FOR PUBLICATION

AHRC-ETC-007-2013

February 01, 2013

An article by Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth published by the Asian Human

Rights Commission

CAMBODIA: Mam Sonando & Sam Rainsy: "Everything will be all right in

the end"

Cambodia is holding a second week-long period of national mourning

for the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk, from Friday, February 1 to

Thursday, February 7. No "joyful" entertainments will be permitted,

flags will fly at half-mast, the Cambodian people are to wear black

ribbons on their shirts, and civil servants will receive two holidays,

on February 1 and 4.

The King Father's body will be moved from the Royal Palace to an

adjacent crematorium at the Meru field on the first day of the

mourning period. The body will remain at Meru for three days. The

cremation will occur on February 4. Eleven thousand security forces

are deployed in Phnom Penh. More than a million people are expected to

join the royal procession and cremation. The King has requested that

his ashes be put in an urn and placed in a stupa in the Royal Palace.

On this occasion, I humbly bow from across the seas to join in the

national mourning for the last Khmer god-king. May his soul rest in

eternal peace.

/*Royal pardons*/

In Cambodia, royal pardons and prison sentence reductions are granted

on three occasions each year: Khmer New Year (in April), the Buddhist

Visak Bochea Day (Buddha Day, in May), and the Water Festival (Bon Om

Touk, when excess waters of the Tonle Sap flow back into the Mekong,

usually in November).

While still living, the late King Father had wished for "national

reconciliation and national harmony." In that spirit, Cambodia's

Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana announced that current King Sihamoni

will sign the release and sentence reductions for about 500 prisoners

on February 4 to mark the King Father's cremation, an exceptional

"special" event.

Last November at the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, Thai Prime Minster

Yingluck Shinawatra asked Prime Minister Hun Sen to consider pardoning

two imprisoned Thais, Ratree Pipattanapaiboon and Veera Somkwamkid.

Subsequently Hun Sen told the Justice Ministry to grant a royal pardon

to Ratree and to consider reducing Veera's prison term.

Absent are two Khmer names. One is 71-year-old Mam Sonando, director

of Cambodia's independent Beehive Radio station, which broadcast

criticisms of human rights abuses for years. Sanando is now serving a

20-year-jail-term for "secessionism."

Amnesty International named Sonando a "prisoner of conscience."

Independent observers see Sonando's actions as having nothing to do

with insurrection but "everything to do with the suppression of

dissent over an ongoing series of land grabs, illegal logging and

forced evictions," to quote the New York Times.

The other name missing from the pardon list is Sam Rainsy, the new

head of the opposition coalition National Rescue Party (NRP). Rainsy

currently is in self-imposed exile in Paris to avoid a 12-year prison

term on criminal charges which Rainsy and independent observers

consider to be "politically motivated." Numerous international and

domestic rights groups – including US President Barack Obama –

have appealed for Sonando's release and for Rainsy to be permitted to

return to Cambodia.

/*A "win-win"?*/

Cambodia's second period of national mourning presents Hun Sen with

an opportunity to add Sonando and Rainsy to the "special" pardon list

to honor the late King Father. Hun Sen loses nothing by releasing

Sonando. Rather, the action would likely earn him praise from the very

groups that now criticize him. A royal pardon for Rainsy means this

main opposition leader can participate in the July election, an

essential element of a democracy, which Hun Sen and his ruling

Cambodian People's Party have said they embrace.

Hun Sen and the CPP have been saying they are certain to win in July.

In control of government machinery since he became prime minster in

1985, it seems unlikely Hun Sen would lose. He's likely to win by hook

or by crook. His victory would legitimize his and the CPP's continued

rule. He said he wants to be ruler until he's 90. Hun Sen is 60 years

old.

/*Unless…*/

Unless Hun Sen and the CPP fear that Cambodia's electorate may

surprise them again (!) at the 2013 polls as they did at the first

ever free and fair elections organized and supervised by the UN in

1993, when voters cast ballots for challenger, Prince Ranariddh, head

of the royalist FUNCINPEC.

Not accepting the people's verdict, Hun Sen threatened war. To avoid

war, Ranariddh's father, the late King Father, conceived of a

no-winner no-loser solution. Two equally powerful Prime Minister

positions were created. The short term solution was a recipe for

disaster. In 1997, Second Prime Minister Hun Sen unleashed armed

soldiers loyal to him to engage in street fighting against First Prime

Minster Ranariddh's royalist soldiers. Thus, Ranariddh was ousted from

power.

Today there's no King Father to come to Hun Sen's rescue.

/*In praise of US tradition*/

In a democracy, politics is a sport. Election winners govern

according to the Constitution; election losers step aside but their

rights are protected; the country moves on. The principle of "power

rotation" is ingrained. Winners know they aren't in power forever;

losers also know today the winners govern, but tomorrow may be their

turn if the people so choose. In a democracy, power changes hands.

Ten days ago I watched the inauguration of President Barack Obama for

his second term as the 44th President of the United States: He took

the oath in a swearing-in ceremony at the White House on January 20;

the next day, a public ceremony, the 57th inauguration of the US

President, was attended by about a million people.

Tennessee's senior senator, Lamar Alexander, spoke in televised

remarks on this occasion. His comments summarized well what I would

like to write about the US tradition of transferring/reaffirming US

power. Americans seem to do this better than any other nation under

the sun.

"Today we praise the American tradition of transferring or

reaffirming immense power . . . We do this in a peaceful, orderly way.

There is no mob, no coup, no insurrection. This is a moment when

millions stop and watch. A moment most of us always will remember. A

moment that is the most conspicuous and enduring symbol of our

democracy. How remarkable that this has survived for so long in such a

complex country with so much power at stake – this freedom to vote

for our leaders and the restraint to respect the results…"

/*Khmer culture */

Very sadly, hundreds of years of Khmer tradition taught Cambodians to

/kaowd klach/ (admire and fear), /smoh trang/ (be loyal), /bamroeur

/(serve), and /kapier /(defend) their leaders unconditionally, rather

than defend the nation's high principles and ideals. Khmer society

values class, status, rank, role relationships that further divide

society into superior-inferior, boss-client, leader-follower roles.

That tradition and those values contribute to a zero sum culture that

sees everything in black and white, instills a winner-loser mentality,

focuses on honor and face. In this world, a compromise is an admission

that the "other" guy is not all wrong, and you are not totally right.

Worse, Khmers hold subsequent generations liable for perceived

affronts. /Chaim muoy cheat,/ remember /muoy cheat/, which encompasses

seven generations, from /chi tuot /(great, great great grandfather),

/chi luot/ (great, great grandfather), /chi leah/ (great grandfather),

through /chi ta/ (grandfather), /ovpouk/ (father), /kaun/ (child),

/chao/ (grandchild) – a very, very long time.

Will the opportunity that this second period of national mourning

presents produce something constructive, or will the political players

in Cambodia continue to demonize one another? It's likely that this

tradition of bad behavior will continue, taking "an eye for an eye."

As some wags note, a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye will

leave many Cambodians toothless and blind.

And yet, I nourish a feeling that as in the Khmer political world

things aren't usually what they appear, "something" may be worked out

for royal pardons and sentence reductions. .

*/Khmer political Ramvong /*

Cambodians have a passion for song and dance. Julia Wallace, writing

for the New York Times in "Cambodian Strongman and Karaoke King,"

describes karaoke as "very big" in Cambodia. Besides office workers

singing and dancing the night away, young viewers download videos onto

their computer and sing at home. Wallace reports that every channel of

Cambodia's nine major television networks – owned by government

officials or business people with close ties to the CPP – airs a

karaoke video singing praises of Prime Minister Hun Sen or his

wife,Bun Rany.

A karaoke video praising Hun Sen and Bun Rany aligns with the Khmer

tradition I described above. The impact of seeing and hearing that

karaoke again and again effectively bypasses critical thinking. The

music subconsciously bludgeons the listener into loyalty (/smoh

trang/) for the individuals in the image and the song.

There's a popular Khmer circle dance, the /Ramvong/, that draws

villagers from near and far to Khmer festivities. As long as the

drumbeats sound, participants get on their feet, move their hands

gracefully, move with simple footwork, going around and around in a

circle following the rhythm. Khmers say, /Ramvong toarl phlu/' or

Dancing 'til dawn.

In the Khmer political world, Hu Sen is a master at managing the

Khmer political Ramvong. He controls the drumbeat, keeps his

supporters, his opponents, and Western aid donors dancing around and

around in a circle.

Hun Sen's Rainsy /Ramvong/ is fascinating. Hun Sen's National

Election Committee removed Rainsy's name from the country's voter

registry as Cambodian law prohibits a person convicted of a crime from

participating in elections. On that day, the US State Department

expressed disapproval of Cambodia's decision, and raised the "question

of legitimacy of the whole democratic process in Cambodia." Four days

later, Rainsy told Radio Free Asia "I will be back in Cambodia before

the July elections."

The government responded that anyone can come to Cambodia; Cambodia

is an "independent state"; nobody tells Cambodia what to do; and

Cambodia will execute the court's verdicts against Rainsy, i.e., he

will be arrested on Khmer soil and put in jail.

In mid-November 2012, before President Obama reportedly chastised Hun

Sen on his poor human rights records, US Defense Secretary Leon

Panetta met Cambodian defense minister Tea Banh in Siemreap. News

reports revealed the training of Cambodian troops by US Special

Operations forces. Indeed, the US government has been unhappy with Hun

Sen's dismal rights record. But it is known that the US gave Hun Sen's

three sons support. The eldest, Hun Manet, the apparent heir, was

given a cost-free education at West Point; senior intelligence

official Hun Manith was assisted to study in Germany; and Hun Many,

the youngest, was permitted to study for an M.A. in strategic studies

at Washington's National Defense University.

It's not difficult to see the US seeks access to Cambodia. Hun Sen

knows it. Last month, he congratulated Obama on his re-election. Obama

responded, he looks forward to strengthening US-Cambodia relations in

the next four years.

Thus, the Ramvong beat goes on.

/*Food for thought*/

Today's political stakes in Cambodia are high. And there was a

history lesson to ponder.

Hun Sen's coup in 1997 that sent Ranariddh into exile was undertaken

to ensure that the people would not surprise him in the 1998 election.

Ranariddh was in exile.

After 2 to 3 billion dollars spent on a political solution following

the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements to end Cambodia's long internal wars,

the international community wanted to maintain the illusion of

Cambodia as a success story. Ranariddh's exile would mean a lopsided

election. So, the prince was told by a representative of a friendly

government that he must participate in the 1998 election, or he would

be left out. In agony, the prince got on board. Hun Sen who made

certain he would win the election, did win. Never mind that the

election fell short of international standards. The fiction of a

Cambodian "success story" was maintained – after all, that was the

purpose of the 1991 PPA: To turn bullets into ballots, one way or

another.

Today Sam Rainsy is needed in Cambodia by the international

community, and by Hun Sen, himself, to legitimize the July 2013

election. Sam Rainsy needs Hun Sen's approval to return to Cambodia to

avoid 12 years in jail. Hun Sen needs Sam Rainsy to legitimize the

election. Hun Sen, Sam Rainsy, and the international community need

one another.

I have no crystal ball to see the future. But history has provided

lessons about humans' abilities to "work things out." It's easier to

grant a royal pardon to Sonando. For Rainsy's return to Cambodia, a

"deal" giving Hun Sen the upper hand, and Sam Rainsy, a "junior"

partnership is possible. Rainsy's past behavior tells me he'll likely

accept.

On a light note, we can recall the words of Patel, the hapless but

eternally optimistic hotel manager in the film, Best Exotic Marigold

Hotel: "Everything will be all right in the end. If it's not all

right, it is not yet the end."