Fw: Appeal to Parliamentarians of All Countries

[Sam Rainsy Party of North America]

20 September 2010





APPEAL TO PARLIAMENTARIANS OF ALL COUNTRIES





My name is Sam Rainsy. I am a member of parliament of Cambodia and the leader 
of my country’s second largest political party.



As the leader of a vocal opposition I have been persecuted by the authoritarian 
ruling party and government of Cambodia.



In 1995, I was expelled from parliament, but I managed to recover my 
parliamentary seat through subsequent elections. I have escaped several 
assassination attempts, such as a deadly grenade attack in 1997, but some 
eighty of my supporters have been murdered. Besides trying to kill me or to 
expel me from parliament, the ruling party has managed to strip me of my 
parliamentary immunity three times and to get me sentenced to prison terms 
twice. While currently in exile, I am expecting another sentence of up to 
fifteen years in jail, again under false charges.



My only crime is my unyielding denunciation of corruption and human rights 
abuses and my unwavering defense of the people who have elected me as their 
representative.



In 2006, I received the Prize for Freedom from Liberal International. 



The strategy of Cambodia’s ruling party is to use a politically subservient 
judiciary to crackdown on all government critics.



On 28 January 2009, following my last conviction by the Kangaroo court, Human 
Rights Watch titled a statement, “Cambodia: Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy’s 
Trial a Farce” and added, “conviction demonstrates continuing persecution of 
critics, political control of judiciary.”



In a 17 June 2010 report, Professor Surya Subedi, the United Nations Special 
Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Cambodia deplores “external 
interference in the work of the judiciary.”



In a 12-15 July 2010 decision of  its Committee on the Human Rights of 
Parliamentarians, the Inter-Parliamentary Union “reaffirms that the judicial 
action against Mr. [Sam] Rainsy bears no relationship to the alleged offence." 

   

A 14 September 2010 statement of a coalition of 16 Human Rights NGOs reads, 
“the government has used the courts to silence criticism of its responses to 
land-grabbing, corruption and border disputes," and the “criminal charges 
[against Sam Rainsy] are politically motivated.”  





I call on your solidarity as fellow parliamentarians. Please help me by asking 
the government of your respective countries to put pressure on the authorities 
of Cambodia so that I can resume my parliamentary work in acceptable conditions 
and continue to promote democracy in my country.



Thank you.



Sam Rainsy

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