28 Thursday Jul 2016
Mon cher Kacvey,
Il est un peu tard pour vous communiquer cette nouvelle, mais il n’est jamais trop tard pour l’apprendre de bonne humeur.
Ayez l’amabilité de ne pas oublier de féliciter chaleureusement Madame Pung Chhiv Kek, Présidente-fondatrice de la Ligue cambodgienne des droits de l’homme (LICADHO) qui a été honorée cette année de la médaille de l’ordre de Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur pour ses 39 années de dévotion au Cambodge … après Sao Paulo, Maputo …
25 Monday Jul 2016
My dear Kacvey,
It’s Monday 25 July 2016, the day after.
It’s also a BLACK MONDAY.
You must feel very proud of being among the MILLION Khmer who accompanied Mr. Kem Ley’s body from Wat Chass to his last resting place in Tram Kâk. Pride of being a Khmer is a renewed strength to overcome tiredness.
Memory Lane will record that from dawn to dusk, on a stretch of about 80 kilometers, along and on roads, streets, boulevards, bridges, across hamlets, villages, towns, phoums, sroks, khèts, million of Khmer mourned and accompanied Mr. Kem Ley’s body to his last and forever resting place. Monks, women, men, old, young, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Confucianists, Daoists, atheists, standing, walking, biking, motoring, all, serenely, peacefully, meditatively, conscientiously, silently let their heart and mind free to embrace the social and political spirit and courage of Mr. Kem Ley. His lifeless body was in the glass coffin, but his spirit and courage are alive and lively circling his soul over the cortege.
Memory Lane will record that the million people were all in white and unarmed; among them, some held Mr. Kem Ley photo portrait, others Buddhism flags, Cambodian flags, or flowers, incense sticks, a bag with water and snack, paper fans, and smart phones; no political banners, no sloganeering and slandering, no hatred, no violence, no guns, no insults, and no evil thoughts. However, the million is not afraid of thinking hard on how to get Cambodia out of the whirlwind of political violence dominated by political savagery and backwardness, endless hostility (Takeover or otherwise), autocratic corruption, destruction of democracy, immolation of rule of law, subjugation of justice, ruination of freedom and liberty, wreckage of state and national responsibility and jailing and assassination of honest critics. Although mourning and in motion, they “wipe out their tears and continue their journey.”
Memory Lane will record that the million, while sharing their grief in this moment of political repression and uncertainty, also share their goodness, their wisdom, their mutual understanding, their friendship, their selflessness, their good heart: bottle of water, gas for the motorcycles, a banana “nam vaar” or “pông moân”, a candy or a cigarette, snacks to ease the hunger, medicine to relieve the headache, the umbrella to shield form the sun ray, a kramah to wipe the sweat, a seat on the motorcycle, repairing a flat tyre. Small things, but big heart. The million will remember the closing of petrol stations and the grocery or convenient stores along the cortege route. These establishments were afraid, ex-ante, rightly or wrongly, or they might have received order from the autocracy that creates fear everywhere and every time it feels insecure; they protect their assets for themselves, no sharing even in time of distress.
Memory Lane will record that the million people formed a cortege that stretched, at one point as recorded on social media, from the Ministry of Defense to the Chhorm Chao fork, a distance of no less than 8 kilometers. The cortege kept on extending longer and longer. Aerial photos showed the cortege as a shape of a “White Dragon”, or “Néak Sâr” moving westward under a clement sky. Thanks Heaven for its blessings, and no rain nor storm. The White Dragon did not roar, did not crash incendiary flame through its mouth and did not harm anybody who does not like it; instead the White Dragon grew bigger and longer with other people who have conscientiously freed themselves from the bi-polarized tiger den and lion lair.
Memory Lane will record that the White Dragon, in its simplicity and spontaneity, was the biggest and longest cortege in the entire history of Cambodia. No cortege of any kind, from time memorial to 23 July 2016 has been noted, observed, organized or recorded with such magnitude and symbolism, be it royal coronation, royal funerals, State visits by foreign dignitaries such as De Gaulle, Nehru, Chou Enlai, Tito, Jacqueline Kennedy, Obama, political rallies, marches or demonstrations, Independence military parades… Kacvey, you can put all these above together, they wouldn’t even make 1/10 of the White Dragon. The White Dragon could also be viewed as an antithesis of the 15 April 1975 when the KR emptied Phnom Penh with its population, the same KRs that are being tried at the ECCC, and the same ex-KRs that have become current autocratic ilks.
Memory Lane will record the presence of soldiers, military police and policemen at some strategic points, in battle dress and military body armor, machine guns and barricades. They were ready to go to war against the peaceful million people in white, the White Dragon. How many of them? Hundreds? Thousand? Did the White Dragon threaten them? They may advance an argument that they were there to protect the “legal government.” Protect from what? A foreign invasion? A ghost?
Nonetheless,
– Soldiers, don’t you have any of your relatives or friends who are part of the White Dragon? If so, what have they done to you for you to put your finger on the trigger and ready to shoot them?
– Policemen, don’t you have any of your relatives and friends who are part of the White Dragon? If so, what have they done to you for you to put your finger on the trigger and ready to shoot them?
– Soldiers, Policemen, do you believe that, in the White Dragon, there are no fellow soldiers or policemen dressed in white civilian clothes? If you don’t, what have they done to you for you to put your finger on the trigger and ready to shoot them?
– Policemen, Soldiers, do you believe that, in the White Dragon, there are no government employees or civil servants? If you don’t, what have they done to you for you to put your finger on the trigger and ready to shoot them?
– Soldiers, Policemen, do you believe that the million people are the bad people compared to the few that give you orders?
– Policemen, Soldiers, are you Khmer? Are you a Khmer? Or are you not?
– Soldiers, Policemen, is Cambodia a private property of the autocrats who give you orders to shoot, or is Cambodia not your country and the country of your sons and daughters?
Memory Lane will record that the established media outlets presented very limited coverage on the major national event of the day. They carried their Sunday programs as if nothing important had taken place in the country. Million people marching, what’s the big deal, they would say. A blessing in disguise did, however, occur: live stream by different organizations or non-governmental organizations, and open doors for smart phones and social media to reach worldwide audience. And this is where the political and governmental hypocrisy has joined the highest level of irrationality and lunacy. First and foremost, NOBODY cared much about watching the established television or listening to the regular radio program anymore. The million people have their million smart phones. Not only they were in the White Dragon, they also broadcast the entire event in real-time through their million social media accounts or live stream. Fool always thinks that the other fool is more foolish than himself. On the contrary, Kacvey, do you think that the autocrats, on 24 July 2016, just spent their Sunday playing golf on Siem Reap courses or sitting in front of their TV screen watching soap operas or Kong Fu films, or loafing with their intimate friends on floating cabana? They might have pretended to ignore the White Dragon, but chances are that they watched the events unfold in front of their eyes on their smart phones. Smart phones against smart phones. This was what they saw and didn’t expect to see: White Dragon dominance and domination; their logo, name, slogan or image were nowhere to be seen or heard; they did not see even one of their own images; they were totally ignored. They must be by now meeting in their headquarters dark rooms with or without their foreign advisers plotting and masterminding different and future schemes on how to counter or silence the White Dragon.
Memory Lane will record that million Khmer, albeit silent, have voices to be reckoned with. Their silent voice speaks when it is time to speak; they will act when it is the right time to act. The image of the White Dragon speaks for itself and carries bigger volume than any word or words combined. Million Khmer can no longer be fooled by feeble, dishonest or corrupted politicians.
Mr. Kem Ley, your death gives birth to Néak Sâr which symbolizes your eternal dedication, service, and attachment to the true interests of Cambodia and Cambodians. It now symbolizes Khmer moral revolution.
Mr. Kem Ley, May You Rest In Peace.
=====
Update
– Griffith University – Griffith Asia Insights, 25 August 2016: Rule of law in Cambodia – reflections from the field
21 Thursday Jul 2016
Posted in Culture, Governance, Institution, Issue, Justice, Stories
≈ Comments Off on Assassination in Cambodia
My dear Kacvey,
It must be a very painful exercise for you and your students when reading this piece published in the Myanmar Times. The title itself “Cambodia, assassination capital of Asia” – although the word “assassination” would definitely not come as a surprise to repressed Cambodians – certainly echoes how uncivilized, backward, savage, lawless and desperate the current Khmer autocracy is perceived outside Cambodian borders.
Ordinary, honest and hard-working Khmer who have been victims of the autocracy for 31 years hope that other Asian and Asean capitals that respect democracy and rule of law would look into the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk with newly awaken eyes when dealing with the ex-KRs turned “Hostile Takeover” cohort.
18 Monday Jul 2016
My dear Kacvey,
Four months into the Year of Hanuman, Cambodia is in a state of political havoc. Everything that is good is broken: trust, confidence, dialog, peace and rule of law. Everything that is bad is fashionable: hypocrisy, mistrust, wiretapping, trumped charges, arrest, accusation, police violence, interdiction, beating, jailing, killing and assassination.
Kacvey, how do you fathom what would happen next? Well, whoever masterminded the jailing or the assassination have succeeded to put the entire country and the population into a state of fear, jitters and anxiety; whoever strategized the arrest or the killing schemes have not failed to re-assure their followers that they are still in firm control.
Autocracy has just revived an old culture that was widely used during the Cold War era, and adopted by the KR, and now fully validated by the ex-KR. It can be characterized as a culture of jailing and killing (or COJAK).
But, why COJAK now? Because, autocracy has come to realize that:
– its popular support has eroded to the point of no return. Autocratic clan has become the 1% that enriches itself through “Hostile Takeover” leaving 99% of the population scraping dirt to survive. The 99% is inclusive of the ordinary, honest and hard-working urban and countryside people, the civil servants, policemen, soldiers who have to moonlight in order to be able to bring foods and textbooks to their children. How can one rationally explain that with a monthly salary of about US$1,800, one would have a fortune of about US$200 millions, and his closed family with a wealth estimated in the US$600-700 millions range? Please ask other Khmer families whose monthly income is equivalent to US$300-500 what would they think;
– its millions of “likers” have evaporated into the mist of cyberspace, and running the country through social media like a kid playing in a sandpit only commands respect from the mass of fools;
– cracks have surfaced among the mass of courtesans that make up the autocracy. Have you looked at the face of those courtesans who silently sit and listen almost daily to the vociferation at Koh Pich conference hall? Pathetic, the least one can say! Are they sending a message of disapproval through their silence? It’s fair to guess that there always are courtesans who want to free themselves, however!
Therefore, they resort to COJAK as the antithesis to the culture of dialog, and a modus operandi towards the 2017 and 2018 elections: jailing the official opposition and killing prospective opposition, even from cradles. Similar to the KR era, it is the renewed brutalization of Khmer by other Khmer. Same old story! Moreover, up to the immediate post-UNTAC time, they only had power to protect. After that period, the power has generated so much unethical wealth and fortune for themselves that power and wealth (or wealth and power) have become together, the 2 monuments that they have to protect at all costs. Communism creates dirty capitalists who use dirty communist tricks to protect filthy capitalism.
Kacvey, have you noticed that the climate of fear that they have created and instilled in the mind of Khmer people is nothing else than to hide the fear of losing power and wealth that they themselves have in their heart and mind? It’s the Ying and the Yang all over again. Therefore, 2 “fears” are in play simultaneously: the fear they impugn to Khmer people and the fear they involuntarily impose upon themselves, in other words, the unintended consequences. On the other hand, looking at a larger picture, it would not be impossible that the fear they feel inside themselves could be greater than the one they inflict on the population. If they lose the power, there would be no guarantee that they would be able to export their wealth to foreign countries. The example of the once-upon-a-time first family of the Philippines is still fresh in the memory of many foreign banks and litigation is still going on in many foreign courts. And don’t even talk about the pariah and the shame on the family’s name!
The 2 “fears” are in motion like the movement of positive and negative electric charges towards the meeting point which is a powder keg. And then … Kaboooooom!
The explosion will be explosive.
10 Sunday Jul 2016
My dear Kacvey,
You must be very saddened by the news of the death of Mr. Kem Ley by ASSASSINATION.
Please convey to Mr. Kem Ley’s family and his party’s members the most profound condolences expressed by Cambodia, Khmer and Cambodian democracy.
Mr. Kem Ley is departing this world and leaving a history of his courage to reinforce democracy in Cambodia by refusing to submit himself to both, ruling and opposition, parties and by telling all Khmer that Cambodia is bigger than any party/parties, individually or combined.
The way the assassin executed Mr. Kem Lay leaves serious doubts that he, although being a lone gunner, acted on his own initiative. It also tells other Khmer that when autocracy of KR ideology gets caught red-handedly, they, be it man or woman, revert to the old techniques and tactics of KGB, Stasi or Red Guards to eliminate all obstacles strewn on their path. They talk democracy, but they hold a gun hidden under a handkerchief in the back of the people they pretend to govern. They fire it with desire and at will.
Kacvey, again this background, Mr. Kem Ley used “to joke”: “Kill one to scare one thousand.” For the respect of his memory and courage, and for those Khmer who carry, for posterity, his torch of pure and honest democracy and respect of Khmer dignity, let reconsider that “joke” to mean: “Kill one, one thousand will sprout.”
Mr. Kem Ley, you will not be forgotten and the day of your assassination is the day of birth of a new order of moral revolution in Cambodia. We call it: Khmer Consciousness Revolution.
This photo album will carry your memory into the realm of permanency.
=====
Update:
– 16 January 2017, The Phnom Penh Post: Kem Ley’s killer met with gov’t officials, report says
– 12 January 2017, Al Jazeera (video), 101 East investigates the suspicious murder of a political activist in Cambodia: Cambodia’s Deadly Politics
– 8 February 2017, The Phnom Penh Post: Kem Ley murder trial date set for only suspect in analyst’s killing
– 10 February 2017, Los Angeles Times: A human rights activist is slain in Cambodia, and the mystery leads all the way to California
– 2 March 2017, The Cambodia Daily: ‘Meet Kill’ Admits Guilt At Hasty Kem Ley Trial
– 2 March 2017, The Phnom Penh Post: Kem Ley trial: ‘Meet to kill’ sticks with debt story in only hearing into analyst’s death
– 3 March 2017, The Cambodia Daily: Kem Ley Murder Video Raises More Suspicions
– 23 March 2017, The New York Times: A Life Sentence in Cambodia, but Kem Ley’s Murder Is Far From Solved
– March 2017, Mekong Review: Meet Kill
– 7 April 2017, The Phnom Penh Post: Chevron seeks to quash subpoena for Kem Ley murder footage
– 21 April 2017, The Cambodia Daily: Pilgrims Flock to Kem Ley’s Childhood Home
– 10 July 2017. Global Witness: ONE YEAR SINCE KEM LEY’S ASSASSINATION, WE’RE LEFT WITH MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS
– 8 August 2017, The Phnom Penh Post: Chevron to hand over Kem Ley files
– 20 September 217: Kem Ley: Breaking down the façade of justice
– 27 October 2017, The Phnom Penh Post: US court again orders Chevron to cooperate in Kem Ley case
– 19 February 2018, RFA: ភរិយានិងកូនៗរបស់លោកបណ្ឌិត កែម ឡី បានទៅរស់នៅប្រទេសអូស្ត្រាលី
– 9 July 2019, Forum-Asia: Joint statement – Cambodia: Three years and still no effective investigation into Dr. Kem Ley’s killing
– 23 July 2019, UCA News: Fear remains 3 years after slaying of Cambodian political commentator
– 2 July 2020, RFA: ស្ថានភាពភរិយា និងកូនទាំងប្រាំនាក់របស់បណ្ឌិត កែម ឡី នៅប្រទេសអូស្ត្រាលី
04 Monday Jul 2016
My dear Kacvey,
Let continue the “War of Words” series (Part I on 20 March 2015, and Part II on 15 November 2015) as the heat has again intensified in the City of Tonlé Bun Mouk between the “stars” of the two main parties with the introduction by the autocratic ruler of a short phrase: “imprisoned forever.”
First and foremost, this is what “to imprison” and “forever” (or “for ever”) are defined in the English dictionary:
– “to imprison”: to put (someone) in or as if in prison; to put someone in a place and not let them out;
– “forever”: for a very long time; for an endless time; for all time; eternally; without ever ending; for ever lasting time.
You may ask what is the relevancy of the context for such definitions?
It is simply because – Thanks to the Cambodia Daily for its reporting! – the autocratic ruler had, on Wednesday 27 June 2016, told the world that wishes (or doesn’t) to hear him that the ex-vice-president of the NA, now confined in his party headquarters, could be “imprisoned forever.” You may as well open up a discussion with your law school students on the legal and institutional implications of this short phrase, albeit the nonsensical order from the ministry of education to ban any political discussion in the classroom.
For now, how about making a vivisection of that short phrase to find out what would it imply or mean to the two of them for now or later?
According to The Cambodia Daily, the autocratic ruler publicly and emphatically said that “I want to send you the message that you will be imprisoned forever,” “I” being himself, and “you” the now-confined ex-vice-president of the NA.
So saying, the autocrat confirms what the whole world has known since ever that:
– he holds all the power in the country;
– the justice system is in his hands and the court is there to execute his order;
– he already pronounces the guilty verdict and sets the sentence even before the start of the judicial proceedings;
– he is the supreme lord that does not allow any challenge to his realm, and
– he re-ascertains his devotion to Vladimir Lenin’s precept: “Give us the child for 8 years, it will be Bolshevik for ever.”
So far, nothing surprises anybody because, as an ex-communist and ex-KR, he always feeds on hatred, hostile and violent behavior, aggression and imprisonment of those who dare oppose him and his regime. But does he know that:
– for already 31 years, he imprisons himself in his own belief and self-aggrandisement, being blind to what has been constantly happening around and everywhere;
– he has been going through political life without the trust of a very large segment of the population because he is imprisoned in the worst cell of all, himself?
– a broken bone can heal, but the wound the “imprisoned forever” words open will fester forever?
– if he imprisoned a man “forever,” could he also imprison that man’s mind and soul?
– if he imprisoned a man for political view and without armed violence, he shackled the whole nation with fear, revulsion, horror and aversion to his regime? and
– history has taught sane spirit that no dictator can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms and injustice forever?
Well, Kacvey, he who boasts about abiding the law, but turns out to be the one who uses the law as a toilet seat, can never rise higher than he has so far risen. The hash reality is that there is a limit or an end to everything.
Why, then, does he condemn and plan to imprison the now-confined ex-vice-president of the NA “forever” for a made-up crime that has so far not proved anything yet? Whatever crime the latter might have committed, if ever, where does it say that that “crime” would make him serve jail time for perpetuity? Would the punishment fit the crime? When insanity gallops in one’s mind, it just can’t stop it, can it?
As “forever” is a long time span for whoever knows the notion of universal time, the autocrat must have a belief of super-natural power by which he can challenge the law of nature of life and death. The axioms by which “nobody lives forever,” “nothing can exist for ever” and “nothing lasts forever (even one’s trouble or blessing)” seem to be not in the autocrat’s book of wisdom, if any. Kacvey, do you recall the mythological tale how Atlas was “for ever” turned to stone by Zeus, and as a punishment, to stay on the edge of Earth holding up Heaven from preventing both of them to embrace each other? Any voluntary sculptor to execute and erect stone statues of the watchdog and the incarcerated in front of another “S-21” to eternize their “War of Words.” Well, “forever” one may live outside or inside the prison, the fact remains that Cambodia is bigger than the jailed or the jailor.
William Howard Taft,once, said “Presidents come and go, but the Supreme Court goes on forever.” Even the sun sets in paradise.
=====
Update:
On 2 December 2016, the king pardoned Kem Sokha as reported by:
The Cambodia Daily: Kem Sokha Granted Royal Pardon at Hun Sen’s Request
The Phnom Penh Post: Royal pardon for Kem Sokha