Lt. Gen. Hun Manet to visit Lowell's Cambodian community

Lt. Gen. Hun Manet to visit Lowell's Cambodian community

By Grant Welker, gwelker@lowellsun.com

UPDATED:   03/17/2016

Lt. Gen. Hun Manet

LOWELL -- The son of the Cambodian prime minister, and a lieutenant general in the Cambodian military, will visit Lowell next month as part of a broader American tour of areas with big Cambodian populations.

Hun Manet graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1999 and holds several top positions in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, according to reports by Cambodia-focused news outlets.

Manet, who turns 38 this year, has been speculated by some observers cited by the Cambodian media to be the heir apparent to his father, Hun Sen. Sen is a divisive figure, criticized for his human-rights record and corruption.

Lowell officials are aware of how divisive Sen can be in Lowell's Cambodian community but will welcome his oldest son during one of several stops on his American tour.

Mayor Ed Kennedy said Manet will visit Lowell for several days, including a meeting in City Hall with city councilors and members of the city administration. A reception with the city's Cambodian community is also planned.

A tentative schedule provided by the Honorary Cambodian Consulate in Lowell has Manet arriving on Saturday, April 16, with meetings with Cambodians to celebrate the Cambodian New Year and with a Cambodian business group, as well as courtesy calls with Kennedy and U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas. He's also scheduled to deliver a keynote address to an estimated 450 guests at Pailin City restaurant the following day.

A Cambodian statue planned for outside City Hall is also planned to be dedicated during Manet's trip.

Though Manet has visited before, this trip appears to be catching more attention with critics. One human rights group, the Cambodia-America Alliance, has threatened to protest Manet's visits to Lowell and another city with a major Cambodian population, Long Beach, Calif.

A spokesman for the ruling Cambodia People's Party responded to the planned protests to The Cambodia Daily.

"His Excellency Hun Manet will not bring an army to fight there," the spokesman, Sok Eysan, said. "He will be meeting and talking to brothers and sisters to inform them about the real situation in Cambodia in order to prevent a number of bad individuals from exaggerating and saying bad things about the Cambodian government."

Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander, has been called one of the longest-serving dictators in the world. In 2012, an Asian leader at the group Human Rights Watch wrote in a New York Times op-ed that Sen "rules Cambodia with an iron fist," and detailed instances of violence and corruption. Before Sen met with President Obama in 2012, an Associated Press story said he has "a knack for making sure his rivals end up in jail or in exile."

Sen, the prime minister for 31 years, and his family are closely watched by media and rights groups. News reports in recent years have speculated that Manet, who also has a doctorate in economics, will eventually take his father's place. Manet's two brothers have also quickly risen up the ranks of the Cambodian military, according to reports.

In 1999, several members of Congress protested Sen's presence at the West Point graduation ceremony for Manet, according to a New York Times story at the time.

"As a father, I guess he's certainly entitled to be here, but we have to be concerned about his past," U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith of New Jersey was quoted as saying.