On behalf of the World Cambodian Congress (WCC) - a nonpartisan and tax-exempt advocacy group of Cambodian-Americans for the promotion of the rule of law and democracy in Cambodia - we would like to express to you and through you to Mr. Al Santoli, our deepest gratitude for writing the letter dated December 8, 1997 to Mr. Shattuck, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. State Department, to express your ``grave reservations about the new policy to encourage exiled Cambodian democrats to return to a Hun Sen-dominated environment because of his history of signing international treaties and agreements and later ordering acts of violence against his political opponents."
          WCC totally shares your appraisal and evaluation of the current dangerous situation in Cambodia mainly as a result of the faulty policy of the State Department as has been advocated by some high officials of that department.
          It is incomprehensible for members of WCC who believe in the basic principles, namely, democratic principles of governance, equal justice for all, religious and personal freedom, upon which this great country  of ours was founded more than two hundred years ago, to see that the State Department continues to give support to an inhuman, and oppressive regime such as that of Hun Sen and his CPP.
          In this context, the State Department continues to blame the democratic forces for creating troubles and for being unrealistic in their demand for restoring simple rule of law and democracy in Cambodia, all of which have already been agreed upon by  the major powers, ASEAN, and Cambodia at the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements. The State Department continues to allow Hun Sen to believe that he did nothing wrong by not more forcefully condemning his despicable acts of violence against the opposition as witnessed by the summary executions of some forty members of the opposition parties of FUNCINPEC and other parties. The State Department never publicly questioned Hun Sen's decision to try Prince Ranariddh by his ``kangaroo" court for a crime which he was accused of, but did not commit, and despite the fact that it knows that all the judges in Cambodia are Hun Sen's appointees, thus neither fair nor impartial. The State Department continues to refuse to call the July 5 coup a coup, thus giving legitimacy to this murderous regime. The State Department continues to refuse to release the FBI report of the massacre by the alleged Hun Sen body guards of a group of peaceful demonstrators led by Sam Rainsy on March 30 of this year for fear that Hun Sen reputation may be damaged. The State Department continues to exercise a conspiracy of silence regarding the integration of some notorious Khmer Rouges leading mass murderers such as Ieng Sary and Keo Pong, while criticizing Ranariddh for flirting with the Khmer Rouge. The State Department continues to condone Hun Sen's mopping up operations against General Niek Bun Chhay and his troops as if they are criminals, while the truth is that Hun Sun who started the coup thus illegally grabbing the power from Prince Ranariddh, a democratically elected prime minister during a United Nations-sponsored election in May 1993. Hun Sen lost in that election. Until today, Hun Sen never accepted the result of that election, saying that it was rigged, although the election was internationally supervised and judged to be fair and free.
          WCC firmly believes that unless the current immoral official policy of the State Department is reversed quickly, Hun Sen will continue his murderous policy of eliminating all opposition in whatever form, because he believes that the State Department is giving him a blanket support. It is also incomprehensible for us to see that so far nobody at the State Department has been held responsible for this fiasco in American policy in Cambodia. The innocent Cambodian people is once again being allowed to be slaughtered by Hun Sen and his Khmer Rouge supporters as a result of the State Department condoning the excesses of Hun Sen and his CPP which is a group of thugs and killers who never believed in democracy, the rule of law or justice. 
          Please, accept our deepest gratitude for the very courageous stand you and your colleagues of the House Free Cambodia Caucus have taken in the defense of the Cambodian people who continue to be the victims of Hun Sen and the CPP's murderous policy, with the immoral indifference or tacit acquiescence from the State Department.

Naranhkiri Tith, Ph. D.
Professor of international economics the Johns Hopkins University,
and Chairman of WCC