Monovithya Kem (born 2 October 1981) is a Cambodian politician and the eldest daughter of Cambodian opposition leader

Kem Sokha Kem Sokha (; born 27 June 1953) is a Cambodian former politician and activist who most recently served as the President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). He served as the Minority Leader, the highest-ranking opposition parliamentari ...

. She is a member of the Permanent Committee of the

Cambodia National Rescue Party The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP; , UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ) was a major political party in Cambodia. It was founded in 2012 as a merger between the Sam Rainsy Party and Human Rights Party. The party believed in the strengthening of freedo ...

and its Deputy Director-General of Public Affairs since 2013. She is currently in exile, following the country’s political crisis in 2017, when her father was imprisoned and the Cambodia National Rescue Party was dissolved. She has since been leading the advocacy efforts abroad to restore Cambodia’s democracy. Her advocacy has drawn threats from the ruling regime including that from the Deputy Prime Minister threatening to amend the Constitution to ban her from the country. She has been reported to be a target of alleged ongoing espionage from China.

The Facebook Files In 2021, an internal document leak from the company then known as Facebook (now Meta Platforms, or Meta) showed it was aware of harmful societal effects from its platforms, yet persisted in prioritizing profit over addressing these harms. The ...

received by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

in 2021 also found suspected ties to Chinese intelligence engaging in consistent and long term targeting of officials from the Cambodia National Rescue Party. Kem first came to public attention when she successfully campaigned for her father's release from Cambodia's prison in 2006. She was an organizer and speaker for the 2006 campaign to free her father and four other Cambodian human rights activists. In 2014, Kem was considered to serve on the

National Election Committee (Cambodia) The National Election Committee (NEC; , , ''KChB'') is an independent agency that supervises the national elections of Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, In ...

, but eventually she withdrew her candidacy. Kem was born and raised in Cambodia. She holds a bachelor of science in business administration from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

and a masters of science in business economics from the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

References

1981 births Living people Cambodia National Rescue Party politicians Cambodian activists Cambodian women activists San Jose State University alumni {{Cambodia-activist-stub