Members of the Cambodian community gathered outside Justin Trudeau’s constituency office in Montreal on Saturday to demand that Canada put pressure on the small kingdom, accused of flouting democracy and human rights.
Nearly fifty demonstrators waved flags of Cambodia, in blue and red colors, under the encouragement of the horns of motorists.
“Right now in Cambodia, there is no more opposition, freedom, civil society, independent media,” said Sochua Mu, vice-president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, present at the demonstration. His party was dissolved in 2017, so that no opposition would counterbalance the power of the prime minister. She has been in exile ever since.
Sochua Mu is a former Cambodian minister who defends democracy and women’s rights in Cambodia. Residing in the United States, she was passing through Montreal on the occasion of the demonstration.
Mme Mu was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. In office as Minister for the Status of Women and Veterans from 1998 to 2004, she has, among other things, campaigned against violence against women, human trafficking, and marital rape.
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHÉ, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Cambodia National Rescue Party Vice-Chairperson Sochua Mu
The rally took place on the occasion of the 30e anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreements on Cambodia, to which Canada is a signatory. This treaty ended a civil war that had ravaged the country for two decades. The Khmer Rouge, led by Communist Party leader Pol Pot, carried out a genocide that claimed the lives of nearly two million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979.
Prime Minister Hun Sen has since ruled the country in an authoritarian fashion. Corruption is also ravaging the country, reports Agence France-Presse. The international aid that was offered to Cambodia following the Paris agreements was not enough to restore democracy there.
Hun Sen has been in power for 37 years, and wants his eldest son, Hun Manet, to be his successor.
Call for international solidarity
Sokha Ly, a member of the Movement Against Violence in Cambodia, was dressed in a white sweater with the faces of environmentalists and activists imprinted under the current Cambodian regime.
“The fundamental rights of the Cambodian people are violated, and Cambodia’s neutrality is not respected. China has come to set up military base in Cambodia, raising concern […] that can cause instability in the region, ”he said.
Sochua Mu wants the Government of Canada to remind Hun Sen of its obligations as a signatory to the Paris Agreements. “Canada as a democratic country […] must be with the Cambodian people to protect freedom, ”she says.
For Sophane Am, who had left Cambodia during the war involving the Khmer Rouge, the signing of the Paris Agreements has a very personal meaning. This treaty allowed him to return to the country to see his mother, who had remained there.
“We have the right to commemorate [cet évènement]. The Cambodians there, they cannot, otherwise they will be taken to prison in the coming hours, ”says Mr. Am.
The protesters demanded that the government act before the federal elections in Cambodia in 2023. They want the process to unfold in a fair way.
Last year, the European Union imposed sanctions on Cambodia. The country’s authoritarian governance has not changed.
The Movement Against Violence in Cambodia believes, however, that if the international community unites on this cause, the country could eventually operate democratically.
With Agence France-Presse