April 23, 2009
Dear Cambodian brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, grandpas and grandmas:
I hope by now you have heard of the tragic story of Venerable Tim Sakhorn who is a courageous and humble Khmer Krom monk in Phnom Den, Karivong district, Takeo province, Cambodia.
He was kidnapped, defrocked, and disappeared in Phnom Penh in 2007, with some reports stating that he was crammed into a Toyota by unidentified assailants. He had resurfaced a few days later in Vietnam.
There, he was immediately charged with violating and endangering the security of Vietnam, using the 1979 so-called Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation imposed under duress by Vietnam during its invasion of Cambodia in 1979, as the excuse. He was tried and quickly convicted as charged by a Vietnamese court, put under house arrest in Vietnam for nearly two years, stripped of his Cambodian identity and declared that he is a Vietnamese. Only under the pressure from the European Union and the Human Rights Watch - Asia (HRW), was he recently allowed to temporary return to visit his family in Cambodia, under a Vietnamese passport with a visa that is only valid until April 17, 2009.
Considering his tremendous personal sacrifice by enduring the physical and psychological pain, along with an uncommon courage and dignity in the face of murderous, determined, and unrelenting enemies during all his adult life, in Vietnam and later on in Cambodia, the Venerable Tim Sakhorn who has just escaped to Thailand, is, by definition and through the examples of other great heroes in history, a true Cambodia hero. He deserves our admiration and respect for what he has been trying to do to defend Cambodia and her people against the unrelenting and murderous onslaught by the Vietnamese government within a well-designed and executed plan to complete the final phase of the Vietnamization of Cambodia known as “Southward March” or “Nam Tien” in Vietnamese.
However, a more ominous message behind the recent atrocities committed by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) on the brave Ven. Sakhorn represents a strong warning to all Cambodians that SRV will not tolerate any protest, however benign it may be against Vietnam by Cambodian, under the so-called Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation that was imposed on Cambodia when Vietnam invaded in 1978. More deadly and more dangerously, is the fact that Vietnam has unilaterally reserved the right to intervene militarily by invading Cambodia once again, should Hun Sen’s absolute rule is under any real threat of being toppled by the opposition parties. One can also infer that Hun Sen has been allowing the opposition parties to be operating, so long as the latter are not operationally effective. Unless we, Cambodian-Americans, who are living in complete freedom in this country, will act more vigorously and soon, the fate of the Cambodian people will be in jeopardy.
Based on the above observations, dear fellow-Cambodians, let us show our courage and civic duty as dignified and honorable human beings by joining hands to sign this proposed petition to the United States President Barack Obama to ask him to investigate the Vietnamization of Cambodia once again, and if the information that we have provided turn out to be true and accurate, we respectfully request him to use his presidential authorities to ask the Vietnamese and the Hun Sen regimes to stop committing atrocities against all Cambodians in Cambodia or in South Vietnam or Kampuchea Krom.
I strongly hope you still remember that in mid November 2005, we sent a petition to President George W. Bush to ask him to look into the same Vietnamization of Cambodia by sending unverifiable number of illegal immigrant into Cambodia with the support of Hun Sen and his CPP, in order to complete the Ho Chi Minh’s dream of transforming the former French Indochina Federation into the “greater Vietnam”.
Former President Bush did not listen to us much and chose to make Vietnam the main ally of the US in Asia. This time with the election of President Obama along with his message of CHANGE in the United States and in the world, it will be a totally different situation. His message of YES WE CAN is loud and clear and it’s time for all of us who believe in dignity, honor, and freedom, to do all we can so that our voice will be heard by the new president of the United States of America. We can all stand to benefit from this new era of hope. We believe President Obama is a once in a life time true reformer and defender of freedom for America and for the rest of the world as well.
Let us spread the words by saying YES WE CAN to stop the Vietnamization of Cambodia through President Obama who is prone and proven to be a true democratic leader in the world. YES WE CAN if we are heard by him, and with supports from many international NGO’s and human rights organizations such as European Union Parliamentarian, Asia Human Rights Watch under the leadership of Brad Adams, Christophe Peschoux, country representative of the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and a German Human Rights Advocate, Rebecca Sommer. The world seems to finally hear and listen to our Khmer Krom people’s voice. The world has finally paid attention. Let us bring our case to them and made our historical day, the history of our own writing and not the Vietnamese’s.
My dearest friends once again, look hard into our country of birth Cambodia from “Family Tree” report to “Cambodia for Sale” and from prostitution every where in the country to poor children along the waste centers, from the golf course along the Cambodia/Vietnam borders to the rice fields for rent to the Vietnamese along the borders, from the national oil resource to the national touristic center of Angkor Wat, etc... Over 60% of everything belongs to the Vietnamese, mainly through majority ownership and control of the most important corporation in Cambodia, SOKIMEX, led by Sok Kong, a self-confessed Vietnamese citizen. The Vietnamese are now in full control of the destiny of Cambodia and her people, and the Cambodia government under Hun Sen and his CPP. The Venerable Tim Sakhorn’s case is a clear example of what we, Cambodians, should be doing if we want to have any chance to remain free and retain our national identity as Khmer people.
Please, fellow-Cambodians, help us spread this urgent message by signing this petition and return it to us as early as possible. This is such a unique opportunity for all decent Cambodians to get support from the most important leaders of the countries in the world who are now well-informed on the atrocities committed by the SRV.
From the land of the free and from every corner of the world including in Cambodia proper and in Kampuchea Krom, you can start now by signing this petition by going to the following website, http://www.petitiononline.com/Khmer799, making sure to write the word Khmer with K in capital letter.
Dear Cambodian brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, grandpas and grandmas:
I hope by now you have heard of the tragic story of Venerable Tim Sakhorn who is a courageous and humble Khmer Krom monk in Phnom Den, Karivong district, Takeo province, Cambodia.
He was kidnapped, defrocked, and disappeared in Phnom Penh in 2007, with some reports stating that he was crammed into a Toyota by unidentified assailants. He had resurfaced a few days later in Vietnam.
There, he was immediately charged with violating and endangering the security of Vietnam, using the 1979 so-called Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation imposed under duress by Vietnam during its invasion of Cambodia in 1979, as the excuse. He was tried and quickly convicted as charged by a Vietnamese court, put under house arrest in Vietnam for nearly two years, stripped of his Cambodian identity and declared that he is a Vietnamese. Only under the pressure from the European Union and the Human Rights Watch - Asia (HRW), was he recently allowed to temporary return to visit his family in Cambodia, under a Vietnamese passport with a visa that is only valid until April 17, 2009.
Considering his tremendous personal sacrifice by enduring the physical and psychological pain, along with an uncommon courage and dignity in the face of murderous, determined, and unrelenting enemies during all his adult life, in Vietnam and later on in Cambodia, the Venerable Tim Sakhorn who has just escaped to Thailand, is, by definition and through the examples of other great heroes in history, a true Cambodia hero. He deserves our admiration and respect for what he has been trying to do to defend Cambodia and her people against the unrelenting and murderous onslaught by the Vietnamese government within a well-designed and executed plan to complete the final phase of the Vietnamization of Cambodia known as “Southward March” or “Nam Tien” in Vietnamese.
However, a more ominous message behind the recent atrocities committed by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) on the brave Ven. Sakhorn represents a strong warning to all Cambodians that SRV will not tolerate any protest, however benign it may be against Vietnam by Cambodian, under the so-called Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation that was imposed on Cambodia when Vietnam invaded in 1978. More deadly and more dangerously, is the fact that Vietnam has unilaterally reserved the right to intervene militarily by invading Cambodia once again, should Hun Sen’s absolute rule is under any real threat of being toppled by the opposition parties. One can also infer that Hun Sen has been allowing the opposition parties to be operating, so long as the latter are not operationally effective. Unless we, Cambodian-Americans, who are living in complete freedom in this country, will act more vigorously and soon, the fate of the Cambodian people will be in jeopardy.
Based on the above observations, dear fellow-Cambodians, let us show our courage and civic duty as dignified and honorable human beings by joining hands to sign this proposed petition to the United States President Barack Obama to ask him to investigate the Vietnamization of Cambodia once again, and if the information that we have provided turn out to be true and accurate, we respectfully request him to use his presidential authorities to ask the Vietnamese and the Hun Sen regimes to stop committing atrocities against all Cambodians in Cambodia or in South Vietnam or Kampuchea Krom.
I strongly hope you still remember that in mid November 2005, we sent a petition to President George W. Bush to ask him to look into the same Vietnamization of Cambodia by sending unverifiable number of illegal immigrant into Cambodia with the support of Hun Sen and his CPP, in order to complete the Ho Chi Minh’s dream of transforming the former French Indochina Federation into the “greater Vietnam”.
Former President Bush did not listen to us much and chose to make Vietnam the main ally of the US in Asia. This time with the election of President Obama along with his message of CHANGE in the United States and in the world, it will be a totally different situation. His message of YES WE CAN is loud and clear and it’s time for all of us who believe in dignity, honor, and freedom, to do all we can so that our voice will be heard by the new president of the United States of America. We can all stand to benefit from this new era of hope. We believe President Obama is a once in a life time true reformer and defender of freedom for America and for the rest of the world as well.
Let us spread the words by saying YES WE CAN to stop the Vietnamization of Cambodia through President Obama who is prone and proven to be a true democratic leader in the world. YES WE CAN if we are heard by him, and with supports from many international NGO’s and human rights organizations such as European Union Parliamentarian, Asia Human Rights Watch under the leadership of Brad Adams, Christophe Peschoux, country representative of the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and a German Human Rights Advocate, Rebecca Sommer. The world seems to finally hear and listen to our Khmer Krom people’s voice. The world has finally paid attention. Let us bring our case to them and made our historical day, the history of our own writing and not the Vietnamese’s.
My dearest friends once again, look hard into our country of birth Cambodia from “Family Tree” report to “Cambodia for Sale” and from prostitution every where in the country to poor children along the waste centers, from the golf course along the Cambodia/Vietnam borders to the rice fields for rent to the Vietnamese along the borders, from the national oil resource to the national touristic center of Angkor Wat, etc... Over 60% of everything belongs to the Vietnamese, mainly through majority ownership and control of the most important corporation in Cambodia, SOKIMEX, led by Sok Kong, a self-confessed Vietnamese citizen. The Vietnamese are now in full control of the destiny of Cambodia and her people, and the Cambodia government under Hun Sen and his CPP. The Venerable Tim Sakhorn’s case is a clear example of what we, Cambodians, should be doing if we want to have any chance to remain free and retain our national identity as Khmer people.
Please, fellow-Cambodians, help us spread this urgent message by signing this petition and return it to us as early as possible. This is such a unique opportunity for all decent Cambodians to get support from the most important leaders of the countries in the world who are now well-informed on the atrocities committed by the SRV.
From the land of the free and from every corner of the world including in Cambodia proper and in Kampuchea Krom, you can start now by signing this petition by going to the following website, http://www.petitiononline.com/Khmer799, making sure to write the word Khmer with K in capital letter.
We need some of you to volunteer as leaders to go around the communities to collect signatures (especially from those who do not have access to the internet) as many as you possibly can and send hard copies of those signatures to the following address:
6107 SW Murray BLVD. # 537
Beaverton, OR 97008
Warmest regards,
Friends of Cambodia
Contact persons:
Naranhkiri Tith, Ph.D. (202) 466-3376 user344111@aol.com
Kal Man (503) 641-6310 mabskl@aol.com
Veronica Ngi vn4alpha@yahoo.com
Saron Khut saronk4@gmail.com
Petition deadline: May 15, 2009
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