The Phnom Penh Post interviews Who Killed Chea Vichea? producer Rich Garella.

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Due to statements made by Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan (see “Deportation, Jail Threatened if Film Screened,” in today’s Cambodia Daily on page 16), those who planned to attend the screenings of Who Killed Chea Vichea? scheduled for this afternoon and evening should check the following web pages for updated information and please forward this to those you know who may be interested.


We will also post updates on the film’s Facebook page.

As of this writing and to my knowledge, the screenings are planned to go forward as scheduled, at 5pm (Khmer) and 7pm (English) at the new location:


Update: 
The screenings have been canceled. Loud Mouth Films respects the right of the host involved to make this decision in light of recent developments.

Regarding the above article "Deportation, Jail Threatened if Film Screened" in the Daily:

Government spokesperson Phay Siphan is cited saying that the government is concerned that the film would influence public opinion. That is exactly the issue here. In a country that respects freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, the people are free to assemble, discuss as they please, and expose themselves to any kind of information and form their opinions freely based on that and on their own conscience.

Cambodian officials have never to our knowledge provided any legal basis for a ban on Who Killed Chea Vichea? or any specific film. In stating that they ban a film without providing any legal basis, these officials demonstrate that Cambodians do not live under the rule of law, but under the rule of power. Two decades after the Paris Peace Accords, and a decade after the assassination of Chea Vichea, the rule of law exists only as a smokescreen. It vanishes whenever those in power find it convenient to blow it away.

Meanwhile the killers of Chea Vichea and those who ordered the killing are still "at large." It is our intent to honor Chea Vichea and many others who struggle, and continue to struggle for basic human rights and a better and freer Cambodia. 

However the government is making the screening of this film into a test of its respect for freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and the rule of law. So far today it has failed that test, as it consistently fails, because its fundamental nature is to feel threatened by these freedoms.

Rich Garella, Producer, Who Killed Chea Vichea?
for Loud Mouth Films

Note: The statements above are made by Rich Garella and Loud Mouth Films. No part of them should be attributed to any other individuals or organizations.

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Almost ten years after the murder of Chea Vichea, the two men featured in Who Killed Chea Vichea? went to Cambodia's Supreme Court on Wednesday for their final appeal.

The presiding judge acknowledged that the two had no connection to the crime, saying, “We have no evidence to say that Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were guilty ... Furthermore, the two people could not have been present at the scene, as they were both in the provinces.” (Phnom Penh Post) This is exactly what we proved in Who Killed Chea Vichea?.

The result? The court has dropped all charges and ordered their immediate release from prison.


This ruling is very welcome news. But there is still no reason to conclude that the court’s decision demonstrates judicial independence.

In the wake of the July elections, the government’s legitimacy is on the brink of collapse. Despite tilting the playing field steeply to its advantage, the ruling party was able to claim only a narrow victory, and that claim is hotly contested. Suddenly both the people of Cambodia and the international donor community see that Hun Sen will not rule forever, and perhaps not even for long. Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party are now engaged in a desperate effort to improve their image. Meanwhile as far as we can tell the Supreme Court hearing was scheduled only after the election. So the release of Samnang and Sok Oeun may signal desperation, but it is not evidence of actual judicial reform.


• If Cambodia's judicial system were independent, the prison doors would open too for land-rights activist Yorm Bopha and others now imprisoned for challenging official abuses.

• If Cambodia's judicial system were independent, we would see a serious investigation into who killed Chea Vichea, instead of the decade-long charade during which the courts did practically nothing more than investigate and imprison two innocent men who knew nothing about it.

• If Cambodia's judicial system were independent, we would see investigations and prosecutions of all of those who worked together to frame Samnang and Sam Oeun — those who manufactured evidence, those who lied in sworn testimony, those who extracted Samnang’s confession by threats and torture, who cost two innocent men five years of their lives.

Just one example: If you’ve seen Who Killed Chea Vichea? you know that the police took Samnang to the place where the gun was hidden. The court has now implicitly acknowledged that he could not have known where that was. The police knew, because they were working with those who killed Vichea. Today’s ruling was an admission of all this.

But most important today — even if the court’s ruling is part of a public relations effort — is to join Samnang and Sam Oeun and their families and celebrate their freedom!

Labels: news, press

Several news articles have drawn parallels between the assassination of Chea Vichea and the murder of Chut Wutty just a few days ago, and rightly so.

Wutty, director of the Natural Resources Protection Group, was shot dead by military police who were apparently guarding a facility of the Timbergreen Company, a mysterious entity involved in clearing land in Koh Kong. The murder took place in the presence of two reporters from The Cambodia Daily. Their gripping account is here.

If you've seen Who Killed Chea Vichea? you'll see a chilling similarity in the short video above, in which Wutty explains why he spent twenty years fighting deforestation — twenty years that ended on Thursday, April 26, deep in the forests of Mondul Seima district.

"The killing is having explosive ramifications, and the parallels with the killing of Chea Vichea are enormous," writes Luke Hunt in The Diplomat. "Chut Vuthy had been prominent in uncovering the secret sell-off of state forests, illegal rosewood harvesting and land grabs in the area where a Chinese dam is being built."
Hunt interviews Bradley Cox, the director of Who Killed Chea Vichea?, who adds:

"He reminds me quite a bit of labor leader Chea Vichea. Both were outspoken, both were willing to stand up for what they believe despite threats and harassment, and both paid the price for their convictions.

"I think there’s a message in this for Cambodians, and that’s to keep your head down and your mouth shut. Most people take this message to heart. There are very few that don’t and that’s what makes guys like Chut Vuthy and Chea Vichea special.

"They gain the admiration of the Cambodian people, but also the ire of the powers that be. And as much as I hate to say it, I doubt this tragedy will be the last."

In AFP coverage, opposition politician Mu Sochua also related the two cases.

Not since the 2004 daylight murder of union leader Chea Vichea has Cambodia lost an activist as influential as Chhut Vuthy, she added, accusing donor countries of "making no noise" in support of ordinary Cambodians' rights. 

"I want to be optimistic, I want to see hope but I'm afraid there is no more Chea Vichea, and there is no more Chhut Vuthy," she said. "They cannot be replaced. That is the aim of those who ordered the killings."

Mu Sochua is right. Just as Cambodia's exploiters are stripping the country bare of the resources the people need in order to survive, they are stripping the country bare of the heroes who fight for a better future. Vichea, Wutty and so many others cannot be replaced, but their work can be carried on.

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Vantha Kem of Radio Free Asia interviewed Who Killed Chea Vichea? producer Rich Garella about the film's winning a Peabody Award and the Cambodian government's response. The segment was broadcast on April 29, in Khmer. Garella comments:

"We read that the spokesperson for the Council of Ministers, Phay Siphan, said that the Peabody Awards were likely politically motivated. Not surprising, coming from the Cambodian government — political motivation is all they know."

listen (mp3)

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The Cambodian government reacts to Who Killed Chea Vichea?'s Peabody Award. From The Cambodia Daily:

Phay Siphan, spokesman at the [Cambodian government] Council of Ministers, who saw the documentary last year, said the Peabody Awards were likely a “politically motivated” institution” ... “It’s a campaign against the government....It’s more like propaganda,” said Mr. Siphan, adding that anyone can submit a complaint to the Ministry of Interior about the killing of Chea Vichea if they want to.

Chea Vichea Documentary Receives Prestigious Award (April 6, 2012)

In the Phnom Penh Post, the director of the Peabody Board, Horace Newcomb, and the director of Who Killed Chea Vichea?, Bradley Cox, respond to Siphan's accusation:

“This is simply not the case,” said Newcomb. “A review of all the award recipients over the years shows a concern for social issues, but also for entertainment, education, public service and so on. Such a review would show no political motivation other than our interest in excellent media production.”

“The Cambodian government has been trying to block our movie from the beginning, so it’s no surprise that they would disparage it again now, but their comments, as usual, are completely without merit,” Cox said.  

Peabody Puts Banned Film Back in Spotlight (April 12, 2012)

Speaking to Voice of America, Newcomb added “The Peabody Award is not politically motivated ... It looks for excellence in media production, excellence of many different sorts, excellence on its own terms, and that’s what we found in this documentary.” (VoA, April 18, 2012)

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Thanks to Video Librarian magazine for a three-star review and recommendation!

Cambodian trade-union president and activist Chea Vichea was gunned down on the streets of Phnom Penh in 2004 in the aftermath of a controversial election, during which he received text-message death threats from someone he suspected was a high-level authority figure. Two tearful suspects who were arrested had strong alibis and repeatedly claimed innocence, insisting that signed confessions were secured by police coercion and torture; a key witness later fled to the U.S. and recanted. Nonetheless, the "assassins" were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Telescoping outwards from this miscarriage of justice, filmmaker Bradley Cox interweaves archival and contemporary footage with interviews of eyewitnesses and others to present a damning journalistic investigation that functions less as an answer to the titular question than as a look at Cambodia's thug-ocracy, where courts and cops are an extension of the strongman regime that kills citizens at will and puts on a token appearance of democracy and "justice" for the international community (especially the U.S. and other avid consumers of sweatshop goods). This pathology, Cox suggests, inevitably arose from a society borne of the infamous Khmer Rouge genocide that left fewer than a dozen educated people alive in the entire country. DVD extras include interviews, deleted scenes, and background on Cambodia's justice system and garment industry. Recommended. (C. Cassady) 

Download announcement (pdf)

Labels: press, reviews

Today marks the the passage of eight years since the murder of Chea Vichea, as well as eight years of failure by the Cambodian government to investigate the crime. Two men featured in the film Who Killed Chea Vichea? served nearly five of those years in prison, and are now on provisional release, in theory waiting for a re-trial that could clear the way for an investigation.

This year the Free Trade Union (now led by Vichea's brother, Mony) decided to cancel their annual march to the site of the assassination, saying it would conflict with laws related to the ongoing Senate election. Instead, according to the Phnom Penh Post, about 100 people attended a memorial ceremony at nearby Langka temple.

Opposition member of parliament Mu Sochua held out copies of Who Killed Chea Vichea? as evidence to justify an investigation into the case and said that she "handed a copy to an agent of the Ministry of Interior who was in the crowd asking him to take it to his bosses."

However, according to the Post, an Interior Ministry spokesman said the ministry cannot re-open the investigation into the murder since the two men are still officially guilty.

“The suspects in this case have been temporarily released, so they cannot be officially acquitted at this time,” spokeman Khieu Sopheak was quoted as saying. “If the court decides to acquit because these suspects are not the right people, we will re-open an investigation.”

Khieu Sopheak also condemned Mu Sochua’s distribution of Who Killed Chea Vichea? and called people who accused high-ranking officials of any wrongdoing “cowards.”

“If you are brave, tell us who the high-ranking officials are,” he said. “You have defamed these officials, you must say who they are if you have the documents to prove it.”

The spokesman did not explain, at least in the article, why a person would have to be brave to make such an accusation.

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The Phnom Penh Post reports today that the Khmer-language version of Who Killed Chea Vichea? has received more than 9,000 views on YouTube and Vimeo since it was posted five days ago (see vicheamovie.com).

Over the past year and a half, Cambodian officials have offered a variety of justifications for banning the film's import and screening in Cambodia.

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Abby Seiff of The Cambodia Daily reports on the release of the Khmer-language version of Who Killed Chea Vichea?, quoting director Bradley Cox saying that he was hopeful the online release would provide an opportunity for wide distribution.

"[T]he producers and I have always felt that any Cambodian who wants to see the movie should be able to see it, regardless of what the authorities say ... the movie now starts off with excerpts from the Cambodian Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that clearly state their right to see it."

The movie is fully dubbed in Khmer. It can be seen at vicheamovie.com as well as on the video services Vimeo and YouTube.

See also Phnom Penh Post article and Voice of America posting

Labels: news, press

By Abigail Licad

Who Killed Chea Vichea? airs this May on public television and follows the aftermath of Cambodian labor leader Chea Vichea’s assassination in 2004. The film exposes the political frame-up behind the conviction of two men, as well as the widespread corruption in Cambodia’s existing regime. ITVS’s Abigail Licad caught up with Director Bradley Cox to ask some questions.

Read the interview...

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Can you stop it? I am a businessman and I need to run my business for a long time.

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An in-depth interview of Rich Garella, producer of Who Killed Chea Vichea?, by Vania Gulston of On the Block Radio, WPEB 88.1FM, Philadelphia.

Over the course of the interview, Cambodia's history and politics are discussed in an effort to give context to Chea's murder and the subsequent alleged frame-up of the two men. As well, in relationship to the central concern of "On the Block Radio" show--the United States criminal justice system--comparisons are made between the unethical behavior of police in Cambodia and that of police in the United States.

Listen

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On November 17, police broke up the second attempt to screen Who Killed Chea Vichea? in Phnom Penh.

The attempted screening was organized by the Cambodian Confederation of Unions to take place in the Phnom Penh's new "Freedom Park." In order to hold a demonstration there, organizers must receive permission first. Attendance is limited to 200 people.

"Freedom Park is now the designated location where all demonstrations must be held," director Bradley Cox told London's Independent. "The Cambodian government would like the international community to believe this shows their growing commitment to freedom of expression."

The CCU, led by Rong Chhun, decided to go ahead with the screening even though permission was denied. Before the attempt, the Ministry of Interior's spokesperson, Khieu Sopheak, was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying, "It is still a forbidden film. There is no public spot for him to screen it. If he wants to screen it, he can go and try. He has tried that already."


“The banning of this film shows that the freedom of expression in Cambodia is less than zero,” said Chea Mony, Vichea's brother and successor as president of the Free Trade Union of Workers, quoted by VOA.

An initial attempt to show the film on May 1 near the location where Vichea was murdered was also prevented by police, who tore down screens erected by unionists for a screening after their Labor Day march.

Who Killed Chea Vichea? has screened at festivals all over the world, as well as at the prestigious National Press Club in Washington DC and the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. However the authorities in Cambodia appear to be determined that the public in that country never be permitted to see it.

Voice of America: Chea Vichea documentary banned at Freedom Park
Phnom Penh Post: Police break up film screening
The Independent (London): Cambodia represses truth about union leader's murder

Labels: news, press, screenings

Kimsang Meng of Voice of America interviews Who Killed Chea Vichea? producer Rich Garella after the screening at AFL-CIO headquarters on October 7, 2010.

English: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Khmer: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

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Voice of America sent reporters to cover last week's screening of Who Killed Chea Vichea? at AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington DC.

...the producers say one thing is certain: the murder of Cambodia's top labor leader in 2004 hurt the country's labor movement.

The film, which examines the murder of Chea Vichea, who was then the president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, was shown at the Washington headquarters of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations—the largest federation of unions in the US—last week.

“The killing of Chea Vichea has weakened the labor movement greatly,” Rich Garella told the audience after the screening. “And it goes to show that a movement is made up of many individual people, but when you have a charismatic leader like that, it counts for a lot.”

more

The screening was sponsored by the AFL-CIO, the Asian Pacific American Labor Association and the Solidarity Center.

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Voice of America video story on the Washington DC premiere of Who Killed Chea Vichea? at the National Press Club on August 4:

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Here's a long video story on Cambodia's garment industry from the German public broadcaster NDR (Hamburg), featuring clips from Who Killed Chea Vichea? and an interview with director Bradley Cox.

In Kambodscha wird ein großer Teil der Billigtextilien hergestellt. Es tobt ein Arbeitskampf.

Watch video
(Who Killed Chea Vichea? material begins at about 6:00)

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We are pleased to announce that the National Press Club has selected Who Killed Chea Vichea? for its summer documentary series, along with Revealing Hate in America, La Americana and Chaplains Under Fire.

The screening will be at the Club (529 14th St NW) on August 4 at 6:30pm. A panel discussion will follow.


Meanwhile, if you're in or around Washington DC on August 4, please mark your calendar!

Labels: press, screenings