Street fighting monks, cont

Tensions over Kampuchea Krom and the arrest of Tim Sakhorn erupted into violence this morning when, according to Reuters, a peaceful gathering of armed police officers was assaulted by Buddhist monks.

ABOUT 40 Cambodian Buddhist monks fought with police, knocking one unconscious before being beaten back with batons, as they tried to hand a petition to Vietnam’s embassy.

The clash broke out when 100 police refused to allow the monks to approach the embassy in the Cambodian capital.

They knocked one officer unconscious, Phnom Penh police chief Touch Naruth said. [...]

One of the monks, 20-year-old Thach Mony said they simply wanted to drop off their petition calling for the release of Tim Sakhorn and for the return of land that Cambodia claims was seized by Vietnam in 1978.

Land that Cambodia claims was seized by Vietnam in 1978. Huh?

Presumably, Thach Mony is talking about Kampuchea Krom here, and the (massively flawed) argument that Vietnam “siezed” that land in 1953. You would think somebody attending a protest would have even a vague understanding of the facts, no?

But about that land … Vietnam didn’t take it; Sihanouk gave it away in return for Cambodia’s independence. That was 55 years ago. It’s time to move on.

(Photo: Shamelessly stolen from Reuters/Chor Sokhunthea)

UPDATE: Eric disagrees.

The Cambodians never made the agreements themselves, and were not in a position of sovereignty when the decision to give the land to the Vietnamese happened. If sovereignty must underpin the decision to alienate rights and/or property from oneself, then the decision cannot be a truly legal one. The fact that it is accepted as legal doesn’t change the situation, but merely highlights the fact that the legal system itself operates for purposes much broader than the distribution of universal justice.

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Street fighting monks
• Cops vs. monks, cont
• Tim Sakhorn verdict