[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 20, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2177-S2178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRAGIC ANNIVERSARY FOR CAMBODIA

 Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, March 30 marks the fifth 
anniversary of the horrific terrorist attack against the Khmer Nation 
Party (KNP) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

[[Page S2178]]

  Nineteen people were killed, and 141 injured, when four grenades were 
thrown during a legal and peaceful rally organized by opposition leader 
Sam Rainsy to protest the lack of justice and the rule of law in 
Cambodia. Among the injured was American democracy-worker Ron Abney.
  Sam Rainsy's message was right on the mark. There was no justice in 
Cambodia then, and there is none today.
  On this tragic anniversary, the United States and other freedom-
loving countries should condemn the corrupt and ineffective Royal 
Government of Cambodia (RGC) for failing to protect its citizens and to 
investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of this terrorist 
crime.
  Unlike hard line Prime Minister Hun Sen and certain diplomats in 
Phnom Penh, this Senator has not forgotten those murdered and injured 
by terrorists on March 30, 1997. This Senator vividly recalls the 
desecration by Cambodian authorities of the Buddhist stupa erected by 
the opposition party in the memory of those senselessly killed. And 
this Senator is left wondering why the RGC expended more time and 
effort destroying the stupa than investigating the crime itself.
  I ask that the U.S. Senate honor the memory of those slain in the 
terrorist attack by having the names of the victims publicly known 
appear in the Record following my remarks. The victims and their 
families remain in my thoughts and prayers are:
  Mr. Cheth Duong Daravuth; Mr. Han Mony; Mr. Sam Sarin; Ms. Yong Sok 
Neuv; Ms. Yong Srey; Ms. Yos Siem; Ms. Chanty Pheakdey; Mr. Ros Sear; 
Ms. Sok Kheng; Mr. Yoeun Yorn; Mr. Chea Nang; and Mr. Nam Thy.

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