Heng Samrin/Chea Sim With Vietnam Are All Unconstitutional

Cambodia People Would Never Ever Recognize These Ignominious Treaties

Sun, 13 May 2007
OpEd BY BAPHUON
Posted Online

The pro-Vietnamese tried hard to discourage our effort to void the illegal and unequal treaties that HUN SEN/HENG SAMRIN/CHEA SIM had signed with Vietnam .

The Vietnamese insidious propaganda implied the idea of irreversibility. They said: it is irreversible; the 1979, 1983, 1985 and 2005 treaties became irremediably law of land. And those who attack these treaties would be considered as outlaws.

The pro-Vietnamese key argument was: all Cambodian institutions, and without exception, from the King to the National Assembly, the Senate, and the government, had all approved it, therefore, these 1979, 1983, 1985 and 2005 treaties between Vietnam - HUN SEN/HENG SAMRIN/CHEA SIM become laws.

Sean Péngsè, the President of Cambodia Border Committee in France and the world, during his meeting with Cambodian-American in the US last month had demonstrated the unconstitutionality of these ignominious treaties.

Péngsè said:

During the World War II, the French Vichy regime had signed also the treaty with Hitler ceding French land to the Third Reich. All Vichy institutions had also approved without exception that treaty, which was imposed by Hitler upon Marshal Pétain.

But when the Third Reich was defeated, the victorious De Gaulle declared that French-German treaty void and threw in prison all those who approved the cession of France land to the Third Reich. De Gaulle put in trial as traitor of France Nation those who approved the treaty. Some defendants were executed by a firing squad for crime of treason by De Gaulle.

For the same reason, Chili and Argentina didn’t recognize the treaties they had signed under the duress.

WE, Cambodian people, would never recognize all these ignominious 1978, 1983, 1985 and 2005 treaties signed by HUN SEN/HENG SAMRIN/ CHEA SIM with Vietnam , even though all institutions including the King, the government, the National Assembly, the Senate had approved it.

Through these treaties Cambodia will lose…

By these treaties 1978, 1983, 1985 and 2005, HUN SEN/HENG SAMRIN/CHEA SIM and all Cambodian institutions gave away to Vietnam about one third of Cambodian territorial sea (30,000 km2) plus 10,000 km2 of “ Historic Sea ” (rich in petrol) and one third of Cambodia land territory.

Indeed, according to a Vietnamese secret document distributed to Vietnamese cadres in 1979, on the day following Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia , Cambodia area was only: 120,036 km2, that was exactly one third less than the usual 181,040 sq km, or 176,520 sq mile (according to CIA World Factbook) recognized by the 1954 Geneva Peace Agreement Convention on Indochina .

Through these 1979, 1983, 1985 treaties between Vietnam and HUN SEN/HENG SAMRIN/CHEA SIM, Thailand was able to redraw new territorial sea border, then, consequently, grabbed another one third of Cambodia territorial sea (30,0000 km2).

Thai Prime Minister told Hun Sen in 1997: Don’t ask me about the new Thai-Cambodian territorial sea border. Don’t ask me how Thailand grabs (another) 30,000 sq km of Cambodian territorial sea, go to ask Hanoi instead. We can redraw the new territorial sea border with Cambodia because of your 1985 treaty (Hun Sen) with Vietnam .

First of all, all these treaties 1979, 1983, 1985 and 2005 are unconstitutional.

How could it be otherwise?

They are all UNCONSTITUTIONAL for the following reason:

Argument 1: The 1993 Cambodian Constitution prohibits any Cambodian government or King to cede any chunk of Cambodia land to other country. The article 2 and the article 3 of the 1993 Constitution stipulate the inviolability of the territorial integrity and the indivisibility of the Cambodia .

The treaties 1979, 1983, 1985 and 2005 were against primo the Article 2 relative the inviolability of Cambodia territorial integrity and second the Article 3 relative the indivisibility of Cambodia .

Hence, the King, the government, the Senate, and the National Assembly, all these institutions had committed a criminal act of UNCONSTITUTIONALITY.

I applaud all Sam Raingsy deputies and senators who dared to walk away to boycott the approval vote of these said treaties. It proved that there still are courageous leaders who stood up and opposed to the swallowing of Cambodia by Vietnam .

Argument 2: The 1991 Paris Peace Agreement on Cambodia was a great international agreement under the United Nations auspice. Nineteen countries in order to protect the independence, sovereignty, inviolability, territorial integrity and the national unity of Cambodia:

Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, the French Republic, the Republic of India, the Republic of Indonesia, Japan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Philippine, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

had signed and ratified the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement Treaty on Cambodia .

Then it is legitimate to ask the question: Is-it possible that a very simple bilateral Vietnam-Cambodia could void the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement on Cambodia which was signed and ratified by 19 countries including the UN five permanent members under the auspice of the United Nations?

Logically, the answer is: NO.

By the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, Cambodia area was: 181,040 Km2 (CIA World Factbook).

The 1991 Paris Peace Agreement implicitly void the 1979, 1983 and 1985 treaties between Vietnam and HUN SEN/HENG SAMRIN/CHEA SIM according to the Article 1.2.d) of the

“3. AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE SOVEREIGNTY, INDEPENDENCE , TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY AND INVIOLABILITY, NEUTRALITY AND NATIONAL UNITY OF CAMBODIA”

Article 1. 2. d: To this end, Cambodia undertakes: d) To terminate treaties and agreements which are incompatible with its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and inviolability, neutrality, and national unity;

It needs only a governmental declaration to the press to void these 1979, 1983, 1985 treaties with Vietnam .

But no Cambodian government has the courage to declare to the press the termination or the void of these 1979, 1983 and 1985 treaties.

In spite of the express recommendation through the Article 1.2.d of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, all successive Cambodian government, Rannaridh government, Ung Huot government and Hun Sen Government continued to keep silence on these treaties and had no courage to void these ignominious 1979, 1983, 1985 treaties with Vietnam by a very simple act of declaration to the press.

The Cambodian King did not dare to void these treaties neither. No senator, no National Assembly member dared to denounce these treaties, except Sam Raingsy Party senators and National Assembly SRP members. What a shame! The SRP senators and SRP deputies were the only exceptional heroes who denounced these Vietnam-Hun Sen/Heng Samrin/Chea Sim treaties.

Hun Sen had signed with Vietnam the Supplemental Treaty in Hanoi on October 10, 2005.

By this 2005 Supplemental Treaty signed in Hanoi, Hun Sen government recognized the cession of about one third of Cambodia territorial sea and one third of Cambodia land (the land agreement is yet secret but according to some leak it would be also one third of land) and this would be legalized under the eye of the world.

The Supplemental Treaty signed in Hanoi on October 10, 2005 was additive to the treaties 1979, 1983 and 1985. This 2005 treaty reaffirmed and supported integrally all the cession of our ancestral land territorial sea to Vietnam and the legalization of immigration of four million Vietnamese to Cambodia concluded in the 1979, 1983 and 1985 treaties.

By the 1979 treaty, HUN SEN/HENG SAMRIN/CHEA SIM government must provide land, foods and security to million of Vietnamese immigrants.

Since the 1979, 1983 and 1985 treaties were void according the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, it results that the 2005 Supplemental treaty must be void also.

Argument 3: The 1979, 1983 and 1985 treaties were forced upon Cambodia . Vietnam had invaded Cambodia and imposed these 1979, 1983 and 1985 treaties upon Cambodia . According to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Vienna, 23 May 1969) the 1979, 1983, 1985 and 2005 treaties signed during the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia were void. Since these 1979, 1983 and 1985 treaties were void, it results the 2005 Supplemental Treaty which was based upon these void treaties was void implicitly.

Historical Background of the Article 1.2.d. of the AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE SOVEREIGNTY, INDEPENDENCE, TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY AND INVIOLABILITY, NEUTRALITY AND NATIONAL UNITY OF CAMBODIA.

The authors of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement on Cambodia would like to establish for Cambodia a strong Treaty following the model of the September 8, 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan . The 1951 San Francisco treaty with Japan voided all treaties that were forced by Japan upon the colonized countries.

For this reason, the authors of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement would like void namely the 1979, 1983, 1985 treaties imposed by Vietnam upon Hun Sen/Heng Samrin/Chea Sim.

But Vietnam opposed to such article. Vietnam with the support of France proposed instead a much weaker article which is the article 1.2.d. (Source: Son Sann and Roland Dumas, former France Foreign Minister.)

All Cambodian institutions, including the government, the Senate, the National Assembly elected under the 1993 Constitution had never ever the courage to terminate all these ignominious 1979, 1983, and 1985 treaties. As De Gaulle had said, these collaborators were all traitors of the Nation.

Hun Sen said: If you want to claim Koh Tral from Vietnam , please, do it and I will award you a coffin.

Hun Sen had never understood the law. The primacy of the law was to protect the weak against the abuse of the strong, and the have-not and the without voice against the abuse of the rich and powerful.

Vietnam grabbed our land in violation of the law, but Koh Tral is always ours according to the international law. The law works tirelessly for the weak, and the have-not. For us, it might take a century to get physically our KOH TRAL back. We can wait because it is ours.

Who can predict that the USSR, the second super power, had imploded in 1989, after 78 years of existence, in spite of his formidable arsenal, his several thousand megaton war heads, her several dozen of thousand missiles ICBM and some 40,000 tanks T55s, T72s and T80s, T90s, and several thousands of Migs 25s, 29s and several hundred thousand of KGB agents and million of soldiers?

Baphuon

SOURCE: Sean Pengse speech

----------------
REFERENCES

Cambodia 1993 Constitution:

Article 2:

The territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Cambodia , shall absolutely not to be violated within its borders as defined in the 1/100,000 scale map made between the year 1933-1953 and internationally recognized between the years 1963 - 1969.

Article 3:

The Kingdom of Cambodia is an indivisible state.

THE 1991 PARIS PEACE AGREEMENT ON CAMBODIA

3. AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE SOVEREIGNTY, INDEPENDENCE, TERRITORAL INTEGRITY AND INVIOLABILITY, NEUTRALITY AND NATIONAL UNITY OF CAMBODIA

Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, the French Republic, the Republic of India, the Republic of Indonesia, Japan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In the presence of the Secretary-General of the United Nations:

Convinced that a comprehensive political settlement for Cambodia is essential for the long-term objective of maintaining peace and security in South-East Asia .

Recalling their obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and other rules of international law.

Considering that full observance of the principles of non-interference and non-intervention in the internal and external affairs of States is of the greatest importance for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Reaffirming the inalienable right of States freely to determine their own political, economic, cultural and social systems in accordance with the will of their peoples, without outside interference, subversion, coercion or threat in any form whatsoever.

Desiring to promote respect for an observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and other relevant international instruments.

Have agreed as follows:

Article 1:

1: Cambodia hereby solemnly undertakes to maintain, preserve and defend its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and inviolability, neutrality, and national unity; the perpetual neutrality of Cambodia shall be proclaimed and enshrined in the Cambodian constitution to be adopted after free and fair elections.

2: To this end, Cambodia undertakes:

a) To refrain from any action that might impair the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and inviolability of other States;

b) To refrain form entering into any military alliances or other military agreements with other States that would be inconsistent with its neutrality, without prejudice to Cambodia’s right to acquire the necessary military equipment, arms, munitions and assistance to enable it to exercise its inherent right of self-defence and to maintain law and order;

c) To refrain from interference in any form whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, in the internal affairs of other States;

d) To terminate treaties and agreements which are incompatible with its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and inviolability, neutrality, and national unity;

e) To refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.

f) To settle all disputes with other States by peaceful means;

g) To refrain from using its territory or the territories of other States to impair the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity and inviolability of other States;

h) To refrain from permitting the introduction or stationing of foreign forces, including military personnel, in any form whatsoever, in Cambodia, and to prevent the establishment or maintenance of foreign military bases, strong points or facilities in Cambodia, except pursuant to United Nations authorization for the implementation of the comprehensive political settlement.