“Dead heroes are useless. Stay alive to fight another day.”


I felt a chill as I read remarks to Cambodian migrant workers in South Korea’s Busan port city by opposition leader Sam Rainsy of the Cambodian National Rescue Party, or CNR, on Nov. 14: “Cambodia is my homeland and my motherland. I absolutely have to come back in order to save our country. My plans have not changed. Even if I die, it doesn’t matter, I will die as a Khmer.”

Rainsy was to return from Seoul to Phnom Penh on Nov. 16. He knew that on Nov. 13, Hun Sen’s Phnom Penh Municipal Court had issued a warrant to arrest him in connection with a defamation case that dates from 2008, when Rainsy accused Hun Sen’s foreign minister, Hor Namhong, of having served as a prison chief during the dreadful reign of terror perpetrated in Cambodia by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

While Rainsy was in exile, he was convicted of the charge in absentia in 2011, sentenced to two years in prison and fined $2,000. A pardon from the king had allowed Rainsy to return to Cambodia prior to the 2013 elections. He was a free man.

To fight another day
I must admit to being proud that a Khmer democrat threw down the gauntlet at the feet of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has caused the Cambodian people and the country so much harm and shame. Having been exposed to the thoughtful writing of Czech writer Franz Kafka as I worked recently with filmmaker Ellen Grant on the documentary film, “Cyber-democracy: Cambodia, Kafka’s Kingdom,” I recall his avowal: “From the true antagonist, illuminable courage is transmitted to you.”

Rainsy earned an A-plus from me for the courage he expressed in Korea. I share that conviction that we must be fearless in the pursuit of peace, justice and freedom.

But we must also be strategic. I believe in living for tomorrows, to fight again another day. In fact, “living for tomorrows” is a philosophy I have long expressed. In 1987 in northwest Cambodia, I developed the Armed Political Propaganda and Clandestine Operations units in the fight against Vietnam’s occupation of Cambodia. I attached a controversial political guideline to APPCO, “Dead heroes are useless. Stay alive to fight another day.”

So I worried about Rainsy’s bravery. Undoubtedly, he would be handcuffed upon landing at the airport and rushed off to Prey Sar prison, at least for a while. But I feared that goons from Sen’s bodyguard unit who beat CNRP lawmakers senseless in front of the National Assembly and their comrades from Gen. Sao Sokha’s gendarmerie, a confessed admirer of Adolf Hitler who gloated over the killing of five protesters last year, would also beat Rainsy if they had the chance.

Building the case
Things began to move very fast. The prime minister — who is chief executive, chief legislator, and supreme judge — is feeling threatened and worked systematically to build his case against Sam Rainsy and the CNRP through a recent series of public actions and statements:
  • Hun Sen insulted Rainsy on Nov. 12 on Sen’s official Facebook page, “Today, I call you ‘the son of a traitor’” and warned of legal action against Rainsy for his comments questioning the CPP’s commitment to holding elections in 2017 and 2018.
  • On Nov. 13, Hun Sen’s court issued a warrant for Rainsy’s arrest.
  • On the morning of Nov. 16, when Rainsy was scheduled to arrive in Phnom Penh, the National Assembly’s standing committee of seven CPP lawmakers and six CNRP members, approved Rainsy’s arrest warrant and stripped Rainsy of his role as a lawmaker, removing his parliamentary immunity from prosecution.
  • It became known that on Nov. 15, deputy premier and minister of interior Sar Kheng had signed a decision to form a committee of 16 generals to arrest Rainsy, send him to jail, and to ensure that “social order” is maintained. Clearly, the authorities expected violence to occur as CNRP supporters would not accept their leader’s arrest.
A clear head
After the assembly committee’s decision, CNRP senior members sent an urgent request to Sam Rainsy to delay his return for fear of violence between CNRP supporters and “lawful and unlawful” elements that would provoke confrontations, an excuse for Hun Sen to delay elections.

About seven hours before Rainsy’s plane was to land in Phnom Penh, Rainsy canceled his return, but said, “I will be back in Cambodia in the next few days,” in order to allow “time to cool down.” As he told The Cambodia Daily, “Hun Sen seems to be in a really extreme mood, with the panic and anger that makes him really lose his reason.”

Although a clear head averted bloodshed that was bound to occur on Nov. 16 when angry CNRP supporters and armed CPP forces would have confronted one another, I personally feel relief that Rainsy and democrats can contest the dictator in the days to come. Ripe fruit will fall.
It is imperative for democracy advocates to keep their heads — literally and figuratively — and take well-considered actions that tap their imagination and creativity in pursuit of freedom and peace for the Khmer people.


Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., former deputy chief of general staff of the Khmer People’s National Liberation Armed Forces, taught political science at the University of Guam for 13 years. Retired in 2004, he now lives in the U.S. mainland. He can be reached at peangmeth@gmail.com.