Rights Leader Urges Reconciliation With Government

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
25 September 2009

Kek Galabru, founder and president of the rights group Licadho, testified before a US congressional hearing on human rights earlier this month.

Following the Sept. 10 hearing, which was held amid concerns the government was cracking down on dissenters, Kek Galabru spoke to VOA Khmer in Washington.

She urged reconciliation between the government and civic groups, and outlined the necessary components of a working democracy, including freedoms and the rule of law.

“I regret that the government still doesn’t understand our intention and classifies NGOs as the enemy of the government,” she said.

Cambodia is like an ill patient, she said, but the symptoms need diagnosed, she said. “It’s just like the doctor. If we want the right medication, we need to tell this kind of sickness or that kind of sickness.”

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