Son of Dith Pran says father would have relished seeing Khmer Rouge brought to justice at trials

Titony Dith and his father, Dith Pran. Photo courtesy of Titony Dith

From projo.com
Sunday, February 15, 2009
By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal Staff Writer

In April of 1975, as the Khmer Rouge advanced on Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, Titony Dith saw the rocket attacks and dead and wounded people lying on the streets. He was just a boy.

That was shortly before the Khmer Rouge captured his famous father, Dith Pran, whose story was immortalized in the film The Killing Fields. Dith Pran died of cancer last year, before Khmer Rouge leaders could be brought to trial.

“He would love to have seen the Khmer Rouge brought to justice,” said Titony Dith, 44, in a phone interview from his home in Virginia. “Before he became sick, he told me he’d like to see the trial go on, and for the Khmer Rouge to be brought to justice for all the people who died under the brutal regime of Pol Pot.”

Dith Pran had ties in Rhode Island’s Cambodian community — one of the largest in the country –– and made numerous visits here, including to speak about the Khmer Rouge holocaust. After his death, Cambodians here said that if not for Dith Pran, the world might not have recognized their suffering.

“He tried to volunteer his time to educate the American public about some of the things he’d seen,” said Titony Dith. His father tried to relate his own experience and the agony suffered by fellow Cambodians under the Khmer Rouge, “being tortured and having their lives turned upside down in misery.”

“He would have just liked to see justice being done, so this thing will never, never happen again, not just to Cambodia but to other places around the world,” he said.

Dith Pran was a Cambodian photojournalist and assistant to New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg when the Khmer Rouge seized the capital. He put his family on one of the last rescue helicopters to leave the country, and was soon captured by the Khmer Rouge. He disappeared for the next four years, until he made his way to a refugee camp at the Thai-Cambodian border.

After he was reunited with his family and Schanberg, The Times hired Dith Pran as a photographer.

Titony Dith, who works in information technology at the Pentagon, remembers the evacuation.

“I was on one of the last Chinook helicopters to leave the [U.S.] Embassy compound. He was there to say goodbye, and Sydney was there, too. And just like the movie, we ran to the helicopter and after that, we never saw my father again for a long time.”

He added, “I remember we went to pick him up at the San Francisco International Airport. He’d lost some teeth and he was just crying and happy to see all of us. He said everything’s all gone in Cambodia during that time, because the Khmer Rouge had turned Cambodia upside down. I didn’t understand what he was talking about. I didn’t know there were mass killings or mass graves, and that people were being tortured to death.”

Titony Dith said he will “watch and see what happens” as the first trial gets under way. “I hope that justice will be served for the people who committed these atrocities. I’d like to see them put behind bars, forever.”

Many Cambodians in Rhode Island says the genocide trials come too late

From projo.com

Sunday, February 15, 2009
By Karen Lee ZinerJournal staff writer

PROVIDENCE –– Molly Soum was 5 years old when the Khmer Rouge forced her and her 3-year-old sister into hard labor with other children, “breaking rocks, with no food or water, and no shade.” Soum lost her father, grandfather and three uncles to the 1975-79 genocide that claimed an estimated 2 million lives and left bodies and bones scattered across Cambodia’s Killing Fields.

As a U.N.-backed tribunal prepares to prosecute the first of five aging Khmer Rouge leaders this week, Soum — like others in Rhode Island’s large Cambodian community — is bitter that only a handful of people will face prosecution for crimes against humanity.

Many see the trials as a waste of millions of dollars, occurring decades too late, and tainted by government corruption. Only a few people interviewed last week said they will follow the proceedings, either through online reports, or satellite television.

Kang Kek Ieu, known as “Comrade Duch,” is scheduled to appear at an initial hearing Tuesday that is expected to review witness lists and determine the extent to which “civil parties” can participate. Duch ran the Toul Sleng interrogation center, where thousands of Cambodians were tortured and executed before the Vietnamese invaded the country in December 1978.

The trials of the four others — Khieu Samphan, the group’s former head of state; Ieng Sary, its foreign minister; his wife, Ieng Thirth, former minister for social affairs; and Nuong Chea, the movement’s chief ideologue — are not expected to start before next year. Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge supreme leader, died in 1998 at age 73, before he could be tried for war crimes. At the time, he was held prisoner by former colleagues who had accused him of betraying the revolutionary movement he once led.

“I would like to see them electrocuted,” says Soum of the five who are slated to stand trial. A transition specialist at the Genesis Center and former Cambodian interpreter for the state, Soum said, “I’d like to see them have to watch The Killing Fields film over and over and over — to see what they did,” before they are put to death.

“I believe they should be put on trial, but my heart is too numb to feel the justice.” She added, “Why do we have to wait three decades? Why? There’s no punishment to them. They live, they laugh at us through all these years. I’m very angry.”

A WAVE OF CAMBODIAN REFUGEES arrived in Rhode Island throughout the early 1980s. Those refugees and subsequent generations are estimated at more than 15,000. Resettled by agencies including the International Institute of Rhode Island and Catholic Social Services, they clustered primarily in Providence’s West End, where they established the first Cambodian Buddhist temple in the country.

Many had witnessed the executions of family members and fellow countrymen as the Khmer Rouge worked, tortured and starved people to death as part of a radical experiment in agrarian communism.

The Khmer Rouge referred to this experiment as turning the clock back to “the Year Zero.”

During a four-year reign, from 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge systematically slaughtered urban dwellers, Buddhist monks, people with connections to foreign governments, and teachers, doctors and other intellectuals — even people who wore glasses.

They separated children from parents and brainwashed them, and forced the entire population to work in collective farms or forced labor projects.

The genocide went largely unreported until Dith Pran, then an assistant to New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg, emerged four years after he was captured by the Khmer Rouge and told the world about the horrors he’d witnessed. That included the mass graves scattered throughout the country that became known as the Killing Fields.

In Rhode Island, and in other Cambodian resettlement communities around the world, survivors suffered extremely high rates of posttraumatic stress, as they tried to cope with language and cultural barriers in a foreign culture.

Rhode Island’s survivors include Sary Kim, a 60-year-old former seamstress and factory worker now enrolled in job-retraining classes at the Genesis Center in Providence.

Kim still carries images of body parts flung by land mines into the trees, as she and her family ran through the jungle from the Khmer Rouge. She is haunted by a child who was left alone on the jungle path: Kim wanted to carry the girl, whom she estimated at age 2 or 3, but was already carrying her own children. The child appeared traumatized and “could not speak.”

Kim said she was unaware of the pending trials, and will not follow them. Kim said, “I don’t want to know.”

Makna Men, acting director of advisement at Bristol Community College in Fall River and newly appointed chair of the mayor’s Southeast Asian Advisory Council in Providence, came from Khao I Dang refugee camp when he was 13.

He calls the tribunal “a big show,” with only “a very selected few” of Khmer Rouge leaders being tried. Until recently, Men followed news of the pending trial on the Internet. Now he has stopped.

“To me, I lost my father during the Khmer Rouge time and a lot of my first cousins, and my mom lost a lot of her brothers and sisters. The wound is already there in my heart, the torture, the suffering, the starvation — to me this trial really doesn’t do any good,” said Men. “It is not going to close the book.”

One of Men’s enduring memories is the death of his father in 1976.

“The Khmer Rouge didn’t allow me, didn’t allow my brother to go to see his body. They said, ‘If we allow you to go, will you bring him back to life?’ The only one they allowed was my mom. They wouldn’t let us go. He caught malaria or whatever and then the policy of the KR in my village was if you get sick and you cannot work you cannot get food. He died of sickness and starvation at the same time. That memory is going to stay with me ever since. Am I angry with Khmer Rouge? Yes, I am very angry with them.”

Men’s wife, Samoutta Men, is a substance-abuse prevention coordinator at the Socio-Economic Development Center for Southeast Asians, in Providence. She believes the millions spent on the trial could have been used to establish a foundation in memory of Cambodian holocaust victims, and to help educate Cambodia’s young people.

“For me, the healing is never completed,” she said.

Ken Oung, one of several people interviewed at the Cambodian Buddhist temple on Hanover Street, has no confidence in the trials.

“Those key witnesses who are sitting in the government cannot be subpoenaed,” he said. “It’s close to $150 million for less than 10 people. To me, it’s symbolic to tell the international community ‘We are the government; we care.’ But do they really care?”

Oung also believes that the millions spent thus far should have been used for other purposes, such as a psychiatric hospital to help survivors, or education programs “to tell our young generation about the genocide.”

Said Oung, “The trial will not bring justice for me. To spend so much money is ridiculous. It took almost thirty years for the preparation.”

CAMBODIAN DEPUTIES voted in 2001 to create a special tribunal that would bring former Khmer Rouge leaders to trial for war crimes.

The tribunal, formally known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, was set up in 2006 — 13 years after it was first proposed, and nearly 30 years after the Khmer Rouge were toppled by the Vietnamese invasion. The tribunal is administered jointly by the United Nations and the Cambodian government, and is to comprise elements of Cambodian and international law.

According to The New York Times, hundreds of people have applied to the court to be officially recognized as victims of the Khmer Rouge, and to bring parallel civil cases against the five cadre leaders. They may potentially have the right to participate in the investigation, be represented by a lawyer, call witnesses and question the accused at a trial.

Other news reports state that authorities are still deciding how many civil parties will be allowed to participate, and to what extent.

Duch, 65, who is expected to appear at Tuesday’s hearing, has been detained since 1999. He is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes: those include having committed or abetted murder, torture, rape and persecutions on political grounds.

SAM BECKER, supervisory deputy clerk at District Court, Providence, has long been involved in Cambodian politics, through a political party formed in the United States. He will watch the trial closely.

“First thing in the morning, I go on the Internet” and check for updates on the pending trial, Becker said. He also speaks with his brother and other relatives who are still in Cambodia.

Becker is pleased about the pending prosecutions, “but they’re not doing enough,” Becker said of the tribunal. “The members of the Khmer Rouge being held right now, they are old and their health is not that good. This process is so long. I hope by the time the actual trial is going to go, they won’t be dead.”

Becker criticizes the U.N. for “letting the government dictate the process,” and wrote a letter of protest to then U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan two or three years ago.

“I said the U.N. is losing their credibility” by allowing a communist dictator to dictate to the U.N. body — “the international body that’s supposed to be finding justice.” He adds, “The people running the government are former Khmer Rouge, so what are you going to do?”

Becker lost many relatives to the Killing Fields, including his sister and a cousin who was a Buddhist monk.

“My main point is, I hope the government will get this over with before they die off. We want to know why over two million people were killed, and if any other foreign countries were behind it.”

Next week a tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity.

A Cambodian burn victim waits for tourist while begging for money Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009, at Toul Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Next week a tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, the commander of Toul Sleng under the Khmer Rouge, also known 'Duch' will be the first leader tried.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

A Cambodian burn victim begs for money Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009, at Toul Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Next week a tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, the commander of Toul Sleng under the Khmer Rouge, also know 'Duch' will be the first leader tried.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

Western tourist tour Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009, at Toul Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Next week a tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, the commander of Toul Sleng under the Khmer rouge, also known 'Duch' will be the first leader tried. At least 1.5 million people died of disease, executions or were worked to death during the Khmer Rouge's reign from 1975 to 1979. With no death penalty in Cambodia, the maximum sentence 'Duch' could face would be life imprisonment.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

A Cambodia Buddhist monk offers prayers at sacred tree in Phnom Penh Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009. Next week a tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

A Cambodia Buddhist monk offers prayers at a sacred tree in Phnom Penh Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009. Next week a tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

A Western tourist tours Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009, at Toul Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Next week a tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, the commander of Toul Sleng under the Khmer rouge, also known 'Duch' will be the first leader tried. At least 1.5 million people died of disease, executions or were worked to death during the Khmer Rouge's reign from 1975 to 1979. With no death penalty in Cambodia, the maximum sentence 'Duch' could face would be life imprisonment.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

A western tourist films Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009, at Toul Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Next week a tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, the commander of Toul Sleng under the Khmer rouge, also known 'Duch' will be the first leader tried. At least 1.5 million people died of disease, executions or were worked to death during the Khmer Rouge's reign from 1975 to 1979. With no death penalty in Cambodia, the maximum sentence 'Duch' could face would be life imprisonment.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

Western tourists view skulls of genocide victims Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009, at Toul Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Next week a tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, the commander of Toul Sleng under the Khmer rouge, also known 'Duch' will be the first leader tried. At least 1.5 million people died of disease, executions or were worked to death during the Khmer Rouge's reign from 1975 to 1979. With no death penalty in Cambodia, the maximum sentence 'Duch' could face would be life imprisonment.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

A tourist is reflected in a board showing Khmer Rouge leader Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009, at Toul Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Next week a tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, the commander of Toul Sleng under the Khmer rouge, also known 'Duch' will be the first leader tried. At least 1.5 million people died of disease, executions or were worked to death during the Khmer Rouge's reign from 1975 to 1979. With no death penalty in Cambodia, the maximum sentence 'Duch' could face would be life imprisonment.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

A Cambodian burn victim begs for money Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009, at Toul Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Next week a tribunal is set to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, to try five Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, the commander of Toul Sleng under the Khmer Rouge, also known 'Duch' will be the first leader tried.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

Life of people living in Pailin, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold, in western Cambodia's Battambang province

Va Young, a 50-year-old man, trims bamboo for making huts in western Cambodia's Battambang province February 15, 2009. Young, who makes under $5 per day, lost his leg to a landmine in 1990 while fighting with the Khmer Rouge, he said. On February 17, Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal will try the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people in the 1970s.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

Va Young, a 50-year-old man, makes bamboo floors in western Cambodia's Battambang province February 15, 2009. Young, who makes under $5 per-day, lost his leg to a landmine in 1990 while fighting with the Khmer Rouge, he said. On February 17, Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal will try the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people in the 1970s.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

Va Young, a 50-year-old man, makes bamboo floors for huts in western Cambodia's Battambang province February 15, 2009. Young, who makes under $5 per-day, lost his leg to a landmine in 1990 while fighting with the Khmer Rouge, he said. On February 17, Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal will try the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people in the 1970s.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

Put Koon, a 45-year-old Cambodian man, stands outside his hut in western Cambodia's Battambang province February 15, 2009. Koon lost his leg to a landmine in 1991 while fighting with the Khmer Rouge, he said. On February 17, Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal will try the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people in the 1970s.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

Put Koon, a 45-year-old Cambodian man, stands nearby his cattle on his farmland in western Cambodia's Battambang province February 15, 2009. Koon lost his leg to a landmine in 1991 while fighting with the Khmer Rouge, he said. On February 17 Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal will try the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people in the 1970s.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

A Buddhist nun looks out of a temple in Pailin, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold, in western Cambodia's Battambang province February 14, 2009. On February 17 Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal will try the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people in the 1970s.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

A woman stands outside a disco in Cambodia's western city Battambang on February 14, 2009.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

A couple talk inside a hall after a wedding reception in Cambodia's western city Battambang on February 14, 2009.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

A man walks his buffaloes in Pailin, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold, in western Cambodia's Battambang province February 14, 2009. On February 17 Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal will try the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people in the 1970s.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

A man polishes gems in Pailin, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold, in western Cambodia's Battambang province February 14, 2009. On February 17 Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal will try the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people in the 1970s.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

A man bathes in a river near Pailin, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold, in western Cambodia's Battambang province February 14, 2009. On February 17 Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal will try the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people in the 1970s.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

Gems waiting to be polished are seen sitting atop a can in Pailin, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold, in western Cambodia's Battambang province February 14, 2009. On February 17 Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal will try the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people in the 1970s.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

Men sway cut cassava root to be dried at a farm in Pailin, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold, in western Cambodia's Battambang province February 14, 2009. On February 17 Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal will try the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people in the 1970s.REUTERS/Adrees Latif (CAMBODIA)

K. Rouge trial set to open

AsiaOne Online

Sun, Feb 15, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH, COMBODIA - CAMBODIA'S UN-backed genocide tribunal this week opens the long-awaited trial of the Khmer Rouge's former prison chief, the first person to face justice for the 'Killing Fields' horrors 30 years ago.

Cambodians will watch live on television on Tuesday as Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch - appears for an initial hearing over his role in the communist 1975-1979 regime which killed up to two million people.

'The formal opening of the first trial is a hugely important day for Cambodia,' said tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis. 'It will be a milestone on the road to justice.' Former maths teacher Duch, 66, is one of five Khmer Rouge leaders who have been detained by the court. He faces charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and pre-meditated murder.

The initial hearing is expected to last one or two days and will involve procedural matters that will 'decide the shape and structure of the trial,' prosecution team member William Smith said.

The judges will finalise the witness list and also decide on preliminary legal objections, Smith said, adding that full testimony was not expected until March.

Duch was indicted last year for allegedly personally overseeing the torture and extermination of more than 12,000 men, women and children when he headed Phnom Penh's notorious Tuol Sleng prison, known as S-21.

Established in 2006 after nearly a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the UN, the long-stalled war crimes tribunal is the last chance for Cambodians to find justice for the Khmer Rouge's crimes.

'Finally, the trials of Khmer Rouge leaders are beginning. I and all Cambodians want justice - we have been waiting so long,' farmer Sun Lon, 40, said as she visited what is now the Tuol Sleng genocide museum. -- AFP

The final hours

TOP TO BOTTOM: Sima Long with the necklace she says Jiri Zivny gave her in Cambodia; the Blue Storm nightclub in Sihanoukville, where Long says she and Zivny partied on the night he crashed his motorcycle; the ATM machine from where Zivny withdrew cash just before the accident.
Buy Kamloops This Week Photos Online

By Dale Bass - Kamloops This Week
Published: February 14, 2009

Jiri Zivny left Sima Long a gift on the night he died in Cambodia

Sima Long wears a silver necklace with Christ on the cross around her neck.

She hasn’t taken it off since Jiri Zivny gave it to her — on the last night of his life.

The 17-year-old partied with the Kamloops man that night — Jan. 9 — in a couple of Sihanoukville, Cambodian nightclubs and is now left mourning his death, she told KTW.

Zivny, 43, went to Cambodia for a vacation after touring orphanages in Southeast Asia, a trip organized by the Kamloops-based International Humanitarian Hope Society.

KTW has uncovered the last 48 hours of Zivny’s life, revealing a man who was doing what most anyone would do while on vacation — relaxing, having some fun and making new friends.

On Jan. 8 — the day before Zivny was injured in what was originally reported as an assault and robbery, but was actually a motorcycle crash — he spent some time at the Freedom Hotel and Dance Club, located on Sophicalmongkol Street, about a block from the main downtown route, Ekareach Street, and across the road from the town’s bus station.

Witnesses there saw him playing pool with local women.

The Freedom Hotel features a bar that is open round the clock, a $3 US buffet and, if you book a room, a free mug of Angkor or Anchor beer delivered to your $5-a-night room — with refills just 50 cents in the bar.

The following day, Zivny made his way to the Savery Guesthouse, Beergarden and Restaurant, about five blocks from Freedom House, near the Sihanoukville taxi stand.

Beer there is also 50 cents.

There, he met Long, a Vietnamese girl who had arrived at the Savery three days before, looking for work.

Long told KTW she was hoping to find work there, as had another girl from her village, explaining she could not afford to go to school and, because her family is poor, she needed a job.

Long said she met Zivny at the bar, where they “had a lot of fun together with other girls from my village.” She said Zivny drank “19 glasses of Angkor draft beer,” while she drank 17 glasses of a coconut rum and Coke mixture.

By the time the pair decided after midnight to head to the Blue Storm disco, Long said Zivny’s bar bill was $100.

Long said she and Zivny continued drinking and partying at the Blue Storm, a disco on Ekareach Street just a few blocks from the Savery.

Zivny decided to go to an ATM machine at the Canadia Bank on Ekareach Street, about a block away.

The pair was returning to the Blue Storm on a motorcyle Zivny was using when they swerved to miss a car and crashed head-on into another motorcyle with two riders.

Long said the impact left all four on the road. She was wearing a helmet (which became the law in Cambodia on Jan. 1 this year), but Zivny wasn’t.

Two cab drivers saw the accident and one took the unconsious Long in a tuk tuk — a vehicle similar to a motorcyle with an area at the back for carrying passengers — to a private clinic near the Freedom House and bus station.

Staff there sent her to the Sihanoukville Referral Hospital.

At least one of the two on the other motorcyle was also taken to hospital.

Somaly Soun, another cab driver who saw the accident, said when he reached Zivny, the man was bleeding from his ears and his face was covered with blood.

Soun said he originally thought the injured man was his friend, Tony Jones.

Jones, a Cambodian-based online journalist (sihanoukville.com), said he and Zivny bear some similarity.

Soun said he called for another tuk tuk to take Zivny to the Sihanoukville Referral Hospital.

Long told KTW she saw Zivny there on a stretcher, trembling. Someone removed his bloodstained clothes and put them under the stretcher.

“Which is what they do with everyone here because there are no lockers in Cambodia hospitals,” she said. “Usually, your family takes care of you and stays with you all the time and brings food to you because the hospital has no restaurant or even staff to take care of you.”

Jones told KTW the hospital is “drastically ill-equipped to deal with anything above cuts and straightforward pregnancy,” so a call was made to the Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh, which sent an ambulance to make the four-hour trip to Sihanoukville and then back again with Zivny.

Zivny was sent to the intensive-care unit but, within less than an hour, was transferred to the neurological department, where he remained in a coma before dying six days later.

Long said she continues to suffer from trauma to her head, her mouth is swollen and her untreated jaw hurts as if it is broken. She said she has no money to go to a doctor.

At some point after the accident, Evelyn Picklyk, head of the Kamloops charity, received a call from someone she called Zivny’s travelling companion, advising her Zivny had been assaulted and robbed at an ATM machine.

This person’s full name or whereabouts has never been disclosed to the media by Picklyk.

Doctors who treated Zivny at Calmette Hospital, however, said his injuries were consistent with a traffic accident, as was noted in the report by the ambulance driver.

Picklyk made a public appeal for $100,000 to bring Zivny home, continuing to say he had been beaten and robbed, for which she claimed she had photographic proof.

She also referred to reports she was receiving from a plastic surgeon who was not treating Zivny, but who had looked in on him at Calmette.

Later, when asked about the conflicting reports, Picklyk said she was not focusing on the cause, but rather dealing with the death of a cherished friend.

Long, however, said she is also dealing with the death of a friend — but she has one tangible reminder of Zivny — a necklace with Jesus Christ on a cross he gave her.

“I wear [it] ever since I met him.”

Cambodia: Dinosaur images noticed in temple ruin

15-2-2009

Allnewsweb.com, Australia

Michael Cohen m.cohen@allnewsweb.com

Conventional science has it that the dinosaurs were wiped out many millions of years ago either as the result of climate change or a meteorite hitting earth. Some researchers, however, claim that dinosaurs might have continued to roam remote parts of the earth as recently as a few hundred years ago. A few even claim that there might be some small populations of dinosaurs, otherwise believed to be extinct, surviving in the world’s most isolated forests.

A reader has sent to All News Web these photos of the stunning Ta Prohm Temple (pictured below) deep in the jungles of Cambodia.This temple is the work of the remarkable Khmer civilization which lasted from the 800’s AD until the 1400’s AD.

The temple is covered with the most intricate of carvings. The reader who was visiting the area noticed very distinct and clear images that seem to depict a Stegosaurus (pictured above), indicating that this creature might well have survived up until the Khmer era in the region. One expert on Khmer ruins has told us that it is unlikely that these images are a recent addition to the temple.

The stegosaurus (pictured below) was a spectacular beast best known for the row of kite shaped plates that ran along the length of its back. According to conventional science this species existed in North America and died out around 155 million years ago. Villagers in the vicinity of the temple are said to retain traditions of this animal existing until fairly recent times.

Road to Cambodia 5

KanglaOnline, India

By: R.K. Shivachandra

The horrifying foray to the Killing Field, Genocide museum and other historic war spots in Cambodia left everyone in a state of shock and this continued to linger heavy in our hearts. Many Europeans who had visited the site were seen breaking down on their knees in front of the memorable stupa where the excavated skulls and bones were being displayed.

We really wanted to further our visit to some interior parts of Cambodia. However due to time constraint, we couldn’t make it. The distance between Phnom Penh and Ho Chin Minh City in Vietnam is about 216 Kms. A smooth drive can take around 2 hours from Phnom Penh to Ho chin Minh city. Visas needed to be applied at Phnom Penh only. At the moment Vietnam visas are not issued at the border. We need to apply for it one day ahead. However our team couldn’t manage it for Sunday and Saturday were off- day. And that was only the two days we had in hand and overstaying more days in Cambodia could amount to cancellation of our return flight to Kolkata. Though some of us had been to the Moc Bai and other adjacent villages towards the border to Vietnam, the team as a whole couldn’t visit the city of Vietnam.

Our return journey to Bangkok through the South coast of Cambodia was a memorable one. The more interesting part of the journey had been the long stretch of the coastal and the beautiful blue sea that danced gleefully in a spectacular distance.

We are water -obsessed people and are ready to be romantic about with any form of water; be it pond or small river. Traveling overlooking the vast Sea in a hot summer day was so refreshing and the situation asked one to be more romantic and calls everyone to become a harmless soul rather than violent. The beautiful site chased away at bay the bed habit of animosity, hatred and dislike among one another that we carry along with us from Manipur and for sometime we breathed freedom. The beach seemed to have expressed by itself that ‘Beauty of nature should be praised’. On the stretch of the coast there were resorts of the colonial era and many nascent national parks took its most fascinating form. Much of the coastline is dotted with small fishing communities. Some 80 Kms. down the line towards the border lies the first town ‘Kampot’. A sleepy small town in the Southern cost yet a principal port in the whole of Cambodia. Then we proceeded further to Sihanoukville. A thinly populated beach town not much to be offered to the tourists. Compared to any Thailand beach like Pataya and Phuket, Sihanoukville is still light years behind.

The charmless town is fortunate enough to be hemmed in all sides by palm fringed white sand beaches and tropical islands. The present town named after the then King was amidst the thick jungle during 1950s. It was hacked out to create the first deep water port in 50s and USA provided money. The best route to proceed to Koh Kong the border of Cambodia from Sihanoukville is waterways. There are about three fast boats that depart from Sihanoukville before 11 A.M daily. They never take the risk of sailing afternoon for the sea is unfriendly during the evening. Despite our enthusiasm to have a boat ride, we missed the chance by 10 minutes that the last boat had already departed some few minutes before we reached the port. So we proceeded by a Toyota mini bus towards Koh Kong.

Koh Kong is an increasingly popular gateway to Cambodia from Hat Lek in eastern Thailand. Having the same name as its town, Koh Kong Island is the biggest island of Koh Kong’s coast. There are a number of unspoiled and less visited beaches around the island. This island visit is good for a one-day trip. The provincial capital is one of the few places in the entire province where we can find more tourists. Most folks pass through on their way to or from Thailand but due to transport limitations often they have to spend the night here. Unlike that border town to the north, Poipet, Koh Kong is a much more relaxed place with scenic beauties around .As with any border town there are the requisite mercenaries around, but no hassle around here as it was in Poipet. Having to spend a night in Koh Kong is not a bad idea

The distance between Phnom Penh to Koh Kong could cover in 6 hours with breaks at different locations. The distance is hardly 280 Kms.By the time we reached Cham Yeam the border check point in Koh Kong, it was around 5 in the evening. The big resort 7 star hotel at the extreme border stood in its majestic structure overlooking the blue ocean that spread as far as the eyes can see. Not far from the star hotel, Cambodian and Thailand National Flags were seen flying independently but struggling its way to resist the strong coastal wind. In the far horizon a faded Sun was seen half sunk in the depth of the sea. The dazzling golden water around him appeared as if it was a volcanic mountain in the middle of the sea with its lava sprung-out. The crimson ray spread over the horizon and twilight slowly enveloped the evening scene.

Few shy-natured Cambodian girls peeped us by questioning telepathically who we are “Thais or Khmers” as they passed by. Nostalgic memories of my early teens attempted to whisk me back down the long forgotten memory lane in Manipur. Many evenings that have been bathed with the crimson rays had been passed by before my eyes in Manipur but never did a single thought occurred this way. Why did such a romantic mood sneak into me at this border point of Cambodia? May be a simple word to answer “When mind is free nature always takes its best role.”

Immigration officials at the border were so warm and friendly. We have crossed the border and applied for re entry visa into Thailand and soon we got it. The immigration officials in Thailand helped us to catch a mini van to further our journey to Bangkok via Pataya, the famous sea beach of Thailand. As the vehicle sped up, the silent highway gave our way towards Thailand. The sleeping mountain ranges seemed to have whispered ‘bye come back again’. In the death of the night people headed their own way to different destinations. Unlike Imphal Dimapur road or Imphal Moreh, our driver was never afraid of the gun totting element that might intervene our road to Bangkok. As we were penetrating through the silent night I could not but ponder why in Manipur things became too worse. Just beyond Motbung, the rest of the journey is purely in the hands of the God. This is all a spine chilling experience if you travel through the night. The one who is waiving Hi … by the driver widow is not there to cheer you up. If you don’t believe just open the window and just make ‘yourself’ his day. This is what happening in this tiny part of the World that we dearly called “A land belonging to Chingmi Tammi”. It is shameless robbing a stranger who passes through my corridor. On the other hand we saw hordes of departmental stores and show rooms that pressed into service till late midnight by the national highway. They seemed not to have bothered for a demand letter. They are not busy for ‘Waakat Mipham’ but used their precious time judiciously for promotion and developmental purposes only. But down here we are different creature. What is this? Are we all beasts here? When the neighboring South East Asian Countries scaled the sky, we are here just acting the ‘savage’. It is unfortunate and time calls for the godly men in the villages and city teaching the criminals the genesis of Adam and Eve with special reference to Manipur.

After a night halt at Pataya we have resumed our journey for Bangkok. The hollow Island in Pataya and people, who enjoyed life as if death would never befall on them, was a lovely site to look at.

We have reported on the Airport on the right time. The excess baggages made everybody unhappy. I have suggested them to be very cautious but the market was too tempting. Anyway we did it.

Reaching upon Kolkata, the immigration official on the desk gazed us through the thick glass lens as if we had done something wrong in the foreign countries. The customs officials kept watching us suspiciously as we passed through the green channel. Some unlucky fellow’s bags were checked but they didn’t find anything objectionable.

Back home. My daughter placed before me the bundle of newspapers with a cup of tea. Front pages contained news of ‘three killed’ and ‘four killed’. And lots more. Not a single day passed by without killing. Now the count begins how many of them killed during our absence in Manipur. How many widows stood on their mark to run the race “struggle of existence”.

TIMELINE-Cambodia's Khmer Rouge era

Sun Feb 15, 2009

Feb 15 (Reuters) - Thirty years after the fall of Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist regime, blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people, the first trial of his top cadres begins on Feb. 17.

A handful of ageing and infirm leaders from the movement are due to be tried at a joint Cambodian-United Nations tribunal three decades after the end of the Khmer Rouge's brutal attempt to create an agrarian utopia.

Below is an overview of the rise and fall of the Khmer Rouge:

1953 - King Norodom Sihanouk proclaims independence from France, but soon abdicates to go into politics.

March 1969 - Secret U.S. bombing of Vietnamese communist bases in Cambodia begins.

March 18, 1970 - U.S.-backed premier Lon Nol ousts Sihanouk as prime minister while the latter is on an overseas trip.

April 17, 1975 - Khmer Rouge seize Phnom Penh and immediately start emptying cities and towns in a bid to create a totally agrarian society. An estimated 1.7 million people die during their nearly four years in power.

Dec 25, 1978 - Vietnam starts invasion of Cambodia after a series of increasingly daring cross-border Khmer Rouge raids.

Jan 7, 1979 - Vietnamese troops occupy Phnom Penh, driving Pol Pot to the Thai border. The occupation is to last 10 years.

May 1993 - U.N.-run election produces shaky coalition between Sihanouk's son, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, and Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla installed as prime minister by Hanoi in the mid-1980s.

July 1997 - Pol Pot ousted as Khmer Rouge leader.

April 15, 1998 - Pol Pot dies in the jungle-clad mountain redoubt of Anlong Ven on Thai border.

Feb 9, 1999 - Last Khmer Rouge guerrillas surrender.

March 2003 - After years of negotiations, Cambodia and the U.N. sign deal to set up a joint "Killing Fields" court. Almost six years later, the court has detained five top cadres but no full trial has started.

Feb 17, 2009 - Khmer Rouge tribunal to begin first trial of Pol Pot cadre. Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, faces charges of crimes against humanity for his role as chief of the S-21 torture centre where 16,000 people were jailed and later killed.

Source: Reuters

(For a related story, Reuters 3000 Xtra subscribers may click on [ID:nBKK102894], or please refer to CAMBODIA-ROUGE/)

(Compiled by Gillian Murdoch; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Megan Goldin)

Cambodia: First Trial to Test Tribunal’s Credibility

Human Rights Watch (New York)

15 Feb 2009
Source: Human Rights Watch

Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.

(New York) - Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal, about to begin its first trial, should resist political interference and meet international fair trial standards, Human Rights Watch said today. The tribunal is prosecuting Khmer Rouge leaders for crimes against humanity in the deaths of up to 2 million people in the late 1970s.

The UN-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), a hybrid tribunal in operation for three years that includes both Cambodian and international judges, faces serious allegations of corruption and political interference. On February 17, 2009, the tribunal will conduct the first procedural hearing in the trial of Kaing Gech Eav (Duch), the chief of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison and torture center. Duch is the first of five former Khmer Rouge leaders currently facing trial before the tribunal.

"Any hint of political manipulation at the tribunal will undermine its credibility with the Cambodian people," said Sara Colm, Cambodia-based senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Until allegations of corruption and improper interference by the government are investigated and resolved, the tribunal's integrity as a legitimate and independent court will remain in question."

The Khmer Rouge tribunal consists of a majority of Cambodian judges sitting alongside international judges, with Cambodian and international co-prosecutors. The UN initially opposed the arrangement, given that Cambodia's judiciary is widely known for its lack of independence, corruption, and low professional standards.

Although the tribunal's mandate is to try "senior leaders" and "others most responsible" for atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979, in December 2008 the Cambodian co-prosecutor opposed an effort by the international co-prosecutor to add six more suspects to the tribunal's caseload. The Cambodian co-prosecutor cited Cambodia's "past instability" and the "need for national reconciliation" as reasons for rejecting bringing charges against additional suspects.

"By allowing political considerations to block additional indictments, the Khmer Rouge tribunal is failing the most basic test of its independence and its credibility," said Colm. "The tribunal cannot bring justice to the millions of the Khmer Rouge's victims if it tries only a handful of the most notorious individuals, while scores of former Khmer Rouge officials and commanders remain free."

Human Rights Watch said that the United Nations and the international community, which is shouldering most of the US$50 million expended by the tribunal to date, should not bestow legitimacy to a process that does not meet international fair trial standards. Rather than pledging more funds to a flawed process with no strings attached, influential donors such as Japan, the United States, France, and Australia should insist that allegations about corruption and government interference are first resolved, Human Rights Watch said.

In a January 14 statement, the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee, a coalition of 21 Cambodian human rights organizations, called for the Khmer Rouge tribunal not to arbitrarily limit itself to five prosecutions, saying:

"Without further prosecutions, the ECCC will fail to deliver justice to the people of Cambodia and damage efforts to create genuine reconciliation. We fear that the efforts and achievement of the Cambodian government and people, and the international community in creating the ECCC will be squandered if the court is seen to only partially fulfill its mission. ... We urge all stakeholders in the ECCC process, including the Royal Cambodian Government and the international community, to ensure that the court is able to act independently and free of political interference or consideration, and give it full support as it acts to fulfill its mission."

Trial of Khmer Rouge Leaders Finally Brings Cambodians Hope for Justice

FILE: Skulls from the Khmer Rouge era in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Saturday, February 14, 2009
THE TIMES

Three decades after the fall of Pol Pot, the first trial of the leaders of his genocidal Khmer Rouge regime is to begin Tuesday before a U.N.-backed tribunal -- the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).

On Tuesday, a thin, elderly former schoolmaster will stand in the dock in a bland courtroom on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, accused of crimes against humanity committed 30 years ago.

Kang Kek Leu, known as Comrade Duch, was the director of the infamous Tuol Sleng prison, the torture and interrogation center in Phnom Penh where thousands of innocent people were sent to die.

His trial will be followed by those of Pol Pot's inner circle: Nuom Chea, or "Brother Number Two," who was in charge of security; Ieng Sary, the former foreign minister and his wife, Ieng Thirith, and Khieu Samphan, the former head of state.

The trials will be a watershed for Cambodians, most of whom had lost hope that the men and women who destroyed their lives would ever be brought to justice.

"I never thought this day would come," Vann Nath, one of only three remaining survivors of Tuol Sleng, told the Times of London. “There has been no hope for so many years."

Overseas Property Investment: Favour Established Growth Markets in 2009

Write About Property, UK

by Liam Bailey
2009-02-14

I have read two reports this morning, one on a report into Cambodia's economy and property by the World Bank, and one on Vietnam property by Asia Property Report. Both said the same thing, that while economic growth is still expected at a much slower rate, the property market will be affected by the economic slowdown in the short-term, but show potential over the mid-long term.

The trouble is, nowhere is expected to grow over the short-term, but how do you predict mid-long term growth potential? The truth is property in almost every country is likely to see growth over the mid-long term, so where should property investors look in 2009?

I believe the best bet is to invest in markets that saw the most rapid property value growth during the boom. I recommend Cambodia and Vietnam, firstly, because their potential for internal property sales has hardly been tapped into at all; with growth being fuelled almost solely by foreign property investors. In other words demand for high quality property still far outstrips supply' which is why Dubai is not mentioned above.

In fact, both the countries mentioned above are reminiscent of Britain when it began growing into an industrialised nation, with three and four generations of families often sharing homes, and major growth in industrial sectors, i.e. 28% growth in the textiles sector (Cambodia). As these nations grow into great industrialised nations, more and more people will be able to afford to buy their own home, and there is definite investment potential in affordable housing schemes to meet this rising demand.

But I recommend these markets most of all because they have proven their ability to turn increased international activity, foreign investment and tourism into exceptional economic growth, followed by similarly exceptional and sustained growth in property values.

Not every country can translate economic strength into property value growth, people have been forecasting mid-long term growth for Berlin property for years, and still predict it now, the kind of growth being predicted has yet to begin, and the predictions have now gone on so long, that I am going to say who knows if growth will begin in the mid-long term. Because of the credit-crunch growth may take 20 years to begin. That said, Less Berliners own their own home than any other developed nation, if the government can change the renting mindset it could kick-start a Berlin property boom, but this is hard to predict.

China has recently displayed exceptional economic growth but comparatively, property values there have not grown by as much as they have in its two Asian counterparts mentioned above, though you could say that it because of the political landscape in China, governmental human rights abuses, you can still get a high quality 1 bedroom apartment in Shanghai for €72,000. That said, China's population size means demand there also outstrips supply by a long way, and the population continues to grow, therefore China should be considered by investors in 2009.

Then there's Albania, it showed an impressive economic performance, and saw a lot of new development, but property values did not grow as they did in the countries mentioned above, or even by the same levels as was seen in neighbouring Montenegro. But again Albania is still likely to grow in the mid-long term, it remains economically robust and growing internal incomes will cause rising demand for quality properties, and the property ladder will begin.

There are other countries in the world where mid-long term growth is a fairly safe bet, because of growing internal demand, increased foreign investment possibly because of infrastructure improvements, and/or just a readily available finance, and a sensible approach to development throughout the boom times.

In fact it is undeniable that property values in most countries will grow given enough time. Investors should do in-depth research into where is likely to grow first, where is likely to grow quickest, and where offers the right investment for their needs.

A photographer with no soul

San Francisco Chronicle, USA

Hugh Hart
Friday, February 13, 2009

On Tuesday, a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal begins prosecuting five leaders of Cambodia's notorious Khmer Rouge regime. Better late than never, as far as Berkeley filmmaker Steven Okazaki is concerned. His Oscar-nominated short documentary, "The Conscience of Nhem En," takes viewers inside the walls of Tuol Sleng Prison. An estimated 17,000 Cambodian citizens entered the former school between 1975 and 1979. Eight lived to tell the tale. The rest were photographed, then executed.

"I've dug pretty deep into misery before, but 'The Conscience of Nhem En' is really the most difficult documentary I've ever made," Okazaki says.

He pitched HBO Documentary Films on the subject after reading about prison photographer Nhem En in 2007. When he was 16 years old, En took pictures of 6,000 prisoners shortly before their deaths.

"He came out of the woodwork because he thought he could make some money and wanted attention, I guess," Okazaki says.

Last year, Okazaki spent 2 1/2 weeks in Cambodia and questioned Nhem En on camera.

"I asked him numerous times, 'Did you ever just give these people a sympathetic look as if to say, "I'm sorry," and he said, 'Absolutely not. Why should I?' I found that disturbing. He appears to be a friendly, gentlemanly guy, but that's just on the surface. Underneath, he's a soulless, cold person."

Closely monitored by government security operatives, Okazaki managed to elicit frank accounts of incarceration from three survivors.

"Meeting these remarkable people became the great experience of making this film," Okazaki says. "They are all very emotionally scarred, but each of them has a certain spirit, and they were just lucky. One of the guys talks about being tortured for two weeks until someone came around asking, 'Does anyone know how to fix sewing machines?' He said, 'I do, I do!' That's how he got to live."

Okazaki is no stranger to bleak subject matter. He's made documentaries about teen drug addicts ("Black Tar Heroin"), Japanese American internment camps (the 1991 Oscar-winner "Days of Waiting") and nuclear devastation ("The Mushroom Club," nominated in 2006).

But "Conscience" took an unprecedented emotional toll during postproduction, he says.

"I'd blank out throughout the process of cutting the film and not know it; people would say to me, 'What happened? You just stopped talking for 10 seconds.' I found myself weeping at odd moments. I had diagnosable second-degree post-traumatic stress."

Next up for Okazaki: a documentary about Seattle street kids who have been thrown out of their homes by their parents. The filmmaker half jokes that he also hankers to make a movie with no redeeming social value whatsoever.

"I'm trying as hard as I can to do something totally irrelevant and stupid, so I've approached the producers of 'The Simpsons' about doing the life story of Homer Simpson."


He played the director of a surreal theatrical production in "Synecdoche, New York." Now Philip Seymour Hoffman will be taking the reins, for real, of his first movie. Filming begins this month on the dark romantic comedy "Jack Goes Boating," adapted from Bob Glaudini's off-Broadway play staged by Hoffman's LAByrinth Theater Company

Though "Jack" marks Hoffman's debut as a film director, he hardly lacks experience. The Oscar-winning actor directed a Sydney stage production of "Riflemind" in 2007 and has helmed many New York plays.

"It is beyond gratifying to see this film come to life," he says.

Hoffman also will act in "Jack," opposite Amy Ryan ("Gone Baby Gone"), with John Ortiz ("American Gangster") and Daphne Rubin-Vega (Broadway's "Rent") reprising their stage roles for the film.

Five Bay Area moviemakers will receive six months' worth of rent-free production facilities starting in May, when Phase 2 of the San Francisco Film Society's FilmHouse Residencies initiative kicks in. Developed in partnership with the San Francisco Film Commission, the program named 10 recipients in the fall.

The new residents include Rajendra Serber, a dancer, choreographer and filmmaker who plans to finish his intergalactic space opera "GoodGuy/BadGuy." Serber produced a stage version of "GoodGuy/BadGuy" in 2001 and has gradually transformed the multimedia performance piece into an experimental animation project incorporating improvised dialogue, music and 700 photos.

"Instead of a normal film process, where you write a screenplay, get funding and shoot, we decided to use the tools we already knew," he says.

FilmHouse Residencies at the Embarcadero's Pier 27 have also been awarded to Eugene Corr, who's finishing his portrait of a baseball coach, "From Ghost Town to Havana"; Miles Matthew Montalbano, who is working on "The Recondite Heart," about a Reagan-era punk rocker; Melissa Regan, whose "No Dumb Questions" is about gender identity; and Valerie Soe, who is editing her slumlord documentary, "The Oak Park Story."

Serber hopes the institutional seal of approval from the film society will raise his profile in local film funding circles.

"I have a few months to beat down doors and say, 'These people are invested in supporting me now,' " he says. " 'You should support me, too.' "

Hugh Hart is a Chronicle correspondent. E-mail him at pinkletters@sfchronicle.com.

The National Election Committee Announces Registration Information for the Council Elections - Saturday, 14.2.2009

Posted on 15 February 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 599

“On 13 February 2009, the National Election Committee published, at the office of the National Election Committee, with representatives from some parties participating, the date for the process to register for the commune councils elections, to participate in the first term district and provincial/city elections, which will be held on 17 May 2009.

“An official of the National Election Committee presiding over the meeting, Mrs. Koy Vet, announced the information for different parties, non-government organizations, and commune councilors, who need to register to participate in the elections.

“Officials of the National Election Committee said that the number of members of the provincial and city councils is 374, there are 11,353 voters, and there are 1,939 districts and cities.

According to the National Election Committee, for the provincial and city elections and the number of voters to elect the district and provincial/city councils for the first mandate, it is expected that more than US$1.5 million will be spent.

“The National Election Committee pointed out that there are 1,621 and 11,353 voters, and the commune councilors must register at each commune through officials of the K.Kh.Kh.B [?], with observers joining from political parties and different organizations.

“Mrs. Koy Vet went on to say that after sending the name lists of voters to the capital city and the provinces, and the National Election Committee has validated the lists, the National Election Committee will publish the name lists of voters first on 24 March 2009 at the K.Kh./Kh.B [?], at communes, and at offices at the capital city and at towns.

“Mrs. Koy Vet continued to say that the registration of commune councils will start on 16 and continue to 21 February 2009, and only members of commune councils who are fulfilling their work are allowed to register in voter lists.

“The National Election Committee added hat on 4 February 2008, it held a training course about the registration of district and provincial/city councils for representatives from political parties, non-government organization, directors, and deputy directors of K.Th./Kh.B. [?] with a total of 180 participants.

“It should be noted that 36 officials of the National Election Committee and 120 officials of the K.Th./Kh.B. attended the training. There were five political parties, the Cambodian People’s Party, the Sam Rainsy Party, the Human Rights Party, the Norodom Ranariddh Party, and the Khmer Democratic Party, and nine non-government organizations participating in the training.

“The secretary-general of the National Election Committee, Mr. Tep Nitha, said that the period of the registration for councils is 5 days, and it might take 10 more days then to send the lists to the districts, provinces, and K.Kh./Kh.B. 20 days after that, they will be sent to the National Election Committee.

“Mr. Tep Nitha added that after the lists will have been published, the National Election Committee will permit 5 days for protests and corrections to the K.Kh./Kh.B. and 5 days to the National Election Committee, to deal with different complaints.”

Koh Santepheap, Vol.42, #6578, 14-15.2.2009
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Saturday, 14 February 2009

Cambodian Remembers Khmer Rogue Genocide Ahead of Trial

NTDTV

ZHANG:
Next we have an insight in to what it was like in Cambodia when the Khmer Rogue was carrying out its acts of genocide in the late 70s. Sarah Matheson brings us the story.

STORY:
To look at Timothy Chhim, you cannot tell what he has lived through. He was in Phenom Phen, in April 1975, when the Khmer Rogue took the capital city.

He and his relatives were forced from their homes, and taken to the killing fields.

In this dark chapter of Cambodian history, one quarter of the population was executed. And every family was affected.

[Timothy Chhim, Khmer Rouge Victim]:
I was put in one camp, inside a temple. And a couple of days later they took us to another camp stationed about 10 kilometers away."

[Timothy Chhim, Khmer Rouge Victim]:
They told us that they needed us to go back to the capital city to receive Prince Sinook, Prince Sinook was at that time in Beijing."

[Timothy Chhim, Khmer Rouge Victim]:
We still didn't know that we were going to be sent to be killed.

When he realized they were actually taking people deep in to the jungle for execution, he ran. The soldiers started firing their guns at him.

[Timothy Chhim, Khmer Rouge Victim]:
Thats when I know that the reason they collect us was not for going back to the capital. All of those people were sent to be killed.

On February 17, former Khmer Rouge leader Duch is facing trial. But in a country where the Prime Minister is a former a member of the Khmer Rouge, many Cambodians feel justice is unlikely.

[Timothy Chhim, Khmer Rouge Victim]:
So this trial is for five people. The top leadership. Can you imagine that 1.7 million people is just being killed by five people and not anyone else is responsible for that? Its just not fair.

He says China and Russia have been covering the role that they played during the genocide.

[Timothy Chhim, Khmer Rouge Victim]:
Not too many people believe that the Chinese really want this trial completed.

[Timothy Chhim, Khmer Rouge Victim]:
The feeling is that justice is not going to be done.

This is Sarah Matheson, NTD, New York.