Cambodian civil rights activist comes to L.B.

Kem Sokha says he is returning to the political fold.
By Greg Mellen, Staff writer

LONG BEACH - Cambodian human rights activist Kem Sokha is back in the political game.
After spending five years as the ultimate political outsider, watch dog and critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People's Party in his role as president of the Cambodia Center for Human Rights, Kem announced he is stepping down from the nongovernmental organization to launch a new political party.

The Human Rights Party has applied for status from the Cambodian Ministry of the Interior and could be officially recognized by next week.

In an effort to drum up international support, Kem has been touring the North American continent, with recent stops in Canada, Seattle and Northern California.

On Sunday, he will speak in Long Beach at the Holiday Inn, 1133 Atlantic Ave., at 3 p.m. Admission is free. With the largest concentration of Cambodians in the United States, Long Beach is a vital stop for native Cambodians seeking U.S. support. This is Kem's second visit to Long Beach in just over a year.

With national elections slated in 2008, Kem hopes to provide a legitimate opposition party to the ruling CPP, which has been consolidating power in Cambodia.

After walking away from the often unseemly world of Cambodian politics in 2002, Kem earned tremendous popularity in his country, particularly in rural areas, as an advocate for human rights.

Across the countryside, Kem's group organized forums in which residents aired grievances and discussed the issues of the day. The forums, which were often highly critical of the government, were broadcast on the "Voice of Democracy" radio program.

"For almost five years, I educated people about human rights and democracy," Kem said. "Now the people ask me to go into politics."

Asked to run

According to Kem, more than 200,000 Cambodians signed petitions recruiting him to create a party.

"I tell them, I don't want to establish a party. I want them to establish a party, and I will help them," Kem says.

Kem is no stranger to Cambodian politics. He was a member of the parliament established after the United Nations sanctioned elections in 1993 and served until 2002 as a representative and senator. He was also chairman of the National Assembly Human Rights Commission.

However, throughout his career, he has been a lightning rod, in part because of his liberal views about democracy.

In January 2006, he was jailed for 17 days on criminal defamation charges, which were later dropped. When news of Kem's jailing was released, there was immediate condemnation from the international community, which likely hastened his release.

Kem also fled the country in 1997 after a government coup, and in 1998, he sought protection in the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh.

Critics of Kem have questioned his motives since he created his human rights group, claiming it barely disguised his true goals of returning to politics.

A year ago, when Kem was declaring he was uninterested in politics, the Sam Rainsy Party said Kem had "aims at conquering the SRP electorate for his future political party."

Other critics say, at best, Kem will dilute the power of opposition parties and help Hun Sen and the CCP further consolidate their power.

"(Those) people don't understand what I do," Kem said. "My objective is real democracy in Cambodia. There are many parties in Cambodia, but no real democracy."

To underscore his claim that he is not seeking personal power, Kem says one of the main platforms in his party is a two-term term limit.

The effect

Michael Hayes, publisher and editor in chief of the English-language Phnom Penh Post, says it's too early to gauge Kem's electoral clout.

"It depends on how much money he can raise for his campaign. Obviously, the more `opposition parties' there are, the less likely the chance any one of them will gain a significant number of seats in Parliament. So this will be a problem for the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), which is currently the strongest opposition party," Hayes said in an e-mailed response to questions.

The relationship between Kem and Sam Rainsy has been prickly in the past, which may make for rough going in attempts at coalition.

For now, the Sam Rainsy Party is taking a neutral stance.

"For SRP, we welcome all political parties which abide by democratic principles like us," Chrea Sochenda of Sam Rainsy Party told Radio Free Asia, "but in general, SRP has no concern about anybody forming a political party, or about any personality forming his party."

Hayes sees a wrinkle in the upcoming vote.

"The elections will be interesting, mostly because around 1 million Cambodians will have turned 18 since the 2003 elections and will thus be eligible to vote," Hayes wrote in an e-mail. "These young people have different aspirations and world views than their parents and no memories of the Khmer Rouge years. The opposition is hoping they will vote for change; the CPP is working on ways to get them to support the ruling party."

Kem says the recent commune-level elections in his country showed a lot of disaffection and apathy among voters. He is after the estimated 2.5 million voters who didn't exercise their rights to vote.

"I want to integrate those 2.5 million," Kem said. "If you give people hope and choice, that's real democracy."