Paris Peace Agreements

On this day October 23rd, 1991, 22years ago, after over 10 years of war, the warring parties under the auspices of the UN and with the participation of 18 countries signed the Paris Peace Agreements.
       Today in Phnom Penh the CNRP organized a grandiose mass Rally, delivering over 2 millions thumbprints petition to the UN to help resolve the political deadlock.

Read the AFP cable:

Fresh protests in Cambodia over disputed poll

AFP News – Oct 23,2013

Cambodian Buddhist monks and supporters of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party attend a demonstration over disputed elections at Democracy Park in Phnom Penh on October 23, 2013

Thousands of Cambodia opposition supporters staged a demonstration amid high security Wednesday over fiercely disputed elections that extended strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen's near three-decade rule, following bloody protests last month.

Opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which is boycotting parliament over the controversial July polls and has demanded an independent investigation into allegations of electoral fraud, said the protest would last for three days.

"The mass non-violent demonstration... organised by CNRP is to demand justice for the people who are the voters regarding the election irregularities," the party, led by Sam Rainsy, said in a statement.

According to an AFP photographer, about 5,000 protesters joined the rally in central Phnom Penh, many with ribbons tied around their heads carrying slogans such as "Where is my vote?"; "We need a truth committee"; and "Long live democracy!".

"I am protesting to demand my vote back, they stole my vote. I want justice. If they do not return my vote, I will protest until the current government collapses," 72-year-old demonstrator Phay Math told AFP.

Thousands of riot police were deployed along the streets and at significant locations in Phnom Penh on Wednesday morning to meet the first major show of strength by the opposition since tens of thousands of its supporters joined three days of rallies in the capital last month.

Those demonstrations left one protester dead and several wounded after security forces clashed with a stone-throwing crowd.

Cambodia's parliament in late September approved a new five-year term for Hun Sen, despite the absence of Rainsy's party, in a move decried by the opposition as a "constitutional coup".

The opposition has said protesters will march on the United Nations human rights office in the capital on Wednesday afternoon to deliver a petition calling on the UN and foreign powers to intervene after the disputed polls.

They also plan to walk to a number of foreign embassies, including those of France, the United States, Britain and China to deliver their petition over the coming days.

Hun Sen -- a 61-year-old former Khmer Rouge cadre who defected and oversaw Cambodia's rise from the ashes of war -- has ruled for 28 years and vowed to continue until he is 74.

 In Phnom Penh Post - Oct. 23rd
March a Positive Sign
Shane Worrell

Analysis

While the Cambodia National Rescue Party’s continued push for an investigation into election irregularities may at times feel quixotic, the fact that the opposition was able to hold a peaceful demonstration today without incident represents a perhaps equally important victory for freedom of assembly.

The Ministry of Interior’s decision to allow 1,000 opposition protesters to converge on foreign embassies and offices of the UN was important, CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann said, but the fact thousands marched in peace was even more significant.

“I don’t want to say it’s a victory for the CNRP,” he told the Post. “But it’s a victory for the people. We’re making big progress.”

Freedom Park, Sovann added, was becoming a place the opposition felt it could use on a regular basis to keep pushing forward with its demands of an investigation into irregularities at July’s national election.
And boycotting the parliament was showing itself to be the right decision, he added.

Political analyst Kem Ley said the government’s approval of the marches was, indeed, a victory for the CNRP and agreed that it vindicated the opposition’s boycott of the National Assembly.

“Right now, it’s good for them. They have organised this, and the government has opened the door to them,” he said.

The CNRP had drawn more attention to its cause and the CPP now had little choice but to continue allowing similar protests, Ley added.

“In order for the CPP to increase its popularity again, they must respond to the people.”

The freedom to protest on the streets or in public parks has fluctuated greatly over the past two decades.

Incidents have ranged from the brutality of the 1997 grenade attack on opposition members and supporters – which killed 16 and injured more than 100 – to an unprecedented 17-day park sit-in, organised by opposition supporters, in 1998. 

In scores of other instances, protesters have been blocked from marching through the streets or been beaten by police.

Yesterday’s march was the biggest that Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, has seen. 

“We’ve got to get used to this. It should and will be a lot more common,” he said. “If the authorities realise that not all protests lead to revolution, they might be more willing to allow them to take place.”

But even if such protests do represent a victory for the CNRP, Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said yesterday that the government will still be approving them only on a “case-by-case” basis.

“It will depend on discussions and the agreements reached [between the government and the CNRP],” he said.

The ministry had decided to allow this week’s marches because they coincided with the anniversary of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements and protesters and police had pledged not to be violent.

“And I think it is nothing to be concerned about, because the number of participants has weakened.”