Police Force Used to Stop Sam Rainsy Party Campaign in Kompong Chnang

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d3oN3PxQIY

Kompong Chnang
27 January, 2012

Sam Rainsy Party strongly condemns Kompong Chnang provincial authorities for failing to take immediate and appropriate action against provincial police from creating fear and chaos as the opposition party is attempting to show its campaign video in this provincial town.

According to the Law on Senatorial Election scheduled for Sunday 29 January, 2012 all parties are allowed to campaign from 7-27 January.

SRP will file a complaint against the provincial police with the Provincial electoral Committee for violation of the electoral law.

Over 15,000 copies of the SRP campaign videos have been distributed throughout the country in the past 20 days.

SRP Message to the people: "SRP defends Cambodia's territory and the people's land".

SRP Cabinet

Cambodia needs to change, adapt

As her neighbors embrace the dynamism of this new century, Cambodia must adapt or she may be left far behind.

June 15, 2011
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS

I know some Cambodian democrats are provoked that I continually emphasize that Cambodian democrats are on their own to face Premier Hun Sen's autocracy; that there's no international guardian of rights, freedom and the rule of law coming to their rescue and the sooner democrats accept that a nation-state's national interests generally trump its concern with human rights violations, the better.

But I keep on writing -- I am grateful to the Pacific Daily News for providing its pages as an outlet. Together, I believe we are making a difference. The great Chinese teacher, Confucius, said, "It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness."

A sine qua non condition for the Cambodian democratic opposition to move forward in its fight for rights, freedom and the rule of law is for the diverse opposition groups to stop tearing each other apart. This internal dissension is precisely what Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party would like to see continue.

It weakens and diminishes the opposition in the eyes of Cambodian citizens in general, and it presents those in the international community with an excuse to continue dealing with the autocrats in power.

Opposition MP and Team Harassed and Threatened

May 31, 2011
By Mu Sochua
Originally posted at http://sochua.wordpress.com/

MP, Mu Sochua and her team of locally elected councilors were surrounded, harassed and threatened by deputy village chiefs and youth members from the ruling party, CPP while making door to door visits in Battambang town.

The harsh words and accusation of incitement made by the CPP representatives were made to be heard and to demonstrate their total control of the villages. Their presence during the MP visit in the village spread fear.

The CPP deputy village chiefs openly accused MP, Mu Sochua of inciting villages against the government when villages were informed of their rights to free public health care and education. The youth members directly threatened a villager who complained of loss of land when she was sick.

“You, Mu Sochua can not enter my village. I warn you“, said a male commune councilor who was clearly intoxicated but encouraged by the other CPP representatives to abuse the opposition team.

The opposition team filed its complaint to the governor the following day.

WKR rejects Sourn Serey Ratha’s accusation

By Lim Piseth
29 April 2011
Excerpt translation from the Free Press Magazine
Click here to read the entire article in Khmer

On Thursday, a representative of the World Khmer Radio (WKR) station has rejected the accusation made Sourn Srey Ratha who claimed that WKR threatened one of its employees because she worked for Sourn Serey Ratha’s People Power radio station. Sourn Serey Ratha alleged that WKR used the name of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) to make the threat. WKR also rejected this accusation.

San Suwidh, the administrator of WKR, reacted by saying that Sourn Serey Ratha distorted the truth on WKR administrators. “I and Mr. Ok Soeum never threatened any WKR employee. We understand their freedom. I believe that Mr. Sourn Serey Ratha is painting a very bad picture out of WKR which is working hard to serve the public interest under a lot of difficulties,” San Suwidh said.

San Suwidh indicated that WKR is currently facing difficulties in Cambodia and it had to close its office in Phnom Penh because the landlord cancelled their lease after he received a (threat) letter from a man who claimed to be the personal aid of Sar Kheng, the minister of Interior.

“Therefore, this is not like what Sourn Serey Ratha accused us of when he claimed that we used a letter from the MoI to threaten our employees. To the contrary, WKR has been victimized by this letter [from the MoI]. We closed our office in Phnom Penh and we only preserved our volunteer workers and asking them to work from various locations in Cambodia.”

Secretary Clinton's October 30-November 1 Visit to Cambodia

Source: US Dept. of State
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
October 30, 2010

Secretary Clinton’s two-day trip to Cambodia October 30-November 1 highlights the United States commitment to enhanced, sustained, and comprehensive engagement in Southeast Asia, as well as our desire to assist the Cambodian people in their efforts to recover fully from decades of conflict, to achieve political and legal reforms, and to strengthen economic development. This trip is the first Secretary of State visit to Cambodia since then-Secretary Powell visited in 2003.

The United States has a strong interest in a Cambodia that contributes to regional stability, upholds democratic values, and integrates fully into the international economy. Our wide-ranging assistance programs touch on all aspects of Cambodian life and affirm these strategic interests. Secretary Clinton will encourage Cambodia to continue its recovery from conflict and its progress on democratic development. She will stress the importance of a credible opposition and respect for human rights in a stable, well-functioning democracy and highlight our interest in seeing Cambodia continue to play a constructive role in regional stability. She will also express appreciation for the country’s rich cultural heritage and underscore the critical role Cambodia’s young citizens play in the country’s future prosperity and development.

Sustained and Deep Engagement with Cambodia: Our engagement with Cambodia achieves a variety of political, security and humanitarian objectives. The United States provided Cambodia more than U.S. $70 million in foreign assistance this year, which goes to addressing issues such as human trafficking, HIV/AIDS, corruption, maternal and child health, and humanitarian mine action. Our maturing security cooperation with Cambodia represents a joint commitment to ensuring international peace and security, and continuing the transformation of the Cambodian Armed Forces into a transparent, accountable, and professional military. The U.S. partnership with the Lower Mekong Initiative is another example of how we are engaging with Cambodia to promote a multilateral response to the transnational challenges we all share, such as climate change and infectious disease.

A Democratic, Secure, and Prosperous Future for Cambodia: Our commitment to a democratic, secure, and prosperous Cambodia is reflected in the nearly $7 million we have contributed to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (Khmer Rouge Tribunal), which seeks to bring to justice the Khmer Rouge senior leaders and those most responsible for the atrocities of the late 1970s, while also serving as a model for Cambodian rule of law, judicial independence, and national reconciliation. While in Cambodia, Secretary Clinton will visit Tuol Sleng, the former Khmer Rouge torture and interrogation center, will emphasize the need to fight corruption and improve transparency in all parts of the government, and will meet with opposition leaders to highlight the importance of a vibrant political arena where all voices are heard.

The Role of Cambodia’s Youth: The Secretary’s participation in a town hall event will provide an important opportunity to have a free-flowing discussion with Cambodia youth about challenges and opportunities facing the country, and how the United States can help. In turn, her outreach to Cambodia’s youth will promote an even better understanding of the United States and our shared values.

CPP Russei Keo authority used force to dismantle and disrupt meeting between Sam Rainsy and his constituents

June 13, 2008: Sam Rainsy with the Khmer-Islam (Cham) community at Sangkat Chrang Chamreh I, Khan Russei Keo in Phnom Penh. The authorities pulled down the SRP tent and intimidated participants. Many people dared not join the meeting but listened from their neighboring houses. (All photos: SRP)

Friday, June 13, 2008
By Kim Pov Sottan
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

The (CPP-controlled) Russei Keo authority used force to dismantle and disrupt a meeting held between opposition leader Sam Rainsy and Khmer-Islam constituents on Friday, in Chraing Chamres commune, Phnom Penh city, however, there were no injuries in the altercation.

Sam Rainsy called this action an illegal disruption and a threat from the ruling party, because the CPP is worried about the supporting trend provided to the SRP by the population as the election approaches.

Sam Rainsy indicated: “The CPP can do anything it wants freely, but for the Sam Rainsy Party, even SRP MPs cannot meet their constituents, they created all kind of problems. This threat reflects the CPP worries about the Sam Rainsy party because the SRP has an edge over the CPP.”

SRP MP Ho Vann added that the authority sent in a large contingent of joint police and military police force which cut off electricity in order to prevent the use of the microphones by the visiting SRP MPs, and the police force also threatened those who participated in the meeting which was planned long in advance already.

The planned meeting which was supposed to last several hours between SRP MPs and their supporters was cut short to one hour and a half only, under the rain, following the disruption by the (CPP-controlled) authority.

Kauk Sles, the CPP Russei Keo deputy district governor, declared that the opposition used a Muslim mosque, a public place, to hold its meeting, this is the reason why the mosque committee brought in its accusation, and then his police force went in to intervene in this case.

Kauk Sles accused the opposition by saying: “What directive letter issued by the Ministry of Interior? What public place? What mosque? But they do no follow anybody’s order at all. He (Sam Rainsy) held a microphone, talking, it’s his story and he used the mosque to hold his campaign, then the other side (the CPP police force) used microphones to make noise to disrupt him, then he stopped. But I am telling you, he has a very hard head, even if the (mosque) committee does not allow him, he still kept on insisting on holding the meeting successfully. Who else does he accuse? If the authority took action, I just tell them to stop and it will be dealt with, but, we, the authority, we didn’t do anything to touch him.”

This is not the first time that an altercation takes place between the opposition and the police force. Chan Saveth, an official of the Adhoc human rights organization, indicated that 4 persons were killed recently as the election approaches. Furthermore, several (opposition) political party signs have been destroyed as the competition against the CPP intensifies.

Human rights groups are concerned about the violence that takes place as the official election campaign will start next month.