Mu Sochua, Member of Cambodian Parliament and Women’s Human Rights Advocate

Thursday, September 17th
6pm  - 7pm
The World Affairs Council Auditorium
312 Sutter Street, Suite 200

(Between Bush and Stockton Streets in downtown San Francisco)

Title: 

Cambodian Democracy and Human Rights under Siege: One Woman's Fight

Description:

The UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare proudly presents alumna Mu Sochua (MSW ’81) — opposition leader, social worker, and women's rights advocate — for the 2009 Walter Friedlander Memorial Lecture on Monday September 14th, at 4pm. Sochua will discuss her years battling sex trafficking, domestic violence against women, government corruption and land grabs in Cambodia, and the court case that has now attracted the attention of the UN High Commission on Human Rights.

One of the most outspoken members of the Cambodian parliame nt, Mu Sochua has taken on the Prime Minister in a test of her country’s legal system. In a series of events that began last year, over the summer Mu Sochua had her parliamentary immunity stripped and faced trial without legal representation (her lawyer was threatened by Prime Minister Hun Sen to drop his client or be disbarred).

Hers is one of at least six cases in which the Cambodian government is currently using the courts to silence opposition leaders, journalists and human rights groups, reports the Asian Human Rights Commission. According to UC Berkeley Law School faculty member Stephen Golub, “Sochua's battle is important in and of it self, but also resonates far beyond Cambodia. It has important implications for US foreign policy and for development aid provided by our country and many others.

To read more about this issue, you can read two recent articles in the Washington Post and the New York Times.

Mu Sochua originally served as a member of Prime Minister Hun Sen's cabinet but left the position after witnessing government corruption; she is now a senior member of the Sam Rainsy Party. A former minister of women's affairs, in 2005 she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with women trapped in the Cambodian and Thai sex trade. In 2007, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau presented Sochua with the prestigious Elise and Walter A. Haas International Award for her distinguished record of service to her people and country.

The World Affairs Council is located near the Montgomery Bart Station and the Sutter-Stockton Garage.

For more information, please contact Morry Hermón, Director of Development, UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare at (510) 643-5433, or e-mail   mhermon@berkeley.edu