Short Bio

CURRICULUM VITAE of OU VIRAK

Written by Dr. Andreas Selmeci,

German Development Service (DED)

Mr. Ou Virak was born on January 7^th, 1976 in Battambang, Cambodia, during the first year of the dictatorship of the Khmer Rouge. His father had been an officer of the Lon Nol regime and had fought against the communists in the early 1970ies. He was murdered by the Khmer Rouge when Mr. Ou was still in the womb. Two other close relatives of Mr. Ou, his grandfather and one of his uncles, were killed as well during the genocide. Mr. Ou survived with his mother and his four elder brothers.

Because of the political background of his father the family of Mr. Ou faced persecution during the time of Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia. They left the country through the Northern border on a way through flooded plains, jungle and mountains during the rainy season in August 1984. For three years, they lived in the refugee camp of Khao I Dang in Thailand. There was little support from the UNCHR because like the other Cambodians they were not given the refugee status until 1987.

In 1988 the family was allowed to immigrate to the USA. In January 1989 when Mr. Ou reached the age of 12 years he landed in San Francisco International Airport. The living of the refugee family in Fresno State was not easy but Mr. Ou visited all schools with success. From 1998 to 1999 he even served as a volunteer teacher in special classes for non-English speaking pupils.

Coming from a poor family, Mr. Ou had to work hard for earning his living and for his studies. But some of his jobs gave him experiences that became later very useful for his human rights work. 1994-1996 he recorded and prepared cases for an attorney at the Fresno Country Family Support Division. 1996-1998 he was a Home/School Liaison Officer, making home visits and encouraging parents' participation in the concerns of the students. As a Job Developer at a public welfare institution from 1999 to 2000 he learned a lot about human resources management.

From 2000 on Mr. Ou studied Economics at the California State University of Fresno and later at the San Jose State University, finishing with a M.A. in May 2003.

At the same time Mr. Ou adapted to the American society he kept the contact to his fellow Cambodians. From 1993 to 2000 he was an active member of the Cambodian Student Association of Fresno state, being a Vice-President of this organization from 1997-1998. In 1993, with the age of 17, Ou Mr. Ou went the first time to a meeting with the future Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy. Since then, he participated in public forums and other events on the human rights situation in Cambodia. In 1996 he met Kem Sokha, a member of the Cambodian National Assembly, who later founded the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), for the first time.

More and more, Mr. Ou became interested in contributing to a democratic development of Cambodia. He visited his home country in 1998 and in 2003. In February 2004 he definitely returned. He served as a teacher in Economics at the Pannasastra University in Phnom Penh. In May 2005 he started to work as an Officer for Advocacy and Public Relations for CCHR.

As a spokesperson of the CCHR and a member of its Management Committee, Mr. Ou has never failed to defend the principles of human rights. He has facilitated dozens of public forums that gathered thousands of farmers, men and women who travel tens of kilometers to contest the grabbing of their land by powerful officials, ethnic minority communities whose entire culture is at risk of extinction because their ancestral land is given to powerful companies as concessions and workers and civil servants who demand freedom of assembly and expression.

Also, Mr. Ou was the driving mind when the Alliance for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia (AFEC) was founded at the end of October 2005 as a response to human rights activists' imprisonments which was part of a systematic attempt by the authorities to silence us. As elected as the General Secretary of the AFEC, which soon had 28 member organizations, Mr. Ou was responsible for the concept and the implementation of the "Yellow Ribbon Campaign for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia". This campaign gave a clear message to the government that Cambodian civil society did not accept repression against its leading activists. When the government intensified this repression by arresting other activists including the president of Cambodian Center for Human Rights and the Executive Director of Community Legal Education Center on 31 December 2005 and another leading activist only four days later, Mr. Ou became a key figure of non-violent resistance: Whereas other human rights defenders have fled the country and other networks were not able to act, he successfully lead the AFEC by publishing public statements and organizing the presentation of a petition for the release of those incarcerated to the King of Cambodia. All this Mr. Ou did despite of the fact that there were almost daily rumors that he will be arrested next. All these incidents that could have weakened him have turned Mr. Ou into an even stronger defender of human rights.

Since the release of all imprisoned Cambodian human rights defenders, AFEC has continued to demand the implementation of fundamental civil and political rights in Cambodia. In March 2006, Mr. Ou coordinated a peaceful "March for Freedom of Expression" which was followed by the announcement of the Cambodian Prime Minister that the Cambodian law on defamation would be decriminalized.

Many things could be added about Mr. Ou continuous dedication to human rights work from the time his family was victimized during genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge to his decision to return to Cambodian from exile in the U.S. where he certainly would have made a nice career. After all, Mr. Ou is a humble young man who pays full respect to others and has the heart for those whose rights are violated. He has empowered many and continues to seek justice. Mr. Ou continues to seek more knowledge by learning from the experience of other countries in building democracy.