Monday, January 24, 2011
[Thai] PM warns of force if [2000] memo [with Cambodia] is torn up
24/01/2011
Bangkok Post
Tearing up the 2000 memorandum of understanding governing border areas contested by Thailand and Cambodia will only lead to the use of force, warns Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
The prime minister said in a television broadcast last night that the memo had helped prevent either country from taking back the border land to which they laid sovereign claim.
Scrapping it, as demanded by the People's Alliance for Democracy, would leave the two neighbouring countries with no option but to use force to reclaim the territory, he said.
The broadcast was primarily to address the issue over the capture of seven Thais by Cambodian authorities.
Mr Abhisit used a digital map to trace the path taken by the seven Thais on Dec 29 when they entered a disputed area near Nong Jan village in Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district next to Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province.
The seven were charged by Cambodia with illegal entry and trespassing on a military area.
Democrat Party MP Panich Vikitsreth and Veera Somkwamkid, a coordinator with the Thai Patriots Network, which is allied to the PAD, were among those arrested.
Mr Panich and four others were given suspended jail terms and have since returned home.
The court has still to bring down a ruling on Mr Veera and his secretary, Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, for illegal entry and they also face charges of espionage with the Phnom Penh court scheduled to hand down its decision tomorrow.
Mr Abhisit said during the broadcast last night that the memorandum was a tool for keeping either country from asserting unilaterally its territorial claim over disputed border areas.
The PAD is calling for the memo to be scrapped, saying it is tantamount to giving Cambodia licence to take Thailand's border land. The group is holding a protest tomorrow in Bangkok to highlight its demand.
The premier said the memo required the two countries to determine together what aspects of the dispute could be settled and what remained contentious.
In areas which are unsettled, the memorandum also sets a course of action and protocol to be followed.
If one country breaches the territorial rights of the other country, the affronted state can lodge a protest based on what the countries have agreed in the memo.
Mr Abhisit said the two countries would have no choice but to use force to settle the border conflicts if the memorandum was cancelled.
Military clashes would have far-reaching ramifications on diplomacy and also affect people on both sides of the border who now live in harmony.
Mr Abhisit also dismissed critics' claims that the result of the trial against the five Thais had given Cambodia an upper hand to stake its territorial claim to Thailand's border land.
He said the government had sent a formal statement to Phnom Penh to prevent the court verdict being interpreted in a way that could have implications for the dispute over the border territory.
read more “
”
[Thai] PM warns of force if [2000] memo [with Cambodia] is torn up
24/01/2011
Bangkok Post
Tearing up the 2000 memorandum of understanding governing border areas contested by Thailand and Cambodia will only lead to the use of force, warns Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
The prime minister said in a television broadcast last night that the memo had helped prevent either country from taking back the border land to which they laid sovereign claim.
Scrapping it, as demanded by the People's Alliance for Democracy, would leave the two neighbouring countries with no option but to use force to reclaim the territory, he said.
The broadcast was primarily to address the issue over the capture of seven Thais by Cambodian authorities.
Mr Abhisit used a digital map to trace the path taken by the seven Thais on Dec 29 when they entered a disputed area near Nong Jan village in Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district next to Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province.
The seven were charged by Cambodia with illegal entry and trespassing on a military area.
Democrat Party MP Panich Vikitsreth and Veera Somkwamkid, a coordinator with the Thai Patriots Network, which is allied to the PAD, were among those arrested.
Mr Panich and four others were given suspended jail terms and have since returned home.
The court has still to bring down a ruling on Mr Veera and his secretary, Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, for illegal entry and they also face charges of espionage with the Phnom Penh court scheduled to hand down its decision tomorrow.
Mr Abhisit said during the broadcast last night that the memorandum was a tool for keeping either country from asserting unilaterally its territorial claim over disputed border areas.
The PAD is calling for the memo to be scrapped, saying it is tantamount to giving Cambodia licence to take Thailand's border land. The group is holding a protest tomorrow in Bangkok to highlight its demand.
The premier said the memo required the two countries to determine together what aspects of the dispute could be settled and what remained contentious.
In areas which are unsettled, the memorandum also sets a course of action and protocol to be followed.
If one country breaches the territorial rights of the other country, the affronted state can lodge a protest based on what the countries have agreed in the memo.
Mr Abhisit said the two countries would have no choice but to use force to settle the border conflicts if the memorandum was cancelled.
Military clashes would have far-reaching ramifications on diplomacy and also affect people on both sides of the border who now live in harmony.
Mr Abhisit also dismissed critics' claims that the result of the trial against the five Thais had given Cambodia an upper hand to stake its territorial claim to Thailand's border land.
He said the government had sent a formal statement to Phnom Penh to prevent the court verdict being interpreted in a way that could have implications for the dispute over the border territory.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Danish Support for Cambodia to Stop
24 January 2011
Gregers Moller
ScandAsia.com
Denmark's Minister for Development Søren Pind announced on Thursday that he over a few years will stop all development support for Cambodia and two countries in Africa, Zambia and Benin. Mr. Pind made his announcement in an interview with the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The minister was quoted as referring to "strategic considerations" as the reasons for cutting further development support for the three countries.
When asked by the newspaper whether the problem is that the three countries are located strategically in the wrong places for Denmark, the Minister replied:
Søren Pind: - I do not think they perceive themselves as being in the wrong place. But one can say that Danish interests justify that our commitment must lie somewhere else.
The newspaper quotes internal papers from the Ministry of Development why the two African countries should be taken off the list of countries that Denmark supports, but the interview did not give any clues why Cambodia was taken off the list along with them.
read more “
”
Danish Support for Cambodia to Stop
24 January 2011
Gregers Moller
ScandAsia.com
Denmark's Minister for Development Søren Pind announced on Thursday that he over a few years will stop all development support for Cambodia and two countries in Africa, Zambia and Benin. Mr. Pind made his announcement in an interview with the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The minister was quoted as referring to "strategic considerations" as the reasons for cutting further development support for the three countries.
When asked by the newspaper whether the problem is that the three countries are located strategically in the wrong places for Denmark, the Minister replied:
Søren Pind: - I do not think they perceive themselves as being in the wrong place. But one can say that Danish interests justify that our commitment must lie somewhere else.
The newspaper quotes internal papers from the Ministry of Development why the two African countries should be taken off the list of countries that Denmark supports, but the interview did not give any clues why Cambodia was taken off the list along with them.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Abhisit stands firm in face of joint rally
Three-sided protest arises from border spat
24/01/2011
Bangkok Post
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is insisting the government will not bow to pressure from the People's Alliance for Democracy, Thai Patriots Network and the Santi Asoke sect ahead of their planned joint rally this week.
Mr Abhisit said in a televised address last night that the government would not submit to the groups' demands, particularly the revocation of the memorandum of understanding signed by Thailand and Cambodia in 2000 governing the two countries' border disputes.
The PAD is calling on the government to revoke the memorandum which they say puts Thailand at a disadvantage in its dealings with Phnom Penh.
It also want the government to force Cambodians from every disputed area and to cancel Thailand's membership of Unesco's World Heritage Committee.
"[The PAD and Thai Patriots Network's] actual goal is not to push for the revocation of the memorandum, it is to oust the government from office," Mr Abhisit said.
He insisted he would not allow a repeat of the 2008 yellow shirt PAD seizure of Government House, when the pressure group targeted the Samak Sundaravej government.
A member of a security team led by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban predicted yesterday that the number of PAD protesters tomorrow would be relatively small at between 3,000 and 3,500.
"But the PAD's capability cannot be underestimated," the source said.
The PAD, the Thai Patriots Network and its ally, the Santi Asoke sect, might appear to be at odds, but "the three groups remain unified and their supporters have the capability to hold and continue with protracted rallies".
The Thai Patriots Network and Santi Asoke are already encamped outside Government House to try to force the government to alter its stand on its dealings with Phnom Penh.
A team of advisers to the prime minister also said they were concerned about the demonstrations.
They believe the ultimate goal of the rallies is to ensure there will be no general election later in the year.
The security source said the government must explain to the public its position on the border dispute, especially the middle class in the capital who represent a strong PAD support base.
The leaders of the PAD could again convince members of the middle class to support the yellow shirt movement, which played a key role in the ouster of the elected Thaksin Shinawatra government in 2006 and succeeding Thaksin-backed nominee administrations in 2008.
"If the government fails to curb the PAD rallies, the red shirts are expected to cry foul over double standards and they too will mount pressure on the government," the source said.
PAD spokesman Panthep Phongphuaphan said yesterday the rally planned for Makkhawan Bridge on Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue tomorrow would go ahead and would continue until the group's demands were met.
But he denied the PAD was seeking to overthrow the government.
Mr Panthep was confident the PAD, the Thai Patriots Network and Santi Asoke would unite at the mass rally tomorrow.
Santi Asoke leader Samana Photirak stressed his sect's rally would be peaceful and they would make the ultimate sacrifice by going on hunger strike.
read more “
”
Abhisit stands firm in face of joint rally
Three-sided protest arises from border spat
24/01/2011
Bangkok Post
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is insisting the government will not bow to pressure from the People's Alliance for Democracy, Thai Patriots Network and the Santi Asoke sect ahead of their planned joint rally this week.
Mr Abhisit said in a televised address last night that the government would not submit to the groups' demands, particularly the revocation of the memorandum of understanding signed by Thailand and Cambodia in 2000 governing the two countries' border disputes.
The PAD is calling on the government to revoke the memorandum which they say puts Thailand at a disadvantage in its dealings with Phnom Penh.
It also want the government to force Cambodians from every disputed area and to cancel Thailand's membership of Unesco's World Heritage Committee.
"[The PAD and Thai Patriots Network's] actual goal is not to push for the revocation of the memorandum, it is to oust the government from office," Mr Abhisit said.
He insisted he would not allow a repeat of the 2008 yellow shirt PAD seizure of Government House, when the pressure group targeted the Samak Sundaravej government.
A member of a security team led by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban predicted yesterday that the number of PAD protesters tomorrow would be relatively small at between 3,000 and 3,500.
"But the PAD's capability cannot be underestimated," the source said.
The PAD, the Thai Patriots Network and its ally, the Santi Asoke sect, might appear to be at odds, but "the three groups remain unified and their supporters have the capability to hold and continue with protracted rallies".
The Thai Patriots Network and Santi Asoke are already encamped outside Government House to try to force the government to alter its stand on its dealings with Phnom Penh.
A team of advisers to the prime minister also said they were concerned about the demonstrations.
They believe the ultimate goal of the rallies is to ensure there will be no general election later in the year.
The security source said the government must explain to the public its position on the border dispute, especially the middle class in the capital who represent a strong PAD support base.
The leaders of the PAD could again convince members of the middle class to support the yellow shirt movement, which played a key role in the ouster of the elected Thaksin Shinawatra government in 2006 and succeeding Thaksin-backed nominee administrations in 2008.
"If the government fails to curb the PAD rallies, the red shirts are expected to cry foul over double standards and they too will mount pressure on the government," the source said.
PAD spokesman Panthep Phongphuaphan said yesterday the rally planned for Makkhawan Bridge on Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue tomorrow would go ahead and would continue until the group's demands were met.
But he denied the PAD was seeking to overthrow the government.
Mr Panthep was confident the PAD, the Thai Patriots Network and Santi Asoke would unite at the mass rally tomorrow.
Santi Asoke leader Samana Photirak stressed his sect's rally would be peaceful and they would make the ultimate sacrifice by going on hunger strike.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Ong Yen Tieng ordered confiscation of tape recorders from reporters asking questions on 30 March 1997 grenade attack
Aftermath of the coward 30 March 1997 grenade attack on peaceful SRP demonstrators
Om Yen Tieng (Photo: Ly Meng Huor, RFI)
VOA Khmer Service reported that on Friday 21 January 2011, reporters asked Om Yen Tieng questions on the FBI's investigation report on the grenade attack on SRP supporters on 30 March 1997. Following the questioning and most likely the rude answers provided by Ong Yen Tieng, the latter decided that all recorders belonging to reporters present during the questioning be confiscated. The audio portion of the questioning was erased from all the recorders. What does Ong Yen Tieng have to hide? Is he trying to hide the involvement of his boss in this coward attack?
read more “
”
Ong Yen Tieng ordered confiscation of tape recorders from reporters asking questions on 30 March 1997 grenade attack
Aftermath of the coward 30 March 1997 grenade attack on peaceful SRP demonstrators
Om Yen Tieng (Photo: Ly Meng Huor, RFI)
VOA Khmer Service reported that on Friday 21 January 2011, reporters asked Om Yen Tieng questions on the FBI's investigation report on the grenade attack on SRP supporters on 30 March 1997. Following the questioning and most likely the rude answers provided by Ong Yen Tieng, the latter decided that all recorders belonging to reporters present during the questioning be confiscated. The audio portion of the questioning was erased from all the recorders. What does Ong Yen Tieng have to hide? Is he trying to hide the involvement of his boss in this coward attack?
Shhht! Don't talk about poverty in the streets of Siem Reap! The IRI said we are moving in the right direction
A great Khmer outing
Sunday January 23, 2011
Story and photos by SHARON OVINIS
The Star (Malaysia)
A group of youngsters, all grand prize team winners of the Mag Inc 2010 contest, were both moved by the poverty they witnessed in the streets of Siem Reap, Cambodia, and awed by its spectacular structures.
NO amount of reading or surfing the Internet prepared 12 bright, young minds for what they witnessed within hours of landing at the Siem Reap International Airport. As the students and three teachers from SJKC Chung Hua, Seremban, SMK Bukit Mewah, Seremban and Penang Chinese Girls’ High School made their way to the docks of Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake in the warm light of the late morning, swarms of children, some looking as young as five, furiously shoved their way around each other; no malice intended.
“You want drink, lady?” They stretched their frail limbs, hoping that the sale from the canned carbonated drinks they held in their palms would put food on the table for their families later that evening. “Wan dallar (one dollar)!” their voices echoed. Amidst the pleas, the bewildered looking students were whisked off into a motorised boat and within minutes, the excursion to the Floating Village took off with the three grand prize team winners of the Mag Inc 2010 contest.
A marked difference
Shopping for souvenirs: (from left) Yong Xian, Arlen, Wen Xiang and Natasha are taken in by all that’s on display at the Night Market.
Amanda Ng’s thoughts ran deep as she viewed the floating village that dotted the lake. The 16-year-old from the Penang Chinese Girls’ High School caught intermittent phrases as Vanni, the tour guide, strained his voice over the splutter of the boat’s engine. Everything the community needed floated here: the school, the church, the grocery stores, the petrol station and even the basketball court.
Children paddled to and fro in silver aluminium basins, very much like the ones our grandmothers used to wash and wring their laundry and bed sheets in. The scene drew giggles from the younger students; it must be so much fun! The sun-burnt children wore smiles on their faces.
The community went about their daily routine, unperturbed by us and the other boats that chugged up and down the channels with tourists. Breast-feeding mothers and limbless fathers skilfully manoeuvred around the tourist boats in their motorised sampan. Their children hopped effortlessly aboard the tourist boats, as the sampan pulled alongside. It was a race to sell more cool, canned drinks. The enterprising ones took it a step further. Some had snakes coiled around their hands and necks but their eyes said it all: “It’s photo opportunity, lady!” – all for the sum of US$1 (RM3.05).
“It was a culture shock for me although I had read up on Cambodia. We were shoved straight into the face of poverty,” said Amanda who had returned from Stockholm, Sweden just eight days earlier.
Apprenticeship training anyone? The students get a feel of the tools and wood carvings at one of the work stations at the Le Artisan Stone and Wood Carving Centre.
Amanda was one of the winning team members from her school who had participated and clinched the grand prize at the National Science Challenge organised by the Academy of Sciences.
What Amanda saw as exploitation of child labour distressed her greatly. “In Stockholm, you see the technology of tomorrow. In Siem Reap, you see the poverty levels. It’s disheartening to note what the world is coming to.”
For the younger ones like 12-year-old Natasha Yau of SJKC Chung Hua, however, the sight of “mobile” homes built on skinny stilts were a novelty.
“I thought it was fun having the water splash onto our faces during the boat ride!” she said.
Many disadvantaged groups in Cambodia earn a living by producing a range of handicrafts and souvenirs, which are of high quality and eventually find their way to markets around the country. Within Siem Reap itself, several centres such as the Le Artisan Stone and Wood Carving Centre as well as the Silk Farm were opened for tourists. Students were taken on a tour of the processes involved before the items were displayed on the shelves of air-conditioned stores.
The working conditions at the Carving Centre were a far cry from what the students had been accustomed to. The rooms that housed the workstations were dusty.
We made it!: (Clockwise) Arlen, Yong Xian, Alicia, Shan Shan and Wen Xiang take a breather after climbing the five-tiered temple mountain of Phnom Bakheng
The young visitors saw how blocks of wood were chipped away skilfully to reveal fine carvings of Buddha. The odour from the lacquer wasn’t appealing either as could be seen from the way Lee Shan Shan and Alicia Kwan, both aged 12 from SJKC Chung Hua, wrinkled their noses.
At the Silk Farm, the boiling, spinning, and weaving of silk thread from the cocoons were carried out in wooden longhouses installed with zinc rooftops.
It was hot and humid. But it was nothing less than awe and admiration that teacher Lim Siew Heoh from the Penang Chinese Girls’ School, had for the craftswomen who worked seven hours a day to weave one metre of exquisite silk.
“It’s amazing,” she said of the arduous task of moving the shuttle threaded with at least 30 multi-coloured silk threads.
Take your pick
The Psar Chas Market and Angkor Night Market were the draw for Shan Shan and Alicia, as well as the teachers and students on the trip. After a quick “How to bargain in Cambodia 101” lesson by Vanni, everyone was geared up for great bargains via the art of haggling.
“We enjoyed the shopping and the bargaining bit with the shopkeepers,” said Shan San and Alicia. “I found their accent amusing too,” said Shan Shan.
Located in the heart of Siem Reap, the markets offered a lively shopping scene. Heng Wan Fen and Heng Yi Cheer, 16, were heard fervently discussing with their teacher Lim and schoolmate Amanda if they had exhausted the list of friends they had to buy souvenirs for.
“Could we catch more shopping action tomorrow?” was the next most popular phrase after the shopkeepers’ popular call, “Lady, you want something?” After all, there were so many items to buy: silverware, paintings, T-shirts, table mats, wood carvings. The list was endless.
What is a trip to Siem Reap without a walk through the architectural wonders of the staggering temples? For the 14 year-old students of SMK Bukit Mewah, Amelia Kwan, Alyssa Yau, Stephany Rajasingam and Lee Yong Xian, the trips to the Angkor Thom Temple, Bayon Temple, Terrace of Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King and the majestic Angkor Wat would be one of their best history lessons yet.
“I loved Angkor Wat! It’s so rich in history. It was amazing that I got a chance to climb the steep steps into the temple towers!” said Stephany. Team mate Alyssa said it was unbelievable that she was actually seeing Angkor Wat!
“I learnt a little about it from our history lesson back home. But I never thought I could be here. Being here has made the lesson more real and meaningful.”
The only “rose” among the thorns, Yong Xian was impressed by how Unicef and other countries like Japan, Korea and India were working hand-in-hand with the Cambodian Government to restore the temples. Yong Xian enjoyed climbing the steep steps of Angkor Wat and the other temples as “it proved to be a challenge considering how high and narrow they were!”
SJKC Chung Hwa team mates, Arlen Tan and Li Wen Xiang, aged 12, agreed. Both enjoyed their hike up the hill to Phnom Bakheng. “The scenery was beautiful at sunset!” said Arlen. “The climb up the stairs made the trip all the more exciting!” quipped Wen Xiang.
Teacher-in-charge, Shamala Devi, was glad that her students had the opportunity to see the spectacular monuments for themselves. “They know how blessed they are to be on a trip like this,” she said.
Amanda who professed to not being particularly spiritual in nature, was overwhelmed by the magnificence and grandeur of the past.
“It was riveting, just standing in one of the most majestic, holy sites in the world. Walking through the ruins, it was not hard to visualise the splendour of the Khmer empire so long ago. I could feel the aura and the energy within the Angkor compounds. Suryavarman II has certainly accomplished what he set out to do – to build something that still woos the whole world!”
A wake up call
For many of the students, the highlight of the trip was a stop at the Little Angels Orphange which houses about 80 children aged between four and 16.
The idea was mooted by the students of SMK Bukit Mewah who are no strangers to charitable deeds. Their winning entry at the Mag Inc contest, SHARE, advocated volunteerism.
Mission in motion, Amelia Kwan, and the entourage made a stop at the local grocery store to buy noodles, candy, dried food, bags of rice, toiletries, books and stationery items.
“I didn’t have much time to get a charity drive going in school so I opted to help my mum with the house chores to earn RM50 for this charity bit.” When asked what types of chores she pitched in, Amelia said it was the ironing. “It wasn’t too bad because I liked ironing anyway,” said the energetic 14-year-old.
“I was surprised to see that the orphanage was open-air though. In Malaysia, children live in homes. In Siem Reap, the facilities were desperately lacking. I’ve learnt to be grateful for what I have,” she continued.
Alyssa Yau summed up a poignant point: “I think if everyone contributes, no matter how little, we can bring change to this world.
“We need to better ourselves, heart and soul.”
read more “
”
A great Khmer outing
Sunday January 23, 2011
Story and photos by SHARON OVINIS
The Star (Malaysia)
A group of youngsters, all grand prize team winners of the Mag Inc 2010 contest, were both moved by the poverty they witnessed in the streets of Siem Reap, Cambodia, and awed by its spectacular structures.
NO amount of reading or surfing the Internet prepared 12 bright, young minds for what they witnessed within hours of landing at the Siem Reap International Airport. As the students and three teachers from SJKC Chung Hua, Seremban, SMK Bukit Mewah, Seremban and Penang Chinese Girls’ High School made their way to the docks of Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake in the warm light of the late morning, swarms of children, some looking as young as five, furiously shoved their way around each other; no malice intended.
“You want drink, lady?” They stretched their frail limbs, hoping that the sale from the canned carbonated drinks they held in their palms would put food on the table for their families later that evening. “Wan dallar (one dollar)!” their voices echoed. Amidst the pleas, the bewildered looking students were whisked off into a motorised boat and within minutes, the excursion to the Floating Village took off with the three grand prize team winners of the Mag Inc 2010 contest.
A marked difference
Shopping for souvenirs: (from left) Yong Xian, Arlen, Wen Xiang and Natasha are taken in by all that’s on display at the Night Market.
Amanda Ng’s thoughts ran deep as she viewed the floating village that dotted the lake. The 16-year-old from the Penang Chinese Girls’ High School caught intermittent phrases as Vanni, the tour guide, strained his voice over the splutter of the boat’s engine. Everything the community needed floated here: the school, the church, the grocery stores, the petrol station and even the basketball court.
Children paddled to and fro in silver aluminium basins, very much like the ones our grandmothers used to wash and wring their laundry and bed sheets in. The scene drew giggles from the younger students; it must be so much fun! The sun-burnt children wore smiles on their faces.
The community went about their daily routine, unperturbed by us and the other boats that chugged up and down the channels with tourists. Breast-feeding mothers and limbless fathers skilfully manoeuvred around the tourist boats in their motorised sampan. Their children hopped effortlessly aboard the tourist boats, as the sampan pulled alongside. It was a race to sell more cool, canned drinks. The enterprising ones took it a step further. Some had snakes coiled around their hands and necks but their eyes said it all: “It’s photo opportunity, lady!” – all for the sum of US$1 (RM3.05).
“It was a culture shock for me although I had read up on Cambodia. We were shoved straight into the face of poverty,” said Amanda who had returned from Stockholm, Sweden just eight days earlier.
Apprenticeship training anyone? The students get a feel of the tools and wood carvings at one of the work stations at the Le Artisan Stone and Wood Carving Centre.
Amanda was one of the winning team members from her school who had participated and clinched the grand prize at the National Science Challenge organised by the Academy of Sciences.
What Amanda saw as exploitation of child labour distressed her greatly. “In Stockholm, you see the technology of tomorrow. In Siem Reap, you see the poverty levels. It’s disheartening to note what the world is coming to.”
For the younger ones like 12-year-old Natasha Yau of SJKC Chung Hua, however, the sight of “mobile” homes built on skinny stilts were a novelty.
“I thought it was fun having the water splash onto our faces during the boat ride!” she said.
Many disadvantaged groups in Cambodia earn a living by producing a range of handicrafts and souvenirs, which are of high quality and eventually find their way to markets around the country. Within Siem Reap itself, several centres such as the Le Artisan Stone and Wood Carving Centre as well as the Silk Farm were opened for tourists. Students were taken on a tour of the processes involved before the items were displayed on the shelves of air-conditioned stores.
The working conditions at the Carving Centre were a far cry from what the students had been accustomed to. The rooms that housed the workstations were dusty.
We made it!: (Clockwise) Arlen, Yong Xian, Alicia, Shan Shan and Wen Xiang take a breather after climbing the five-tiered temple mountain of Phnom Bakheng
The young visitors saw how blocks of wood were chipped away skilfully to reveal fine carvings of Buddha. The odour from the lacquer wasn’t appealing either as could be seen from the way Lee Shan Shan and Alicia Kwan, both aged 12 from SJKC Chung Hua, wrinkled their noses.
At the Silk Farm, the boiling, spinning, and weaving of silk thread from the cocoons were carried out in wooden longhouses installed with zinc rooftops.
It was hot and humid. But it was nothing less than awe and admiration that teacher Lim Siew Heoh from the Penang Chinese Girls’ School, had for the craftswomen who worked seven hours a day to weave one metre of exquisite silk.
“It’s amazing,” she said of the arduous task of moving the shuttle threaded with at least 30 multi-coloured silk threads.
Take your pick
The Psar Chas Market and Angkor Night Market were the draw for Shan Shan and Alicia, as well as the teachers and students on the trip. After a quick “How to bargain in Cambodia 101” lesson by Vanni, everyone was geared up for great bargains via the art of haggling.
“We enjoyed the shopping and the bargaining bit with the shopkeepers,” said Shan San and Alicia. “I found their accent amusing too,” said Shan Shan.
Located in the heart of Siem Reap, the markets offered a lively shopping scene. Heng Wan Fen and Heng Yi Cheer, 16, were heard fervently discussing with their teacher Lim and schoolmate Amanda if they had exhausted the list of friends they had to buy souvenirs for.
“Could we catch more shopping action tomorrow?” was the next most popular phrase after the shopkeepers’ popular call, “Lady, you want something?” After all, there were so many items to buy: silverware, paintings, T-shirts, table mats, wood carvings. The list was endless.
What is a trip to Siem Reap without a walk through the architectural wonders of the staggering temples? For the 14 year-old students of SMK Bukit Mewah, Amelia Kwan, Alyssa Yau, Stephany Rajasingam and Lee Yong Xian, the trips to the Angkor Thom Temple, Bayon Temple, Terrace of Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King and the majestic Angkor Wat would be one of their best history lessons yet.
“I loved Angkor Wat! It’s so rich in history. It was amazing that I got a chance to climb the steep steps into the temple towers!” said Stephany. Team mate Alyssa said it was unbelievable that she was actually seeing Angkor Wat!
“I learnt a little about it from our history lesson back home. But I never thought I could be here. Being here has made the lesson more real and meaningful.”
The only “rose” among the thorns, Yong Xian was impressed by how Unicef and other countries like Japan, Korea and India were working hand-in-hand with the Cambodian Government to restore the temples. Yong Xian enjoyed climbing the steep steps of Angkor Wat and the other temples as “it proved to be a challenge considering how high and narrow they were!”
SJKC Chung Hwa team mates, Arlen Tan and Li Wen Xiang, aged 12, agreed. Both enjoyed their hike up the hill to Phnom Bakheng. “The scenery was beautiful at sunset!” said Arlen. “The climb up the stairs made the trip all the more exciting!” quipped Wen Xiang.
Teacher-in-charge, Shamala Devi, was glad that her students had the opportunity to see the spectacular monuments for themselves. “They know how blessed they are to be on a trip like this,” she said.
Amanda who professed to not being particularly spiritual in nature, was overwhelmed by the magnificence and grandeur of the past.
“It was riveting, just standing in one of the most majestic, holy sites in the world. Walking through the ruins, it was not hard to visualise the splendour of the Khmer empire so long ago. I could feel the aura and the energy within the Angkor compounds. Suryavarman II has certainly accomplished what he set out to do – to build something that still woos the whole world!”
A wake up call
For many of the students, the highlight of the trip was a stop at the Little Angels Orphange which houses about 80 children aged between four and 16.
The idea was mooted by the students of SMK Bukit Mewah who are no strangers to charitable deeds. Their winning entry at the Mag Inc contest, SHARE, advocated volunteerism.
Mission in motion, Amelia Kwan, and the entourage made a stop at the local grocery store to buy noodles, candy, dried food, bags of rice, toiletries, books and stationery items.
“I didn’t have much time to get a charity drive going in school so I opted to help my mum with the house chores to earn RM50 for this charity bit.” When asked what types of chores she pitched in, Amelia said it was the ironing. “It wasn’t too bad because I liked ironing anyway,” said the energetic 14-year-old.
“I was surprised to see that the orphanage was open-air though. In Malaysia, children live in homes. In Siem Reap, the facilities were desperately lacking. I’ve learnt to be grateful for what I have,” she continued.
Alyssa Yau summed up a poignant point: “I think if everyone contributes, no matter how little, we can bring change to this world.
“We need to better ourselves, heart and soul.”
Sarus crane reserve finally created in Cambodia
23/01/2011
WildlifeExtra.com
Anlung Pring Management and Conservation Area for Sarus Crane and Other Birds
January 2011. Kampong Trach Important Bird Area (IBA) has finally been designated as Cambodia's second Sarus Crane reserve. On 6 January 2011, Prime Minister Hun Sen signed a sub decree to establish the Anlung Pring Management and Conservation Area for Sarus Crane and Other Birds located in Kampong Trach District, Kampot Province. This signing represented the culmination of consultative and bureaucratic process that began in 2006.
"Almost the entire process has been driven by the vision and dedication of Seng Kim Hout and the credit is his", said Jonathan Eames, Programme Manager for BirdLife International in Indochina. "At times it felt like the process would never end, but Kim Hout never lost focus or commitment to completing the task", continued Eames.
Globally important
Kampong Trach is one of the three most globally important non-breeding sites in Cambodia (a fourth is situated in Vietnam) for the South-east Asian race of Sarus Crane, which is considered globally Vulnerable. The other two are at Ang Trapeang Thmor, which has been a reserve since 2000, and at Boeung Prek Lapouv, where BirdLife and Forestry Administration also worked successfully to establish a Sarus Crane reserve in 2007.
217 hectares of seasonally flooded grassland
The newly declared reserve covers only 217 ha of seasonally inundated grassland and unlike Boeung Prek Lapouv, lies close to the sea and has a tidal regime, supporting mangrove and salt marsh vegetation in addition to wet grassland. In March 2010 the site held over 270 Sarus Cranes, more than 30% of the global population. The Sarus Cranes usually arrive in late November and remain until early May when they begin their migration to the wetlands in the northern and eastern plains of Cambodia where they breed.
Bou Vorsak, Acting Programme Manager for BirdLife's work in Cambodia, said this was another major achievement for BirdLife. "This is the second protected area in Cambodia that we have proposed and succeeded in having the government gazette. We are proud of this achievement."
Local conservation group
Since 2004, Kampong Trach IBA has been patrolled by a local conservation group, which has prevented encroachment and stopped hunting, as well as raising awareness of the importance of the area's biodiversity, and the benefits of sustainable use, among the local communities. The site lies close to the Vietnamese frontier where rapid economic development has pushed up land prices. This factor was the main reason why the designation process took so long as local vested interests tried to thwart the process.
2 more projects
With the designation of the site as a protected area now in place, the scene is set for larger scale conservation investment. Recently, nearly US$ 330,000 was granted to the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and Mlub Baitong via the BirdLife/Critical Ecosystem partnership Fund, to fully establish and conserve Boeung Prek Lapouv and Kampong Trach Sarus Crane reserves. These two projects will contribute to their long-term sustainable management by developing and revising site management plans, training and supporting local conservation groups, piloting longterm financing mechanisms, initiating community based ecotourism, and generating increased support among local people for site conservation.
Also, via the CPEF small grants scheme administered directly by BirdLife, The Cambodian Institute for Research and Rural Development (CIRD) received nearly US$20,000 to increase efforts to conserve Kampong Trach, by strengthening the capacity of the local community on improved and sustainable agricultural production, and conducting the feasibility study for introduction and implementation of a ‘Wildlife-friendly' produce scheme in this site. This project started since November 2010 and will end in late December 2011.
read more “
”
23/01/2011
WildlifeExtra.com
Anlung Pring Management and Conservation Area for Sarus Crane and Other Birds
January 2011. Kampong Trach Important Bird Area (IBA) has finally been designated as Cambodia's second Sarus Crane reserve. On 6 January 2011, Prime Minister Hun Sen signed a sub decree to establish the Anlung Pring Management and Conservation Area for Sarus Crane and Other Birds located in Kampong Trach District, Kampot Province. This signing represented the culmination of consultative and bureaucratic process that began in 2006.
"Almost the entire process has been driven by the vision and dedication of Seng Kim Hout and the credit is his", said Jonathan Eames, Programme Manager for BirdLife International in Indochina. "At times it felt like the process would never end, but Kim Hout never lost focus or commitment to completing the task", continued Eames.
Globally important
Kampong Trach is one of the three most globally important non-breeding sites in Cambodia (a fourth is situated in Vietnam) for the South-east Asian race of Sarus Crane, which is considered globally Vulnerable. The other two are at Ang Trapeang Thmor, which has been a reserve since 2000, and at Boeung Prek Lapouv, where BirdLife and Forestry Administration also worked successfully to establish a Sarus Crane reserve in 2007.
217 hectares of seasonally flooded grassland
The newly declared reserve covers only 217 ha of seasonally inundated grassland and unlike Boeung Prek Lapouv, lies close to the sea and has a tidal regime, supporting mangrove and salt marsh vegetation in addition to wet grassland. In March 2010 the site held over 270 Sarus Cranes, more than 30% of the global population. The Sarus Cranes usually arrive in late November and remain until early May when they begin their migration to the wetlands in the northern and eastern plains of Cambodia where they breed.
Bou Vorsak, Acting Programme Manager for BirdLife's work in Cambodia, said this was another major achievement for BirdLife. "This is the second protected area in Cambodia that we have proposed and succeeded in having the government gazette. We are proud of this achievement."
Local conservation group
Since 2004, Kampong Trach IBA has been patrolled by a local conservation group, which has prevented encroachment and stopped hunting, as well as raising awareness of the importance of the area's biodiversity, and the benefits of sustainable use, among the local communities. The site lies close to the Vietnamese frontier where rapid economic development has pushed up land prices. This factor was the main reason why the designation process took so long as local vested interests tried to thwart the process.
2 more projects
With the designation of the site as a protected area now in place, the scene is set for larger scale conservation investment. Recently, nearly US$ 330,000 was granted to the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and Mlub Baitong via the BirdLife/Critical Ecosystem partnership Fund, to fully establish and conserve Boeung Prek Lapouv and Kampong Trach Sarus Crane reserves. These two projects will contribute to their long-term sustainable management by developing and revising site management plans, training and supporting local conservation groups, piloting longterm financing mechanisms, initiating community based ecotourism, and generating increased support among local people for site conservation.
Also, via the CPEF small grants scheme administered directly by BirdLife, The Cambodian Institute for Research and Rural Development (CIRD) received nearly US$20,000 to increase efforts to conserve Kampong Trach, by strengthening the capacity of the local community on improved and sustainable agricultural production, and conducting the feasibility study for introduction and implementation of a ‘Wildlife-friendly' produce scheme in this site. This project started since November 2010 and will end in late December 2011.
The Media and Democracy
John Willis of the IRI (Photo: R. Carmichael, VOA)
Cambodia is moving in the right direction (sic!):
Boeung Kak Lake residents protest forced eviction (Photo: Reuters)
Kingdom of Wonder?
Wonder why the cops shoot at unarmed civilians?
(Photo: John Vink/Magnum)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Op-Ed by MP
IRI's findings are just another Win-Win endorsement of a closed single party state.
I don't know the methods used to gather public opinion on the government's performance or the effects of public policies on social issues such as public services like roads and the like, but I do see that the majority of Cambodians still live in a closed, insulated environment where public information and opinion making are still largely a product of manufactured uniformity where diversity or dissent is neither tolerated nor encouraged.
It would be interesting to ask the public instead questions pertaining to that closed climate of uniformity, out of which public views of social issues are patterned and shaped, which such findings can be said to merely mirror in the first place. For example, respondents could be quizzed on how much they know about the management and manipulation of television broadcasting operation in Cambodia; how much of an influence/representation, if any, do opposition parties and civil society or organisation have via these state-controlled information delivering outlets; who decide what news items to be aired; who own and fund these television stations; how many stations are owned by the state and how many are in private/commercial hands; what is the media's appropriate functions and responsibilities in respect of news coverage invariably devoted to highlighting the government's 'achievements' in a country still ranked among the world's poorest and most corruption plagued, or is that because negative news reportage has no constructive role to play in the developmental process? Is it because such news compromise or impair people's sense of well-being; that feel-good factor that only popular cultural shows and entertainment programmes are said to engender in their audience?; is it because Khmer people are not at all concerned or have no right to know how many kilometres of Khmer territory or how many villages had been ceded to Vietnam in the last 30 years?; is it because it is not their business to know how much their government has acquired in revenue from off-shore exploration deals, numerous land concessions and sand-dredging operations etc? Or how is this public fund being managed and ploughed back into the mainstream of the national economy?
Do these questions in any way contribute to enhancing people's freedom in determining the quality and veracity of the information they are being fed? Is it possible that only people in power are capable of telling the truth, and that critical views and voices are all born of envy and a tendency to vilify with a view to fermenting chaos and inflaming 'instability' deemed inimical to Progress and Development, a necessity the state has killed, maimed and imprisoned to promote?
If these questions are relevant to evaluating public opinion, then perhaps they should not be left out of any public opinion surveying process. If a Bayon TV reporter approaches a person in the street, accompanied by a filming crew, the person being approached will likely have formulated appropriately compliant responses in his/her mind prior to even being asked any question by the reporter so as not to implicate oneself unwisely before representatives of an authority that does not in the main tolerate opposing views or unorthodox sentiments. This is because Bayon TV is owned by none other than the PM himself.
How credible or representative any survey's data or findings can therefore be judged in context of both its methodologies/ tools deployed to collect such data and the socio-political context that informs - or more precisely enforces - people's views and perceptions in the first instance.
If IRI were to do a similar survey in North Korea, the satisfaction rating of their findings over governmental performances in all areas - not least the development of nuclear capability - leading to the logical deduction that the North Korean nation ‘is heading in the right direction’, might even be greater than that found in Cambodia. In either case, that is not something for humanity to be cheerful about!
Information is a fundamental factor in the promotion of democracy and development worldwide. With freedom of information citizens choose how they like to be governed or maximise their involvement directly or indirectly in every aspect of their everyday life by making their votes and voices count in all spheres of decision-making and deliberation pertinent to their standing as rightful subjects and in line with prescribed legitimate choices; by being empowered to direct matters and realise their outcomes without undue interference from self-interested parties who cannot possibly attain to their specific self-promoted agenda without high- jacking, to some extent, that decision-making power from the clutches of the citizenry. Whilst the quality of public information itself can vary as to its subjectivity, sources and their ulterior motives, this does not by itself justify the manner in which information is being culled or manipulated and monopolised to conform to any one-sided agenda where plurality and diversity are denied and therefore plays no part in the check-and-balance mechanisms that in any open democratic climate act as an indispensible moderating force vis a vis ‘extremist’ tendencies, be they emanate from within the state or elsewhere.
There was a time when scientists were persecuted in Europe for putting forth discoveries that were at odds with traditional religious views of the creation of the universe which, among other things, insisted that the world was flat and stood on the back of a turtle!
So what stood under the turtle? Ah, very clever of you, young man (exclaimed one elderly lady at a Stephen Hawkins lecture); it’s turtles all the way down!
The absence of a relatively free media climate is a much stronger indicator of where society is heading. With freedom of information citizens will have an invaluable access to knowledge - public and private - and this will drastically and qualitatively revolutionise the way they see themselves and relate to the outside world, including their public servants who have hitherto been more of their tyrannical masters and oppressors; bearing in mind also that government officials are recruited from the rank of the population at large. Time - say apologists of the regime – is of the essence in terms of what is needed to inculcate in these officials a culture of professionalism, accountability and integrity in public service through learning and training generally. Yet, one searches in vain for signs that such presumptions have actually been put into practical effect. Incompetence committed in public life by government officials leading to large-scale public tragedy such as the recent Diamond Bridge event ought to have opened up ample scope into which that culture of learning and responsibility be implanted, if only as a benchmark and reminder of the costly price of professional misconduct or incompetence. Instead, true to form, the compliant TV media chose to keep its spot light for several airing hours upon a grief-stricken, overemotional and tearful Prime Minister, who quickly ordered the investigation into that incident closed, declaring no one is to blame!
How does one hope to improve the quality of democratic governance without improving or changing the quality of the ballot box? How many people vote for a party simply because their patron or local village chief tells them to do so? Why are some people still being disenfranchised by not being issued with the appropriate documents whilst most foreigners are said to have all the legal paperwork? Is rural poverty being deliberately overlooked because it helps to preserve the poor’s dependence upon the existing patronage system for meagre handouts and hence their continued political/electoral fidelity to the ruling party? If the international community recognised the results of previous elections as free and fair, so what? Like the findings of this IRI survey are purported to show? If the world community (Western governments) take a more stringent view towards political and democratic developments in Cambodia (which continue to deteriorate alarmingly) will they not then be morally more duty-bound to back their words with their actions? Surely, with their personnel and high tech resources in every capital of the world, they do not need you and me or IRI to tell them what is going wrong in this ‘Kingdom of Wonder’, do they?
Remember it had taken these same governments decades to resolve the ‘Kampuchean conflict’, and having performed a somewhat contrived surgery upon this prolonged haemorrhage (which they, in fact, had had some part in rendering historically), they now have little incentive to find themselves in that awkward situation again, leaving Hanoi and its underlings to run –more or less - all the show in Indochina.
read more “
”
John Willis of the IRI (Photo: R. Carmichael, VOA)
Cambodia is moving in the right direction (sic!):
Boeung Kak Lake residents protest forced eviction (Photo: Reuters)
Kingdom of Wonder?
Wonder why the cops shoot at unarmed civilians?
(Photo: John Vink/Magnum)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Op-Ed by MP
IRI's findings are just another Win-Win endorsement of a closed single party state.
I don't know the methods used to gather public opinion on the government's performance or the effects of public policies on social issues such as public services like roads and the like, but I do see that the majority of Cambodians still live in a closed, insulated environment where public information and opinion making are still largely a product of manufactured uniformity where diversity or dissent is neither tolerated nor encouraged.
It would be interesting to ask the public instead questions pertaining to that closed climate of uniformity, out of which public views of social issues are patterned and shaped, which such findings can be said to merely mirror in the first place. For example, respondents could be quizzed on how much they know about the management and manipulation of television broadcasting operation in Cambodia; how much of an influence/representation, if any, do opposition parties and civil society or organisation have via these state-controlled information delivering outlets; who decide what news items to be aired; who own and fund these television stations; how many stations are owned by the state and how many are in private/commercial hands; what is the media's appropriate functions and responsibilities in respect of news coverage invariably devoted to highlighting the government's 'achievements' in a country still ranked among the world's poorest and most corruption plagued, or is that because negative news reportage has no constructive role to play in the developmental process? Is it because such news compromise or impair people's sense of well-being; that feel-good factor that only popular cultural shows and entertainment programmes are said to engender in their audience?; is it because Khmer people are not at all concerned or have no right to know how many kilometres of Khmer territory or how many villages had been ceded to Vietnam in the last 30 years?; is it because it is not their business to know how much their government has acquired in revenue from off-shore exploration deals, numerous land concessions and sand-dredging operations etc? Or how is this public fund being managed and ploughed back into the mainstream of the national economy?
Do these questions in any way contribute to enhancing people's freedom in determining the quality and veracity of the information they are being fed? Is it possible that only people in power are capable of telling the truth, and that critical views and voices are all born of envy and a tendency to vilify with a view to fermenting chaos and inflaming 'instability' deemed inimical to Progress and Development, a necessity the state has killed, maimed and imprisoned to promote?
If these questions are relevant to evaluating public opinion, then perhaps they should not be left out of any public opinion surveying process. If a Bayon TV reporter approaches a person in the street, accompanied by a filming crew, the person being approached will likely have formulated appropriately compliant responses in his/her mind prior to even being asked any question by the reporter so as not to implicate oneself unwisely before representatives of an authority that does not in the main tolerate opposing views or unorthodox sentiments. This is because Bayon TV is owned by none other than the PM himself.
How credible or representative any survey's data or findings can therefore be judged in context of both its methodologies/ tools deployed to collect such data and the socio-political context that informs - or more precisely enforces - people's views and perceptions in the first instance.
If IRI were to do a similar survey in North Korea, the satisfaction rating of their findings over governmental performances in all areas - not least the development of nuclear capability - leading to the logical deduction that the North Korean nation ‘is heading in the right direction’, might even be greater than that found in Cambodia. In either case, that is not something for humanity to be cheerful about!
Information is a fundamental factor in the promotion of democracy and development worldwide. With freedom of information citizens choose how they like to be governed or maximise their involvement directly or indirectly in every aspect of their everyday life by making their votes and voices count in all spheres of decision-making and deliberation pertinent to their standing as rightful subjects and in line with prescribed legitimate choices; by being empowered to direct matters and realise their outcomes without undue interference from self-interested parties who cannot possibly attain to their specific self-promoted agenda without high- jacking, to some extent, that decision-making power from the clutches of the citizenry. Whilst the quality of public information itself can vary as to its subjectivity, sources and their ulterior motives, this does not by itself justify the manner in which information is being culled or manipulated and monopolised to conform to any one-sided agenda where plurality and diversity are denied and therefore plays no part in the check-and-balance mechanisms that in any open democratic climate act as an indispensible moderating force vis a vis ‘extremist’ tendencies, be they emanate from within the state or elsewhere.
There was a time when scientists were persecuted in Europe for putting forth discoveries that were at odds with traditional religious views of the creation of the universe which, among other things, insisted that the world was flat and stood on the back of a turtle!
So what stood under the turtle? Ah, very clever of you, young man (exclaimed one elderly lady at a Stephen Hawkins lecture); it’s turtles all the way down!
The absence of a relatively free media climate is a much stronger indicator of where society is heading. With freedom of information citizens will have an invaluable access to knowledge - public and private - and this will drastically and qualitatively revolutionise the way they see themselves and relate to the outside world, including their public servants who have hitherto been more of their tyrannical masters and oppressors; bearing in mind also that government officials are recruited from the rank of the population at large. Time - say apologists of the regime – is of the essence in terms of what is needed to inculcate in these officials a culture of professionalism, accountability and integrity in public service through learning and training generally. Yet, one searches in vain for signs that such presumptions have actually been put into practical effect. Incompetence committed in public life by government officials leading to large-scale public tragedy such as the recent Diamond Bridge event ought to have opened up ample scope into which that culture of learning and responsibility be implanted, if only as a benchmark and reminder of the costly price of professional misconduct or incompetence. Instead, true to form, the compliant TV media chose to keep its spot light for several airing hours upon a grief-stricken, overemotional and tearful Prime Minister, who quickly ordered the investigation into that incident closed, declaring no one is to blame!
How does one hope to improve the quality of democratic governance without improving or changing the quality of the ballot box? How many people vote for a party simply because their patron or local village chief tells them to do so? Why are some people still being disenfranchised by not being issued with the appropriate documents whilst most foreigners are said to have all the legal paperwork? Is rural poverty being deliberately overlooked because it helps to preserve the poor’s dependence upon the existing patronage system for meagre handouts and hence their continued political/electoral fidelity to the ruling party? If the international community recognised the results of previous elections as free and fair, so what? Like the findings of this IRI survey are purported to show? If the world community (Western governments) take a more stringent view towards political and democratic developments in Cambodia (which continue to deteriorate alarmingly) will they not then be morally more duty-bound to back their words with their actions? Surely, with their personnel and high tech resources in every capital of the world, they do not need you and me or IRI to tell them what is going wrong in this ‘Kingdom of Wonder’, do they?
Remember it had taken these same governments decades to resolve the ‘Kampuchean conflict’, and having performed a somewhat contrived surgery upon this prolonged haemorrhage (which they, in fact, had had some part in rendering historically), they now have little incentive to find themselves in that awkward situation again, leaving Hanoi and its underlings to run –more or less - all the show in Indochina.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Thai 2nd Army chief angered by "INVADER" label posted by Cambodia
FIGHTING WORDS: A stone tablet with a message in Khmer branding Thai troops ‘invaders’ at Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara Keo Sekha Kiri Svarak.
HOME AT LAST: Democrat MP Panich Vikitsreth (centre) and Samdin Lertbutr (left) arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday. They, with Narumol Chitwaratana, Tainae Mungmajon and Kojpollathorn Chusanasevi, returned to Thailand after the Phnom Penh Municipal Court gave them a suspended jail term for trespassing on Cambodian territory and illegal entry into a military area.
Invaders' jibe as Thais come home
SECOND ARMY CHIEF ANGERED AS TEMPLE SIGN ANTAGONISES TROOPS IN DISPUTED AREA
23/01/2011
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post
The 2nd Army chief has demanded Cambodian troops remove a stone tablet in the disputed border area bearing a message lambasting Thai troops as "invaders".
The latest controversy in the Thai-Cambodian territorial dispute came as Bangkok yesterday welcomed back the five Thais allowed home by a Phnom Penh court after being found guilty of charges related to illegally crossing the border.
Lt Gen Thawatchai Samutsakhon said he had contacted Cambodian troops to remove the stone tablet, bearing the message "Thai troops _ the Invaders" written in Khmer, erected in front of Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara.
The temple, situated 300m away from Preah Vihear, is in the disputed 4.6-square-kilometre area claimed by both countries.
Lt Gen Thawatchai said the two countries have agreed not to build or erect anything that is indicative of ownership of the land.
"This stone tablet will have significant implications if it is used as evidence in cases involving territorial disputes in the International Court of Justice," Lt Gen Thawatchai said.
"We cannot accept this. I have told them to take it down.
"If they don't take it down, I may have a sign with a similar message erected."
Cambodia put the stone tablet up after Thai troops withdrew from Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara on Dec 1.
Army specialist Kanok Nettarakawesana is named on the tablet as one of the "invaders".
At the time, Lt Gen Kanok was commander of the Suranaree task force and led about 200 Thai soldiers to enter the wat to hold talks with Cambodian authorities regarding the release of three Thais detained in the disputed area on July 15, 2008.
The three were members of the ultra-nationalist Dharmayatra group, which camped out on the Thai border in Si Sa Ket's Kantharalak district to protest Thailand's support of Phnom Penh's listing of the temple as a Unesco World Heritage site. They were freed after four hours of negotiations.
Lt Gen Kanok said he decided to lead the soldiers into Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara to stop Cambodian soldiers from taking the three Thais to Ban Komui on the Cambodian side.
Lt Gen Kanok insisted that the wat is located in the overlapping area and Thai soldiers have the authority to enter the temple.
"It was the first time that we had reached there. In the past, Thai soldiers never entered the area but I stood by our 1:50000 map which indicates the area is ours," he said.
Lt Gen Kanok shrugged off the name-calling by Cambodian soldiers.
He said he led the troops to enter the temple to assert the country's sovereignty over the disputed area.
He declined to comment on whether Thailand was at a disadvantage after the country withdrew its troops from the temple.
"You need to ask the people responsible for the issue," he said.
Meanwhile, the five Thais released from Phnom Penh arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday evening. They appeared exhausted and declined to comment.
On Friday, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court found each of the five Thais - Panich Vikitsreth, Narumol Chitwaratana, Samdin Lertbutr, Tainae Mungmajon, and Kojpollathorn Chusanasevi - guilty of two counts of trespassing onto Cambodian territory and illegal entry into a military area.
The judges sentenced each of them to nine months in jail and a fine of 1 million riel (7,520 baht), but suspended the terms.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday called an urgent meeting of relevant authorities to discuss what action should be taken in the wake of the guilty verdicts.
He said the government has asked the Cambodian government to translate the verdict into Thai so it can determine whether the ruling has any impact on Thailand's territorial integrity.
He said he would explain all relevant issues to the public today.
The five Thais were among a group of seven arrested by Cambodian authorities on Dec 27.
The remaining two are Veera Somkwamkid, a Thai Patriots Network coordinator, and his secretary, Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, who both face additional charges of espionage.
The Phnom Penh court is scheduled to hand down its ruling on the two on Tuesday.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Soul Food
Eyes are the window to the soul. I find its origin in the Bible 58 to 68 A.D. Matthew 6 22-23 (NIV):
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"
EYES ARE THE MIRROR OF THE SOUL: "A person's thoughts can be ascertained by looking in his or her eyes.” The proverb has been traced back in English to Regiment of Life. But the proverb was known much earlier. Cicero (106-43 B.C.) is quoted as saying, “Ut imago est animi voltus sic indices oculi” (The face is a picture of the mind as the eyes are its interpreter). The Latin proverbs, “Vultus est index animi” or “Oculus animi index,” are usually translated as The face is the index of the mind. The French say, “Les yeux sont le miroir de l'ame” (The eyes are the mirror of the soul). “The eyes are the window of the soul” is a variant form of the proverb.
Excerpt from: http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/41/messages/1097.html
Sunday, January 23, 2011
30th ASEAN Tourism Forum ends in Cambodia
January 22, 2011
PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) - The 30th Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tourism Forum concluded on Friday evening with a closer cooperation among ASEAN countries and its dialogue partners, said Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon at the closing ceremony.
"Our great achievement made in the forum this year is the adoption of the ASEAN tourism strategic plan 2011-2015 aimed to turn the ASEAN into a world class tourist destination by 2015," he told about 400 participants.
"Besides this, I hope that buyers and sellers have met their business partners for future cooperation," he said, adding that the forum also created a closer environment of cooperation among ASEAN countries and ASEAN with dialogue partners including China, Japan, South Korea, India and Russia.
The 30th ASEAN Tourism Forum kicked off on Jan. 15.
During the event, there had been a series of meetings of ASEAN tourism ministers, ASEAN tourism ministers+3 (China, Japan and South Korea) and ASEAN tourism ministers+ India and Russia.
Also, there was the ASEAN Travel Exchange with the participation of up to 1,500 sellers with 512 booths from hotels, airline companies, tour operators and travel agencies in ASEAN countries and 466 buyers from the ASEAN, Asia, Europe and the United States of America.
The 31st ATF will be held in Indonesia in 2012.
The ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Bangladesh to take Cambodian lands on lease to produce rice [-More forced evictions on the way?]
Dhaka, Sunday January 23 2011
Nazmul Ahsan
Financial Express-Bangladesh
Bangladesh will take Cambodian lands on lease to produce rice over there and import it to meet the local demands for the same.
Besides, Bangladeshi businessmen will establish rice husking mills in different cities of Cambodia.
A recent inter-ministerial meeting, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), took the decision. Foreign Secretary Mijarul Kayes presided over the meeting, sources said.
Representatives from ministries of agriculture, commerce, food and foreign affairs attended the meeting.
The decision came following the visit of foreign minister Dipu Moni, to Cambodia in late December, 2010, a high official in the foreign ministry said.
The meeting decided to form an expert team comprising representatives from different ministries concerned and private sector. The proposed team, likely to be headed by foreign secretary, will shortly visit Cambodia to complete necessary formalities with Cambodian government, sources said.
"The team to visit Cambodia will explore all potentials in taking lease of their lands to produce food grains, particularly rice and import the same to Bangladesh," a top official in the foreign ministry said.
"A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bangladesh and Cambodia will be signed following the visit," he added.
The foreign ministry officials said the government of Cambodia responded positively to a request for leasing out their lands to Bangladesh for agricultural purpose during the visit of Dipu Moni.
The terms of condition, particularly the lease-period and annual fees for the leased land, will be finalised by expert teams of contracting countries, sources said.
Asked, a high official in the foreign ministry, however, said no government ministry or agency conducted any feasibility study on the issue so far.
Bangladesh annually imports 3.0-3.2 million tonnes of food grains to meet the local demand.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Cambodia: mobile-phone silliness
A Cambodian gambler talks on several mobile phones during a boxing match at a television station in Phnom Penh, May 15, 2010. (Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images)
The sight of someone talking on two phones at the same time isn't uncommon.
January 22, 2011
Global Post
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Lim Sivhuy owns four mobile phones and has five different phone numbers but it’s nearly impossible to get her on the line.
Meanwhile, an entire day can go by trying. Upon first attempt, you’re told Lim’s number is busy. A different number you’re told doesn’t exist. Later, when you try again with yet a different number, you only get ringing. Then an automated voice encourages you to try again — but you don’t.
In this small Southeast Asian country wedged between Thailand and Vietnam, the experience calling 20-year-old Lim in western Cambodia's Pursat town is not in any way unusual.
Urban Cambodia is so over-saturated with mobiles and telephone numbers that it’s often impossible to get anyone, anywhere on the line.
Rice farmers own two mobile phones for no apparent reason. Markets teem with dozens of mobile phone shops all hawking the same ware.
There are way too many service providers. In 2006, Cambodia was host to three mobile-phone service providers, but by the end of 2010, there were nine — a shocking occurrence given that Cambodia has a population of 15 million people and many countries with far more people manage with fewer providers. Thailand, for instance, with a population of 61 million, has four providers, and Vietnam's 90 million citizens are serviced by seven.
Recognizing that competition had become too crowded, two mobile phone service providers — Smart Mobile and Star-Cell — announced a merger in early January, a move that may spark additional consolidations, some analysts contend.
“It’s one of the most competitive environments in the world,” said Smart Mobile Chief Executive Officer Thomas Hundt. “To have eight cell phone providers for a country of 15 million people, I don’t know of another country where the ratio is like Cambodia’s.”
The spoils of competitive mobile-phone provider warfare have been good to the kingdom. Deals abound as providers pivot for more customers, and mobiles are always on the cheap, some going for only $5.
Between 2009 and 2010, the number of mobile-phone connections in Cambodia more than doubled, leaping from 4.2 million telephone numbers to 8.5 million, according to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. Six years ago, when far fewer network providers did business, there were only 690,000 numbers.
Things, as a result, have gotten a little silly. The sight of someone talking on two phones at the same time isn’t uncommon.
People pester business card designer Souk Srey Mom into cramming all five or six of their telephone numbers onto a single card, despite her admonishments that “it won’t be beautiful — a mess!”
Others vie for “lucky” telephone numbers, designated as such based on complicated calculations or seemingly arbitrary distinctions. The estimated price of the number “017999999”? Three grand.
“Yes, I have a lot of cell phones,” related Lim Sihvuy, remarkably enough, over the phone. “This is so because it is very easy and very convenient with so many phones and they are so modern and so beautiful.”
That’s just the thing, said a spokesman at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, who asked to remain nameless. They’re easy. They’re convenient. They’re modern. In a country rushing to develop, the mere act of owning mobile phones says more about your stature than whether you have money left over to actually pay for service. Thus a country of inoperative telephone numbers and unreturned calls. Too many mobiles; not enough money to use them. Countless numbers hang in ether.
Statistics are vague at best. No one knows the exact percentage of Cambodians using mobile phones, though governmental estimates usually hover around 50 percent. Yet, every available statistic and anecdote suggests there will soon be more mobile-phone shops, more telephone numbers, more confusion.
In rural Kampong Thom province, Lim Vuthy, a slight monk who smokes thin cigars, owns eight — count 'em — eight mobile phones.
On a recent Monday afternoon at his pagoda he reclined on wooden furniture, his full arsenal before him. Virtually every mobile brand and service provider present and accounted for.
Each telephone is absolutely necessary, he said, referring to situations when he receives three urgent calls at the same time and conducts the conversations simultaneously. Ah, the social responsibilities of today’s monkhood.
“It’s difficult to talk on three cell phones at the same time,” Lim began to explain, before he was interrupted by a phone call. Looking abashed, Lim answered, telling the caller he couldn’t talk, and placed the phone back among the collection.
“Having so many cell phones is complicated and it becomes more complicated,” Lim continued and then paused for a moment. “I don’t know if I’ll have more cell phones later. There’s nothing difficult about having so many cell phones.”
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Democracy Square: The physical anchor point for political dramatization and communication
Perspective
By: MEERKAT, the Barn Raider
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” ― George Orwell
Democracy Square:
The physical anchor point for political dramatization and communication
On March 30, 1997, supporters of Sam Rainsy coming mainly from impoverished countryside and garment factory worker communities surrounding the Capital City of Phnom Penh, converged on the northwest corner of Wat Botum Wadei Park south of Sothearos Boulevard, east of the Royal Palace and across the street from the old National Assembly Building, to voice their discontent over the heavily-tainted Hun Sen government’s judicial system. Shortly after the crowd began to gather to hear the speech four fragment grenades were tossed into the peaceful demonstrators killing 16 citizens and maimed at least 150 of them including an American political observer. Mr. Rainsy himself narrowly escaped this murder and mayhem.
Covert political violence during the 1993 election aside, this act of savagery reaffirms Cambodia’s long-established “political culture” of the past such as that of Sihanouk’s and Lon Nol’s, which subscribes to the notion that government power is a zero-sum (all or nothing) game. Hun Sen and the CPP understand power only in absolutist terms ― power is not shared, it is accumulated and protected. In addition, his approach to government was more reflective of the political culture of the communist single-party state which was forged into his psyche in his earlier career with the Khmer Rouge and later under the tutelage of Hanoi, which subscribes to the radical view that the power of a government is derived not from political transformation but secured by a revolution or a coup, any sign of challenge, no matter how insignificant is always seen as reactionary, and must be stamped out at the earliest opportune.
Hun Sen and the CPP was first installed and later institutionalized to power through crafty electoral and political maneuvering masterminded by a legion of shadowy communist Vietnamese apparatchik accompanied by a robust paramilitary security arm that are responsible for the planning and execution of a well established modus operandi down to the letter. Together they have successfully utilized the legal framework of the new constitution to align the distribution of government power with the de facto distribution of their bureaucratic and military power. Not a single branch or agency of this proxy government has been able to operate outside of the grip of the Hun Sen/Heng Samrin/Chea Sim triumvirate party-line and Hanoi’s political hegemony.
Cambodia under Hun Sen and the CPP is a hollow polity. The National Assembly is nothing more than a rubber stamp which is being used to ratify the government’s decisions. The judiciary is derivative of the administration rather than being independent. Khmer citizens know that they cannot rely on the court system for redress or remedy, especially against the willful abuse of the well-connected, local corrupted authority and police. The bureaucracy has never been capable of establishing its sense of professional responsibility and it only helps to oppress citizens. Most political observers and a number of foreign diplomats have concluded that in order for Cambodia to prosper its “political culture” would have to change.
The principal goal and the mission of SRP have never changed from the early days of Khmer National Party to the present Sam Rainsy Party ― to mobilize Cambodian society to participate in the political process in order to bring about orderly and progressive change to our archaic and brutal political culture, and to help free our nation from the influence and encroachment of Hanoi.
However in the chaos and cloud of dust resulting from our resistance against ”violent assaults from above” and the party’s apparent lacking in interplay, SRP mission priorities have not always been clearly communicated throughout its constituency. SRP has periodically been alleged by skeptics and opponents of waging subversive counterculture campaign to implant foreign values and ideas, and to undermine Hun Sen’s and CPP efforts in establishing order and stability mandated by donor countries and investors to keep the much needed aids flowing. Sam Rainsy himself has been frequently unfairly labeled by critics as a royalist, communist, and an imperialist agent simultaneously. The party has never been prompt or vigorous in counteracting the opponents’ mudslinging.
The task of introducing democratic change to a nation which has never seen or experienced genuine freedom and democracy, is indeed a tall order and an impossible dream. However, as autocracy begins to ratchet up, people will naturally long for the alternatives to life under tyranny. This is when SRP can begin to fully deploy its unlimited intellectual capacity, and its liberal democratic ideals against the outdated “politics as usual” that has been riddled with familism, cupidity, narrow horizon, and reluctance to tolerate opposing points of view, prevalent in the Sihanouk and Lon Nol’s periods.
As for containing and mitigating the encroachment and intervention of Hanoi in our national affairs, oversea-based SRP has dedicated the highest level of efforts and resources it could afford lobbying peace and freedom advocates around the world to influence Vietnam to abandon her futile efforts in forcing Cambodia into the de facto Indochina communist orbit. However to achieve success outside of our borders, our nation will have to gain a very substantial ground at home in establishing a strong foundation necessary for a democratic system of government to take hold. In other words the domestic front will have to reach critical mass before the international front begins to yield. At some point in the near future, Vietnam, like her old patron the USSR will inevitably be facing the menace of globalization, regional geopolitics, global warming and climate change, environmental degradation, and last but not least the growing social unrest (citizens’ demand for changes) which will eventually alter the geopolitical landscape in favor of Cambodia.
The March 30, 1997 grenade attack did not permanently cripple the will of the ordinary Khmer to come out to the street and protest in one form or another. In fact many more mass rallies and demonstrations were organized by SRP and other opposition parties during the 1998 elections ballot count. The attempt to restrict access and denial of public space using the threat of violence, and arrest can only foster deeper resentment and help galvanize citizens’ determination to hold the ground and fight back.
In the subsequent years following the grenade attack, Hun Sen’s “praetorian guard” has wasted no time in devising new strategies to prevent, disrupt and neutralize citizen’s protests. The National Assembly building has now been relocated further east, to where there is no available public space for any sizeable crowd to rally and have a meaningful demonstration. The so-called Freedom Park has been constructed at the west end of the City, miles away from principal governmental seats as to enable the accountable office of the public representatives/officials to extricate themselves out of their relevant duty and claim ignorance of the people’s demands, and to conveniently dismiss any responsibility in any eventual heavy-handed treatment of demonstrators by security police in case a violent confrontation breaks out. The regulations concerning the use of the new Freedom Park as a rallying point, is ANYTHING but FREE.
The rights of citizens to enter the city and subsequently to congregate in the public squares have just been curtailed to almost nothing. With neither debate nor protest allowed, the rights of the people to representations have been unceremoniously pulled right out from underneath them. Why should the National Assembly where elective representatives of the people conduct business on behalf of the constituents be tucked away out of view from a public square, and sealed off by iron fence and gates like a fortress? Why the so-called Freedom Park is located so far apart from where citizens are supposed to be congregating and effectively exercising their rights to complaint within view and earshot of their elective representatives? And why the park rules and regulations are heavily loaded with restrictions that turn a public forum park into a virtual FORBIDEN PARK instead? The answer should be very obvious to anyone ― Hun Sen and CPP’s bastion of dictatorship in Cambodia is being fast and furiously erected as the world watch.
The Hun Sen and CPP’s autocratic engine has been racing ahead of the Khmer civil society to find more ways to block access to democracy, while Sam Rainsy and SRP are making a sustained effort to gear up, mobilize, and lead the grassroots political movement to reclaim “the rights to the City and the rights to stand in Democracy Square”. At the present there is no physical public space in the City of Phnom Penh where our citizens can call theirs. Physical and virtual barriers to a free, safe and secure public forum have just been erected around all potential gathering spaces. The critical and urgent task for SRP is to prepare to lead the efforts in the struggle to gradually dismantle all barriers until Khmer citizens gain full access to the middle of the ideal and symbolic square. While attempting to control the voice of dissent, the enemies of democracy are fully aware of the risk they will have to face. Each collective foothold the grassroots gain toward the imaginary square, the balance of power is tilting the way of democracy. Each aggression on the part of the government (which is most likely to occur in every confrontation) will cost them their hard-to-come-by credibility and legitimacy needed for securing international support of their policies and actions. The government has more reasons to be worried each time a clash with demonstrators takes place.
The advance or the setback resulting from the battle for democracy square is neither instantaneous nor obvious, but very likely to be subtle and gradual. Consider the first memorial monument erected soon after the grenade attack, almost immediately after it went up, it was taken down, then dumped into the sewage effluent at the river’s edge one block away, while no authority bothered to address this sacrilegious act.
The concrete replacement monument, a chedei, larger and heavier than the previous, went up in the presence of various diplomatic corps and members of the media. It is still standing as a testimony to the incremental victory of the people. In some small measures it is also a token victory for Sam Rainsy and the SRP to be cherished. Like the Chinese students’ demonstration in Tiananmen Square in 1989, those who gave their life in the quest for liberty shall forever live in the conscience of those who are still alive, and that the ground where their blood was shed should be sacred and belong to the living, and should stand as a reminder that “freedom is not free”.
The latest and most dramatic act of defiance came on 25 October 2009, during a Buddhist Kathen celebration in Svay Rieng province, when Sam Rainsy led local villagers and officials from SRP in uprooting six wooden temporary posts (border post # 185) marking the country’s border with Vietnam, which has been in a demarcation process for some time; villagers said that the Vietnamese had illegally shifted the posts onto Cambodian soil in their rice fields and that their complaints to the local authorities in this respect had remained unavailing. The incident and the setting fit the concept of the “Democracy Square” as a place where people assemble to dramatize and communicate their disagreement with the government. It did well to expose Hun Sen’s government and his patron/accomplice in Hanoi, nonetheless the ultimate windfall effect of this symbolic display of will was primarily intended to fall squarely on the collective conscience of the Khmer nation at home and elsewhere, which it did.
Cambodians have displayed their unmitigated resilience, and are not hesitant to take to the street whenever they felt that their collective voice needs to be heard. Wherever they make a stand such ground is their “Democracy Square”. SRP representatives have always availed themselves to be present and to lead marches and demonstrations when and where they are needed.
Going forward SRP friends and foes should have no misgiving about where, when and how Sam Rainsy and his SRP grassroots movement will wage the campaign to build the foundation of democracy and freedom, and for our nation’s rights to self-determination. Hun Sen and the CPP may step up their efforts in erecting more physical barriers to keep us out of democracy squares, but they will never be able to prevent us from constructing democracy squares in our minds.
read more “
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Thai 2nd Army chief angered by "INVADER" label posted by Cambodia
FIGHTING WORDS: A stone tablet with a message in Khmer branding Thai troops ‘invaders’ at Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara Keo Sekha Kiri Svarak.
HOME AT LAST: Democrat MP Panich Vikitsreth (centre) and Samdin Lertbutr (left) arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday. They, with Narumol Chitwaratana, Tainae Mungmajon and Kojpollathorn Chusanasevi, returned to Thailand after the Phnom Penh Municipal Court gave them a suspended jail term for trespassing on Cambodian territory and illegal entry into a military area.
Invaders' jibe as Thais come home
SECOND ARMY CHIEF ANGERED AS TEMPLE SIGN ANTAGONISES TROOPS IN DISPUTED AREA
23/01/2011
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post
The 2nd Army chief has demanded Cambodian troops remove a stone tablet in the disputed border area bearing a message lambasting Thai troops as "invaders".
The latest controversy in the Thai-Cambodian territorial dispute came as Bangkok yesterday welcomed back the five Thais allowed home by a Phnom Penh court after being found guilty of charges related to illegally crossing the border.
Lt Gen Thawatchai Samutsakhon said he had contacted Cambodian troops to remove the stone tablet, bearing the message "Thai troops _ the Invaders" written in Khmer, erected in front of Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara.
The temple, situated 300m away from Preah Vihear, is in the disputed 4.6-square-kilometre area claimed by both countries.
Lt Gen Thawatchai said the two countries have agreed not to build or erect anything that is indicative of ownership of the land.
"This stone tablet will have significant implications if it is used as evidence in cases involving territorial disputes in the International Court of Justice," Lt Gen Thawatchai said.
"We cannot accept this. I have told them to take it down.
"If they don't take it down, I may have a sign with a similar message erected."
Cambodia put the stone tablet up after Thai troops withdrew from Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara on Dec 1.
Army specialist Kanok Nettarakawesana is named on the tablet as one of the "invaders".
At the time, Lt Gen Kanok was commander of the Suranaree task force and led about 200 Thai soldiers to enter the wat to hold talks with Cambodian authorities regarding the release of three Thais detained in the disputed area on July 15, 2008.
The three were members of the ultra-nationalist Dharmayatra group, which camped out on the Thai border in Si Sa Ket's Kantharalak district to protest Thailand's support of Phnom Penh's listing of the temple as a Unesco World Heritage site. They were freed after four hours of negotiations.
Lt Gen Kanok said he decided to lead the soldiers into Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara to stop Cambodian soldiers from taking the three Thais to Ban Komui on the Cambodian side.
Lt Gen Kanok insisted that the wat is located in the overlapping area and Thai soldiers have the authority to enter the temple.
"It was the first time that we had reached there. In the past, Thai soldiers never entered the area but I stood by our 1:50000 map which indicates the area is ours," he said.
Lt Gen Kanok shrugged off the name-calling by Cambodian soldiers.
He said he led the troops to enter the temple to assert the country's sovereignty over the disputed area.
He declined to comment on whether Thailand was at a disadvantage after the country withdrew its troops from the temple.
"You need to ask the people responsible for the issue," he said.
Meanwhile, the five Thais released from Phnom Penh arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday evening. They appeared exhausted and declined to comment.
On Friday, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court found each of the five Thais - Panich Vikitsreth, Narumol Chitwaratana, Samdin Lertbutr, Tainae Mungmajon, and Kojpollathorn Chusanasevi - guilty of two counts of trespassing onto Cambodian territory and illegal entry into a military area.
The judges sentenced each of them to nine months in jail and a fine of 1 million riel (7,520 baht), but suspended the terms.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday called an urgent meeting of relevant authorities to discuss what action should be taken in the wake of the guilty verdicts.
He said the government has asked the Cambodian government to translate the verdict into Thai so it can determine whether the ruling has any impact on Thailand's territorial integrity.
He said he would explain all relevant issues to the public today.
The five Thais were among a group of seven arrested by Cambodian authorities on Dec 27.
The remaining two are Veera Somkwamkid, a Thai Patriots Network coordinator, and his secretary, Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, who both face additional charges of espionage.
The Phnom Penh court is scheduled to hand down its ruling on the two on Tuesday.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Soul Food
Eyes are the window to the soul. I find its origin in the Bible 58 to 68 A.D. Matthew 6 22-23 (NIV):
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"
EYES ARE THE MIRROR OF THE SOUL: "A person's thoughts can be ascertained by looking in his or her eyes.” The proverb has been traced back in English to Regiment of Life. But the proverb was known much earlier. Cicero (106-43 B.C.) is quoted as saying, “Ut imago est animi voltus sic indices oculi” (The face is a picture of the mind as the eyes are its interpreter). The Latin proverbs, “Vultus est index animi” or “Oculus animi index,” are usually translated as The face is the index of the mind. The French say, “Les yeux sont le miroir de l'ame” (The eyes are the mirror of the soul). “The eyes are the window of the soul” is a variant form of the proverb.
Excerpt from: http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/41/messages/1097.html
Sunday, January 23, 2011
30th ASEAN Tourism Forum ends in Cambodia
January 22, 2011
PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) - The 30th Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tourism Forum concluded on Friday evening with a closer cooperation among ASEAN countries and its dialogue partners, said Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon at the closing ceremony.
"Our great achievement made in the forum this year is the adoption of the ASEAN tourism strategic plan 2011-2015 aimed to turn the ASEAN into a world class tourist destination by 2015," he told about 400 participants.
"Besides this, I hope that buyers and sellers have met their business partners for future cooperation," he said, adding that the forum also created a closer environment of cooperation among ASEAN countries and ASEAN with dialogue partners including China, Japan, South Korea, India and Russia.
The 30th ASEAN Tourism Forum kicked off on Jan. 15.
During the event, there had been a series of meetings of ASEAN tourism ministers, ASEAN tourism ministers+3 (China, Japan and South Korea) and ASEAN tourism ministers+ India and Russia.
Also, there was the ASEAN Travel Exchange with the participation of up to 1,500 sellers with 512 booths from hotels, airline companies, tour operators and travel agencies in ASEAN countries and 466 buyers from the ASEAN, Asia, Europe and the United States of America.
The 31st ATF will be held in Indonesia in 2012.
The ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Bangladesh to take Cambodian lands on lease to produce rice [-More forced evictions on the way?]
Dhaka, Sunday January 23 2011
Nazmul Ahsan
Financial Express-Bangladesh
Bangladesh will take Cambodian lands on lease to produce rice over there and import it to meet the local demands for the same.
Besides, Bangladeshi businessmen will establish rice husking mills in different cities of Cambodia.
A recent inter-ministerial meeting, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), took the decision. Foreign Secretary Mijarul Kayes presided over the meeting, sources said.
Representatives from ministries of agriculture, commerce, food and foreign affairs attended the meeting.
The decision came following the visit of foreign minister Dipu Moni, to Cambodia in late December, 2010, a high official in the foreign ministry said.
The meeting decided to form an expert team comprising representatives from different ministries concerned and private sector. The proposed team, likely to be headed by foreign secretary, will shortly visit Cambodia to complete necessary formalities with Cambodian government, sources said.
"The team to visit Cambodia will explore all potentials in taking lease of their lands to produce food grains, particularly rice and import the same to Bangladesh," a top official in the foreign ministry said.
"A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bangladesh and Cambodia will be signed following the visit," he added.
The foreign ministry officials said the government of Cambodia responded positively to a request for leasing out their lands to Bangladesh for agricultural purpose during the visit of Dipu Moni.
The terms of condition, particularly the lease-period and annual fees for the leased land, will be finalised by expert teams of contracting countries, sources said.
Asked, a high official in the foreign ministry, however, said no government ministry or agency conducted any feasibility study on the issue so far.
Bangladesh annually imports 3.0-3.2 million tonnes of food grains to meet the local demand.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Cambodia: mobile-phone silliness
A Cambodian gambler talks on several mobile phones during a boxing match at a television station in Phnom Penh, May 15, 2010. (Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images)
The sight of someone talking on two phones at the same time isn't uncommon.
January 22, 2011
Global Post
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Lim Sivhuy owns four mobile phones and has five different phone numbers but it’s nearly impossible to get her on the line.
Meanwhile, an entire day can go by trying. Upon first attempt, you’re told Lim’s number is busy. A different number you’re told doesn’t exist. Later, when you try again with yet a different number, you only get ringing. Then an automated voice encourages you to try again — but you don’t.
In this small Southeast Asian country wedged between Thailand and Vietnam, the experience calling 20-year-old Lim in western Cambodia's Pursat town is not in any way unusual.
Urban Cambodia is so over-saturated with mobiles and telephone numbers that it’s often impossible to get anyone, anywhere on the line.
Rice farmers own two mobile phones for no apparent reason. Markets teem with dozens of mobile phone shops all hawking the same ware.
There are way too many service providers. In 2006, Cambodia was host to three mobile-phone service providers, but by the end of 2010, there were nine — a shocking occurrence given that Cambodia has a population of 15 million people and many countries with far more people manage with fewer providers. Thailand, for instance, with a population of 61 million, has four providers, and Vietnam's 90 million citizens are serviced by seven.
Recognizing that competition had become too crowded, two mobile phone service providers — Smart Mobile and Star-Cell — announced a merger in early January, a move that may spark additional consolidations, some analysts contend.
“It’s one of the most competitive environments in the world,” said Smart Mobile Chief Executive Officer Thomas Hundt. “To have eight cell phone providers for a country of 15 million people, I don’t know of another country where the ratio is like Cambodia’s.”
The spoils of competitive mobile-phone provider warfare have been good to the kingdom. Deals abound as providers pivot for more customers, and mobiles are always on the cheap, some going for only $5.
Between 2009 and 2010, the number of mobile-phone connections in Cambodia more than doubled, leaping from 4.2 million telephone numbers to 8.5 million, according to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. Six years ago, when far fewer network providers did business, there were only 690,000 numbers.
Things, as a result, have gotten a little silly. The sight of someone talking on two phones at the same time isn’t uncommon.
People pester business card designer Souk Srey Mom into cramming all five or six of their telephone numbers onto a single card, despite her admonishments that “it won’t be beautiful — a mess!”
Others vie for “lucky” telephone numbers, designated as such based on complicated calculations or seemingly arbitrary distinctions. The estimated price of the number “017999999”? Three grand.
“Yes, I have a lot of cell phones,” related Lim Sihvuy, remarkably enough, over the phone. “This is so because it is very easy and very convenient with so many phones and they are so modern and so beautiful.”
That’s just the thing, said a spokesman at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, who asked to remain nameless. They’re easy. They’re convenient. They’re modern. In a country rushing to develop, the mere act of owning mobile phones says more about your stature than whether you have money left over to actually pay for service. Thus a country of inoperative telephone numbers and unreturned calls. Too many mobiles; not enough money to use them. Countless numbers hang in ether.
Statistics are vague at best. No one knows the exact percentage of Cambodians using mobile phones, though governmental estimates usually hover around 50 percent. Yet, every available statistic and anecdote suggests there will soon be more mobile-phone shops, more telephone numbers, more confusion.
In rural Kampong Thom province, Lim Vuthy, a slight monk who smokes thin cigars, owns eight — count 'em — eight mobile phones.
On a recent Monday afternoon at his pagoda he reclined on wooden furniture, his full arsenal before him. Virtually every mobile brand and service provider present and accounted for.
Each telephone is absolutely necessary, he said, referring to situations when he receives three urgent calls at the same time and conducts the conversations simultaneously. Ah, the social responsibilities of today’s monkhood.
“It’s difficult to talk on three cell phones at the same time,” Lim began to explain, before he was interrupted by a phone call. Looking abashed, Lim answered, telling the caller he couldn’t talk, and placed the phone back among the collection.
“Having so many cell phones is complicated and it becomes more complicated,” Lim continued and then paused for a moment. “I don’t know if I’ll have more cell phones later. There’s nothing difficult about having so many cell phones.”
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Democracy Square: The physical anchor point for political dramatization and communication
Perspective
By: MEERKAT, the Barn Raider
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” ― George Orwell
Democracy Square:
The physical anchor point for political dramatization and communication
On March 30, 1997, supporters of Sam Rainsy coming mainly from impoverished countryside and garment factory worker communities surrounding the Capital City of Phnom Penh, converged on the northwest corner of Wat Botum Wadei Park south of Sothearos Boulevard, east of the Royal Palace and across the street from the old National Assembly Building, to voice their discontent over the heavily-tainted Hun Sen government’s judicial system. Shortly after the crowd began to gather to hear the speech four fragment grenades were tossed into the peaceful demonstrators killing 16 citizens and maimed at least 150 of them including an American political observer. Mr. Rainsy himself narrowly escaped this murder and mayhem.
Covert political violence during the 1993 election aside, this act of savagery reaffirms Cambodia’s long-established “political culture” of the past such as that of Sihanouk’s and Lon Nol’s, which subscribes to the notion that government power is a zero-sum (all or nothing) game. Hun Sen and the CPP understand power only in absolutist terms ― power is not shared, it is accumulated and protected. In addition, his approach to government was more reflective of the political culture of the communist single-party state which was forged into his psyche in his earlier career with the Khmer Rouge and later under the tutelage of Hanoi, which subscribes to the radical view that the power of a government is derived not from political transformation but secured by a revolution or a coup, any sign of challenge, no matter how insignificant is always seen as reactionary, and must be stamped out at the earliest opportune.
Hun Sen and the CPP was first installed and later institutionalized to power through crafty electoral and political maneuvering masterminded by a legion of shadowy communist Vietnamese apparatchik accompanied by a robust paramilitary security arm that are responsible for the planning and execution of a well established modus operandi down to the letter. Together they have successfully utilized the legal framework of the new constitution to align the distribution of government power with the de facto distribution of their bureaucratic and military power. Not a single branch or agency of this proxy government has been able to operate outside of the grip of the Hun Sen/Heng Samrin/Chea Sim triumvirate party-line and Hanoi’s political hegemony.
Cambodia under Hun Sen and the CPP is a hollow polity. The National Assembly is nothing more than a rubber stamp which is being used to ratify the government’s decisions. The judiciary is derivative of the administration rather than being independent. Khmer citizens know that they cannot rely on the court system for redress or remedy, especially against the willful abuse of the well-connected, local corrupted authority and police. The bureaucracy has never been capable of establishing its sense of professional responsibility and it only helps to oppress citizens. Most political observers and a number of foreign diplomats have concluded that in order for Cambodia to prosper its “political culture” would have to change.
The principal goal and the mission of SRP have never changed from the early days of Khmer National Party to the present Sam Rainsy Party ― to mobilize Cambodian society to participate in the political process in order to bring about orderly and progressive change to our archaic and brutal political culture, and to help free our nation from the influence and encroachment of Hanoi.
However in the chaos and cloud of dust resulting from our resistance against ”violent assaults from above” and the party’s apparent lacking in interplay, SRP mission priorities have not always been clearly communicated throughout its constituency. SRP has periodically been alleged by skeptics and opponents of waging subversive counterculture campaign to implant foreign values and ideas, and to undermine Hun Sen’s and CPP efforts in establishing order and stability mandated by donor countries and investors to keep the much needed aids flowing. Sam Rainsy himself has been frequently unfairly labeled by critics as a royalist, communist, and an imperialist agent simultaneously. The party has never been prompt or vigorous in counteracting the opponents’ mudslinging.
The task of introducing democratic change to a nation which has never seen or experienced genuine freedom and democracy, is indeed a tall order and an impossible dream. However, as autocracy begins to ratchet up, people will naturally long for the alternatives to life under tyranny. This is when SRP can begin to fully deploy its unlimited intellectual capacity, and its liberal democratic ideals against the outdated “politics as usual” that has been riddled with familism, cupidity, narrow horizon, and reluctance to tolerate opposing points of view, prevalent in the Sihanouk and Lon Nol’s periods.
As for containing and mitigating the encroachment and intervention of Hanoi in our national affairs, oversea-based SRP has dedicated the highest level of efforts and resources it could afford lobbying peace and freedom advocates around the world to influence Vietnam to abandon her futile efforts in forcing Cambodia into the de facto Indochina communist orbit. However to achieve success outside of our borders, our nation will have to gain a very substantial ground at home in establishing a strong foundation necessary for a democratic system of government to take hold. In other words the domestic front will have to reach critical mass before the international front begins to yield. At some point in the near future, Vietnam, like her old patron the USSR will inevitably be facing the menace of globalization, regional geopolitics, global warming and climate change, environmental degradation, and last but not least the growing social unrest (citizens’ demand for changes) which will eventually alter the geopolitical landscape in favor of Cambodia.
The March 30, 1997 grenade attack did not permanently cripple the will of the ordinary Khmer to come out to the street and protest in one form or another. In fact many more mass rallies and demonstrations were organized by SRP and other opposition parties during the 1998 elections ballot count. The attempt to restrict access and denial of public space using the threat of violence, and arrest can only foster deeper resentment and help galvanize citizens’ determination to hold the ground and fight back.
In the subsequent years following the grenade attack, Hun Sen’s “praetorian guard” has wasted no time in devising new strategies to prevent, disrupt and neutralize citizen’s protests. The National Assembly building has now been relocated further east, to where there is no available public space for any sizeable crowd to rally and have a meaningful demonstration. The so-called Freedom Park has been constructed at the west end of the City, miles away from principal governmental seats as to enable the accountable office of the public representatives/officials to extricate themselves out of their relevant duty and claim ignorance of the people’s demands, and to conveniently dismiss any responsibility in any eventual heavy-handed treatment of demonstrators by security police in case a violent confrontation breaks out. The regulations concerning the use of the new Freedom Park as a rallying point, is ANYTHING but FREE.
The rights of citizens to enter the city and subsequently to congregate in the public squares have just been curtailed to almost nothing. With neither debate nor protest allowed, the rights of the people to representations have been unceremoniously pulled right out from underneath them. Why should the National Assembly where elective representatives of the people conduct business on behalf of the constituents be tucked away out of view from a public square, and sealed off by iron fence and gates like a fortress? Why the so-called Freedom Park is located so far apart from where citizens are supposed to be congregating and effectively exercising their rights to complaint within view and earshot of their elective representatives? And why the park rules and regulations are heavily loaded with restrictions that turn a public forum park into a virtual FORBIDEN PARK instead? The answer should be very obvious to anyone ― Hun Sen and CPP’s bastion of dictatorship in Cambodia is being fast and furiously erected as the world watch.
The Hun Sen and CPP’s autocratic engine has been racing ahead of the Khmer civil society to find more ways to block access to democracy, while Sam Rainsy and SRP are making a sustained effort to gear up, mobilize, and lead the grassroots political movement to reclaim “the rights to the City and the rights to stand in Democracy Square”. At the present there is no physical public space in the City of Phnom Penh where our citizens can call theirs. Physical and virtual barriers to a free, safe and secure public forum have just been erected around all potential gathering spaces. The critical and urgent task for SRP is to prepare to lead the efforts in the struggle to gradually dismantle all barriers until Khmer citizens gain full access to the middle of the ideal and symbolic square. While attempting to control the voice of dissent, the enemies of democracy are fully aware of the risk they will have to face. Each collective foothold the grassroots gain toward the imaginary square, the balance of power is tilting the way of democracy. Each aggression on the part of the government (which is most likely to occur in every confrontation) will cost them their hard-to-come-by credibility and legitimacy needed for securing international support of their policies and actions. The government has more reasons to be worried each time a clash with demonstrators takes place.
The advance or the setback resulting from the battle for democracy square is neither instantaneous nor obvious, but very likely to be subtle and gradual. Consider the first memorial monument erected soon after the grenade attack, almost immediately after it went up, it was taken down, then dumped into the sewage effluent at the river’s edge one block away, while no authority bothered to address this sacrilegious act.
The concrete replacement monument, a chedei, larger and heavier than the previous, went up in the presence of various diplomatic corps and members of the media. It is still standing as a testimony to the incremental victory of the people. In some small measures it is also a token victory for Sam Rainsy and the SRP to be cherished. Like the Chinese students’ demonstration in Tiananmen Square in 1989, those who gave their life in the quest for liberty shall forever live in the conscience of those who are still alive, and that the ground where their blood was shed should be sacred and belong to the living, and should stand as a reminder that “freedom is not free”.
The latest and most dramatic act of defiance came on 25 October 2009, during a Buddhist Kathen celebration in Svay Rieng province, when Sam Rainsy led local villagers and officials from SRP in uprooting six wooden temporary posts (border post # 185) marking the country’s border with Vietnam, which has been in a demarcation process for some time; villagers said that the Vietnamese had illegally shifted the posts onto Cambodian soil in their rice fields and that their complaints to the local authorities in this respect had remained unavailing. The incident and the setting fit the concept of the “Democracy Square” as a place where people assemble to dramatize and communicate their disagreement with the government. It did well to expose Hun Sen’s government and his patron/accomplice in Hanoi, nonetheless the ultimate windfall effect of this symbolic display of will was primarily intended to fall squarely on the collective conscience of the Khmer nation at home and elsewhere, which it did.
Cambodians have displayed their unmitigated resilience, and are not hesitant to take to the street whenever they felt that their collective voice needs to be heard. Wherever they make a stand such ground is their “Democracy Square”. SRP representatives have always availed themselves to be present and to lead marches and demonstrations when and where they are needed.
Going forward SRP friends and foes should have no misgiving about where, when and how Sam Rainsy and his SRP grassroots movement will wage the campaign to build the foundation of democracy and freedom, and for our nation’s rights to self-determination. Hun Sen and the CPP may step up their efforts in erecting more physical barriers to keep us out of democracy squares, but they will never be able to prevent us from constructing democracy squares in our minds.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Hun Xen Defends Closure of UN Refugee Center
Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Wednesday, 19 January 2011
" ... there is no refugee issue. That’s why the government has decided to close the camp.”
The Cambodian government is defending its position to close a UN refugee center in Phnom Penh that had been used to give asylum to Montagnards from Vietnam.
In a Jan. 14 letter addressed to six US congressmen, Prime Minister Hun Sen says Cambodia extended its cooperation beyond a five-year agreement with the UNHCR and Vietnam.
“The [memorandum of understanding] covers only 750 Montagnards for temporary facility at the time of the signing,” Hun Sen says in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by VOA Khmer. “Many more cases have been processed, with up to 932 Montagnards having been given refugee status and resettlement in third countries.”
Hun Sen was responding to concerns raised by the US lawmakers as the refugee center nears its closing date, Feb. 15. Seventy-six Montagnards remain at the center.
In December, the lawmakers, led by House Republican Frank Wolf, of Virginia, expressed concern for the fate of the remaining Montagnards, a group that was an ally of the US in its war with Vietnam.
Cambodia’s ambassador to the US, Hem Heng, said Vietnam presented no reason for concern.
“Vietnam is a peaceful country with a growing economy,” he said. “It has no war. Therefore, there are no refugees. There is no refugee issue. That’s why the government has decided to close the camp.”
However, under it’s UN obligations, the US lawmakers wrote, Cambodia is “prohibited from forcibly expelling or returning refugees to territories where they may face persecution.”
The congressmen cited as an example for concern the forced deportation of 20 Muslim minority Uighurs to China in December 2009 and said they had “ample reason” to believe the Montagnards could face persecution in Vietnam.
In his response, Hun Sen said Montagnards who failed in their refugee attempts and were sent back to Vietnam “have been reintegrated into society without any oppression or persecution.”
A source close to the situation said Saturday only 65 of the remaining 76 Montagnards would be given refugee status. Those who are not granted the status will be returned to Vietnam.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Arbitration Council Reports Fewer Labor Disputes
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 20 January 2011
“Many labor dispute cases were solved outside of the Arbitration Council.”
Labor disputes saw a significant drop from 2009 to 2010, officials reported Thursday, due in part to an economic crisis that lowered the number of factories here.
The Arbitration Council, an independent body established to settle labor disputes, has received nearly 1,000 complaints over the last eight years. Cases mostly rose from 31 in 2003 to 180 in 2009. But 2010 saw only 145 cases, the council reported.
Arbitration Council President Kong Phallack said the lower number was due to the closure of factories in the wake of the 2008 crisis.
Of those 145 cases, the council was able to resolve 70 percent, Sok Lor, executive director of the Arbitration Council Foundation, told a forum in Phnom Penh Thursday.
However, Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, said the number of disputes had not fallen, but that more had been solved between factories and unions.
“Many labor dispute cases were solved outside of the Arbitration Council,” he said. About 60 were solved last year between factories and unions, and another 20 were resolved by the Ministry of Labor.
Labor increases have in fact increased year by year, he said.
Ath Thon, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, said no matter the cases, working conditions were “worse,” especially for short-term contract workers and the barring of workers from unions.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Graft Arrests Prompt Questions of ACU Motive [-Peal See Peal]
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Wednesday, 19 January 2011
“If it’s an internal dispute or twisting within the internal party, we could see this as a beginning of a fracture.”
The recent corruption arrests of four policemen within the ruling Cambodian People’s Party have raised questions of whether there is friction within the party or whether the new Anti-Corruption Unit is flexing new muscles.
The police officials, who were arrested for corruption in connection with drug trafficking, were arrested in recent weeks following an investigation by the ACU, which is headed by a senior adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen, Om Yentieng.
Kem Sokha, president of the Human Rights Party, a minority opposition, said time will tell.
“If it’s an internal dispute or twisting within the internal party, we could see this as a beginning of a fracture,” he said. On the other hand, if it is the “true will” of the government, it’s a “good matter” for Cambodians, he said.
Those arrested were Moek Dara, former secretary-general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs; Hun Hean, former police chief of Banteay Meanchey province; his deputy, Chheang Son; and Chea Leang, an official in the Ministry of Interior’s anti-drug office.
Moek Dara is a former police chief of Battambang province, a political stronghold of Interior Minister Sar Kheng. Hun Hean was once Sar Kheng’s chief bodyguard.
In a ceremony in Prey Veng province, Sar Kheng denied the arrests had targeted anyone by affiliation.
“I think everyone must follow the law and respect the law in fulfilling their duty,” said Sar Kheng. “If anyone commits wrongdoing, that person must face legal action.”
However, Chan Saveth, chief investigator for the rights group Adhoc, said the arrests did follow officials promoted through a political channel. He cautioned against the ACU “bringing the political process” into investigation of “to show off to the public.”
Friday, January 21, 2011
Cambodia's Food Security
A Cambodian man carries rice at a paddy rice farm in Bekpeang village in Cambodia. (Photo: AP)
USAID has awarded a five-year, multi-million dollar contract, designed to improve Cambodia's food security.
01-20-2011
VOA News
Improved land and other resources management will conserve and maintain the economic value of Cambodia's sensitive ecosystems.
The United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, has awarded a five-year, multi-million dollar contract, designed to improve Cambodia's food security through enhanced agricultural development and better management of natural resources. The five-year contract was awarded to Fintrac, Incorporated, a highly-respected U.S.-based agribusiness consulting firm that develops agricultural solutions to end hunger and poverty.
This award will serve as U.S. Government's flagship food security activity in Cambodia. "Helping Address Rural Vulnerabilities and Ecosystems Stability", or "HARVEST", the Project, will work with public, private and civil society to strengthen food security by increasing agricultural productivity; raising the incomes of the rural poor; preparing the country to adapt to climate change; and reducing the number of Cambodians, especially women and children, suffering from malnutrition.
HARVEST is supported by several U.S. Presidential Initiatives, including Feed the Future; the U.S. Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative; the Global Health Initiative; and the Global Climate Change Initiative. These are all key components of the U.S. Global Development Policy announced by President Barack Obama. Cambodia is one of 20 priority countries receiving Feed the Future support.
The U.S. Government Feed the Future investments will address key determinants of food security including investments in agricultural productivity, agribusiness and market development, and equitable distribution of and control over productive resources; a multifaceted approach to nutrition; and a long term perspective to foster permanent solutions to chronic food insecurity.
Investments will build on existing success, U.S. and Cambodian expertise and strengths, and be concentrated in strategic areas based on U.S. and Cambodian comparative advantage. They will be designed in close coordination with the Royal Government of Cambodia, with local stakeholders and with other development partners in order to maximize the collective impact on sustainably reducing hunger and poverty.
A "focus on food" approach to rural income diversification and value-chain strengthening will help the Cambodian agricultural sector to become a major contributor to stable and sustainable economic growth for Cambodia and the region. Improved land and other resources management will conserve and maintain the economic value of Cambodia's sensitive ecosystems and rich biodiversity as well as reduce the vulnerability of agriculture and rural communities to climate change. Permanently reducing hunger and maintaining sustainable use of natural or communal resources are the central goals of HARVEST.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Cambodia To Build Bridge On Trans-Asean Road [-Neak Loeung Bridge]
PHNOM PENH, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- Cambodia will kick off the construction of a bridge on the trans-Asean road route on February 12, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.
The plan was revealed by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday at the inauguration ceremony for a hospital in Kampong Cham province.
The Neak Loeung bridge is designed to become the largest and longest in Cambodia with a width of 13.5m and a length of 2.2 km.
It will span the Mekong river to connect Cambodia's Kandal and Prey Veng provinces with Vietnam.
Estimated to cost around US$131 million, it is expected to be completed in 2015 to facilitate travels and transportation between Cambodia and other Asean member countries, especially Vietnam.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Cambodia is moving in the right direction ... as usual again: IRI
Cambodian survey: Majority says country moving in right direction
Jan 21, 2011
DPA
Phnom Penh - Most Cambodians believe their country is moving in the right direction, a US-funded survey has found, with respondents citing improved infrastructure such as roads, schools and clinics.
The findings were released Friday in Phnom Penh by the International Republican Institute (IRI), a US organization loosely linked to the Republican Party.
IRI country director John Willis said the 76-per-cent favourable finding was down from a peak of 82 per cent two years ago, 'but is still pretty high by worldwide standards.'
However, nearly a quarter felt Cambodia was going the wrong way, said Willis, with those who were unhappy naming corruption as their key concern, followed by jobs, poverty and inflation worries.
And more than a third of those questioned said the nation's key concern was its border issues with Thailand and Vietnam.
Cambodia is in the process of demarcating the borders with both countries, a process that in the case of Thailand has sparked violent clashes in recent years.
And farmers along the border with Vietnam have complained they are losing land to their more powerful neighbour in the process.
As most Cambodians live in rural areas and rely on subsistence agriculture, the survey also asked people about land.
It found three-quarters of the rural population owned less than 2 hectares of farmland, and most complained they lacked sufficient irrigation.
Around one in 12 rural landowners said someone had tried to take their land in the past three years, further evidence of the scourge of land-grabbing that regularly pits the powerful and well-connected against the poor.
The survey questioned a representative sample of 2,000 randomly selected Cambodians aged 18 and older in every province.
Friday, January 21, 2011
'Enemies of the People': One man's quest for truth about Cambodia's 'killing fields'
Nuon Chea, the chief ideologue of Pol Pot, appears in "Enemies of the People."
A movie review of "Enemies of the People," an intensely personal documentary that follows journalist Thet Sambath as he seeks the truth about the mass killings from 1975 to 1979 at the hands of Cambodia's Communist Khmer Rouge government.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
By Stephen Holden
The New York Times
'Enemies of the People,' a documentary directed by Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, from a screenplay by Lemkin. 94 minutes. In English and Khmer, with English subtitles. Not rated; for mature audiences. Northwest Film Forum, through Thursday.
This review bears no star rating because The New York Times does not provide such ratings with reviews.
"Some say that almost two million people died in the killing fields," declares Thet Sambath, a polite, soft-spoken Cambodian journalist for The Phnom Penh Post, in the opening moments of the documentary "Enemies of the People." He adds, "Nobody understands why so many people were killed at that time."
Thus begins this intensely personal film, undertaken at some risk, in which Sambath seeks the truth about the mass killings from 1975 to 1979 at the hands of Cambodia's Communist Khmer Rouge government, which was responsible for the deaths of nearly a quarter of the country's population.
The heart of the film, a collaboration by Sambath and British documentarian Rob Lemkin, consists of meticulously cataloged interviews conducted during nearly a decade with perpetrators of the mass execution, many of them rural farmers. As they open up and matter-of-factly describe horrific acts, the camera scours their weather-beaten faces.
"Enemies of the People" is extraordinary on several fronts. Sambath's father and brother were slain by Khmer Rouge militants, and his mother died in childbirth after her forced marriage to a militiaman. Yet as Sambath gently coaxes peasants to confess to atrocities, there is not a shred of bitterness in his questioning. At times, Sambath suggests a one-man Cambodian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Instead of affixing blame, he seeks the healing power of confession.
"Enemies of the People" is another disquieting testament to the fact that ordinary individuals under extreme pressure will carry out the most monstrous crimes. If they hadn't followed the orders of superiors, they say, they themselves would have been killed. One farmer, a Buddhist who believes in reincarnation, expresses his tormented certainty that it will be many lifetimes before he returns in human form.
The film's journalistic coup is Sambath's persuasion of Nuon Chea, the chief ideologue of Pol Pot (the Cambodian Communist leader who died in 1998), to explain what happened. Chea, also known as Brother No. 2, is a proud, gaunt man in his 80s. Sambath visited him regularly for three years before he agreed to tell the truth.
"Enemies of the People" reserves its biggest emotional punch for the end of the film, when Sambath, who has lied to Chea about the fate of his own family, finally tells him about their loss.
As the final interviews with Chea were conducted, he and other high-level Khmer Rouge officials were waiting to be arrested for war crimes and genocide by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, a United Nations-backed tribunal. Kaing Guek Eav, commonly known as Duch, the head of the Khmer Rouge's Tuol Sleng prison, was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Chea will be the tribunal's second case.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Veera's bail application resubmitted
20 Jan 2011
The Nation
Cambodian lawyers submitted Thursday another appeal to the Supreme Court to free on bail Thai nationalist activist Veera Somkwamkid, only one of seven Thai nationals who is being held in jail for trespassing.
The appeal court earlier rejected his bail request on the ground that he might hurt public order and would not be safe if freed from jail.
The Supreme Court would take five days from now to consider the new request, according to Thai Foreign Minister's Secretary Chavanond Intarakomalyasut.
Friday, January 21, 2011
[Thai] Top brass not amused by wrong-headed 'patriots' [in the case of the border trespassing seven]
20/01/2011
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post
Army leaders are upset about the attack from the Thai Patriots Network, which has accused the military of doing nothing to help the seven Thais arrested by Cambodian soldiers.
Although Democrat MP Panich Vikitsreth and five others have been granted bail by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, the army top brass is grumbling about being branded "toothless" by the network. This ally of the yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy has also strongly criticised the army for being too slow to coordinate with its counterpart on the other side of the eastern border.
The focus of the attack has been Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, simply because he is the "big brother" of all the generals. Some reporters fired shots at him in the press, saying he had turned a blind eye to this issue because he had vested interests at the frontier with Cambodia.
Some media and the Network even went as far as pointing the finger at the defence minister as the man who had given Cambodian soldiers the tip to arrest the group, which included PAD leader Veera Somkwamkid. They alleged that Gen Prawit was "involved" in the illegal oil trade, natural gas deals and contraband along the border in Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo. According to them, that area is "the gold mine of the Tigers of the East [Burapha Phayak]", referring to soldiers under the 2nd Infantry Division based in Prachin Buri which also controls the eastern border.
As Gen Prawit rose to power through the Prachin Buri barracks, it is hardly surprising that he should be very angry with Network leader Chaiwat Sinsuwong, who led a campaign attacking him in a bid to help his colleague, Mr Veera. Gen Prawit angrily criticised Mr Chaiwat during talks with close aides and those in the army's inner circle, according to army sources. One source said Gen Prawit was so "furious" that he'd ordered officers in the Judge Advocate General's Department to explore legal avenues against Mr Chaiwat and other attackers, including members of the press who'd joined the chorus of the Network in attacking him.
"I have no vested interests with anybody. I have never done any damage nor received any complaints in my life-long service in the army. These accusations severely damage my reputation," the defence minister said. And his underlined message has been: "I have no border interests with Cambodia."
Gen Prawit is not the only person annoyed with the Network and its allies in the press. Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, another alma mater of the 2nd Infantry Division, has also sent the same message as Gen Prawit. "Our soldiers are brave. They are not chicken. They are ready to fight. But [Thailand and Cambodia] are neighbours and they should live peacefully. There is no need to quarrel. Just let negotiations settle the border dispute," he said.
Even Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who has close ties with military leaders, came out to defend the army, saying Gen Prawit and other leading officers had no business interests at the border. In fact, he added, they had helped the government coordinate with Phnom Penh in the bid to get the detained Thai back home.
Mr Suthep was not exaggerating. Gen Prawit did make several phone calls to Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh after that incident. The defence minister was not alone in trying to help the government. Supreme Commander Gen Songkitti Jaggabatara contacted his Cambodian counterpart, Gen Pol Saroeun and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Cambodian armed forces Gen Chea Dara, who is the right-hand man of Cambodian Premier Hun Sen. But the case is now up to Cambodia's judiciary process and to decisions by the Cambodian strongman.
At least the temporary release of the six Thais on bail has made the army leaders feel a little relieved. The six are not allowed to go leave Cambodia as the court has yet to hand down a verdict.
An army source said the talks between the top brass in Thailand and Cambodia should be given some credit as it had led to the granting of bail by the court. The bail was Gen Teah Banh's promise to the Thai army leaders that Phnom Penh would take a good care of the detained Thais, the source added.
Now only Mr Veera is still locked in Prey Sar prison and the Cambodian government has reason to keep him behind bars longer. "Cambodia is very suspicious about Mr Veera, given his past performance. That's why he faces another charge of threatening national security and espionage," the source said, relaying the gist of the message that was sent to Thai army leaders by Cambodia.
Now the army has to make sure that the case will not blow up into a conflict between the two armies. As part of the plans to foster military ties, Gen Songkitti will lead other senior army officers in a robe-giving and merit-making ceremony at a temple in the Cambodian capital on Jan 24. His delegation will include army Chief-of-Staff Gen Thanasak Patimapakorn, who is widely tipped to become Gen Songkitti's successor when the latter retires this year.
At the border in Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket, Mr Suthep and Gen Prayuth have ordered soldiers there to keep the frontier calm. Second army chief Lt Gen Thawatchai Samutsakhon quickly turned that order into action by sending field commanders to meet frequently with their counterparts on the other side of the border and to join in sports recreation activities. Five rangers have been dispatched to talk to Cambodia troops at its base at Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara near the Preah Vihear temple.
"Talks come first [if we have problems]," Lt Gen Thawatchai said of the Thai position. "The only exception is if they [Cambodian soldiers] intentionally intrude on Thai soil and Thai sovereignty," he added.
In summary, the case of the detained Thais has not only caused problems for the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. The army, too, has been dragged in and it seems the feud between the top brass and those who attacked them will not be smoothed over that easily.
Friday, January 21, 2011
[Thai] Ministries told to end trespass case quickly
21/01/2011
Bangkok Post
The Foreign Affairs and Defence ministries have been told to cooperate fully with Phnom Penh authorities to seek an early end to the case of the seven Thais charged with illegal entry into Cambodia.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday Thailand would not interfere with Phnom Penh's handling of the issue but said "we can talk" to find a joint solution that appealed to both sides.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has set Feb 1 to rule on the fate of the Thais after the Appeal Court decided on Tuesday to grant bail to four of the Thais held in Prey Sar prison.
That means all of the seven arrested except Veera Somkwamkid, an activist on the Thai-Cambodian border issue, have been released on bail. They have been told by the court not to leave Cambodia until a final verdict is rendered.
The seven were accused of trespassing on Cambodian territory when they were arrested on Dec 29.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said yesterday he was "a bit disappointed" by the Cambodian court's decision to set Feb 1 to hand down its ruling. He said this was too long.
Mr Suthep said he did not intend to criticise the court but he hoped Cambodia would reconsider the date to conclude the legal process sooner.
The Appeal Court decided on Tuesday to deny bail to Mr Veera, who faces an additional charge of espionage, because it was afraid he would cause problems in Cambodia if released.
Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the Thai foreign minister, said a Cambodian lawyer asked the Supreme Court yesterday to grant Mr Veera bail.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Verdict on five Thais this afternoon
21/01/2011
Bangkok Post
The Cambodia Municipal Court may hand down its verdict on five Thais facing charges of entering Cambodia illegally at 2pm today, Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to he foreign minister, said on Friday morning.
The possible ruling follows a petition filed yesterday by the five Thais, including Democrat MP Panich Vikitsreth, asking the court to issue an early verdict.
The court is earlier set Feb 1 to give its verdict.
It was reported that the verdicts today would not cover the cases of Veera Somkwamkid, a coordinator of the Thai Patriots Network, and Ratree Praipatanapaibul, his secretary, who also face spying charges.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Don't criticize Baby Hun: Papa Hun
Cambodian PM defends son's military promotion
Friday, January 21, 2011
AFP
Papa Hun and Baby Hun
PHNOM PENH — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday defended his son's recent military promotion, a move that has fuelled speculation the young man is being groomed to succeed his father.
Hun Manet, 33, is already chief of the ministry of defence's anti-terrorism unit as well as deputy commander of Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit.
He was promoted to a two-star general in a ceremony earlier this month, and critics have said his rapid career progression could be seen as an attempt by Hun Sen to consolidate his political power.
But the premier has hit back, saying his son -- who graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1999 and earned a doctorate in economics at Britain's University of Bristol -- was well-qualified for the roles.
"He joined the army in 1994. He has been in army for 16 years, and there is promotion within the army ranks," Hun Sen said in a speech broadcast on national radio.
Chea Vannath, a Cambodian independent political analyst, said Hun Manet's latest appointment was an attempt to "maintain political stability" in the country.
"I think that this promotion is to prepare for a smooth succession," she said, explaining that if Hun Sen ever wanted to quit politics "at least he has paved the way for his son to have a smooth transition, but I cannot tell in what capacity."
Hun Sen, 59, has ruled Cambodia since 1985, making him Asia's longest-serving prime minister. He has vowed to remain in power until he is 90 years old.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Buddhist monk wanted for sexual assault of teen [-A shameful fraud!]
Jan. 20, 2011
By PEGGY O'HARE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE (Texas, USA)
A Buddhist monk from Spring who is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl is believed to have fled to his native land of Cambodia, Harris County Sheriff's Office reports show.
Wat Angkorchum Por Venh, 41, of the 16700 block of Kuykendahl, is wanted on two charges of sexual assault of a child. Por Venh is accused of having sex with the teen, who worshipped at the man's temple, from June until September.
The girl told a youth services specialist at Klein Forest High School that she was in love with Por Venh, a monk at the Wat Angkorchum Cambodian Buddhist Temple.
The girl revealed she later became suicidal when she learned of his "possible" sexual relationship with another woman, court documents show.
Harris County sheriff's investigators first learned of the incident Dec. 10 when the Klein Forest High School youth services specialist contacted them to report the alleged crime after the 16-year-old girl confided in her.
The teenager told a sheriff's investigator that same day that she frequently accompanied her mother to the temple in the 16700 block of Kuykendahl, where her mother would deliver food to the monk because her mother cooked and cleaned for the temple, court papers show.
The girl alleged the monk would take her into his bedroom, where they would have sex, according to court records.
The girl later told a forensic interviewer at the Children's Assessment Center that she was in love with Por Venh, but she was also hurt because she later learned he was "possibly sexually active" with another woman involved with the temple, according to ducuments. The girl reported this discovery hurt her because the monk had referred to himself and the 16-year-old girl as "boyfriend and girlfriend" in previous conversations with her, court papers show.
The girl confided to the forensic interviewer that she was contemplating suicide by hanging herself or overdosing on pills.
Two charges of sexual assault of a child under 17 years old were first filed against Por Venh on Jan. 14, but Por Venh's attorney told sheriff's investigators that the Buddhist monk was believed to have fled the U.S. and returned to his native land of Cambodia by that time, court papers show.
Both of those cases were dismissed on Tuesday due to a typographical error in the court papers, said Donna Hawkins, a spokeswoman with the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Hawkins said she did not know what that typographical error was.
Both charges were refiled against Por Venh on Wednesday and were on today's court docket, but he did not appear, Hawkins said. He has been ordered held on bonds totaling $40,000.
It was not clearwhen Por Venh left the U.S. The sheriff's investigator who handled the case could not immediately be reached for comment this afternoon.
Por Venh has no previous criminal history in Harris County.
read more “
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Hun Xen Defends Closure of UN Refugee Center
Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Wednesday, 19 January 2011
" ... there is no refugee issue. That’s why the government has decided to close the camp.”
The Cambodian government is defending its position to close a UN refugee center in Phnom Penh that had been used to give asylum to Montagnards from Vietnam.
In a Jan. 14 letter addressed to six US congressmen, Prime Minister Hun Sen says Cambodia extended its cooperation beyond a five-year agreement with the UNHCR and Vietnam.
“The [memorandum of understanding] covers only 750 Montagnards for temporary facility at the time of the signing,” Hun Sen says in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by VOA Khmer. “Many more cases have been processed, with up to 932 Montagnards having been given refugee status and resettlement in third countries.”
Hun Sen was responding to concerns raised by the US lawmakers as the refugee center nears its closing date, Feb. 15. Seventy-six Montagnards remain at the center.
In December, the lawmakers, led by House Republican Frank Wolf, of Virginia, expressed concern for the fate of the remaining Montagnards, a group that was an ally of the US in its war with Vietnam.
Cambodia’s ambassador to the US, Hem Heng, said Vietnam presented no reason for concern.
“Vietnam is a peaceful country with a growing economy,” he said. “It has no war. Therefore, there are no refugees. There is no refugee issue. That’s why the government has decided to close the camp.”
However, under it’s UN obligations, the US lawmakers wrote, Cambodia is “prohibited from forcibly expelling or returning refugees to territories where they may face persecution.”
The congressmen cited as an example for concern the forced deportation of 20 Muslim minority Uighurs to China in December 2009 and said they had “ample reason” to believe the Montagnards could face persecution in Vietnam.
In his response, Hun Sen said Montagnards who failed in their refugee attempts and were sent back to Vietnam “have been reintegrated into society without any oppression or persecution.”
A source close to the situation said Saturday only 65 of the remaining 76 Montagnards would be given refugee status. Those who are not granted the status will be returned to Vietnam.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Arbitration Council Reports Fewer Labor Disputes
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 20 January 2011
“Many labor dispute cases were solved outside of the Arbitration Council.”
Labor disputes saw a significant drop from 2009 to 2010, officials reported Thursday, due in part to an economic crisis that lowered the number of factories here.
The Arbitration Council, an independent body established to settle labor disputes, has received nearly 1,000 complaints over the last eight years. Cases mostly rose from 31 in 2003 to 180 in 2009. But 2010 saw only 145 cases, the council reported.
Arbitration Council President Kong Phallack said the lower number was due to the closure of factories in the wake of the 2008 crisis.
Of those 145 cases, the council was able to resolve 70 percent, Sok Lor, executive director of the Arbitration Council Foundation, told a forum in Phnom Penh Thursday.
However, Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, said the number of disputes had not fallen, but that more had been solved between factories and unions.
“Many labor dispute cases were solved outside of the Arbitration Council,” he said. About 60 were solved last year between factories and unions, and another 20 were resolved by the Ministry of Labor.
Labor increases have in fact increased year by year, he said.
Ath Thon, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, said no matter the cases, working conditions were “worse,” especially for short-term contract workers and the barring of workers from unions.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Graft Arrests Prompt Questions of ACU Motive [-Peal See Peal]
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Wednesday, 19 January 2011
“If it’s an internal dispute or twisting within the internal party, we could see this as a beginning of a fracture.”
The recent corruption arrests of four policemen within the ruling Cambodian People’s Party have raised questions of whether there is friction within the party or whether the new Anti-Corruption Unit is flexing new muscles.
The police officials, who were arrested for corruption in connection with drug trafficking, were arrested in recent weeks following an investigation by the ACU, which is headed by a senior adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen, Om Yentieng.
Kem Sokha, president of the Human Rights Party, a minority opposition, said time will tell.
“If it’s an internal dispute or twisting within the internal party, we could see this as a beginning of a fracture,” he said. On the other hand, if it is the “true will” of the government, it’s a “good matter” for Cambodians, he said.
Those arrested were Moek Dara, former secretary-general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs; Hun Hean, former police chief of Banteay Meanchey province; his deputy, Chheang Son; and Chea Leang, an official in the Ministry of Interior’s anti-drug office.
Moek Dara is a former police chief of Battambang province, a political stronghold of Interior Minister Sar Kheng. Hun Hean was once Sar Kheng’s chief bodyguard.
In a ceremony in Prey Veng province, Sar Kheng denied the arrests had targeted anyone by affiliation.
“I think everyone must follow the law and respect the law in fulfilling their duty,” said Sar Kheng. “If anyone commits wrongdoing, that person must face legal action.”
However, Chan Saveth, chief investigator for the rights group Adhoc, said the arrests did follow officials promoted through a political channel. He cautioned against the ACU “bringing the political process” into investigation of “to show off to the public.”
Friday, January 21, 2011
Cambodia's Food Security
A Cambodian man carries rice at a paddy rice farm in Bekpeang village in Cambodia. (Photo: AP)
USAID has awarded a five-year, multi-million dollar contract, designed to improve Cambodia's food security.
01-20-2011
VOA News
Improved land and other resources management will conserve and maintain the economic value of Cambodia's sensitive ecosystems.
The United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, has awarded a five-year, multi-million dollar contract, designed to improve Cambodia's food security through enhanced agricultural development and better management of natural resources. The five-year contract was awarded to Fintrac, Incorporated, a highly-respected U.S.-based agribusiness consulting firm that develops agricultural solutions to end hunger and poverty.
This award will serve as U.S. Government's flagship food security activity in Cambodia. "Helping Address Rural Vulnerabilities and Ecosystems Stability", or "HARVEST", the Project, will work with public, private and civil society to strengthen food security by increasing agricultural productivity; raising the incomes of the rural poor; preparing the country to adapt to climate change; and reducing the number of Cambodians, especially women and children, suffering from malnutrition.
HARVEST is supported by several U.S. Presidential Initiatives, including Feed the Future; the U.S. Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative; the Global Health Initiative; and the Global Climate Change Initiative. These are all key components of the U.S. Global Development Policy announced by President Barack Obama. Cambodia is one of 20 priority countries receiving Feed the Future support.
The U.S. Government Feed the Future investments will address key determinants of food security including investments in agricultural productivity, agribusiness and market development, and equitable distribution of and control over productive resources; a multifaceted approach to nutrition; and a long term perspective to foster permanent solutions to chronic food insecurity.
Investments will build on existing success, U.S. and Cambodian expertise and strengths, and be concentrated in strategic areas based on U.S. and Cambodian comparative advantage. They will be designed in close coordination with the Royal Government of Cambodia, with local stakeholders and with other development partners in order to maximize the collective impact on sustainably reducing hunger and poverty.
A "focus on food" approach to rural income diversification and value-chain strengthening will help the Cambodian agricultural sector to become a major contributor to stable and sustainable economic growth for Cambodia and the region. Improved land and other resources management will conserve and maintain the economic value of Cambodia's sensitive ecosystems and rich biodiversity as well as reduce the vulnerability of agriculture and rural communities to climate change. Permanently reducing hunger and maintaining sustainable use of natural or communal resources are the central goals of HARVEST.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Cambodia To Build Bridge On Trans-Asean Road [-Neak Loeung Bridge]
PHNOM PENH, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- Cambodia will kick off the construction of a bridge on the trans-Asean road route on February 12, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.
The plan was revealed by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday at the inauguration ceremony for a hospital in Kampong Cham province.
The Neak Loeung bridge is designed to become the largest and longest in Cambodia with a width of 13.5m and a length of 2.2 km.
It will span the Mekong river to connect Cambodia's Kandal and Prey Veng provinces with Vietnam.
Estimated to cost around US$131 million, it is expected to be completed in 2015 to facilitate travels and transportation between Cambodia and other Asean member countries, especially Vietnam.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Cambodia is moving in the right direction ... as usual again: IRI
Cambodian survey: Majority says country moving in right direction
Jan 21, 2011
DPA
Phnom Penh - Most Cambodians believe their country is moving in the right direction, a US-funded survey has found, with respondents citing improved infrastructure such as roads, schools and clinics.
The findings were released Friday in Phnom Penh by the International Republican Institute (IRI), a US organization loosely linked to the Republican Party.
IRI country director John Willis said the 76-per-cent favourable finding was down from a peak of 82 per cent two years ago, 'but is still pretty high by worldwide standards.'
However, nearly a quarter felt Cambodia was going the wrong way, said Willis, with those who were unhappy naming corruption as their key concern, followed by jobs, poverty and inflation worries.
And more than a third of those questioned said the nation's key concern was its border issues with Thailand and Vietnam.
Cambodia is in the process of demarcating the borders with both countries, a process that in the case of Thailand has sparked violent clashes in recent years.
And farmers along the border with Vietnam have complained they are losing land to their more powerful neighbour in the process.
As most Cambodians live in rural areas and rely on subsistence agriculture, the survey also asked people about land.
It found three-quarters of the rural population owned less than 2 hectares of farmland, and most complained they lacked sufficient irrigation.
Around one in 12 rural landowners said someone had tried to take their land in the past three years, further evidence of the scourge of land-grabbing that regularly pits the powerful and well-connected against the poor.
The survey questioned a representative sample of 2,000 randomly selected Cambodians aged 18 and older in every province.
Friday, January 21, 2011
'Enemies of the People': One man's quest for truth about Cambodia's 'killing fields'
Nuon Chea, the chief ideologue of Pol Pot, appears in "Enemies of the People."
A movie review of "Enemies of the People," an intensely personal documentary that follows journalist Thet Sambath as he seeks the truth about the mass killings from 1975 to 1979 at the hands of Cambodia's Communist Khmer Rouge government.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
By Stephen Holden
The New York Times
'Enemies of the People,' a documentary directed by Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, from a screenplay by Lemkin. 94 minutes. In English and Khmer, with English subtitles. Not rated; for mature audiences. Northwest Film Forum, through Thursday.
This review bears no star rating because The New York Times does not provide such ratings with reviews.
"Some say that almost two million people died in the killing fields," declares Thet Sambath, a polite, soft-spoken Cambodian journalist for The Phnom Penh Post, in the opening moments of the documentary "Enemies of the People." He adds, "Nobody understands why so many people were killed at that time."
Thus begins this intensely personal film, undertaken at some risk, in which Sambath seeks the truth about the mass killings from 1975 to 1979 at the hands of Cambodia's Communist Khmer Rouge government, which was responsible for the deaths of nearly a quarter of the country's population.
The heart of the film, a collaboration by Sambath and British documentarian Rob Lemkin, consists of meticulously cataloged interviews conducted during nearly a decade with perpetrators of the mass execution, many of them rural farmers. As they open up and matter-of-factly describe horrific acts, the camera scours their weather-beaten faces.
"Enemies of the People" is extraordinary on several fronts. Sambath's father and brother were slain by Khmer Rouge militants, and his mother died in childbirth after her forced marriage to a militiaman. Yet as Sambath gently coaxes peasants to confess to atrocities, there is not a shred of bitterness in his questioning. At times, Sambath suggests a one-man Cambodian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Instead of affixing blame, he seeks the healing power of confession.
"Enemies of the People" is another disquieting testament to the fact that ordinary individuals under extreme pressure will carry out the most monstrous crimes. If they hadn't followed the orders of superiors, they say, they themselves would have been killed. One farmer, a Buddhist who believes in reincarnation, expresses his tormented certainty that it will be many lifetimes before he returns in human form.
The film's journalistic coup is Sambath's persuasion of Nuon Chea, the chief ideologue of Pol Pot (the Cambodian Communist leader who died in 1998), to explain what happened. Chea, also known as Brother No. 2, is a proud, gaunt man in his 80s. Sambath visited him regularly for three years before he agreed to tell the truth.
"Enemies of the People" reserves its biggest emotional punch for the end of the film, when Sambath, who has lied to Chea about the fate of his own family, finally tells him about their loss.
As the final interviews with Chea were conducted, he and other high-level Khmer Rouge officials were waiting to be arrested for war crimes and genocide by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, a United Nations-backed tribunal. Kaing Guek Eav, commonly known as Duch, the head of the Khmer Rouge's Tuol Sleng prison, was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Chea will be the tribunal's second case.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Veera's bail application resubmitted
20 Jan 2011
The Nation
Cambodian lawyers submitted Thursday another appeal to the Supreme Court to free on bail Thai nationalist activist Veera Somkwamkid, only one of seven Thai nationals who is being held in jail for trespassing.
The appeal court earlier rejected his bail request on the ground that he might hurt public order and would not be safe if freed from jail.
The Supreme Court would take five days from now to consider the new request, according to Thai Foreign Minister's Secretary Chavanond Intarakomalyasut.
Friday, January 21, 2011
[Thai] Top brass not amused by wrong-headed 'patriots' [in the case of the border trespassing seven]
20/01/2011
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post
Army leaders are upset about the attack from the Thai Patriots Network, which has accused the military of doing nothing to help the seven Thais arrested by Cambodian soldiers.
Although Democrat MP Panich Vikitsreth and five others have been granted bail by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, the army top brass is grumbling about being branded "toothless" by the network. This ally of the yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy has also strongly criticised the army for being too slow to coordinate with its counterpart on the other side of the eastern border.
The focus of the attack has been Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, simply because he is the "big brother" of all the generals. Some reporters fired shots at him in the press, saying he had turned a blind eye to this issue because he had vested interests at the frontier with Cambodia.
Some media and the Network even went as far as pointing the finger at the defence minister as the man who had given Cambodian soldiers the tip to arrest the group, which included PAD leader Veera Somkwamkid. They alleged that Gen Prawit was "involved" in the illegal oil trade, natural gas deals and contraband along the border in Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo. According to them, that area is "the gold mine of the Tigers of the East [Burapha Phayak]", referring to soldiers under the 2nd Infantry Division based in Prachin Buri which also controls the eastern border.
As Gen Prawit rose to power through the Prachin Buri barracks, it is hardly surprising that he should be very angry with Network leader Chaiwat Sinsuwong, who led a campaign attacking him in a bid to help his colleague, Mr Veera. Gen Prawit angrily criticised Mr Chaiwat during talks with close aides and those in the army's inner circle, according to army sources. One source said Gen Prawit was so "furious" that he'd ordered officers in the Judge Advocate General's Department to explore legal avenues against Mr Chaiwat and other attackers, including members of the press who'd joined the chorus of the Network in attacking him.
"I have no vested interests with anybody. I have never done any damage nor received any complaints in my life-long service in the army. These accusations severely damage my reputation," the defence minister said. And his underlined message has been: "I have no border interests with Cambodia."
Gen Prawit is not the only person annoyed with the Network and its allies in the press. Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, another alma mater of the 2nd Infantry Division, has also sent the same message as Gen Prawit. "Our soldiers are brave. They are not chicken. They are ready to fight. But [Thailand and Cambodia] are neighbours and they should live peacefully. There is no need to quarrel. Just let negotiations settle the border dispute," he said.
Even Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who has close ties with military leaders, came out to defend the army, saying Gen Prawit and other leading officers had no business interests at the border. In fact, he added, they had helped the government coordinate with Phnom Penh in the bid to get the detained Thai back home.
Mr Suthep was not exaggerating. Gen Prawit did make several phone calls to Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh after that incident. The defence minister was not alone in trying to help the government. Supreme Commander Gen Songkitti Jaggabatara contacted his Cambodian counterpart, Gen Pol Saroeun and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Cambodian armed forces Gen Chea Dara, who is the right-hand man of Cambodian Premier Hun Sen. But the case is now up to Cambodia's judiciary process and to decisions by the Cambodian strongman.
At least the temporary release of the six Thais on bail has made the army leaders feel a little relieved. The six are not allowed to go leave Cambodia as the court has yet to hand down a verdict.
An army source said the talks between the top brass in Thailand and Cambodia should be given some credit as it had led to the granting of bail by the court. The bail was Gen Teah Banh's promise to the Thai army leaders that Phnom Penh would take a good care of the detained Thais, the source added.
Now only Mr Veera is still locked in Prey Sar prison and the Cambodian government has reason to keep him behind bars longer. "Cambodia is very suspicious about Mr Veera, given his past performance. That's why he faces another charge of threatening national security and espionage," the source said, relaying the gist of the message that was sent to Thai army leaders by Cambodia.
Now the army has to make sure that the case will not blow up into a conflict between the two armies. As part of the plans to foster military ties, Gen Songkitti will lead other senior army officers in a robe-giving and merit-making ceremony at a temple in the Cambodian capital on Jan 24. His delegation will include army Chief-of-Staff Gen Thanasak Patimapakorn, who is widely tipped to become Gen Songkitti's successor when the latter retires this year.
At the border in Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket, Mr Suthep and Gen Prayuth have ordered soldiers there to keep the frontier calm. Second army chief Lt Gen Thawatchai Samutsakhon quickly turned that order into action by sending field commanders to meet frequently with their counterparts on the other side of the border and to join in sports recreation activities. Five rangers have been dispatched to talk to Cambodia troops at its base at Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara near the Preah Vihear temple.
"Talks come first [if we have problems]," Lt Gen Thawatchai said of the Thai position. "The only exception is if they [Cambodian soldiers] intentionally intrude on Thai soil and Thai sovereignty," he added.
In summary, the case of the detained Thais has not only caused problems for the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. The army, too, has been dragged in and it seems the feud between the top brass and those who attacked them will not be smoothed over that easily.
Friday, January 21, 2011
[Thai] Ministries told to end trespass case quickly
21/01/2011
Bangkok Post
The Foreign Affairs and Defence ministries have been told to cooperate fully with Phnom Penh authorities to seek an early end to the case of the seven Thais charged with illegal entry into Cambodia.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday Thailand would not interfere with Phnom Penh's handling of the issue but said "we can talk" to find a joint solution that appealed to both sides.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has set Feb 1 to rule on the fate of the Thais after the Appeal Court decided on Tuesday to grant bail to four of the Thais held in Prey Sar prison.
That means all of the seven arrested except Veera Somkwamkid, an activist on the Thai-Cambodian border issue, have been released on bail. They have been told by the court not to leave Cambodia until a final verdict is rendered.
The seven were accused of trespassing on Cambodian territory when they were arrested on Dec 29.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said yesterday he was "a bit disappointed" by the Cambodian court's decision to set Feb 1 to hand down its ruling. He said this was too long.
Mr Suthep said he did not intend to criticise the court but he hoped Cambodia would reconsider the date to conclude the legal process sooner.
The Appeal Court decided on Tuesday to deny bail to Mr Veera, who faces an additional charge of espionage, because it was afraid he would cause problems in Cambodia if released.
Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the Thai foreign minister, said a Cambodian lawyer asked the Supreme Court yesterday to grant Mr Veera bail.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Verdict on five Thais this afternoon
21/01/2011
Bangkok Post
The Cambodia Municipal Court may hand down its verdict on five Thais facing charges of entering Cambodia illegally at 2pm today, Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to he foreign minister, said on Friday morning.
The possible ruling follows a petition filed yesterday by the five Thais, including Democrat MP Panich Vikitsreth, asking the court to issue an early verdict.
The court is earlier set Feb 1 to give its verdict.
It was reported that the verdicts today would not cover the cases of Veera Somkwamkid, a coordinator of the Thai Patriots Network, and Ratree Praipatanapaibul, his secretary, who also face spying charges.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Don't criticize Baby Hun: Papa Hun
Cambodian PM defends son's military promotion
Friday, January 21, 2011
AFP
Papa Hun and Baby Hun
PHNOM PENH — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday defended his son's recent military promotion, a move that has fuelled speculation the young man is being groomed to succeed his father.
Hun Manet, 33, is already chief of the ministry of defence's anti-terrorism unit as well as deputy commander of Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit.
He was promoted to a two-star general in a ceremony earlier this month, and critics have said his rapid career progression could be seen as an attempt by Hun Sen to consolidate his political power.
But the premier has hit back, saying his son -- who graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1999 and earned a doctorate in economics at Britain's University of Bristol -- was well-qualified for the roles.
"He joined the army in 1994. He has been in army for 16 years, and there is promotion within the army ranks," Hun Sen said in a speech broadcast on national radio.
Chea Vannath, a Cambodian independent political analyst, said Hun Manet's latest appointment was an attempt to "maintain political stability" in the country.
"I think that this promotion is to prepare for a smooth succession," she said, explaining that if Hun Sen ever wanted to quit politics "at least he has paved the way for his son to have a smooth transition, but I cannot tell in what capacity."
Hun Sen, 59, has ruled Cambodia since 1985, making him Asia's longest-serving prime minister. He has vowed to remain in power until he is 90 years old.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Buddhist monk wanted for sexual assault of teen [-A shameful fraud!]
Jan. 20, 2011
By PEGGY O'HARE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE (Texas, USA)
A Buddhist monk from Spring who is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl is believed to have fled to his native land of Cambodia, Harris County Sheriff's Office reports show.
Wat Angkorchum Por Venh, 41, of the 16700 block of Kuykendahl, is wanted on two charges of sexual assault of a child. Por Venh is accused of having sex with the teen, who worshipped at the man's temple, from June until September.
The girl told a youth services specialist at Klein Forest High School that she was in love with Por Venh, a monk at the Wat Angkorchum Cambodian Buddhist Temple.
The girl revealed she later became suicidal when she learned of his "possible" sexual relationship with another woman, court documents show.
Harris County sheriff's investigators first learned of the incident Dec. 10 when the Klein Forest High School youth services specialist contacted them to report the alleged crime after the 16-year-old girl confided in her.
The teenager told a sheriff's investigator that same day that she frequently accompanied her mother to the temple in the 16700 block of Kuykendahl, where her mother would deliver food to the monk because her mother cooked and cleaned for the temple, court papers show.
The girl alleged the monk would take her into his bedroom, where they would have sex, according to court records.
The girl later told a forensic interviewer at the Children's Assessment Center that she was in love with Por Venh, but she was also hurt because she later learned he was "possibly sexually active" with another woman involved with the temple, according to ducuments. The girl reported this discovery hurt her because the monk had referred to himself and the 16-year-old girl as "boyfriend and girlfriend" in previous conversations with her, court papers show.
The girl confided to the forensic interviewer that she was contemplating suicide by hanging herself or overdosing on pills.
Two charges of sexual assault of a child under 17 years old were first filed against Por Venh on Jan. 14, but Por Venh's attorney told sheriff's investigators that the Buddhist monk was believed to have fled the U.S. and returned to his native land of Cambodia by that time, court papers show.
Both of those cases were dismissed on Tuesday due to a typographical error in the court papers, said Donna Hawkins, a spokeswoman with the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Hawkins said she did not know what that typographical error was.
Both charges were refiled against Por Venh on Wednesday and were on today's court docket, but he did not appear, Hawkins said. He has been ordered held on bonds totaling $40,000.
It was not clearwhen Por Venh left the U.S. The sheriff's investigator who handled the case could not immediately be reached for comment this afternoon.
Por Venh has no previous criminal history in Harris County.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Cambodia Should Rethink Its Plan For NGOs
The Cambodian government is considering plans to impose controls on the large number of foreign and domestic non-governmental organizations.
01-21-2011
Voice of America
Editorials
We urge Cambodian officials to reconsider whether such a measure is needed.
The Cambodian government is considering plans to impose controls on the large number of foreign and domestic non-governmental organizations that operate medical, educational, humanitarian, civil society and other programs in their country.
The law, as currently drafted and announced in December, would impose burdensome restrictions on civil society organizations, including requirements to register and report their activities every year, in addition to several other vague requirements for obtaining permission to continue their work. The Royal Government of Cambodia says the law is needed to increase transparency among the Southeast Asian nation's network of NGOs, and prevent terrorists and criminal gangs from using groups based in Cambodia as fronts for their operations.
The move is drawing mounting criticism from civil society representatives, who fear the law represents an effort by the government to control what their groups do for the Cambodian people and where they do it. Small community-based groups say compliance with the current draft law would be difficult and could threaten their very existence.
The United States shares these concerns, opposing any law that constrains the legitimate activities of NGOs. We urge Cambodian officials to reconsider whether such a measure is needed.
A strong and free civil society is vital to strengthening democratic institutions, enhancing economic and humanitarian well-being and promoting a sustainable economy. In Cambodia, as in many other countries, NGOs and other similar groups make important contributions in these areas. Government officials there have asked for input from civil society representatives about the draft law, and the United States urges the Royal Government of Cambodia to take their concerns very seriously as they move forward on the issue
Saturday, January 22, 2011
[Hun Xen's] Musketeers all for one
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Bangkok Post
Cambodia's Press and Quick Reaction Unit's key men Phay Siphan and Tith Sothea have joined fellow spokesman Koy Kuong in defending the interests of Cambodia and its premier Hun Sen.
Cambodia's so-called Three Musketeers have been very effective in their swift political responses to whoever picks a fight with their beloved leader.
The unit was established in June 2009 in a sub-decree signed by Hun Sen and comes under the supervision of veteran politician Sok An, minister of the council of ministers.
From the outset, the unit aimed to react to news or any information disseminated by national, international sources and critics that is deemed a threat to Cambodia, its government and its national identity.
The Three Musketeers are part of a modernised and restructured Cambodian administration with veteran politicians, diplomats and brothers-in-arms in place as advisers to the government.
The group includes younger-generation Cambodians and their faces have become familiar with both local and foreign media as they have been doing their jobs as quickly as their unit title suggests.
Phay Siphan, in his early 50s, was one of the ministry's so-called 16 secretaries of state. A former refugee boy at the Thai-Cambodian border, he holds dual Cambodian and American citizenship and has been serving the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) for the past three decades.
Phay Siphan was an appointed senator under the CPP quota before the Cambodian senate became an elected one in 2006 thanks to his loyalty to the CPP. In 1979, he migrated to the US.
During his senate years, Phay Siphan and two other senators were sacked because of their opposition to a CPP-sponsored bill.
He was invited back from the US to become the unit's mouthpiece. Chhang Song, his senator colleague and also former information minister during the Lon Nol-led regime, was also invited to be an adviser to the Hun Sen administration.
Tith Sothea and Koy Kuong are 10 years younger than Phay Siphan. Like other spokesmen elsewhere, they have risen to the spotlight amid disputes and conflicts.
The unit's responses have been very timely in English and targeted the international audience. It has aimed its fire at the ultra-nationalist yellow shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in Thailand and Cambodia's opposition leader Sam Rainsy.
The unit is well staffed to monitor hostility, verbal or otherwise, against the Cambodian leader and their country.
The unit has complained strongly to Google that its cyber maps grossly misrepresent Cambodia's long-contested border with Thailand.
It has also responded to any critical NGO reports such as those furnished by Freedom House and Human Rights Watch that rank Cambodia low for its human rights record.
Earlier, the unit lashed out at key PAD members such as ML Walvipa Charoonroj in May and Sondhi Limthongkul in August for what it said were their attempts to obstruct the two countries from reaching a resolution to their border conflict.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
26 Years of Oppression and Abuses
Barking
Southeast Asia dictators: Birds of the same feather flock together
The dictator and his henchmen (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)
Hun Sen: 26 Years At The Helm
2011-01-21
Radio Free Asia (English)
Cambodia's rights record may worsen under continued rule, rights activists warn.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen marked 26 years in power last week, winning praise from his party for bringing growth and slashing poverty but criticized by rights activists for stifling freedom, silencing the opposition, and fostering corruption.
The 59-year-old Hun Sen is the longest-serving leader in Southeast Asia after the Sultan of Brunei and has vowed to remain in power for another decade, with a vision to bolster the economy by boosting rice exports and the incomes of Cambodians who now largely rely on the garment and textile industry.
“If I am still alive, I will continue to stand as a candidate until I am 90,” he said in 2007. But two years later, he said he would be out by 2023.
Chea Sim, head of the ruling Cambodian People's Party, said it would continue to pick Hun Sen as the Prime Minister after the next general elections in 2013, which it is confident of sweeping.
He said that Hun Sen had brought peace to the country, once ruled by the fanatically communist Khmer Rouge which caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people, and that he has maintained a democratic government based on the rule of law.
Other party officials said the prime minister has helped fuel economic growth, slashed poverty, and brought political stability.
Rights violations
But opposition leaders and rights groups say Hun Sen's continued rule will only worsen human rights violations and corruption and result in authoritarian rule.
"I think Hun Sen wants to consolidate power," said Brad Adams, executive director of New York-based Human Rights Watch's Asia Division.
"He wants to finish up his critics in Cambodia. He wants a one-party state even though he pretends to hold elections once every five years because he can manage and win them automatically."
Adams also accused Hun Sen of wanting "to control all Cambodia's resources, and he is changing Cambodia towards capitalism under dictatorship."
Cambodia was among 25 countries whose freedom levels plunged in 2010 amid an erosion of civil rights and political liberties, according to global watchdog Freedom House.
"Cambodia received a downward trend arrow due to the government’s consolidation of control over all aspects of the electoral process, its increased intimidation of civil society, and its apparent influence over the tribunal trying former members" of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, the group said in a report last week.
Transparency International, the Berlin-based monitoring group, said in a recent report that 43 percent of Cambodians polled said corruption had increased and 30 percent felt it had decreased, while 27 percent believed it was around the same.
Cambodia's judiciary was found to be the most corrupt sector in that country, it said.
Busting graft
But Hun Sen’s Office of the Council of Ministers said the authorities are moving forcefully to end graft.
“Cambodia now has an Anti-Corruption Law, and the Anti-Corruption Unit is actively and publicly pursuing cases of alleged corruption,” it said.
The Office of the Council of Ministers also dismissed criticism of Hun Sen’s long hold on power, citing former prime ministers Mahathir Mohamad and Lee Kuan Yew of neighboring countries Malaysia and Singapore respectively who were also at the helm for many years.
“This is a strange criticism indeed, for longevity in office is not typically held as a negative attribute,” it said in a statement. “But the prime minister is a relatively young man and in good health, and thus can be expected to contribute to the progress of the country for many years to come.”
Cambodia's main opposition party leader Sam Rainsy, Hun Sen's arch-rival, is living in exile after fleeing the country in 2009 fearing what he called politically motivated charges.
He was convicted in absentia in September last year and sentenced to 10 years in prison for a politically sensitive comment about a border dispute with Vietnam, cited by critics as an example of the government's intimidation of its opponents.
The lawsuit was filed after Sam Rainsy questioned whether the border had been incorrectly marked by the government to Cambodia's disadvantage.
Earlier, a year ago, a court sentenced Sam Rainsy to two years in prison for a political protest in which border markers were uprooted along the frontier with Vietnam. He led the protest to dramatize his claim that Vietnam is encroaching on Cambodian territory, an issue he often raises to garner public support.
Sam Rainsy had accused the court of being a political instrument, saying that "Everybody ... rightly says that the judiciary in this country is everything but independent, being only a political tool for the authoritarian ruling party to silence any critical voices."
Opposition out of touch?
With the opposition leader out of the country, the movement’s future appears bleak. Some civil society groups say that Rainsy's party has lost touch with its original pro-democracy platform, focusing instead on emotional nationalistic disputes with the ruling party.
Hun Sen, once a member of the ultra-leftist Khmer Rouge, later turned on the them and joined Vietnamese forces which defeated the Khmer Rouge in 1979. The Vietnamese communists installed a new Cambodian government that year, and in January 14, 1985, Hun Sen was made prime minister
He is sympathetic to Hanoi, while part of Sam Rainsy's support comes from appealing to traditional anti-Vietnamese sentiment among Cambodians who do not trust their much larger neighbor.
Yim Sovann, Sam Rainsy's spokesperson, said Cambodia might have achieved development under Hun Sen but that many issues remain unresolved.
The country is debt-laden and lives on foreign donor funds of 500 million dollars annually, Yim Sovann said.
Margo Picken, once a director of the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, said Hun Sen and his officials hold absolute power and seize control of any institution that challenges that power.
While Hun Sen has moved to boost growth and reduce poverty, his circle has exploited the country's natural resources, pocketed financial gains and disregarded human rights, Picken said.
Concerns have focused, too, on Hun Sen's bid to curtail the activities of nongovernmental organizations.
The U.S. State Department last week cited a new law that "would constrain the legitimate activities of NGOs," and urged Hun Sen's government to hold talks with these groups and to "reconsider whether such a measure is even necessary."
Rights groups in December also voiced alarm as Cambodia began to introduce laws making it a crime to criticize judges or to hurt the feelings of public officials.
China's influence
Meanwhile, Cambodia has come under increasing influence by China, its top investor. Hun Sen was in Beijing last month, signing 13 agreements in areas including hydroelectric power, port facilities, and financial loans.
More than a year ago, Cambodia deported a group of 20 Uyghur Muslim asylum-seekers back to China despite protests from the United States and the U.N.
The Chinese played an important role as counterweight to Vietnamese influence during the 1970s and 1980s, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned during a recent visit that Cambodia should not become "too dependent" on Beijing.
Hun Sen has also been accused of nepotism, charges flatly dismissed by the prime minister. His 33-year-old son, Hun Manet, was promoted to a two-star general earlier this month amid speculation the young man is being groomed to succeed his father.
Hun Manet is already chief of the ministry of defense's anti-terrorism unit as well as deputy commander of Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit.
Hun Sen hit back at the nepotism charges, saying that his son, who graduated from West Point and has a doctorate in economics at Britain's University of Bristol, is well-qualified for his roles.
"He joined the army in 1994. He has been in the army for 16 years, and there is promotion within the army ranks," Hun Sen said in a speech broadcast on national radio.
But Chea Vannath, a Cambodian independent political analyst, was quoted saying this week that Hun Manet's latest appointment was to “prepare for a smooth succession.”
A key factor for the “rapid rise in the ranks of General Hun is due, in part, to the fact that he is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, one of the most prestigious schools in the world,” said the Office of the Council of Ministers.
“He is representative of a younger generation of Cambodians, who enjoy the benefits of international education.”
Saturday, January 22, 2011
On the suspension of the jail sentence for the 5 Thai border trespassers
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Opinion by DL
I just read the subject article (Thai five sentenced to jail, then freed) on Bangkok Post, and I wish our Court had handled the case differently. It was a fair ruling when the Court sentenced the five Thais to nine months in prison, but then why suspended the remaining eight-month jail term? It is understandable that the Court has to take into consideration the fragile political environment in Thailand, but the outright suspension of the remaining jail term probably does more harm than good to both countries, Cambodia and Thailand. It creates a negative perception among our people that our Court is too “soft” or lenient when dealing with foreigners. It also sends a wrong message to Thai ultra-nationalists that they can violate our sovereignty and get away with it. The Court should have ruled that the five Thais must serve the nine month jail term, but grant them the possibility to serve the remaining term in Thai jails if Thai government can guarantee that these convicted will remain behind bars till the end of their jail term.
Have a great week-end,
Saturday, January 22, 2011
[Cambodian] Court frees Panich, 4 others [-Did the Thai court ever do that for Khmers?]
Jail terms suspended in surprise ruling
22/01/2011
Bangkok Post
Five of the seven Thais charged with trespassing on Cambodian territory have been freed after the Phnom Penh Municipal Court gave each of them a suspended jail term.
The three-member judge panel yesterday found each of the five Thais _ Panich Vikitsreth, Narumol Chitwaratana, Samdin Lertbutr, Tainae Mungmajon, and Kojpollathorn Chusanasevi _ guilty on two counts of trespassing on Cambodian territory and illegal entry into a military area.
The judges said the five had entered Cambodia deliberately and sentenced them to nine months' imprisonment and a fine of one million riel (around 7,590 baht) each.
However, as the Thais had already served almost one month in Prey Sar prison, the court decided to suspend the remaining eight months.
The seven Thais were arrested on Dec 29 as they investigated claims by Thai residents living along a disputed part of the border that Cambodian military officers would not allow them to enter the areas where their homes were located.
The five Thais are now free to go home, but they will have to serve their jail terms if they enter Cambodia illegally again, the court said.
Upon leaving court to travel to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh, Mr Panich, who wore a blue cap with the Asean logo, said that the whole affair showed ``the spirit of Asean''.
``I would like to thank all concerned parties. [The verdict] is a good sign for the Asean community and shows the Cambodian court has mercy,'' he said.
The verdict date was moved forward from the original schedule of Feb 1 to yesterday after the five Thais petitioned the court to speed up the proceedings.
The court read out the verdict at 7.35pm after a five-hour hearing.
The five Thais testified that they had no intention of trespassing on Cambodian soil and did not realise that they had done so.
Mr Panich told the court that the group met a villager, but did not talk, so he did not know that he was already inside Cambodia.
The Democrat MP also denied recording or taking photos of the area. He said he only had a mobile phone without a built-in camera.
A verdict has not yet been passed on the cases of Veera Somkwamkid, a Thai Patriots Network coordinator, and his secretary, Ratree Pipatanapaiboon.
Mr Veera and Ms Ratree face allegations that they spied on Cambodian military affairs and have been charged with espionage.
Mr Veera has been denied bail and remains at Prey Sar prison.
Ms Ratree was granted bail and is staying at the Thai embassy.
Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the Thai foreign minister, said the five Thais are expected to return home today(saturday).
Mr Chavanond will fly to Phnom Penh to meet them.
``We will try to bring them home as soon as possible,'' he said, adding that the verdict was good news and that the ministry would continue to help Mr Veera and Ms Ratree as best as it can.
Mr Chavanond said the verdict for the two is likely to be handed down on Feb 1.
Mr Panich's mother, ML Sompongvadee Vikitsreth, said she was glad the case was finally over and that she could see her son soon.
Mr Panich talked to his mother on the phone after the verdict.
Soonthorn Rakrong, coordinator of the Thai Patriots Network, congratulated the five Thais on being granted their freedom.
``However, it would be better if Mr Veera and Ms Ratree had been released too,'' he said.
The network has been staging a rally at Government House since Sunday to pressure the Abhisit Vejjajiva government to do more to help the seven Thais.
The group will announce their next move after the release of the Thais today(saturday).
Meanwhile, People's Alliance for Democracy spokesman Panthep Phuaphongphan said his group will continue with its plan to hold a mass rally on Tuesday to persuade the government to revoke the memorandum of understanding signed in 2000 between Thailand and Cambodia, which they say is disadvantageous to the country.
They also want the government to force Cambodian people out of every disputed area and are requesting Thailand withdraws its membership of the Unesco's World Heritage Committee.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Defense Seeks Release of Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan [... only if they can bring those who were killed by the KR back to life?]
Former Khmer Rouge leaders Khieu Samphan, left, and Nuon Chea, right, look on during the funeral for Khieu Ponnary, the first wife of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, in 2003. (Photo: AP)
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Friday, 21 January 2011
" ...any detention beyond Jan. 15 is unlawful."
Defense lawyers for Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan have launched separate complaints to the Khmer Rouge tribunal, claiming their clients have been detained beyond legal limitations as they await trial.
The defense teams say continued detention of the two senior Khmer Rouge leaders is a breach of the internal rules of the UN-backed court.
Son Arun, a defense lawyer for Nuon Chea, the regime’s chief ideologue and “Brother No. 2,” said Internal Rule No. 68 requires a hearing within four months of the closing order by investigating judges.
That date, Jan. 15 in both cases, has passed, he said, making Nuon Chea’s continued detention “an abuse of him by the law.”
Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan are to stand trial along with Ieng Sary, the former foreign minister of the regime, and Ieng Thirith, his wife, former social affairs minister. They are charged with atrocity crimes, including genocide, with a trial expected later this year.
Sar Savann, defense lawyer for Khieu Samphan, the nominal head of the regime, said any detention beyond Jan. 15 is unlawful. Khieu Samphan should immediately be released, he said.
Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath confirmed that the court had received the complaints and would make a legal decision accordingly. Experts say the internal rules on the matter have some room for interpretation.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Lawyers appeal to Cambodian Supreme Court to free Veera
January 21, 2011
The Nation
Cambodian lawyers submitted another appeal yesterday to the Supreme Court to free on bail Thai nationalist activist Veera Somkwamkid - the only one of seven Thai nationals being held in jail for allegedly entering the country illegally.
The appeal court earlier rejected Veera's bail request on the grounds he might hurt public order and would not be safe if freed from jail.
The Supreme Court will take five days to consider the new request, Thai foreign minister's secretary Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said.
Veera and the other six Thais - including Democrat lawmaker Panich Vikitsreth - were arrested near Sa Kaew province's Ban Nong Chan while inspecting the disputed border area on December 29.
They were charged with illegal entry and unlawfully entering a military zone, charges that could bring them combined prison sentences of 18 months.
Six were freed on bail but had to stay in Cambodia awaiting the trial, which was set for February 1.
Veera and his aide Ratree Pipatanapaiboon were additionally charged with espionage for allegedly collecting information that could harm Cambodia's security. They could face a maximum 10 years' jail if convicted.
Unlike Ratree, who was temporarily freed on bail despite facing the same charge, Veera insisted he was arrested in territory under Thai sovereignty and did not come under Cambodian court jurisdiction. He refused to cooperate with the court in the prosecution and would not accept a translator provided by the court, requesting a new one from the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh.
The Thai government was unable to intervene in the case and will not oppose the Cambodian judicial system's work until proceedings end.
A speedy trial was the only option the Thai government had requested from the Cambodian authorities, Chavanond said.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva called a meeting with officials, including Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, to seek solutions to help the seven Thais.
Abhisit asked the two ministers to find channels to help bring back all the Thai nationals quickly and safely, Chavanond said after the meeting.
The Thai government is under pressure from Veera's group, the Thai Patriots Network, which has been protesting in front of Government House demanding that officials take a tough stance on the Thais' release. They also demanded that senior officials - including Abhisit and Kasit - step down for their failure to help the seven Thais.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thai five sentenced to jail, then freed
Samdin Lertbutr (centred) and Tainae Mungmajon (right) arrive at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Jan 21, 2011.
21/01/2011
Bangkok Post
A Cambodian Court has ruled that five Thais intentionally entered Cambodia without permission.
They were sentenced to nine months in prison and a fine of 1,000,000 riel (about 10,000 baht).
Since the five have served one month in prison already, the court suspended the remaining eight-month jail term. The five Thais are now free to return home.
The five Thais released today are Democrat Party MP Panich Vikitsreth, Samdin Lertbutr, Tainae Mungmajon, Naruemol Chitvarattana and Kojpollathorn Chusanasevi.
The other two Thais still in custody are yellow-shirt activist Veera Somkwamkid and and his secretary Ratree Pipatanapaiboon. They face additional charges of spying. The Thai Foreign Ministry has said it will continue to provide help for them.
Upon leaving the courthouse, Mr Panich - who wore a blue cap with an Asean logo - said only that everything is for the spirit of Asean.
The seven Thais were arrested and charged with illegally entering Cambodia on Dec 29.
Dozens of police surrounded the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and nearby streets for the hearing, which started at 2pm.
Mr Panich was first to testify, followed by the four others.
The hearing ended about 5pm.
The five gave similar terstimony, that they had no intention to trespass on the Cambodian soil. They said they did not know it was a restricted area because they could not read the signboards, which are written in Cambodian.
Mr Panich said he did not take pictures or video images of the area because he had with him only a mobile telephone.
He said he met a villager on the way but did not talk to him, so he did not know he was already in Cambodian territory.
read more “
”
Cambodia Should Rethink Its Plan For NGOs
The Cambodian government is considering plans to impose controls on the large number of foreign and domestic non-governmental organizations.
01-21-2011
Voice of America
Editorials
We urge Cambodian officials to reconsider whether such a measure is needed.
The Cambodian government is considering plans to impose controls on the large number of foreign and domestic non-governmental organizations that operate medical, educational, humanitarian, civil society and other programs in their country.
The law, as currently drafted and announced in December, would impose burdensome restrictions on civil society organizations, including requirements to register and report their activities every year, in addition to several other vague requirements for obtaining permission to continue their work. The Royal Government of Cambodia says the law is needed to increase transparency among the Southeast Asian nation's network of NGOs, and prevent terrorists and criminal gangs from using groups based in Cambodia as fronts for their operations.
The move is drawing mounting criticism from civil society representatives, who fear the law represents an effort by the government to control what their groups do for the Cambodian people and where they do it. Small community-based groups say compliance with the current draft law would be difficult and could threaten their very existence.
The United States shares these concerns, opposing any law that constrains the legitimate activities of NGOs. We urge Cambodian officials to reconsider whether such a measure is needed.
A strong and free civil society is vital to strengthening democratic institutions, enhancing economic and humanitarian well-being and promoting a sustainable economy. In Cambodia, as in many other countries, NGOs and other similar groups make important contributions in these areas. Government officials there have asked for input from civil society representatives about the draft law, and the United States urges the Royal Government of Cambodia to take their concerns very seriously as they move forward on the issue
Saturday, January 22, 2011
[Hun Xen's] Musketeers all for one
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Bangkok Post
Cambodia's Press and Quick Reaction Unit's key men Phay Siphan and Tith Sothea have joined fellow spokesman Koy Kuong in defending the interests of Cambodia and its premier Hun Sen.
Cambodia's so-called Three Musketeers have been very effective in their swift political responses to whoever picks a fight with their beloved leader.
The unit was established in June 2009 in a sub-decree signed by Hun Sen and comes under the supervision of veteran politician Sok An, minister of the council of ministers.
From the outset, the unit aimed to react to news or any information disseminated by national, international sources and critics that is deemed a threat to Cambodia, its government and its national identity.
The Three Musketeers are part of a modernised and restructured Cambodian administration with veteran politicians, diplomats and brothers-in-arms in place as advisers to the government.
The group includes younger-generation Cambodians and their faces have become familiar with both local and foreign media as they have been doing their jobs as quickly as their unit title suggests.
Phay Siphan, in his early 50s, was one of the ministry's so-called 16 secretaries of state. A former refugee boy at the Thai-Cambodian border, he holds dual Cambodian and American citizenship and has been serving the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) for the past three decades.
Phay Siphan was an appointed senator under the CPP quota before the Cambodian senate became an elected one in 2006 thanks to his loyalty to the CPP. In 1979, he migrated to the US.
During his senate years, Phay Siphan and two other senators were sacked because of their opposition to a CPP-sponsored bill.
He was invited back from the US to become the unit's mouthpiece. Chhang Song, his senator colleague and also former information minister during the Lon Nol-led regime, was also invited to be an adviser to the Hun Sen administration.
Tith Sothea and Koy Kuong are 10 years younger than Phay Siphan. Like other spokesmen elsewhere, they have risen to the spotlight amid disputes and conflicts.
The unit's responses have been very timely in English and targeted the international audience. It has aimed its fire at the ultra-nationalist yellow shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in Thailand and Cambodia's opposition leader Sam Rainsy.
The unit is well staffed to monitor hostility, verbal or otherwise, against the Cambodian leader and their country.
The unit has complained strongly to Google that its cyber maps grossly misrepresent Cambodia's long-contested border with Thailand.
It has also responded to any critical NGO reports such as those furnished by Freedom House and Human Rights Watch that rank Cambodia low for its human rights record.
Earlier, the unit lashed out at key PAD members such as ML Walvipa Charoonroj in May and Sondhi Limthongkul in August for what it said were their attempts to obstruct the two countries from reaching a resolution to their border conflict.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
26 Years of Oppression and Abuses
Barking
Southeast Asia dictators: Birds of the same feather flock together
The dictator and his henchmen (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)
Hun Sen: 26 Years At The Helm
2011-01-21
Radio Free Asia (English)
Cambodia's rights record may worsen under continued rule, rights activists warn.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen marked 26 years in power last week, winning praise from his party for bringing growth and slashing poverty but criticized by rights activists for stifling freedom, silencing the opposition, and fostering corruption.
The 59-year-old Hun Sen is the longest-serving leader in Southeast Asia after the Sultan of Brunei and has vowed to remain in power for another decade, with a vision to bolster the economy by boosting rice exports and the incomes of Cambodians who now largely rely on the garment and textile industry.
“If I am still alive, I will continue to stand as a candidate until I am 90,” he said in 2007. But two years later, he said he would be out by 2023.
Chea Sim, head of the ruling Cambodian People's Party, said it would continue to pick Hun Sen as the Prime Minister after the next general elections in 2013, which it is confident of sweeping.
He said that Hun Sen had brought peace to the country, once ruled by the fanatically communist Khmer Rouge which caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people, and that he has maintained a democratic government based on the rule of law.
Other party officials said the prime minister has helped fuel economic growth, slashed poverty, and brought political stability.
Rights violations
But opposition leaders and rights groups say Hun Sen's continued rule will only worsen human rights violations and corruption and result in authoritarian rule.
"I think Hun Sen wants to consolidate power," said Brad Adams, executive director of New York-based Human Rights Watch's Asia Division.
"He wants to finish up his critics in Cambodia. He wants a one-party state even though he pretends to hold elections once every five years because he can manage and win them automatically."
Adams also accused Hun Sen of wanting "to control all Cambodia's resources, and he is changing Cambodia towards capitalism under dictatorship."
Cambodia was among 25 countries whose freedom levels plunged in 2010 amid an erosion of civil rights and political liberties, according to global watchdog Freedom House.
"Cambodia received a downward trend arrow due to the government’s consolidation of control over all aspects of the electoral process, its increased intimidation of civil society, and its apparent influence over the tribunal trying former members" of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, the group said in a report last week.
Transparency International, the Berlin-based monitoring group, said in a recent report that 43 percent of Cambodians polled said corruption had increased and 30 percent felt it had decreased, while 27 percent believed it was around the same.
Cambodia's judiciary was found to be the most corrupt sector in that country, it said.
Busting graft
But Hun Sen’s Office of the Council of Ministers said the authorities are moving forcefully to end graft.
“Cambodia now has an Anti-Corruption Law, and the Anti-Corruption Unit is actively and publicly pursuing cases of alleged corruption,” it said.
The Office of the Council of Ministers also dismissed criticism of Hun Sen’s long hold on power, citing former prime ministers Mahathir Mohamad and Lee Kuan Yew of neighboring countries Malaysia and Singapore respectively who were also at the helm for many years.
“This is a strange criticism indeed, for longevity in office is not typically held as a negative attribute,” it said in a statement. “But the prime minister is a relatively young man and in good health, and thus can be expected to contribute to the progress of the country for many years to come.”
Cambodia's main opposition party leader Sam Rainsy, Hun Sen's arch-rival, is living in exile after fleeing the country in 2009 fearing what he called politically motivated charges.
He was convicted in absentia in September last year and sentenced to 10 years in prison for a politically sensitive comment about a border dispute with Vietnam, cited by critics as an example of the government's intimidation of its opponents.
The lawsuit was filed after Sam Rainsy questioned whether the border had been incorrectly marked by the government to Cambodia's disadvantage.
Earlier, a year ago, a court sentenced Sam Rainsy to two years in prison for a political protest in which border markers were uprooted along the frontier with Vietnam. He led the protest to dramatize his claim that Vietnam is encroaching on Cambodian territory, an issue he often raises to garner public support.
Sam Rainsy had accused the court of being a political instrument, saying that "Everybody ... rightly says that the judiciary in this country is everything but independent, being only a political tool for the authoritarian ruling party to silence any critical voices."
Opposition out of touch?
With the opposition leader out of the country, the movement’s future appears bleak. Some civil society groups say that Rainsy's party has lost touch with its original pro-democracy platform, focusing instead on emotional nationalistic disputes with the ruling party.
Hun Sen, once a member of the ultra-leftist Khmer Rouge, later turned on the them and joined Vietnamese forces which defeated the Khmer Rouge in 1979. The Vietnamese communists installed a new Cambodian government that year, and in January 14, 1985, Hun Sen was made prime minister
He is sympathetic to Hanoi, while part of Sam Rainsy's support comes from appealing to traditional anti-Vietnamese sentiment among Cambodians who do not trust their much larger neighbor.
Yim Sovann, Sam Rainsy's spokesperson, said Cambodia might have achieved development under Hun Sen but that many issues remain unresolved.
The country is debt-laden and lives on foreign donor funds of 500 million dollars annually, Yim Sovann said.
Margo Picken, once a director of the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, said Hun Sen and his officials hold absolute power and seize control of any institution that challenges that power.
While Hun Sen has moved to boost growth and reduce poverty, his circle has exploited the country's natural resources, pocketed financial gains and disregarded human rights, Picken said.
Concerns have focused, too, on Hun Sen's bid to curtail the activities of nongovernmental organizations.
The U.S. State Department last week cited a new law that "would constrain the legitimate activities of NGOs," and urged Hun Sen's government to hold talks with these groups and to "reconsider whether such a measure is even necessary."
Rights groups in December also voiced alarm as Cambodia began to introduce laws making it a crime to criticize judges or to hurt the feelings of public officials.
China's influence
Meanwhile, Cambodia has come under increasing influence by China, its top investor. Hun Sen was in Beijing last month, signing 13 agreements in areas including hydroelectric power, port facilities, and financial loans.
More than a year ago, Cambodia deported a group of 20 Uyghur Muslim asylum-seekers back to China despite protests from the United States and the U.N.
The Chinese played an important role as counterweight to Vietnamese influence during the 1970s and 1980s, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned during a recent visit that Cambodia should not become "too dependent" on Beijing.
Hun Sen has also been accused of nepotism, charges flatly dismissed by the prime minister. His 33-year-old son, Hun Manet, was promoted to a two-star general earlier this month amid speculation the young man is being groomed to succeed his father.
Hun Manet is already chief of the ministry of defense's anti-terrorism unit as well as deputy commander of Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit.
Hun Sen hit back at the nepotism charges, saying that his son, who graduated from West Point and has a doctorate in economics at Britain's University of Bristol, is well-qualified for his roles.
"He joined the army in 1994. He has been in the army for 16 years, and there is promotion within the army ranks," Hun Sen said in a speech broadcast on national radio.
But Chea Vannath, a Cambodian independent political analyst, was quoted saying this week that Hun Manet's latest appointment was to “prepare for a smooth succession.”
A key factor for the “rapid rise in the ranks of General Hun is due, in part, to the fact that he is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, one of the most prestigious schools in the world,” said the Office of the Council of Ministers.
“He is representative of a younger generation of Cambodians, who enjoy the benefits of international education.”
Saturday, January 22, 2011
On the suspension of the jail sentence for the 5 Thai border trespassers
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Opinion by DL
I just read the subject article (Thai five sentenced to jail, then freed) on Bangkok Post, and I wish our Court had handled the case differently. It was a fair ruling when the Court sentenced the five Thais to nine months in prison, but then why suspended the remaining eight-month jail term? It is understandable that the Court has to take into consideration the fragile political environment in Thailand, but the outright suspension of the remaining jail term probably does more harm than good to both countries, Cambodia and Thailand. It creates a negative perception among our people that our Court is too “soft” or lenient when dealing with foreigners. It also sends a wrong message to Thai ultra-nationalists that they can violate our sovereignty and get away with it. The Court should have ruled that the five Thais must serve the nine month jail term, but grant them the possibility to serve the remaining term in Thai jails if Thai government can guarantee that these convicted will remain behind bars till the end of their jail term.
Have a great week-end,
Saturday, January 22, 2011
[Cambodian] Court frees Panich, 4 others [-Did the Thai court ever do that for Khmers?]
Jail terms suspended in surprise ruling
22/01/2011
Bangkok Post
Five of the seven Thais charged with trespassing on Cambodian territory have been freed after the Phnom Penh Municipal Court gave each of them a suspended jail term.
The three-member judge panel yesterday found each of the five Thais _ Panich Vikitsreth, Narumol Chitwaratana, Samdin Lertbutr, Tainae Mungmajon, and Kojpollathorn Chusanasevi _ guilty on two counts of trespassing on Cambodian territory and illegal entry into a military area.
The judges said the five had entered Cambodia deliberately and sentenced them to nine months' imprisonment and a fine of one million riel (around 7,590 baht) each.
However, as the Thais had already served almost one month in Prey Sar prison, the court decided to suspend the remaining eight months.
The seven Thais were arrested on Dec 29 as they investigated claims by Thai residents living along a disputed part of the border that Cambodian military officers would not allow them to enter the areas where their homes were located.
The five Thais are now free to go home, but they will have to serve their jail terms if they enter Cambodia illegally again, the court said.
Upon leaving court to travel to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh, Mr Panich, who wore a blue cap with the Asean logo, said that the whole affair showed ``the spirit of Asean''.
``I would like to thank all concerned parties. [The verdict] is a good sign for the Asean community and shows the Cambodian court has mercy,'' he said.
The verdict date was moved forward from the original schedule of Feb 1 to yesterday after the five Thais petitioned the court to speed up the proceedings.
The court read out the verdict at 7.35pm after a five-hour hearing.
The five Thais testified that they had no intention of trespassing on Cambodian soil and did not realise that they had done so.
Mr Panich told the court that the group met a villager, but did not talk, so he did not know that he was already inside Cambodia.
The Democrat MP also denied recording or taking photos of the area. He said he only had a mobile phone without a built-in camera.
A verdict has not yet been passed on the cases of Veera Somkwamkid, a Thai Patriots Network coordinator, and his secretary, Ratree Pipatanapaiboon.
Mr Veera and Ms Ratree face allegations that they spied on Cambodian military affairs and have been charged with espionage.
Mr Veera has been denied bail and remains at Prey Sar prison.
Ms Ratree was granted bail and is staying at the Thai embassy.
Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the Thai foreign minister, said the five Thais are expected to return home today(saturday).
Mr Chavanond will fly to Phnom Penh to meet them.
``We will try to bring them home as soon as possible,'' he said, adding that the verdict was good news and that the ministry would continue to help Mr Veera and Ms Ratree as best as it can.
Mr Chavanond said the verdict for the two is likely to be handed down on Feb 1.
Mr Panich's mother, ML Sompongvadee Vikitsreth, said she was glad the case was finally over and that she could see her son soon.
Mr Panich talked to his mother on the phone after the verdict.
Soonthorn Rakrong, coordinator of the Thai Patriots Network, congratulated the five Thais on being granted their freedom.
``However, it would be better if Mr Veera and Ms Ratree had been released too,'' he said.
The network has been staging a rally at Government House since Sunday to pressure the Abhisit Vejjajiva government to do more to help the seven Thais.
The group will announce their next move after the release of the Thais today(saturday).
Meanwhile, People's Alliance for Democracy spokesman Panthep Phuaphongphan said his group will continue with its plan to hold a mass rally on Tuesday to persuade the government to revoke the memorandum of understanding signed in 2000 between Thailand and Cambodia, which they say is disadvantageous to the country.
They also want the government to force Cambodian people out of every disputed area and are requesting Thailand withdraws its membership of the Unesco's World Heritage Committee.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Defense Seeks Release of Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan [... only if they can bring those who were killed by the KR back to life?]
Former Khmer Rouge leaders Khieu Samphan, left, and Nuon Chea, right, look on during the funeral for Khieu Ponnary, the first wife of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, in 2003. (Photo: AP)
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Friday, 21 January 2011
" ...any detention beyond Jan. 15 is unlawful."
Defense lawyers for Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan have launched separate complaints to the Khmer Rouge tribunal, claiming their clients have been detained beyond legal limitations as they await trial.
The defense teams say continued detention of the two senior Khmer Rouge leaders is a breach of the internal rules of the UN-backed court.
Son Arun, a defense lawyer for Nuon Chea, the regime’s chief ideologue and “Brother No. 2,” said Internal Rule No. 68 requires a hearing within four months of the closing order by investigating judges.
That date, Jan. 15 in both cases, has passed, he said, making Nuon Chea’s continued detention “an abuse of him by the law.”
Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan are to stand trial along with Ieng Sary, the former foreign minister of the regime, and Ieng Thirith, his wife, former social affairs minister. They are charged with atrocity crimes, including genocide, with a trial expected later this year.
Sar Savann, defense lawyer for Khieu Samphan, the nominal head of the regime, said any detention beyond Jan. 15 is unlawful. Khieu Samphan should immediately be released, he said.
Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath confirmed that the court had received the complaints and would make a legal decision accordingly. Experts say the internal rules on the matter have some room for interpretation.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Lawyers appeal to Cambodian Supreme Court to free Veera
January 21, 2011
The Nation
Cambodian lawyers submitted another appeal yesterday to the Supreme Court to free on bail Thai nationalist activist Veera Somkwamkid - the only one of seven Thai nationals being held in jail for allegedly entering the country illegally.
The appeal court earlier rejected Veera's bail request on the grounds he might hurt public order and would not be safe if freed from jail.
The Supreme Court will take five days to consider the new request, Thai foreign minister's secretary Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said.
Veera and the other six Thais - including Democrat lawmaker Panich Vikitsreth - were arrested near Sa Kaew province's Ban Nong Chan while inspecting the disputed border area on December 29.
They were charged with illegal entry and unlawfully entering a military zone, charges that could bring them combined prison sentences of 18 months.
Six were freed on bail but had to stay in Cambodia awaiting the trial, which was set for February 1.
Veera and his aide Ratree Pipatanapaiboon were additionally charged with espionage for allegedly collecting information that could harm Cambodia's security. They could face a maximum 10 years' jail if convicted.
Unlike Ratree, who was temporarily freed on bail despite facing the same charge, Veera insisted he was arrested in territory under Thai sovereignty and did not come under Cambodian court jurisdiction. He refused to cooperate with the court in the prosecution and would not accept a translator provided by the court, requesting a new one from the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh.
The Thai government was unable to intervene in the case and will not oppose the Cambodian judicial system's work until proceedings end.
A speedy trial was the only option the Thai government had requested from the Cambodian authorities, Chavanond said.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva called a meeting with officials, including Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, to seek solutions to help the seven Thais.
Abhisit asked the two ministers to find channels to help bring back all the Thai nationals quickly and safely, Chavanond said after the meeting.
The Thai government is under pressure from Veera's group, the Thai Patriots Network, which has been protesting in front of Government House demanding that officials take a tough stance on the Thais' release. They also demanded that senior officials - including Abhisit and Kasit - step down for their failure to help the seven Thais.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thai five sentenced to jail, then freed
Samdin Lertbutr (centred) and Tainae Mungmajon (right) arrive at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Jan 21, 2011.
21/01/2011
Bangkok Post
A Cambodian Court has ruled that five Thais intentionally entered Cambodia without permission.
They were sentenced to nine months in prison and a fine of 1,000,000 riel (about 10,000 baht).
Since the five have served one month in prison already, the court suspended the remaining eight-month jail term. The five Thais are now free to return home.
The five Thais released today are Democrat Party MP Panich Vikitsreth, Samdin Lertbutr, Tainae Mungmajon, Naruemol Chitvarattana and Kojpollathorn Chusanasevi.
The other two Thais still in custody are yellow-shirt activist Veera Somkwamkid and and his secretary Ratree Pipatanapaiboon. They face additional charges of spying. The Thai Foreign Ministry has said it will continue to provide help for them.
Upon leaving the courthouse, Mr Panich - who wore a blue cap with an Asean logo - said only that everything is for the spirit of Asean.
The seven Thais were arrested and charged with illegally entering Cambodia on Dec 29.
Dozens of police surrounded the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and nearby streets for the hearing, which started at 2pm.
Mr Panich was first to testify, followed by the four others.
The hearing ended about 5pm.
The five gave similar terstimony, that they had no intention to trespass on the Cambodian soil. They said they did not know it was a restricted area because they could not read the signboards, which are written in Cambodian.
Mr Panich said he did not take pictures or video images of the area because he had with him only a mobile telephone.
He said he met a villager on the way but did not talk to him, so he did not know he was already in Cambodian territory.
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