Op-Ed by Khmerization
1st January, 2010
“To put it bluntly, the court case against the land owners and Mr. Sam Rainsy is a case of persecuting and prosecuting border defenders, while awarding traitors with plum positions within the government.”
The arrests of the two farmers and the issuing of an arrest warrant against Mr. Sam Rainsy is another classic example of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) using the court as a political tool to crackdown and persecute victims and its political opponents.
At a glimpse, the court case against Mr. Sam Rainsy seems like a legitimate legal remedy to settle legal issue, but on the outset it is just a political tool and a front that hides behind the real motives to settle old scores, persecute patriots and crackdown on opponents of the ruling CPP. The case itself, if anything at all, is a political witch-hunt and a sheer attempt by the ruling CPP and Mr. Hun Sen to silence their critics in order to whitewash their failures and their incompetence to defend Cambodia’s borders and territorial integrity against foreign encroachments.
My rationale above was based on the irregularities in the court proceedings. The court, labelled by Mr. Sam Rainsy as the kangaroo court, was too hasty in issuing arrest warrant against Mr. Sam Rainsy without considering a delay request lodged by Mr. Rainsy’s lawyer or given time for appeal. Two farmers, the land owners whose lands were encroached by the border markers, were arrested immediately after they appeared in court, adding insults to injuries after their lands had been encroached by the border markers.
These irregularities have made the court vulnerable to accusations of acting as a political tool and a front of the ruling CPP to crackdown on dissenting voices and its opponents. The Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) went further by accusing it of acting as a state apparatchik to terrorise the population into stop exposing the traitorous border policies of the ruling CPP and any other issues that is embarrassing for the government and the ruling party itself. To put it point blank, Mr. Rainsy and the arrested farmers are the perfect scapegoats for the CPP’s and Mr. Hun Sen’s failed border policies.
The sheer injustices had been blatantly shown in this case. The two arrested farmers and the three farmers who went into hiding, were not only defending their rice-fields, but they were also defending the territorial integrity of Cambodia against foreign encroachments. On top of losing their lands to foreigners, like rubbing salts on top of an open wound, they have been further victimised by a jail term. To put it bluntly, the court case against the land owners and Mr. Sam Rainsy is a case of persecuting and prosecuting border defenders, while awarding traitors with plum positions within the government. My premonition is that we could see Mr. Sam Rainsy’s political career end here if there is no external pressures to find a political solution to this farcical legal show trial in order to facilitate his return home to Cambodia.
The border works are problematic from the start. Mr. Hun Sen and the ruling CPP have not been transparent in its border negotiations and border demarcations, particularly with Vietnam. The negotiations and demarcation works have been done in secrecy. Members of Parliament and journalists have been prevented from obtaining information and documents pertaining to border works and from visiting the demarcation sites.
Despite its denials, the government has for the first time publicly admitted that Vietnam had actually encroached on Cambodian territories. Mr. Var Kimhong, chairman of the Cambodian Border Commission, admitted in a meeting recently that Vietnam had violated Cambodian borders. He also said that Vietnam's unilateral decision to dig a canal to use as a borderline, after it invaded Cambodia in 1979, had violated the real locations of the borderlines between the two countries. "One more complicated issue is Vietnam's decision to dig a canal along the borders in 1979 that did not respect the real borderlines drawn on the maps. (Now), the local people who live on both sides of the canal must consider the dike and the canal as the real borderline between the two countries", Mr. Var Kimhong said.
If the government has already admitted that the border encroachments by Vietnam are real, then why did it persecute and prosecute Cambodian border defenders like Mr. Sam Rainsy and the poor farmers? There are several motives behind the court case against Mr. Rainsy and the farmers.
There are possible two aims here: First, to end the political career of Mr. Sam Rainsy and to destroy the SRP. Secondly, the government and the ruling CPP is trying to absolve its responsibility on border failures and to whitewash its traitorous border policies, in particular its policies toward the Vietnamese borders. The main aims of the CPP, and Mr. Hun Sen in particular, is to prevent the return of Mr. Sam Rainsy to Cambodia in order to weaken the SRP and eventually engineer its break up that will see the eventual demise of the SRP as has been seen in the case of other parties in the past.
A possible scenario is that the fate of Mr. Sam Rainsy’s party will be similar to the fates of the Son Sann Party and Funcinpec Party, if Hun Sen has successfully prevented Mr. Rainsy from returning back to lead his party.
1st January, 2010
“To put it bluntly, the court case against the land owners and Mr. Sam Rainsy is a case of persecuting and prosecuting border defenders, while awarding traitors with plum positions within the government.”
The arrests of the two farmers and the issuing of an arrest warrant against Mr. Sam Rainsy is another classic example of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) using the court as a political tool to crackdown and persecute victims and its political opponents.
At a glimpse, the court case against Mr. Sam Rainsy seems like a legitimate legal remedy to settle legal issue, but on the outset it is just a political tool and a front that hides behind the real motives to settle old scores, persecute patriots and crackdown on opponents of the ruling CPP. The case itself, if anything at all, is a political witch-hunt and a sheer attempt by the ruling CPP and Mr. Hun Sen to silence their critics in order to whitewash their failures and their incompetence to defend Cambodia’s borders and territorial integrity against foreign encroachments.
My rationale above was based on the irregularities in the court proceedings. The court, labelled by Mr. Sam Rainsy as the kangaroo court, was too hasty in issuing arrest warrant against Mr. Sam Rainsy without considering a delay request lodged by Mr. Rainsy’s lawyer or given time for appeal. Two farmers, the land owners whose lands were encroached by the border markers, were arrested immediately after they appeared in court, adding insults to injuries after their lands had been encroached by the border markers.
These irregularities have made the court vulnerable to accusations of acting as a political tool and a front of the ruling CPP to crackdown on dissenting voices and its opponents. The Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) went further by accusing it of acting as a state apparatchik to terrorise the population into stop exposing the traitorous border policies of the ruling CPP and any other issues that is embarrassing for the government and the ruling party itself. To put it point blank, Mr. Rainsy and the arrested farmers are the perfect scapegoats for the CPP’s and Mr. Hun Sen’s failed border policies.
The sheer injustices had been blatantly shown in this case. The two arrested farmers and the three farmers who went into hiding, were not only defending their rice-fields, but they were also defending the territorial integrity of Cambodia against foreign encroachments. On top of losing their lands to foreigners, like rubbing salts on top of an open wound, they have been further victimised by a jail term. To put it bluntly, the court case against the land owners and Mr. Sam Rainsy is a case of persecuting and prosecuting border defenders, while awarding traitors with plum positions within the government. My premonition is that we could see Mr. Sam Rainsy’s political career end here if there is no external pressures to find a political solution to this farcical legal show trial in order to facilitate his return home to Cambodia.
The border works are problematic from the start. Mr. Hun Sen and the ruling CPP have not been transparent in its border negotiations and border demarcations, particularly with Vietnam. The negotiations and demarcation works have been done in secrecy. Members of Parliament and journalists have been prevented from obtaining information and documents pertaining to border works and from visiting the demarcation sites.
Despite its denials, the government has for the first time publicly admitted that Vietnam had actually encroached on Cambodian territories. Mr. Var Kimhong, chairman of the Cambodian Border Commission, admitted in a meeting recently that Vietnam had violated Cambodian borders. He also said that Vietnam's unilateral decision to dig a canal to use as a borderline, after it invaded Cambodia in 1979, had violated the real locations of the borderlines between the two countries. "One more complicated issue is Vietnam's decision to dig a canal along the borders in 1979 that did not respect the real borderlines drawn on the maps. (Now), the local people who live on both sides of the canal must consider the dike and the canal as the real borderline between the two countries", Mr. Var Kimhong said.
If the government has already admitted that the border encroachments by Vietnam are real, then why did it persecute and prosecute Cambodian border defenders like Mr. Sam Rainsy and the poor farmers? There are several motives behind the court case against Mr. Rainsy and the farmers.
There are possible two aims here: First, to end the political career of Mr. Sam Rainsy and to destroy the SRP. Secondly, the government and the ruling CPP is trying to absolve its responsibility on border failures and to whitewash its traitorous border policies, in particular its policies toward the Vietnamese borders. The main aims of the CPP, and Mr. Hun Sen in particular, is to prevent the return of Mr. Sam Rainsy to Cambodia in order to weaken the SRP and eventually engineer its break up that will see the eventual demise of the SRP as has been seen in the case of other parties in the past.
A possible scenario is that the fate of Mr. Sam Rainsy’s party will be similar to the fates of the Son Sann Party and Funcinpec Party, if Hun Sen has successfully prevented Mr. Rainsy from returning back to lead his party.
4 comments:
Yeah, it is true. In Cambodia the good people get into trouble and the crooked and bad people get rewarded.
That mean no democracy any more in Cambodia,very sad country.
Hope that not true this analyse .
S K MONOHA of Cambodia
if Hun Sen has successfully prevented Mr. Rainsy from returning back to led his party.
Khmerization;
Sorry to disagree with you on the above. SR has returned to politic on a few occsions in the past and he will be back again this time. Opposition party is a crucial in showing the outside world that democracy in Cambodia may not be the same level as USA / Australia and the rest of the world but its democracy has indeed improved from the decades before.
SR has always barked on the wrong tree at the wrong time for the miscalculated self concept and for political stunt. Why?
As you mentioned Var Kim Hong admitted about border issue then why don't SRP wait for its chance to grill RGC in parliament.
SR is rather employed his political immature tactic, along with contigent of media and supporters, to uproot the posts, to show the entire world and supporters abroad that I am dare to do this.
SR shall remember that a few US Congressmen on his side is meant very little. The Obama administration foreign policy is a completely different policy from the G.W Bush administration. Just look at USA soft stance with Burma for instance and trust me SR is not as famous as the Noble Peace laurate who under house arrest. USA would be taking a soft stance and continue to closely work with RGC in hope to re-assert its presence in Asian and not trying to upset China at the same time.
8:15 AM, thanks for your inputs.
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