The Khmer Rouge Trial (KRT) and the Destiny of the Cambodian People.

In Search of Heroes in the Land of the Absurd 

This page is an attempt to set examples for the cambodian people on how to differentiate a good from a bad leader, based on the cirteria of what a hero is, and also based on some living examples of contemporary leaders who have met all the criteria for a hero, as defined below. Without a roadmap to finding a new kind of acceptable leadership, Cambodia can never recover from its slow but almost irreversible decline since the fall of angkor in 1432.

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A memorable letter from the Late H.E. Mr. Son Sann to Mr. Naranhkiri Tith, as president of World Cambodian Congress for Peace and Development (www.WCCPD.com) expressing his strong support for WCCPD and for Cambodia's democracy

Mr. Son Sann had selflessly made sacrifice his entire adult life for the defense of the the national interests of Cambodia and the Cambodian people. He had strong courage, commitment to peace and freedom. Above all he had strong leadership. He had many other great attributes of a hero, as defined in a chart posted below. We may want to include other heroes from the past; however, at the moment, I don't have sufficient information of all those historical Cambodians such as Pokambor, to be certain about their being a hero or not. In this page, I have also posted the biographies of four contemporary heroes of their respective people, such as;

- Aung San Suu Kyi (Myanmar, Nobel Laureate)

- Nelson Madela (Republic of South Africa, Noble Laureate)

- Mahatma Ghandi (India)

- Vaslav Havel (Czech Republic)

These four great leaders and heroes who had conviction in, and had used non-violence as a means to fight for the liberation of their people from foreign aggressions, are the kind of leaders that Cambodians should be looking up to as role model, and not such monsters as, Hun Sen, Pol Pot , Sihanouk, Sam Rainsy, Son Ngoc Thanh, Lon Nol, to name only the most obvious ones. May the spirit and soul of Mr. Son Sann rest in peace.

Cambodia can say with pride and honor that we do have now, for the first time, a real and true national hero in the person of the Reverend Tim Sakhorn (Please see an article on the Reverend Tim Sakhorn posted just below in this page).

I thank you, dear Mr. Son Sann, for being a hero for the Cambodian people.

Naranhkiri Tith Ph.D.

Washington DC, 2006

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The research is from Dictionary.com.

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November 23, 1997

To: Naranhkiri Tith, Ph. D.
Chairman, WCC
From: Mr. Son Sann
BLDP President - Paris France

Please convey to Mr. Naranhkiri Tith my friendliest and sincerest congratulations for his address of October 11, 1997 at the WCC 3rd Convention in Washington, DC. I read and reread it carefully and with great interests. WCC is neutral in relations to all political parties and regimes in Cambodia if it respects democracy and the law in Cambodia. Cambodian people are free to choose the political system they want for WCC. It is important to live with dignity, compassion and honor.

I like to warmly thank Mr. Naranhkiri Tith for all he has done for Cambodia in general, and for our party BLD in particular. His assistance is very precious for the survival of our country

Son Sann
BLDP President - Paris France

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Son Soubert paid tribute to his father Mr. So Sann

protesting Hun Sen proclaiming January 7 of liberation day

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Congratulations and good luck to inventors of first Cambodian-made cars

Congratulations Mr. Nhean Pholet who has for the first a Cambodian had invented a car, and his daughter Leakhena who had designed that car named Angkor 2003 and Angkor 2004. This is a rather exceptional feat for anybody but especially for Cambodians. I do hope that he will be able to market that car without resort to Hun Sen's greedy and voracious so-called entrepreneurs.

Because an inventor is not necessarily an entrepreneur. Once, invented a car will have to be produced in sufficient quantity to recuperate all the costs and to remain solvent down the road. Because, an inventor is not necessarily an entrepreneur.

I want to take this opportunity to wish Mr. Nhean Pholet and his daughter Leakhena all the luck and success that they need and deserve. Naranhkiri Tith Ph.D. Washington DC. October 16, 2009)

Please, click on the links pasted below to watch a set of videos on this fantastic and hopeful story about the first car made by a Cambodian family, father and daughter team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvR1j2JzmfU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/results?search=related&search_query=20auto&v=XvR1j2JzmfU&page=2

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Congratulations and thank you for a job well-done

Dr. Buntha Ea Kim and her genuine generosity in bringing help to the many poor Cambodian children by raising fund at the prestigious Ecole Polytechnique, located  near Paris, France, where she is a member of the faculty.

Below, are some photos and her speech (Link) at a recent Gala at that school titled "For a Smile from a Child" that she organized in cooperation and support of the members of the faculty and students.

Congratulations Buntha for your dedication and substantial contribution to the decency and survival of the Cambodian children, and more importantly to a more hopeful future of the Cambodian people and society. Naranhkiri Tith Ph.D. Washington DC. October 15, 2009)

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Gala at Polytechnique School Paris hosted by Dr. Ea Kim

For the benefit of destitute Cambodian Children, 2009

Please, click here to read or to download a file on a speech given by Dr, Buntha Ea Kim (who is a faculty member, and host) at that gala for poor children of Cambodia, May, 2009, at the prestigious "Ecole Polytechnique," near Paris, France.

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Mu Sochua: One of Cambodia's precious gems

The Jakarta Post; Thursday, August 6, 2009 10:01 PM

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/sochua-one-cambodia039s-precious-gems.html

Sara Veal, Contributor,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 06/02/2009 9:31 AM  |  People

(Comments: Please, find a series of article praising Ms. MU SOCHUA, for her courage and total commitment to the cause of exploited women, not only in Cambodia but everywhere in the world. She was recently found guilty by the Hun Sen politically controlled judicial system for having insulted him. On the contrary, it was he, Hun Sen, the greatest Traitor in Cambodian history, and dictator who publicly insulted her, as the article indicated.

By her highly moral behavior and her courage to stand up publicly to the traitor Hun Sen, she deserves to be respected as a HERO of the Cambodian people. Therefore, I have decided to put these articles as a homage to her wonderful dedication to defend the decency and dignity of the Cambodian people, against Hun Sen, the most callous and deadly dictator that Cambodia ever has.

Did we hear a word from the former king, Norodom Sihanouk, on the defense of Ms. Mu Sochua? Not one word.

What she is doing for the Cambodian people and other women in the world fits the definition of a HERO.  Thank you Ms. Mu Sochua for who you are and your immense dedication and sacrifice for Cambodia and its people. You have earned my respect and admiration. Naranhkiri Tith Ph.D. Washington DC. August 7, 2009)

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When Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly insulted an unspecified female politician recently, he got more than he bargained for: His implied target turned around and sued him.

The prime minister’s insult might be considered typical in a country with continuing gender inequality, but that didn’t mean Mu Sochua was going to take it lying down.

For 20 years, Mu Sochua has been a voice for exploited Cambodians. As the Vietnam War spread to Cambodia in 1972, the then 18-year-old was exiled, with no chance to say goodbye to her parents, who later vanished under the Khmer Rouge regime. She spent 18 years overseas, studying and working in Paris, the US and Italy and in refugee camps along the Thai–Cambodian border.

Since her return in 1989, she has been hands-on in rebuilding her homeland, first as an activist and now as a politician, focusing on women’s and children’s issues.

“I had the choice of being part of the reconstruction of Cambodia and I took that choice,” said Sochua, a member of parliament for the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), the leading opposition to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

In 1991, Sochua formed the first Khmer women’s organization, Khemara, and joined the FUNCINPEC political party, winning a national assembly seat representing Battambang in 1998. She soon became the first female minister for women’s and veterans’ affairs.

“What prepared me for the job was my early return, before the country was even officially open to the Western world, which put an embargo on it during 1975 to 1990.”

Her first ministerial act was to launch a national campaign for gender equality, Neary Rattanak (Women Are Precious Gems), which transformed an old Khmer proverb, “A man is gold; a woman is a white piece of cloth” into “Men are gold; women are precious gems.”

The rewritten proverb argues that women are as valuable as men; if “dirtied”, they can shine again like gems, rather than be stained forever like a muddied cloth.

However, in July 2004, she resigned, claiming corruption hindered her work. She joined the SRP, becoming the party’s first female secretary-general in 2006.

Her struggle has been recognized by several nominations and awards, including a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nomination and the 2005 Vital Voices Human Rights Global Leadership Award, presented by then US senator Hillary Clinton.

Sochua, who is fluent in English, French and Khmer, and holds degrees in psychology and social work from US universities,  says her international background enhances her work, but only to a point.

“The Western education allows me to know what the international standards are for human rights, for gender equality and for quality of life, and it allows me to set these standards for the women of Cambodia, but in a modified way in order to keep in balance values and culture.

“I am very clear about what can work in Cambodia and what is totally from the West.”

She believes the key to positive change lies in giving people the right to participate in national development without discrimination.

“[Development] must be based on the preservation of the country’s resources, which are plentiful but so badly managed because of corruption and lack of rule of law.”

Sochua’s three daughters have all followed in her humanitarian footsteps. Although she says Asian people look at her with “sorry eyes” when they hear she has no sons, she is fiercely proud of her girls, saying they inspire her to fight even harder for equal access to education and healthcare and for gender equality.

“[Each time] I go to the police station and work with survivors of gender-based violence, I imagine myself a victim and that my daughters are caught in this cycle of violence.”

Her struggle led to her decision to sue Hun Sen for defamation, after he allegedly called her “cheung klang” (strong leg), an offensive term for women, during a speech in her Kampot constituency. He immediately responded with a countersuit, a threat to remove her parliamentary immunity and a request that the Cambodian Bar Association investigate her lawyer, Kong Sam Onn.

Without immunity, Sochua faces imprisonment and her lawyer faces disbarment. However, she is determined to proceed with the case.

“If no action was taken against [his] words, the people will never want to seek assistance from me again,” she says, adding his comments violated her rights and generally devalued women.

While she believes she has little chance of a fair trial, with the courts said to be under the influence of the executive, she hopes her case will publicize the weaknesses of the judiciary and demonstrate that no one is above the law.

Whatever the outcome, Sochua continues to look to the future. She hopes Cambodia can eventually be economically independent and a key player in ASEAN, citing Indonesia as a model to follow.

“For that we need to be accountable to our people first and be credible in the eyes of the ASEAN community,” she says. “That is the long-term investment I am working on and why I intend to remain in politics: To give what it takes to bring new leadership for Cambodia and to give our youth of today a chance to have what youth in neighboring nations are enjoying.”

This determination shows she cannot be stained by any dirty words, no matter who throws them.

Sochua Mu

http://eomega.org/omega/faculty/viewProfile/d2eb2b6432cf3dd39bac0ce92c324348/

MU SOCHUA: 2005 VITAL VOICES ANTI-TRAFFICKING AND HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD HONOREE

On April 26th 2005, Vital Voices presented awards to women who have sparked global progress. We thank our friends and supporters who gathered at the Kennedy Center to honor these extraordinary women who pioneer political, social, and economic advancement in their countries. Mu Sochua of Cambodia is this year’s recipient of the Human Rights and Anti-Trafficking Award.

In her acceptance speech, Mu stated that even though she was in Washington, her mind remained with the women and children of Cambodia. She spoke of the challenges to combating human trafficking facing Cambodian civil society. In the poverty-stricken country where government corruption is a major obstacle to democracy and socio-economic development, Mu called for international attention to focus on the fragile democracy and deteriorating human rights conditions in Cambodia.

In addition to the award ceremony, Mu Sochua and other honorees had a busy week in Washington speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations, the World Bank, and the US Supreme Court with Justice Sandra Day O’Conner. Mu also spoke with Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, and was featured in the Washington Post. In these interviews, she cautioned that 23,000 Cambodian women factory workers have lost their jobs due to the expiration of the WTO Multi-Fiber Agreement in January 2005; creating sustainable employment opportunities should be a priority of the Cambodian government in order to prevent unemployed women from becoming trafficked.  

Vital Voices works with NGOs in Cambodia to draw international attention to human trafficking, one of the most egregious violations of human rights. For more information about Mu Sochua and Vital Voices’ anti-trafficking work in Southeast Asia, please contact wenchiyuperkins@vitalvoices.org.

Biography of Mu Sochua:

The Reverend Tim Sakhorn is the True Hero of the Cambodian People

Reordained, monk Tim Sakhorn flees: NGO

Written by Meas Sokchea

The Phnom Penh Post; Tuesday, 14 April 2009

(Comments: Now the Reverend Tim Sakhorn is ordained to be a Buddhist monk again, but had to flee to Thailand to escape Hun Sen has been attempting to eliminate him at the request of the Vietnamese. Who needs enemy when we have leader like Hun Sen? The Cambodian society as is since the Angkor time cannot produce any heroic people.

Therefore, the Reverend Tim Sakhorn is an exception. He is a true hero by definition and through the examples of other great heroes in history.

 That is why our small group is trying to use the new change in policy in the Obama Administration based on respect for a more open, decent, and free world, by writing a petition to the president of the United States to use his presidential power with his slogan “Yes We Can” to stop the genocide against the Khmer Krom and to stop Vietnam pursuit of imperialism in Cambodia and Laos known as “Nam Tien” or “Southward March.”

Perhaps more threatening behind this case of wholesale abuse of the Reverend Tim Sakhorn is the implementation of the last phase of the Vietnamization of Cambodia. The persecution of the reverend Tim Sakhorn was done under the so-called Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation that imposed on Cambodia when Vietnam invaded in 1978 (Please see comments on that treaty posted below).

The arrest of Tim Sakhorn strongly suggests that Vietnam will not tolerate any protest however benign it may be against Vietnam by Cambodian under the above mentioned treaty. More precisely and more dangerously, Vietnam unilaterally reserves the right to intervene militarily by invading Cambodia again should Hun Sen’s absolute rule is under a real threat of being toppled by the opposition.

Ironically, one can also infer that Hun Sen will allow the opposition to be operating, so long as the opposition is not operationally effective; thus, he can claim that he in favor of democracy by allowing the opposition parties to operate within the parliamentary system, under Hun Sen full control.

The arrest of Tim Sakhorn strongly suggests that Vietnam will not tolerate any protest however benign it may be against Vietnam by Cambodian under the above mentioned treaty. More precisely and more dangerously, Vietnam unilaterally reserves the right to intervene militarily by invading Cambodia again should Hun Sen’s absolute rule is under a real threat of being toppled by the opposition. One can also infer that Hun Sen will allow the opposition to be operating, so long as the opposition is not operationally effective. 

Unless we, Cambodian-Americans, who are living in complete freedom in this country, will act more vigorously and soon, the fate of the Cambodian people will be in jeopardy. Naranhkiri Tith Ph.D. Washington DC. April 14, 2009)

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KHMER Krom activist Tim Sakhorn was ordained again as a monk at a pagoda in Battambang on Friday and has now fled to Thailand where he is seeking refugee status, according to Sann Sang, the deputy director of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community.

"Now, it is up to the UNHCR [the UN High Commissioner for Refugees] to determine if he has the right to stay in Thailand," he said.

He added that Tim Sakhorn would be willing to leave for another country if necessary.

The 41-year-old monk was arrested in June 2007 by Cambodian police and defrocked before being extradited to Vietnam.

But after imprisoning Tim Sakhorn for a year and then keeping him under house arrest, Vietnam allowed him to visit Cambodia, which issued him a visa until April 17.

Even though Tim Sakhorn has said he just wants to live with his family and tend his farm in Cambodia, he did not feel the Cambodian authorities were protecting him, according to Ang Chanrith, the executive director of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Human Rights Organisation.

"When he was arrested, the [Cambodian] government did not take action to protect him, so he has lost confidence in the government," Ang Chanrith said last week.

Christophe Peschoux, the country representative of the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, could not confirm that the monk had fled to Thailand.

"If he went to Thailand, it's because he feels unsafe in his own country," Peschoux said.

1.  Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Co-operation 1979 (“1979 Treaty”).

1.A.     From a brief glance at the 1979 Treaty, it appears that Cambodia signed the treaty as an independent nation. However, most, if not all of us, know that when this Treaty was signed, Cambodia was under Vietnam’s power (military aggression and dictatorship, and according to various reports, there were about 200,000 Vietnamese troops in Cambodia. In fact, none of the four accords listed above provides for Cambodia to be a neutral state. On closer inspection, the treaty provides for a military alliance. Article 2 of the 1979 Treaty stipulates that parties

“undertake to whole-heartedly support and assist each other in all domains…in order to strengthen…each country against all schemes and acts of sabotage by imperialist and international reactionary forces”.

1.B.     Article 5 of same treaty refers to the “importance [of] the long-standing tradition of militant solidarity [yuddhsammaki] and fraternal friendship between the Kampuchean, Lao and Vietnamese peoples.” Clearly, these articles provide for military partnership between Cambodia and Vietnam.

1.C.     For the above reasons, the1979 Treaty is incompatible with the neutrality status as stipulated under the Paris Peace Accords. Article 1(2)(d) of the Paris Peace Accords 1991, provides that Cambodia promises:

“to terminate treaties and agreements that are incompatible with its…neutrality”.

1.D.     The view that 1979 Treaty is not compatible with the Paris Accords has its supporters. Professor Steve Ratner, who was the Attorney-Advisor of the Office of Advisor of the US State Department and was a member of U.S delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, states that in his opinion this Treaty is incompatible with Paris Accords: (Steven R. Ratner, The Cambodia Settlement Agreements,” American Journal of International Law. 87(1)(1993)).

Source: Radio Free Asia

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• For Sihanouk, Saving Himself and The Monarchy is more Important than Saving Cambodia.

Recently, Sihanouk claimed that he cannot return to Cambodia because the Hun Sen government is endorsing the unequal Treaty Supplements that Vietnam had imposed on Cambodia.  

Realistically, let us look at the facts concerning this very crucial event in contemporary history of Cambodia. The supplements are the additions made to the unequal treaties of 1983 and 1985.  

In these two treaties imposed by Vietnam on Cambodia when Vietnam was occupying the country, Marie Alexandrine Martin, the famed French Ethnologist specialized on Cambodia, who wrote a book entitled "Cambodia: A Shattered Society (University California, Berkley, 1994)" revealed that in addition to these treaties which literally made Cambodia an integral part of the Greater Vietnam as Ho Chi Minh's had dreamt, known as "the Federation of Indochina," the then Communist Government of Cambodia, also had sent directives to Cambodian provincial officials to facilitate the settlement of new Vietnamese colonizers. 

(See Directive dated October 9, 1983, from Chan Si  then Prime Minister of the Socialist People's Republic of Kampuchea during the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia, asking the Cambodian people to help Vietnamese immigrants settle in Cambodia; in 'Home' Page II).  

At the same time, Vietnam had declared that this process of integrating Cambodia and Laos into the greater Vietnam was "irreversible."   

Vietnam sacked Pen Sovann, the then first Cambodian prime minister under Vietnam - controlled Cambodia, Blaming him for not sufficiently obedient, and replaced him by Heng Samrin - a former Khmer Rouge senior officer.  

Later on, in 1985, the Vietnamese replaced the incompetent Heng Samrin by Hun Sen, also a former Khmer senior military officer (Brigade commander), as Prime Minister under the Vietnamese occupied Cambodia.  

So, it was clear that Hun Sen was put at the head of government of the Vietnamese--controlled Cambodia by the armed forces of Vietnam, because he was more pliable to Vietnam's control.  

In 1987, Hun Sen and Sihanouk met for the first time in a small town near Paris. Not known to many people, Sihanouk had offered his pledge to help Hun Sen stay in power, if Hun Sen can guaranty the safety and the maintenance of the monarchy in Cambodia.  

Since then, not many Cambodians knew about this well-hidden alliance between Hun Sen and Sihanouk. As usual, Sihanouk has been playing the “hide-and- seek” game of leading the fight to preserve the Cambodia's independence, even at times, publicly criticizing Hun Sen for being too authoritarian and unpatriotic.  His well-known mercurial and devious behavior, and his then alliance with Hun Sen has been fooling a lot of Cambodians, even the so-called educated ones, until today. 

What most Cambodians don't know is the fact that since that first meeting in 1987 near Paris, there has been a close alliance between Hun Sen and Sihanouk; unfortunately, not for the benefit of the Cambodian people, but for the benefit of the monarchy and the CPP.  

These two recently written letters (from Sihanouk web site), which were exchanged between Sihanouk and Hun Sen, revealed the true and deadly nature of this tragic and destructive alliance between the two. 

Please, read carefully these two crucial and convincing pieces of evidence posted below, and draw your own conclusion.

Washington, DC. January 16, 2006

Naranhkiri Tith, Ph.D.

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Comments:

The following world leaders are those who have the characteristics of a hero as described above, are the most admired leaders in the world, today. Cambodians should seriously insist that their leaders must meet the criteria of a hero as defined above. Only with this kind of leadership can Cambodia expect to move out of the current deadly path that it has been following, since the Angkor time.

Naranhkiri Tith Ph.D.

Washington DC. January 17, 2007

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• Aung San Suu Kyi

The Nobel Peace Prize 1991

Biography*

1942: September 6. Marriage of Aung San, commander of the Burma Independence Army, and Ma Khin Kyi (becoming Daw Khin Kyi), senior nurse of Rangoon General Hospital, where he had recovered from the rigours of the march into Burma.

1945: June 19. Aung San Suu Kyi born in Rangoon, third child in family. "Aung San" for father, "Kyi" for mother, "Suu" for grandmother, also day of week of birth.

Favourite brother is to drown tragically at an early age. The older brother, will settle in San Diego, California, becoming United States citizen.

1947: July 19. General Aung San assassinated. Suu Kyi is two years old. Daw Khin Kyi becomes a prominent public figure, heading social planning and social policy bodies.

1948: January 4. The Independent Union of Burma is established.

1960: Daw Khin Kyi appointed Burma's ambassador to India. Suu Kyi accompanies mother to New Delhi.

1960-64: Suu Kyi at high school and Lady Shri Ram College in New Delhi.

1964-67: Oxford University, B.A. in philosophy, politics and economics at St. Hugh's College (elected Honorary Fellow, 1990).

British "parents" are Lord Gore-Booth, former British ambassador to Burma and High Commissioner in India, and his wife, at whose home Suu Kyi meets Michael Aris, student of Tibetan civilisation.

1969-71: She goes to New York for graduate study, staying with family friend Ma Than E, staff member at the United Nations, where U. Thant of Burma is Secretary-General. Postponing studies, Suu Kyi joins U.N. secretariat as Assistant Secretary, Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions. Evenings and weekends volunteers at hospital, helping indigent patients in programs of reading and companionship.

1972: January 1. Marries Michael Aris, joins him in Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, where he tutors royal family and heads Translation Department. She becomes Research Officer in the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

1973: They return to England for birth of Alexander in London.

1974: Michael assumes appointment in Tibetan and Himalayan studies at Oxford University.

1977: Birth of second son, Kim at Oxford.

While raising her children, Suu Kyi begins writing, researches for biography of father, and assists Michael in Himalayan studies.

1984: Publishes Aung San in Leaders of Asia series of University of Queensland Press. (See Freedom from Fear, pp. 3-38.)

1985: For juvenile readers publishes Let's Visit Burma (see Freedom from Fear, pp. 39-81), also books on Nepal and Bhutan in same series for Burke Publishing Company, London.

1985-86: Visiting Scholar, Center of Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, researching father's time in Japan. Kim with her, Alexander with Michael, who has fellowship at Indian Institute of Advanced Studies at Simla in northern India.

1986: On annual visit to grandmother in Rangoon, Alexander and Kim take part in traditional Buddhist ceremony of initiation into monkhood.

1987: With fellowship at Indian Institute Suu Kyi, with Kim, joins Michael and Alexander in Simla. Travels to London when mother is there for cataract surgery.

Publishes "Socio-Political Currents in Burmese Literature, 1910-1940" in journal of Tokyo University. (See Freedom from Fear, pp. 140-164.) September. Family returns to Oxford. Suu Kyi enrolls at London School of Oriental and African Studies to work on advanced degree.

1988: March 31. Informed by telephone of mother's severe stroke, she takes plane next day to Rangoon to help care for Daw Khin Kyi at hospital, then moves her to family home on University Avenue next to Inya Lake in Rangoon.

July 23. Resignation of General Ne Win, since 1962 military dictator of Burma. Popular demonstrations of protest continuing.

August 8. Mass uprising throughout country. Violent suppression by military kills thousands.

August 15. Suu Kyi, in first political action, sends open letter to government, asking for formation of independent consultative committee to prepare multi-party elections.

August 26. In first public speech, she addresses several hundred thousand people outside Shwedagon Pagoda, calling for democratic government. Michael and her two sons are there.

September 18. Military establishes State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Political gatherings of more than four persons banned. Arrests and sentencing without trial reaffirmed. Parliamentary elections to be held, but in expectation that multiplicity of parties will prevent clear result.

September 24. National League for Democracy (NLD) formed, with Suu Kyi general-secretary. Policy of non-violence and civil disobedience. October-December. Defying ban, Suu Kyi makes speech-making tour throughout country to large audiences.

December 27. Daw Khin Kyi dies at age of seventy-six.

1989: January 2. Funeral of Daw Khin Kyi. Huge funeral procession. Suu Kyi vows that as her father and mother had served the people of Burma, so too would she, even unto death.

January-July. Suu Kyi continues campaign despite harassment, arrests and killings by soldiers.

February 17. Suu Kyi prohibited from standing for election.

April 5. Incident in Irawaddy Delta when Suu Kyi courageously walks toward rifles soldiers are aiming at her.

July 20. Suu Kyi placed under house arrest, without charge or trial. Sons already with her. Michael flies to Rangoon, finds her on third day of hunger strike, asking to be sent to prison to join students arrested at her home. Ends strike when good treatment of students is promised.

1990: May 27. Despite detention of Suu Kyi, NLD wins election with 82% of parliamentary seats. SLORC refuses to recognise results.

October 12. Suu Kyi granted 1990 Rafto Human Rights Prize.

1991: July 10. European Parliament awards Suu Kyi Sakharov human rights prize.

October 14. Norwegian Nobel Committee announces Suu Kyi is winner of 1991 Peace Prize.

1991: December. Freedom from Fear published by Penguin in New York, England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. Also in Norwegian, French, Spanish translations.

December 10. Alexander and Kim accept prize for mother in Oslo ceremony. Suu Kyi remains in detention, having rejected offer to free her if she will leave Burma and withdraw from politics. Worldwide appeal growing for her release.

1992: Suu Kyi announces that she will use $1.3 million prize money to establish health and education trust for Burmese people.

1993: Group of Nobel Peace Laureates, denied entry to Burma, visit Burmese refugees on Thailand border, call for Suu Kyi's release, Their appeal later repeated at UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva.

1994: February. First non-family visitors to Suu Kyi: UN representative, U.S. congressman, New York Times reporter.

September-October. SLORC leaders meet with Suu Kyi, who still asks for a public dialogue.

1995: July 10. SLORC releases Suu Kyi from house arrest after six years of detention.

In the last four years her movements have still been restricted. While she has had some opportunities to telephone her family in England, she is regularly denounced in the government-controlled media, and there is concern for her personal safety. Efforts to revive any NLD party activities have been balked, and its members have been jailed and physically attacked. In the first months after detention was ended, she was able to speak to large gatherings of supporters outside her home, but this was stopped. Yet her popularity in the country has not diminished.

Internationally her voice has been heard not infrequently. Reporters with cameras and videotape have been able to interview her in person, and telephone interviews with the media outside Burma have also been published. Using video cassettes she has sent out statements, including the keynote address to the NGO Forum at the U.N. International Women's Conference in Beijing in August 1995.

There have been a number of visitors from abroad, including a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, whom she told that Norway will be the first country she will visit when free to travel. SLORC has changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council, but its repressive policies and violation of human rights continue unabated.

Suu Kyi discourages tourists from visiting Burma and businessmen from investing in the country until it is free. She finds hearing for such pleas among western nations, and the United States has applied economic sanctions against Burma, but Burma's neighbours follow their policy of not intervening in the internal affairs of other sovereign states, and Burma has been admitted into the Association of South Eastern Asian Nations.

On March 27, 1999, Michael Aris died of prostate cancer in London. He had petitioned the Burmese authorities to allow him to visit Suu Kyi one last time, but they had rejected his request. He had not seen her since a Christmas visit in 1995. The government always urged her to join her family abroad, but she knew that she would not be allowed to return. This separation she regarded as one of the sacrifices she had had to make in order to work for a free Burma.

Selected Bibliography

By Aung San Suu Kyi

Freedom from Fear and Other Writings. Edited with introduction by Michael Aris. 2nd ed., revised. New York and London: Penguin, 1995. (Includes essays by friends and scholars.)

Voice of Hope: Conversations. London: Penguin, 1997 and New York City: Seven Stories Press, 1997 (Conversations beginning in November 1995 with Alan Clements, the founder of the Burma Project in California who helped with the script for the film based on her life, “Beyond Rangoon”.)

Other Sources

“Aung San Suu Kyi”, in Current Biography, February 1992.

Clements, Alan and Leslie Kean. Burma’s Revolution of the Spirit: The Struggle for Democratic Freedom and Dignity. New York: Aperture, 1994. (Many colour photographs with text, Includes essay by Aung San Suu Kyi.)

Clements, Alan. Burma: The Next Killing Fields. Tucson, Arizona; Odonian Press, 1992. (With a foreword by the Dalai Lama.)

Lintner, Bertil. Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency since 1948. Boulder. Colorado: Westview, 1994. (By a well-informed Swedish journalist.)

Lintner, Bertil. Outrage: Burma’s Struggle for Democracy. 2nd ed., Edinburgh: Kiscadale, 1995.

Mirante, Edith T. Burmese Looking Glass. A Human Rights Adventure and a Jungle Revolution. New York: Grove, 1993.

Smith, Martin J. Burma: Intrangency and the Politics of Ethnicity. London: Zed Books, 1991. (A detailed and well-organised account by a journalist of the violent conflict between the military government and the many minorities.)

Victor, Barbara. The Lady: Aung San Suu Kyi: Nobel Laureate and Burma’s Prisoner. Boston and London: Faber & Faber, 1998. (A sympathetic account by a wellpublished author and journalist, whose research in Burma included interviews with government leaders.)  

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* Since no biography was printed in Les Prix Nobel 1991, this chronology has been assembled by the editor.

From Nobel Lectures, Peace 1991-1995, Editor Irwin Abrams, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1999

This autobiography/biography was first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown _

______________________________________________________________________________

• Nelson Mandela Biography

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. His father was Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe. Mandela himself was educated at University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand and qualified in law in 1942. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party's apartheid policies after 1948. He went on trial for treason in 1956-1961 and was acquitted in 1961.

After the banning of the ANC in 1960, Nelson Mandela argued for the setting up of a military wing within the ANC. In June 1961, the ANC executive considered his proposal on the use of violent tactics and agreed that those members who wished to involve themselves in Mandela's campaign would not be stopped from doing so by the ANC. This led to the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela was arrested in 1962 and sentenced to five years' imprisonment with hard labour. In 1963, when many fellow leaders of the ANC and the Umkhonto we Sizwe were arrested, Mandela was brought to stand trial with them for plotting to overthrow the government by violence. His statement from the dock received considerable international publicity. On June 12, 1964, eight of the accused, including Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1964 to 1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town; thereafter, he was at Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the mainland.

During his years in prison, Nelson Mandela's reputation grew steadily. He was widely accepted as the most significant black leader in South Africa and became a potent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength. He consistently refused to compromise his political position to obtain his freedom.

Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. After his release, he plunged himself wholeheartedly into his life's work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In 1991, at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after the organization had been banned in 1960, Mandela was elected President of the ANC while his lifelong friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became the organisation's National Chairperson.

From Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 1993, Editor Tore Frängsmyr, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1994

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and later published in the book series Les Prix Nobel/Nobel Lectures. The information is sometimes updated with an addendum submitted by the Laureate. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.

Selected Bibliography

By Mandela

Mandela, Nelson. Nelson Mandela Speaks: Forging a Democratic, Nonracial South Africa. New York: Pathfinder, 1993.

Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom. The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Boston & New York: Little Brown, 1994.

Mandela, Nelson. The Struggle Is My Life. New York: Revised, Pathfinder, 1986. Originally published as a tribute on his 60th birthday in 1978. Speeches, writings, historical accounts, contributions by fellow prisoners.

Other Sources

Benson, Mary. Nelson Mandela, the Man and the Movement. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1994. Updated from 1986 edition. Based on interviews by a friend of Mandela since the 1950s.

de Klerk, Willem. F. W. de Klerk: The Man in His Time. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball, 1991. By his brother.

Gilbey, Emma. The Lady. The Life and Times of Winnie Mandela. London: Cape, 1993. Most comprehensive biography.

Harrison, Nancy. Winnie Mandela: Mother of a Nation. London: Gollancz, 1985. Authorised favourable biography.

Johns, Sheridan and R. Hunt Davis, Jr., eds. Mandela, Tambo and the ANC: The Struggle Against Apartheid. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. Documentary survey.

Mandela, Winnie. Part of My Soul. NY & London: Norton, 1984. Edited by Anne Benjamin and Mary Benson.

Meer, Fatima. Higher Than Hope: The Authorized Biography of Nelson Mandela. NY: Harper, 1990. By family friend, with Mandela’s corrections. Foreword by Winnie Mandela.

M Meredith, Martin. Nelson Mandela. A Biography. New York: St, Martin’s, 1998. By an authority on South Africa. Recommended reading.

Ottaway, David. Chained Together. Mandela de Klerk, and the Struggle to Remake South Africa. New York: Times Books, 1993. Critical treatment by well-informed journalist.

Sparks, Allister. Tomorrow Is Another Country: The Inside Story of South Africa’s Road to Change. New York: Hill & Wang, 1995. By a distinguished South African journalist.

Waldmeir, Patti. Anatomy of a Miracle: The End of Apartheid and the Birth of a New South Africa. London: Viking, 1997.

From Nobel Lectures, Peace 1991-1995, Editor Irwin Abrams, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1999

This autobiography/biography was first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.

For more updated biographical information, see:

Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Little, Brown and Co., Boston, 1994.

Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1993

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• BIOGRAPHY OF MAHATMA GANDHI:

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India. He became one of the most respected spiritual and political leaders of the 1900's. GandhiJI helped free the Indian people from British rule through nonviolent resistance, and is honored by Indians as the father of the Indian Nation.

The Indian people called Gandhiji  'Mahatma', meaning Great Soul. At the age of 13 Gandhi married Kasturba, a girl the same age. Their parents arranged the marriage. The Gandhis had four children. Gandhi studied law in London and returned to India in 1891 to practice. In 1893 he took on a one-year contract to do legal work in South Africa.

At the time the British controlled South Africa. When he attempted to claim his rights as a British subject he was abused, and soon saw that all Indians suffered similar treatment. Gandhi stayed in South Africa for 21 years working to secure rights for Indian people.

He developed a method of action based upon the principles of courage, nonviolence and truth called Satyagraha. He believed that the way people behave is more important than what they achieve. Satyagraha promoted nonviolence and civil disobedience as the most appropriate methods for obtaining political and social goals. In 1915 Gandhi returned to India. Within 15 years he became the leader of the Indian nationalist movement.

Using the principles of Satyagraha he led the campaign for Indian independence from Britain. Gandhi was arrested many times by the British for his activities in South Africa and India. He believed it was honorable to go to jail for a just cause. Altogether he spent seven years in prison for his political activities.

More than once Gandhi used fasting to impress upon others the need to be nonviolent. India was granted independence in 1947, and partitioned into India and Pakistan. Rioting between Hindus and Muslims followed. Gandhi had been an advocate for a united India where Hindus and Muslims lived together in peace.

On January 13, 1948, at the age of 78, he began a fast with the purpose of stopping the bloodshed. After 5 days the opposing leaders pledged to stop the fighting and Gandhi broke his fast. Twelve days later a Hindu fanatic, Nathuram Godse who opposed his program of tolerance for all creeds and religion assassinated him

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• Václav Havel (1936- ): Biography 

President of the Czech Republic, prominent playwright and poet, one of the leading intellectual figures and moral forces in Eastern Europe. Havel's role as a public figure has now somewhat overshadowed his record as a dramatist and political essayist. His works often deal with the power of language to interfere with clear thought.

"There are no exact guidelines. There are probably no guidelines at all. The only thing I can recommend at this stage is a sense of humor, an ability to see things in their ridiculous and absurd dimensions, to laugh at others and at ourselves, a sense of irony regarding everything that calls out for parody in this world. In other words, I can only recommend perspective and distance. Awareness of all the most dangerous kinds of vanity, both in others and in ourselves. A good mind. A modest certainty about the meaning of things. Gratitude for the gift of life and the courage to take responsibility for it. Vigilance of spirit." (Havel upon receiving the Open Society Prize awarded by the Central European University in 1999, trans. by Paul Wilson)

Václav Havel was born into a well-to-do family in Prague. His father owned Prague's cliff-top Barrandov suburb and his mother, Bozena Havlova, the daughter of an ambassador and journalist, encouraged her son's intellectual and artistic ambitions. In his youth he formed a literary circle called Thirty-Sixers, after the year of its members' birth. Because of his 'bourgeois' background he was denied the right to attend university. At the age of fifteen, Havel became interested in poetry. With the future film director Milos Forman he visited the poet Jaroslav Seifert, who read his first texts. Although Kafka's literary heritage was nearly buried by the authorities, his works deeply influenced Havel.

In 1951-55 Havel worked as a laboratory technician. He studied at a technical college (1955-57) and served in the Czechoslovak Army (1957-59). Havel had joined Group 42, and after challenging the older generation of writers in their magazine Kveten (May), he was for the first time noticed as a writer. In 1964 Havel married Olga Šplíchalová (1933-1996). They bought a small farm near the Polish border, where the happy couple was visited by a number of their friends. After his wife's death Havel married an actress, the former Dagmar Veskrnova.

In the 1960s Havel made his way in the theater, first as a stagehand, and then becoming resident writer for the Prague "Theatre on the Balustrade" from 1960 to 1969. During this time he continued his education at the Prague Academy of Art. His first play as the dramatic consultant of the theater Na Zábradlí, The Garden Party (1963), was a satire of modern bureaucratic routines. It was a success both at home and abroad. In the footsteps of George Orwell Havel became interested in language - in the play the protagonist acquires an "official" language and rises to bureaucratic fame. Havel was subsequently enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Arts and he graduated in 1967. A few years earlier he had joined the editorial board of the literary magazine Tvárin, which was soon in conflict with the conservative Writers' Association. The magazine ceased to appear in 1969. In the same year Havel's passport was confiscated because his writings were considered subversive.

As a playwright Havel has used dramatic techniques to make situations or characters seem ridiculous. In The Memorandum (1965) he introduced an artificial language that is supposed to allow for greater precision in communication. The absurd attempt results in a complete breakdown of human relationships. The theme was taken even further in The Increased Difficulty of Concentration (1968), in which Havel attacked fashionable sociological terminology. Prague Spring was crushed by Soviet-led Warsaw Pact forces in 1968. In the 1970s Havel wrote a series of one-act plays, Audience (1978), Private View (1978), and Protest (1978), in which the protagonist is a dissident playwright in trouble with the authorities. Most plays from this period are built around the writer Vanék, who faces the absurd realities of Czech life.

In the 1960s Havel satirized communist bureaucracy and supported the Prague Spring reform movement of 1968. His letter to the Czech President Gustav Husák - the popular party secretary Alexander Dubcek had been expelled - did not lead to official action, but copies of its text spread widely. Havel was a cofounder of the human rights organization Charter 77 and the Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Prosecuted (VONS). His works were banned by the hard-line government, but the manuscripts circulated privately and were printed in Western Europe. Havel's plays did much to bring world attention to the Czechoslovakian struggle. Throughout this period he was subjected to police harassment and arrests. In 1979 he was sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment for subversion of the republic. He was released in 1983 because of illness. Between the years 1987 and 1989 Havel was a member of the editorial board of the samizdat newspaper Lidové Noviny, and a regular contributor.

A new period in the development of Havel's dramatic art started in the 1980s. His plays reflected identity problems and philosophical moral problems as in Temptation (1986), a modern reworking of Faust. In Largo desolatio (1985) the hero, another writer character, finds it difficult to deal with the burdens imposed on him both by his enemies and by his friends. The hero no longer appears clearly as a "dissident".

As an essayist Havel has carried on the tradition of democratic and liberal thought. Unlike other dissident writers, Havel had no illusions as to the humane nature of communism or the possibility of democratization. At the same time, he denounced the egotism of the consumer civilization of Western society - a theme familiar from the writings of Mary McCarthy. Like the famous Russian Nobel writer and dissident, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Havel has underlined the moral revival of the individual in the change of the social order.

"It has been our absolutely basic historical experience that, in the long run, the only thing that can be truly successful and meaningful politically must first and foremost-that is, before it has taken any political form at all-be a proper and adequate response to the fundamental moral dilemmas of the time, or an expression of respect for the imperatives of the moral order bequeathed to us by our culture. It is a very clear understanding that the only kind of politics that truly makes sense is one that is guided by conscience. " (Havel in 1999)

During the 1970s and 1980s Havel was repeatedly arrested, and he served several years in prison for his dissident activities (1977, 1978-79, 1979-83, 1989). After the communist regime sentenced Havel in 1979 to 4 1/2 years in prison for subversion, he was given the opportunity to emigrate, but he chose imprisonment. In the 1980s Havel became the undisputed unofficial leader of the Czechoslovak human rights movement. In November 1989 he formed a new opposition group, Civic Forum. Following the fall of communism, Alexander Dubcek (1921-92), who had launched a series of reforms in 1968 and was subsequently expelled from the Presidium, was elected chairman of the parliament. Havel was elected in 1989 by direct popular vote as president of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, following Gustav Husák.

Havel's first great defeat was the 1992 break-up of Czechoslovakia. He resigned but was elected president of the new Czech Republic in February 1993. Havel's mission in his office was to restore a healthy democracy in his country. "The worst thing is that we live in a contaminated moral environment," Havel had already said in his 1990 New Year's speech, which shocked most listeners. "We fell morally ill because we became used to saying something different from what we thought." Havel promoted reconciliation with Germany, and lobbied for the Czech's Republic's entry into Nato and the European Union. In his address at the Nato summit on April 23, 1999, Havel stated: "The fact that a former powerful strategic adversary has disappeared from the scene does not, however, mean that in the world of today human lives, human rights, human dignity and the freedom of nations are no longer in danger. They are, unfortunately, still being threatened, and collective defence of the democratic states of the Euro-Atlantic sphere of civilization, therefore, still remains a valid concept." Havel has said that as soon as his homeland does not need him, "I will with great appetite devote myself to my original profession." Before stepping down as President, Havel became the target of smear campaigns by the tabloid media and he was criticized by communists. However, he remained for most citizens in his country among the most popular politicians.

See also: other statesman/writers Lennart Meri, Léopold Senghor - Note: The music of Frank Zappa and Lou Reed inspired Havel and other dissidents during their struggle against Soviet rule. During Havel's visit in the United States in 1998 Lou Reed played at the state dinner in the White House at the Czech president's request. - For further reading: Vaclav Havel: A Political Tragedy in Six Acts by John Keane (2000); Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century, ed. by Steven R. Serafin (1999, vol. 2); Philosophy and Politics in Václav Havel's Largo Desolato by A. Thomas (1995, in The Labyrinth of the World); Václav Havel by Eda Kriseová (1993); Contemporary World Writers, ed. by Tracey Chevalier (1993); Postnational Identity: Critical Theory and Existential Philosophy in Habermas, Kierkegaard, and Havel by Martin J. Matusik (1993); The Reluctant President by Michael Simmons (1991); The Power of the Powerless: Citizen against the State in Central-Eastern Europe, ed. by J. Keane (1985); The Silenced Theatre by M. Goetz-Stankiewicz (1979) - Note: Havel's collection of letters, Letter to Olga, contains his correspondence to his wife Olga Splíchalová while he was imprisoned from 1979 to 1982, and Disturbing the Peace, which presents his thoughts on life, literature, and polititics. Havel's first wife died in 1996 and in 1997 he married Dagmar Veskrnova. - Havel's numerous awards include Obie Award (1968, 1970), Austrian State Prize (1969), Prix Plaisir du Théâtre (1981), Palach Prize (1981), Erasmus Prize (1986), Olof Palme Prize(1989), UNESCO Bolivar Prize (1990), Friedrich-Ebert Foundation Political Book of the Year Award (1990), Malaparte Prize (1990), Legion of Honour Grand Cross (1990), Charlemange Prize (1991), Sonning Prize (1991), Averell Harriman Democracy Award (1991), B'nai B'rith Prize (1991), Freedom Award (1991), Raoul Wallenberg Human Rights Award (1991), Leonhard-Frank-Ring (1992), Indira Gandhi Prize (1993), European Cultural Society Award (1993), Order of the White Eagle (Poland, 1993), Golden Honorary Order of Freedom (Slovenia, 1993). Havel has honorary degrees from over a dozen universities. - Suomeksi Havelilta on julkaistu myös teos Asioista kuultuna (1990).

Selected works:

Autostop, 1961 (with Ivan Vyskocil)

Nejlepší rocky paní Hermanové, 1962 (with Miloš Macourek)

Záhradní slavnost, 1963 (play) - The Garden Party - suom. Puutarhajuhla

Josef Capec, 1963 (with Vera Ptácková)

Vyrozumení, 1965 (play) - The Memorandum - suom. Tiedotus

Protokoly, 1966

Zitizená moznost soustredeni, 1968 - The Increased Difficulty of Concentration

Andel strázý, 1968 (radio play)

ed.: Podoby 2, 1969

Spiklenci, 1974 - The Conspirators

Audience, 1975 (samizdat) - trans. - suom. Vastaanotto

Vernizáz, 1975 (samizdat) - Private View - suom. Avajaiset

Zebrácká opwera, 1976 - The Beggar's Opera

ed.: Pohledy I, 1974 (samizdat)

Motýl na anténe, 1975 (television play)

Zebrácká opera, 1976 (samizdat) - The Beggars Opera

Hry 1970-1976, 1977

Horský hotel, 1977 (samizdat)

Sorry, 1978

Protest, 1978 (samizdat) - trans.

Moc bezmocných, 1978 (samizdat) - The Power of the Powerless

Audience and Private View, as Sorry: Two Plays, 1978-79

Šestnáct dopisu, 1982 (samizdat)

Chyba, 1983 (samizdat) - The Mistake

Dopisy Olze, 1983 - Letters to Olga

Thriller, 1984 (samizdat) - The Idler

O lidskou identitu, 1984

Politika a svedomi, in Prirozený svet jako politický problém, 1984 (samizdat) - Politics and Conscience

Výzva k transcendenci, with Consolatio philosophiae hodierna, 1984

ed. Prirozený svet jako politický problém, 1984 (samizdat, with Václav Belohradský and others)

Largo desolatio, 1985 (samizdat)

ed.: Hostina, 1985 (samizdat)

The Anatomy of a Reticence: Eastern European Dissidents and the Peace Movement in the West, 1985

Disturbing the Peace: A Conversation with Karel Hvizdala, published underground in Prague in 1986

Ztizené moznosti, 1986

Pokoušeni, 1986 (samizdat) - Temptation

Living in the Truth (also includes essays by other writers addressed to Havel), 1986

Pokousení, 1986 - Temptation

Dekovná rec pri udelení Erasmovy ceny, 1986 (samizdat, Acceptance Speech Written on the Occasion of the Award of the Erasmus Prize 1986)

Asanace, 1987 (samizdat) - Redevelopement

Temptation, 1987

The Vanek Plays, Four Authors, One Character, 1987

Do ruzných stran: Eseje a claánky z let 1983-1989, 1989

Provejy, 1990

Three V. Plays, 1990

Disturbing the Peace, 1990

Open Letters: Selected Prose 1965-1990, 1991(ed. by Paul Wilson)

Selected Plays, 1963-1983, 1991

Letní premítání, 1991 - Summer Meditations

Vázení obcane, 1992

Fragments of Memory, 1992

Ctyri eseje, 1993

Selected Plays, 1984-1987, 1994

Literature and Tolerance, 1995

Prosim Struckne, 2006 

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• Power grab in Cambodia

The Bangkok Post, January 27, 2006 

It is a tough journey over a long distance to go from dictatorship to democracy. No neighbour better illustrates this at the moment than Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun Sen, an early adopter of autocracy in post-Pol Pot Cambodia, is rapidly advancing past the crossroads where leaders must decide between democracy and dictatorship. He is firmly on the road to totalitarian rule, and has been unabashedly unpleasant about it as well.  

From illegal manipulation of the system to outright intimidation and bloody brutality, he has put Cambodia on a slippery slope to a violent dictatorship. Only international pressure now seems likely to stop him.  

Cambodia has become proof that free elections are only a minor part of the democratic process. The last nationwide election in Cambodia in 2003 passed scrutiny by most international observers. And the voting did, indeed, appear generally free.  

There were troubling signs of intimidation of both candidates and voters, but in general, election day was basically democratic. It may have been the last day of freedom for Cambodian democracy, though. When voters in their wisdom denied a parliamentary majority to any party, incumbent Premier Hun Sen refused to negotiate, rejected the idea of either a coalition or national accord.  

For a year, Cambodia had neither a parliament nor a functioning government, as Hun Sen arranged the deals and bullied to get what he wanted. For the past 18 months, he has been not just prime minister of Cambodia, but has accumulated power in a totally undemocratic manner. Some autocrats gather power through manipulation of the existing system_ obeying the letter of the law while flouting its spirit.

One needs not look outside Thailand for an example. But Hun Sen and supporters have used strong-arming, physical intimidation and violence. There always were doubts the former Khmer Rouge officer and Vietnamese protégé was a reformed democrat, as he claimed. Recent events in Cambodia have showed the doubters were right. Of course Hun Sen's rise to non-democratic leader began with great violence.  

His coup in 1997 left hundreds dead and ousted his coalition partner Norodom Ranariddh from government, installed and approved by the failed United Nations military mission to Cambodia.  

So heavy was that violence that the Thai air force was forced to conduct a Saigon-style evacuation under fire, to save hundreds of Thais and grateful foreigners. Since then, despite the 2003 election, Hun Sen has been on a mission to establish a one-party state. Recent events are well documented. 

The leading opposition politician, Sam Rainsy, has fled Cambodia in terror. Members of his party, less sensitive to the danger, have been arrested. A totally unapologetic Hun Sen has launched massive lawsuits against eight opposition critics, and police under his orders have jailed many of the targets.  

Most of those sued are media critics. Last week, authorities released one of three human rights activists who were arrested on defamation charges. Guess how much the released man, Yeng Virak, coordinator of the Cambodia Centre for Education of Law, will be criticising the government from now on.  

All of this intimidation, strong-arming and violence is particularly sad in Cambodia for two reasons. The first is that Hun Sen is not a particularly good leader.  

The economy has not improved by any government efforts, public infrastructure is a disgrace and poverty kills hundreds of Cambodians. All of this happens while international donors have failed to account for huge percentages of the billions of dollars in sympathetic aid poured into Cambodia. We should not forget, either, that Hun Sen played the most important public role in sparking the racist riots against Thais in Cambodia by loudly spreading the lie of a Thai actress who spoke against Angkor Wat.  

Just as importantly is the murderous recent past of Cambodia. It should be a country promoting national unity, working towards freedom and democracy _ precisely the opposite of its sufferings under the Khmer Rouge and then under Vietnamese occupation. Khmers are no less patriotic and loyal than Hun Sen just because they are in the political opposition. The tyrannical actions against them are sad and not supportable. Friends of Cambodia, starting with Thailand, should tell this to the Cambodian leader.

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Please, Click here to download a file on a Revealing Recently-Written Letter from Hun Sen to Sihanouk Pleadging hisTotal Support for the Cambodian Monarchy

Please, Click here to read or to download a file on Sihanouk's letter to Hun Sen Pleadging his Eternal and Unreserved Sopport for Hun Sen

Please, click here to read or to download a file on a Recent Resolution Passed by the House of Representatives, US Congress, to Commemorate the Victims of Khmer Rouge Genocide Against the Cambodian People,

Please, click here to read or to download the file on a recent US Senate resolution on Cambodia condemning Hun Sen for witch-hunting pro-democracy advocates.

Please, click here to download or to read file on a paper entitled "Watching From Afar, Cambodia's Slow But Irreversible Disintegration: Memoir of an Expatriate"

Please, click here to read or to download file calling the United States to be completely involved in Khmer Rouge Trial

Please, click here to download file on the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly calling for condemning Evils of Communism

Please, click here to download or to read file on a letter from The Hon. Winston Peters, New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs to Mr. Meng Ly, on Human Rights Activists Persecution by Hun Sen

Please, click here to read or to download file on my thank you letter to New Zealand Foreign Minister

Please, click here to read or download file on The RT, Honorable Winston Peters New Zealand Foreign Minister to my letter

Please, click here to download file Peasants displaced by Land Grabbing into Cities Leads to Increase in Poverty

Please, click here to read or to download file on Sam Rainsy Revealing his True Self by Submitting his Party to Hun Sen's Dictatorship

Please, click here to download file on the New Sam Rainsy opposition Philosophy and Policies under Hun Sen

I highly recommend this web page entitled "Khmer Institute" for their excellent studies on Khmer Characters and behaviors

Please, click here to read or to download file on the Uneasy Alliance between Hun Sen Ranariddh and Sam Rainsy

___________________________________________________

The United States Department of State

Washington DC. 20520

March 20, 2006

Mr. Naranhkiri Tith, Ph.D.

Miss Veronica C. Ngi

Mr. Mabbeskal Man

Dear Mr. Tith, Miss Ngi and Mr. Man:

          Thank you for your letter and attached petition of November 14, 2005, concerning human rights in Cambodia and Cambodia’s relations with Vietnam.  The Office of the President has requested that I respond directly to you on its behalf.  I regret the delay in responding to your letter.

          As a participant in the 1991 Paris Peace Accords on Cambodia, the United States has a long-term interest in Cambodia's national reconciliation and reconstruction.  Since the Khmer Rouge laid down their arms in 1997, Cambodia has enjoyed a period of relative peace and stability.  While unresolved border issues remain a concern for Cambodia and its neighbors, we were encouraged by the positive steps taken by Cambodia and Vietnam in October 2005 to peacefully resolve questions over their mutual border.  Such constructive dialogue between Cambodia and its neighbors, either bilaterally or through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is the most effective way for Cambodia to address its interests and concerns. 

However, following the signing of the border agreement the Cambodian government took steps to silence critics of the agreement.  Using criminal defamation charges, the government detained and arrested many members of Cambodian civil society, including human rights activists Kem Sokha and Pa Nguon Teang, journalist Mam Sonando and labor leader Rong Chhun.  The United States strongly condemned these actions and called on the Cambodian government to respect the right of all its citizens to express their opinions without fear of retribution or prosecution. 

In recent months, the Cambodian government has taken important steps to reverse this sharp deterioration of the democracy and human rights situation.  In mid-January, Prime Minister Hun Sen released the four activists on bail.  The Prime Minister later stated that the government would not pursue criminal defamation cases against these individuals, and more recently announced his support for the elimination of criminal defamation laws.  While challenges remain in the area of human rights and democracy in Cambodia, these are important positive steps for the resumption of constructive political dialogue in Cambodia. 

          The United States Government will continue to promote democratic institutions in Cambodia.  We fund training for democratic political parties and programs aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of Cambodian civil society and non-governmental organizations.  These programs focus on civic and voter education, increased political participation by women and young Cambodians, encouragement for a freer and more independent press and support for investigations into human rights abuses. 

Thank you for your letter. 

Sincerely,

Scot Marciel

Director Office of Mainland Southeast Asia ; US Department of State

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• European Parliament resolution on political repression in Cambodia

The European Parliament,

-              having regard to its resolutions of 13 January 2005[1][1][1][5] and 10 March 2005[2][2][2][6] on Cambodia and its resolution of 1 Decemb][7],

er 2005 on the human rights situation in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam[3][3][3

-              having regard to the Cooperation Agreement of 1997 between the European Community and the Kingdom of Cambodia[4][4][4][8],

-              having regard to the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders approved by the Council on 14 June 2004,

-              having regard to the standards set by the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders,

-              having regard to the statement  of 27 December 2005 by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Human Rights in Cambodia, Mr Yash Ghai,

-              having regard to the statement of 4 January 2006 by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,

-              having regard to the World Bank statement of 9 January 2006 on Cambodia,

-              having regard to the Declaration of 13 January 2006 by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the deteriorating political situation in Cambodia,

-              having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.          whereas in recent weeks political repression in Cambodia has dramatically increased, with several arrests of human rights workers, journalists and trade unionists for defamation offences,

B.          whereas Kem Sokha, President of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR), Pa Nguon Teang, Acting Director of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights and radio director, Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodian Independent Teachers' Association (CITA) and Mam Sonando, Director of the Beehive Radio, are facing trial,

C.          whereas Yeng Virak and Kem Sokha were released on bail but the charges have not been dropped,

D.          whereas, for the same reasons, the Cambodian authorities are searching for Chea Mony, President of the Free Trade Union of Workers, Ea Channa, Deputy Secretary General of the Students' Movement for Democracy, Men Nath, President of the Cambodian Independent Civil Servants' Association, Prince Sisowath Tomico, secretary to former King Sihanouk, and Say Bory, advisor to former King Sihanouk,

E.          whereas several other activists and members of the opposition have left the country under the threat of arrest and persecution,

F.           considering those repressive tactics an attempt by the government to silence peaceful critics of the government and thus eliminate the last effective political opposition; whereas those events also present worrying indications that Cambodia's democracy is deteriorating,

G.          whereas on 22 December 2005 the leader of the opposition, Sam Rainsy, was sentenced in absentia to 18 months' imprisonment on defamation charges brought by the Prime Minister and the President of the National Assembly,

H.          whereas Cheam Channy, Member of the Cambodian Parliament, was tried and convicted in August 2005, and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment,

I.        whereas the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has ruled that the detention of Cheam Channy is a violation of both Cambodian and international law,Is deeply concerned about the recent arrests and prosecutions and urges the Cambodian government to consider very carefully the compatibility of such actions with the commitments it has given to its people and to donors to build a more open, democratic and just society;

2.           Takes note of the above mentioned release of recently arrested human rights activists and calls for the annulment of all charges against them; and asks for the annulment of all charges and arrest warrants issued against human rights defenders who are not currently detained; calls moreover for all acts of intimidation and harassment of human rights activists in Cambodia to be halted;

3.           Urges Cambodia to stop breaching its obligations under international law, and in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and immediately to release Cheam Channy; also calls for the judgment against Sam Rainsy and Chea Poch to be overturned and their parliamentary immunity restored;

4.           Strongly believes that the continuing detentions of leading figures from the political opposition, trade unions, the media and NGOs and the use of the criminal law in cases of expression of dissenting opinions on matters of politics and policy send a worrying message to the donor community on which the government relies for about 50% of its annual budget;

5.           Reminds the Cambodian government that it has to meet its obligations and commitments regarding the democratic principles and fundamental human rights which are an essential element of the above mentioned Cooperation Agreement, as defined in Article 1 of that Agreement;

6.           Calls on the Commission and the Council to respond to the latest crackdown on civil and political rights in clear and unambiguous terms, in coordination with the donor community, at the forthcoming Consultative Group meeting;

7.           Expresses its support for the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Human Rights in Cambodia and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, whose mandates include protection and monitoring of the human right situation;

8.           Expresses concern that the use of the Cambodian judiciary as an instrument of repression against the political opposition and civil society casts serious doubts on the Cambodian government's commitment to establish the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in accordance with international standards of judicial independence, fair trial and due legal process, as agreed with the UN in June 2003 and questions the need for defamation of the Office of the Prime Minister to be a criminal offence;

9.           Strongly believes that dissenting views and opinions should be challenged through public debate rather than criminal law suits and calls for prosecutions on defamation charges to be stopped, as they could easily be abused for political purposes;

10.        Calls on the EU to take steps to ensure that fundamental freedoms, as enshrined in Article 1 of the above mentioned Cooperation Agreement, are respected and that attacks on civil liberties have consequences; calls on the EU also to make continuation of its financial aid conditional upon an improvement in Cambodia's human rights record;

11.        Reiterates its demand that an ad hoc delegation of the Parliament visit Cambodia to evaluate respect for the provisions of Article 1 of the Cooperation Agreement and the situation of detained parliamentarians, media representatives and trade union leaders in the country;

12.        Calls on the Cambodian authorities to fully implement the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees both with regard to the protection of Montagnard refugees, refraining from illegal forced deportation to Vietnam, and to granting refugee status to ethnic Khmer Krom escaping from Vietnam;

13.        Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Human Rights in Cambodia, the President of the World Bank, the ASEAN Secretariat and the government and National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

[1][1][5]    OJ C 247 E, 6.10.2005, p. 161.

[1][1][6]    OJ C 320 E, 15.12.2005,[1][1][7]   Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0462.

[1][1][8]    OJ L 269, 19.10.1999, p. 18.

     [5][5][5][[1]  JO C 247 E du 6.10.2005, p. 161.

     [6][6][6][2]   JO C 320 E du 15.12.2005, p. 280. p. 280.

     [7][7][7] [3]  Textes adoptés de cette date, P6_TA(2005)0462.

     [8][8][8][4]          C 247 E, 6.10.2005, p. 161. OJ C 320 E, 15.12.2005, p. 280. exts   Adopted,    P6_TA(2005)0462. J L 269, 19.10.1999, p. 18.

• Letter from Margaret Wilson

Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives

In a message dated 1/25/2006 10:01:27 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, Pam.Reader@parliament.govt.nz writes:

Dear Mr Tith: 

Thank you for your letter and documents regarding the continued violation of Cambodia’s National Sovereignty and Survival. 

I shall read these documents with interest. 

Yours sincerely  

Hon Margaret Wilson

Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives

_______________________________________________________________________________ 

January 26, 2006

The Honorable Margaret Wilson

Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives:

Dear Madame Speaker:

On behalf of those Cambodians from inside and outside Cambodia who had signed the petition on the Vietnamization of Cambodia, I want to express our deepest thanks for your kind interests in the Cambodian situation.

I just want to let you know that this petition was prompted by a letter from Ambassador K L Bindra (see attachments) to an English-language Newspaper in Phnom Penh, The Cambodian Daily in which he raised the issues of continued influx of new illegal Vietnamese  immigrants into Cambodia. Due to his credential as a former head of the International Control Commission (ICC), We trust Ambassador Bindra's call for the world community leaders to pay closer attention to this mounting problem which is threatening the very existence of Cambodia and the Cambodian people.

It is a well-know fact that Mr. Hun Sen the current strongman in Cambodia, was put at the helm of the Cambodian government by the armed forces of Vietnam, under the pretext of liberating Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge.

If Vietnam were really interested in liberating Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge, why did they not turn over the responsibility to the United Nations, as suggested by Bui Tin, a former senior officer in the Vietnamese armed forces, and who was part of the invading Vietnamese armed forces of Cambodia.

Also, Vietnam has had a history of finding an excuse to "save" Cambodia. In 1954, Vietnam was forced to withdraw from Cambodia under the supervision of the International Control Commission of which Mr Bindra was the chairman of that commission in the mid-1960's) after the Geneva Conference which ended the First Indochina War. Vietnam then claimed that it came to liberate Cambodia from French colonialism.

Again, in 1991. Vietnam had to withdraw from Cambodia after the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Vietnam came again to "save" Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge. But, this time Vietnam's withdrawal was not supervised by any international body, such as the ICC.

A French Anthropologist who had lived at that time in Cambodia already observed in a book entitled "Cambodia: A Chattered Society" an influx of Vietnamese into Cambodia under the terms of unequal  treaties which were imposed on Cambodia in 1983-85, when Vietnam was occupying Cambodia.

The Cambodia people would have been enormously thankful to the Vietnamese if they were to turn Cambodia to the United Nations after they had rooted out the Khmer Rouge, as suggested by Colonel Bui Tin. But, instead, Vietnam again claimed that it came to "save" Cambodia from "US imperialism." 

In turn, the influx of illegal Vietnamese which came under these illegal treaties  were automatically given Cambodian citizenship without any period of waiting time.

This influx and automatic Cambodian citizenship has been tipping the political balance in favor of the dictatorship Hun Sen in the general elections since 1997 and against democratic forces as testified by the recent witch hunting campaign against the opposition politicians and human rights advocates, especially by the recent arrests of Kem Sokha and his supporters by Hun Sen.

This could create a very ominous political situation in Cambodia, as the Vietnamese have been taking away land from the already dwindling land ownership from the Cambodian peasants due to land grabbing practiced by the supporters (businessmen and military officers) of Hun Sen and his CPP.

For more information on this impending tragedy, please, visit my web site at (http://mysite.verizon.net/cambodiana/)

I am sorry to have to go at length in this email to provide you additional information on the Vietnamization problem. I felt obligated to give you a brief but integrated background on this human disaster in the making in Cambodia. Respectfully.

Naranhkiri Tith, Ph.D.

______________________________________________________

Comments:

the next two articles posted below on Mam Sonando shows how a lone and brave Cambodian civil liberty organization leader is standing alone to fight Hun Sen dictatorial oppression of the Cambodian poor, by dispossessing them from their meager parcels of land.

Mr. Mam Sonando is my hero as it is defined in this web site. He is the minority of one. He is showing real courage to dare to stand against Hun Sen's formidable deadly power who does not hesitate to use it to kill or imprison those who dare to oppose him.

We need more of these heroes, and to protect them. They can lead by inspiration to others and not by coercion and by mystification as Sihanouk and Hun Sen are doing.

Naranhkiri Tith Ph.D.

____________________________________________________________________________________

• 'The issue won't ever end until Hun Sen is willing to stop it'

On the steps of Sambok Khmum Radio station on July 12 about 20 rural villagers had gathered. They had traveled from their province to seek the help of radio president and journalist Mam Sonando. The 64-year-old Sonando says many impoverished, displaced and distraught Cambodians come to his station every day to plead for food, medical care and advice. Most importantly, he says they come for a rare place to air grievances about a government that frowns upon dissent. Claiming to be the "Voice of the People," Sonando has gained a loyal following, as well as the anger of the ruling government, for his popular radio programs. Jailed in 2005 after being found guilty of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen, Sonando, who worked in a factory while studying photography in Paris, has come out strongly against the rash of recent land evictions in Phnom Penh and elsewhere in the country. He estimates that more than 200,000 Cambodian families are being affected by land disputes. He spoke to the Post about freedom of speech and the government's responsibility regarding relocation.

Based on your claim of being the "Voice of the People," what is that voice saying about land ownership disputes and evictions?

The land issue is coming up a lot. I've been getting lots of feedback. Many people want justice. But, in Cambodia you can only solve problems if the government actually wants to solve them. There are two reasons for disputes. First, the top ranks of government, and second rich businessmen. When the value of the land increases, business owners urge people at the top of government to force the people off the land. I feel this issue is caused by the government. I do not support the government policy of moving those who live in one place to another place. They move people like animals.

How are these land disputes, displacements and evictions affecting life in Cambodia?

This kind of problem shows that there is no security in Cambodia. When villagers protest about being evicted, the government accuses the villagers of causing chaos. And if they protest more they get killed or go to prison. Hun Sen recognizes that Cambodia has this chaos, but it is corruption that causes chaos. The land issue makes it difficult for people to live. I cannot believe a government would do this to its people.

What type of feedback are you getting from people who have been evicted or affected by a land dispute?

People come to me a lot about land issues. Even though people live in a country that has laws, they have no hope. People are protesting just for the right to live and survive. They are afraid that if they protest too much they will be killed or thrown in prison. People come to me with no hope. They can see that the government is not solving problems in Cambodia. When they come to me they are seeking relief. It's like a weight off their chest.
How many Cambodians are being affected by land disputes?

I think the number is more than 200,000 families. And some people don't dare to speak about it. They are afraid. Land is an extremely big issue. It is about human rights. If you take away land people have no place to live and no way to make a living.
What is your assessment of the recent Tonle Bassac Village 14 eviction and relocation to Dangkao district?

I went to see the people from Tonle Bassac [at the relocation site] and they don't even have water to drink. They have only plastic shelters. It's like hell. Everyone - old people, handicapped people, children and babies - is just running around. They don't have anything to eat. I wonder how the government can sleep at night.
Is it the government's responsibility to help these citizens?

I don't understand "my government." They move people and don't even offer rice. These people are poor and the government must help them. This is a humanitarian crisis. They should have looked into the situation in advance. It is the job of the government to solve this problem. It is all due to corruption.
What advice do you give to people when they come to you to speak about land disputes?

In reality, the people don't have much knowledge. They come and ask for rice and food and medical care. But I am not the Red Cross, I just do what I can to help. Every day it's like this. People are afraid, afraid to express their ideas or they'll go to jail. If they protest violently they get killed. This is because of the government.
In your opinion what will solve the problems over land ownership?

The issue won't ever end. It won't end until Samdech Hun Sen is willing to stop it. The land problems come from people with money, and people with money support Hun Sen. They just take the land. [The government] doesn't develop land for society, they sell it to businessmen.



back to headlines

Phnom Penh Post, Issue 15 / 14, July 14 - 27, 2006
© Michael Hayes, 2006. All rights revert to authors and artists on publication.
For permission to publish any part of this publication, contact Michael Hayes, Editor-in-Chief
http://www.PhnomPenhPost.com - Any comments on the website to Webmaster

______________________________________________________________________________________

• Land evictions reaching 'crisis proportions'
  [Scenes at Village 14 and Preah Monivong Hospital.]

Jean du Plessis, acting executive director of the Geneva-based Center on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) spoke to the Post about his agency's assessment of recent land disputes and evictions in Cambodia.

What does your office make of the situation in Cambodia at the moment and how does it compare to other nations?

Security of tenure is under threat in many parts of Cambodia, and this threat in particular affects Cambodia's ordinary citizens. One of the best definitions of the concept of security of tenure is "freedom from fear of forced eviction." Unfortunately, far too many people do not experience this freedom, but rather live in constant fear of eviction.

Forced evictions have various and often complex and interconnected causes. Regardless of the actual cause, those carrying out forced evictions generally attempt to justify evictions in the name of "development" and, by implication, as intended for the general public good. Governments and other implementing agencies use compelling "developmental" language, often backed up by complicated technical jargon, in an attempt to defend actions which are, in most cases, totally indefensible.

It must, therefore, be made unambiguously clear at the outset of any discussion of forced evictions, that the practice of eviction without consultation or adequate alternatives and compensation is illegal in terms of international law. It is also unjust, compromising fundamental human rights principles, with devastating consequences for those affected. Moreover, in terms of international experience and best practice, it is fundamentally counterproductive to the goal of human development.
Why do you think there are so many fiercely contested and internationally condemned evictions in Cambodia at the moment? Why has there been an increase in evictions in Cambodia in recent years?

Land disputes and evictions have indeed reached crisis proportions in Cambodia. Many land disputes have roots in the conditions created by land privatization in the late 1980s. This problem is exacerbated by the political nature of the allocation and privatization programs initiated by the Government of Cambodia over the last 15 years.

While these processes were ostensibly intended to provide users of land with greater security by providing them legal title, they have thus far proved counterproductive. Indeed, implementation of these policies has diverted resources - including housing, land and property - away from ordinary citizens and farmers, to the benefit of a powerful elite.

Analysis of the way in which land distribution and privatization programs have been implemented by the government reveals that access to land has decreased rather than increased in recent years, particularly for the poor. In spite of some positive legislation and mechanisms that have been put in place, land opportunities and security of tenure are primarily accessed through political connections and patronage.

As the government owns a majority of the land, it has had a free reign in deciding how the land will be utilized. For the most part the government has utilized land for commercial and economic gain, and not to promote the land and housing rights of its ordinary citizens. It has done this by transferring ownership and title to domestic and overseas investors as a means of generating income for the state coffers.

Although the Land Law of 2001 created a legal framework that went a long way, on paper, towards securing property rights to land and housing; local and national government authorities often bypass laws and standards in the process of forced evictions, land expropriations and concessions of land and natural resources to powerful business interests.
Are evictions and land disputes likely to get better or worse over the next five to ten years?

This question is in the hands of the government. It is worth pointing out that the question of revoking illegal land grabs and economic concessions constitutes an acid-test of the government's commitment to the rule of law.

Studies indicate that there is very little viable land currently available for redistribution as social land concessions to the poor and vulnerable [without] the reclamation of illegally confiscated land. However, many high-level officials from the ruling party and other political groupings are implicated in land-grabbing. If illegally claimed land is consistently taken back and distributed to the landless without regard to the rank or political affiliation of the person alleged to have confiscated it, this will be a victory for both social land concessions and the broader rule of law in Cambodia.
Do you agree that the most serious land disputes and evictions all seem to involve private companies that have bought land from the state or received concessions?

The government has a crucially important responsibility for ensuring that the land under its control (ie land which has been decollectivized since the end of the Communist era in Cambodia) is redistributed in a fair and equitable manner which forms the basis of long-term sustainable development. However, this has all too often not occurred, and most land concessions have been given to both local and international companies who have strong links with the political elite. Land allocation is clearly a tempting and lucrative source of income.

Because the government has failed to adequately regulate economic land concessions to date, the private companies that benefit from them have had a relatively free hand to take any measures seen as necessary to maximize the profit they will extract.
Is there political will in Cambodia to introduce a consistent and transparent policy of development and land management that benefits the poor population?

It is unclear whether such political will exists. Some positive steps have been made in putting in place a legal framework and, more recently, a new National Authority on Land Dispute Resolution. However, the patronage system which exists at most, if not all, levels of government in Cambodia is a major obstacle. It has created a situation where a range of essential public services (ranging from issuance of land title certificates to medical treatment and education) depend on the payment of bribes that are unaffordable to most Cambodians. This is further worsened by patronage politics that continue to undermine the rule of law in Cambodia.

The government should be urged, pressured and assisted by all parties to tackle this problem head-on in order to reverse current trends, and to vigorously implement policies and programs that will promote and protect the right to land tenure security and adequate housing of all its citizens.



back to headlines

Phnom Penh Post, Issue 15 / 14, July 14 - 27, 2006
© Michael Hayes, 2006. All rights revert to authors and artists on publication.
For permission to publish any part of this publication, contact Michael Hayes, Editor-in-Chief
http://www.PhnomPenhPost.com - Any comments on the website to Webmaster

 _________________________________________________________________________

• Second Anniversary of Murder of Chea Vichea

The Mirror of Cambodian Society January 2006

Phnom Penh: The Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia held a ceremony for the 2nd anniversary of the murder of Mr. Chea Vichea [the former head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia] on Sunday, 22 January.

The 2nd anniversary ceremony was held in front of the stupa that had been built for him in Wat S’ang, which is located in Prek Koy, S’ang, Kandal, the place the worker hero was born.

The Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia planned to mark the 2nd anniversary of Mr. Chea Vichea’s death on the morning of Sunday, 22 January 2006, in front of the newsstand located next to

Wat Langka in Phnom Penh, the place where he was gunned down, in order to honor the worker hero, who had actively worked for workers’ rights and the progress of democracy in Cambodia.

Ms. Sam Srey Mom, the acting head of the Cambodian Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said, ‘The 2nd anniversary of Mr. Chea Vichea’s death on Sunday, 22 January 2006, will be marked by following the Buddhist way, but that it would not be as ceremonial as it had been the previous year.

Mr. Chea Vichea was assassinated by anonymous gunmen on the morning of 22 January 2004 while he was reading a newspaper in front of the newsstand located next to Wat Langka in Phnom Penh.

After the assassination, Phnom Penh authorities arrested two men, Mr. Born Samnang and Mr. Sok Sam Oeun, and charged them with the murder of Mr. Chea Vichea. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court decided to sentence them to 20 years in prison on 1 August 2005.

Mr. Chea Vichea’s family, workers unions, and national and international circles, however, believe that Mr. Born Samnang and Mr. Sok Sam Oeun are not the true assassins.

Ms. Srey Mom clarified that the workers unions have appealed to the Khmer government to arrest the real assassins and has asked the court to review the case of Mr. Chea Vichea and to release Mr. Born Deputy Secretary-General.

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• Kem Sokha strong Legacy: Free speech gains voice in Cambodia's villages

By Seth Mydans International Herald Tribune

This has been the scene, more than 100 times, in every district of the country: a little eruption of free speech at the edge of the rice fields, and the government doesn't like it.  

Leaving their crops and animals behind, 800 of Cambodia's poorest people gathered the other day in the shade of a blue tarpaulin in a village south of the capital and poured out a torrent of complaints and demands.  

The price of fuel, the poor education system, problems with health care, bribery at every turn - these grievances have found a new outlet in independent forums like this one that challenge the government's control of information.  

And the subject that dominated all others in the commune of Rokar Khnong was a passionate demand by the villagers for free speech and democratic rights.

.  

One man wept as he stood at the microphone; one shouted, one raised a cheer for democracy. One woman with the cropped white hair of the elderly recited a poem in which she promised to die so that her country could live.  

"I love democracy," declared a farmer. "I stopped work on my harvest so I could come here and speak at a democratic forum. We want to exercise our right to free speech."  

Even the organizers were taken aback by the turnout and the assertiveness of the villagers. A crackdown on free speech is under way in Cambodia and in recent months the government has arrested several human rights advocates.

Among them was Kem Sokha, who founded these forums three years ago. They have had a growing impact through taped radio broadcasts, which can last for four hours or more, and independent radio stations are among the targets of the crackdown.   

This month, under international pressure, Prime Minister Hun Sen released Kem Sokha and three other activists on bail and he now says he will drop charges against them. 

But other activists and political figures remain in jail and the threat of arrest for libel hangs over those who speak out. 

The outrage in Rokar Khnong suggests that the government will not have it easy if it tries to crush the democratic ideas that were introduced by the United Nations in the early 1990s. The concepts of human rights and free expression appear to have taken root, and if Kem Sokha's forums are an indicator, the fields and villages of Cambodia are restless with discontent.  

"I have a question for the government," said an old woman wearing a checkered head cloth. "You talk about democracy, but how much right do the people of Cambodia have to speak out? If we speak out, will we be arrested like Kem Sokha?"

Another woman seized the microphone. "I have lived through many wars and I only have two relatives left alive," she said. "I am old now and I want to see democracy before I die."  

Another followed. "I don't know how to speak," she said. "But I just want to send a message to Hun Sen: Stop sending people to jail for small crimes. You are abusing your power."  

Further, she said, nobody can believe anything the government says. Referring to the government's official spokesman, she used a local expression: "You ask him cow and he answers buffalo."  

Several speakers were angry enough to refer to the torments of the Khmer Rouge years, when 1.7 million people were executed or died of starvation, disease or overwork between 1975 and 1979.

"In the Khmer Rouge time my father was served soup and they asked him if it tasted good," one man said. "'Tell the truth,' they said. And so he said it did not taste good, and they killed him. Now when we speak the truth are we going to be jailed? Is Cambodia going back to the Communists again?"

Another man, a former schoolteacher, noted that Kem Sokha had been arrested simply for political slogans painted on a banner. "What about the Khmer Rouge who killed millions of Cambodians 27 years ago?" he said. "Why haven't they been put on trial?"  

After years of delay, preparations for a trial have begun, though any proceedings are still many months away. Human rights advocates say the impunity of the Khmer Rouge - for current political reasons - has contributed to a sense of injustice in Cambodia.  

As with other forums, local leaders were invited to join a panel in front of the speakers, and a deputy village chief and deputy district police chief were present at Rokar Khnong. 

Ou Virak, a member of Kem Sokha's organization, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, was moderating in his absence, and he invited them to speak. "In a democratic forum, we want to hear opposing ideas, not just the people who support the forum," he said.  

Ou Virak said it was beginning to be more difficult to organize these forums because of new fears of retribution in the villages. As the day's meeting dispersed, he thanked the local officials for allowing it to be held.

  ______________________________________________________________________

• (Comments: The following article clearly shows that the Bush Administration continues to play deadly games with Hun Sen. In doing so, the Bush Administration is not serious about defending democracy not only in Cambodia, but everywhere. Cambodians must defend themselves against the dictatorship of Sihanouk-Hun Sen alliance, and not to count on anybody, including the United States. Naranhkiri Tith Ph.D. Washngton DC. )

• A Gift For Mr. Hill

Following a visit to Cambodia by the assistant secretary of state for East Asia last week, three imprisoned critics of the government were released, though they still face prosecution for defamation. A spokesman for Cambodia's ruler, Hun Sen, called the releases "a gift for Mr. Christopher Hill on the inauguration of the new U.S. Embassy" in Phnom Penh. That revealing statement illustrates perfectly the way Hun Sen runs his country, cracking down internally while currying favor with the international community.

The arrests, the State Department had previously said, "call into question the Cambodian government's commitment to democracy and human rights." Putting it that way suggests that they are an aberration, disappointing but not necessarily significant or characteristic. The releases, then, allow the fiction to be maintained that Cambodia is a "transitioning democracy." More important, it enables the myth that the enormous international undertaking of the early 1990s, to end the prolonged agony of Cambodia's people through genocide, war and foreign occupation, was a success.

More than a decade of political violence and impunity under Hun Sen and his Cambodian People's Party makes a different conclusion inescapable. There is no democratic transition underway in Cambodia . Instead, as Duncan McCargo, writing in the Journal of Democracy, puts it, the U.N. project of the early 1990s, "was only a passing outside intervention that left the CPP's grip on power unchanged."

Hun Sen has consolidated authoritarian rule. His use of lawsuits to neutralize opponents is not a sign of mild tactics, but of the high degree of control he has achieved through violence, intimidation and official impunity. Much takes place outside the international spotlight. Other instances are spectacular like the unsolved murder of an actress identified as Hun Sen's mistress, gunned down in public, who wrote in her diary of warnings from the chief of national police about a plot on her life, or the deaths of 19 people during an attack on a peaceful opposition rally in 1997 that the Washington Post reported was traced by the FBI back to Hun Sen's bodyguards.

Elections meant to prevent power from being monopolized have instead become a charade. When he hasn't liked the outcomes, Hun Sen has used force or the threat of force to remain in power. During the U.N. sponsored elections of 1993, his party came in second and he demanded a power-sharing arrangement.

Four years later, he staged a coup against his co-premier. Dozens of members of the party with which he ostensibly shared power were killed during several days of chaos and violence.

To calm international outrage, a new election was held. The months leading up to that poll were filled with more murders. Well in advance of Election Day, international observers concluded that the poll could not be fair. It went ahead anyway and Hun Sen scored a suspect victory. The international community acquiesced.

Meanwhile, corruption has become entrenched, extending to the procurement of jobs in the government and military, provision of health care and education, and disputes over land. The leading opposition politician, already convicted of defamation, remains abroad, stripped of his parliamentary immunity by the regime. The media is targeted for repression.

Hun Sen uses comparisons of his rule to the genocidal regime that preceded him to maximum advantage, even manipulating interest in justice for the surviving Khmer Rouge. Eagerness to conduct trials at almost any cost has enabled him to extract major concessions from the international community on the terms and conditions of the tribunals.

For example, one ambiguous provision will shield some Khmer Rouge deemed not "responsible for the most serious crimes" while the whole enterprise will be compromised by the participation of the Cambodian judiciary, the same, corrupt, incompetent body that is collaborating with the current crackdown.

Cambodia's lack of progress toward stable democracy is often attributed to a tragic past that decimated and traumatized its society. Yet there is nothing fateful about how the international nation-building project went astray. For example, the peace accords of 1991 stipulated that all of Cambodia's factions be disarmed. They weren't and today's Cambodia owes a great deal to that failure.

The international community that invested - and overlooked - so much from the very beginning of the effort to deliver Cambodia from its terrible past to a democratic future must face up to the fact that Hun Sen is an obstacle. Not doing so will not only prolong Cambodia's difficulties, but also prevent the international community from learning crucial lessons about how this often celebrated example of nation building has failed.

Ms. Bork is deputy director of the Project for the New American Century and a contributing editor of The New York Sun.

______________________________________________

• Cambodian Leader Cracks Down in Bid to Solidify Power

By SETH MYDANS

The New York Times; January 9, 2006

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Jan. 8 - The harshest political crackdown in years is under way here in what some analysts are calling the final stage in Prime Minister Hun Sen's drive to consolidate unchallenged power.

Over the past year, he has choked off the last effective political opposition while continuing to marginalize the monarchy, manipulate the courts and intimidate labor unions and other civic groups. In December, the leader of the only significant opposition party, Sam Rainsy, who had already fled the country, was sentenced in absentia to 18 months in prison for criminal defamation.

Now, with a series of arrests and lawsuits on defamation and related charges, Mr. Hun Sen is for the first time directly attacking the human rights groups that, by default, serve as a de facto democratic opposition.

"Cambodia right now is at a crossroads: It must decide whether it's going to be a real democracy or whether it's going to move inexorably toward a one-party state," said the American ambassador, Joseph Mussomeli.

The special United Nations envoy for human rights in Cambodia, Yash Ghai, said only strong action from the countries that support Cambodia's economy could stop the slide.

"It has all the hallmarks of the beginning of a totalitarian regime," he said.

The human rights groups are the most substantial and lasting legacy of a major international effort by the United Nations in the early 1990's to implant democracy in Cambodia, a nation wrecked by war, repression and mass killings.

From 1975 to 1979, the Communist Khmer Rouge caused the deaths of 1.7 million people, nearly one-fourth of the nation's population. In the decade that followed, Cambodia was ruled by a Vietnamese-backed Communist government in which Mr. Hun Sen rose to leadership.

By staging a coup in 1997, intimidating opponents, manipulating elections and cutting constitutional corners, Mr. Hun Sen has moved steadily to reclaim the full powers he held before the United Nations intervention.

The forms of democracy remain. A parliamentary election is to be held in 2008. And Mr. Hun Sen noted that he had not taken action against Mr. Sam Rainsy's party, just against Mr. Sam Rainsy. Those forms, however, do not compensate for a policy of intimidation, the American ambassador said.

"They have scared the hell out of the opposition, and it becomes more difficult to take these trappings of democracy as the real thing each time another voice is silenced," Mr. Mussomeli said.

He spoke after witnessing the arrest on Dec. 31 of the country's most prominent and outspoken human rights figure, Kem Sokha, on a charge of criminal defamation.

Mr. Kem Sokha was nonpartisan, but his town meetings on democratic rights and his unfettered radio call-in shows challenged the government's control of public opinion.

A second human rights campaigner, Yeng Virak, was arrested the same day. A third, Pa Nguon Teang, was arrested Wednesday. In October, a popular and acerbic radio journalist, Mom Sonando, and the president of an independent teachers union, Rong Chhum, were arrested on defamation charges.

At least seven other critics face criminal lawsuits by Mr. Hun Sen and at least five critics have fled the country, said Human Rights Watch, the New York-based monitoring group.

Mr. Sam Rainsy, the leader of the opposition party that bears his name, fled to France after being stripped of his parliamentary immunity early last year. A second top party official also fled, but a third, Cheam Channy, stayed behind, was arrested and is serving a seven-year prison sentence for his opposition activities.

Many analysts say they are puzzled by Mr. Hun Sen's crackdown when his leadership already seems unassailable. But in a country where political life is an endless struggle for power, Mr. Hun Sen seems never to rest.

This time he is using a tactic that has worked well for Singapore's leaders and is being tried by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand - eliminating opposition through lawsuits.

The government spokesman, Khieu Kanharith, offered one rationale, telling the Voice of America radio station that the arrests on defamation charges were part of the country's democratic system.

"We have to sue them," he said. "The most important thing is the general election. And in a general election in Cambodia and everywhere in the world, your prestige would be a great asset."

Mr. Hun Sen said he was filing his lawsuits to protect his own reputation. "I am a human being, not an animal, and deserve to have my honor and dignity," he said.

Mr. Hun Sen could contend that he had mellowed. No tanks have been in the streets and no wave of killings has occurred as was the case during the coup in 1997 when he seized sole leadership from Norodom Ranarridh, the co-prime minister installed during the United Nations intervention.

But even during the coup, civil society and human rights groups, with their strong backing from donor nations, were, for the most part, not targets.

"This has been the first breach of the human rights community's wall of safety," said Brad Adams, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch. "And so for the human rights community this is the darkest moment."

Over the years, these groups have embedded themselves in Cambodian life, where, particularly in isolated communities, they often represent people who distrust the police and fear powerful officials.

"Look at the grass roots, what can people do?" said a Cambodian reporter who, in the current atmosphere of uncertainty, spoke on the condition that his name not be used.

"If there is a land grab, they don't go to the police first," he said. "They go to Adhoc or Licadho" – two prominent human rights groups.

"In the village, if a husband beats his wife, she runs to Adhoc, not to the police," he said. "So the government does not enjoy the way these two groups help people fight for their rights, for freedom and justice."

And as he traveled around the country holding seminars with local people, the reporter said, "Kem Sokha was telling people about their rights."

At the time of his arrest, Mr. Kem Sokha said he had expected eventually to be arrested, exiled or killed. The determination of people like this is inspiring, said Naly Pilorge, a Licadho leader.

"It's funny with a country like Cambodia, with the history of the Khmer Rouge, you just go, 'Boo!' and people are afraid," she said. "And now you see these great displays of courage. And they knew something was going to happen to them sooner or later, and they just kept going."

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• Cambodia widens crackdown on rights activists
  (Wed Jan 4, 2006 4:49 AM ET)

By Ek Madra

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodian police arrested another human rights worker on Wednesday in a wider crackdown on opposition figures that has drawn international condemnation, in particular from Washington, activists and police said.

Pa Nguon Teang, vice-director of the U.S.-funded Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), was detained in the northeast province of Stung Treng, near the border with Laos, said CCHR spokesman Ou Virak.

Police confirmed the arrest, but did not say why he was being held.

"He was arrested at a border checkpoint under orders from the Ministry of the Interior," Stung Treng police chief Muth Mao told Reuters by telephone, but gave no details.

The centre's director, Kem Sokha, an outspoken critic of Hun Sen, Cambodia's prime minister for the past two decades, was arrested at the weekend along with a CCHR lawyer and charged with defaming the government.

The charges stem from a banner unfurled at a December human rights rally which accused Hun Sen of being a communist and a traitor who had sold Cambodian land to neighbouring Vietnam.

Kem Sokha's arrest came 10 days after opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who is in self-imposed exile after having his parliamentary immunity revoked, received an 18-month jail term in absentia, also for defamation.

Analysts and diplomats say the defamation cases are a clear example of Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party using the war-scarred southeast Asian nation's notoriously corrupt courts to silence political opposition.

"This is the latest in a series of arrests and lawsuits targeting critics of the Cambodian government and the cumulative effect of which is to call into question the Cambodian government's commitment to democracy and human rights," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said of Kem Sokha's case.

The arrests, along with last year's jailing of opposition MP Cheam Channy for seven years for defamation, led New York-based Human Rights Watch to accuse Hun Sen of mimicking the military dictatorship in nearby Myanmar, formerly Burma.

"Hun Sen appears to be following the Burmese model by imprisoning peaceful critics of his increasingly authoritarian government," said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

"The message is clear: If you criticize the government, you will be thrown in jail," Adams said

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