Mu Sochua is not fighting for nothing

Mu Sochua, a Khmer lady has not been doing nothing, because she doesn't keep her fear and injustice feeling in a quiet place. Like Suyi of Burma and Cory of Philippine, Sochua is heading forward for the sustainable and genuine peace, prosperity and democracy of Cambodia.

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr said "The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people". Mu Sochua is the prolific current Cambodian democratic leader who is not silencing in front of a dictatorial leader. After the suffering of civil war, Cambodian people are facing with a new type of regime which has visibly emerged as the pseudo-democracy. Hun Sen who is the main leader has never given up his political culture of violence, dictatorship and he has well utilized the brand name of democracy to fool Cambodian people through the biased mass media and patrimonial system. Observers spontaneously stated that the government has stepped backward by silencing the voices of all dissents and opposition. Sam Rainsy Party has been cornered by Hun Sen government. Mu Sochua has to stand up from that corner and many more will stand up with her.

What Cambodian people want to project for their future? Does current stability of Hun Sen government ensure their future sustainable peace and growth? No one know or can predict it rightly. But what we know and can predict correctly is that when the rule of law and democratic principle are not flourished in any land, that land is still under a despotic leader. So Cambodian people wish to stand up or to keep this status quo?

Look at this video clip. Thousand answers are waiting your brilliant voices and participation. We don't see any national news reporters took this video to broadcast in the TV channel for Cambodian people to watch. Cambodian people are currently living under the darkness with one-sided mass media. All good things are repeatedly broadcasting to fool the Cambodian people. But how about corrupted officials, violence, land eviction and this type of video clip? Do Cambodian people have chance to weight their belief?

Mu Sochua dare to face with powerful prime minister Hun Sen in this lawsuit. It is really injustice for her when a victim like her has been easily twisted. When she used her basic rights to protect herself from insulting, that basic rights has badly reversibly affected her, under this pseudo-democratic country.

University professor James Q. Wilson said that "Without liberty, law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression. Without law, liberty also loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness"

Interestingly, Former German naval officer and victim of the Nazis, Martin Niemöller said that "First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out -- because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out -- because I was not a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out --because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak out for me."

Cambodia folk tale of "a fox and a young sheep". Cambodian people are like a young sheep that have been cared by a fox.

The above quotes were beautifully mentioned by Professor Peang-Meth in his weekly articles. He also ended one of his articles very intrigued that "Man can learn, unlearn, and relearn. Encourage man to think freely, to innovate and not to shy away from risks; dare man to read, write and speak without fear; instill in man hope, which specialists define as “energy and ideas that drive people to change their circumstances,” to reach goals, to have motivation, and to seek improvement. This is the road to a better way for Cambodians."

Mu Sochua, a Khmer lady has not been doing nothing, because she doesn't keep her fear and injustice feeling in a quiet place. Like Suyi of Burma and Cory of Philippine, Sochua is heading forward for the sustainable and genuine peace, prosperity and democracy of Cambodia.

KY

An olive branch of hope

Written by Mu Sochua, MP

Tuesday, 12 May 2009

Although the fight is far from over, I remain hopeful that there shall be justice. I rest in peace now because I know that millions of women the world over fight the same fight and that our networks are more powerful than the power of leaders who control their people through fear.

Dear Editor,

I am writing to clarify the meaning of "olive branch", a term used in the article "Mu Sochua offers olive branch to PM Hun Sen over lawsuits" (May 11).

On April 23, 2009, I took a very bold step to sue a man who is greatly feared by the people of Cambodia, and this symbolic legal pursuit has served as a message to the public that fear is only a mental block that will continue to paralyse us unless we look at it straight on and deal with it. The people of Cambodia are still traumatised by the legacy of the Khmer Rouge. It is because of this trauma that we are willing to live through injustices that control our daily lives and even the fate of a nation. If we continue to live in fear, then we will pass it on to our daughters and sons, and thus become part of the web of unchallenged power.

My lawyer presented all the evidence to the prosecutor when he was summoned. I am forever grateful to my lawyer, who is a very brave man, who believes in building justice for our people despite the fact that he is facing a lawsuit filed against him by the prime minister and a complaint by the lawyer of the prime minister with the Cambodian Bar Association for "defaming" the prime minister, but mainly because he dares to defend me. My lawyer could be disbarred as every decision made in this country is controlled by one central system. The price my lawyer might have to pay is too great. The public as well as the international community, who have been part of this process through their statements and watching eyes, should continue to monitor with great vigilance.

Last week I responded positively to an appeal by a war veteran who asked that both lawsuits be withdrawn and for both sides to put the interests of the nation first. I was so moved by his plea, I felt and heard the wisdom in his words. He made that appeal when I was on the Hello VOA call-in program on Voice of America.

I suppose that my response is labelled as an "olive branch" and I feel honoured by this comparison, as in Western culture the olive branch is a symbol of peace or good will, or at least a sign of hope for peace in time of war, and it is handed over by one side of the parties in conflict to the other side. It is far different from defeat or fear. I can only hope that we Cambodians who have long been in conflict with one another will consider the "olive branch" as the lotus flower that we bring to the pagoda to pray for peace.

Although the fight is far from over, I remain hopeful that there shall be justice. I rest in peace now because I know that millions of women the world over fight the same fight and that our networks are more powerful than the power of leaders who control their people through fear.

Mu Sochua, MP
Sam Rainsy Party

From the Phnom Penh Post

As I Walk to Prison: Letter from Mu Sochua

Today, I am faced with the real possibility of going to jail because as self-defense I dare to sue the prime minister of Cambodia, a man who has ruled this nation for 30 years. Having been assaulted to the point where I stood half exposed in front of men, by a general I caught using a state car to campaign for the party of the prime minister, I found myself assaulted again, this time verbally by the prime minister who compares me to a woman hustler who grabbed men for attention.

(2009-05-04)

Original letter: http://cald.org/site/feature.php?id=569

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Between 1975-1979, over 1.7 million Cambodian women, men and children were killed by the Khmer Rouge- among them my parents. The world community knew about it but watched from afar. Cambodia has come out of genocide and on the road to reconstruction but this stage of reconstruction is stuck and in many ways quickly falling back to point zero. 30 years after the genocide of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia has made some progress but too small. Over 2,000 innocent Cambodian women die every year of childbirth, at least one million Cambodian children go to bed hungry every night, hundreds of thousands Cambodian children and female youth are ruined in brothels, over 200,000 families have been brutally forced of their land and homes, and over 75% of Cambodia’s forests have now been destroyed. Innocent lives of my people could be saved if justice were served, if top leaders of my broken nation were less greedy, if development were meant for all.

I left Cambodia as an innocent young adolescent because the Vietnam war was approaching and hundreds and thousands of sick, wounded and hungry families were already telling us that Cambodia was lost. I returned home 18 years later with two young children, to a nation in ruins. A new beginning gave us hope when the UN came to help Cambodia organize its first democratic election in 1993. It cost the world community 2 billion dollars. I became a leader in the women’s movement, moving communities and walking the peace walk in city streets and dirt roads to pray for non-violence. I joined politics and became the first woman to lead the women’s ministry that was lead by a man, campaigned nationwide to put an end to human trafficking, authored the draft law on domestic violence, signed treaties with neighboring countries to protect our women and children from being prosecuted as illegal migrants but to receive proper treatment as victims of sex slavery.

I witness violence not as a victim but I listen to hundreds and thousands of women and children speak of the shame, the violation, the soul that is taken away when violence is afflicted on their bodies and on their minds. As a politician I always try to take action, to walk to the villages where life seems to have stopped for centuries, I challenge the top leadership of the government - I question international aid.

Today, I am faced with the real possibility of going to jail because as self-defense I dare to sue the prime minister of Cambodia, a man who has ruled this nation for 30 years. Having been assaulted to the point where I stood half exposed in front of men, by a general I caught using a state car to campaign for the party of the prime minister, I found myself assaulted again, this time verbally by the prime minister who compares me to a woman hustler who grabbed men for attention.

Within days my parliamentary immunity will be lifted so the court can "investigate" my case. This is normal procedure for politicians from the opposition party or human rights activists or the poor who cannot bribe court officials. I will be detained in the notorious prison of "Prey Sar" for as long as the courts wish to take.

Many of my colleagues in the opposition, including my party leader have faced this fate for speaking out.

Cambodia receives close to a billion dollars in 2009 from the international community, the USA contributing close to 60 million. Is the world still watching in silence while Cambodia is now ruled by one man? Is the world afraid to say that its aid is actually taking Cambodia backwards?

Let no Cambodian children go to bed hungry anymore. Let no Cambodian woman be sold anymore.

We must walk tall despite being people bent from the trauma of the Khmer Rouge, which is still a part of us. Let us not let our leaders and the world-community use this trauma to give us justice by the teaspoon.

Let there be real justice.


Mu Sochua
Member of Parliament
Sam Rainsy Party

Mu Sochua is an elected member of the Cambodian parliament and a tireless advocate for women’s rights and the victims of injustice. In 2005, Mu Sochua was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work against sex trafficking of women in Cambodia and neighboring Thailand. Vital Voices honored Mu Sochua with the 2005 Human Rights Global Leadership Award for her efforts to stem the tide of human trafficking.