Khmer opposition marches against election results

[Lite Beer]

CAMBODIA
Khmer opposition marches against election results

Photo : EPA

Phnom Penh - The Cambodian opposition on Sunday staged the biggest demonstration and march the country has seen since the disputed July national election, with tens of thousands of people turning out to protest against alleged electoral fraud.

Police presence was high in the capital, with many roads blocked off and fire-trucks with water cannons stationed near barbed-wire barricades behind which dozens of police in riot gear werepositioned.

"The aim of the march is the establishment of an independent committee to investigate irregularities," said opposition lawmaker-elect Mu Sochua.

"We are determined to find truth and justice for the voters ... Wecannot take our seats in parliament until this is resolved," she added.

Both the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party and incumbent Prime Minister Hun Sen’s long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party claim to have won the ballot, which, while more closely contested than ever before, gave the official win to the CPP with 68 parliamentary seats to the CNRP’s 55.

The opposition, led by Sam Rainsy, has alleged massive electoral fraud and claims to have won the vote.

For several weekends the CNRP have staged mass protests, drawing tens of thousands to peaceful assemblies at a central park in Phnom Penh.

Sunday was the first time protesters had left the park and marched through the streets calling for an independent investigation into election irregularities.

Led by Rainsy, dozens of protesters marched down a central street,going through a police barricade with authorities putting up little resistance. They then continued on to a Buddhist shrine where they lit incense and prayed for justice.

On Monday, both parties are scheduled to meet to discuss the political impasse and try and agree on a solution before parliamentis due to convene on September 23.

If no investigation is forthcoming, the CNRP have said they will boycott parliament, with Hun Sen threatening to give away their seats if they do so.

The protesters plan to camp in the park overnight Sunday and continue their sit-in on Monday and Tuesday.

-- The Nation 2013-09-15

[Sheryl]

Turnout was quite high despite active efforts by police to stop people from entering the area. I don't have any reliable estimates yet but certainly more than the 20,000 of a week or two back.

Police lobbed tear gas cannisters and used water cannons just about half an hour ago (on peaceful protesters).

[Sheryl]

About 15 minutes ago, violent clashes between police and demonstrators, one death reported. Occurred some distance away from the demonstration site, I don't know the details but it was in a neighborhood from which many residents had joined the demonstration.

[Sheryl]

Dead protester is 29 year old father of four, identified by his wife. 3-4 others injured.

[Sheryl]

More shooting just now. Protestors are blocking efforts by police to remove the man's body from the bridge. (NB earlier police gave out statement that the man died due to "falling off the bridge"...he died very much still on the bridge, bullet to the head). So protesters concerned that evidence will be destroyed and are trying to prevent the body's removal.

[Thaddeus]

Terrible situation, but this was always on the cards.

I spent some time in Cambodia around two years ago, not a long time, just short of a week, but I had some fairly open conversations with more than a couple of the locals, whose command of English was far better than any other Asians I've met (never been to Sing or Kor)

The chat always ended with "please please don't tell anyone I said that"

I know this is a generalisation, but, Thai people are either misinformed or uninformed, Cambodian people are oppressed.

It will always boil over eventually.

[webfact]

KHMER PROTEST
Tear gas, water cannon turned on Cambodian opposition march
Xinhua


Photo : EPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodian police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters near the Royal Palace on Sunday afternoon as they attempted to remove the police's barbed wire barricades in order to march through a street in front of the Royal Palace.

"We fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse them from the area," National Military Police spokesman Kheng Tito told Xinhua on Sunday.

One witness reported from the scene said tear gas were shot into the crowds of about 500 protesters and water cannons were fired from two fire trucks.

Thousands of Cambodian opposition supporters on Sunday marched on streets in the city against the July 28 election results that handed victory to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling party.

The protest, organized by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) of long-time opposition leader Sam Rainsy, aimed to reject the election results that showed the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) won with 68 parliamentary seats and the CNRP received the remaining 55 seats.

The CNRP claimed that its party should win 63 seats, with the CPP getting 60 seats if alleged irregularities during the poll were fairly investigated.

Security has been tightened throughout the city on Sunday as barbed wire barricades have been placed across major roads.

At the Park, Sam Rainsy told about 20,000 supporters that the party would boycott the opening session of the parliament on September 23 if there was no a proper solution to the alleged irregularities during the July 28 election.

He said the mass protest would last for three days as makeshift tents had already been set up at the park for protesters to sleep at nights.

After his speech, he led thousands of protesters marched on streets in the city.

There was a brief confrontation between police and protesters when some protesters had tried to remove barbed wire barricades on banned roads, but anti-riot police exercised utmost restraints by not reacting to the removal.


-- The Nation 2013-09-16

[Sheryl]

The above pre-dates the shootings which occurred around 10 PM far from the demonstration sight, on a bridge leading to neighborhoods across the river and its underpass which leads to roads out of the city.

The bridge (a heavy traffic area) and the roads in the underpass were all blocked off with razor wire, this has been done in many locations of the city apparently to prevent people from joining the demonstrations (similiar measures taken further out of the city to stop people coming in from the provinces).

Apparently clash between people and military police started over the road being blocked which was making it impossible for them to get back home. Some of these were returning from the demonstration but some were daily labourers and such just trying to go home from work. Heavy handed police tactics have been reported to me by friends who were there/on the receiving end of it i.e. dragging people off their motorcycles, hitting with batons etc. People became very upset and began shouting and possibly throwing rocks at the police, police began shooting. 1 dead on the scene shot through the head, 4 serious gun shot wounds taken to hospital (one taken to surgery last night, outcome unknown) and many more minor injuries treated in small private clinics in the area.

After police tried to claim the dead man had died from "falling off the bridge", people formed a human chain around the body to prevent its removal. Finally agreed to let it be taken away by the UN HR office.

It is not 100% clear if the deceased had been at the demonstration or was returning home from work. The melee on the bridge caught up ordinary citizens just trying to get home as well as demonstrators returning home for the night.

The mood in the city right now is very, very angry and people in the village where the dead man is from are expressing strong determination to return to the demonstration site again today as are others. There are still many roads partially or fully blocked off so not sure how that will play out.

Anyone wanting to follow this story in real time , best sources currently are the twitter feeds of the Cambodia Daily and the Phnom Penh Post. Best articles on yesterday's events to be found on the main websites of same.

[123thaibourbon]

once again, 'democracy' in SE Asia is 3 sheets in the wind. no reports in America yet, not holding breath. possible martial law to be imposed? newspapers& streaming media must get their stories straight. shooting, razor wire/barricades, man dead, CPP rigging yet another election~sounds albeit sad but true..

[waza]

Sad news, hopefully democracy will win in the end.

[Sheryl]

once again, 'democracy' in SE Asia is 3 sheets in the wind. no reports in America yet, not holding breath. possible martial law to be imposed? newspapers& streaming media must get their stories straight. shooting, razor wire/barricades, man dead, CPP rigging yet another election~sounds albeit sad but true..

The story from local English language media and streaming media within Cambodia is all very consistent.

Several expat journalists were on the scene at both incidents. There is also live camera feed of the area.

Not much doubt as to what happened. The "why" is a little less clear i.e. why was the decision made to block off so many roads (far from the demonstration site) and by whom; in particular why was the block on the Monivong bridge a) ever there and still there hours after the demonstration had ended for the day; why/on whose instructions did the military police stationed there harass/beat people trying to cross the bridge heading home, and lastly why/on whose orders did they shoot with live ammunition.

The decision to initially place all that razor wire must I think have been taken pretty high up. The rest it is is hard to say. During the first clash at about 4 PM, military police used tear gas and water cannons as per protocol. No idea why not followed at night on the bridge. It is hard to see what the regime gains by this so incompetence in the ranks is possible but who knows. Certainly the effect of the entire thing -- the blocking of roads and the clashes -- has been to turn more people against the government.

If there was a need for police presence at all on that bridge at 10 Pm (dubious), the regular local police rather than the MPs would have been a much better choice as being from the area they are best placed to distinguish between people just going home and trouble-makers, if there were any of the latter.

[phuketrichard]

if ur there be carefull;

heres a life stream of various places in PP, http://www.ezecom.com.kh/livetraffic/index.php?url=riverside&id=active

[Sheryl]

Yes, I'm there (work assignment in PP).

My adopted Cambodian "family" is from the village across the bridge that was the focus of the clash. One of the seriously injured is an acquaintance.

At present, about 10,000 people are back in "Freedom Park" demonstrating (compared to 30,000 yesterday but not bad for a Monday working day). The number may grow after people get off from school and work, who knows. The local English language press is sold out.

Opposition leaders and Hun Sen are in a meeting behind closed doors which has thus far lasted more than 2 hours. Hopefully a good sign (Saturday's meeting with King lasted a mere 30 minutes). But we won't know anything until it ends and the opposition release a statement. They have clearly defined 3 demands: reform of the composition of the National Election Committee (currently controlled by the ruling part and in no way impartial), development of a new national voter registry (the existing one having been proven to have stricken >1 million eligible voters from the lists among other things) and freedom to broadcast their own television channel (currently all TV news channels are controlled by the ruling party).

They are also saying they will not take their seats when parliament is convened in a few weeks until the electoral frauds are investigated, not sure if that still holds if the prior 3 demands are met nor how it would work out in practice even if agreed to; to my understanding the election was so badly flawed that there is no way anyone could calculate a fair result from it, only document that the result was unfair.

[phuketrichard]

5 hours in a meeting and this came out

Agreement on 3 pts - NEC reform, no violence as per king request and continue negotiations. But opposition still firm on boycott

Looking at the live road camera feed, things seem quiet, actually even more quiet than a normal monday

[Sheryl]

Some accounts seem to indicate that in addition to NEC reform, govt agreed to new voter lists (the current ones being full of disenfranchised people whose names were stricken as well as duplicates slotted in and so forth).

And the crowd in Freedom Park reacted very enthusiastically to the report from Rainsy and Sokha. Threw water around in celebration, peopel and their belongings got drenched.

Of course have to see if these actually get carried through, and there is still the thorny problem of what to do with the results of the "election" they just had under the existing NEC and rigged voter list. I suppose that's where the "continued negotiations" come in.

Nice to hear the govt has now decided "no violence", will be interesting to see if/how that policy gets relayed to the MPs who have not made a very good showing of their ability to apply it....

The roads are quiet due to so many of them still being blocked off, anyone who can defer travel has done so.

[Sheryl]

The well-respected human rights NGO LICADHO reports the total number shot last night at 9 (1 died, the other 8 still in hospital) plus a 10th man had serious head injuries from beating.

"Police reacted with physical violence and tear gas to a late-evening stand-off between hundreds of police and a crowd of those caught up in the traffic, including commuters, local residents and demonstrators. The scene quickly escalated as military police geared up to use live ammunition, according to witnesses.

29-year-old Mao Sok Chan was shot in the head and died on the scene. A confirmed nine more men were seriously injured and taken to hospitals. Eight of these men were found to have bullet wounds. Many more young men, including teenagers, were beaten bloody by police.

One man had his right leg fractured by a bullet and another was hit by a bullet in his left forearm. They were taken to Russian Hospital, with another man who suffered head lacerations from beatings. Six more men were taken to Calmette Hospital, all suffering from bullet wounds.

Initial responses from military police authorities demonstrate a disturbing lack of concern about the excessive use of force. Kheng Tito, a military police spokesman, is quoted in the Phnom Penh Post as claiming that ‘if they are good protestors, they wouldn’t be protesting [at night]… so authorities have the right to crack down’."

(never mind that there was no demonstration taking place in that location at that time!)

http://www.licadho-cambodia.org/pressrelease.php?perm=323

[jaideeguy]

Thanks for the updates Sheryl. You take care and keep us up to date with your on the ground reports.

[Sheryl]

Just to wrap up:

The 3 demonstration ended yesterday but more are likely in the offing. Ended on a high note from the standpoint of the opposition, for whom it was a significant show of strength.

After the Sunday night atrocities on the bridge, no further violence. Many statements by NGOs calling for investigations, the usual denials and nonsense from the government. It has been established that the man who died was not a demonstrator but simply a worker trying to get from his low wage day job to his second equally low wage job as a night watchmen. Among the wounded it is a mixed bag, some demonstrators returning home, some just ordinary workers caught up in the chaos.

A monk did try to set himself on fire yesterday on the stage at the demonstrations, Tibetan-style, but was quickly restrained from doing so. Monks have had a high profile in the demonstrations , as they also did back in 1998.

Having been here going back to the early 90's several main changes strike me:

1. People are now less easy to intimidate. The government planted conspicuous explosive devices in 2 locations prior to the demonstrations (designed to be found, not to explode, i.e. a threat only), brought in an absurd number of tanks and military police, and conducted highly visible "training" exercises all designed to scare people into not coming to the demonstrations. They came anyway. After the shooting on the bridge, still they came, no drop in numbers (actually 3rd day numbers may have been at their highest.

2. NGOs are refusing to be intimidated. Despite government orders not to attend, the various human rights NGOs were very visibly present and fortunately so as it was they along with the UN HR office who helped diffuse tensions when things got tense at the riverfront and also successfully negotiated with crowd on the bridge for removal of the dead man's body. The NGOs and UN are trusted, the government is not, so they are best placed to restore/maintain calm.

3. Really new, compared to the past: it is no longer just a Phnom Penh phenomena. Both the election results (even in their tampered form) and attendance at the demonstrations show significant support for the opposition in the countryside. In 1998, it was only the people of PP who rose up (same story -- doctored election results) and indeed one of the tactics used to suppress that was the busing in of people from the countryside to attack them. (As a former Khmer Rouge, one thing Hun Sen is well versed in is how to fan the flames of rural-urban resentment). For years I have been telling my Khmer friends that for change to come, the people in the countryside will have to start to feel as the people of Phnom Penh long have. For the first time I am seeing indications this is happening. It was especially heartening to see the warmth and collaboration between PP residents and the demonstrators in from the countryside. People spontaneously took it upon themselves to see that the rural people had food and water and adequate shelter. At one point I offered to contribute some money to help purchase drinking water, and was told by my Cambodian "sister" that there was no need: "the whole neighborhood already chipped in and we have more than enough to take care of them by ourselves". And they did.

As the buses left to return the countryside demonstrators home they were seen off with cheers and good wishes from their urban counterparts. This in a country that has a long history of rural-urban conflict and resentment.

Of course there is still a long, long way to go, and it will take time, but my overall feeling now is much more optimistic than it was before these events.

[Sheryl]

About hundred monks attempted to deliver a petition to the King not to convene the National Aseembley Monday, stopped from getting anywhere near the palace by police.

Pix taken by freelance photoog here https://twitter.com/JKooKooD/status/380738140379422720/photo/1

and here http://johnvink.tumblr.com/post/61667237808/monks-are-citizens-but-special-ones-a-little

Prince Tomico started a hunger strike 10 AM yesterday. Attempted to commence it at shrine in front of palace but MPs blocked his access. He moved to Wat Phnom where he was joined by 20 monks. Last night "hundreds" of MP stormed Wat Phnom and forcibly removed the hunger strikers, including Prince and monks.

Good video of events up to Thursday here: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/video/tension-after-killing-self-immolation-attempt

The ruling party now announces it will hold a "counter demonstration" in support of itself at Olympic Stadium on Tuesday. Meanwhile, further opposition demonstration scheduled for tomorrow and heavy military presence in the city. Riverside area blocked by military trucks.