A Change of Guard

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Thursday 11 December 2008

Khmer Krom people accused Vietnamese authority of violating their rights

Tim Sakhorn (middle) arrested in Cambodia, defrocked and sentenced to jail term in a Vietnamese court.

By Mundul Keo
10th December, 2008
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

About 400 Khmer Krom on the morning of the 9th December have gathered and issued a statement accusing the Vietnamese authority of violating the rights of Khmer Krom people who are still living in their ancestral lands of Kampuchea Krom.

The statement was issued during the gathering of Khmer Krom people to celebrate of the International Day of Human Rights in Phnom Penh on the 10th of December.

President of the Khmer Krom Community in Cambodia, Mr. Thach Setha, said that other than to celebrate the International Day of Human Right, the gathering is to tell the world that the Khmer Krom people are still being oppressed by the Vietnamese authority, despite most minority people throughout the world have received full rights as equal citizens in their countries.

Mr. Thach Setha said: “This is a message to the world community who are the supporters of human rights to know that, in the last 60 years despite other people in various countries have received their full freedom, the Khmer Krom people have not yet received their freedom like other indigenous people.”

Mr Yond Tharo, president of Khmer Krom Cultural Centre, has denounced the Vietnamese authority for arresting 5 Buddhist monks of Khmer Krom origin and jailed them since the 10th of May. He has appealed to the international community to put pressures on Vietnam to provide full freedom to the Khmer Krom People.

My. Tharo said: “We appeal (to the international community) to pressure the Vietnamese authority who is still oppressing the Khmer Krom people such as those five Khmer Krom Buddhist monks, the Venerable Tim Sakhorn, who was allegedly released from prison but has no freedom of movements, to please put pressure on Vietnam to respect the human rights of the Khmer Krom people, to pressure them to give freedom to Khmer Krom people like all races in the world.”

However, spokesman for the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh, Mr. Trinh Ba Cam, said that there is no human right abuses and oppression on the Khmer Krom people as has been accused by the Khmer Krom people.

Mr. Trinh said: “About this issue I have said before that the accusations that the Vietnamese authority has oppressed and violated the rights of Khmer Krom people are accusations that are baseless.”

Please note that, often there are accusations that the Vietnamese authority are violating the rights of Khmer Krom people such as the confiscations of lands, the restrictions of the freedom of religion such as the arrests and jailing of the abbot of Wat Phnom Den temple, the Venerable Tim Sakhorn and other 5 Khmer Krom Buddhist monks.//

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