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Sam Rainsy KANGAROO COURT Saga
Civil Resistance via my Facebook Profile Photo
Cambodia: Rainsy Sentence Shatters Pretense of Democracy
Conviction of Opposition Leader Showcases Political Control of Judiciary
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
September 24, 2010
"President Obama and other world leaders need to let Hun Sen and his government know that the free ride is over." -- Sophie Richardson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch
In solidarity with praCh of MUJESTIC (who created the above profile) and other Cambodian democrats here and overseas, I changed my Facebook profile photo on Thursday, 23 Sept. 2010 to the above photo of opposition democracy leader Sam Rainsy who was convicted by the kangaroo court to 12 years jail.
As of this Saturday morning, I posted the following on Facebook: "CIVIL RESISTANCE: this is MY FACEBOOK PROFILE PHOTO TILL democracy leader Sam Rainsy has his political immunity restored and is able again to compete in the upcoming 2013 national elections. The least I can do to express my disgust at the state of affairs (Saturday, 25 Sept. 2010)."
Key Dates
February 2005
Sam Rainsy flees into exile after losing his parliamentary immunity in connection with a defamation complaint by Prince Norodom Ranariddh. In December, he is sentenced to 18 months’ jail.
February 2006
The SRP leader returns to Cambodia after a political settlement paved the way for a Royal pardon from King Norodom Sihamoni absolving him of the defamation charge.
October 25, 2009
Sam Rainsy travels to Svay Rieng province’s Chantrea district and joins villagers in uprooting wooden border markers along the Vietnamese frontier to protest alleged encroachments.
January 24, 2010
The SRP releases what it says is “unprecedented evidence” of Vietnamese border incursions. The evidence includes maps showing border markers 300 to 500 metres inside Cambodian territory.
January 27, 2010
Svay Rieng provincial court sentences Sam Rainsy to two years in prison over the incident. The next month, he is charged with falsifying public documents and disinformation.
September 9, 2010
Sam Rainsy is summoned to appear in court on September 28 in connection with a defamation case filed by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in 2008.
September 20, 2010
Prime Minister Hun Sen warns that he will not intervene to allow Sam Rainsy’s return to Cambodia, saying he should serve his full sentence.
September 23, 2010
Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicts Sam Rainsy on both charges and sentences him to an 10 additional years in prison.
. . . . . .
COURT CONVICTS SAM RAINSY IN ABSENTIA
. . . . .
SEPTEMBER 23, 2010
COMPLAINT AND PETITION REQUESTING
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION
OF HUN SEN, PRIME MINISTER OF CAMBODIA
SUBMITTED TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE U.S.,
THE CRIMINAL DIVISION OF THE U.S DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, THE U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT
OF NEW YORK, AND FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
CONCERNING FALSE AND FRAUDULENT STATEMENTS, AND MISREPRESENTATIONS AND THREATS MADE TO OFFICERS OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION DURING THE COURSE OF AN OFFICIAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION, IN VIOLATION OF 18 U.S.C. SECTION 1001 and SECTION 115(a)(1) (B) and (b)(4), AND CONSTITUTING OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE IN VIOLATION OF 18 U.S.C. SECTION 1501, et seq.
Submitted by Morton Sklar
Founding Executive Director Emeritus (retired)
World Organization for Human Rights USA
with, and on behalf of,
the Sam Rainsy Party of Cambodia
(the largest political opposition group)
and the following named Complainants:
Sam Rainsy, Ly Neary,
Lay Chan Thou, and Nguon Huon Heun
and U.S. citizen Ron Abney
Contact Information: Email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Telephone: (1) (301) 946-4649
COMPLAINT AND REQUEST FOR CRIMINAL
INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION
OF HUN SEN, PRIME MINISTER OF CAMBODIA
AND NAMED SUBORDINATE OFFICIALS
I. Overview: On March 30, 1997, a vicious grenade attack was carried out against a peaceful political rally taking place across from the Parliament building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. According to a U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry on the attack, Prime Minister Hun Sen's Personal Bodyguard military unit may well have been responsible for planning and organizing the attack, and for obstructing the capture of the grenade throwers. A team of FBI investigators was sent by the U.S. Government to compile information and evidence concerning the attack because at least one U.S. citizen was injured by the explosion of the grenades, meaning that U.S. criminal law had been violated. The FBI investigations produced a great deal of information and evidence implicating Hun Sen and his personal military unit as likely perpetrators of these violations of U.S. criminal laws, much of which was presented in testimony and submissions made to the U.S. Congress.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was accused of being behind a deadly 1997 attack on a political rally by an opposition leader. (Photo: AFP)
Cambodian Opposition Leader Seeks US Case against PM
(AFP, 24 Sept. 2010)
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy during a video conference (AFP, 24 Sept. 2010)
. . . . .
Initial Reactions to Criminal Lawsuit against PM Hun Sen
By Khmer Democrat, Phnom Penh
(KI Media, 24 Sept. 2010)
I read the "Complaint and Petition Requesting Criminal Investigation and Prosecution of Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia" with great interest and absorption. (I highly recommend reading it through; riveting, like a narrative rather than a legal brief.)
A few initial thoughts surfaced immediately:
1. Brilliant timing. It was obvious and acknowledged as such that the Complaint/Petition is timed to coincide with the visit of Prime Minister Hun Sen's visit to the United Nations General Assembly meeting. This had the dramatic effect and optimal impact of highlighting the Cambodian human rights and justice issues before the world stage when all the world's eyes and media are focused on the UN Summit.
2. US Image as a Rule-of-Law country challenged. The brief indirectly (or maybe directly) challenges the United States as a country which prides itself as a bastion of the rule of law, democracy, human rights principles. "Yeah? Let's see..."
In particular, the Complaint/Petition challenges the esteem of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other US high-vaulted institutions to act to redress the derision and contempt toward them by the Cambodian government. It's like a 6th-grade bully on the playground sticking out his tongue and finger to the US justice system, taunting the FBI with a "Na-na-na-na-boo-boo, we violated your criminal laws; so, what are you going to do about it? Na-na-na... We have China!"
3. Rally against Hun Sen. I can understand the disappointment of Cambodian-Americans and other democracy supporters from other parts of the world who would have liked to join in this demonstration, who find the announcement of the Rally given too late for proper planning.
But in reading the Complaint/Petition and the German-sense of impeccable timing with the release of the Complaint/Petition and the associated Rally, not much could have been be done. It was an issue of triage: which is more important, getting people out there or protecting the secrecy of the lawsuit? Here, the secret timing of the public announcement of this Complaint/Petition, only after making sure the Prime Minister is irreversibly in the air to NYC with no possibility of a return or time to counter-act beforehand, won out.
4. Vindication for Sam Rainsy. The opposition democracy leader knows well his opponent, knows well the Cambodian landscape, knows well his people on the ground inside and outside the government, knows well the geopolitics regionally and internationally. He knows the era he lives in.
Rather than thinking of his ego or succumbing to the taunts for his return to a jail cell - an irresponsible, high risk adventure to his personal security, his political voice, work and mobility--not to mention to the cause of democracy, as at this point, no one can compare to the husband-and-wife team--he opts to take the high ground and stay away (not out of fear, for he has shown to be fearless time and again since the early 1990s, and most tellingly, the grenade assassination attack on him at the Easter Massacre of 1997, and still since, reflected in his continuing to be outspoken 13 years later and going).
But he knows the 21st century of political activism where information communication technology makes "virtual presence" many times more important than physical presence, his presence is still feared and a focus of crackdown by a regime trembling before this kind of intelligence, wherewithal and political force.
For example, if Sam Rainsy had been imprisoned (and who knows what other ill-fated crimes await him if he returns under the present legal conditions), this lawsuit would not have seen the light of day or gain the momentum it is enjoying.
Cambodian-Americans and supporters of democracy from other parts of the world demonstrating against human rights violations and the conviction of opposition leader Sam Rainsy at the United Nations during the visit of Prime Minister Hun Sen and other world leaders for the MDG Summit (Photo: Michael Duong, 24 Sept. 2010)
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