CNRP Marches Through Phnom Penh, Delivers Petition to UN

More than 10,000 opposition CNRP supporters marched from Freedom Park to the U.N.’s human rights office in Phnom Penh on Wednesday to deliver a petition urging signatories of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement to intervene in the country’s current political deadlock. The march marked the climax of the first day of the CNRP’s three-day mass demonstration, which opened at Freedom Park at 8 a.m. and was timed to coincide with the 22nd anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement in 1991 that promised a liberal and plural democracy for Cambodia. … After a morning of speeches and music that has marked the CNRP’s campaigns and demonstrations alike, CNRP president Sam Rainsy and vice president Kem Sokha arrived at Freedom Park between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.to loud cheers. More than 20,000 people thronged the park and its surrounding streets to hear the two leaders deliver speeches about their petition and the Paris Peace Agreement, before about half the people in attendance followed them toward Street 51 to deliver the petition to the U.N.’s human rights office. CNRP security guards dressed in dark green and black formed a hu­man line around Mr. Rainsy, Mr. Sokha and CNRP lawmaker-elect Mu Sochua as they led the demonstration down Street 51 at about 3:30 p.m., keeping the marchers moving swiftly as many tried to stop and take photographs of the leaders. … The CNRP’s petition calls on the U.N. and the 18 countries that signed the Paris Peace Agreement in 1991 to ensure multiparty democracy and the respect of human rights in Cambodia in the wake of the disputed result of the July 28 national election and the government’s heavy-handed response to its first three-day mass demonstration last month. …

 The Cambodia Daily News Staff
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/cnrp-marches-through-phnom-penh-delivers-petition-to-un-45737/