VZCZCXRO3073
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0342/01 0611020
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 021020Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8096
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 2263
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1578

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PHNOM PENH 000342 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KDEM PREL CB VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAMESE MONKS PROTEST SITUATION IN SOUTHERN 
VIETNAM 
 
 ¶1.  (SBU)  Summary.  On February 27, approximately 40 
Buddhist monks -- mostly from southern Vietnam -- staged a 
four-hour protest demonstration near the Vietnamese Embassy 
to protest conditions affecting the ethnic Khmer in Vietnam; 
in particular, the defrocking of monks.  The unapproved but 
peaceful demonstration took place in conjunction with the 
two-day visit of Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet to 
Cambodia.  The UN Human Rights Office and LICADHO officials 
mediated between police and protesting monks, and were 
permitted to escort the monks back to their respective 
pagodas to avoid any arrests of the participants.  The 
following day, one Khmer Krom monk was reported to have 
committed suicide; NGOs are investigating the death.  On 
March 1, the MOI notified Khmer Krom organizations that they 
could hold a protest at a local pagoda, but authorities and 
pro-CPP monks have reportedly limited participation.  End 
Summary. 
 
Vietnamese Monks Stage Protest 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (U)  On the morning of February 27, approximately 40 
Buddhist monks participated in a peaceful protest near the 
Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh regarding the defrocking of 
13 Vietnamese monks who allegedly participated in 
demonstrations by ethnic Khmer in southern Vietnam over human 
rights issues.  The protest took place during the two-day 
visit of Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet.  The 
four-hour protest by the Buddhist monks (who have rarely 
participated in peaceful demonstrations in recent years in 
Cambodia) was eventually dispersed by local police joined by 
members of the armed riot police unit.  Although the police 
initially showed unusual tolerance in allowing the protesters 
to group near the Vietnamese Embassy, the security forces' 
patience began to wear thin by mid-morning, with the police 
threatening to arrest or detain any monk who did not leave. 
At one point, police reportedly tried to force the monks onto 
buses to take them out of the area.  The monks refused, 
believing that they would be arrested if they left under 
police supervision.  Alerted to the possibility of a 
confrontation between the monks and the police, the UN's 
Human Rights Office and LICADHO dispatched staff members to 
calm the situation.  The UN and NGO members were able to 
receive police agreement for the peaceful removal of the 
monks in NGO vehicles.  LICADHO, joined by ADHOC and the 
Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), later issued a 
joint press statement criticizing the police for their 
reaction to the peaceful demonstration, as well as for the 
detention of a private citizen who allegedly questioned the 
police for their treatment of the monks. 
 
One Monk Dies Later:  Police Claim Suicide 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (U)  The UN Human Rights Office notified the Embassy on 
March 1 that one of the monks who may/may have participated 
in the demonstration committed suicide at the pagoda where he 
was staying.  Media reports on March 2 note that NGOs are 
investigating the circumstances surrounding the death.  The 
monk, Eang Sok Thoeun, age 32, came to Cambodia recently with 
other Vietnamese monks from southern Vietnam.  Police have 
ruled the cause of death as a suicide, claiming that the 
young monk slit his own throat and noting that there were 
unspecified drugs found in the young man's possession. 
 
¶4.  (U)  The Khmer Kampuchea Krom human Rights Organization 
(KKKHRO), however, disputed the police analysis.  One of the 
organization's investigators noted that the monk's room had 
two doors, and it would have been easy for someone from 
outside the pagoda to enter the room.  In addition, the 
investigator thought it suspicious that the police buried the 
body the same night, at around 0200 in the morning. 
Witnesses reportedly said that the victim's throat wound was 
very large, and inconsistent with the type of cut that one 
could easily administer oneself.  Human rights NGOs have also 
expressed reservations about the police conclusions and are 
reportedly attempting to exhume the body for a more detailed 
medical examination. 
 
Khmer Krom Organizations to Meet, Demonstrate on March 2 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶5.  (U)  Several of Cambodia's Khmer Kampuchea Krom 
organizations had petitioned the Ministry of Interior to hold 
demonstrations in conjunction with the Vietnamese President's 
visit.  Police officials, however, reportedly told the groups 
that if they wanted to organize rallies, any demonstrations 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000342  002 OF 003 
 
 
should be staged in pagodas.  The MOI announced on March 1 
that organizations could hold a one-hour meeting on March 2 
at a pagoda in Phnom Penh's Stung Meanchey district. 
Organizers intended to continue their protests over reports 
of the Vietnamese government's defrocking of 13 monks in 
southern Vietnam.  One local Khmer Krom organization told the 
press that they plan to send a petition to the United Nations 
calling for an intervention in southern Vietnam. 
 
¶6.  (U)  In a public statement regarding the visit to 
Cambodia by Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet, the 
opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), which has promoted Khmer 
Krom causes in the past, urged the Cambodian government to 
press Vietnam to respect religious freedom, particularly with 
respect to Khmer Krom monks, end human rights abuses against 
all ethnic minorities, including the Montagnards and the 
Khmer Krom, engage with Cambodian villagers along the border 
with Vietnam about concessions of border lands, and to 
rectify water disputes and livelihood issues in Ratanakiri in 
northeastern Cambodia.  SRP officials note that the RGC 
likely allowed the March 2 demonstration and rally to proceed 
as the Vietnamese President had left the country. 
 
Embassy Meeting with Khmer Kampuchea Krom HR Organization 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  On March 2, Emboffs met with Ang Chanrith, 
Director of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Human Rights 
Organization (KKKHRO), as well as Thatch Prey Cheakoeun, one 
of the Vietnamese monks who participated in the demonstration 
on February 27 and who had earlier fled to Cambodia in 2005. 
They discussed the demonstration and the problems facing the 
Khmer Krom in Cambodia and Vietnam.  The monk noted that he 
and 15 other Vietnamese monks came to Cambodia following the 
February 2005 arrest of a fellow monk in Vietnam. 
Originally, he and the others in his group received persons 
of concern status from UNHCR, but he claims that status was 
later lifted and he has been in legal limbo ever since.  The 
demonstration on February 27 was in response to the latest 
Vietnamese government crackdown on over 200 monks on February 
8, 2007, which allegedly took place in one of the southern 
provinces of Vietnam in front of the provincial authority's 
offices.  The Vietnamese authorities reportedly arrested 13 
monks and de-frocked them, after which other monks involved 
in the protest fled to Cambodia. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  The Vietnamese monk said that in Vietnam, the 
ethnic Khmer monks have been taking the lead on advocating 
for religious freedom, land rights and other human rights 
related to preserving Khmer culture.  As a result, the monks 
have borne the brunt of Vietnamese authorities' ire, but Ang 
Chanrith claims that more than 30,000 Vietnamese Khmer Krom 
have entered Cambodia, particularly Takeo province, over the 
past several years to escape Vietnamese oppression.  Ang 
Chanrith (please protect) noted that the Cambodian National 
Police allegedly issued a directive in late 2006 to Cambodian 
border authorities and warned them to reject any Khmer Krom 
who attempted to enter Cambodia from Vietnam.  Chanrith 
claims that he received a copy of the directive from a 
sympathetic member of the border police, and that other 
members of the Ministry of Interior friendly to his 
organization have confirmed the document.  His main concern 
at the moment is the status of Vietnamese Khmer Krom in 
Cambodia, as Chanrith suspects the RGC plans to deport many 
of them to Vietnam at the behest of the Vietnamese 
government.  He has alerted the UN Human Rights Office and 
UNHCR regarding his concerns, and urged both organizations to 
intervene with appropriate RGC authorities. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  We understand the pagoda demonstration scheduled 
for today attracted approximately 100 monks, a far lower 
number than expected, according to Ang Chanrith.  Chanrith 
told us that police had surrounded the pagoda earlier in the 
day to discourage monks from entering, and other head monks 
in pagodas around Phnom Penh reportedly had directed monks in 
their establishments to refrain from attending.  We note that 
there are a number of Khmer Krom organizations in Cambodia, 
and the KKKHRO is considered by the UN Human Rights office as 
one of the most credible.  Post has not yet had sufficient 
time to compare notes with the NGO community nor relevant UN 
offices concerning the information contained in this report, 
but will follow up with interlocutors and report separately. 
We also understand that Khmer Krom communities in Australia 
and the United States may be planning similar demonstrations 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000342  003 OF 003 
 
 
in support of the Vietnamese Khmer Krom monks.  End Comment. 
CAMPBELL