Kem Sokha

Kem Sokha
កឹម សុខា
Leader of the Opposition
In office 16 November 2015 – 31 January 2017
Prime Minister	Hun Sen
Preceded by	Sam Rainsy
Succeeded by	Position abolished
First Vice President of the National Assembly
In office 26 August 2014 – 30 October 2015
President	Heng Samrin
Preceded by	Nguon Nhel
Succeeded by	You Hockry
Additional positions President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party In office 2 March 2017 – 16 November 2017 Deputy Pol Hom Mu Sochua Eng Chhai Eang Preceded by Sam Rainsy Succeeded by None, party dissolved Vice President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party In office 1 April 2013 – 2 March 2017 President Sam Rainsy Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Pol Hom Mu Sochua Eng Chhai Eang President of the Human Rights Party In office 22 July 2007 – 1 April 2013 Deputy Son Soubert Pen Sovan Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Son Soubert President of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights In office 3 October 2002 – 1 May 2007 Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Ou Virak Member of the National Assembly In office 24 September 2008 – 3 September 2017 Succeeded by You Hockry Constituency Kampong Cham In office 14 June 1993 – 26 July 1998 Constituency Takéo Member of the Senate In office 1999–2002
Personal details
Born	(1953-06-27) 27 June 1953 (age 71) Tram Kak, Takéo, Cambodia, French Indochina
Political party	Cambodia National Rescue Party (2012–2017) Human Rights Party (2007–2012) Independent (2002–2007) FUNCINPEC (1999–2002) Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (1993–1999) Khmer People's National Liberation Front (1992–1993)[1]
Spouse	Te Chanmono ​ (m. 1980)​
Children	2, including Monovithya
Education	University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (M.Sc.) Royal University of Law and Economics
Profession	Activist Politician
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Kem Sokha (Khmer: កឹម សុខា; born 27 June 1953) is a Cambodian former politician and activist who most recently served as the President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). He served as the Minority Leader, the highest-ranking opposition parliamentarian, of the National Assembly from December 2016 to January 2017, and previously as the First Vice President of the National Assembly from August 2014 to October 2015.^[2][3][4] He represented Kampong Cham as its Member of Parliament (MP) from 2008 to 2017. From 2007 to 2012, Kem was the leader of the Human Rights Party, which he founded.

Kem was arrested and imprisoned at a detention centre in Tbong Khmum Province on 3 September 2017 under allegations of treason. In November 2017, the CNRP was dissolved, and 118 of its members, including Kem, were banned from politics for five years. On 10 September 2018, more than a year after his arrest, he was released on bail, and subsequently placed under house arrest. On 10 November 2019, Kem was released from house arrest.

In March 2023, he was convicted and sentenced to 27 years of house arrest.^[5]

Kem Sokha has stated to Voice of America in 2018 that he pursued a law degree at the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh, but dropped out in his second year before receiving a scholarship to Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) in 1981. He studied at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, and graduated with a Master of Science degree in chemistry in 1986.^[1]

His political career began in 1993, when he was elected a representative for Takéo Province; at that time he was a member of Son Sann's Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party. In 1999, he joined the royalist FUNCINPEC and subsequently elected a senator. He resigned from his Senate seat in 2001. In 2002, he founded the Cambodian Center for Human Rights but left that organisation to join politics in 2005. He founded the Human Rights Party, which came third in the 2008 elections.

Kem Sokha is well known for his weekly town hall meetings at local level throughout the country. He was the first to introduce a free and open forum discussing issues concerning civic and political rights, as well as social and economic development, at village level in Cambodia. Kem Sokha is known for his non-violent, political tolerant policy standing on democratic and unity principles. His words are often quoted and repeated by ordinary Cambodians. His phrase "Do Min Do" (literal translation to English: "Change or no change") became the anthem for the Cambodia National Rescue Party's election Campaign in July 2013, which drew an unprecedented amount of youth participation. Ahead of the election he also caused significant controversy by claiming that the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum documenting crimes against humanity by the Khmer Rouge regime is a fabrication created by the Vietnamese government.^[6]

On 26 August 2014, Kem was elected by the National Assembly as its First Vice President with 116 votes,^[2] the first opposition MP to hold the office. On 30 October 2015, he was ousted from the vice presidency by a vote of 68–0 following disagreements with the ruling party.^[3] On 9 September 2016, after months under house arrest, Kem was sentenced to five months in prison after refusing to appear in court for questioning in a prostitution case against him.^[7] He was later granted a royal pardon by King Norodom Sihamoni.^[8] Following his release, he was officially appointed as Minority Leader.^[9] However, the positions of Minority Leader and Majority Leader were abolished altogether by the National Assembly on 31 January 2017 following a proposal by Prime Minister Hun Sen.^[4]

On 2 March 2017, Kem was elected president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party at the party's congress, along with three other deputies.^[10] Under his leadership, the party made sweeping gains in the June 2017 local elections, winning 482 of 1,646 communes.^[11]

In September 2017, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged Kem with "treason and espionage", and for allegedly orchestrating the 2014 Veng Sreng street protests.^[12][13] He was arrested at his home on September 3, 2017.^[13] Hun Sen and other Cambodian government officials alleged that Kem was conspiring with the United States of America.^[13][14] Kem's lawyers have alleged violations of their client's rights under Article 149 of the Criminal Procure Code.^[15] He was released on bail on 10 September 2018, more than a year after his arrest, but was placed under house arrest.^[16] He was released from house arrest on 10 November 2019 but is banned from travelling outside the country and taking part in political activities.^[17]

• Cambodian Center for Human Rights

• Kem Sokha Archived 2019-08-26 at the Wayback Machine
• Kem Sokha on Facebook
• Human Rights Party
• Cambodia National Rescue Party
• CCHR – Cambodian Center for Human Rights website
• Newsweek article
• Cambodia arrests rights activist, Guy De Launey, BBC, Phnom Penh
• Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism
• Institute of Chemical Technology
• Cambodian Leader Cracks Down in Bid to Solidify Power—New York Times
• BBC: While in U.S., Cambodians Get a Lesson on Rights From Home
• Cambodian Center for Human Rights