CIVIL RESISTANCE
My TREASON & INCITEMENT MASS TRIAL (Initial Page on Trial Matters) TUESDAY, 14 JUNE 2022 VERDICT ANNOUNCEMENT Court Statement: Concluding Remarks ការការពារ ផ្លូវច្បាប់ របស់ខ្ញុំ [ ... ] |
CIVIC EDUCATION
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REFORM
National Election Committee
NOW! MONDAY, May 20, at 7 A.M. Democracy Square (near Wat Phnom)
I will join this demonstration, demanding electoral reform. Recently, I had a conversation with friends who are Singaporean Christians about the mega-church phenomenon in Singapore (which I didn't know about) and the "Prosperity Gospel", how the pastor of one of the more famous mega-churches, married to a celebrity, is embroiled in a corruption scandal. I commented that it's as much a reflection of the congregation as of the pastor. They themselves quite successful business people, agreed.
My comment also fits the Cambodian situation. It has been said that our past and present DISMAL, violent, tyrannical leadership is as much a reflection of the Cambodian people. IT IS TIME THAT WE ASPIRE TO SOMETHING BETTER THAN THE KHMER ROUGE STANDARD. I want to be proud of my leader, not be embarrassed.
I want my leader to help me and other Cambodians realize our HUMAN POTENTIAL, not leadership that uses state resources to wage war on its own people, and do the bidding of foreign powers. I am so sick and tired of the violence, the DESTRUCTION that this Hun Sen regime reeks on the Cambodian people and the country. I am so ashamed and so embarrassed, and so INFURIATED by the way this regime destroys its own people and the natural beauty and resources of the land.
IT IS TIME FOR NEW COMPETENT, CARING LEADERSHIP. IT IS TIME FOR SAM RAINSY AS PRIME MINISTER.
- Theary, Phnom Penh, Sunday, May 19
. . . China Fuels Deadly Illegal Logging Trade
TIME Magazine | May 14, 2013
Cambodia’s deforestation is the world’s third highest, after Nigeria and Vietnam, according to the latest figures from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. China is the biggest importer of timber, and the destination for much of Cambodia’s beleaguered woodland.
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Rubber Barons: How Vietnamese Companies and International Financiers [IFC, Deutsche Bank] are Driving a Land Grabbing Crisis in Cambodia and Laos Global Witness | May 2013
The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) was installed into power by the Vietnamese military in Jan. 1979 when it invaded Cambodia. Since, inter alia, the CPP facilitated the K-5 Plan, and has given the Vietnamese military control of national-security-sensitive telecommunications (METFONE, whose parent company is Viettel, owned by the Vietnamese military), the national airlines... Now Vietnam's free reign to destroy its satellite state, Cambodia, wholesale.
And these are only some of the things we know about some 33 years later. - Theary, Phnom Penh, 13 May 2013
Excerpts from the Global Witness May 2013 Executive Summary: By the end of 2012, 2.6 million hectares of land in Cambodia had been leased, 1.2 million of this for rubber. Twenty-two percent of this land has been allocated to just five of Cambodia's most powerful tycoons -- simply the latest example of how the country's valuable natural resources have been captured by an elite growing spectacularly rich while one-third of the population [almost 5 million] lives on less than US$0.61 a day.
The legal limit is 10,000 hectares per company.
2.6 million hectares = 73% of Cambodia's arable land, affecting Cambodians in 12 provinces
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Miss Khmer-Hawaiian modelling her silk Krama dress, a gift from her aunt
Miss Fifa, 4-year-old from Hawaii, going on 30, shows us how it's done!
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US and Europe Should Impose Sanction (e.g. Visa ban) of the Cambodian People's Party and their Family I support the call of the democracy leader Sam Rainsy!
Cambodia's opposition leader Sam Rainsy poses for a portrait on May 9, 2013 during a visit to Washington, DC As vote nears, Cambodia opposition urges sanction threat AFP, May 11, 2013
"There must be a clear warning to the Hun Sen regime that there will not be business as usual following fake elections," Rainsy told AFP in an interview Thursday, saying he was giving the same message to US policymakers.
"If Hun Sen pretends to win in a boxing match in which he boxes alone, his victory would be meaningless," Rainsy said.
Rainsy said that the main retaliation should be a visa ban on top officials and that he opposed sanctions that would hurt ordinary Cambodians. . . .
BOYCOTT Of the 10% tip that is automatically included in the bill, ONLY 5% go to the staff!!!!!!
Simply, this is STEALING. Or, CHEATING, as my friend Bunleng succinctly put it. But then he tried to assure me that all the foreign places do this -- NOT A CONSOLATION.
All of these places are CHEATS and THIEVES and the places should be banned. Everyone who frequents these places should ask whether 100 PERCENT of the tips will go to the staff; if not, the customer should walk out, giving the reason why.
A few years back, Raffles Le Royal encountered a massive strike against it when it stole 100% of the tips from the staff. No more - Theary, Phnom Penh, 10 May 2013
. . . My heart mourns with Pastor Paul Ng and his family of Singapore over the murder of his wife Wendy this Tuesday in Kampong Speu. - Theary, 1 May 2013
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Born in 1982 in Melbourne, Australia, without any medical explanation or warning, Nicholas Vujicic came into the world with neither arms nor legs. Imagine the shock his parents felt when they saw their first-born brand new baby boy for the first time, only to find he was what the world would consider imperfect and abnormal. Nick Vujicic Childhood A limbless son was not what nurse Dushka Vujicic, and her husband Pastor Boris Vujicic had been expecting.
Click here to watch LIVE FOREVER
The film is poignant through and through, but there's one particular moment toward the end where Nick's RECONCILIATION with a school bully in the audience SYMBOLIZES the larger RECONCILIATION of the brokenness of this war-ravaged region of the world -- the pain and devastation not dissimilar for, not un-familar to, us Cambodians.
As a Christian watching this, I cannot help but think that as Satan wreaked havoc using the stain-filled human actors to carry out his destruction in this region of the former Yugoslavia full of what seem to be intractable problems, God was quietly raising a child who is to become the man of His reconciliation, with a power and authority to captivate ALL SIDES, ALL PEOPLES unmatched by any politician, any glamorous Hollywood celebrity, any tycoon philanthropist in their failed attempt to heal the enmity -- a child the world would have thrown away.
But it is characteristic of God to use what the world considers weak, poor, and least to bring about His kingdom in this broken world, e.g. Jesus born in animal's smelly, foul-stench, dirty stable. Not only ancient but modern history is full of such individuals, e.g. ethnic Albanian, Mother Teresa.
Related, I am reminded of Joseph's response to his brothers who had sold him, now upon learning of his identity as the ruler of Egypt, only second to the Pharaoh himself, what I called the 50-20 Principle: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives" (Genesis 50:20). And of what Paul wrote in his letter to Christians in Rome: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).
Another thought I had was that God often doesn't take away the problem, but instead gives us the necessary help to get us through, and to get us through gloriously. He journeys with us in life's difficulty and challenges. Here, Nick was not just born into any family, but a family with a mom who is a nurse and a dad who is a Christian pastor -- the sufficiency of God's grace as Nick is being molded and shaped and chiseled and refined in the most excruciating manner into the beauty that he is now.
Here, I am reminded of the brilliant passage on suffering of St. Augustine in his masterpiece The City of God which I am now re-reading:
Wherefore, though good and bad men suffer alike, we must not suppose that there is no difference between the men themselves, because there is no difference in what they both suffer. For even in the likeness of sufferings, there remains an unlikeness in the sufferers; and though exposed to the same anguish, virtue and vice are not the same thing. For as the same fire causes gold to glow brightly, and chaff to smoke; and under the same flail the straw is beaten small, while the grain is cleansed; and as the lees are not mixed with the oil, though squeezed out of the vat by the same pressure, so the same violence of affliction proves, purges, clarifies the good, but damns, ruins, exterminates the wicked. And thus it is that in the same affliction the wicked detest God and blaspheme, while the good pray and praise. So material a difference does it make, not what ills are suffered, but what kind of man suffers them. For, stirred up with the same movement, mud exhales a horrible stench, and ointment emits a fragrant odor (Book I, Section 8; click to read fuller excerpt).
A brilliant teaching by Dr. Rob Norris on SUFFERING of Job that has great resonance and relevance here:
And yet another thought I often have: the glimmer and tinkling in the eyes of those who love Jesus and/or those who are living well (even if in poverty because they live out goodness, kindness, compassion, justice etc.) -- compared to the harsh, steely, mean piercing looks and hardened expression of the rich and powerful in Cambodia -- not at all helped by the heavy make-up or glittering expensive jewelry adorning them (for the "chum-teavs") or the expensive diamond rings, watches, designer suits and other expensive toys (for the "ek-a-doms").
I look forward to listening to Nick speak when he is scheduled to be in Phnom Penh at Koh Pich later this month.
- Theary (Phnom Penh, 2 May 2013, updated 11 May)
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My new motto:
Hasten * s l o w l y.
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This talk I gave at the University of Michigan is probably the best articulation of why I supported the Khmer Rouge Tribunal for 5 years (before vehemently denouncing it).
. . . Khmer Royal Ballet
at Times Square
Royal Ballet in Times Square as part of the Season of Cambodia event (Photo: Prince Tesso Sisowath)
. . . The New York Post, 23 April 2013 Kylie Bisutti had reached the pinnacle of her career as a Victoria’s Secret Angel. But instead of feeling proud, she felt exploited. She tells why she turned to faith after the fashion industry put her through hell . . .
I love, love, love this sermon.
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Listen to the conversation on Hello VOA.
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More photos on Facebook...
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My beautiful niece Chantal of Boston visiting the Kingdom!
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Sermon: The Victory Chant of the Over-comers (Dr. Rob Norris) This BRILLIANT sermon is dedicated to all my spiritual sisters and brothers, especially my Cambodian Christian sisters and brothers during this Khmer new year celebration who are undergoing persecution. Revelations 12: The Woman and the Dragon.
Complete book of the Revelation in Khmer (Theary Seng Version) Background Notes on Revelation
Spiritual Warfare in Cambodia by Steve Hyde, April 2013
. . . Board Meeting of the ANSA-EAP Foundation (Manila, 25 March 2013)
Board Meeting of the Human Rights Resource Center (for ASEAN) (Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta, 30-31 March 2013)
Public Launch of the Business and Human Rights Report of the Human Rights Resource Center (for ASEAN) (Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta, 9 April 2013)
More photos and narratives, click here.
More photos on Facebook.
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JUSTICE FANTASYLAND On YouTube
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How a Brutal Khmer Rouge Leader Died 'Not Guilty' The Atlantic, 2 April 2013
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More photos on Facebook.
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Theary C. Seng and the Road Ahead in Cambodia By Michelle Phipps-Evans Asian Fortune News, 3 Feb. 2013
The name Theary Chan Seng generates a fervor approaching reverence in the Cambodian community here and abroad. She is the Cambodian-born, American-educated lawyer and civil rights activist who founded the Cambodian Center for Justice & Reconciliation. It is a major component of another organization she serves as founding president, CIVICUS: Center for Cambodian Civic Education. This nonprofit group is dedicated to promoting an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles. It is actively engaged in the practice of democracy and reconciliation in Cambodia and the larger, globalized world. So who really is Seng, the person? She is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge (KR) regime, and has spent almost two decades advocating for its victims, many of whom were orphaned, widowed, abused or molested—victims who were like Seng herself.
. . . Obama, in Cambodia for a Meeting, Sidesteps the Ghosts of History
International Herald Tribune (Peter Baker, November 20, 2012)
Theary Seng, president of the Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia, said, “President Obama should have met with the human rights community and activists challenging the Hun Sen regime, and while then and there, offer a public apology to the Cambodian people for the illegal U.S. bombings, which took the lives of half a million Cambodians and created the conditions for the Khmer Rouge genocide.”
Click here to read this complete news analysis
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Protests Greet Obama's Visit International Herald Tribune / New York Times PHNOM PENH — Theary Seng was taking aim with precision and anger. The 41-year-old U.S.-trained lawyer and a regular on Cambodia’s crowded protest circuit was about to throw a dart at a poster of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Kissinger is one of 13 politicians and senior Khmer Rouge leaders in a dart game created by Poetic Justice, a nongovernmental organization run by Theary Seng that highlights deficiencies of the special U.N.-backed tribunal judging the Khmer Rouge’s crimes. Each player gets five throws. A bull’s-eye is worth seven points. The highest score wins. Last Sunday afternoon, Theary Seng and three members of her staff were playing on Phnom Penh’s riverfront opposite the storied Foreign Correspondents’ Club. On this occasion — the fourth time the game has been staged in public — the point was to draw attention to the narrow scope of the Khmer Rouge tribunal ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit for a summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Click here to read full article.
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Watch the TV3 New Zealand broadcast with Mike McRoberts (aired 21 Nov. 2012) At ASEAN summit, trade overshadows human rights
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Open Letter to U.S. President Barack Obama Published in The Phnom Penh Post, 20 November 2012
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Theary Seng and some 30 security (plus more embedded in Wat Phnom Penh and Sunway Hotel) Narrative of harassment and images of Ms. Theary C. Seng's stand-off with at least 30 big bulky, heavily armed security in front of US Embassy Phnom Penh (Tuesday, 19 Nov. 2012)
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Emotional Violence of Past Poetic Justice Dart Games flared into Physical Assault on Ms. Theary C. Seng and those around her along the Riverfront, Sunday, 18 Nov. 2012
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Reykjavik, Iceland SESSION 3: CALLING 4.15 - 5.45 pm Led by Miriam Subirana, Foundation for a Culture of Peace The session includes: Theary C. Seng, Founder, Centre for Justice and Reconciliation, Cambodia
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More at Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia... "Cambodia's Khmer Rouge Court 'Dying' ABC News film, aired 16 Oct. 2012
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Khmer Rouge defendant Ieng Thirith ruled unfit for Cambodian genocide trial due to dementia The Washington Post, 13 Sept. 2012 Of course if she is seriously ill with Alzheimer’s, she should be released. There is no point in trying an incapacitated person,” said Theary Seng, a human rights advocate representing some victims who are allowed a role in the proceedings. “The point is the (tribunal) is so late in coming. The political foot-dragging and inertia has caused this travesty of justice.”
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Poetic Justice and Civil Party Withdrawal in the News Nov. 2011 Ex-leader: Khmer Rouge atrocities are 'fairy tale' AP Newswire, 23 Nov. 2011 "I'm not surprised that Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary continue to deny their crimes as the charges against them of genocide, war crimes are very serious," said Theary Seng, a Cambodian lawyer and human rights activist who lost family members under their regime. "Even if I am not surprised, I am however disgusted by their lack of remorse for the suffering they caused. They are delusional in their denial in light of the weight of evidence against them - the mounds of skulls and bones, the horrific testimonies from every survivor of cruelty, the magnitude and scope of evil unleashed by them across the whole of Cambodia."
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"Khmer Rouge trial is failing Cambodian victims of Pol Pot's regime" Human Rights Watch Brad Adams' editorial The Guardian, 26 Nov. 2011
. . . "Justice Denied" Douglas Gillison, Foreign Policy Magazine, 23 Nov. 2011 . . . Deputy President of Victims Association, a Civil Party of the Orphans Class, Mr. CHEY Theara, Withdraws Civil Party Status, Denounces ECCC as Political Farce _______________________ PRESS RELEASE _______________________
Full statement in both Khmer and English in KI-Media. Here, if ISP censors in Cambodia.
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Khmer Rouge Trial Missing a Marquee Defendant Wall Street Journal, 21 Nov. 2011 “The release of Ieng Thirith is only one reflection of how incredibly late these trials are coming into place,” said Theary Seng, founder of the Cambodian Center for Justice and Reconciliation and herself, too, a victim of the Khmer Rouge regime, having lost her parents and spent five months in prison. She has withdrawn from the tribunal process, and instead put her energy into organizing public games of darts featuring the faces of the Khmer Rouge leaders along Phnom Penh’s riverfront – a “way of release” following victims’ frustrations with the trial process, mixed with “dark humor,” she said.
But the trial - a joint enterprise between the UN and Cambodia - has been heavily criticised. Theary Seng, whose parents were killed by the Khmer Rouge, said putting three people on trial for the deaths of 1.7 million simply wasn't enough. (BBC News, 21 Nov. 2011)
Khmer Rouge Trial: Cambodia Awaits Answers BBC News, 21 Nov. 2011
. . . AFP, 21 Nov. 2011 Khmer Rouge survivor Theary Seng told AFP she was "frustrated beyond words" that only Khieu Samphan looked likely to shed light on what happened. "The people want to know who is behind the Khmer Rouge, we want to see and understand the larger picture and we're not going to get that," she said.
From Tragedy to Sham in Cambodia Asia Times Online, 19 Nov. 2011 In KI-Media Others have gone further, arguing that the time might be ripe for the UN to pull the plug on the controversy-plagued court altogether. Last week, Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime and a prominent advocate for victims' rights, withdrew her status as a civil party to the court, describing the proceedings as a "complete sham". She said the UN should threaten to withdraw after setting some clear conditions for its continued participation. By pressing ahead, Seng said, the world body runs the risk of rubber-stamping a flawed process and further embedding cynicism in the Cambodian population. "I understand the unwieldiness of any large bureaucracy, but at the end of the day it comes down to personalities, and there have been extremely weak personalities," she said. "In this regard, the UN is complicit."
In the End, Loss of Faith in Tribunal: Former Complainant Hello VOA Special with Theary Seng, 16 Nov. 2011 Khmer Rouge Victim Quits Tribunal Saying UN-backed Court is a Sham DPA, 15 Nov. 2011
Prominent Victims' Advocate Quits Khmer Rouge Tribunal VOA International/English, 15 Nov. 2011 KRT Critic Offers 'Poetic Justice' The Phnom Penh Post, 16 Nov. 2011 Theary Seng Denounces Tribunal; Introduces Dartboard Scheme The Cambodia Daily, 16 Nov. 2011
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Click here to read the full press release...
More information at "ECCC Civil Party" More information at Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia Theary Seng Criticizes KRT as "Political Farce" The Phnom Penh Post, 10 Nov. 2011
Radio Free Asia (both AM and PM broadcasts on 10 Nov. 2011)
Cambodian-American Lawyer Withdraws her Civil Party Status Voice of America Khmer Service, 10 Nov. 2011
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