Building Democracy with Courage

MP Mu Sochua listening to constituents

23 August 2011
By Mu Sochua

Courage

For those who do not walk the campaign trail and are not on the ground, let it be known that CPP gives us no chance, even if they have to blatantly violate the law. It is not an easy environment for SRP but have we ever given up even one inch?

In Sompeuv Loun, I just walked more than 2 hours- one way to reach the village of Tang Krasaing. Even the tractor could not get us there all the way. We got the CPP village chief to put up SRP sign. Our signs will be up in each and every village in Sampeuv Loun. Same commune, the following day, our commune councilor who is a woman was warned by 7 men to stop mobilizing people against the loss of land to a company or she will be killed. She lives in the middle of nowhere. Does she give up? I don't think so.

SRP machinery is up and running always, in particular the next 45 days- the registration period. In provinces where we do not have seats, our machinery from the province to each village will be running full steam to ensure that voters will get their right to vote on election day. SRP will have its party agents at each of the 1,700 communes, and at each of the 13,000+ villages. Our youth and women's movements will bring our message door-to-door. Our intervention teams will provide support to our party agents in each commune, district and province. Besides CPP, who has this kind of machinery and who even cares to fight this hard, with bare hands?

How does opposition win elections? Merger is one of the ways but not the only way.

It is too easy to give up. It is even more easy to tell people to give up, in particular if one does not live the real life of an activist.

Think how Beung Kak Lake people fight their fight for the past 5 years. Think how workers of June Textile stood each day in front of armed police for 3 months. In both instances, the women won their fight because they do not give up. Beer promoters are beginning to stand up and will not give up. I just met them last night to think with them how they can make the call louder to all beer promoters. We mobilize one group at a time.

To tell people to give up is the worst form of no self-confidence.

Have the courage to tell people to have courage. That is how democracy is built.

Mu Sochua, MP

http://sochua.wordpress.com

"I do not fear death; I fear political silence against injustices"

-Malalai Joya, MP Afghanistan

Donate to Mu Sochua's Justice Fund

Opposition rejects results of Cambodian election

Thursday, July 31, 2008
ABC Radio Australia

Click here to listen to the audio program in English

In Cambodia, several opposition parties have rejected the results of last weekend's elections, saying the vote was rigged in favour of the ruling Cambodian People's Party. However, a protest rally held by the opposition failed to gather many supporters... and international monitors say while there were serious problems with the conduct of the election, there was not enough evidence to discredit the CPP's landslide victory.

Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers: Mu Sochua, candidate for Sam Rainsy Party; Martin Callanan, head of the EU election monitoring team in Cambodia

(SFX disgruntled voters)

COCHRANE: The passion was there but not the numbers. Four opposition parties had called on all citizens who were denied the chance to vote in Sunday's national elections to come forward and make their complaints heard. Thousands were expected, but only about three hundred people arrived at the Sam Rainsy Party headquarters in central Phnom Penh. They told of how their names had been removed from voter lists, even though many had cast a ballot in last year's commune elections. Outside the headquarters, frustrations spilled over.

(SFX shouting & traffic noise)

Sam Rainsy Party leader, Mu Sochua, took up a megaphone and began berating a group of onlookers who she accused of intimidating the public.

SOCHUA: In front of the party headquarters, what do we see. We see the village chief, we see the people in plain clothes but with their walkie talkie. We recognize these people. These people are part of the military, part of the police that have been trying to intimidate, to threaten the people for too long. This is enough, this is way too much. We cannot accept this culture. This is a culture of threat, of intimidation. We are going back to a culture of the Khmer Rouge type control of the people. That is not acceptable.

COCHRANE: Whatever the reason, the poor turnout was a major blow to the opposition parties, undermining their rejection of the election results.
But the concerns over the election conduct do have some merit, according to European Union election monitoring team, the largest group of international observers in Cambodia.

Martin Callanan, is the head of the EU election observers. He said the EU's overall assessment was that the election failed to meet a number of key international standards, despite a lower level of political violence than in previous years.

MARTIN: But of course you have to look at the whole campaign environment. The overwhelming dominance in the media by the ruling party we have a very detailed analysis of this. The fact that it was very difficult in some areas for opposition parties to campaign. Their activities were restricted. The fact that the CPP as the party in power controls all the local election administrations as well. They put up a lot of artificial barriers in place of opposition parties. They used the State's resources. So it was very difficult for there to be a genuinely fair competition.

COCHRANE: Callanan said that at least 57 thousand names had been wrongly removed from voters lists in an audit before the election, but said it was impossible to tell how many other names disappeared. The opposition Sam Rainsy Party says the number was as high as one million people, but there was no way to independently check that figure. The National Election Committee has downplayed the missing names, saying that any complaints about the voting lists should have been lodged before the election.

However, Martin Callanan from the EU, says the problems with the election would not be enough to change the sweeping success of the ruling Cambodian People's Party, or CPP, which won around 60 percent of the votes and around 90 of the 123 seats in Parliament.

MARTIN: For a result like that to be overturned, then there would have to be substantiated evidence produced of very large amounts of electoral malpractices. But so far the evidence that we've seen has been on a very limited scale, which doesn't to say that the evidence doesn't exist but all I can go on is what I've seen and from the evidence I've seen so far there isn't enough evidence to say that the result, on the scale it was, would have been effected materially if these anomalies hadn't taken place.

COCHRANE: It's unclear what the next move might be for the opposition parties in Cambodia. Early results suggest the Sam Rainsy Party might have won around 26 seats but the others barely registered, with FUNCINPEC on track for just two seats, the Norodom Rannaridh Party another two seats and the Human Rights Party led by Khem Sokha in line for three seats. This means that, for the first time, the ruling Cambodian People's Party, led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, will not need a coalition partner to form government. Liam Cochrane for Radio Australia, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

SRP denounces election fraud

Cambodians look for their registration numbers outside a polling station located at the base of the Preah Vihear temple, about 250 km (152 miles) northeast of Siem Reap, July 27, 2008. Cambodians voted on Sunday in an election likely to bestow another five-year term on long-time Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose standing has been boosted by a nationalist spat with Thailand over a 900-year-old temple. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

27 July 2008
By A.L.G Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr

The SRP denounced several irregularities which would have been observed in the days leading to the ballot casting.

Hundreds of names would have been deleted from the voting list in Sangkat Boeng Tumpun, Meanchey district, the Sam Rainsy party (SRP) denounced in a communiqué issued on 26 July. “Of those who were left off the list, most had the appropriate documentation in hand to prove it,” SRP said.

“Many of these people had discovered several months earlier that their names were not on the voter list. Then, they complained to the electoral officials who reassured them, but today they discover that their names are still missing from the voter list.”

Furthermore, the SRP also reported incidents which took place during the last days of the election campaign: On 25 July, in Battambang, Yoob Vasy and Chea Saroeun, two young 21-year-old SRP activists, were brutalized by CPP activists near a demonstration to support Sam Rainsy. Later, stones were thrown on the SRP parade, hurting Suon Chamroeun, the president of the SRP youth movement in Battambang, and Chea Keo, the fourth SRP candidate.

Also, according to the SRP, on 25 July, CPP members made several visits to Kampot voters trying to buy their votes. Such practices were observed last weekend and CPP members paid 10,000 riels ($2.50) for each vote they can buy. On 24 July, the CPP was fined 5 million riels ($1,250) by the provincial election committee (PEC) for such illegal activities, the SRP reported.

Cambodians gear up for election

Cambodians have been returning to their home villages to vote

Saturday, 26 July 2008
BBC News

"Cambodian politicians and party activists know the CPP will use violence if necessary" - Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch

Millions of Cambodians are preparing to vote in an election widely expected to return Prime Minister Hun Sen to office, with a firmer grip on power.

His Cambodian People's Party holds 73 assembly seats out of 123, and analysts say his majority is likely to increase.

The prime minister, who has ruled since 1985, has gained huge approval for taking tough stance in an ongoing dispute with neighbouring Thailand.

The countries are arguing over land surrounding an ancient monument.

Both nations have massed troops near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple - which belongs to Cambodia.

Each claims the land surrounding the temple, and the dispute has raised nationalist fervour in Bangkok and Phnom Penh.

"People are more focused on the border issue at Preah Vihear temple than on the election," Hang Puthea, who heads an election-monitoring body, told AFP news agency.

Cambodia is due to hold talks with Thailand on the issue on Monday.

No more coalition?

Eleven parties are contesting polls, but most analysts believe the CPP will secure another five-year term in power.

Under Hun Sen, Cambodia has achieved high economic growth - helped by revenue from the garment and tourist industries.

But the country is also experiencing soaring inflation and there is growing discontent over endemic corruption - both of which could favour opposition leader Sam Rainsy.

The Sam Rainsy Party - which has a strong power base in Phnom Penh, but is weaker in rural areas - currently holds 24 seats in the 123-seat parliament.

The CPP, with 73 seats, has been ruling in a coalition with royalist party Funcinpec, which holds 26 seats.

But a 2006 constitutional amendment means the CPP requires only a simple majority - rather than a two-thirds majority - to rule in its own right.

So all the indications are the CPP will be returned to office, with no need for a coalition partner.

Poll violence

Tens of thousands of Cambodia's eight million registered voters have left the cities to vote in their home villages.

Campaigning has stopped and a ban on alcohol has been enforced to ensure a peaceful poll - the fourth since decades of civil war ended.

Previous elections have been hit by violence. Scores of people - mainly opposition supporters and activists - were killed or beaten in the run-up to elections in 1998.

This one has passed off comparatively smoothly, but rights groups have flagged up ruling party control of the media and intimidation of opposition activists as continuing problems.

"Cambodian politicians and party activists know the CPP will use violence if necessary - which means the ruling party doesn't need to do so," said Brad Adams, of US-based Human Rights Watch.

Both international and domestic monitors will be on hand to monitor the polls - which open at 0700 (0000 GMT) and close eight hours later.

Cambodians "cool off" for general election

Cambodians leave Phnom Penh city for their hometown July 26, 2008 for voting day tomorrow. Thousands of migrant workers left the Cambodian capital on Saturday for their home towns and villages to cast their votes in a general election overshadowed by a dispute with Thailand over a 900-year-old temple. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Sat Jul 26, 2008
By Ek Madra

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Thousands of migrant workers left the Cambodian capital on Saturday for their home towns and villages to cast their votes in a general election overshadowed by a dispute with Thailand over a 900-year-old temple.

Buses and pick-up trucks leaving Phnom Penh were packed as the Southeast Asian nation enjoyed a "cooling off" day on the eve of voting in a poll almost certain to give another five-year term to Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the past 23 years.

All alcohol sales were banned for 48 hours from midnight on Friday, as was campaigning, to let voters get home and calm down after a month of often vitriolic electioneering.

"This shows people's strong enthusiasm to vote," Tep Nitha, Secretary-General of the National Election Committee, told a news conference.

Campaigning was more orderly than Cambodia's previous exercises in a democracy created by the United Nations in the early 1990s to bring an end to more than two decades of war and upheaval, including the Khmer Rouge "Killing Fields".

However, all parties quickly became embroiled in the row over the Preah Vihear temple, which has led to build-ups of troops and artillery on both sides of the border, and raised fears of a border war.

The temple, which sits on a jungle-clad escarpment separating the two countries, is claimed by both sides but was awarded to Cambodia in 1962 by the International Court of Justice, a ruling that has rankled in Thailand ever since.

Cambodia's successful bid to have the ruins listed as a World Heritage site this month inflamed nationalist passions in Bangkok, where street campaigners are trying to overthrow the government. Thailand's foreign minister was forced to resign.

Despite the depth of feeling in both countries, many of Cambodia's 8.1 million voters said they were concentrating on more practical matters, such as choosing a government to oversee a booming economy now threatened by soaring inflation.

"This is a very important day. We have to choose a good leader to create more jobs for us," Svay Sokha, a 24-year-old garment worker, told Reuters as she and her friends waited for a bus to the eastern province of Kampong Thom.

Many of the 300,000 young men and women working in Phnom Penh's garment export sector favour opposition leader Sam Rainsy, a French-educated former finance minister.

However, Hun Sen's former communist but now firmly free-market Cambodian People's Party (CPP) is virtually assured victory, thanks in large part to near double-digit annual economic growth in the past five years.

In the countryside, most voters also favour the CPP as the force that finally put paid to the Khmer Rouge, responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people during Pol Pot's time in power from 1975-79.

Most analysts expect the CPP to win an outright majority in the 123-seat parliament.

Human rights groups say six party activists were killed in the month before polling day -- four from the CPP and two from the Sam Rainsy Party. The numbers are lower than the run-up to the 1998 and 2003 elections.

However, New York-based Human Rights Watch said the CPP's dominance of the broadcast media, as well as harassment of opposition party members, ensured that "conditions are not in place for free and fair elections".

Cambodia braces for national election Sunday

Jul 26, 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - The Cambodian National Election Committee (NEC) said the run-up to Sunday's election had been the least stricken by violence the country had seen, a representative said Saturday.

That statement came despite a history of violence and unrest during elections, which began again in 1993 and are held every five years.

NEC representative Em Sophath told a press conference that his organization had received fewer than half the complaints it had investigated at the last national election in 2003 since the one- month campaign period began.

'Even the opposition Sam Rainsy Party campaigned until midnight before (the election curfew),' Sopath said, referring to the 48-hour blackout on political news enforced by the NEC which began Saturday.

However, earlier in the day, prominent New York-based human rights group Human Rights Watch issued a statement claiming threats, intimidation and unequal media access had hurt the Cambodian opposition.

'Elections in Cambodia under existing conditions devalue the process,' Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch Asia director said.

'Election observers from genuine democracies would never accept at home the CPP's grip on the media or the fear and intimidation faced.'

Despite an ongoing police investigation, it blamed the CPP for the murder of opposition journalist Khim Sambo earlier this month, saying the killing 'appears to have been timed? to have the maximum chilling effect.'

It also accused the CPP of making 'lucrative offers of high-paying government positions' to coerce key opposition officials to defect and threatening those who did not prior to the vote.

However it conceded there had been a decrease in violence compared to previous elections.

The CPP, already in control of 73 seats, is touted to take up to 80 of 123 seats nationally Sunday and thousands of international observers have arrived to monitor polls.

Sam Rainsy: "We will simply go the Burmese way," should the CPP secure an absolute majority

Cambodians seek stability after decades of misery

July 19 2008
By Raphael Minder in Phnom Penh
Financial Times (UK)

Sovan, a cadre from the ruling Cambodian People's party, has been driving around Phnom Penh to rally voters for next Sunday's legislative election.

"We will certainly win," he says, his voice turned hoarse from shouting slogans into his megaphone.

Few Cambodians seem ready to dispute that prognosis. Although the CPP is being challenged by 10 opposition parties, the contenders have been weakened by internal bickering and high-profile defections.

Hun Sen, a former communist who has led the government since 1985 when Vietnamese troops occupied the country, is expected to secure not only another five-year term but also enough votes to end his coalition with the royalist Funcinpec party, a power-sharing arrangement in place since Cambodia's first multi-party election in 1993.

In a country ravaged by decades of war and a genocide, the CPP's guarantee of stability appears to have more clout than calls for government rotation, particularly among a business community that has benefited from average annual growth of 9 per cent over the past decade.

"Until a few years ago, Cambodia was not considered investable because of a perception of political instability and a weak legal structure," says Douglas Clayton, who has been investing in south-east Asia for 20 years and manages Leopard Capital, a Cambodian fund. "We can now predict who will be running the government for the next five or even 10 years - and a government that is pro-business - which isn't the case in Thailand, Malaysia or the Philippines."

But legal concerns remain, with Cambodia regularly among the worst performers in international corruption studies. The World Bank has also been forced to shelve some Cambodian projects because of corrupt procurement procedures.

Stories of forced land evictions abound, while evidence that newly acquired wealth is often coupled with disregard for the law can be seen on the streets, where limousines and SUVs speed along without number plates.

As a latecomer to Asia's decade-long boom, Cambodia has benefited from some of the more recent difficulties of others. Its biggest industry, textiles, has grown as Chinese exporters have struggled with anti-dumping duties and, more recently, higher labour costs.

"This country is coming from a very low base," Mr Clayton argues, "so there is still a lot of low-hanging fruit and very little downside."

As long as foreign property companies continue to invest in redrawing Phnom Penh's skyline, government officials show little inclination to discuss Cambodia's underground economy.

"Corruption exists everywhere in the world," says Chea Vuthy, deputy secretary-general of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, the agency that vets investment proposals. "They [international agencies] can rank us wherever they want, but look at our GDP growth and improved living standards. If investors want to judge us by looking at the reports of the World Bank and others, it's better for them to stay at home."

In a sign that the government is worried that surging prices will weaken its power base, it stopped publishing relevant indicators at the start of the year after inflation hit 18.7 per cent, up from an annual rate of 5 per cent in 2007. A local economist says he has seen recent data showing inflation accelerating to 32 per cent.

The government also recently doubled reserve requirements for banks to 16 per cent, a move seen by some as evidence of panic. In Channy, chief executive of Acleda Bank, which has Cambodia's largest branch network, says: "By increasing reserves, they think they can reduce spending. I don't see how this is a good measure. It means we cannot effectively use collected deposits."

Economic hardship is expected to reduce voter turnout, which was above 90 per cent in the 1990s but fell to 65 per cent in 2003. The main textile workers' union forecast that 40 per cent of the country's 340,000 garment workers would be unable to vote, as they could not afford the trip to their home constituency because of higher travel costs.

The campaign has been marred by allegations of vote-buying and intimidation in the countryside, and unfair CPP control of the media, as well as some killings. Still, the Asia Foundation US development group said this week: "Although these reports are shocking and the methods unacceptable, the current situation is nevertheless a marked improvement from the characteristic suppression and violence of past elections."

Sam Rainsy, leader of the eponymous party that is the CPP's most resolute opponent, remains optimistic about next Sunday's vote, but also gives a bleak forecast should the CPP secure an absolute majority. "We will simply go the Burmese way," he said.

No Help Asked of FBI in Reporter's Killing [... lest the truth on the killers and their backers is revealed to the public?]

By Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
16 July 2008

The government has not requested help from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in apprehending a suspect in Friday's shooting of an opposition journalist, and Phnom Penh's police chief said Wednesday his police did not need it.

Phnom Penh Police Chief Touch Naroth told VOA Khmer Wednesday the investigation was ongoing, but his personnel were capable of handling the investigation into the shooting of Khim Sambor and his son Friday.

Khim Sambor, a reporter for the pro-Sam Rainsy Party Moneaksekar Khmer newspaper, was shot dead along with his son on a Phnom Penh street Friday night.

No suspects have been apprehended.

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Wednesday it was not the role of the government to ask the FBI for help, but it was a matter for the police.

The FBI have announced they will help the investigation, if asked.

Human rights officials said the killing ahead of the elections constitutes political intimidation for opposition groups and voters.

Cambodia: Murder of Journalist Jolts Run-Up to Election

Source: Human Rights Watch

(New York, July 16, 2008) - With less than two weeks before Cambodia's National Assembly elections on July 27, the political climate has sharply deteriorated, highlighted by the killing of opposition journalist Khim Sambo and his son in a drive-by shooting on July 11 in Phnom Penh, Human Rights Watch said today. At 6:30 p.m. on July 11, Sambo, 47, and his son, Khat Sarinpheata, 21, were fired upon numerous times by a man riding on the back of a motorcycle near Olympic Stadium in central Phnom Penh, where Sambo and his son had been exercising. Sambo died at the scene. His son died the following day in hospital.

"As in previous pre-election periods, this killing appears to be intended to send a message not to engage in opposition politics," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Sambo had been a reporter for more than 10 years for Moneaksekar Khmer (Khmer Conscience), a newspaper affiliated with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). It is one of the few newspapers in Cambodia that is not dominated by the government or the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of incumbent Prime Minister Hun Sen, which also controls most television and radio stations. Sambo was known for his hard-hitting articles about government corruption, political affairs, and land grabbing.

"The Cambodian authorities should surprise everyone for once and hold accountable those responsible for Khim Sambo's murder, no matter their political allegiance," said Adams. "Sadly, there is every reason to fear that Khim Sambo will be yet another opposition journalist whose killing will not be solved."

Just a month before his murder, military police arrested Moneaksekar Khmer editor, Dam Sith, who is also running as a SRP candidate in the elections, after the paper reported on allegations about the current foreign minister's role during the Khmer Rouge regime. Although Sith was released after several days in detention and the foreign minister dropped his lawsuit against the editor, criminal charges of defamation and disinformation are still pending against Sith under articles 62 and 63 of Cambodia's penal code.

The buildup to the July elections has been marked by intense and systematic efforts by the CPP to pressure opposition party members, particularly those from the SRP, to defect to the CPP. Lucrative offers of high-paying government positions or threats and reprisals against those who refuse have resulted in hundreds of opposition party members defecting to the CPP during this campaign.

One of those suffering reprisals as a result of the defection campaign is Tuot Saron, a local SRP leader in Kampong Thom province, who remains in detention almost four months after her arrest.

In violation of election rules, the 11 political parties competing in the election do not have equal access to the media, especially radio and television. Most of the electronic media outlets in Cambodia have focused their election coverage almost exclusively on positive portrayals of the CPP or one-sided attacks on the opposition. On July 10, the National Election Commission (NEC) issued a warning to 13 television and radio stations for broadcasting biased coverage of the elections. Ten of those stations are dominated by pro-CPP coverage, according to the NEC.

Human Rights Watch called on the Cambodia authorities to promptly implement other critically needed reforms in advance of the elections. These include to:

• Remove pending criminal charges against Dam Sith;
• Reissue the license and reopen Angkor Ratha (FM 105.25) radio in Kratie province, which was shut down by the government in May 2008 after it sold air time to opposition parties;
• Release SRP member Tuot Saron in Kompong Thom;
• Stop the unprecedented pressure by the CPP to coerce opposition party officials to defect to the CPP before the elections; and
• Ensure fair and equal access to electronic media.

"Elections in Cambodia are always fraught with violence and intimidation," said Adams. "While political violence is considerably less than in past elections, the fact that an opposition journalist has been gunned down on a busy city street has sent shock waves through the community of media workers, opposition party supporters, and the voting population in general."

Every party face election obstacles ... except the CPP: No surprise there!

SRP election campaign (Photo: AP)

Outside Parties Report Campaign Obstacles

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
15 July 2008

[Editor's note: In the weeks leading into national polls, VOA Khmer will explore a wide number of election issues. The "Election Issues 2008" series will air stories on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a related "Hello VOA" guest on Thursday. This is the first in a two-part series examining the difficulties faced by each of the 11 competing parties.]

All of the parties outside the ruling coalition have reported irregularities and obstacles.

Less than two weeks away from Election Day, only the ruling Cambodian People's Party and its coalition partner Funcinpec say they face zero obstacles to their campaigns. Nine other parties, large and small, have complained of irregularities and other constraints plaguing their efforts.

Norodom Ranariddh Party spokesman Muth Chantha said the party has faced difficulties in the distribution of leaflets and knock-downs of political signs, from the capital to the provinces.

His activists have not been able to distribute platform information in Phnom Penh markets, Muth Chantha said, a complaint shared by other parties, especially the Human Rights, Sam Rainsy and the Khmer Democratic parties.

The greatest challenge, though, has been the absence of the party's leader, he said.

"The first challenge for us is the absence of Prince Norodom Ranariddh," Muth Chantha said. "It means we aren't equally armed in the campaign."

Human Rights Party Vice President Keo Remy said the main challenges to his party were "threats."

Activists have been threatened in Kampong Cham, Prey Veng and Kampong Speu provinces, as well as in the capital, Keo Remy said, including threats from village chiefs.

Violence, injuries and verbal threats have all been reported by his activists, he said.

SRP lawmaker Yim Sovann said that in the face of such irregularities, the party has minimum liberties.

"We don't expect the election will be free and fair," he said. "And we don't have confidence in the National Election Committee."

Ny Chakrya, chief investigator for the rights group Adhoc, noted that the pressure of campaign irregularities has mostly come against parties outside of the government.

"Even though we have not noted many irregularities compared to previous elections, the ruling party has tried to disturb the opposition, like knocking down political signs, and this requires efficient action by the NEC."

NEC Secretary-General Tep Nitha said that there are irregularities, but they are the same reported in previous elections: sign knock-downs, threats, vote-buying.

"But there aren't any political threats, and now we are investigating some cases for which we've received complaints," he said.

CPP lawmaker Chiem Yeap said the ruling party faced no challenges in the campaign. It had facilities to conduct a campaign across the country, presenting its political platform for voters and holding meetings.

One challenge was that Funcinpec had attacked the CPP "like the opposition," he said.

Prince Sisowath Sereyrath, second deputy of Funcinpec, said the party had no problems in the first weeks of the campaign, "because we do not attack any parties."

"Of course, technical problems are unavoidable," he said. Funcinpec instead faced budget problems, he said.

Small parties too face budget constraints as they campaign.

Khmer Rouge style of killing used in Kratie violence against SRP

July 15, 2008

Khmer Rouge style of killing used in Kratie violence against SRP

At 5am on 13 July 2008, Mr. Kim Pros, age 18, and Mr. That Paom, age 24, nephews of Mr. Khum Srouch, a Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) activist in Meas Kandal village, Sray Cha commune, Snuol district, Kratie province, were transporting rubber's sap by bicycle to sell them at Snoul market when a violent incident occurred. Mr. Suon Buna, the village militia chief, accompanied by 5 others in a red car, caught Mr. Kim Pros and Mr. That Paom. They ruthlessly used a sharp stem of palm tree to slit Mr. Pros' throat and then beat him, leaving his head swollen and his entire body bruised. This method of throat-cutting is a similar practice to those performed by the Khmer Rouge in the Killing Fields. In addition, Mr Paom was heavily injured, and his right arm was broken. The people in the village witnessed the incident and screamed for the perpetrators to stop. The perpetrators left the scene in cars and on motorbike. The village people took Mr. Pros and Mr. Paom to the referral hospital in Snuol district.

SRP members of Parliament condemn this violent act and request FBI to also help in investigating this case so that the responsible persons will be brought to justice as soon as possible.

SRP members of Parliament

For further information contact 012-444438

(Translated from Khmer by Rachel Sam and Audrey Tan)

Updated Interview with Dr. Lao Mong Hay on the 2008 General Election

Cambodia’s ruling party tipped to win overwhelmingly in July 27 polls

June 17, 2008
Radio Singapore International

Cambodians will go to the polls in about six weeks’ time.

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party is widely expected to be re-elected due to weak opposition.

The CPP has been accused of vote-buying, intimidation and other forms of political pressure in past elections but the party has dismissed these claims.

To find out more, Yvonne Gomez spoke with Lao Mong Hay, a senior researcher at the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission.

LHM: Over the years, the ruling party has been trying to rewrite divide and rule, means that it has been using different means to destroy the weak and rival parties. Over the years, the ruling party has assigned senior, powerful and rich officials to look after different districts. They have been going out there trying to help and offer to give donation in the long term. Short term, during the election campaign, they offer gifts and all that. There is an intimidation at the same time before the polling day and after and perhaps throughout the year. Those who are known as supporting the opposition parties are discriminated against with regard to the public services. There are people who are compelled to join the party or support the ruling party because of this kind of discrimination to have good feelings with the government officials.

Despite Hun Sen’s political dominance, Cambodia has 57 parties, with 11 of them running in the July election. Why is that these parties haven’t banded together to form a more coherent and perhaps stronger opposition?

LHM: I think under these political circumstances of a repression of or control, I think it’s very difficult for people to unite. Under the rule Khmer Rouge, people were so much repressed that even if they eat together, they do not trust one another.

How do you expect the main opposition Sam Rainsy party to fare in the election?

LHM: I think it is a bit difficult because their party lacks resources and likely because of the action on the part of the ruling party. I think many of its members have defected to the ruling party and that causes quite a bit of difficulty. Furthermore, there is a court action against Sam Rainsy himself and now his own son has he is implicated in some issue of involving in a plot of something.

Do you expect much violence in the run-up and during the July 27 polls?

LHM: Violence has been going on openly or in secret. Violence against rival parties for instance, dismantling of party signs and intimidation and even killing of party activists. Now there are threats and intimidations going on to even both who are against and who are opposed to the ruling party. Because of extensive ruling party networks across the country, the ruling party has an advantage since it has been there running the army to believe administration that they can know everything that’s going on at the local level.

Hun Sen and the CPP is doing all it can to hamper the SRP before the election ... is the CPP that scared of the opposition SRP?

Opposition Faces Police Investigation

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
17 June 2008

Military police and police have opened up an investigation into allegations opposition Sam Rainsy Party members have been involved in violent plots against the government.

Last week, Sam Rainsy Party defector Lek Bunnhean accused opposition officials of being involved in the Cambodian Freedom Fighters, an Angkor Empire Movement, and the rocket attack on Prime Minister Hun Sen in Siem Reap in 1998.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Tuesday the accusations were "unbelievable."

"Because the election is nearly approaching, the CPP knows that Sam Rainsy has more popularity and the CPP has a problem when the people are angry with it over land disputes and the price of goods, and the people don't believe CPP anymore," he said.

Lek Bunnhean, who joined the ruling Cambodian People's Party less than two weeks ago, said Tuesday he had documents implicating Sam Rainsy, Eng Chhay Ieng and former senator Thach Setha in the various plots.

Lek Bunnhean left his position after he worked in Pursat province for the Sam Rainsy Party and as a representative for SRP Secretary-General Eng Chhay Ieng.

He took the documents from a Sam Rainsy Party office in Thailand, he said, but he refused to provide copies. The documents include photographs of Sam Rainsy with jailed CFF president Chhun Yasith, he said.

Sam Rainsy said Tuesday he had met with many Cambodian expatriates at different demonstrations in Cambodia and was often photographed with people, but that didn't mean he knew what organizations they belonged to.

Eng Chhay Ieng could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. Khieu Sopheak, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said the investigation was being conducted at the behest of "the government."

"In this investigation, the government needs collaboration with Sam Rainsy Party defectors," he said.

"We are doing this work," he said, but declined to give further details.

Gen. Sao Sokha, commander of the military police, also confirmed his police were investigating, following the order of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

"Regarding the information we obtained, we must investigate with utmost care," he said. "We must work in accordance with the law and without partiality."

NGOs fear political violence ahead of election

Tuesday, 03 June 2008
Ly Menghour
The Mekong Times

A group of some 40 civil society organizations yesterday expressed deep concern over the increase in violence against political party members in Cambodia in the first part of this year. The organizations say this political violence is threatening Cambodian citizens’ and politicians’ freedom to take part in politics, a right they say is enshrined in the constitution.

The civil society group – including the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free Elections in Cambodia (NICFEC), Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL), and coalition the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC) – said the court system and some government institutions are used as political tools to propagate political violence and threats.

The group said that the rights of the individual are often not respected, with party defectors often filing complaints against their former parties over violence and threats. They warned such a situation could cause a political crisis for the Jul 27 national election.

“Cases of murder, threat, intimidation and political persecution are occurring, especially in far flung areas, while Cambodia is preparing for the upcoming national election,” Thun Saray, president of local rights group Adhoc, said at a press conference yesterday.

According to the observations of the NGO group, detailed in a report covering January to April of this year, there have been five assassinations of political party members, 21 cases of persecution and intimidation of party members and 15 cases of removing political party banners.

“Civil society organizations believe that the political situation in Cambodia is very bleak if political violence is still occurring in the period leading up to the national elections. This will affect the result of the national election which should be free, just and fair in compliance with the demands of the Cambodian people,” Thun Saray added.

Civil society organizations also noted that most perpetrators have yet to be arrested, let alone prosecuted. No robust legal measures have been instituted to prevent such abuses, they claimed.

“The Cambodian legal system is like a spider’s web which functions to ensnare the vulnerable and victims of crime, and which frightens voters,” Center for Social Development President Theary Seng said about the Kingdom’s court system.

Koul Panha, director of COMFREL, said the murder and intimidation chiefly happens to members of opposition parties, such as the Sam Rainsy Party, Norodom Ranariddh Party and Human Rights Party.

“As well as [what is occurring now], murder, violence and intimidation took place against party members before the 2003 national elections. These cases still remain under investigation and have not been solved,” he said.

According to the group, the five months running up to the 2003 elections saw eight assassinations of political party members and 43 cases of violence and intimidation. However, in the first five-month period of this year, there have already been five party member assassinations and 21 cases of violence and intimidation. The group claimed these figures show the situation this year is worse than in 2003.

Hang Puthea, NICFEC director, noted that, although the campaign period defined by the National Election Committee (NEC) – 26 June 26- July 25 July – has not commenced yet, political parties have already commenced campaigning.

Tep Nytha, secretary general of the NEC, rejected the civil societies group’s appraisal, claiming that the situation before this year’s national election is better than that of any of the previous elections.

“[Murder] is something that happens in simple societies,” he said. “The research has not been clearly conducted, but some political parties and civil society groups have been drawn into [making these conclusions] on political issues. Also, civil society groups don’t believe the research and conclusion of the experts. On the contrary, civil society organizations make conclusions by linking the [murders and violence] to political issues, which ruins the political environment.”

Tep Nytha claimed political violence, threats and murders have declined in 2008 compared to the 1993 and 2003 general elections and the 2007 commune elections. He said the NEC has been working with the government since 2007 to ensure security during the election.

However, Eng Chhay Eang, secretary general of Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), agreed with the civil society group’s statement. “If the intimidation and murders of political party members continue, the election will not proceed freely and justly,” he warned. “During the period before the election, the SRP has suffered from intimidation and the ‘buying of hearts’ [by other parties]. This concerns the SRP for the election.”

Political Cartoon: Free & Fair Election in Scambodia

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