"I not only weaken the opposition, I'm going to make them dead...and if anyone is strong enough to try to hold a demonstration, I will beat all those dogs and put them in a cage."
Well it certainly is not in that quote, but we will get to that.
So I had expected to be writing about my last day as a teacher next weekend, but I probably should have expected different. The ability to be flexible is important when it comes to being a teacher, maybe even more important in Cambodian(I'm sure many of my SALT friends have stories that would demonstrate competing thoughts). Tomorrow, June 3, commune elections are being held throughout the Kingdom of Cambodia. I've been trying understand exactly what that means, and how they would relate to elections back home; Cambodia has a parliamentary system, so there has to be some similarities, right? The best I can equate these elections to is municipal elections, like mayor and city council. However, in Cambodia the people running in these elections are tied to a party, the same parties that run for the national election. So it might be safe to say that the outcome on Sunday will give us a good idea what the big election will look like next year.
Because tomorrow is the election, and Cambodia's Prime Minister just joined the 10,000 club I figured now would be a great time to update you on situation here in Cambodia. When I say situation I mean the human rights situation. It ain't pretty. However, it is nowhere near Syria in terms of human rights offences, but it certainly is no sunny day at the park. The rich are getting richer, The poor are being evicted, opponents are getting thrown in jail, and yes people are being killed.
Let's start with the poor getting evicted. The story that has been dominating the headlines for a long time over here is the evictions of Boeung Kak. For along time the lake was a major tourist attraction in Phnom Penh and allowed thousands of residents to make a living. In 2007 an agreement was signed to start developing this lake and the lake and slowly been filled up. Home owners were forced from the land that they had lived on for decades and were told that they had been squatting on government owned land all this time. With no land titles they did not have much to stand on, but there has been a group of them who have refused to stay silent. Since I have been in Cambodia there have been numerous rallies by Boeung Kak residents, as well as local and international human rights organizations. Often these rallies end with the police and military rounding up a select group, stuffing them on a bus, and taking them down to a detention centre or jail house.
The most recent incident occurred on May 22. Thirteen women were arrested during a peaceful protest about the Boeung Kak evictions. 2 days latter they were put to trial, and were quickly convicted on the grounds of illegal occupancy of public land and obstruction of public officials. One of the sentenced was a 72 year old woman. There are some pretty tough women out there, but I think that you would agree with me that most woman at that age are not that formidable and are not doing a lot of obstructing. On the same day a prominent monk was picked up at a rally outside the courthouse and taken to a nearby pagoda where the police threatened to de-frock him.
As sad as this is, 2 years in jail pails in comparison to losing your life to a bullet. Chut Wutty, a well known environmental activist in Cambodia was shot to death in late April. He was taking 2 reporters through a forested area that has been the scene of rampant illegal logging. They were approached by an official who asked them to stop and presumably turn around. An argument then ensued between Wutty and the official which ended with the official shooting Wutty. Another incident happened a couple of weeks ago, again surrounding the issue of land evictions. This time a 14 year old girl from Kratie province was killed when a stray bullet struck her. The event happened during peaceful protests in Kratie. It seems the military and government really know only one way to deal with protests, and that is by force.
These are some of the more recent incidents that have happened really leaving a sour taste in my mouth and many others. There are many past events that have happened as well and I challenge you take a look at some of them including the story of Chea Vichea
Now back to that quote. It comes directly from the mouth of the democratic leader of Cambodia. Let's hope he doesn't have another 10,000 years here in Cambodia.
