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

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)