KKF's Appeal to Stop Sponsoring and Issuing Visas for the Monks Who Violate Human Rights and Buddhism’s Principles

Cambodia's Eminences Grises from left to right: Tep Vong, Non Nget, Long Kim Leang and Sao Chanthol
(An éminence grise (French for "grey eminence") is a powerful advisor or decision-maker who operates secretly or unofficially - Wikipedia)

KHMERS KAMPUCHEA-KROM FEDERATION
Asia – Australia – Europe – North America
A member of UNPO - IDBF
KKF P.O. Box 0193 • Pennsauken • NJ 08110 • Tel: (856) 655-2117 • Fax: (856) 583-1503
http://www.khmerkrom.org • Email: thach.thach@khmerkrom.org

Office of the President
No: 314 /KKF/N/2009

Open Letter: Appeal to Stop Sponsoring and Issuing Visas for the Monks Who Violate Human Rights and Buddhism’s Principles

Dear Immigrant Officers of Foreign Embassies in Cambodia and Cambodian Community Leaders Abroad: A high profile Khmer-Krom activist, Tim Sakhorn, reported about how he was dramatically arrested, deported from Cambodia to be imprisoned in Vietnam by the monks in Cambodia.

On June 30, 2007, Venerable Cheas Om, who was a high-ranking Buddhist monk in Takeo province in Seyha Rattana Ram Temple, called Venerable Tim Sakhorn to visit him. When Venerable Tim Sakhorn arrived at his temple, Venerable Tim Sakhorn saw other Buddhist monks from Phnom Penh waiting for him there. Venerable Sao Chanthol took a defrocking ordered letter, which was signed and stamped by the Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong and Non Nget, and read it to accuse Venerable Tim Sakhorn for using his temple to undermine the relationship between Cambodia and Vietnam.

Venerable Tim Sakhorn denied the accusation and refused to be defrocked because he did not committed the crime as they accused him and he did not violate any Buddhism’s principles in order to be defrocked. Venerable Long Kim Leang directly stripped off Venerable Tim Sakhorn’s frock in front of everyone and threw him clothes that they already brought with them from Phnom Penh, dragged him to a car that was already parked outside of the room where they met, and pushed him into the car to deport him to Vietnam in the same day. Consequently, Tim Sakhorn, a Cambodian citizen, was thrown in Vietnamese prison for a year before being granted asylum to live in Sweden.

These are the monks who involved with defrocking Venerable Tim Sakhorn:

Name and Current Address

• Tep Vong at Wat Ona-Lom, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Non Nget at Wat Bo-Tum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Om Lam Heng at Wat Champu Ka-Ek, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Long Kim Leang at Wat Khmer San Jose, California, USA
• Sao Chanthol at Wat Langka, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Noi Chruek at Wat Chan Bori Vong, Preuk Phnom Commune, Ponhea Leu District, Kandal
• Province, Cambodia
• Cheas Om at Wat Seyha Rattana Ram, Takeo city, Takeo Province, Cambodia

Venerable Tim Sakhorn was a well respected Abbott of Northern Phnom Denh Pagoda in Takeo province (Cambodia) and he was wrongly accused of undermining the friendship between Cambodia and Vietnam. Tep Vong, Non Nget, Om Lam Heng, Sao Chanthol, Long Kim Leang, Noi Chruek, and Cheas Om who involved with defrocking Venerable Tim Sakhorn are in fact the human rights abusers who serve the interest of the Vietnamese government.

In this regards, I would like to:

• Urge the immigrant officers of foreign embassies in Cambodia to stop issuing Visa for these monks to travel to your countries because they violated Mr. Tim Sakhorn’s right to be a Buddhist monk, especially to send him from Cambodia to imprison injustice in Vietnam.
• Urge the Cambodian community leaders abroad to stop sponsoring these monks to visit your community or as religious workers because these monks violated the Buddhism’s principles and do not qualify to work as religious workers to educate our Cambodians about Buddhism.

If you have any questions or concerns about how these monks involved with defrocking Venerable Tim Sakhorn, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Respectfully Yours,

Thach Ngoc Thach
President of the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation

Khmer Krom Monks Fearful After Defrocking, Expulsion of Pagoda Leader

Bikkhu Tim Sakhorn who was defrocked by force by puppet Hochimonks Non Nget and Tep Vong. He was subsequently deported back to Vietnam by the puppet regime in Phnom Penh.

Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
03/07/2007

Monks within the Khmer Kampuchea Krom community said Tuesday many in their ranks were considering fleeing Cambodia, or already had, following the defrocking and subsequent expulsion to Vietnam of one of their own.

Tim Sakhorn, chief of Phnom Den pagoda in Takeo province, was defrocked last week for allegedly seeking to undermine Cambodia's relationship with Vietnam. Authorities said he was sheltering Khmer Krom monks who had fled Vietnam and was organizing them in an unlawful manner.

The Khmer Kampuchea Krom are a minority group living in the Mekong Delta regions of Vietnam and Cambodia. Many Cambodians identify with their cause and believe the Delta region was taken from Cambodia.

Officials say they expelled him according to the law, returning him to his hometown, but human rights officials are afraid he was sent forcibly to a country that has come under fire this year for rights abuses against Khmer Krom monks.

Khmer Krom monks told VOA Khmer they feared Vietnam was too dangerous for them, and some had left the country.

Monk Chey Samnang, vice president of a Khmer Krom monk organization, told VOA Khmer by phone from Australia that the arrest of Tim Sakhorn and the defrocking of 11 other Khmer Krom monks recently was against Cambodia's law.

"The honorable Tim Sakhorn did not commit any offense," Chey Samnang said. "He was called for a meeting [and then] he was defrocked. It was not a summons for an arrest, and it was actually an act of putting pressure on him."

Chey Samnang appealed to human rights organizations to find the monk, whose exact whereabouts are unknown, and to help reinstate him as the head of his pagoda.

KKHRO: General Hing Bun Heang’s bodyguards car was used to whisk defrocked Monk Tim Sakhorn away, he has since disappeared

KKHRO claimed that defrocked Khmer Krom monk Tim Sakhorn was whisked away in Hing Bun Heang's bodyguards car. Monk Tim Sakhorn's whereabout is unknown since then. Lieutenant General Hing Bun Heang (above ) is the commander of Hun Sen's Bodyguard Unit. (Photo: Global Witness)

Fate of defrocked Khmer Krom monk is still unknown

01 July 2007
By Khim Sarang Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

The Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Human Rights Organization (KKHRO) calls on national and international organizations, and foreign ambassadors and foreign embassies in Cambodia, to help intervene to protect the safety of Khmer Krom Abbot Tim Sakhorn who was defrocked by force and has since disappeared. It is not known whether he was sent back to Vietnam or he is still in Cambodia.

According to a statement issued by the KKHRO received by RFA today, a request was sent by patriarch Non Nget to supreme patriarch Tep Vong to defrock Monk Tim Sakhorn, the abbot of the Phnom Den North pagoda, located in Kirivong district, Takeo province. The monk was accused of turning the pagoda into a propaganda center to break the friendship between Cambodia and Vietnam.

Prak Saran, Adhoc human rights official in Takeo province, said on Sunday about this event: “He was ordained and studied in this pagoda, he never went out to make propaganda or incite Khmer Kampuchea Krom people to oppose Vietnam. He never did that. Buddhist members of the pagoda said that he never did that. Furthermore, I asked whether Monk Tim Sakhorn ever met with Khmer Krom people or not? They told me the meetings (did occur and that they) are normal simply because all the members of the pagoda are from Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam) and they came to live in Cambodia, therefore, he used to provide foods to people who asked to stay at the pagoda once in a while, and also to visitors to the pagoda. This morning, between 9 and 10 AM, the police force and the military police force led by Phon Chea, the justice deputy police chief in Takeo province, came to search the Phnom Den North pagoda where Monk Tim Sakhorn resides. I asked the court prosecutor, but he said that he cannot tell us anything because the search was being conducted. He said that after the search, he will hand the case to the police.”

Prak Saran also raised the issue of the defrocking of Monk Tim Sakhorn: “He (Monk Tim Sakhorn) was defrocked at Tanaram pagoda in Takeo province, it’s the pagoda where the provincial monk chief resides, and the monk chief was the one who defrocked Monk Tim Sakhorn. KKHRO followed the case at the Tanaram pagoda. Shortly after Monk Tim Sakhorn was brought in, he was seen taken out in blue civilian clothes, and he was put into the car belonging to the bodyguards of General Hing Bun Heang (the commander of Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit). This is what the KKHRO official saw at the (Tanaram) pagoda. The car was driven out of the pagoda, but it was not known where it was taken to. Monk Tim Sakhorn has since disappeared and his mother does not know where her son was taken to.”

KKF: Non Nget's order to defrock Khmer Krom Abott Tim Sakhorn was distributed in Vietnam before it was even distributed in Cambodia

KKF's Thach Ngoc Thach (L) and the two Hochimonks: Non Nget (C) and Tep Vong (R)

Thach Ngoc Thach condemns the defrocking of a Khmer Krom monk

01 July 2007
By San Suwith
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Overseas Khmer Krom people have condemned that the defrocking by force of a Khmer Kampuchea Krom monk who is the abbot of Phnom Den North pagoda, located in Takeo province. Khmer Krom people consider this action as a violation perpetrated by Cambodian highest-ranking monks to please Vietnam which is oppressing and eliminating the religious freedom of Khmer Kampuchea Krom people.

Thach Ngoc Thach, President of the Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF) in the world, based in the USA, said that he regrets seeing this event. He also accused the two Cambodian Buddhist patriarchs (Patriarch Non Nget and Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong) of collusion with the Vietnamese government.

Thach Ngoc Thach said: “In the name of Khmer Krom people, as well as in the name of the entire KKF, we regret seeing this action taken the two patriarchs: Non Nget and Tep Vong, who issued this letter dated 16 June, and we regret very much to see the distribution in Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam) of the letter ordering defrocking of Monk [Tim] Sakhorn before its publication in Cambodia. This shows the collusion between the two patriarchs and the Vietnamese government which is working behind the scene to defrock monk Tim Sakhorn. Therefore, on this occasion, I am calling on the king and on prime minister Hun Sen to review this problem again, because this issue is very regrettable for all Khmer Krom people who are living in Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam) and in Cambodia, as well as for all Cambodian people living around the world.”

The KKF has also brought its complaints about the violation of religious freedom of Khmer Krom monks in Cambodia and in South Vietnam (Kampuchea Krom) to the UN and other human rights organizations, as well as to the US Department of Faith and Religion, and the US State Department.

Thach Ngoc Thach added: “We will work with the UN, in particular with the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious affairs, as well as with human rights organizations in Geneva and The Hague (Netherland), and the UN in New York, this coming Monday. We will contact the Department of Religion and Faith of US government, and the US State Department about this situation, in order to inform them about this highly unfair action taken against Khmer Krom monks who fled Kampuchea Krom (Sotuh Vietnam) to come to Cambodia. But now, it turns out that Cambodia is continuously oppressing Khmer Krom monk. At first, it was the murder of Monk Ieng Sokthoeun, and the cause of the murder cannot be found, and then there was the case of the president of the Khmer Krom association branch in Takeo who had to flee Cambodia and take refuge in Thailand.”

Rights of Khmer Krom monks under Hun Sen's regime are curtailed just like under the oppressive Hanoi regime

MoI again rejects the request made by Khmer Krom monks

01 July 2007
By Sophorn
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Officials from the Ministry of Interior (MoI) rejected the request made by about 1,000 Khmer Krom monks to hold a Dhammayietra Walk for Peace from Phnom Penh to Oudong Mountain on 07 July.

Khieu Sopheak, MoI spokesman, said that according to the recent declaration issued by the Buddhist patriarch, monks are not allowed to hold Dhammayietra to make any demands.

He added that even if it does not involve monks, the organizers of the Dhammayietra must request in advance the authorization from all the local authorities of all the regions this Dhammayietra will cross, and only after this condition fulfilled that the MoI will provide them with the authorization.

Khieu Sopheak said: “The MoI does not govern monks, and the Buddhist patriarch (Non Nget) does not authorize, he issued a proper declaration saying that Walks to demand rights are not allowed.”

Thach Setha, President of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom association, told RFA on 01 July that when he met with officials from the Phnom Penh municipality, it seems that there were no such severe restrictions, however, if the MoI does not authorize the Dhammayietra, (Khmer Krom) monks and Khmer Krom organizations will meet to decide what to do next.

Thach Setha said: “This situation is becoming very serious for Khmer Krom people, we don’t know what our position will be, and our hope is not certain. We will meet to decide whether all the organizations and associations, in particular, the (Khmer Krom) monks, are all determined, then we need to take action according to the decision made by our assembly.”

Suon Rindy, deputy cabinet chief of the Phnom Penh municipality, said that regarding the request made by Khmer Krom monks and associations to hold a Dhammayietra, the municipality is awaiting for the authorization from the MoI only.

Monk Yoeung Sin, President of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Monks Association, said that if the authority does not allow monks to protest or hold a Dhammayietra, why do they still continue to defrock (Khmer Krom) monks?

Khmer Kampuchea Krom Associations, and the Federation of Khmer Kampuchea Krom Buddhist Student Monks, plan to organize a Dhammayietra from Phnom Penh to Oudong with the participation of about 1,000 monks and laymen, last 10 June. The aim of the Dhammayietra is to pray for peace for Khmer people and monks currently living in the former lands of Kampuchea Krom (current South Vietnam). However, the authority did not authorize that Dhammayietra, the event was then reported to 07 July (and it is now met by another refusal from the authority again).

Hochimonk Non Nget order Takeo Buddhist monk chief to defrock Khmer Krom monk accused of hurting the friendship relation between Cambodia and VN

Bikkhu Tim Sakhorn who was defrocked by force by Hochimonks Non Nget and Tep Vong

Buddhist patriarch orders province monk chief to defrock Abbott Tim Sakhorn accused of hurting the Cambodia-VN relathionship

01 July 2007
By Sakura
Sralanh Khmer newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

At 2:00 PM on 30 June, the Takeo Buddhist provincial monk chief and the Takeo authority took Abbott Tim Sakhorn from Phnom Den pagoda, located in Kirivong district, Takeo province, for questioning at the provincial monk chief pagoda. Abbott Tim Sakhorn is accused of destroying the friendship and brotherhood relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia. Abbott Tim Sakhorn could face defrocking from this accusation after his questioning by the provincial monk chief, a phone report from Phnom Den indicated.

The source also indicated that patriarch Non Nget ordered the Takeo provincial monk chief to defrock by force Bikkhu (Senior Monk) Tim Sakhorn, accusing of perpetrating an offense against the Buddhist rule because he broke the unity between Vietnam and Cambodia. Nevertheless, no one can confirm what Bikkhu Tim Sakhorn did to contravene and violate in the destruction of the friendship between Vietnam and Cambodia.

Thach Setha, President of the Khmer Kampuchea-Krom community, told Sralanh Khmer that, according to Buddhist rules, for a monk to be forced defrocked, he must commit one of the 4 prescribed “parajika” offenses. To the contrary, Thach Setha said that if this monk was forced defrocked for no reason, the monk who ordered the defrocking must himself be defrocked because he is in full violation of Buddhist rule no. 9 for issuing this order.

Non Nget’s order was issued on 16 June 2007, but it did not clearly provide any detail on the offense committed by Abbott Tim Sakhorn, but it only accused him of contravening the Buddhist rule and breaking the unity between Vietnam and Cambodia.

If a monk commits an offense other than the 4 parajika offenses prescribed by the Buddhist rule, no monk, and certainly not an earthbound supreme patriarch, is allowed to defrock by force Bikkhu Tim Sakhrorn. Furthermore, if, indeed, Bikkhu Tim Sakhorn did break the friendship and unity between Vietnam and Cambodia, this is not one of the 4 parajika offenses prescribed by Buddhism.

Therefore, it is not known where Patriarch got his Buddhist rule from, but according to the monastic rule, there is no law allowing the force defrocking of a monk simply because he is suspected to breaking of the friendship between Vietnam and Cambodia.

According to various reports, Bikkhu Tim Sakhorn, the abbott of Phnom Den pagoda, is always helping poor Khmer Krom people who crossed the border from Vietnam to work as laborers near the pagoda, by providing them temporary shelters in the pagoda. Maybe because of the generous help provided by Bikkhu Tim Sakhorn that Non Nget accused him of breaking the friendship between Vietnam and Cambodia, and Non Nget faulted him and ordered the provincial monk chief to defrock Bikkhu Tim Sakhorn because, after all, the Vietnamese and Khmer Krom people are like oil and water (which cannot be mixed together), and the Vietnamese want to completely eliminate Khmer Kampuchea Krom, and when Khmer Kampuchea Krom fled or came to work as farm laborers in Cambodia, such as when they come to Kirivong district, Takeo province, and find temporary shelter in the pagoda, the Vietnamese authority is not pleased because it disturb their plans to eliminate Khmer Krom people, therefore the communist Vietnamese and their servants are looking for all kinds of tricks, even if they have to bend Buddhist rules to serve their interest by perpetrating this devious act against Bikkhu Tim Sakhorn.

The accusation made by patriarch Non Nget is exactly the same ones made by the Association of the (communist) patriotic monks of Khleang province (Soc Trang in Vietnamese) in Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam) against Khmer Krom monks for protesting and causing traffic congestion. These protesting Khmer Krom monks were accused of criminal offense, and 16 monks were defrocked by force, and 5 of them were sentenced to jail for 2 to 4 years in May 2007.

On 8 June 2007, Non Nget issued a directive which was also signed by Khun Hang, the Ministry of Cult and Religion, banning Buddhist monks in the kingdom from participating the Dhammayietra March for peace, and banning them from demonstrating or protesting. Non Nget and Khun Hang’s directive were ridiculed by the Buddhist public and by politicians who said that those who issued such ban are simply non-Buddhist.

It should be noted that only during the black uniform era, under the Khmer Rouge Pol Pot regime, that religion was banned and it was also a time when the population lost all their basic freedom. But under the current democratic system, Cambodia should not return to its past Khmer Rouge system.

On 28 June, claiming that he was visiting Kompong Thom province to nominate the provincial monk chief there, Non Nget declined to answer questions from reporters about his motive to issue the ban he published on 08 June. Non Nget is 83-year-old now, he was defrocked by the Khmer Rouge, but he returned back to the order following the invasion of Cambodia by the Vietnamese army in 1979, when he was 57-year-old.

Miech Ponn, the advisor to the Cambodian culture council at the Buddhist university (in Phnom Penh), said that he was puzzled by Non Nget’s directive letter. Miech Ponn said that peaceful Dhammayietra was done in the past in Cambodia, even when the country was still plagued by upheaval, for example the late Maha Ghosananda organized a non-violent Dhammayietra calling for the establishment of everlasting peace in Cambodia. The Constitution of Cambodia also provides freedom of expression, as well as the freedom to organize non-violent Dhammayietra. He added that he does not understand the reason why people want to issue this ban, when the Constitution clearly stipulates otherwise.

Regarding this ban, Dr Lao Mong Hay, a senior human rights researcher at the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) explained in The Phnom Penh Post newspaper about the life of Lord Buddha as a precedent for positive peaceful protest. According to Dr Lao Mong Hay, Lord Buddha and his royal families went into voluntary exile after his subjects protested his donation of a sacred elephant.

Dr Lao Mong Hay said that all persons who proclaimed themselves to Buddhists should know that this directive is un-Buddhist. However, the Buddhist clergy in Cambodia always remain under the armpit of the rulers, and that this situation persisted since Buddhism arrived in Cambodia. From Hong Kong (where he now lives), Dr Lao Mong Hay told The Phnom Penh Post by phone that some of Buddhist clergy receive favors from the current regime. Therefore, some of these monks provided their support to this regime, and the current government does not want to see any demonstration led by the people. The current directive for monks is against the constitution (of Cambodia) and is also serious human rights violation.

Koul Panha, Comfrel director, said this ban directive could affect the atmosphere in next year’s legislative election. He said: “I think that in Buddha’s Dharma, there is no ban for monk from expressing their opinion and ideas peacefully. The Dharma in fact pushes monks to express their views peacefully.” He added that in the Cambodian constitution, as well as in the government-signed human rights treaties, they clearly stipulate the freedom of expression for Cambodian people. He added that the Minister of Cult and Religion has no right to issue such directive, and that this action is a direct threat on the upcoming election because the election is a tribune for the freedom of expression itself.

----
For additional information on the four offenses that could earn a monk the “parajika” status, please refer to this website:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/bmc1/ch04.html

Hochimonk Non Nget with the approval of Hochimonk Tep Vong defrock a Khmer Krom monk ... just like their Vietnamese masters

Click on the letter to zoom in

Khmer Krom Monk Tim Sakhorn

Translation from Khmer by Heng Soy

Phnom Penh 16 June 2007

To Highly revered Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong

Subject: Request to defrock Monk (Bikkhu) Tim Sakhorn, Abbott of North Phnom Den pagoda, Phnom Den commune, Kirivong District, Takeo province

Based on the subject indicated above, please Supreme Patriarch know that Bikkhu Tim Sakhorn conducted his behavior opposite to the Buddhist rule by breaking the national-international unity, in particular among two countries: Cambodia-Vietnam. He used the pagoda as the headquarters for propaganda and affected the rule and the honor of Buddhism.

Therefore, please Supreme Patriarch authorize as requested.

Signed: Non Nget, Patriarch

Seen and Agreed, (Sign) Tep Vong, 17-06-2007

No law banning monks from demonstrating [-Hochimonk TepVong now says that monk's demonstration is against Buddhist law]

Revered Maha Ghosananda leading a Dhammayietra, Walk for Peace, in Cambodia in the early 90s. Based on Non Nget new directive, such action taken by The Holy Maha Ghosananda is now considered as an act creating "disorder." Furthermore, Tep Vong, the former member of the communist politburo of the People's Republic of Kampuchea, claims that monks participation in non-violent demonstration is against Buddhism law. Tep Vong will need to back up his claim by showing Buddha's statement to that effect, otherwise, he is putting words in Buddha's Holy Mouth just like all other servants of the various communist regimes still clinging in the world.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Son Soubert, a member of the Consitutional Council, said that the new directive banning monks from participating in non-violent demonstrations is a violation of the Constitution. Son Soubert told The Cambodia Daily on Sunday that there is no law preventing people or monks from protesting. He added that the ban (issued by the ministry of Cults and Religion and Patriarch Non Nget) is a violation of Cambodia’s Constitution, and he called on the government to make clear its position on this issue. However, on Monday, Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong said that monk’s demonstration is a violation of Buddhism law. Patriarch Non Nget issued a declaration banning monks from demonstrating on Sunday, he said that non-violent demonstration held by monks could create disorder. The directive banning monks from demonstration, dated 08 June, was signed by Khun Haing, the minister of Cults and Religion, and by Non Nget.

Hochimonk Non Nget: No march for peace for monks because Cambodia is already at peace

Monks not allowed to participate in demonstration

Monday, June 25, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Patriarch Non Nget said that the Ministry of Cults and Religion issued a ban for all monks from participating in any form of demonstration. Non Nget said that the June 8 directive issued by the Ministry of Cults and Religion (and also signed by him), called on all monks in the entire country not to participate in non-violent demonstrations because they could create disorder. The Cambodia Daily quoted Non Nget as saying: “We do not allow monks to march for peace because Cambodia is already at peace.” Dr Pung Chiv Kek, Licadho President, said that, according to the Constitution, monks have the same rights to protest as any other laymen. Thach Setha, President of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom community, said that this directive is most likely issued to prevent Khmer Krom monks from participating in demonstrations to demand for human rights respect for Khmer Krom people currently living in Vietnam. Heng Samrin said that this ban is proper because the government want to avoid disorder in the society. He added that his statement is directed towards all monks, and not just towards Khmer Krom monks only.

Hochimonk Non Nget and the Minister of Cult and Religion issued a declaration restricting all monks from participating in Khmer Krom Dhammayietra

Khmer Krom Dhammayietra March for Peace faces new obstable

23 June 2007
By Pov Ponlok
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

A representative of the Khmer Krom community said that Khmer Krom people plan to apply for an authorization from the authorities one more time to organize a Dhammayietra, March for Peace, but that their plan is facing a new obstacle because a patriarch monk issued a declaration preventing all monks in Cambodia from participating in this Dhammayietra.

The Khmer Krom community sent in a petition to organize the Dhammayietra from Phnom Penh to Oudong mountain on 07 July, following a prevention from the Cambodian authority to conduct such March in June.

The organizers of the Dhammayietra plan to pray for peace for Khmer Krom people and Khmer Krom monks who are currently living in the former land of Khmer Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam), following the recent events in Vietnam where Khmer Krom monks were defrocked by force and sentenced to jail when they were demonstrating against the communist Hanoi regime.

Thach Setha, President of the Khmer Krom community, said: “Khmer Krom associations, and, in particular, the Khmer Krom monks association, had applied (earlier) for an authorization to organize a Dhammayietra from Phnom Penh to Oudong to pray for the release of Khmer Krom monks jailed by the Vietnamese, but the (Cambodian) authority did not authorize it. Now, we are planning to apply (for the authorization) one more time to organize (the Dhammayietra) on 07 July 2007, but the (Cambodian Buddhist) patriarch (Non Nget) issued a declaration restricting all monks from participating in religious demonstration or Dhammayietra. This restriction of monk’s participation is a serious violation in Cambodia.”

RFA could not reach the Ministry of Cult and Religion yet to obtain further information, however, Monk Yoeung Sin, the representative of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom monks, said that he received the declaration dated 08 June, restricting all monks from participating in the Dhammayietra, and it was signed by Buddhist patriarch Non Nget, and by Khun Haing, the Minister of Cult and Religion.

Monk Yoeung Sin said that this directive cannot deter the will of Khmer Krom monks: “Khmer Krom monks have no intention of opposing the Royal Government of Cambodia, but they have no choice but to organize (this Dhammayietra), it’s our last choice, we must organize it. Why do we organize it? It’s for our Nation, for our birth land, we have no other choice, so we organize it … we are not organizing this (Dhammayietra) for any other purposes.”

A government official said today that the authority did not know yet that the Khmer Kampuchea Krom community plans to organize the Dhammayietra again.