Ou Virak ( km, អ៊ូ វីរៈ ; born 7 January 1976) is a Cambodian public intellectual and human rights activist, currently serving as the President of Future Forum, a think tank dedicated to public policy issues. He is also the founder of the Alliance for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia (AFEC), and winner of the

Reebok Human Rights Award The Reebok Human Rights Award honoured activists under the age of thirty who fought for human rights through non-violent means. Each year, the award was given to four or five individuals. Each received a grant of US $50,000 that was to be used to ...

for his

civil society campaign A civil society campaign is one that is intended to mobilize public support and use democratic tools such as lobbying in order to instigate social change. Civil society campaigns can seek local, national or international objectives. They can be r ...

for

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

and for the release of human rights advocates imprisoned for criticizing the Cambodian government."We are trying to change the law", Reebok Human Rights Award (2007), http://www.reebok.com/Static/global/initiatives/rights/awards/recipients/virak.html

Early life

Born in Cambodia during the first year of

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...

rule, Virak's father - an officer in the army of the

Lon Nol Marshal Lon Nol ( km, លន់ នល់, also ; 13 November 1913 – 17 November 1985) was a Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia The prime minister of Cambodia ( km, នាយករដ្ឋមន្ ...

regime - was murdered by the Khmer Rouge before Virak was born. Virak lived through Khmer Rouge rule with his mother and four older brothers. Facing persecution during the occupation of Cambodia by Vietnam, they fled to refugee camps in Thailand before being granted

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

status and moving to

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

in 1989 when Virak was 13. Virak attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in Fresno, California. He went on to study economics at

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

(receiving a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

). Whilst at university, he was Vice-President of the National Cambodian Student Association.

Career as a human rights activist

Working in law and public welfare, Virak then returned to Cambodia to lecture on economics at Pannasastra University,

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

. He joined the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) as Advocacy and Public Relations Director in 2005, and became its President in 2007. In 2007, he was the winner of the Reebok Human Rights Award for his civil society campaign for freedom of expression and for the release of human rights advocates imprisoned for criticizing the Cambodian government. Virak leads the Alliance for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia (AFEC), working with other NGOs to promote and protect freedom of expression, information and assembly in Cambodia. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Cambodian NGO Working Group for establishing a National Human Rights Commission and

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

Human Rights Body, and represents this NGO Working Group to the Cambodian Joint Government-NGO Working Group for establishing a National

Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...

and

Human Rights Body. Virak also represents the Cambodian NGO Working Group for establishing a National Human Rights Commission and ASEAN Human Rights Body to the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism.

References

External links

Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ou, Virak Cambodian human rights activists 1976 births Living people California State University alumni

Early life

Career as a human rights activist

See also

References

External links