Thai Army Rangers clash with Cambodian troops near Preah Vihear temple

SI SA KET, Jan 24 (TNA) -- Thai Army Rangers clashed early Sunday with a unit of Cambodian soldiers near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, a senior Thai army officer said. No casualties were reported.

Lt-Col Nut Sri-in, commander of Suranaree Task Force Unit 163, said the fighting took place while a group of Thai rangers were patrolling and confronted Cambodian soldiers who were felling trees in Kantharalak district bordering Cambodia.

As the Rangers shouted at the Cambodian soldiers asking their purpose in crossing over to the area, the Cambodian soldiers fired M79 grenades and automatic rifles at them, Col Nut said.

The troops exchanged gunfire for over 20 minutes before the Cambodian soldiers withdrew into Cambodia, he said, adding that senior Thai and Cambodian officers would hold talks to prevent similar clashes from occurring in future.

The Associated Press news agency, meanwhile, quoted Lt-Gen Chea Tara, deputy armed forces commander and field commander for the area, as saying that Cambodia suffered no casualties in the fighting which took place about 12 miles (20 km) east of Preah Vihear temple.

He said fighting began when Thai troops intruded into Cambodian territory. AP quoted Cambodian Defence Ministry spokesman Lt-Gen Chhum Socheach as saying that two firefights lasted five minutes each beginning shortly after 9am.

The International Court of Justice awarded Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia in 1962. Fighting between both sides occur sporadically, centring on a 1.8 square mile (4.6 sq.km.) parcel of scrub near the temple after Cambodia applied to register the ancient temple as a UNESCO World Heritage site in mid-2008.

Nothing changes with the authoritarian regimes in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Burma

Nothing changes in Vietnam. Nor in Laos, Cambodia or Burma. These authoritarian regimes continues to do anything to repress its people in order in maintain a corrupt and brutal regime.

And can you beleive that hundreds of Montagnards remain in Vietnam’s prisons and the US State Department doesn't want to include these people as prisoners of concern?? (ie: not enough evidence of religious persecution)

Just an appalling act of abandonment.

Regards
Scott
Human Rights Watch
-------------

Vietnam: Repression Intensifies Prior to Party Congress

"With its treatment of peaceful critics, the Vietnamese government seems determined to stand out as one of the most repressive countries in Asia. We’d be thrilled if the Vietnamese government proved us wrong, but there are no signs that it will reverse its increasingly harsh crackdown on dissent." - Brad Adams, Asia director

Rights Defenders, Democracy Activists Targeted

January 21, 2010
Source: Human Rights Watch

(New York) - This week’s convictions and heavy sentences for four Vietnamese democracy activists, including the prominent human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh, highlighted the climate of increasingly harsh political repression in Vietnam, Human Rights Watch said today after the release of its World Report 2010.

The 612-page World Report 2010, the organization’s 20th annual review of human rights practices around the globe, summarizes major human rights trends in more than 90 nations and territories worldwide. In Vietnam, the report says, the government arrested and imprisoned dozens of democracy activists linked to opposition parties, independent bloggers, land rights protesters, and members of unsanctioned religious organizations during 2009.

“With its treatment of peaceful critics, the Vietnamese government seems determined to stand out as one of the most repressive countries in Asia,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “We’d be thrilled if the Vietnamese government proved us wrong, but there are no signs that it will reverse its increasingly harsh crackdown on dissent.”

In the lead-up to a key Vietnamese Communist Party congress in 2011, Human Rights Watch is concerned that the Vietnamese government will intensify its campaign to silence government critics and curb social unrest in an effort to quell any potential challenges to its one-party rule.
Away from the public spotlight, in 2009, the police cracked down on farmers protesting land grabs in the Mekong Delta, on Catholic parishioners in central and northern Vietnam opposing government confiscation of church properties, and on Montagnard activists in the Central Highlands resisting government control of their churches.

The four activists just sentenced to prison - Le Cong Dinh, Nguyen Tien Trung, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, and Le Thang Long - were tried in Ho Chi Minh City on January 20 and 21 and received prison sentences ranging from five to 16 years. They were arrested during May and July for alleged links with the banned Democratic Party of Vietnam. They were accused of “colluding” with Vietnamese activists based abroad to create anti-government websites, post critical articles on the Internet, and incite social instability, and charged with attempting to overthrow the government under article 79 of Vietnam’s penal code. A fifth defendant, Tran Anh Kim, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison under article 79 on December 28.

On January 14 and 15, the Gia Lai provincial court sentenced two Montagnard Christians to prison, for nine and 12 years respectively, allegedly for organizing a “reactionary underground” network in violation of the country’s unity policy.

“Rights-respecting governments should speak up to protect peaceful activists and rights defenders in Vietnam and insist that the government abide by its international commitments,” Adams said. “Donors have been far too quiet about rights in recent years, but Vietnamese activists say that they will never succeed without consistent support from influential governments.”


Vietnamese courts sentenced at least 20 government critics and independent church activists to prison during 2009 on vaguely worded national security charges, according to the World Report. These include nine dissidents from Hanoi and Haiphong convicted in October for disseminating anti-government propaganda under penal code article 88. Their sentences are expected to be upheld in hearings before Vietnam’s Supreme Court this week even though the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined last year that five of the defendants had been detained arbitrarily.

Hundreds of other peaceful political and religious activists are serving long prison sentences in Vietnam. Religious freedom deteriorated during 2009, Human Rights Watch said. The government targeted religious leaders and their followers who advocated civil rights, religious freedom, and equitable resolution of land disputes.

There were also clashes between police and thousands of Catholic parishioners in Quang Binh protesting government confiscation of church properties, and government-orchestrated mobs violently dispersed followers of Thich Nhat Hanh, a renowned Buddhist monk who has advocated more religious freedom.

In the Central Highlands, authorities continued to arrest Montagnard Christians suspected of belonging to unregistered house churches considered subversive by the government, or of planning land rights protests or conveying information about rights abuses to activists abroad. On several occasions the police beat and shocked Montagnards with electric batons when they refused to sign pledges to join government-sanctioned churches.

During the review of Vietnam’s rights record by the UN Human Rights Commission in May, Vietnam defiantly rejected recommendations by UN member states to allow groups and individuals to promote human rights, express their opinions, and express public dissent. The government also refused to issue invitations to visit Vietnam to UN rights experts covering freedom of religion, expression, torture, and violence against women.

Vietnam’s antipathy toward free expression and other fundamental rights does not bode well for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which Vietnam now chairs, Human Rights Watch said. Vietnam has signed the ASEAN Charter, a legally binding agreement that commits member states to “strengthen democracy, enhance good governance, and protect and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

“By locking up peaceful rights defenders, democracy activists, and cyber-dissidents, the Vietnamese government is clearly flouting its promises to ASEAN and the international community,” Adams said.

Cambodia reports clash with Thai troops on border

Cambodian troops clashed Sunday with Thai soldiers near a temple that lies along a disputed part of their border and has been the scene of several deadly skirmishes in recent years, Cambodian military officials said.

Lt. Gen. Chea Tara, deputy armed forces commander and field commander for the area, said Cambodia suffered no casualties in the fighting in northern Cambodia, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) east of Preah Vihear temple. He said the fighting began when Thai troops intruded into Cambodian territory.

Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Chhum Socheat said there were two firefights lasting about five minutes each. He could not say if Thai forces suffered any casualties.

Thai military authorities could not immediately be reached for confirmation of the fighting in an area.

The Cambodian officers said the area was calm after the fighting, but that both countries were on alert.

The area has been a flashpoint since 2008, when Thai nationalists protested Cambodian efforts to have the 11th century Preah Vihear temple named a U.N. World Heritage site. They claimed the move could invalidate Thai claims to small parcels of nearby jungle area.

In 1962, the World Court awarded the temple and the land it is on to Cambodia, but sovereignty over adjacent areas has never been clearly resolved.

The issue is closely linked to Thailand's domestic politics because the 2008 protests about the temple were led by the People's Alliance for Democracy, a group which was seeking to unseat the Thai government then in power because of its links to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin was ousted by a 2006 military coup after being accused of corruption and disrespecting constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The alliance raised the issue to stir up nationalist sentiment and attract support.

The furor caused both Thailand and Cambodia to reinforce their military positions in the area, and tensions have broken out into fighting on several occasions, leading to several deaths.

Relations between the two countries plunged further in November last year, when Cambodia named Thaksin an adviser on economic affairs. The appointment, and subsequent visits by Thaksin, set off a diplomatic row in which the two countries recalled their ambassadors. A Thai court in 2008 sentenced Thaksin in absentia to two years in prison on a corruption charge.

Cambodia has refused to extradite Thaksin.

Cambodia, Thai troops clash

General Chea Dara reviewing troops in the border area. DAP-news quoted the general as saying: "We told them already not to trespass. Cambodia does not want land from anybody, but if they tresppass, that's how it is." (Photo: DAP)

Jan 24, 2010
AP

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA'S military says its troops have clashed briefly with Thai soldiers along a disputed border area.

Lieutenant General Chea Tara, deputy armed forces commander and field commander for the area, said Cambodia suffered no casualties in the fighting on Sunday, about 12 miles (20 kilometres) east of Preah Vihear temple. He said fighting began when Thai troops intruded into Cambodian territory.

Defence Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Chhum Socheach said there had been two firefights lasting about five minutes each beginning shortly after 9am (0200 GMT, 10am Singapore time).

Thai military authorities could not immediately be contacted for confirmation of the fighting in an area which has seen several deadly clashes in the past couple of years.

"Hanoi’s Hegemony" - Op-Ed by anonymous KI-Media Reader

Hanoi’s Hegemony

Saturday, January 23, 2010
By MP

What all this appears to demonstrate is how weary Hanoi can be of coherently, intelligibly applied pressure. It is said that nothing is certain in life, with the exception of taxes and death.

The Vietnamese intelligentsia has had to live with the knowledge that for over half of Vietnam’s recorded history, their people had been kept under foreign yoke and held in bondage. This collective experience of humiliation has over the centuries inculcated in the Vietnamese a fierce resentment of foreign rule, coupled with an equally relentless determination as well as singularity of will, required of a people constantly conscious of having one battle after another to fight. Hence, the name given to this nation: ‘Vietnam’, which literally means ‘Overpass’. The Red River Delta where the capital of Hanoi today locates could historically be considered the first place of major settlement and refuge of the Vietnamese people, having been displaced from their earlier bases in the Chinese mainland. In this respect, the Vietnamese have much in common with the Siamese; the latter fled both Chinese oppression and Mongol invasion, while the former opted to resist that invasion with the skills honed in the course of their long military struggle against Chinese rule. Times have passed, but little has changed in Vietnamese mindset or organic cohesion, nurtured by this experience of perpetual conflict, framed furthermore, morally, philosophically by adopted Chinese ideals of discipline, reverence towards authority, hierarchy and loyalty to the State, as outlined in Confucian thought.

As befits a people living in constant alert and insecurity, intellectual activities blossomed, especially in population centres like Hanoi where leading Vietnamese activists of more recent time such as Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap, Pham Van Dong, Le Duc Tho among others, would have passed through in their formative years. Although, territorial expansion is not the focus of this sketch, it is easy to see why the Vietnamese nation, as with the Siamese, are constantly on the move, and why Communism as a model of how society is organised and arranged is better suited to the Vietnamese than it is to the Buddhist Khmers or Laotians, and also how the Vietnamese managed to see off repeated attempts by Western powers to keep them under their subjugation in the twentieth century. It also explains why the Khmer intelligentsia (educated classes), along with Khmer arts, culture and historical memory had been the subject of frenzied purges under DK, paving the way for the next phase of Vietnamese domination and exploitation, while the country is sub-ruled by ignoramuses and philistines. Whether Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan, Noun Chea bear direct historical responsibility for these crimes, may not be of great relevance, once one understands and accepts how and whence the first recruitment and indoctrination began; how the Vietnamese cynically emphasised to their Cambodian protégés the fervour of class conflict and the social ills of the Old Regime as the main springboard for their revolutionary struggle and sacrifice, all of which had been put in motion even before these young, naive, French educated Khmers had returned to their homeland.

Accepting Hanoi’s hegemony is not something inevitable, however, and 30 years of living and breathing with the permission of someone else is perhaps, too long for a nation with Cambodia’s proud heritage and genius. The Vietnamese themselves are aware of the difference between resisting foreign domination and imposing one unto others, so it is hardly surprising that while instances of high level official corruption could mean a death penalty in Vietnam, their Cambodian counterparts have been encouraged to embrace it as a part of social patronage system which has the intended effect of sweetening up the Khmer social-political elite by cushioning them from want and discontent. Living in general comfort and luxury, their lives are far removed from those of their downtrodden compatriots, while their vision and worldview are accordingly distorted and cocooned by this privileged, exclusive, if vulgar, lifestyle.

I agree with the view that this struggle is not against the Vietnamese people per se, but rather a moral crusade waged against injustice and social, political oppression thus far presented in the cloak of solidarity and fraternity of the 3 peoples of Indochina. Whatever their differences, all three nations have more to gain than they have to lose under genuine democratic processes; and throwing off the yoke of their respective ruler will be the first meaningful step towards attaining genuine individual liberty and national self-determination.

For Khmer nationalists, the key lies in applying concrete pressure on Hanoi even if this means taking calculated risks and brinkmanship, for the latter will only react to force, not persuasion.

Opinion: The long road to justice in Cambodia

A Cambodian Buddhist monk draws a picture depicting the arrest of a Cambodian civilian by Khmer Rouge soldiers, during an art workshop in Kampot province about 90 miles west of the capital, Phnom Penh, July 25, 2009. (Chor Sokunthea/Reuters)

13 years of working to ensure that the Khmer Rouge trials belong to Cambodians

January 23, 2010
By Youk Chhang
Special to GlobalPost

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — During the Khmer Rouge period from April 17, 1975, to Jan. 7, 1979, Cambodians walked constantly. They walked from the cities to the countryside, from their villages to distant provinces, and from the rice fields to the battlefields. After Jan. 7, 1979, the survivors of our country's genocide walked again; this time back to their homes.

In 1997, Cambodians began another journey: the journey to seek justice for crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge. And today, 31 years after the Khmer Rouge regime fell, we are taking a giant step along the road to justice.

On Feb. 6, 2006, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) — commonly referred to as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) — officially began setting up offices at the military barracks outside of Phnom Penh. The first trial, Case 001, began on March 30, 2009, two years behind schedule. The case opened with the defendant, former head of S-21 prison Duch (Kaing Geuk Eav), apologizing to victims and accepting responsibility, but ended shockingly however on Nov. 27, 2009, with Duch rejecting responsibility on jurisdictional grounds because he was not a "senior Khmer Rouge leader or those most responsible" as stated in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal Law. The judgment of Duch will be delivered this March.

In late 2010 or early 2011, the most important Khmer Rouge trial will begin. Case 002 will try the highest level Khmer Rouge leaders still alive today: Noun Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith. This trial will be a crucial moment in Cambodia's road to justice because the evidences and analyses brought forth will provide answers to many fundamental questions about the Khmer Rouge regime that survivors had wondered for more than three decades.

The United Nations, Cambodia and several other countries have worked for many years to help us see justice delivered. The United Nations and national governments raised much of the initial $56 million budget for the KRT and stepped in during budgetary shortfalls in late 2008.

These governments have also generously funded many Cambodian human rights and international NGOs that support and monitor the trial process by helping victims file complaints of Khmer Rouge atrocities to the court, observing and reporting on the activities of the Cambodian government and United Nations, providing counseling to those who suffered during Democratic Kampuchea and other activities.

Perhaps the most important way that NGOs can help is to work with the Extraordinary Chambers and each other to ensure that the public is informed about the trials and involved in them.

These trials are about seeking justice for victims of the Khmer Rouge regime. These are your trials, Cambodians, and without your participation in them, we will not be able to judge whether the trials are fair, of high standards, and accessible to all.

But how can the people of Cambodia participate in the trials? They are far away and it is expensive to travel to Phnom Penh. Many NGOs in Cambodia are working to make certain that people can read about the trials through magazines and other written materials that are delivered to sub-district and district offices across the country. Others will broadcast news on the radio, and the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) is working with TVK and other stations to produce television programs that will help educate people about the Extraordinary Chambers.

In the past few years, DC-Cam has also implemented a project, called the Living Documents Project, which brought up to 500 villagers every month from across Cambodia to Phnom Penh to visit genocide memorial sites and meet with officials at the KRT courtroom. Phase two of the Living Documents Project began in early 2009, and allowed victims to directly attend Duch's trial hearing, participate in KRT educational workshops and view Khmer Rouge-related videos.

Villagers returned home afterward to share their experiences with community members during village forums, so that Cambodians have the opportunity to learn about the trials from people like themselves, in addition to tribunal officials and NGO staff. All of these activities have helped villagers understand how the trials work and to become familiar with the tribunal process. For Case 002, DC-Cam will increase its activities and outreach efforts given the significance of this trial.

All of us want to see trials that are fair and just, and for the Cambodian people to participate in them without fear of intimidation or uncertainty. Learning about the tribunal from the written word, radio and television, and from family, friends and neighbors will help you see that justice can work in Cambodia and that building a more just future for our children can become a reality.

Youk Chhang is the director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia. This month marks the 10th anniversary of the publishing of DC-Cam Genocide Magazine: "Searching for the Truth." With the ministries of Interior and Information, DC-Cam has distributed 1.5 million copies of the magazine to the villagers within Cambodia. DC-Cam is 13 years old.

Sundance Film Review: Enemies of the People

Nuon Chea (R) talking to Thet Sambath

01/23/10
By Dan Nailen
Salt Lake Magazine (Utah, USA)

Thet Sambath (pictured left) is a Cambodian newspaper journalist whose father was murdered by the Khmer Rouge in 1974, and whose mother was forced to marry a Khmer Rouge militiaman two years later.

For a decade, Sambath spent his free time journeying into the notorious "killing fields" of his home country to try and understand why so many of Cambodia's people were murdered. The result of that work is Enemies of the People, which Sambeth co-directed and produced with Rob Lemkin.

The film revolves around the relationship Sambath established with Nuon Chea, aka "Brother Number Two" (pictured below with Sambeth) and dictator Pol Pot's right-hand man. It took Sambeth years of gaining Chea's trust before he opened up and admitted that he and Pol Pot had plotted the killings as a means of defending their communist vision from "enemies of the people." Chea doesn't ever express remorse for the program he calls the "solution," but he does to Sambeth directly when the reporter tells the old man about his own family's relationship with the Khmer Rouge.

Sambath also tracks down several of the Khmer Rouge's foot soldiers, mostly peasants and farmers who were simply "following orders" when they slit the throats of their neighbors and buried them in mass graves. It's chilling to watch one of the men graphically illustrate how he would kill his victims, and it's intriguing to see how each of these murderers deals with what they've done all these years later.

Enemies of the People could prove to be an important historical document for decades to come. Sambeth kept his recorded conversations with Nuon Chea under lock and key for years, in fear they'd be confiscated and used as evidence in a trial. Indeed, the film ends with Nuon Chea's arrest by a joint force of the United Nations and Cambodia. He's charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as genocide, and his trial is slated, for now, for 2011.

Considering Sambeth has the first admittance by Brother Number Two of what he and Pol Pot instigated, it could be a quick trial.

Enemies of the People will screen:
Sunday, Jan. 24, at 9 p.m. at Park City's Holiday Village IV
Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 11:30 p.m. at Park City's Library Center Theatre
Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 9:45 p.m. at Salt Lake City's Broadway Cinemas
Friday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. at Park City's Egyptian Theatre

Visit the Sundance Film Festival Web site for a complete schedule and ticket information.

Evidence of Border Encroachment to be Exposed on SRP Web Site and During Radio Call-in Show

EVIDENCE OF BORDER ENCROACHMENT TO BE EXPOSED ON SRP WEB SITE AND DURING RADIO CALL-IN SHOW

On Monday, January 25, two days before his sham trial in Svay Rieng province, opposition leader Sam Rainsy will expose in detail evidence of border encroachments during a radio call-in show (Candle Light program on FM 93.5 MHz, from 18:00 to 19:00).

The evidence consisting of official French-drawn (1952 1/100,000) and American-drawn (1966 1/50,000) maps and most recent satellite pictures with precise geographic coordinates and GPS data, definitely proves that the alleged border stake Sam Rainsy uprooted on October 25 in Svay Rieng province was irrefutably in Cambodia’s territory.

Moreover, using the same scientific techniques, Sam Rainsy – who has been assisted by map engineers, historians and geographers from several countries over the last three months – will prove from Paris that all the “border markers” nearby the one (# 185) he uprooted, are well within Cambodia’s legal borders.

This might explain why, following the October 25 incident, Vietnamese authorities have removed and taken back to Vietnam those alleged border markers (# 184, 186 and 187).

All the evidence, including satellite pictures, GPS data, detailed maps and most recent photos of the alleged border markers or what remains of them, will be posted on SRP Web site www.samrainsyparty.org

On behalf of the Cambodian people the SRP will call on all friendly countries and relevant international organizations to examine the above evidence and to see the bad faith and/or incompetence of the current Phnom Penh government.

On January 27, will people be watching Sam Rainsy’s “trial” or that of border encroachers caught red handed along with their weak and complacent Cambodian accomplices?

Does the “trial” concern Sam Rainsy alone or does it actually concern the whole Cambodian people since Cambodia’s territory belongs to all Cambodians. Aren’t we talking about, and dealing with, a national issue, which is Cambodia’s territorial integrity?

Since it involves a border issue between two countries, the “trial” will logically be an international one. Is the Svay Rieng provincial court competent to adjudicate on an international issue?

SRP Members of Parliament

Rights Violations Worsened in 2009: Group

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
22 January 2010

The human rights situation in Cambodia has deteriorated in the past year, Human Rights Watch said on Friday, citing numerous examples of apparent government failure to protect basic freedoms.

“Cambodia’s respect for basic rights dramatically deteriorated in 2009 as the government misused the judiciary to silence government critics, attacked human rights defenders, tightened restrictions on press freedom and abandoned its international obligations to protect refugees,” the group said in a statement, issued in the midst of a two-week visit by the UN’s special envoy for rights.

The statement coincided with the release of Human Rights Watch’s 2010 world report.

Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker Cheam Yiep said the statement was not a fair representation of Cambodia’s rights situation. Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers called it baseless and lacking in integrity.

Human Rights Watch also cited ongoing evictions, land thefts and the arrests of community protesters and activists, along with silenced expression in the National Assembly and court trials against opposition members as evidence of the slide.

The group noted more than 60 community activists arrested or awaiting trial and at least 10 government critics, including four journalists and several opposition party members, who were sued for criminal defamation or disinformation.

The government was sharply criticized for allowing the deportation of 22 Muslim Uighurs back to China in December after they had reached Cambodia in search of refuge.

“Cambodia’s deportation of the Uighurs was a glaring example of the government’s failure to respect human rights,” Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said. “The Cambodian government showed its profound disregard for minimum standards of due process, refugee protection and international cooperation.”

Meanwhile, Khmer Kampuchea Krom seeking refuge from Vietnam or simply migrating faced obstacles in Cambodia finding places to live or getting citizenship, “despite pronouncements by the Cambodian government that it considers Khmer Krom who move to Cambodia to be Cambodian citizens,” the report said.

The rights report came as Surya Prasad Subedi, the UN special rapporteur on human rights, is in Cambodia to evaluate the rights situation.

Beijing in denial over its role in the KR regime?

China Played No Role in Khmer Rouge Politics: Ambassador

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
22 January 2010

China’s ambassador to Cambodia told a group Friday that the Chinese had not aided the Khmer Rouge but had sought to keep Cambodians from suffering under the regime.

“The Chinese government never took part in or intervened into the politics of Democratic Kampuchea,” the ambassador, Zhang Jin Feng, told the opening class at Khong Cheu Institute.

The Chinese did not support the wrongful policies of the regime, but instead tried to provide assistance through food, hoes and scythes, Zhang said.

“If there were no food [assistance], the Cambodian people would have suffered more famine,” she said.

The comments come as the Khmer Rouge tribunal prepares for its second trial, of five high-ranking members of the regime.

However, a leading documentarian of the regime said the Chinese may want to revise that statement, given all the evidence that points to their involvement with the Khmer Rouge.

“According to documents, China intervened in all domains from the top to lower level: security, including the export of natural resources from Cambodia, like rice, bile of tigers, bears and animal skins to exchange for agriculture instruments,” said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.

“In the domain of security, Chinese advisers trained units to catch the enemy, and some of the trainers went to inspect the outcome of the training at the local level,” he said.

China maintained close diplomatic ties with the Khmer Rouge after they came to power. It was one of only nine communist countries to keep an embassy in the country after April 1975.

UN Agency To Prioritise Development Areas In Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- The Cambodian government has said that its development partner, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is planning to prioritise five areas for development projects in the country from 2011 to 2015, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

A statement released by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) on Friday, said government officials from various institutions had held a meeting with their development partner UNDP to review the implementation of projects assisted by the UNDP in 2009 and the ongoing projects for years ahead.

The statement said the meeting was chaired by Keat Chhon, deputy prime minister and minister of the economy and finance, and also the first vice chairman of the CDC.

From 2006 through 2010, the UNDP were focusing on governance; promotion of human rights protection, agriculture and poverty in rural area; capacity building and human resource development; and national development plan.

UNDP has assisted Cambodia between 80 million and US$120 million a year.

UN rights envoy to meet with opposition parties next week

Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Ho Vann stands near a barricade that was erected to prevent some opposition MPs from visiting villagers awaiting trial in connection with an October border protest on Tuesday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Friday, 22 January 2010
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

CAMBODIA’S opposition parties will meet with the UN’s human rights envoy, Surya Subedi, in the coming week to raise concerns about perceived injustices in the Kingdom, party members said on Thursday amid warnings from officials that these discussions should not be used to insult the government.

Human Rights Party spokesman Yem Ponarith said Subedi is scheduled to meet the Sam Rainsy Party on Saturday and then hold talks with the HRP on Monday.

“We want to talk about issues of injustice in society, including corruption, violation of land rights, human rights and freedom of expression,” he said.

SRP spokesman Yim Sovann said his party had not yet decided what issues to raise with Subedi and would have to meet first to discuss it.

Subedi, who arrived in the Kingdom on Monday, “intends to use the visit to examine the functioning of the National Assembly and judiciary, including the Supreme Council of Magistracy and the Constitutional Council”, according to a statement issued by the UN on January 15.

Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said the opposition parties, while having the right to raise any issues they want, should not use their meetings with Subedi as an opportunity to attack the government.

“The UN human rights envoy comes to help compromise; he does not have a trend of ordering governments how to work,” he said.

“The opposition parties have to prepare themselves to be in a partnership,” Phay Siphan added.

Phnom Penh on human rights report: Deny! Deny! Deny!

Phnom Penh rejects human rights report as "insulting"

Phnom Penh - The Cambodian government Friday rejected the annual report of a prominent human rights organization that warned respect for rights in the country had 'dramatically deteriorated' last year.

In its assessment, also released Friday, Human Rights Watch called on donors to exert pressure on the government to reverse the trend.

But government spokesman Phay Siphan hit back, saying the report was unprofessional, lacked balance and was insulting. He said HRW had ignored the role of Cambodian institutions, and stressed that reform had to come 'little by little.'

'We understand that any government has its flaws - so we are not sleeping on the problem,' Phay Siphan said. 'Criticism is information, and we would have to consider that, but insulting is not [useful] information.'

The report by the US-based organization singled out Phnom Penh's forced return to China in December of 20 asylum seekers belonging to the Uighur ethnic minority as a particular low point.

'Cambodia's deportation of the Uighurs was a glaring example of the government's failure to respect human rights,' said Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director.

The HRW report was released while the UN's special rapporteur on human rights, Surya Subedi, was visiting Cambodia. Subedi is in-country for two weeks to assess national institutions and how well they serve ordinary Cambodians.

Among the institutions Subedi will examine is the judiciary, a body Human Rights Watch said was being misused by the government to silence its critics in politics, the media and civil society.

'As the political space shrinks for human rights and advocacy groups to defend themselves, there are valid concerns that a pending law to increase restrictions on non-governmental organizations will be used to shut down groups critical of the government,' Adams said.

Human Rights Watch complained that Cambodians who tried to defend their homes, jobs and human rights faced 'threats, jail and physical attacks.'

It called on donors, who last year contributed about 1 billion US dollars to the impoverished South-East Asian nation, to pressure the government to respect human rights.

Other subjects covered in the report were the ongoing problem of forced evictions and the use of armed police and soldiers to evict people, as well as poor prison conditions and allegations of torture by police.

Human Rights Watch also condemned new legislation that limits freedom of assembly to fewer than 200 people, for which permission must be gained in advance, and said freedom of association remained under pressure.

The expulsion from Phnom Penh of the 20 Uighurs, who fled China after deadly unrest in the far-western province of Xinjiang in July, preceded a visit to Phnom Penh by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, during which China signed economic assistance deals worth 1.2 billion dollars.

A torrent of international criticism saw Cambodia hit back at its critics with one government minister deriding the UN refugee agency in Phnom Penh as 'the laziest office' in the country for failing for weeks to begin processing the Uighurs' claims.

China is wise to put brakes on its economic growth

CHINA, which is expected to overtake Japan this year as the world's second largest economy, is putting the brakes on its turbo-charged growth.

The world's most populous nation of 1.3 billion reported a breakneck year-on-year growth of 10.7 per cent for the fourth quarter of last year.

Its December 2009 inflation also jumped to 1.9 per cent from a negative inflation last July, while bank lending rose sharply last year.

Bubbles are brewing in its vast property sector and China's central bank has signalled that it is on the way to tightening the country's monetary policy.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, China's GDP growth had slowed down from 10 per cent in the third quarter to 8.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to a DBS Group report.

The slowdown appears to have followed China's winding down of its massive economic stimulus package worth US$600 billion (Bt19.8 trillion) launched early last year.

According to the report, fixed-asset investment has gone nowhere since April/May 2009. Secondly, loan growth dropped by half last June to about 16 per cent from 34 per cent in mid-2008.

Third, the government's budget deficit, which provided a lot of stimulus between June 2008 and June 2009, started to disappear.

The report also argues that China, in fact, started its exit strategy seven months before anybody became aware of it, while the recent interest rate and bank reserve-requirement hikes are just continuations of this trend.

China's monetary policy will further be tightened as inflation has risen from 1.9 per cent year on year in December from 0.6 per cent in November.

Given this, interest rates will likely go up in the third quarter, dampening the domestic demand as China further withdraws its fiscal stimulus programme.

Overall, this could affect China-bound exports from other Asian economies, including Thailand, which has seen its shipments to the Middle Kingdom rise at a rapid pace in the past years.

For this year, the Bank of Thailand's GDP projection is a positive growth of 3.3 to 5.3 per cent as the Thai economy contracted 2.7 per cent in 2009.

Given a slowing Chinese economy and relatively weak recoveries of the US, the euro zone and Japan, Thailand's 2010 GDP growth may not be as strong as previously thought, largely because exports still account for more than 60 per cent of it.

However, the government's Bt1.43-billion Thai Khemkhaeng economic stimulus package remains intact for 2010-2011.

In addition, the tourism sector appears to have recovered since December.

As a result, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva expressed confidence that growth could still be in the range of 3 to 3.5 per cent despite increased external uncertainties.

Another positive development is that on January 1, China and the six original members of Asean - Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and Brunei - started to enforce the zero import tariff scheme, covering more than 90 per cent of products, to further promote intra-regional trade.

The scheme will only cover the initial six countries for the first five years, after which it will be joined by Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Burma, creating the world's largest free-trade area with nearly 1.9 billion people.

Rogue general gives Bangkok the jitters

Thai “red shirt” supporters cheer during a rally at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok. — Reuters pic

The Straits Times

BANGKOK, Jan 23 — Thai police have found caches of weapons in the houses of rogue army Major-General Khattiya Sawasdipol and some associates in a raid, bringing the underlying volatility of the country’s political conflict into sharp focus.

The major-general is now under investigation over a grenade attack last week on a building in the Thai army’s headquarters in Bangkok, which houses the office of army chief Anupong Paochinda.

Nobody was injured in the attack, which appears to have been meant as a warning, analysts said.

Days before, Khattiya had been suspended for insubordination over his continued high-profile support of anti-government “red shirts”, as well as an unauthorised visit to Cambodia to meet ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The grenade attack spooked the government, and also pointed to the possibility of fissures in the army.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday called a meeting of the National Security Council, telling reporters afterwards that the government had acted according to the law, so the red shirts had no reason to resent the raids.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya also briefed diplomats on security measures in the event of protests in Bangkok — especially at the airport — in coming weeks.

He spent much of the time explaining the Thai government’s achievements and objectives, while police and army officers were on hand to brief the diplomats about security and contingency plans for ensuring that Suvarnabhumi International Airport stays open.

The focus on the airport was sparked by a plan announced this week by the red shirts of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) to stage protests on the road to the terminal.

The stock market dipped on news of the plan, as traders recalled the closure of the airport by the right-wing People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in 2008.

The red shirts, however, have since dropped the idea of the airport protests.

Last week’s grenade attack compounded the jittery atmosphere in the capital.

Khattiya, a maverick combat veteran better known by his colourful nickname Seh Daeng, has openly defied the army’s top brass.

After his suspension, he reportedly said that only the Thai king could fire him, and that he could make it difficult for General Anupong to walk the streets if the army chief persisted in targeting him.

In 2008, he gave dozens of young men daily combat training in full public view, saying he was grooming them to protect red shirts from the PAD, which was then campaigning to oust the Thaksin-loyalist People Power Party government.

Khattiya relishes the maverick, folk-hero image attributed to him, and is often scornful of “golf soldiers” — indicating a vein of resentment present in some quarters of the army, of officers who are promoted to privileged posts because they are close to some of the capital’s elites.

But while he supports the red shirts and has occasionally turned up at red-shirt rallies, he is not a regular member — but “just an ally”, one red-shirt leader told The Straits Times. —

Cambodia's largest labour union demands 'real killers' be arrested in leader's 2004 murder

"Cambodians who speak out to defend their homes, their jobs, and their rights face threats, jail, and physical attacks" - Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch Asia Division Director

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia's largest labour union warned Friday that it would launch a nationwide strike unless authorities arrest those responsible for the killing of their prominent leader six-years ago.

Chea Vichea, 36, founder and president of Free Trade Union of Workers, was fatally shot in front of a newsstand in the capital Phnom Penh on Jan. 22, 2004. He was known for his outspoken efforts to organize garment workers and improve working conditions in Cambodia.

Two men were convicted in the deaths and sentenced to 20-year prison terms, but many people believed they were framed for the crime and the country's Supreme Court has ordered a retrial.

Chea Mony, the slain leader's brother and current leader of the union, marked the sixth anniversary of the killing by leading a march of nearly 100 workers and a dozen opposition legislators to the spot where the shooting took place. The march was held under heavy security but was peaceful and no one was arrested.

"Today, I wish to send a message to the government that it is time to arrest the real murderers," Chea Mony said. "If the government continues to ignore our appeals, then we will hold a one-week, nationwide strike," he said, adding it would come some time this year.

In December 2008, Cambodia's highest court provisionally released the two men convicted in the Chea Vichea killing - Born Samnang, 24, and Sok Sam Oeun, 36 - and ordered further investigation in preparation for their retrial.

The court did not give a reason, but the decision came after widespread protests over the convictions.

The Cambodian government, meanwhile, denounced a critical report by Human Rights Watch released this week.

The New York-based rights group said in its annual World Report that "the government misused the judiciary to silence government critics, attacked human rights defenders, tightened restrictions on press freedom, and abandoned its international obligations to protect refugees."

"Cambodians who speak out to defend their homes, their jobs, and their rights face threats, jail, and physical attacks," said Brad Adams, director of its Asia division.

Responding to the report, Cabinet spokesman Phay Siphan said Friday that Cambodia's human rights situation is improving every year thanks to government efforts. "That report sings the same old song and is not a truly scientific report," he said.

Khmer bastards

Dear Readers,

Below are comments made by Thai debaters in the Pattaya Daily News Forum about their experiences on a visit to Cambodia. Khmerization wish to publish the comments in their entirety, without attempting to edit the posts, including grammatical errors. Please enjoy!- Khmerization
--------------------------------------

Khmer bastards

Postby handyandy » 22 Jan 2010, 00:26
Just been on my three monthly border run to Cambodia and am fucked off with these robbing bastards, i drive my car there and twice get pulled over by the brown uniform brigade, the first time he said i was speeding which was bullshit, i was doing a steady 100kmh, anyway i reluctantly agreed to supliment his paycheck to the tune of 200b, the second time, again 200b, he said i should have been in the inside lane even though i was overtaking a truck doing 40kmp, absolute bullshit! anyway i get to the border, and we all know a cambodian visa should be 20usd or at todays rate about 670b, but no, i have to again suppliment a corrupt fucker and give him 1000b, and a further200b to leave, because "you not stay cambodia" utter fucking bullshit again, what is or can be done about this daylight robbery? they are all taking the piss, can you imagine the outcry if america, the uk ect started targeting Thais and Cambodians as easy targets for extortion!
----------------

Re: Khmer bastards

Postby tong » 22 Jan 2010, 03:49
I thought you could only get a 15 day visa by land from cambodia? i made a couple of runs in my POV to the border and the same thing the shake down ,200bht here 200bht there.
Finally,I started using visa co. and that was the ticket no hassles and slept on the way.
Loa, was the best place to go and let a visa man do the waiting ,he bought back my passport to my hotel room! And all for 500bht plus visa cost.
Its big business!The visa vans,hotels,resturants,the police,imagration,the stores that sell ink pens....
Dr K. they would have fit here (usa)if they had go thru that.They get a six month tourist visa for a few bucks! Double standards but thats the price you pay to live in the LOS!!!
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Re: Khmer bastards

Postby aussiebkk » 22 Jan 2010, 14:22
Laos and Cambodia have been scamming tourists for years on the US rate. You can bet if the dollar rose again you would pay the exact equivalent!!! If you leave cambodia by land there is NO departure tax no 100 baht no health declaration-thats a joke!!! fee 20 baht nothing dont give those 10th world backward crooks anymore than necessary.Cambodia is run by the lowest scum on earth.I hate the place. Could be wonderful there if it were run by humans.

Cambodian garment workers threaten week-long strike

Police officers watch over a march held to mark the anniversary of the death of Chea Vichea, former president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of Cambodia, in Phnom Penh, yesterday. The union, Cambodia's largest, said yesterday it would launch a nationwide strike unless authorities arrest those responsible for shooting dead Vichea at a news stand in the capital in January 2004. Two men were convicted of the deaths and sentenced to 20-year prison terms, but many people believed they were framed and the Supreme Court has ordered a retrial.

PHNOM PENH, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Two of Cambodia's biggest workers' unions on Friday threatened to hold a nationwide garmet-industry strike to protest over low pay and the unsolved murder of the country's most respected union leader.

Two unions said thousands of garment factory workers would halt production for a week to press the government to arrest the killers of top unionist Chea Vichea, as hundreds marched in Phnom Penh to mark the sixth anniversary of his killing.

A workers' strike would represent a rare test for the government of long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has used a parliament dominated by his Cambodia People's Party (CPP) to push through tough laws to stifle dissent.

It comes at a tricky time for Cambodia as it tries to recover from a sharp economic decline that followed an unprecedented four-year boom before the global financial crisis took its toll.

Garment factories employ 330,000 workers in Cambodia and are vital to the impoverished country's nascent economy. Garments are Cambodia's third-biggest earner behind agriculture and tourism.

It exported $1.95 billion worth of garments in 2008 to its biggest market, the United States, up from $1.27 billion in 2004, according to the Commerce Ministry. Last year's figures are not yet available.

The workers are supporters of Chea Vichea, a vocal critic of Cambodia's business and political elite who was shot dead in January 2004. Two men were sentenced to 20 years in prison for his murder.

'GRAVE INJUSTICE'

The United Nations said their conviction was a "grave injustice" and rights groups said the pair were framed.

The Supreme Court in December 2008 ordered their release on bail pending a review of the case. There have since been no new arrests.

The two unions threatening action were the Free Trade Union (FTU), which represents 78,000 garment workers and the Cambodian Labour Federation (CLF) with 50,000 members from the same sector.

"We send this message to the government that it's time to find the killers, for the family, to make us calm," said Chea Mony, brother of Chea Vichea and president of the FTA.

CLF president Ath Thon said the outspoken Chea Vihea was a "hero" among garment workers because he fought for an increase in their minimum monthly wage from $30 to $45 during the 1990s.

He said workers were having difficulty making ends meet and they would also use the strike to demand a pay increase.

"Our workers don't have enough to spend, their health is getting weaker, they eat less, live in bad places and work hard," Ath Thon added. The unions did not say whether they would stage a protest alongside the strike. Cambodia's parliament approved a law in October banning demonstrations of more than 200 people and requiring five days notice for smaller protests.

That, and a tightening of defamation laws, sparked criticism from opposition lawmakers and rights groups, which said the government was trying to intimidate its critics and crack down on freedom of expression.

Cambodian national police spokesman Kirth Chantharith declined to comment on Chea Vichea's murder investigation but said there would be no attempt to block the strike as long as workers sought permission from the authorities.

"We have laws on demonstrations and police are ready to respect them," he said.

CNN to air "World's Untold Stories: Innocence for Sale"

In a new "World's Untold Stories" program airing on January 26th, CNN travels to Cambodia to examine the heartbreaking stories of Southeast Asia's child sex industry.

Seen through the eyes of Aaron Cohen, CNN goes undercover into the karaoke brothels where sex with a child costs the same as a round of drinks. We witness the destitution and deprivation that keeps the young girls in the brothels and we're there when Cohen pays his final respects to the teenage girl he'd rescued, but couldn't save from the heartless grip of prostitution, in the face of her family's poverty.

What's uncovered in this half-hour will shed new light into the dark corners of the human trafficking problem in Cambodia, where we discover in many cases, the blame for the children's exploitation lies not solely with the pimps and madams.

The documentary will enlighten and inspire new conversation about e challenges currently preventing aid workers and authorities from declaring battle in the struggle to free children from this most despicable form of modern-day slavery.

Airtimes: Indian Standard Time (IST)
Tuesday, January 26th: 1900hrs, 2300hrs
Saturday, January 30th: 2300hrs
Sunday, January 31st: 1730hrs
Monday, February 1st: 0830hrs

Cambodia labor union marks killing of leader

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's largest labor union warned Friday that it would launch a nationwide strike unless authorities arrests those responsible for the slaying of their prominent leader six years ago.

Chea Vichea, 36, founder and president of Free Trade Union of Workers, was fatally shot in front of a newsstand in Phnom Penh on Jan. 22, 2004. He was known for his outspoken efforts to organize garment workers and improve working conditions in Cambodia.

Two men were convicted in the deaths and sentenced to 20-year prison terms, but many people believed they were framed for the crime and the country's Supreme Court has ordered a retrial.

Chea Mony, the slain leader's brother and current leader of the union, marked the sixth anniversary of the killing by leading a march of nearly 100 workers and a dozen opposition legislators to the spot where the shooting took place. The march was held under heavy security but was peaceful and no one was arrested.

"Today, I wish to send a message to the government that it is time to arrest the real murderers," Chea Mony said. "If the government continues to ignore our appeals, then we will hold a one-week, nationwide strike," he said, adding that the strike would come some time this year.

In December 2008, Cambodia's highest court provisionally released the two men convicted in the Chea Vichea slaying — Born Samnang, 24, and Sok Sam Oeun, 36 — and ordered further investigation in preparation for their retrial.

The court did not give a reason, but the decision came after widespread protests over the convictions.

Dog nominated 4-golden star general by Hun Xen? (Chien nommé général 4 étoiles par Hun Xen?)

Y Chhien handsomely compensated by Hun Xen for kowtowing to Hanoi about 07 January?

Y Chhien nominated to 4-golden-star general by Hun Xen

Thursday, January 21, 2010
By E.B.
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr

The Pailin governor was given a promotion. He is now joining the rank of 2,000 other generals in the RCAF.

It was during the inauguration of business buildings and new army barracks inside the Cambodian Royal Navy headquarters held in Phnom Penh on Monday 18 January, that the Pailin governor, Y Chhien received the precious honor from Hun Sen’s hand, The Cambodia Daily reported.

Hun Xen also indicated that he wanted to promote soldiers who have served in the army in the past. Y Chhien, Pol Pot’s former bodyguard and secretary of the KR division 415, is joining the rank of about 20 generals who hold the rank of 4-golden stars.

In 2006, among the 110,000-soldier-strong RCAF, 613 held the rank of general, i.e. a ratio of 1 general per 179 soldiers. This ratio is far higher than that of the US army in 2004. In the US, the ratio is one general per 1,347 soldiers.

Chea Vichea's memorial

A Cambodian boy looks at incense in front of a portrait of Chea Vichea, former president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of Cambodia, in Phnom Penh January 22, 2010. A ceremony was held on Friday to mark the sixth death anniversary of Vichea, who was shot dead at a news stand in central Phnom Penh in January 2004. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodians burns incense while praying in front of a portrait of Chea Vichea, former president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of Cambodia, in Phnom Penh January 22, 2010. A ceremony was held on Friday to mark the sixth death anniversary of Vichea, who was shot dead at a news stand in central Phnom Penh in January 2004. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
People carry a portrait of Chea Vichea, former president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of Cambodia, and flowers in Phnom Penh January 22, 2010. A ceremony was held on Friday to mark the sixth death anniversary of Vichea, who was shot dead at a news stand in central Phnom Penh in January 2004. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Norwegian man arrested in Cambodia on underage sex charges

Phnom Penh - A 64-year-old Norwegian man was arrested in the Cambodian tourist town of Siem Reap on suspicion of sexually abusing four boys, 11 to 14, national media reported Friday. The man was arrested Wednesday after a boy leaving the man's guesthouse told police he was paid 40 US dollars for sex, Sun Bunthorng, the provincial head of the anti-trafficking department, told the Cambodia Daily newspaper.

Sun said the case would likely go to court Friday in the tourist town, outside of which lies the famous Angkor Wat temple complex.

"It was the first case of this year in Siem Reap," he said, adding that provincial police dealt with three similar cases involving foreign nationals last year.

Samleang Seila - who heads a local non-governmental organization called APLE which combats paedophilia - said APLE began monitoring the Norwegian a year ago after he was seen in contact with several homeless children in Siem Reap.

Cambodia has struggled to rid itself of its reputation as a place where foreign tourists can engage in sex with children.

Samleang Seila said 26 foreigners were arrested on underage sex charges in Cambodia last year, twice the number of 2008. Three of the 26 were subsequently released.

He said the rise in arrests was in part because of improved policing and more foreign paedophiles visiting Cambodia.

This week, a court in the capital, Phnom Penh, sentenced Swedish citizen Johan Brahim Escori, 62, to six and a half years in jail for abusing boys as young as 9.

The judge ruled that Escori, who reportedly has a history of similar sex crimes in his native country, would be deported once he has served his sentence.

Another foreign national, US citizen Harvey Alexander Johnson, 57, is to appear in a Phnom Penh court next month on accusations of committing indecent acts with a 12-year-old girl.

Cambodia: Rights Defenders Under Fire

22 Jan 2010
Source: Human Rights Watch

(New York) - Cambodia's respect for basic rights dramatically deteriorated in 2009 as the government misused the judiciary to silence government critics, attacked human rights defenders, tightened restrictions on press freedom, and abandoned its international obligations to protect refugees, Human Rights Watch said today in its new World Report 2010.

The 612-page World Report 2010, the organization's 20th annual review of human rights practices around the globe, summarizes major human rights trends in more than 90 nations and territories worldwide. Cambodian human rights defenders were threatened, arbitrarily arrested, and physically attacked during 2009, Human Rights Watch said. Victims included staff and volunteers of human rights organizations, as well as community-based activists working on land rights, natural resource exploitation, and forced evictions.

"Cambodians who speak out to defend their homes, their jobs, and their rights face threats, jail, and physical attacks," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The only way that the Cambodian government will end its assault on civil society is if influential governments and donors demand real change and put the pressure on."

Violations often occurred during mass evictions when police and soldiers frequently used unnecessary or excessive force. For example, on January 24, the streets of central Phnom Penh were filled with heavily armed soldiers firing teargas and water cannons as they forcibly evicted hundreds of families from the Dey Krahom community. In March, police opened fire on unarmed farmers protesting confiscation of their land in Siem Reap province, seriously wounding four villagers.

More than 60 community activists were imprisoned or awaited trial - often on spurious charges - for helping to organize and represent fellow community members facing eviction or illegal confiscation of their land.

Urban poor evicted from their homes were often dumped in squalid relocation sites far from the city that lack water, social services, and access to jobs.

At least 10 government critics - including four journalists and several opposition party members - were sued for criminal defamation and disinformation by government and military officials, the report says.

"As the political space shrinks for human rights and advocacy groups to defend themselves, there are valid concerns that a pending law to increase restrictions on nongovernmental organizations will be used to shut down groups critical of the government," Adams said.

The report details other key issues including political violence, the lack of accountability by government officials involved in abuses, arbitrary detention and abuse of sex workers, and substandard prison conditions.

Over 2,000 people who use drugs were arbitrarily detained in 11 government-run drug detention centers, where arduous physical exercises and forced labor are the mainstays of their "treatment," and torture is common. Even if an assessment concludes that an individual is not dependent on drugs, the centers continue to hold some detainees arbitrarily.

One of the year's low points was the government's forcible deportation of 20 Uighur asylum seekers from Cambodia to China on December 19, without an examination of their refugee claims. This action was a clear violation of Cambodia's obligations as a state that has ratified the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.

"Cambodia's deportation of the Uighurs was a glaring example of the government's failure to respect human rights," Adams said. "The Cambodian government showed its profound disregard for minimum standards of due process, refugee protection, and international cooperation."

Khmer Krom (ethnic Khmer from southern Vietnam) asylum seekers and migrants faced obstacles to obtaining safe places to live and full citizenship rights in Cambodia, despite pronouncements by the Cambodian government that it considers Khmer Krom who move to Cambodia to be Cambodian citizens.

Thirty years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, justice for the crimes of that era remained as elusive as ever, Human Rights Watch said. The US$100 million Khmer Rouge tribunal continued to face political interference and made little headway in addressing credible reports of corruption that have plagued the court and undermined its credibility.

Human Rights Watch expressed concerns about the training and material support donors are providing for Cambodian military, police, and counterterrorism units with track records of serious human rights violations. Donors should conduct more thorough vetting of individuals and their units participating in such programs to ensure that none have been involved in rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said.

"While donors may have policy reasons to work with the Cambodian security forces on issues such as terrorism and peacekeeping, they should work just as hard on holding abusers accountable and ending the culture of impunity that exists for high-ranking members of the security forces and those close to Prime Minister Hun Sen," Adams said.

Thank you for sending the invaders' bodies back to rot in Vietnam!

Cambodian specialists honoured for repatriating remains of soldiers

01/21/2010
VOV News (Hanoi)

Individuals and collectives from the Cambodian Royal Armed Forces and Cambodian citizens have been awarded Vietnamese distinctions for their efforts in searching and repatriating the remains of volunteer Vietnamese soldiers to their homeland.

The awards ceremony was held in Phnom Penh on January 21 and co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Defence, Sen. Lieu. Gen. Nguyen Van Duoc and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Tea Banh.

Deputy Minister Duoc expressed his deep gratitude to the State, government, army and people of Cambodia for their role in locating, collecting and repatriating the remains of volunteer soldiers who laid down their lives in Cambodia during wartime.

He read the State President’s decision to present the Friendship Order to 31 collectives and 10 individuals, and the Friendship Medal to 192 individuals.

He also introduced the Prime Minister’s decision to confer the Certificate of Merit on 38 collectives and 379 individuals, and the Minister of Defence’s decision to grant the Certificate of Merit to eight individuals.

For his part, Deputy PM and Defence Minister Tea Banh praised the effective cooperation between Cambodia and Vietnam in implementing a governmental-level agreement on locating and repatriating the remains of heroic Vietnamese martyrs.

Effective and mutual assistance during difficult times has become an honoured tradition of the two nations, said Mr Tea Banh.

He thanked the Vietnamese government and Ministry of Defence for providing regular assistance to the Cambodian Royal Army and people and expressed his belief that their traditional friendship, solidarity and cooperation will grow even stronger in the future.

The remains of more than 12,000 Vietnamese soldiers have been repatriated during the past 10 years. Specialists from the two countries are searching for another 8,000 remains to be returned to Vietnam in the coming years.

Cambodians hold their breath against dam waters, China, overfishing

Fishermen drowning under threats to livelihood

January 21, 2010
By Nicholas Dynan (Tufts University)
Student Correspondent Corps
Global Post

CHONG KHNEAS, Cambodia — The crowd waits on the muddy banks of the lake in a throng of motorbikes, trucks, bicycles and people. When the colorful fishing boats slide onto shore, the fish buyers clamber onto the decks of the boast and scramble to unpack the fish within the hulls.

The importance of the Tonle Sap Lake in the Mekong Basin cannot be overstated. It provides a major source of protein for Cambodians, including the more than 1 million people who live around the lake.

Fishing is also the sole source of income for most lake residents, though a number of small business enterprises have also sprouted up — including vegetable gardens, fruit and flower tree plantations and hydroponic farming. For most, fishing is all they have, and it keeps them poor.

In recent years, things have gotten even worse. A multitude of issues currently affects the Tonle Sap Lake — among them dams upstream, deforestation, pesticides and overfishing.

Dams

An economic boom in Cambodia has increased the country's need for electricity, which in turn is bringing foreign investment in dams. Electricity is projected to grow at a rate of 20 percent per year over the next several years. China, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand have planned and already begun construction on hydroelectric dams along the Mekong and its tributaries. Many of these dams are being supported by funds from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The dams will begin to have an impact in one to two years, threatening the lake's ecology. Since China is responsible for many of the dams and is the largest international investor in the country in general, Cambodia is reluctant to challenge its neighbor to the north.

Access to power will likely improve as a result of the dams, but marine life will perish: Eighty-seven percent of fish species in the Mekong migrate annually to feed and breed. Upstream dams are expected to raise water levels that would widen the lake and destroy up to one-third of the flooded forests where fish spawn.

Deforestation

While deforestation has abated in Cambodia, it continues around the lake. People seeking to develop areas of the flooded forests around the lake clear trees en masse and without thought to the environment. David Thomson, director of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Cambodia repeats an old Khmer proverb: “No forests, no fish, no Cambodia.”

Pesticides

Chong Kneas is located in Siem Reap province, which is home to famed Angkor Wat and draws millions of tourists every year. According to Thomson, there is a demand for local produce among the growing number of foreign tourists in the area, but he says the tourists don't want food grown with pesticides, which most of the farmers use. Local farmers and fishermen have resisted farming without pesticides, mainly due the fact that many think they will suffer a loss in profit.
Illegal fishing

Illegal fishing — often for family consumption rather than commercial profit — is particularly destructive to the lake's ecosystem since it circumvents fishing limits. Illegal techniques include poison and electric fishing gear, which is used to electrocute fish. Some fishermen bribe their way into restricted areas, and encroach upon fishing sanctuaries.

Government efforts

In 2001, the government made radical changes in fishing policies. More than half of the sections, or “lots” of the lake — about 239,000 square miles of fishing grounds — previously controlled by commercial fisheries were released to lakeside communities.

Thomson calls this an exceptional improvement in fishing management.

“It is almost unique in the world” to take domain from commercial entities and relinquish it to local fishermen. “It is tremendously commendable.”

At the same time, “it is also fraught with great difficulties,” such as management and implementation of a new sustainable fishing policy.

“It is not that easy, but it is a tremendous step forward because all over the world ... fishing rights and fishing access are being taken away from small-scale fishers.”

The trend toward consolidating large-scale fishing has been seen in many African nations, such as Senegal, Angola and Mozambique.

Community fisheries
In Cambodia, community fisheries have been established by the FAO with funds from the ADB (Ironically, the community fisheries are under threat from upstream dams which, are also supported by the ADB). The system of community fisheries works against clearing the flooded forest and pesticides. It also supports community input as well as transparency in the fishing village. The FAO hopes that empowerment will help to reduce corruption and illegal fishing.

A report on this 10-year project of community fisheries is expected to be released within the next few weeks. Local fishermen say they hope progress is notable, but it hasn't been easy to include everyone in the system of community fisheries.
Obstacles to outreach

On his rickety houseboat in the floating village of Chong Khneas, Tan Van Minh, a Vietnamese national living in this Cambodian village, picks at his calloused hands, rough from hours tending his set nets in the Tonle Sap. Tan is one of 2,070 Vietnamese fishermen living in the 6,100-member village.

While he is a resident fisherman, he cannot participate or attend community fisheries meetings because the 2002 Fisheries Sub-Decree includes only Cambodian nationals. Excluding him from the system means he learns less about sustainable fishing. Only the Vietnamese village chief serves as the voice of the Vietnamese during community fishery meetings.

However, many Vietnamese fishers, including Tan, say they know nothing about community fisheries.

Conflict erupts between the Vietnamese and Cambodian fishers at times because of difference in fish catches. Some Vietnamese fishermen are known for staying out on the lake longer and catching more fish as a result. Many also have more money to buy larger nets. The discrepancy in catch between a Cambodian fisherman and a Vietnamese fisherman can fuel ethnic conflict.

In addition, Cambodian inspection officials have been known to target the Vietnamese fishermen. Each year, Tan must put much of his $1-a-day profit toward payment to the fishery inspectors and district inspector. There isn't much left to care for his family.

It is an open secret among fishing villagers in Chong Khneas that rising prices and lack of alternative income has increased illegal fishing. While many of these villagers understand the drawbacks of illegal fishing, daily survival wins out.

As Thomson says, “the problem with the project in early stages is ... it doesn’t put any more rice on the table.”

With the list of threats mounting, the future of the Tonle Sap remains unsure.

Back on shore, the racket of bargaining persists. Crates are filled tight with fish, and men strain under their heavy loads as they carry the boxes to awaiting vehicles. As the last fish is purchased, the noise dies away, and only the carcasses of gutted fish float gently on the surface of the water.

This report comes from a journalist in our Student Correspondent Corps, a GlobalPost project training the next generation of foreign correspondents while they study abroad.