Report: Police Abuse of Cambodian Sex Workers Made Worse by US Policies

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/

via khmer NZ

By Melissa Ditmore, Independent consultant

July 22, 2010

RH Reality Check is covering issues raised at the International AIDS Conference taking place this week in Vienna, Austria.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report documenting abuses of sex workers by law enforcement in Cambodia, including rape and beatings, unlawful detention and deprivation of medical care. The report also indicates that opportunistic abuse of power is endemic: “Every sex worker that we spoke to, including children involved in such work, had paid bribes to the police at some point.”

The US government is implicated in these abuses. The US government’s Trafficking In Persons report grades nations on their responses to human trafficking. Nations that receive low marks for a few consecutive years are threatened with economic sanctions. Cambodia’s government relies on foreign aid, and the US is one of its largest donors. When sanctions loomed, Cambodia passed an anti-trafficking law that additionally criminalized sex work and police declared open season on sex workers.

This is not uncommon; it’s a pattern seen in many places. In Cambodia, where the rule of law is weak, abuses included extreme torture and even deaths in custody. In addition to detention and abuse by law enforcement, sex workers were also unlawfully detained by anti-trafficking NGOs. One bright spot is that these organizations say that they have changed their policies and HRW says that no reports of detention by NGOs have been received in 2010.

Unfortunately, abuse by law enforcement continues.

In response to these abuses, the report recommends suspending the provision against soliciting in the anti-trafficking law because the provision “gives police more leverage to extort money and commit violent acts against sex workers and has facilitated abuses.” Instead of arresting and abusing sex workers, the report recommends consulting sex workers to “jointly develop programs and services that can empower sex workers and accurately reflect their needs.”

This is the strongest language from HRW yet that criminalization of sex work contributes to violence and abuse of some of the most vulnerable people. This same sentiment was expressed yesterday by Mandeep Dhaliwhal of UNDP during the International AIDS Conference (IAC) happening now in Vienna. These recommendations are only a first step to better policy to promote and ensure the human rights of sex workers. Sex workers at the IAC have been protesting US foreign policy that prevents sex workers from being the kind of partners HRW recommends. US funding restrictions include an anti-prostitution pledge that promotes discrimination against sex workers by prohibiting empowerment programs for sex workers. But in order to combat human rights abuses of sex workers and HIV among sex workers, sex workers must be part of the solution, rather than as target populations for programs designed and implemented without input from the people they seek to affect.

Informal Sex Trade Undercut Gains in HIV

Cambodia is seen as a success story in HIV prevention. It has managed to reduce its HIV prevalence rate among adults from a high of two percent in 1998 to an estimated 0.7 percent last year. If this trend continues, Cambodia will be on track to meet its Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for cutting HIV prevalence rates by 2015.

via Khmer NZ

22.07.2010 | news Newsdesk

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On a muggy evening, a handful of men in suits were quickly getting drunk in a beer garden here in the Cambodian capital. One man rested his hand on the thigh of a slender woman sitting uncomfortably in a short skirt.

A sign above the table read: "Be responsible. Use a condom."

"The customers play around with us all the time," said Neang, glancing at the scene unfolding at the next table. "They touch my breasts, or put their hands on my thigh while I’m sitting down. I don’t like it, but I have no other choice.

Beer promoters like Neang and others who work in places where Cambodia’s informal sex industry can be found are a growing concern for health experts in this Southeast Asian country, as sex work shifts from traditional settings like brothels to informal ones in the entertainment sector.

Women who work in karaoke bars or beer gardens like this one may not identify as sex workers, but some occasionally sell sex to top up their meager earnings.

Neang, who asked that her full name not be used, said she recently decided not to have sex with her customers after she got married. In the past, though, many of the men who propositioned her would refuse to use a condom.

"The NGOs tell us to wear condoms properly to prevent HIV infection," she said. "But in the past, when I slept with customers, some insisted it was not necessary. It is hard to refuse."

Cambodia is seen as a success story in HIV prevention. It has managed to reduce its HIV prevalence rate among adults from a high of two percent in 1998 to an estimated 0.7 percent last year. If this trend continues, Cambodia will be on track to meet its Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for cutting HIV prevalence rates by 2015.

But critics say the government’s drive to stamp out human trafficking has actually exacerbated HIV risks for sex workers because it is forcing many to go underground. Without a renewed emphasis to reach those in the informal sex trade, Cambodia could face a stumbling block in meeting its MDG target on HIV.

Authorities have targeted suspected brothels as part of their crackdown on human trafficking. But advocates say the raids have resulted mainly in the arrest of sex workers, many of whom were driven to the trade by poverty, not trafficking.

The end result has been to push sex workers into hiding—and away from the reach of HIV prevention programs.

"The more crackdowns, the more people will be pushed underground and disappear," said Tea Phauly, the most at- risk populations adviser with the Joint UN Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) in Cambodia. "And it is very difficult to structure a response to reach these people."

Government studies here have shown that brothel-based sex workers are more likely to use condoms than women who sometimes sell sex in entertainment establishments.

But advocates say they now have difficulty reaching sex workers, many of whom have ended up in beer gardens and karaoke bars. "We can approach them, but not like before. They remain hidden," said Ly Pisey, a technical assistant with the advocacy group Women’s Network for Unity.

Ly says outreach workers used to be able to easily access brothels and talk to sex workers about HIV prevention and health care. "But now if you go … and ask, ‘Are you a sex worker?’ they say no," she said.

In March, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen delivered a speech that was interpreted by police officials as an order to intensify a crackdown on human trafficking. Within two weeks, raids on suspected brothels sent more than 280 sex workers into hiding, according to a local non-government group that tracked the enforcement.

Police actions have eased up in recent weeks, but the raids are a cyclical part of a longer-term trend that has helped change the nature of Cambodia’s sex industry.

Bith Kimhong, director of the Ministry of Interior’s anti- trafficking bureau, said: "We shut down clubs that are related to sex trafficking. We want to eliminate such sayings that Cambodia is a place for sex tourism."

Sex workers, he says, are not the targets of such enforcement. "We know when closing such establishments, there are more people losing their jobs," he said. "We cannot avoid this.

Original news source: http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=19008

Khmer Rouge trials

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Jul 22nd, 2010 -- Shankari Sundararaman

On July 26, 2010, the first verdict of the Khmer Rouge trials is awaited. This will decide the fate of Kaing Guek Eav alias “Duch”, the jailer at the dreaded Tuol Sleng prison, or the S-21 interrogation centre, in Phnom Penh. He is the first perpetrator against whom the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) will deliver its verdict for crimes against humanity and genocide. Even as the decision is awaited amidst speculation and debates, the July 26 verdict will also be critical for the United Nations which is primarily responsible for the implementation of the trials. The UN’s role in the Cambodian conflict will come a full circle with this verdict.

From April 1975 to December 1978, Cambodia went through a period of genocide under the rule of the Khmer Rouge. This period was a reversion to what was called the “Year Zero” when the Khmer Rouge sought to bring to a standstill the entire history of the country and begin its rule from scratch. During this period nearly two million people lost their lives due to starvation, disease and torture. The Khmer Rouge period was ended by Vietnamese intervention and occupation which lasted for over 12 years, until the Cambodian peace settlement of 1991.

Reports of the genocide within Cambodia first emerged because of refugee accounts. The stories contained tales of forced labour in agricultural lands, an agrarian style model that was brutally enforced, and mass execution of people suspected to be loyal to the former government that assisted the United States’ war efforts in Vietnam.

What is significant today is the role played by the UN in pushing forward the genocidal tribunal for crimes against humanity and bringing to trial the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge. Five members, including Duch, of the immediate group that controlled Cambodia during this period are facing trial, all of them in their seventies. There’s Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea — these four were closest to Pol Pot and were significant players in pushing the agendas and vision of the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot, who should have been brought to book, escaped by a quirk of fate and died as a result of malaria.

While today the UN is responsible to a great extent to push forward the Khmer Rouge trials, at the height of the Cambodian conflict the UN had in some sense kept the conflict alive. The intransigence of the Cold War is nowhere more visible than in the context of Cambodia where the UN was stymied by its inability to assist in finding a resolution in the initial years of the conflict.

During the Khmer Rouge period, the UN was unable to take steps to prevent the genocide because of a clause within their charter. The clause, that pertains to domestic jurisdiction, in effect said that even in cases where there have been gross human rights violations, the UN may not be able to act since the issue may fall within the limits of internal affairs of member states.

In the aftermath of the Vietnamese intervention, the debate in the UN raged over the issue of representation of the UN seat — the seat was occupied by the Khmer Rouge government which was officially known as the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) regime. The government which replaced the Khmer Rouge was that of Heng Samrin and was officially called the People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK). However, because this government was backed by the Vietnamese forces, it was not accepted as the legal government within the UN. And as a result, the seat in the UN remained with the Khmer Rouge for most of the conflict.

In 1982, three years after the conflict had begun, three political factions combined together to form the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK). This was a grouping of three political factions that were against the Vietnamese-backed Heng Samrin government. It comprised the royalists under Sinhanouk, the republicans under Son Sann and the Khmer Rouge. In fact, the formation of this coalition lent greater credibility to the Khmer Rouge which handled the foreign affairs of the CGDK and continued to retain the UN seat.

While this dichotomy in the UN’s stand was a critical issue, in the run-up to the Cambodian peace settlement the UN emerged as the main arbiter. It was under the auspices of the UN that a transitional authority oversaw the elections in Cambodia in 1993. This resulted in the victory of both the royalists under Norodom Ranariddh and the Cambodian People’s Party under Hun Sen. For the first five years, from 1993 to 1998, power was shared between two conflicting groups. The 1998 election onwards Hun Sen has emerged victorious and there has been little political change within Cambodia since.

With the first verdict awaited in the Khmer Rouge trials on July 26, the debate rages over the extent to which punishment should be given. In fact, this first trial sets the stage for the other four high-ranking members of the Khmer Rouge who are to be tried. The trials of these four will be far more significant than the first one against Duch. Duch in his statements has claimed that he was merely an instrument of state policy. He even argued that he was carrying out orders given by the higher authorities within the Khmer Rouge and as a result should be acquitted rather than be found guilty.

There have been debates over verdicts such as life imprisonment, death penalty and other punishments. Interestingly, the political leadership within Cambodia has been less than willing to let the process take a conclusive course. Prime Minister Hun Sen has even hinted that the trials could lead his country to another civil war. While there is an opinion that the degree of punishment needs to be muted, given the age of the perpetrators and the time that has elapsed, it still needs to be weighed very seriously. Bringing justice to the victims of genocidal crimes is a crucial part of putting to rest a phase of history that is best forgotten. However, to forget that history without due justice to the victims would be to undermine the sufferings of thousands of people. The United Nations’ efforts to bring the issue to a completion must not be based on principle alone, it needs to be tangible in terms of its outcomes as well.

Dr Shankari Sundararaman is an associate professor of

Southeast Asian Studies at the School of International Studies, JNU

Khmer Rouge victims, perpetrators live side-by-side

AFP | July 21, 2010

Up to two million people were killed in the Khmer Rouge regime but only five senior leaders are standing trial. Survivors still live side-by-side with former members of the brutal regime under which their families were killed and tortured in Cambodia.

LEAD STORY: Accused UK child-sex offender found in Bay

via Khmer NZ

ANDREW NEAL

22nd July 2010

A British man who police say is a child sex offender was apprehended at a popular Napier leisure centre on July 1 and deported.

Matthew Paul Hamilton, 29, was tracked down by "good old fashioned police work" by an Eastern Districts Police detective who made the arrest at Laserforce.

LASERFORCE: Wanted UK citizen Matthew Paul Hamilton was arrested at the Napier leisure centre

It is understood the officer acted on a hunch after Immigration posted a warning Hamilton was believed to be in Hawke's Bay. He had been living in New Zealand illegally since 2008 when his one month visitor permit expired.

In 2005 Hamilton was arrested in Cambodia and charged with the sexual abuse of three young males, aged 14 to 16 and found not guilty.

It is not believed Hamilton committed any offending while in the Bay.

Detective Inspector Ross Pinkham of Eastern District Police said the arrest came after a detective followed his "gut instinct" that Hamilton may be frequenting the Laserforce.

"We knew that Hamilton had been seen in the area at some stage, but it was not confirmed," Mr Pinkham said.

"So it was a case of working out where he might be and talking to as many people as possible who might have come across him."

It was not known how long Hamilton had been living in the Bay, "yet it's obvious he was here for quite some time".

He gave no resistance when arrested.

Laserforce owner Paul Eager said Hamilton had been into the centre a number of times but had never noticed anything suspicious about his demeanour or behaviour.

"He'd come in and play with others his own age, I never saw him have contact with anyone younger than him or act inappropriately," Mr Eager said. "I had never said more than hello like I would with any other customer."

He was not present during the arrest in the centre's foyer but staff said Hamilton left without much fuss.

"There were only a few people in here, it was a quiet evening," he said.

"I think the officer approached him and took him out."

The arresting detective and other Bay officers accompanied Hamilton to England, standard practice in a deportation case.

It is unknown if Hamilton will be facing charges upon returning to the UK, but police said he had "since been identified as a person of interest in an international child exploitation investigation".

"It was pleasing to get the result that we did and to remove him from the country," Mr Pinkham said.

Hamilton's case was "a bit of an anomaly" according to police, with little known about his history in the UK or his connection to a wider child-sex network.

According to British non-governmental organisation ECPAT UK, in 2005 Hamilton was accused in Cambodia by three boys who told police he paid them each US$50 to have sex with him. ECPAT which works to end child-sex offences, said Hamilton's digital camera, which contained more than 50 images of naked boys.

Preah Vihear to be raised at heritage meet

via Khmer NZ

Thailand will oppose Cambodia control plan

Published: 22/07/2010

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti is to meet with Unesco director-general Irina Bokova to express Thailand's concern over the Preah Vihear temple issue.

The meeting is scheduled for tomorrow in Paris, two days before the World Heritage Committee (WHC) opens its annual meeting in the Brazilian capital Brasilia.

Cambodia will propose a management plan for the Preah Vihear temple and its buffer zone to the meeting. Thailand opposes the plan on the grounds that sovereignty over the buffer zone, the 4.6 square kilometre disputed area claimed by the two countries, has not been settled.

Preah Vihear has been on Unesco's world heritage list since 2008.

Mr Suwit said the meeting with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation chief was to "create a better understanding" of Thailand's position.

"We would like to affirm our position that the buffer zone management plan should not be carried out until there is clarity over land demarcation," said Mr Suwit, who leads the Thai delegation to Brazil.

Mr Suwit expressed concern about the delay in distribution of the Cambodian plan to the WHC members because Thailand has been unable to see it before the issue is tabled for talks.

"I admit I am worried about the negotiations since the Cambodian side has not let us know anything," he said.

Under normal practice, documents relating to a meeting, including a proposal to manage a world heritage site, must be submitted to the WHC members six months in advance.

The committee is made up of representatives from 21 countries, including Thailand and Cambodia.

Cambodia has said it has submitted the plan to the secretariat of the meeting.

Yesterday, activists opposing the Cambodian management plan led by Tul Sitthisomwong expressed support for the Thai position.

"It is the right direction for the government not to accept the Cambodian-made plan until the process of the land demarcation is complete," Mr Tul said.

"The plan to develop the world heritage site must be done by both countries because the temple is located on Thai soil."

The group threatened to protest against Unesco if the WHC meeting approves Cambodia's plan.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple was in Cambodia.

The WHC meeting ends on Aug 3.

Binh Phuoc gives ostriches to Cambodia

via Khmer NZ

07/22/2010

The southern province of Binh Phuoc has plans to donate 40 breeding ostriches worth over VND560 million to Cambodia’s provinces, an official said on July 21.

According to Pham Van Hoang, director of the provincial Agriculture-Fishery Promotion Centre, so far, Binh Phuoc province has sent 20 ostriches to Karatie province and is preparing to transfer another 20 for Kampongthom province and the customs office at Trapaing Sre border gate.

Hoang said this centre has bred these ostriches over recent years, adding that Binh Phuoc province will also send staff to the units which receive ostriches to guide them in the techniques for ostrich care and building breeding facilities.

The centre also gave 100,000 cashew saplings to the provinces of Karatie, Mulduikiri, Kampongthom, Kompongcham and Stung Steang in Cambodia.

New Zealander in Cambodia for Khmer Rouge verdict

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, July 22, 2010

(AP Photo/Heng Sinith) Chum Mey, a survivor of the S-21 prison during the Khmer Rouge regime, walks near a portrait of Noun Chea, left, a former Khmer Rouge leader and right hand man to dictator Pol Pot, at the Tuol Sleng genocide museum, formerly the regime's notorious S-21 prison...

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- The brother of one of a handful of Westerners killed by the Khmer Rouge returned to Cambodia for a landmark verdict in a war crimes tribunal, saying there can never be adequate justice for his family.

It was not clear how Rob Hamill's brother, Kerry, fell into the hands of the brutal communist regime. Kerry Hamill was 28 when his yacht was blown off course into Cambodian waters in 1978 and he was captured. He and shipmates Briton John Dewhirst and Canadian Stuart Glass were taken to Phnom Penh's S-21 prison, tortured and killed.

When the news reached his hometown of Hamilton, New Zealand more than one year later, it tore apart what had been a close-knit family. One brother committed suicide months later; Rob Hamill became a teenage drunk. His parents never recovered.

"There'll never be justice for our family," said Hamill, 46, noting his mother died seven years ago and did not get to witness the trial or hear its verdict. "I can't quite reconcile how justice can ever be served with the nature and the way these people's lives were taken."

A U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal will issue its first verdict Monday against a senior member of the Khmer Rouge, the ultra-communist regime blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians during their 1975-79 rule.

About a dozen Westerners were among the estimated 16,000 people held at S-21 before being killed.

As commander of S-21, Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Those who passed through the gates of his secret prison were deemed the worst enemies of the paranoid Pol Pot regime; spies, saboteurs, traitors _ and foreigners. Many were tortured. Interrogators pulled out toenails, drained blood and electrocuted prisoners to extract confessions.

In 1979 after the Vietnamese overthrew the Khmer Rouge, Kerry Hamill's so-called confession of espionage was among the meticulous records discovered at S-21.

Rob Hamill, a rower who represented New Zealand at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, said his family learned of his brother's death 16 months after he disappeared. Their parents read in a newspaper he was executed after two months at S-21.

Last year Rob Hamill spoke at Duch's trial, the only Westerner to do so as a victim, and tried to convey his family's suffering.

He says confronting Duch in court has helped him deal with the grief that has haunted his life, but forgiveness for his brother's killer still eludes him.

"I wanted to forgive Duch so that it would allow me to move on _ until I went to S-21 and I got to see what this guy created," he said. "Any compassion I had for him at that time went out the window.

"Since then, time has a funny way of warping things," he said. "I've got an internal battle going on and maybe this sentencing will somehow further that process."

On his first visit Hamill says he was an emotional wreck. This time he said he feels more in control, more at peace and believes his brother Kerry would approve of the way the family is finally moving on.

"I think he'd be very proud of what we're trying to do as a family to represent him after 30 years of our own family suppressing it and not talking about what happened and the effect it had on us all as a family," he said.

"I think this is a very special time and I'd like to think he's looking down and saying 'well it's about bloody time.'"

Rob Hamill has requested a face-to-face meeting with Duch after the verdict to try to find out more about Kerry's fate. So far he's had no answer.

New Zealander in Cambodia for Khmer Rouge verdict

via Khmer NZ

Jul 22, 2010

By JERRY HARMER

Associated Press Writer

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - The brother of one of a handful of Westerners killed by the Khmer Rouge returned to Cambodia for a landmark verdict in a war crimes tribunal, saying there can never be adequate justice for his family.

It was not clear how Rob Hamill's brother, Kerry, fell into the hands of the brutal communist regime. Kerry Hamill was 28 when his yacht was blown off course into Cambodian waters in 1978 and he was captured. He and shipmates Briton John Dewhirst and Canadian Stuart Glass were taken to Phnom Penh's S-21 prison, tortured and killed.

When the news reached his hometown of Hamilton, New Zealand more than one year later, it tore apart what had been a close-knit family. One brother committed suicide months later; Rob Hamill became a teenage drunk. His parents never recovered.

"There'll never be justice for our family," said Hamill, 46, noting his mother died seven years ago and did not get to witness the trial or hear its verdict. "I can't quite reconcile how justice can ever be served with the nature and the way these people's lives were taken."

A U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal will issue its first verdict Monday against a senior member of the Khmer Rouge, the ultra-communist regime blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians during their 1975-79 rule.

About a dozen Westerners were among the estimated 16,000 people held at S-21 before being killed.

As commander of S-21, Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Those who passed through the gates of his secret prison were deemed the worst enemies of the paranoid Pol Pot regime; spies, saboteurs, traitors - and foreigners. Many were tortured. Interrogators pulled out toenails, drained blood and electrocuted prisoners to extract confessions.

In 1979 after the Vietnamese overthrew the Khmer Rouge, Kerry Hamill's so-called confession of espionage was among the meticulous records discovered at S-21.

Rob Hamill, a rower who represented New Zealand at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, said his family learned of his brother's death 16 months after he disappeared. Their parents read in a newspaper he was executed after two months at S-21.

Last year Rob Hamill spoke at Duch's trial, the only Westerner to do so as a victim, and tried to convey his family's suffering.

He says confronting Duch in court has helped him deal with the grief that has haunted his life, but forgiveness for his brother's killer still eludes him.

"I wanted to forgive Duch so that it would allow me to move on - until I went to S-21and I got to see what this guy created," he said. "Any compassion I had for him at that time went out the window.

"Since then, time has a funny way of warping things," he said. "I've got an internal battle going on and maybe this sentencing will somehow further that process."

On his first visit Hamill says he was an emotional wreck. This time he said he feels more in control, more at peace and believes his brother Kerry would approve of the way the family is finally moving on.

"I think he'd be very proud of what we're trying to do as a family to represent him after 30 years of our own family suppressing it and not talking about what happened and the effect it had on us all as a family," he said.

"I think this is a very special time and I'd like to think he's looking down and saying 'well it's about bloody time.'"

Rob Hamill has requested a face-to-face meeting with Duch after the verdict to try to find out more about Kerry's fate. So far he's had no answer.

Srey Thy: Living a better life as a Cambodian rock singer

via Khmer NZ

We talk with Srey Thy about her escape from a life of poverty and abuse to become the lead singer of one of Cambodia’s hottest bands, the Cambodian Space Project

By Charlie Lancaster

22 July, 2010

Srey Thy is an artist struggling to make ends meet, but her confidence and beaming smile suggest that after years of difficulty she is finally on the right track. Hailing from Prey Veng, one of Cambodia’s poorest provinces, life has thrown Thy some curve balls.

At 19, she was kidnapped and brutally forced into the sex trade. She says her escape is one of the defining moments in her life. Another moment was a chance meeting with Australian musician Julien Poulsen. Together they formed The Cambodian Space Project, and their 1960s Cambodian-rock Western fusion has been rocking the capital ever since.

Having played 20 gigs in the kingdom, Thy, at 31, recently received her first passport -- to Hong Kong -- where The Cambodian Space Project played its first international gig.

CNNGo: When did music first become a part of your life?

Srey Thy: I used to listen to my mother sing as a child at home and at school, where she used to perform for the students during recess. My parents couldn’t afford singing lessons, but I practiced by trying to sound like her, and after a while, I was singing in local restaurants in my home province Prey Veng.

CNNGo: How did a girl from one of Cambodia’s poorest regions become a lead singer of one of the hottest bands in the country?

Thy: Just over five years ago, I moved to Phnom Penh to escape a life of poverty and a violent husband to pursue a career in singing. I began working in karaoke bars, but it was a difficult time. I earned less than US$100 a month and sent what I could back to my ageing parents and young son. I worked for different people, many of whom swindled me of my money. Then one day last year, I met Australian musician Julien Poulson while I was singing in a bar. We got talking and our mutual interests and talents led to the creation of the cross-over 1960s Cambodian-rock Western fusion style music that is the Cambodian Space Project.

CNNGo: Many people compare your voice to the 1960s legend Ros Sereysothea -- do you think this is a fair comparison?

Thy: I hope so. I love all the pre-war music and Ros Seretysothea is probably Cambodia’s greatest female singer. Cambodia was ahead of its regional neighbors before the Khmer Rouge killed many of the singers and destroyed much of their music, and I am pleased to honor their legacy while at the same time pushing musical boundaries within the country today.

CNNGo: While you sing covers from the 1960s, you mainly write your own music. Please talk a little more about your music and the symbolism of your lyrics.

Thy: My voice suits rock music -- I’m not so good at love ballads for example -- which is why I sing rock. To some degree or another, all my songs are related to family problems, love, dishonesty and desperation. Sometimes, I use traditional folklore to address some of these issues while the message in other songs isn’t as subtle! CNNGo: You mentioned desperation, what have been the most desperate moments of your life?

Thy: Being in an abusive relationship and being kidnapped. When I moved to Phnom Penh, I was duped into working in a brothel posing as a massage parlor. I still have a scar on my wrist from being handcuffed in a room. But I was lucky, as one of the other girls helped me escape and gave me US$2.50 to run away with. I don’t know what has happened to her since.

CNNGo: How has the band changed your life?

Thy: I am more famous now, happier and my English has improved. The public support has given me hope for a better life. But I am still struggling to make a decent living; my income depends on the number of gigs we play.

CNNGo: What are the challenges of playing in Cambodia?

Thy: There is a real thirst for live music in Cambodia, but the live [English-language] music scene remains largely neglected. It is a small city, so it is important to balance a need to make a living while avoiding over-exposure.

CNNGo: How many gigs have you played to date and which were the most memorable?

Thy: Since we started in December, we have played over 20 gigs in all sorts of locations from private parties to concerts. I’d say as far as unusual goes, singing at an elephant’s 40th birthday party probably tops the charts. Playing in my hometown was an amazing experience -- the whole village came. I think they liked the music, but the pink suit drummer Scott Bywater was wearing distracted many people! And of course playing at the Hong Kong music festival 2010 was special.

CNNGo: Yes, you recently got your first passport, boarded your first flight and played your first international gig in Hong Kong -- how did it feel?

Thy: I was nervous checking in for both flights. I was scared. It was my first time flying and I cried all the way to Hong Kong.

CNNGo: How did performing in Hong Kong compare to performing in Cambodia?

Thy: It was very different. I found it hard to express my feeling or emotions, perhaps because everything was so new to me. Unlike in Cambodia, the audience didn’t know who I was and weren’t familiar with Khmer music. I didn’t enjoy the first or second day, but by the third day the audience applauded me and enjoyed the music, so I was much happier. I didn’t see any Khmer people there.

CNNGo: What are your ambitions?

Thy: To pay back all my debt to my mother; to own a house; and to have a happy family.

CNNGo: What can we look forward to in the coming months?

Thy: More gigs, I hope, and possibly a tour to France in August -- if I can get a visa.

For more information on the Cambodian Space Project and their upcoming gigs check out: myspace.com/thecambodianspaceproject

Cambodia never Worried about Thailand’s Opposition on Development Plan of Preah Vihear Temple

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 22 July 2010 03:59 DAP-NEWS / Tep Piseth

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, JULY 22, 2010-Cambodia has never worried about Thailand’s opposition on preservation and development plan of Khmer Preah Vihear temple during the 34th meeting of the world heritage committee in Brazil on July 25 -3 August, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Thailand will send two ministers from environment and culture respectively to complain with the committee about Cambodia’s plan on development and preservation of the temple.

“We have never worried about Thailand’s opposition on the plan,” deputy prime minister and minister of council of ministers Dr. Sok An told reporters at the Phnom Penh International airport before departure to Brazil.

He continued that Thailand has always opposed us since we listed Preah Vihear temple as world heritage site in 2008.

“We have never had 4.6 square kilometer disputed areas near Preah Vihear temple of Cambodia with Thailand. Thailand has used the own map which was unilaterally drawn secretly to take Cambodian soil. That land is belonging Cambodia,” he stressed this morning in 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

We will explain the committee about documents and reports of development and preservation plan, he said.

Cambodia’s government spokesman and information minister Khieu Kanharith said that now Thailand turns to border issue after the political issues in Bangkok is quite. We have to know about their strategy with us,” he said.

Thailand lost all battles against Cambodia in terms of diplomatic and political deals on issue of 11th Khmer Preah Vihear temple, the analyst said.

Thailand sent troops aggressively to invade Cambodia in 1950s and last event in July 15, 2008, Thailand sent three people including a monk, nun, and layman to pray at the temple and a few hours later, they sent the troops to invade areas near Preah Vihear temple with an excuse to take back three people. Finally, they claimed that land near Preah Vihear temple is overlapping but Cambodia rejected that claim.

The temple was granted to Cambodia under the ruling verdict of international court of justice in the Netherland in 1962. The judgment from the world court was based on French- Siam treaty in 1904-1907.

As member of ASEAN, Thailand should not treat Cambodia with sending troops aggressively like this and it is shameless in region because in ASEAN charter, its member does not use force to invade other states, the analyst, said.

Bus ban in Angkor Thom

Photo by: Rann Reuy

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 22 July 2010 15:00 Rann Reuy

A bus drives through the Angkor Thom gateway yesterday. The Apsara Authority has decided on Tuesday to ban buses with 12 or more seats from entering Angkor Thom beginning on August 1, said Chrun Sophal, the body’s communications director.

Police officer charged with murders

Photo by: Sovan Philong
Long Sambo, 19, with shaven head and white robe as part of a Buddhist cremation rite, weeps during a funeral ceremony at Krang Phnorn Pagoda yesterday for his father and brother, who were shot dead in Sen Sok district. His sister, also with hands clasped, shares the grief.

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 22 July 2010 15:04 Khouth Sophakchakrya

MUNICIPAL police yesterday brought preliminary premeditated murder charges against a police officer accused of killing two people and injuring three others with an AK-47 in Sen Sok district on Tuesday.

Vong Saneath, a police officer from Khmounh commune, was arrested on Tuesday after allegedly opening fire on 47-year-old Long Hun and his family following an argument. Long Hun was killed at the scene, and his son, 17-year-old Long Lyheng, died on the way to Calmette Hospital. Long Hun’s wife, Uo Soy, 42, was wounded in the shooting spree, as were his nephew and brother-in-law.

District police chief Mak Hong said the accused had confessed to the crime, but that the shooting was in self-defence.

He said the family had threatened him with an axe as he and his family drove on a motorbike past the victims’ house.

“The accused said he could’ve died if he was not wearing a helmet, because [the family] threw an axe at his head,” Mak Hong said. “He claimed they knocked his wife and son to the ground. Because he was angry, he said he took out his AK-47 and opened fire on them.”

Photo by: Sovan Philong
Thun Ratanak, 27, attends a funeral ceremony yesterday at Krang Phnorn pagoda in Dangkor district. The ceremony was held for two people – Long Hun, 47, and his 17-year-old son, Long Lyheng – who were killed in a shooting on Tuesday.

Uo Soy denied that the family had threatened the police officer, and said the accused and his family had initiated an argument with her late husband.

She said they then beat her husband, and that her son-in-law, Yim Sovann, was hit in the head with a brick while trying to defend him. The accused and his family escaped, only for Vong Saneath to return later.

“About 30 minutes later, I heard a ‘bang bang’, and my son fell to the ground so I called for help,” she said. “I was shot as well, but luckily the bullet only hit me in the arm.”

She added that her nephew and son-in-law were both shot at “three times”.

Phnom Penh police chief Touch Naruth said that despite his claim of self-defence, Vong Saneath would be charged with premeditated murder.

“Two people died and three more were seriously injured because of his shooting,” he said. “We will send him to court [today] for punishment.”

Underage girls freed in labour crackdown

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 22 July 2010 15:04 Mom Kunthear

MORE than 30 girls believed to be underage have been discovered at two government-sanctioned labour-recruitment firms, accused of forcing clients to live in squalid conditions and denying them permission to leave, officials said yesterday.

The father of a 21-year-old woman who died during a training programme run by one of the firms said poor conditions had caused her sudden demise on Tuesday.

Nhem Kimhouy, a Ministry of Labour official, said authorities found 24 of the underage girls during a Tuesday raid on a centre in Sen Sok district run by the VC Manpower Co. Seven other girls were found during a raid last week on a second company, the Champa Manpower Group, he said.

The director of VC Manpower told authorities he had no idea underage workers were employed by his firm, which is licensed to train and send Cambodians to work as domestic helps in Malaysia, Nhem Kimhuoy said. “He said he already checked their forms to make sure they were not underage,” Nhem Kimhuoy said.

Officials at both companies could not be reached yesterday.

Under the 1995 sub-decree permitting the export of Cambodian labour, all prospective workers must be at least 18 years old.

Nhem Kimhuoy said the 31 girls had been sent to municipal anti-human trafficking police in Phnom Penh, and that authorities were trying to verify ages. Ministry officials ordered both firms to stop recruiting new workers until they can show conditions at their centres had improved, he said.

Last week, Russey Keo district officials accused Champa Manpower Group of illegally detaining some of the 232 women and girls found living in three of its villas. On Sunday, a woman who leaped from the second storey of a VC Manpower Co training centre said the company had refused to allow her to leave.

Yesterday, a Siem Reap man, Ream Vy, said that his 21-year-old daughter, Yun Mab, died on Tuesday while being held at the same facility.

“I suspect that she died because she did not eat enough food and she stayed in a difficult place,” he said.

However, Keo Thea, director of the municipal anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection bureau, said the woman succumbed to an undiagnosed case of leukemia.

Union president plans rally despite City Hall’s objection

Photo by: Pha Lina
Free Trade Union leader Chea Mony addresses a meeting in Kandal province about the minimum wage. City officials ruled yesterday that a forum planned for Sunday and organised by Ath Thun, head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, could not go forward as planned.

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 22 July 2010 15:03 Mom Kunthear and Tep Nimol

CITY officials ruled yesterday that a planned rally of garment workers scheduled for this Sunday will not be allowed, a local labour leader said, setting the stage for a confrontation between workers and local authorities.

Ath Thun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union and head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said yesterday that city officials had deemed a planned public forum in Daun Penh district’s Wat Botum Park a threat to “security and social order”. The forum is intended to foster discussion of the newly established minimum wage for garment workers.

Ath Thun, however, pledged to hold the event regardless.

“We keep our stance firm to conduct the public forum at the same place,” Ath Thun said. “We are not afraid of arrest.”

Earlier this month, the Labour Advisory Committee, a body made up of government officials and industry representatives, authorised a US$5 increase in the monthly minimum wage for Cambodian garment workers, bringing the standard to $61. Ath Thun and other labour leaders had been advocating for as much as $93 per month.

Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Touch Naruth said police would disperse the forum if it was convened without official permission.

“They can organise it if they have a permit from the authorities, but it is illegal if they do it without permission,” Touch Naruth said.

Ath Thun said that in a meeting at City Hall yesterday morning, Phnom Penh Municipality deputy chief of cabinet Koet Chhe told labour leaders that the forum would not be permitted in public, but that it could be held in a private office or at a rented facility.

Koet Chhe declined to comment on the issue yesterday.

City officials sent the decision to ban the forum to the Ministry of Interior for approval, Ath Thun said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak could not be reached for comment.

Tith Sothea, spokesman for the Press and Quick Reaction Unit at the Council of Ministers, said local authorities would be well within their rights to disperse the forum. Most garment workers, he added, were satisfied with the Labour Advisory Committee’s decision.

“To attempt to do something without permission is illegal,” Tith Sothea said. “The authorities have the right to clear them out to protect public security.”

In May, police in Chamkarmon district blocked a planned screening of a documentary about slain labour leader Chea Vichea on the grounds that the union leaders and opposition politicians who organised the event had not been given permission by the government.

The Interior Ministry said that the film had been “illegally imported.”

Jail deaths should be examined, Adhoc says

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 22 July 2010 15:03 Chhay Channyda

LOCAL rights group Adhoc has accused the government of obscuring the circumstances surrounding deaths of prisoners and failing to investigate them properly.

Chan Soveth, a senior monitor for Adhoc, said prison officials in Kampong Cham province had prevented his organisation from investigating the deaths of five inmates who died at Kampong Cham provincial prison in the space of just five days earlier this month.

“We were barred from investigating the deaths at the prison, so I urge government officials and other relevant authorities to open a proper investigation,” Chan Soveth said.

According to a report from Kampong Cham provincial prison Director Hou Puthvisal, five inmates at the facility died between July 7 and July 11; causes of death were listed as Hepatitis B, tuberculosis, high blood pressure, heart attack and respiratory failure. Hou Puthvisal declined to comment on the issue yesterday.

Chan Soveth said that officials throughout the prison system do not properly examine the bodies of deceased prisoners before cremation, and that they fail to investigate evidence that abuse and overcrowding have harmed inmates’ health. Kampong Cham provincial prison currently holds nearly 800 inmates, he noted, far beyond its official capacity of 500.

New statistics issued this week by the Interior Ministry stated that 41 inmates nationwide had died during the first six months of this year.

Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak and prison department director Heng Hak could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Officials deny detainment of sex workers

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 22 July 2010 15:03 Sebastian Strangio and Cheang Sokha

THE government has lashed out at a recent Human Rights Watch report alleging the “systematic” abuse of sex workers in government-run detention centres, denying that sex workers are even sent to one of the centres cited by the United States-based watchdog.

In a report released on Monday, HRW accused the government of subjecting sex workers to beatings, extortion and rape, and called for the closure of detention centres where they have been illegally detained.

But in a letter sent to the Post yesterday, the Ministry of Social Affairs stated that the Prey Speu centre in Dangkor district – one of two centres listed by HRW in the report – was used to provide training to beggars and other street people. It said the centre had never been used to house sex workers, whose “rehabilitation” was handled in conjunction with 10 NGO partners.

“The Ministry of Social Affairs would like to reject the untrue information that causes confusion to the public ... and affects the honour of the NGO partners that cooperated to provide the services to those sex-trafficked victims,” the letter stated. “No street sex worker has received services from the centre at all.”

Enclosed with the letter was a photograph of officials handing bags of rice, instant noodles, clothing and bottles of soy sauce to what appear to be street people at Prey Speu.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of HRW’s Asia division, said yesterday that the group stood by its findings.

“While [the ministry] says it does not intend to send sex workers to Prey Speu, that is not the reality on the ground,” he said in an email.

He said HRW and other rights groups learned of sex workers being held against their will at the centre as recently as last month, despite a June 2009 pledge from the ministry to cease holding sex workers at Prey Speu.

“Rather than issuing blanket denials that have little credibility, [the ministry] should investigate the abuses at Prey Speu, and provide unfettered and continuous access for Cambodian and international human rights NGOs,” Robertson said.

New plan for civil servant salary top-up

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 22 July 2010 15:03 Irwin Loy

THE government has approved a revamped compensation scheme for civil servants, though observers say it remains unclear how quickly authorities and NGOs will be able to implement it.

The Priority Operating Costs scheme was approved July 12 as a replacement for a previous salary supplement programme that was abruptly cancelled last year.

Paul Pidou, deputy secretary general of the Council for Administrative Reform, confirmed that Prime Minister Hun Sen approved the sub-decree, which will be implemented retroactive to July 1. CAR officials were not available for comment yesterday.

A copy of the sub-decree obtained by the Post yesterday shows the new scheme will be more complex than the programme it is replacing. Under the POC scheme, development groups will be required to obtain permission to supplement civil servant salaries for each individual programme.

The sub-decree also outlines two broad levels of pay scales: “national” and “sub-national/public service delivery” .

Jeroen Stol, country director for Handicap International Belgium, said the new definitions could help equalise payments offered by NGOs under the old scheme.

“In the past, different organisations paid different incentives for the same types of jobs, which caused ... jealousy in some cases,” he said.

However, many details are still unclear, he added, including the payment levels in which civil servants will be grouped.

Authorities will need to add a new management layer to administer the scheme, according to its implementation guidelines. Each POC scheme will require its own director and must be approved by the relevan ministry, the development partner, the CAR and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Sharon Wilkinson, country director for Care Cambodia, said her NGO still has not received any official word about the new scheme. “I still do not feel there’s sufficient information available for us to implement this within the timeframe designated,” she said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHHAY CHANNYDA

Five migrants return after an ordeal at sea

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Migrant workers who were jailed in Indonesia arrive at Phnom Penh International Airport last night.

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 22 July 2010 15:02 Cheang Sokha

FIVE Cambodian migrants who spent almost a year in an Indonesian jail after being tricked into working as fishermen on Thai boats for two years were repatriated to Cambodia late last night.

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong identified the five men as Chea Yun and Van Savouth from Takeo province, Chhuong Chhim from Banteay Meanchey, Phen Chhoeun from Oddar Meanchey and Iem Kim from Siem Reap.

Speaking shortly after arriving at Phnom Penh International Airport last night, Chhuong Chim, 23, said he’d worked as a fisherman in Thailand for roughly two years before being arrested by Indonesian authorities.

“I was in detention for about 10 months,” he said. “We were put in jail like Indonesian prisoners, but we were not hurt. I am very happy to be back.”

Koy Kuong said the five migrants were “cheated” in 2007 by a broker who said he could find them jobs in Thailand. When they arrived, they were sold by the broker to the owner of a Thai fishing boat. They were caught fishing in Indonesian territory and arrested last October.

“They worked as slaves for the Thai fishing boat owner for almost two years,” Koy Kuong said.

He said the ordeal of the five men should serve as a deterrent for Cambodian migrants who plan to migrate illegally to find work overseas.

“If Cambodian workers want to work outside the country, it should be done legally,” he said. “If they are illegal, they’re better working locally so they can avoid being cheated into working like slaves and facing arrest.” He added that the Cambodian government worked closely with the International Organisation for Migration in Phnom Penh to negotiate their return to the Kingdom.

Preap Pintheary, second secretary of the Cambodian Embassy in Indonesia, who accompanied the men on their return trip, said Indonesian authorities had cooperated throughout the repatriation process.

“We spent two months and 18 days in negotiations for the release of these workers,” he said.

Mine casualties up 5pc this year

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 22 July 2010 15:02 Sam Rith

CASUALTIES caused by land mines and explosive remnants of war increased by 5 percent in the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2009, according to statistics released yesterday.

The June report from the Cambodian Mine/Explosive Remnants of War Victim Information System, which tracks data on mine casualties, states that there were 24 in total last month, up slightly from June 2009.

This casualty total was far lower than the 50 recorded in May, which was the worst month for casualties nationwide in nearly three years.

According to the information system, there have been 158 casualties through the first six months of the year.

Five people were killed in mine and UXO accidents recorded in June. Nineteen were injured, five of whom required amputations.

Eight ERW accidents accounted for 16 of the casualties recorded in June, and five land-mine accidents were responsible for the other eight.

Between January 2009 and June 2010, the five most mine-affected provinces – Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Preah Vihear, Pailin and Oddar Meanchey – have accounted for 66 percent of all casualties. Roughly 47 percent of these have been concentrated in 10 districts.

Over the longer term, Cambodia has seen a dramatic decrease in land-mine casualties, from 1,691 in 1993 to 244 last year.

But authorities have acknowledged that the government’s initial obligation to clear all contaminated areas in the Kingdom by 2009 – part of its commitment under the Ottawa Treaty, which bans the use of land mines – may have been unrealistic.

Cambodia was granted a 10-year extension on that goal during a gathering of parties to the treaty held in Cartagena, Colombia, in December.

Karaoke owner jailed over drugs

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 22 July 2010 15:02 Veng Rachana

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court sentenced a woman to 18 months in prison yesterday after convicting her of deliberately facilitating drug use at a karaoke bar she managed.

Pen Sothy, 44, was arrested by police on March 4 at her Daun Penh district home, which doubled as a karaoke parlour. During the raid, police found three boys using drugs, and confiscated 0.04 grams of methamphetamine, two bottles of water and a piece of aluminum foil.

During a court hearing yesterday, Pen Sothy denied facilitating drug use, saying she did not know what the boys had taken with them into the karaoke room.

“I rarely go to the karaoke rooms. I have a maid who goes there to clean the room after the guests leave,” she told the court.

She added that she only suspected drug use after police discovered the foil and water bottles.

But under questioning from presiding judge Sos Samarth, who said the strong odor of the drugs should have been easily detected, Pen Sothy admitted to ignoring reports from her maid that drugs were being used.

“I was afraid that the boys would trouble me if I told this story to the police,” she said.

The judge said her inaction made her deserving of punishment. “That you knew and did not report the problem is against the law,” he said.

Heang Hong, Pen Sothy’s defence lawyer, said his client’s actions did not warrant a conviction, and that the three drug users testified that she was not in the karaoke room and did not know they were using drugs on that day.

He added that, in each of her karaoke rooms, there was also a notification stuck on the wall that read, “No Drugs and No Having Sex.”