Paris Peace Accords 23 Oct. 1991

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Threats Fail to Thwart Anti-Hun Sen Protest

Threats Fail to Thwart Anti-Hun Sen Protest

 Cambodia Daily | 17 February 2016

With Cambodian-American protesters sequestered on a street away from the Sunnylands resort in southern California, Prime Minister Hun Sen greeted U.S. President Barack Obama and posed for a handshake free from harassment on Monday before the start of a two-day U.S.-Asean summit.
The protest, organized by the Cambodia-America Alliance, an activist group based in North Carolina, went ahead following weeks of buildup during which supporters of the ruling CPP warned of a violent response if the demonstration took place.

US President Barack Obama greets Prime Minister Hun Sen on the first day of the US-Asean summit in Rancho Mirage, California, on Monday. (Reuters)
US President Barack Obama greets Prime Minister Hun Sen on the first day of the US-Asean summit in Rancho Mirage, California, on Monday. (Reuters)

Despite the threats, which included allusions to the vicious beat­ing of two opposition lawmakers outside the National Assembly in Phnom Penh in October, Tuesday’s reaction to the protest was limited, mostly due to disputes over its size.
Veasna Roeun, vice president of the Cambodia-America Alliance, said that at its peak the protest in Rancho Mirage, California, numbered more than a thousand people, most of them from Cambodian communities in the U.S. and Canada.
“We are looking at a combined total of at least 1,500,” Mr. Roeun said, adding that “a good 80 percent” were from the Cambodian diaspora, the remainder being Thai, Vietnamese, Rohingya and anti-Trans-Pacific Partnership demonstrators.
Photographs of the demonstration showed protesters standing behind barricades hoisting signs railing against Mr. Hun Sen and his government’s rights record. One read “Cambodian Lives Matter,” another “America = Democracy, Cambodia = ‘Dumb’mocracy.” Yet another read “Hun Sen is a Killer.”

Protesters demonstrate against Prime Minister Hun Sen outside the Sunnylands resort in Rancho Mirage, California, on Monday. (Reuters)
Protesters demonstrate against Prime Minister Hun Sen outside the Sunnylands resort in Rancho Mirage, California, on Monday. (Reuters)

“The main message is that we are fed up with the 35 years of no transparency, of 35 years of authoritarian government, of dictatorial rule,” Mr. Roeun said. “We want to see responsible government, and we don’t think we are going to get that while Hun Sen is sitting in power.”

Contradicting Mr. Roeun’s estimate of the crowd size, CPP spokes­man Sok Eysan said his own sources, which he refused to name, informed him that the activist had oversold the number of Cambodian-Americans in attendance—by about 900 people.
“The information I’ve received is that they would have needed 940 more people to meet a number of 1,000 demonstrators,” Mr. Eysan said.
“This proves that they were met with failure because there were only 50 to 60 people who joined the protest,” he said, dismissing the notion that the Cambodian diaspora was generally unhappy with Mr. Hun Sen.
“The most noticeable thing was that anti-Thai government demonstrators greeted and thanked Sam­dech Techo Hun Sen for sup­porting the fight for democracy in Thailand,” he said.
Saing Song, a CPP supporter who promised on Sunday to stage counterdemonstrations against the CNRP if the Cambodian-American activists went ahead with their pro­test, echoed Mr. Eysan. He said the protest had been too small to warrant a response, even though he claimed to have seen CNRP activists in the crowd.

US President Barack Obama and the leaders of Asean’s 10 member states gather during the first day of the US-Asean summit at the Sunnylands resort in Rancho Mirage, California, on Monday. (Reuters)
US President Barack Obama and the leaders of Asean’s 10 member states gather during the first day of the US-Asean summit at the Sunnylands resort in Rancho Mirage, California, on Monday. (Reuters)

“We just saw that there were around 200 Cambodian protesters and it seemed like a very small pro­test,” said Mr. Song, who identified himself as leader of a group called Youth Alliance and CPP Supporters.
“Since it’s just a small protest that doesn’t have an impact on or pressure the government of Sam­dech Techo, we decided to call off the plan,” he said.
On Monday, Morn Phalla, head of the CNRP’s executive committee in Phnom Penh, sent a letter to municipal authorities requesting additional security, specifically citing Mr. Song’s promises of counter­demonstrations made in a Face­book post.
On Tuesday, CNRP lawmaker Ou Chanrith said his party remained on alert despite Tuesday’s calm, having seen no effort by authorities to increase security at CNRP headquarters.
With no response from the Ministry of Interior and City Hall, he said party activists had been dispatched both to deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha’s home in Tuol Kok district and to party headquarters for added protection.
“We’ll have to wait and see for a few more days and will take our precautions,” Mr. Chanrith said. “We still have to be careful.”



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