Cambodians protest at South Tacoma hotel
The News Tribune | April 11, 2016
Sophon Men, right, of Kent holds a sign saying “No U.S. businesses investment with human rights violators in Cambodia” during a protest of the Cambodian government Monday in Tacoma’s South End. Kenny Ocker kocker@thenewstribune.com
More than 50 people demonstrate Monday
Protesters believed son of Cambodian prime minister would be at hotel
People came from as far as Vancouver, Washington, to attend
Sovong Voeuk of Renton holds a sign reading “Stop land confiscation” during a protest of the Cambodian government Monday afternoon in Tacoma’s South End. Protesters believed Prime Minister Hun Sen’s son, Lt. Gen. Hun Manet, would be at the hotel. Kenny Ocker kocker@thenewstribune.com
More than 50 people of Cambodian descent came to Tacoma’s South End on Monday to protest their native country’s government — even if the prime minister’s son was never seen.
The protesters believed Cambodian Lt. Gen. Hun Manet, son of 31-year leader Hun Sen, would be arriving at a hotel on South Hosmer Street sometime Monday and came to voice their concerns about human rights abuses in their homeland.
“If we did this in Cambodia, we’d be killed,” said Sovong Voeuk, 48, who lives in Renton but took time off from his job in Tacoma to attend the protest.
IF WE DID THIS IN CAMBODIA, WE’D BE KILLED.
Sovong Voeuk, protester
Voeuk said protesters did not know if Manet was in the hotel, but said Manet has hidden from protests elsewhere and that protest organizers learned he would be at the hotel.
Among the many human rights violations protesters talked of, Voeuk said the government seized land from his cousin’s family and burned their house to the ground in the 1990s, telling the family it was to become a collective garden.
“I’m not for any group, but anyone is better than him,” Voeuk said of Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander. “Who leads a country for 30 years?”
Dozens of Cambodian flags were waving in the wind at the protest, and many protesters held signs alleging human rights violations and denouncing the government.
WE WANT PEOPLE TO RECOGNIZE WE NEED HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY IN CAMBODIA.
Vathana Sek, protester
Jeng Quach, 63, carpooled to the protest from Vancouver, Washington, with three Cambodians to protest Manet.
“We want our country to change,” Quach said. “We want him to know he is not welcome here because he is a killer.”
“When people protest, they are hurt or killed,” Sek said. “We want people to recognize we need human rights and democracy in Cambodia.”
Manet canceled a Sunday visit to the Khmer New Year parade in Long Beach, California, because of protests. He is scheduled to meet in Seattle with Mayor Ed Murray and Lt. Gov. Brad Owen on Saturday to discuss economic development and international relations.
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