‘Blood Workers’ by rapper Kea Sokun recalls deadly crackdown on workers’ protest in January 2014
This photo taken on Jan. 29, 2022, shows hip-hop artist Kea Sokun listening to one of his songs online at a cafe in Phnom Penh. Kea Sokun, whose lyrics about injustice and corruption have struck a chord with Cambodia’s disaffected youth, was among those jailed in recent years in the latest move by authorities to clamp down on dissent. (Photo: AFP)
At least one Cambodian civil society group has removed a music video titled Blood Workers recorded by controversial rapper Kea Sokun, and others are expected to follow similar demands from the police after a complaint was lodged by the Culture Ministry.
Human rights group Licadho said its operations director was told during a police interview on Jan. 9 that refusing to remove the music video from social media and its website would result in legal action by authorities.
“To avoid further legal action, Licadho removed the music video from Facebook last night and from the website today. A censored page remains in its place,” it said in a statement.
Licadho said it believed that the music video is not incitement, and is protected speech under the Cambodian Constitution.
“We are saddened by this restriction on freedom of expression. This is the first time in Licadho’s 30-year history that the government has taken legal action as a result of a complaint regarding a post on the organization’s Facebook and website,” it added.
The video recounts a deadly government crackdown on a workers’ protest in January 2014, which left at least four people dead and another 40 wounded. Other sources have said seven people died.
“For the past nine years, they have been left with pain and sorrow and sadness by gestures full of blood,” according to a translation of the music video by Voice of Democracy. “There is no one who knows, and they have been waiting for justice for the past nine years, waiting so long but there is no one held responsible.”
That bloody crackdown was blamed on officials from Daun Penh District who had overseen the security deployment and beating of civilians at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh, amid long-running protests by supporters of the now-outlawed Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP).
Local media reported that police would also meet with the Centre for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights, the Coalition of Cambodia Farmers Community and the Independent Democratic Association of Informal Economy, in regard to the video.
Kea Sokun’s controversial lyrics and songs are often critical of the Cambodian government and have targeted the government’s handling of border disputes with Vietnam and blamed the leadership for the country’s economic plight.
He was one of the hundreds who have been rounded up in recent years, convicted of incitement and jailed. Kea Sokun was granted early release from prison in September 2021 after spending almost a year behind bars.
One offending song garnered more than 4.2 million views on YouTube and under Cambodian law warranted an 18-month jail term, minus time already served. One of his songs is titled I’m opposed to the dictator.
His criminal record was cited in a letter written by Minister for Culture Phoeurng Sackona which was then sent to police chief, Neth Savoeun, asking him that steps be taken to prevent the spread of Blood Workers on social media.
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