Sam Rainsy Honors Victims of 1997 Grenade Attack at 11th Anniversary Commemoration

Pictures courtesy of Sam Rainsy Party : http://www.samrainsyparty.org/index.html

The International
Republican Institute
1225 Eye St., NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 408-9450
(202) 408-9462 fax
www.iri.org

For Immediate Release
March 28, 2008
Contact: Lisa Gates
202-572-1546
lgates@iri.org

Statement by the International Republican Institute

on the 11th Anniversary of a Grenade Attack on Peaceful Demonstrators in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

“Sunday marks the 11th anniversary of the tragic events of March 30, 1997, when 20 innocent people were killed and more than 100 injured during a peaceful demonstration of Sam Rainsy Party supporters. We are again reminded that for democracy to truly exist people must have the right to peacefully assemble and freely express themselves. Those who died on that day or continue to bear the scars of the attack made a terrific sacrifice for democracy and freedom in Cambodia – and that sacrifice should never be forgotten.

“IRI hopes the pre-election atmosphere allows political parties and citizens alike to freely express their views; and that the July 27 national assembly elections will allow all Cambodians to honor the memory of those who perished 11 years ago by courageously exercising their inherent right to freely choose their leaders.

“President Reagan once said, ‘Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit.’ IRI will continue to stand by the Cambodian people in their pursuit of freedom and a more democratic Cambodia.”

_____________________________

STATEMENT ON 11TH ANNIVERSARY OF GRENADE ATTACK.

Ron Abney, Cochran, Georgia ronabney@hotmail.com 478-934-8919, Cochran, Georgia, USA

DID THOSE KILLED ON MARCH, 30 1997 DIE IN VAIN?

What a sham and a farce the investigation of this tragic event has become. Every year we call on the Cambodian Government to investigate. We're asking the Hun Sen government to re-open a case which he never really opened.

The FBI found out within weeks of the attack that it was planned and carried out by Hun Sen's own private guards and covered up by Hun Sen's top police enforcers. What a crime was committed that day. We shouldn't be vague about culpability when we ask for a new investigation. So let's be real.

Did those slaughtered on 3/30/97 die in vain? Even today Hun Sen is the supreme and ultimate puppeteer of all that happens in Cambodia. He decides who will be exiled and who will be allowed back in the country. He decides how far each opposition party can go in criticizing has government. He makes sure the NEC is loaded with yes men who will validate the results of the election. He decides who will be jailed and who will be released. He decides the fate of pro-democracy party commune leaders who speak out and try to organize. His forces bribe opposition part officials to join CPP. And as we saw on 3/30/97 he decides when opposition goes too far.

He is a master of intrigue. He has told the world for years that his government will bring the Khmer Rouge leaders before his court for trail. How is that trial going by the way? These KR leaders are dying right and left of old age while the corrupt judicial system in Phnom Penh makes a farce out of a situation so tragic it still rips the heart out of those who suffered at the hands of Pol Pot.

Cambodia hasn't really changed. Everything looks shinier and tourists who fly from their own country to Bangkok or Hong Kong to Siem Reap and its five-star hotels and then back to their homes talk of how wonderful to see all the changes. They should travel about an hour from Siem Reap in any direction and see what has happened to the homeless who used to pack the streets of that great city.

Those gathered on 3/30/97 only asked for justice and political freedom. If they were alive today they would still be begging for basic human rights and the same freedom and opportunities that CPP officials enjoy.

In Cambodia everybody votes but nobody counts.