Dr. Pung Chhiv Kek, also referred to as Dr. Kek Galabru, was born on October 4, 1942. She obtained her medical degree in France in 1968. She practiced medicine and conducted research in Phnom Penh from 1968 to 1971, and likewise worked in Canada, Brazil, and Angola.
“I spent 4 years [1960-64] here in a category of 32 – two Cambodians and three French girls. The boys in the category didn’t discriminate against us,” she said Phnom Penh Post Office.
“When I made a decision to go to France in 1964, I had the identical diploma as other French students – [the French university] they tested me for the primary yr to see if I had the proper academic level, and there was no problem. After one other 4 years in France, I became a health care provider with a French degree.”
After studying medicine in France and practicing while her husband was a diplomat and held various posts abroad, she played a key role in bringing political peace to her country.
In 1987-88, Pung Chhiv Kek, as an overseas Cambodian, helped organize negotiations between Prime Minister Hun Sen and then-deposed King Norodom Sihanouk. The negotiations ultimately led to the signing of the Paris Accords in 1991, which authorized a United Nations mission to Cambodia to oversee elections and resolve the long-standing conflict.
In 1992, she returned to Cambodia permanently and founded the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (Licadho), which she led at great personal risk. Licadho was one among the primary human rights organizations founded in Cambodia.
Licadho educates people about their democratic rights and provides court defense to victims of torture, domestic violence and police attacks.
Pung Chhiv Kek looks like a queen, slim and straight in an extended blue silk gown. In fact, her parents, teachers and later government ministers, were friends of the royal family. This enabled her to play a key role in opening negotiations between Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen and opposition leader Prince Sihanouk that led to the Paris Peace Accords in 1991.
It now has offices in half of Cambodia’s provinces and employs 1,000 staff, mostly volunteers.
Her first task is to teach people to vote freely, ignoring the threats of the ruling party. One of her most important activities is representing victims of domestic or police violence – mainly women, children, opposition leaders, teachers, social staff and members of non-governmental organizations – in court, where she has won a few third of her cases.Pung Chhiv Kek. Photo: Victor Blanco / Southeast Asia Globe
It also fights against the mass illegal logging that’s tolerated by a corrupt government and military. Above all, it teaches people their rights through classes, comics, TV and radio programs, and theater productions.
Last yr, Pung Chhiv Kek was awarded the Legion of Honor, France’s highest honor, for his services to peace and human rights.
Her definition of courage is: “Doing something for people despite being bullied.” No wonder the taxi driver had no trouble finding her modest office in Phnom Penh: Everyone in Cambodia knows Licadho.
Source : Phnom Penh Post Office | Globe of Southeast Asia
