"No one is bigger than Hun Sen; please ask who is bigger than Hun Sen…" Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen during a speech delivered on Veterans Day,
June 20 2009.
Photo © John Brown All Rights Reserved
In an article that recently appeared the
Human Rights Watch (HRW) website entitled "
Cambodia: Drop Charges Against Opposition MP and Her Lawyer" Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch states:
"Hun Sen has a long history of trying to muzzle Cambodia's political opposition and undermine the independence of the legal profession. This most recent case should be ringing alarm bells among Cambodia's donors, particularly those who fund judicial and legal reform."
MU SOCHUA'S PARLIAMENTARY IMMUNITY REVOKEDJune 22 2009 was a big day for
Cambodian Democracy and for Mu Sochua, a female parliamentarian and member of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) as the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) dominated National Assembly stripped her of parliamentary immunity in a closed-door session where, according to her, she was "not allowed a chance to speak."
FIRST AMENDMENT scholar Thomas Emerson once stated:
"An individual who seeks knowledge and truth must hear all sides of the question, consider all alternatives, test his judgment by exposing it to opposition, and make full use of different minds. Discussion must be kept open no matter how certainly true an accepted opinion may be; many of the most widely acknowledged truths have turned out to be erroneous."
Since that foreseeable event took place, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen unsurprisingly went forward with his lawsuit against Mu Sochua and on August 4 2009, she lost on her day in court. The Court ordered Sochua to pay 8.5 million riel ($2,500) in fines to the state, and 8 million riels ($2,000) in compensation to Prime Minister Hun Sen for defaming him.
If she declines to pay the fine, the news won't be all bad for Mu Sochua when she returns to Cambodia however, as I suspect Mr. Hun Sen himself will grant her a pardon after she spends one to four months in prison.
Why? Despite what Brad Adams says about Mr. Hun Sen, the average "man on the street" in Cambodia likes the Prime Minister. Cambodians don't care where the money to pave that street they're standing on came from but one thing 75% of the voters agree on is that when their street was paved, Hun Sen was the person responsible.
WHY DID ALL THIS HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE ?On April 24 2009 The Cambodia Daily's front-page article, "Mu Sochua To Sue Premier For Defamation," reported on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's nationally broadcast speech on April 4, in which he affirmed that he wouldn't help villagers who side with the opposition.
He spoke to the audience about a Mu Sochua, woman "cheung klang," or "strong legs," a derogatory term, who in the 2008 election campaign "hugged" someone and then complained her blouse had been "unbuttoned" by force."
Would your President say such things about an elected government official during a nationally televised speech broadcast in your country? Just asking.
OTHER VIEWS OF CAMBODIAN PRIME MINISTER HUN SENAccording to
an August 19, 2009 article written by A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D, that appeared in the online edition of
Guam's Pacific Daily News,On August 5 2009: "Hun Sen, who likes to use ceremonies as platforms and the media as tools, warned in a graduation ceremony speech in Phnom Penh that government critics should "be careful with the language of 'dictatorial regime.' Be careful, one day legal action will be used" ... and "when legal action is used, you guys would say freedom of expression is prohibited, but your expression is wrong."
The article continues by saying, "Hun Sen, Premier of a country that signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and incorporated it into Cambodian law, tramples that law, tells the world it doesn't understand free expression as he does and makes clear he doesn't care who thinks what."
As for the reason Mr. Hun Sen does this, Professor Peang-Meth writes, "Unconditional Chinese aid and assistance to keep him and his autocratic regime afloat allows him to thumb his nose to the West, who lecture him to respect the international standards of good governance."
MANY CAMBODIANS ARE BEING ARRESTEDAlthough to my knowledge there are currently no mandatory prison sentences for defamation, it remains a criminal offense with prison sentences attached (the “UNTAC Law”).
According to the
Cambodian League for the Promotion & Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) submission to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review in April 2009, "In the past four years, the government has continued to use the courts to restrict freedom of expression and silence outspoken civil society leaders. This included the arrests and imprisonment of journalist Mam Sonando, unionist Rong Chhun and NGO leaders Kem Sokha, Yeng Vireak and Pa Nguon Teang in late 2005 and early 2006."
All were charged with criminal defamation, disinformation and/or incitement, for allegedly making or publicizing comments critical of the government. The arrests "were orchestrated by the Prime Minister," with minimal pretence of judicial independence, and all the accused were eventually released at his behest too.
A more recent example is that of Teang Narith, a university professor convicted and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison in February 2007 for teaching from a self-written book that was "highly critical of the Prime Minister and the government."
As Guamanian Professor Peang-Meth points out, "Hun Sen, recipient of a University of Hanoi honorary doctorate, no doubt meant every word he said. For the last few months, several criminal defamation and disinformation lawsuits have been filed against government critics -- politicians, journalists and a 22-year-old law student."
I feel that Mu Sochua will eventually be pardoned despite her recent conviction because that action will serve as a reminder to people that Mr. Hun Sen is a good person giving the country everything it needs and Mu Sochua wronged him. Is there a better path to martyrdom and the subsequent sympathy it will evoke than that?
NO CAUSE FOR ALARMAs for those alarm bells Adams mentioned, they've been sounding for over 15 years and the cows were seen running from the barn almost a generation ago.
Why Brad Adams or anyone else would think funding
judicial and legal reform in Cambodia is important now illustrates that NGOs and foreign donors don't realize that 75% of the nation's voters approve of the way Mr. Hun Sen and his CPP are handling the nation's internal and international affairs.
Besides, Cambodia
has enough trees,
minerals, petroleum and natural gas to fund judicial and legal reform itself. The country needs no money from the types of donors Adams describes and further, Cambodia's Foreign Ministry has said outsiders "must maintain their neutrality and refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Cambodia." In other words folks,
it's THEIR democracy!
HERE IS THE HRW ARTICLE MENTIONED ABOVE FOR THOSE NEEDING BACKGROUND INFORMATION(New York) - Cambodia's ruling party should cease its threats, harassment, and spurious legal action against opposition members of parliament and lawyers defending free expression, Human Rights Watch said.
On April 23 2009, Sochua and her lawyer announced her intention to file a defamation complaint against Hun Sen for allegedly making derogatory comments about her, accusing her of "inciting" problems and acting like a gangster. Hun Sen responded by filing defamation suits against both Sochua and her lawyer, Kong Sam On.
On June 10 2009, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court dismissed Sochua's lawsuit against the prime minister, claiming that no defamation occurred, while continuing to process his counter-suit against her.
Kong Sam On, one of the few private lawyers in Cambodia willing to represent opposition officials in high-profile court cases, is also being targeted for his involvement in the case. In addition to Hun Sen's defamation suit against him, Hun Sen's lawyer, Ky Tech, has filed a complaint with the Cambodian Bar Association accusing Kong Sam On of violating the lawyers' code of ethics.
On June 22 2009, the National Assembly is expected to decide whether to strip the parliamentary immunity of Mu Sochua, a member of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and one of the assembly's few female members.
Stripping Sochua's immunity would allow a criminal defamation case against her to go forward. The case is based on a complaint by Prime Minister Hun Sen of the ruling CPP, who has also brought defamation charges against her lawyer.
Please read more of this article to
find out about other prominent Cambodian citizens facing defamation charges and read
what Professor Peang-Meth wrote in the Pacific Daily News in its entirety.
If you are a Cambodian citizen who disagrees with Brad Adams' remarks, please contact:
Human Rights Watch
350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10118-3299 USA
Tel: 1-(212) 290-4700
If you are a Cambodian citizen who disagrees with Professor Peang-Meth's remarks, please write to him at
peangmeth@yahoo.com.
John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERSMy Mondo Library PhotographyMy Photoshelter Photography Archive Homepage
