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Please RELEASE THE 23 HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS immediately
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
Today is 8 days since the violent cracking down on peaceful strike of garment workers to demand decent wage of 160 dollars per month in Cambodia occurred. We all must utilize all means to advocate for the “RELEASE WITHOUT CONDITION” of all those 23 detainees. Among those workers, unionists such as #Pao Vorn #Theng Savoeun #Chan Puthisak and others are being detained at outskirt prison near Cambodia-Vietnam border. Those are imprisoned without having fair trial and accessing to wound treatment severely injured by the state’s security arm-force who used real bullets to shoot those thousand protestors. The democratic governments and the world are watching closely towards that state’s sponsored violence on peaceful strike of workers resulted in 5 deads, about 37 injured/hospitalized and 23 incarcerated.
We would like to call for #UN, #USA, #CANADA, #UK, #Australia, #Japan, #China etc. to urge your responsible authority to intervene for the RELEASE of those detainees immediately.
I would like to call for # Stephen Harper Prime Minister of Canada to intervene for the RELEASE of those 23 detainees as soon as feasible.
I would like to call for # Deepak Obhrai the Member of Parliament for Calgary East, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for International Human Rights to intervene for the RELEASE of those 23 detainees as soon as possible.
We would like to call for #Gap #Adidas #Puma #H&M #Walmart #Nike #Inditex, #LeviStrauss and #Columbia to use your purchase power to intervene for the RELEASE of those 23 detainees immediately and help with the raise demand of minimum wage of 160$ for Cambodian garment workers.
Cambodian people have traumatically pressured by the injustice and violence since the Khmer Rouge atrocity. Although, they have experienced some pace of peace and better quality of life in recent decade, their living standard is not improved, the social justice is not concerned by the powerful leaders, the culture of impunity is omnipresent and this impunity has threatened the quality of peaceful life of Cambodian people severely, and the measure government responded to the garment worker strike recently is not acceptable. Those perpetrators must be accountable in front of the law; the shooters must be arrested and imprisoned, not the bare hand unionists and workers who are demanding for decent wage to survive.
Sincerely,
Sophoan Seng
The International Leviathan of Cambodia in Political Leadership
Preamble
Last 27 December 2014, Cambodian people were astonished to see and hear Prime Minister Hun Sen talked in Vietnamese to the professional audience of Vietnam during his visit in Vietnam by the invitation of Vietnamese leader in Hanoi. This is first time that Cambodian people see their leader used foreign language to communicate with people in country he is visiting. By international protocol, he is unprofessional to speak country-host’s language and the meaning of his speech tended to pay unusual gratitude about the past political crisis Vietnam involved in the post-cold war politics in Cambodia. The fact of the story is still very murky on the legitimate action of Vietnam over Cambodia, that murkiness prohibits a top leader from an independent country to pay direct gratitude to another country, beside of respecting and paying gratitude to their own citizens.
His Vietnamese phonology has actually triggered obscure mixture of feeling of Cambodian people. Vietnam has been seen for historical enmity with Cambodian people through their domination policy named Southward and Westward expansion. The feeling of enmity is also caused by historical encroachments on the Cambodian lands such as Prey Nokor and Kampuchea Krom, the current human rights scheme towards the Khmer Kampuchea Krom or Khmer ethnic population in Southern part, and the close yet skeptical relationship with incumbent Cambodian government whom Vietnam installed to power during its political scheme to attack Khmer Rough in 7 January 1979.
Why International Leviathan?
Henri Mohout
The international leviathan here driven by the concept of political Leviathan of Thomas Hobbs. Vietnam is considered the Leviathan by Cambodians and many Khmer leaders. Those called Vietnamese leadership in different names such as crocodile, giant or imperialist. During the visit of naturalist Henri Mouhot in Cambodian capital city of Udong during 1859, he mentioned there were many servants from Annamites region whose behavior was different from other mainstream savages. For David Chandler, the records illustrated the Vietnamese imperial(s) looked down on Khmer citizens by stereotyped them as wild, uncivilized and uneducated. During the post-cold war, Vietnam equipped with strong ambition to expand Southward and Westward. It is Vietnamese’s pride to be able to tame Cham leadership and to subjugate this Kingdom eventually. By defeating the French colony at Dien Bien Phu, the pride of nationalism and expansionism embedded strongly in the mindset of their warriors. Although, there were rift and great division between North and South, the aura of marriage between China and Russia to back Vietnam in confronting with the US; Vietnam received sufficient surplus to unify North and South (former Khmer land) and further looked into the West to maintain the legacy of expansionism, the success and the mindset of imperial leadership. Dream of Vietnamese leader, Ho Chi Minh, is to influence over Laos and Cambodia (former member states of Indochina Federation of French) in hope to take over, to control and to build base for the spreading of communism in this Southeast Asian peninsula. And the by-product from this ideology spreading is able to maintain “the legacy of expansionism” at the same time.
“All the palaces and pagodas which you see from here have been built in one year since my return from Siam: in another year all will be finished. Formerly Cambodia was very extensive; but the Annamites have deprived us of many province.”
“Sir, the time has arrived for you to retake them. The French are assailing them on one side; do you attack them on the other.” His Majesty did not reply, but offered me a cigar, and inquired my age.
“I am twenty-three,” he said to me. “I recognize you; you were at Siam with M. de Montigny.”
“No, sir; your Majesty is mistaken. I have only been in Siam a twelvemonth.”
By Henri Mouhot “Travel in Siam, Cambodia, Laos, and Annam”, White Lotus Press, page 149, printed in 2000
The inconvenient state visit: inconvenient host vs inconvenient visitor
Personally, I am so surprised to hear and see his leadership at the international stage especially in Vietnam. His Vietnamese language is not that bad and some facebookers said he can speak Hanoi accent very fluently. Accent of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city is very different from each other. Some friends told me that it is like Thai and Lao accent. If it is true, I think it is very different and very much in the domination of language users. But his showing ability and official visiting is very idiosyncratic as his home country is having problems particularly the problems of people power demonstrating about the vast fraud of national election, to request for the re-election, and to request him to step down from power in order to ensure democracy development. Many assumptions are thought, but these two things are most considerable:
The Challenge of the International Leviathan
Now, the policy of Southward reaching is deems successful but the Westward reaching is deems uncertain. The high respect and expression of esteem on the Vietnamese soldiers who helped wage war in Cambodia especially to change the course of Khmer Rough leadership, absolutely provide incredible value and pride of Vietnamese warriors and people viewers nationwide. The thought of hope from those viewers will give much credits to their incumbent leadership in which many Vietnamese are believed to against them by seeing their communist approach has been deteriorating their life of dignity. And this stage also tells us the failure of the primary attempt to install lasting denomination within this country. The cause of failure arises from both international change of geo-strategy, democracy of poeple-oriented power and demography.
Courtesy: Dr. Lao Mong Hay, Cambodia Academic Network (CAN)
According to sampling of Dr. Lao Mong Hay, Cambodia is factually under the power thirst from China, US (its allies) and Vietnam. It is interesting that previous Vietnam’s policy especially before the Khmer Rouge, it was only Vietnam and US. But after China discomforted with Vietnamese invasion over Cambodia, Vietnam tends to compromise with China in the same time associating with US and Russia. In the regional ASEAN, this new emergent regional body tends to recognize strength of each country more than illegal Indo-China Federation mindset.
However, locally speaking, Vietnam has exercised full leverage within Cambodia land under its installing bureaucrats. Hun Sen leadership and his party is well known for the not-home-made political organization. Without Vietnam, this party cannot last today. There are undeniable evidences indicating Vietnamese leadership has explicitly helped and exploited this party. For instance, the creation of two prime ministers during the UNs-sponsored election in 1993 and the coup detat in 1997 was seen backed by Vietnam; and for the additional supplemental border treaty in 2005 was seen Vietnam exploited their former friend. All these facts have made China and US headache a lot. But it is not safe for Cambodia as well while China and US is likely unsure on their fraternal relationship as well.
What shall Cambodians do next?
Khmer proverb reminds us that “unity is power”, and Khmer Buddhists remember clearly on the teaching that: “no one save us, we are our own savior”. Locally speaking, the election on the July 28, 2013 triggered huge optimism for Cambodia to be saved by its own Cambodian people. By individuals, Cambodian youths are representing 60% of the total population. Those youths are not entrapped by past trauma or political submission, or they are not easily manipulated by mainstream media such as TVs, Radios or print media. They are grown up in the age of mobile phone, iPhone, iPad, Tablet and facebook. Their new findings on those new media provide them sufficient tool to confront with all manipulative agenda. The effort of the UNs in building Cambodia institutions such as Monarchy, Assembly, Judiciary and Executive with the control of arm-force branch, has resulted in hopelessness for Cambodian people. But the effort of the UNs in helping to create national constitution has been helpful in continuing interpretation to end all unconstitutional political behaviors.
Thus, the new occurrance of mushrooming capable youths, NGOs and political party particularly CNRP, provide us a lot space and hope, if this party is not negligent in its principles, to overcome all the International Leviathan(s).
The ICJ Judgement, the Prasat Preah Vihear and the Cambodian people
Today marks historical event for Cambodia while the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague of Holand interpreted the verdict of the Preah Vihear issue of June 15, 1962 again as this temple is belong to Cambodia, not Thailand. On this November 11, 2013, the court affirmed its stand again. Cambodian people from all strata including the politicians are happily cheering to this judgement. The most cheering politicians are Prime Minister, adviser(s) to Premier and the spokesperson of the government (listened from RFI and VOA).
For online group debate such as CAN and Campro, the members shared different aspects on the judgement. Reading the original document of the judgement, the court declared the Temple belongs to Cambodia while the document doesn’t elaborate or clarify the contested surrounding area or vicinity of 4.6 km square land parcel. The court termed “promontory” or means “a narrow area of high land that sticks out into the sea” in its written judgement. For Cambodia, the mentioned 4.6 km square is not mentioned in its legal contesting at all. Cambodia has never said or termed such 4.6 km square; Cambodia has seriously referred legal contesting to the Map or the Annex 1 Map, according to Phay Siphan, the spokesperson on Hello VOA today. After the court released its judgement, the editor of ThaiPBS Sermsuk says Thailand has lost 1-2 sq km around temple NOT 4.6 sq km (link).
The interpretation conundrum might rest within a sloppy trail as individual Cambodian and Thai will have their say and their vocal opinion.
However, the adjudication of the court has already been impregnably uncontested. When all parties discussed on those long standing legal and technical aspects in front of the judge(s), the conclusion to this final decision has already covered all those filing documents and arguments. This interpretation is different from the judgement on the June 15, 1962 as the addendum of documents and arguments have already been warrant from all concerned and contested parties. So the judgement in this time adjudicated all legal compositions and ascended into mission-fulfilled legal attainment. The temple, the surrounding, the vicinity or the promontory etc., all belong to Cambodia.