Dozens fall victim to Korea job scam

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Mom Kunthear and Chrann Chamroeun

MORE than two dozen people from Kampong Cham's Chamkar Leu district say they were duped into handing over as much as US$1,700 a person to unscrupulous brokers promising to send them to lucrative jobs in Korea.

"They said we could leave Cambodia for Korea on July 28, but on that date, they broke their promise," said Sreng Mom, 45, who said he paid $1,700 to get work in Korea. "We all trusted them as neighbours, but actually they cheated us."

Twenty-six people - eight women and 18 men - have filed a complaint to the anti-human trafficking NGO Legal Support for Women and Children (LSCW) and asked the NGO to help get their money back.

"We are preparing documents for the people now to sue the scammers and make them pay people back," said Uth Boren, a trainee at LSCW in Kampong Cham, adding that more than 10 families have already received some money from two accused false brokers.

Uth Boren said her organisation spends time educating people about the dangers of fake brokers, but that her warnings often go ignored until it is too late.

"I always tell them about the tricks and tell them not to trust other people too easily, but they don't pay attention to what we tell them," she said. "At first, when they were cheated, they said, 'We don't think we are cheated' ... but we still help them."

To make payments to the brokers, villagers had to sell their rice fields and cows, said Bun Kuntha, the deputy governor of Chamkar Leu district.

Cheng Heang, the Kampong Cham provincial Labour Department director, said he sympathised with those who lost money.

"I feel terribly sorry for my people who were cheated by the [fake brokers].... These liars must be punished," he said.

NEC's annual updates to voter rolls due in October

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Vong Sokeng

The National Election Committee is scheduled to conduct its annual voter registration update, including the registration of new voters and the update of voter lists, this October. But civil society groups say the NEC effort will do little to contain irregularities that have marred Cambodian elections in recent years.

Tep Nytha, secretary general of the NEC, said commune councillors will be in charge of conducting voter registration among their own constituents from October 1 to October 20, before submitting their information to the NEC for processing. Commune councillors are also responsible for updating voter lists, adding new residents and removing those that have died, moved away or are listed more than once.

The NEC plans to hire temporary staff, Tep Nytha added, to enter the voter information into a computerised database the committee hopes will be finished by December.

Koul Panha, executive director of Comfrel, said Monday that the NEC "lacks the political will" to pursue thorough reforms.

Officials reject Thai border market claim

Photo by: Tracey Shelton
The market at the foot of disputed Preah Vihear temple, after being destroyed by Thai rocket fire during border clashes in April

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Cheang Sokha

Government disputes Thai argument that planned market reconstruction violates bilateral agreements.

CAMBODIAN officials have rejected Thai government claims that the reconstruction of a market at the foot of Preah Vihear temple violates a border agreement signed by the two countries, saying the project has nothing to do with the continuing standoff over contested territory.

Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said that the reconstruction of the market - which Cambodia says was destroyed by Thai rocket fire during border clashes in April - was merely intended to provide housing to 319 vendor families made homeless by the incident.

"Thailand's claims are groundless," he said Monday.

"They are only trying to disturb Cambodia."

On Thursday, Thailand's border communication office wrote to its Cambodian counterpart, claiming that the construction of new stalls at the market violated a memorandum of understanding on border demarcation signed between the two countries in 2000.

"The border communication team of Region 1 would like to inform you that the above action is in violation of the joint MoU on inspection and border demarcation," the letter stated.

Cambodia and Thailand have never fully demarcated their 805-kilometre shared border.

Photo by: Vandy Rattana
The market as it was prior to the incident.

Under construction
Sar Thavy, Preah Vihear deputy governor and a member of the market construction commission, said Monday that several stalls had already been rebuilt, and that the all construction activities were taking place on Cambodian soil.

"We have to rebuild those stalls because [the market] has been on that site for many years," he said.

"If Thailand complains about our reconstruction, it is their problem."

He added that construction workers were hurriedly building stands in an attempt to finish the project as soon as possible.

In May, Cambodia officially requested US$2.1 million in compensation for the damage at the market, but so far there has been no response from Bangkok.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said that Thailand had not yet sent a formal diplomatic note protesting the reconstruction, but added that Foreign Minister Hor Namhong was set to leave for Bangkok today for a meeting of the Joint Border Commission, set up to negotiate border issues.

Var Kimhong, Cambodia's top border negotiator, could not be reached for comment Monday.

Explosives to scare off pesky wild elephants

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Khouth Sophak Chakrya

A PROJECT launched last week in Mondulkiri province is training villagers to use explosive devices made of bamboo and basalt to scare wild elephants away from their farmland.

The project, led by the Forestry Administration and the conservation group Fauna and Flora International, comes amid increasing reports from villagers that wild elephants have ventured onto their property and destroyed their crops.

Chheang Nak, the Forestry Administration official leading the project, said Fauna and Flora was providing the explosive devices, which are made by placing explosive basalt inside a stick of bamboo, adding water and lighting an attached fuse made of silk.

The fuse sticks out of the bamboo by 5-10 centimetres, giving the villagers plenty of time to throw the device in the general direction of the targeted elephant, he said.

"It can be loud enough to scare the wild elephants, but it won't kill them," he said.

Cheak Chheung, the chief of Mondulkiri's Sre Khtum commune, located in Keo Seima district, said wild elephants had destroyed up to 5 hectares of farmland between July 15 and July 27. He said the commune, made up predominantly of Phnong minority villagers, had never before had a problem with elephants damaging farmland.

Several villagers interviewed by the Post expressed concern that wild elephants would continue to "attack" their crops.

Phuo Hignuok, 36, a villager in the commune's Om An village, said in late July that his two small rice fields were devastated by two wild elephants.

"One of the two elephants was very vicious," he said. "It tried to attack our rice field three days in a row and destroyed 3 hectares of rice paddy."

Another villager, Tresh Huo, 57, said two wild elephants "attacked" his farm for three consecutive days beginning on July 25, destroying his single-hectare banana and sugarcane plantation.

He added: "They didn't just destroy the cash crops. They also destroyed my cottage."

Invasion of "gentle animals"
Chear Vireak, the project leader for Fauna and Flora, said the destruction of farmland by wild elephants, though new to Sre Khtum commune, was not new to the province, adding that similar projects had been implemented in Mondulkiri as recently as last year.

He said wild elephants generally ventured out from the jungle towards sparse forests near villages beginning in early June, and that they would go back to the jungle in February.

"They always eat the cash crops and the rice of the villagers when they cross from the jungle to the area near the villages," he said.

He described wild elephants as "gentle animals that are as shy as humans", though he noted that they can become "vicious when they need to breed" in November and December. Citing official estimates, he said there were 300 wild elephants in Mondulkiri province.

Medical abortion drugs set for Cambodian registration

Abortion drug facts

Mifepristone is also known as RU-486 after the French company Roussel Uclaf that first developed it. Misoprostol was first approved to treat gastric ulcers, but in Brazil in the late 1980s, women discovered it could be used to induce an abortion.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Christopher Shay and Mom Kunthear

Many hope the imminent introduction of medical abortion drugs will save women's lives by providing a safe alternative to black-market abortion pills.

FIVE years ago, a young woman found herself needing to terminate an unexpected pregnancy. Shy and fearful of hospitals, she instead turned to an unlicensed pharmacist who prescribed unidentified pills.

"After I took the tablets, a few days later I lost a lot of blood, and I hurt very much in my stomach," Pheap, now 32, told the Post. "I could not do anything because I was very tired and had to sleep all the time."

Concerned for her health, Pheap's landlady took her to an unregistered clinic where she received a surgical abortion. There were no complications, and she made a full recovery, but other women in Cambodia haven't been so lucky.

Although Cambodia legalised abortion in 1997, tens of thousands of women still opt for unsafe surgical procedures at unregulated clinics or black-market pills.

A 2008 study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (BJOG) estimated that in 2005 almost 32,000 women in Cambodia were treated at government facilities for abortion-related complications. Forty-two percent of the cases were severe.

In a bid to make safe abortions more accessible, the Department of Drugs and Food is set to register the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, said John Naponick, who works with the government as director of the Reduction in Maternal Mortality Project.

The move would allow pills that can terminate pregnancy to be legally imported into the country and is being heralded as a step towards improving access to safe abortions.

"Although abortion is legal, that is not the same as accessible," said Tamara Fetters, a senior researcher at the nonprofit women's group Ipas and primary author of the 2008 BJOG study on abortion-related complications. "Many parts of the country still have limited or no access to safe abortion."

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I did not have someone to discuss it with ... I was like a crazy person.
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The secrecy and shame surrounding the issue, Fetters said, leads many women to seek help outside the formal health sector. "Abortion is a stigmatised service," she said. "Women who seek abortions are often chastised. They may do it without the knowledge or support of their families."

Sovan Rasmey, 33, underwent an unlicensed abortion two years ago, not realising the procedure was legal. She said could not speak to anyone about it without risking the scorn of her community.

"I went to do it by myself, and, until now, I have kept it a secret," she said. "I did not have someone to discuss it with because I did not want anyone to know. I was like a crazy person."

Women forced to resort to illegal procedures may be risking their lives, Fetters warned. "Drugs are purchased from pharmacists and from drug sellers in markets, so women are largely at the mercy of these vendors and their local knowledge," she said. Though some of the drugs may be effective, other substances "could cause toxicity or haemorrhage that can be life-threatening".

Naponick at Maternal Mortality Project said many Chinese-made abortion medications are dangerous for the simple reason that few people in Cambodia can read the instructions.

"All over Cambodia, there are all kinds of products up for sale," he said. "If the whole package is in Chinese, I don't think anyone will be able to read the expiration date."

Naponick said the societal benefits from the introduction of legal abortion drugs will spread into the informal sector. "If we have a product on the market which is legitimate with instructions that people can read, I would think the situation would be a lot better.... Having a safe, reliable, genuine product in the country is something that we've wanted to have for a long time."

Cambodia has among the highest rates of maternal mortality in the region, according to the 2005 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey - the most recent data on maternal health. At 472 deaths for every 100,000 live births, it is 10 times higher than Thailand's.

The exact number of deaths caused by unsafe abortions is unknown, said Joan Venghaus, a technical adviser to Marie Stopes International. "A lot of what we are hearing about backstreet abortions is anecdotal.... We don't even know how many people are accessing them," she said.

The World Health Organisation estimates that about 13 percent of global pregnancy deaths are caused by unsafe abortions.

Additional reporting by Eleanor Ainge Roy

Gold Heist: Bandits rob vendors in Siem Reap

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Chrann Chamroeun

GOLD HEIST

Police are searching for four men suspected of robbing two gold vendors in Siem Reap town's Svay Dangkum commune on Friday. Siem Reap deputy district police chief Mak Sam On told the Post that bandits armed with guns robbed Song Sopheap and Reach Kunthea as they returned from Loeu Thom Thmey market, making off with US$9,000, 45 million riels ($10,737) and 60 damlung (2.25kg) of gold and platinum. "It tends to be difficult to search for gunmen as they are not residents here," he said Monday, adding that the couple were the first gold vendors to be robbed in Siem Reap for several years. "However, we are now investigating and will try our best ... to hunt for the men, as we have some means of identifying the suspects." Mak Sam On added that Reach Kunthea was "seriously injured" in her struggles with the robbers.

Families clear-cut jungle near popular Beng Melea temple

Photo by: Tracey Shelton
The moss-covered ruins of the Beng Melea temple complex sit in a pile. The temple is a popular tourist site.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Khouth Sophak Chakrya

Apsara Authority warns community against logging, but residents say they need more farmland to feed their families and earn a living.

ABOUT 20 families have cleared the jungle in the conservation area next to Beng Mealea, an Angkorian-era temple complex about 50 kilometres from Angkor Wat that has become a popular tourist site, officials told the Post.

"They've clear-cut about 6 hectares of forest to expand their farmland," said Sam Sau, the deputy governor of Svay Leu district in Siem Reap province.

The Apsara Authority, the body in charge of preserving the temple complex, said they have warned the families that if they log any more of the protected forest, they would be arrested.

"At the moment, we have just educated them," said Soeung Kong, the deputy director general of the Apsara Authority. "But if they do not stop their illegal cutting of forest land ... we will file a complaint."

According to a Royal decree from 2000, the forest is under the control of the Apsara Authority.

But residents from the Beng Mealea commune say they need to cut the forest to have farmland to feed their families, as the community has outgrown their meagre farms.

"They have a shortage of land that they can use for agriculture," said Hun Hatt, chief of Beng Mealea commune, adding that the villagers wanted to plant bananas and pineapples.

Resident Vann Mach, 52, said, "I need the farmland to share with my children after they are married."

Sentences upheld by Appeal Court in '07 paedophilia case

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Chrann Chamroeun

Cambodia's Appeal Court on Monday refused to reduce the prison sentences handed down two years ago against defendents convicted of operating one of the Kingdom's most brutal paedophilia rings.

The two Germans and three Vietnamese had hoped their sentences would be reduced under new anti-trafficking legislation that has resulted in several sex offenders' prison terms being slashed.

Following a massive August 2006 police raid on the house of reputed mastermind Karl Heinz Henning, then 61, the five were sentenced in 2007 for their roles in trafficking and abusing underage Vietnamese girls.

At Henning's house, police seized vast amounts of sadomasochistic child pornography - primarily images and footage of Henning and other older Western men whipping and raping bound children.

Also during the raid, authorities rescued four Vietnamese girls found naked in the house and confiscated pornographic videocassettes and VCDs, together with film production equipment. The girls were aged 10, 11, 13 and 14 at the time.

The Appeal Court upheld a Phnom Penh Municipal Court conviction from 2007 but changed some articles in accordance with the new law.

Reading the verdict, presiding Judge Chaem Vicharit said: "We upheld Phnom Penh Court's 2007 conviction, but we changed to the new law under Article 15 about the act of selling with intent, Article 28 about procurement with regard to child prostitution and Article 34 about the purchase of child prostitution."

German national Thomas Sigwart Eugen Baron von Engelhardt, 44, was jailed for 12 years. Karl Heinz Henning, also German, was sentenced to 28 years. Two Vietnamese women and one Vietnamese man were jailed for between 15 and 20 years.

Peng Maneth, a lawyer with Action Pour Les Enfants - the anti-paedophile NGO involved in the 2006 raid that prompted the charges - praised the verdict but said the victims should have been compensated.

"We welcome the Appeal Court's decision to uphold the lower court's conviction, but we feel terribly sorry that the five offenders have not been ordered to pay compensation for victims," he said.

Govt to broker deal in Takeo market dispute

Photo by: Tracey Shelton
Tonloab market vendors protest in front of Hun Sen’s house on Sunday.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
May Titthara

Officials from Hun Sen's office instruct vendors to cease protests in return for new negotiations.

VENDORS from Takeo province who travelled to the Kandal province home of Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday to protest a dispute with a market owner were heading home Monday after meeting with officials from Hun Sen's office who promised to solve the problem.

The vendors had previously worked at Tonloab market in Takeo's Prea Bat Chonchum commune, Kirivong district, about 13 kilometres from the Vietnamese border. They claim that the owner of the market told them to leave their stalls while they underwent maintenance work, only to put them up for sale at a higher price when they returned.

Bun Theng, one of around 130 vendors who arrived in Phnom Penh on Saturday, said that representatives of Hun Sen had promised to broker a meeting with the Takeo provincial governor to settle the issue. "We would not have left if they had not made that promise," he said.

Protesters set up in front of Hun Sen's Takhmao residence in Kandal province after walking the 30 kilometres from Takeo to Kandal when provincial authorities confiscated seven vans the vendors had rented for the trip, they said.

Govt to handle negotiations
Lim Leang Se, deputy chief of Hun Sen's Cabinet, claimed that the government would handle negotiations between the market owner, local officials and the displaced merchants, and that the dispute has now been resolved.

"The people agreed to go back home because we settled their problem," he said. "We are giving the rights back to them so they can sell at their old places."

Some protesters, however, remained sceptical.

"I don't believe [the government] 100 percent yet. I think they just encouraged us to go back home because it looked bad to have us protesting in front of the prime minister's house," said Nhen Pros, one of the vendors. "How can we sell at the same place if they've constructed new shops already?"

Kirivong district Governor Tek Songlim was accused last week of threatening one of the vendors' representatives at gunpoint, attempting to dissuade the group from travelling to Kandal. On Monday, the governor said his office had sent a letter to the vendors informing them that that they can return to their old location once construction is finished.

Tonloab market owner Ung Rithea could not be reached for comment Monday.

Police Blotter: 4 Aug 2009

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Kong Sokun

GENERAL DECLARES WAR ON RESTAURANT
A heavily intoxicated two-star general smashed wine glasses and plates against the floor and fired his gun two times into the ceiling at Boeung Meas restaurant in Russei Keo district on Friday at around 10:30pm. The general began his drunken tantrum after a female server refused to pour wine into his glass and the restaurant's owner declined to express warm hospitality towards the general upon his arrival. After firing two bullets from his handgun, the military official, whose name and address were not disclosed, fled the scene with in a black Mercedes SUV that lacked licence plates. He drove so recklessly that he hit a parked car in the restaurant lot, but this mishap did not stop the drunken general's attempt to escape, eyewitnesses said. After the incident, authorities reached the restaurant but did not dare make any inquiries.
RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

JILTED LOVER CHOKES FORMER GIRLFRIEND
A man was arrested by police in Kandal province's Ang Snuol district for strangling his former girlfriend, a garment worker who stopped loving him and turned her eyes to a new man. The violence broke out in the district's Kambaul commune at around 8:30pm on Friday. Police identified the love-stricken man as 21-year-old Lun Taiv and the victim as Chhoeun Leakna. After the arrest, the man confessed to police that he had attempted to end Chhoeun Leakna's life and then kill himself to end the pain of unrequited love.
KOH SANTEPHEAP

POLICE SHUT DOWN 'mASSAGE' HOTEL
Siem Reap provincial police raided the Angkor Monorom Guesthouse on Sunday in Siem Reap city, detaining the couple who own the facility along with 10 females suspected of providing sex and massage services to customers. Um Amara, Siem Reap provincial deputy police chief, said the crackdown was launched following orders from Prime Minister Hun Sen. Police identified the owners as 58-year-old Soum Leng and his wife, 42-year-old Hay Sok Dalen. The couple denied that their guesthouse had provided sex services to customers.
KOH SANTEPHEAP

ARMED CRONY STILL ON THE PROWL
A man was rushed to a private hospital in Phnom Penh after he was stabbed several times by his crony, who was attempting to rob him of his modern motorbike. The incident took place on Thursday in Dangkor district. Police identified the victim as Yen Vath, a 29-year-old construction worker living in a rented house in the district's Choam Chao commune. The perpetrator remains at large.
RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

Former child medic says S-21 prisoners had torture wounds

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Georgia Wilkins

Latest witness in the trial of S-21 chief Duch claims he treated detainees with 'torn' ears and missing fingernails to allow interrogation.

A WITNESS claiming to be a former child medic at Tuol Sleng prison told Cambodia's war crimes court Monday that he treated people with apparent torture wounds, including torn ears and missing fingernails.

Sek Dorn, who said he first came to the prison in 1978, said his primary form of treatment involved giving sick detainees "rabbit pellets", a homemade medicine that he said would only keep prisoners alive for a short period of time.

"The medicine would be enough to keep them alive until they were interrogated, that was all," he said.

"Normally, after such treatment, the people I gave the medicine to disappeared."

Sek Dorn was called to testify against his former boss, Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, who is on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He said he at times became so hungry at the prison that he ate the "rabbit pellets" and other types of medicine himself.

"Some of them had a sweet taste, and some of them were bitter," he said.

Asked to provide observations on Sek Dorn's testimony, Duch said the inconsistency between his stated birth year and the age at which he said he entered the prison made him "suspicious".

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NORMALLY, AFTER SUCH TREATMENT, THE PEOPLE I GAVE THE MEDICINE TO DISAPPEARED
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"He said that he is now 48 years old, so it was the year 1961 that he was born, but he said he came to S-21 when he was 11 years old," Duch said. "It is likely he was sent to S-21; however, the testimony provided by him has contradictory timelines."

Also Monday, the court heard from witness Lach Mien, who said he was a former guard and interrogator at the prison.

Lach Mien told the court he knew a staff member had been purged when he noticed one disappear and, shortly thereafter, saw a body covered in a blanket brought out of the prison. His testimony is to continue today.

Pol Pot: US asked Sweden to hold KR trial

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Sebastian Strangio

POL POT

The US government approached Sweden as a possible location for a trial of Pol Pot just days before his death in April 1998, according to documents recently declassified by the Swedish government. The documents, reviewed on the country's national Sveriges Radio, show that "representatives from American authorities" approached personnel with Sweden's Foreign Ministry to discuss a secret plan to bring Pol Pot to trial in Sweden or in a third country. Sweden's Ministry of Justice rejected the American plan, saying it would have required the country to file a request to have Pol Pot extradited from Cambodia. A second plan, to have Sweden hold Pol Pot until a trial could be arranged in a third country, was also rejected on the grounds it would have involved an illegal detention, in violation of Swedish law. The documents also reportedly cited Justice Ministry concerns that the vast amount of time that had elapsed since the crimes, as well as the geographical distance between Sweden and Cambodia, meant that the evidence presented against Pol Pot would be too vague.

Rail freight falls 15pc in first half, operator says

Photo by: Tracey Shelton
A locomotive passes a residential area of Phnom Penh. Royal Railways of Cambodia said freight volumes were down 15 percent in the first half

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Nguon Sovan

Royal Railways of Cambodia blames weak construction sector, line upgrades and Thai border dispute for decreased volume

ROYAL Railways of Cambodia said Monday that freight volumes were down 15 percent in the first six months of 2009 over the same period last year.

It blamed the fall on the global economic crisis that has damaged the construction industry, as well as delays caused by upgrades to the rail network.

"Transport volumes have dropped to about 99,000 tonnes in the first half of this year from 116,500 in the same period last year," RRC Director General Sokhom Pheakavanmony said.

He said revenues for the six month period have not yet been calculated.

Sokhom Pheakavanmony said the Kingdom has two railroad lines. One runs from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville in the south. The other goes from Phnom Penh west to Battambang, and from there to Sisophon on the Thai border.

He said the bulk of freight is comprised of cement, other construction materials and petroleum.

"We have seen a remarkable decline in the transportation of construction materials due to the downturn in that sector," he said. "Upgrading the railroads has disturbed train traffic, as has the border issue with Thailand, which cut the quantity of goods shipped through Poipet checkpoint."
RRC trains transported 233,000 tonnes of freight last year, generating revenues of around US$1.5 million.

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Upgrading the railroads has disturbed train traffic, as has the border issue.
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Cambodia's rail network was built in 1929 and was last upgraded in the 1960s. Three decades of conflict destroyed or damaged much of the system.

Under a $73 million reconstruction plan, the Asian Development Bank has loaned part of the money to refurbish 594 kilometres of line. A further 48 kilometres of destroyed track will be replaced. The government and other international partners are also contributing funds.

The line from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville can carry 15 tonnes of freight, but after the upgrade it will be able to take 20 tonnes of freight at an average speed of up to 50 kph. That part of the project will include building a spur to Sihanoukville port.

The Phnom Penh-to-Battambang railway will be able to take 15 tonnes after refurbishing.

Work began in March 2008 to replace railway sleepers. The project is expected to finish by early 2011.

Earlier this year the government awarded a 30-year contract to Australian firm Toll Holdings to operate the railways and rail freight. Under the deal, Toll will have a 55-percent stake in the venture. Local partner Royal Group will hold the rest.

Toll said this year that the agreement is conditional on confirmation of a $145 million investment by the international community. The money will be used to upgrade the network and construct an intermodal facility in Phnom Penh.

Siem Reap hotels still being built

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Chun Sophal

SIEM Reap continues to add hotel rooms despite a 13-percent drop in tourist numbers in the first six months of the year.

Ghov Seng Kak, acting president of the provincial tourism department, said 17 hotels are under construction. When completed they will add 2,700 rooms to capacity - an increase of around one-third - and employ 3,000 local staff, he said.

He predicts that the number of hotel rooms will not exceed long-term demand since the province - home to Angkor Wat - has strong tourism appeal.

"I believe that between August and March 2010, Siem Reap will receive more tourists than in the previous [eight] months because it is the reason tourists come [to Cambodia]," he said.

Provincial Governor Sou Phirin said Monday there are no obstacles to further development of Siem Reap's hotel sector, although he declined to state how much money is being spent on construction.

He said current construction must continue and maintains that investors are confident the global economic problems will abate.

"So I hope that more hotels will be constructed ... and more Cambodian people will get jobs at them," he said.

Figures from the provincial tourism department show the province has 116 hotels totalling more than 8,000 rooms. It received 503,000 visitors in the first six months of the year, compared with 578,700 in the same period last year.

Luu Meng, president of the Cambodian Hotel Association, said Monday that hotel owners have not shut down in the face of the global slowdown, but have mainly cut working hours.

Chocolate company to set up in Cambodia

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Ith Sothoeuth

BELGIUM'S Grand-Place chocolate company announced on Monday that it will open a sales office in Phnom Penh to import chocolate.

The firm, a business-to-business operation, is looking to sell 35 tonnes in the first year, it said.

Adrien Restle, managing director of the company's Cambodia office, said the company saw an opening after researching the Cambodian market.

"We undertook some surveys in Cambodia, and there is no service like that ... so we decided to be the first to develop the chocolate market here and help people improve their technique," he said at a an official launch in Phnom Penh Monday.

Initially the firm will import chocolates from its factory in Vietnam, but Restle said he hopes to start production in the Kingdom in the future.

The firm sells 3,500 tonnes of chocolate worldwide each year.

Telecom law delayed over finance proviso

Photo by: Sovan Philong
Mobile-phone vendors sell phones and SIM cards on a street in Phnom Penh.

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We are now waiting for the final decision from the Council of Ministers.
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The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Ith Sothoeuth and Steve Finch

Authorities say Ministry of Finance objected to telecom regulator’s role as financial watchdog

THE Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications on Monday chalked up delays in the implementation of a long-awaited telecom law to disagreements over the handling of finances from the sector, citing a draft of the legislation published earlier this year.

Article 8 of a draft of the law published on June 5 states that the future telecommunications regulator - which would be created as part of new legislation - would be "autonomous in checking and controlling ... financially in installing, operating, supplying and using network and telecommunications services".

However, La Narath, a secretary of state at the ministry, said the Ministry of Economy and Finance had objected to the wording - the disagreement, he added, had been resolved after a meeting between both ministries.

"We just deleted the word 'financially' ... only this one word; besides that, [the draft] was OK," he said. "We are now waiting for the final decision from the Council of Ministers."

Council spokesman Phay Siphan said in June that consultations with various ministries were being held "to make sure the law is in harmony with relevant ministries".

He was unavailable for further comment Monday on the progress of the legislation. The Ministry of Economy and Finance was also unavailable.

Regulatory powers
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications So Khun said Monday that as a result of governmental discussions in the past two months, the telecom regulator would still have supervision of the industry except with regard to financial matters.

"[Regulators] will still have autonomy, but there are some points that come under the authority of the Ministry of Finance due to financial law," he said, adding that auditors from the Ministry of Finance would also audit the telecom regulator's spending.

So Khun said that mobile-phone operators would have to share signal towers according to the new regulations instead of erecting separate towers, as has happened in the past.

"Companies can rent towers from their owners, meaning they share the tower," he said.

Hello's chief executive officer, Simon Perkins, told the Post last week that the clause on infrastructure-sharing "doesn't bother us".

Mobitel, the leading mobile provider by active users, which said this year that it planned to invest US$350 million in infrastructure as part of a three-year rural expansion plan, declined to comment on the draft law on Monday.

Mark Hanna, chief financial officer of Royal Group, which owns a 38.5 percent stake in Mobitel, said the company had only recently seen the draft law.

Mobile companies operating in the Kingdom recently told the Post they had been concerned by unclear provisions in the draft legislation that had outlined limitations on foreign ownership, set at 49 percent, but had since been informed by So Khun that such articles related to company land ownership only.

"There is no limitation on foreign ownership. If someone holds a 100 percent share [in a mobile-phone company in Cambodia], he is the owner," So Khun said Monday.

The majority of Cambodia's mobile operators are owned by foreign entities, including Mobitel, which is 58.4 percent owned by Millicom International SA; Viettel, which is operated by the Vietnamese military; and Hello, in which Kuala Lumpur-based Axiata holds the majority stake.

Millicom to split assets in Asia ahead of sale

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Steve Finch

Stakes in Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka to be separated before sales due by Q1 of next year

MILLICOM International SA, the Luxembourg-based company that holds a 58.4 percent stake in Cambodian mobile-phone operator Mobitel, said Monday it will likely split its Asian assets ahead of a proposed sale this year.

"We expect the Asian countries to now be sold separately," said Perregrine Riviere, Millicom's head of external relations.

Riviere declined to comment further on the process, which it said last month had been outsourced to Goldman Sachs, except to say that there have been "multiple expressions of interest".

Millicom previously said it expected the sale of its Cambodian, Laotian and Sri Lankan assets would be finalised by the first quarter of 2010.

Malaysia's Axiata, which runs Cambodian mobile-phone provider Hello, and Royal Group, which holds a 38.5 percent stake in Mobitel, are reported to be among a host of bidders for the Cambodian asset.

Muhammad Akhtar Zaman, who owns the remaining 3.1-percent share in Mobitel, said he will sell his stake.
"I will follow Millicom [International] on this," he said Monday.

Zaman also holds a 4-percent stake in Millicom Lao, according to Millicom reports.

Local at-risk youths aim for competition abroad

Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN
At home on the field: A player from The Cambodia Daily team tries to break away from a yellow-shirted defender from team Hathakasekor in Sunday’s game at Boeung Keng Kang High School.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Nora Lindstrom

Despite hard odds against them, a team of Cambodians is training to compete in the Homeless World Cup – training a local NGO says helps them stay focused

It's early Saturday morning, and the sun is already scorching hot. Yet the dozen young men running after the ball on a small enclosed pitch at Boeung Keng Kang High School seem not to care.

Their focus is solely on improving their football skills and training for tomorrow's game. The heat, and all else, is inconsequential.

The youngsters are part of a football programme run by Australian NGO Happy Football Cambodia Australia (HFCA). Since its establishment in 2005, HFCA has been reaching out to disadvantaged youth in Cambodia through football.

Chao Vibol, the organisation's country manager, said football had a positive effect on poor and homeless children.

"This programme makes the children use their time in a good way, make new friends, improve their football skills and cut down bad behaviour, such as fighting, stealing and taking drugs," Chao Vibol said.

HFCA partners with three local organisations to organise regular training sessions with professional coaches for around 70 vulnerable children.

Recently, the weekend sessions have a gained a new sense of urgency, as the team prepares for the 2009 Homeless World Cup in Milan this September.

Inspiration through football
This year the organisation intends to send a group of players to the international event for the second time.

Last year, five players travelled to Melbourne to play in what organisers of the World Cup described as an event aimed at energising people who were homeless to change their own lives.

And although the team did not return with the trophy last year, HFCA Chairman Paraic Grogan said via email that the players had returned richer for the experience.

"The impact of taking part ... is massive not only on the players but also on their families, their community and the organisations," Grogan wrote.

According to Riverkids, one of HFCA's local partners organisations, participating in the World Cup helped with the teenagers' recovery by giving them something to aim for.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't think they’ll actually win the trophy, but they can win some experience.
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"It helps them to strive for a better future - for themselves, their families and their friends," the organisation stated in report after last year's event.

This year, HFCA plans to send a team of six players to Milan to join 500 players from 48 countries in competing for the trophy.

According to coach Jimmy Campbell, the team is unlikely to win this year.

"But it depends on what you call winning," Campbell said.

"I don't think they'll actually win the trophy, but they can win some experience, they can make new friends, and have an experience that very few people from Cambodia are able to have.

"They will win something, but unfortunately I don't think it will be the World Cup."

Funding still pending
This year's team consists of Nam Sophal, Chan Rithy, Kung Theara, Men Monira, Chan Pheakdey and Kang Viet. Most of the lanky boys are in their late teens.

Chao Vibol explained that they all came from poor backgrounds and that most had received little formal education.

Despite being the oldest in the team, Kang Viet, 20, is only in grade 3. He said playing football made him happy, and he was looking forward to travelling to Milan for the World Cup.

Chan Pheakday, 16, an orphan who used to work at the Stung Meanchey dumpsite, said he, too, enjoyed playing the beautiful game.

"I have made many friends, it keeps me healthy, and it means I am spending the 'right' time," he said. Presumably, spending the "right time" means it keeps him out of trouble.

Team members described the opportunity to travel to Milan to take part in the World Cup as "surprising" and "unexpected".

"I will try, try, try 100 percent to become more skilled and get stronger before we go," Nam Sophal,19, said, though he said he, like his coaches, thought his team's chances of winning were slim.

Funding still needed
However, travel plans for the team are still pending.

According to Grogan, HFCA is still looking for sponsorship to cover the cost of flights, Italian visas, travel insurance and living allowances.

Though Campbell is not letting financial worries get in the way of training, he says more funds are urgently needed.

"We really need some help to get the kids sent to Milan," Campbell said.

Whether or not the organisation manages to raise the funds, the regular training sessions have already had a positive effect on the squad.

"I think they're working a lot harder than when we first started around six to seven months ago," Campbell said.

Back then they were very happy to do the easiest thing.... Now they are doing a lot more physical exercise and body conditioning."

The 2009 Homeless World Cup in Milan will take place September 6 to 13.

For more information see www.homelessworldcup.org and www.hfcaustralia.org.

Unstoppable Kao Roomchang

Photo by: Robert Starkweather
Kao Roomchang (right, red shorts) gets awarded the points decision over Van Chanvey Sunday at CTN to move a step closer to the lightweight title.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Robert Starkweather

Bloodletting begins early Sunday at CTN as Kao Roomchang scores an upset decision victory over Van Chanvey in their first lightweight tournament bout

KAO Roomchang survived an early cut and a brutal third round to score an upset decision victory over Van Chanvey Sunday at the CTN boxing arena.

With Kao Roomchang against the ropes late in the second round, Van Chanvey landed a right elbow that opened a thick cut over Kao Roomchang's left eye.

Kao Roomchang came exploding back in the third round, igniting one of the most vicious rounds of boxing in recent memory, and the two fighters stood toe-to-toe, trading elbows nearly every second of the round.

The match came as part of an eight-man tournament to determine a challenger for the 60-kilogram title. Among the toughest men on the roster, Kao Roomchang and Van Chanvey had never before faced each other, and their meeting was one of the most heavily anticipated bouts of the competition.

Fight fans turned out in record numbers, and CTN took the rare move of opening the station's second parking lot, which was packed long before opening bell.

A slight favorite heading into the bout, 23-year-old Van Chanvey held the rare possibility of beating Kao Roomchang, 21. Or so it seemed.

Yet now, with Van Chanvey and Vung Noy defeated, the only real challenge left to Kao Roomchang's first-place finish is Long Sophy, currently the top-ranked contender, with the two set to meet October 11 on the final day of round-robin competition.

Kao Roomchang has beaten Long Sophy before, a fact of which he is well aware. Barring anything extraordinary, Kao Roomchang stated, nothing should prevent him from claiming first prize.

The winner of the tournament will face current 60-kilogram champion Lao Sinath for a shot at the lightweight title. Kao Roomchang has also beaten Lao Sinath before, in May, when the two met in a non-title bout.

A native of Battambang, Kao Roomchang trains in Anlong Veng, where he serves as a soldier with Brigade 43. Heading into Sunday's match, he knew well the danger that Van Chanvey posed. Before the fight, Kao Roomchang stood at center ring and whispered a very long prayer.

As the bout began, both fighters worked patiently, seemingly aware of the incredible violence to come, and in no rush to speed its arrival.

Kao Roomchang and Van Chanvey, also from Battambang, have known each other for years, and the pair smiled warmly and touched gloves several times during the first round.

Combinations came more frequently in the second round, and kicks landed with more force, but both fighters stayed disciplined until just seconds before the end of the round, when a flurry of punches and elbows left Kao Roomchang bleeding from a gash above his left eye.

Referee Sok Vichay, his jawline decorated with the tattoos of a soldier, mopped up the blood.

When the bell rang to open the third round, Kao Roomchang exploded with a three-punch combination and at least as many elbows, driving Van Chanvey backward into the ropes.

In a furious exchange in the corner, Kao Roomchang landed another elbow that split Van Chanvey's right eyebrow and buckled his knees, as Van Chanvey answered back with elbows from every direction.

The two did not stop until the bell rang. Van Chanvey looked the better of the pair afterwards, but down the stretch, Kao Roomchang kept busier and continued to press the action.

Using his height and reach advantage, Kao Roomchang kept Van Chanvey on the outside and scored with punches, with neither fighter showing much appetite to revisit the bruising battles of the inside.

Van Chanvey looked disappointed in the outcome, but to his brother and cornerman, Van Chanvait, the decision came as little surprise.
"We lost," he said.

In the second of two lightweight tournament fights Sunday, Vung Noy scored a TKO victory over Bheut Bunthoeun with a knee in the fourth round.

Van Chanvey and Kao Roomchang return to the ring August 16, when Van Chanvey faces Vung Noy and Kao Roomchang faces Bheut Bunthoeun.

The lightweight tournament continues until November.

Cambodia flop in games

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 04 August 2009
DAN RILEY

BANGKOK - All three of the Cambodian taekwondo athletes failed to grab a medal Monday at the 2009 Asian Martial Arts Games in Bangkok. Choun Sarun, fighting in the men's finweight category (50-54 kilograms), Sorn Elit, fighting in the men's heavyweight category (over 84kg) and Chhoueng Puthearim, fighting in the women's flyweight category (47-51kg), lost in their bouts, while nations including Korea, Japan, Kazhakstan and host Thailand took home the medals. The inaugural Asian Martial Arts tournament commissioned by the Olympic Council of Asia and held August 1-9, has attracted some 40 countries and 1,500 athletes. Cambodian Olympic Committee official Sok Ang apologised on behalf of the taekwondo team for their poor performance. "I would [like] to say sorry to all supporters, sponsors, and all people in Cambodia," he said by email Monday.

Vancouver has no place in Kingdom of Wonder

The Phnom Penh Post
Monday, 03 August 2009
Sara Bradford

Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to the letter by Chansokhy Anhaouy titled "Prostitution has no place in Kingdom of Wonder" (July 30, 2009).

There are a number of items I would like to address in this letter, but I will do so while keeping in mind that Chansokhy lives in Vancouver and does not see the extreme poverty and other conditions in Cambodia that constrain the job options women have.

Chansokhy begins her letter by stating that she is tired of the argument that sex workers are human beings whose life circumstances have brought them to sex work. All people are influenced by their surroundings and situations. People who choose to become sex workers are not lesser humans, and they should not be frowned upon or degraded. Sex workers risk their bodies and lives for the livelihood of their families and themselves, which shows personal strength and resilience beyond anything I can imagine.

Chansokhy goes on to compare sex workers and drug users to human traffickers. She could not be more off base. First of all, drug users are completely unrelated to any other part of her rant, and she assumedly threw them in to further her bullying of marginalised populations. If she had actually comprehended the article in question she would understand that sex workers want to work to end trafficking, but their progress is being hindered by uncooperative law enforcement officials - the same law enforcement officials she praises throughout her letter.

Had Chansokhy done any background research on the 2008 Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, she would see that it has been a failure, and that the enforcement of it has had nothing to do with arresting actual human traffickers. Her premature and uninformed pride in law enforcement compels me to question the validity of any of her statements, especially her view that I, along with the Cambodian Alliance for Combating HIV/AIDS and the Women's Network for Unity, promote sex, drugs and pornography. This is insidious.

Finally, her closing argument that less prostitution will create less trafficking is the most illogical thing I have ever heard. If sex work were banished, the demand for sex workers would still be there, thus prompting the trafficking industry to scale up.

I suggest that in the future Chansokhy comments only on things she is knowledgeable about and leaves the work in Cambodia to people familiar with the situation in Cambodia.

Sara Bradford
Technical Adviser
Asia Pacific Network for Sex Workers


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Send letters to: newsroom@phnompenhpost.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or PO Box 146, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Post reserves the right to edit letters to a shorter length.

The views expressed above are solely the author's and do not reflect any positions taken by The Phnom Penh Post.

US wanted to bring Pol Pot to Sweden: report

3 Aug 09

Recently declassified documents reveal that Sweden was among the countries the United States looked to for help in an effort to bring Pol Pot, the late leader of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge movement, to trial.

• Swedes meet detained US journalists in North Korea (17 May 09)
• Call for probe into Sweden-CIA terror links (8 May 09)
• Court lowers penalty for Swedish girl's Cambodia abduction(13 Feb 09)

According to previously classified documents from 1998 recently reviewed by Sveriges Radio (SR), Sweden rebuffed the US request for assistance in arranging a trial for Pol Pot, whose policies are believed to have resulted in the death of more than 1 million people in Cambodia in the 1970s.

The documents explain that in 1998, when Pol Pot was under house arrest and days before his death on April 15th, “representatives from American authorities” approached personnel with Sweden’s foreign ministry to discuss a secret plan to bring Pol Pot to trial.

Other sources told SR the plan was to have Pol Pot taken to neighbouring Thailand where he would be put on an American plane and flown to Sweden, although the plan is not described in the declassified documents.

There were two alternatives for putting Pol Pot on trial, according to the documents.

One suggestion was for Sweden to arrange a trial; the other called for Sweden to hold Pol Pot in a Swedish prison until a trial could be arranged in another country.

The first alternative was rejected by Sweden’s Ministry of Justice as it would have required Sweden to file request to have Pol Pot extradited from Cambodia. The process would have required a preliminary investigation as well as a detention order from a Swedish court.

The second alternative, according to Swedish justice ministry officials, would have involved an illegal detention, in violation of Swedish law.

The memo also cited justice ministry concerns that the length of time that had elapsed since the crimes, as well as the long distance between Sweden and the scene of the crimes, created a risk that the evidence presented against Pol Pot would be too vague.

U.S.-Lower Mekong Cooperation

A Thai soldier patrols past the flags of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) prior the 42nd ministerial meeting in Phuket.

VOA News
02 August 2009

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with the Foreign Ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam to highlight the increasing cooperation between the United States and the countries of the Lower Mekong basin region. The July 23rd meeting in Phuket, Thailand was the first of its kind.

At that meeting, Secretary Clinton underlined the importance of the Lower Mekong region to the United States, as part of America's commitment to advance peace and prosperity in the Association of South East Asian Nations region as a whole. The Ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam welcomed closer cooperation with the U.S. on issues of mutual interest, including cross-border challenges related to the environment, health, education, and infrastructure development.

To expand cooperation on the environment, Secretary Clinton presented a proposal to develop a computer-based model called "Forecast Mekong," to illustrate the impact of climate change and other challenges to the sustainable development of the Mekong River Basin. Another program is an agreement between the Mekong River Commission and the Mississippi River Commission to pursue a "sister-river" partnership to improve the management of trans-boundary water resources.

The United States will continue to support projects that promote the sustainable use of forest and water resources, preserve the tremendous biodiversity of the Mekong Basin, and increase access to safe drinking water. The U.S. will spend more than $7 million in 2009 on environmental programs in the Mekong Region. In addition, Secretary Clinton is seeking Congressional approval for an additional $15 million in 2010 for assistance related to improving food security in Mekong countries.

U.S. health assistance to Mekong countries will total over $138 million in 2009 and will support HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, pandemic influenza programs, and efforts to treat drug-resistant strains of malaria and tuberculosis. The U.S. will hold a "U.S.-Mekong Conference on Integrated Approaches to Infectious Disease" to consider how to make these efforts more effective.

In education, the U.S. is supporting more than 500 student and scholarly exchanges in the region in 2009; helping to support access to basic education and expand the availability of broadband Internet connections in rural communities. The U.S. also plans to hold a "U.S.-Mekong Forum on the Internet, Education and Development" to promote best practices and regional collaboration on the use of internet connectivity to foster development. U.S. education-related assistance in 2009 will total $16 million.

Closer cooperation between the U.S. and Lower Mekong nations is in the interest of the United States, the Lower Mekong nations, ASEAN and Asia as a whole.

Cambodia’s ‘AIDS Colony’ Only Adds to the Suffering

http://thejakartaglobe.com

August 03, 2009
Human Rights Watch

The Cambodian government should urgently address dangerous conditions in a de facto AIDS colony it has created and immediately stop sending HIV-affected families there, more than 100 international HIV/AIDS and social justice organizations and experts said in a joint letter delivered on July 27, 2009, to Cambodia’s prime minister and health minister.

In June 2009, the Cambodian government forcibly relocated 20 HIV-affected families living in Borei Keila, a housing development in Phnom Penh, to substandard housing at Tuol Sambo, a remote site 25 kilometers from the city. Another 20 families were moved there on July 23. The families were resettled into crude, green metal sheds that are baking hot in the daytime and lack running water and adequate sanitation. Just meters away, higher-quality brick housing is being built, with the assistance of a nonprofit group, for other homeless families slated for resettlement at Tuol Sambo. Even before the HIV-affected families were resettled at the site, local people referred to the green sheds as “the AIDS village.”

“By bundling people living with HIV together into second-rate housing, far from medical facilities, support services and jobs, the government has created a de facto AIDS colony,” said Shiba Phurailatpam of the Asia-Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS. “It’s hard to understand how a government that has received international recognition for its HIV-prevention efforts could so callously ignore the basic rights of people living with HIV.”

Dozens of organizations and individuals based in the Asia-Pacific region signed the letter, joined by groups and individuals from many nations, ranging from Canada and the United States to India and Tanzania.

The letter stresses that conditions at Tuol Sambo do not meet minimum international standards for even temporary emergency housing. The shelters are flanked by open sewers, with only one public well for all of the relocated families. They are crowded into the poorly ventilated metal sheds, where the afternoon heat is so intense they often cannot remain in their rooms, and they fear their antiretroviral (ARV) medication will deteriorate.

“People living with HIV have compromised immune systems and are especially vulnerable,” said Rebecca Schleifer, a health and human rights advocate at Human Rights Watch. “For them, these substandard conditions can mean a death sentence or a ticket to a hospital.”

The organizations also expressed deep concern about discrimination against HIV-affected families in the screening and allocation process for on-site replacement housing being built at Borei Keila. After two years of denying eligibility to HIV-affected families for this housing, the authorities have now said that at least 11 HIV-affected families previously slated to be sent to Tuol Sambo are in fact eligible. Those families remain at Borei Keila, but are still waiting for the housing they have been promised.

The development of the Borei Keila site was approved in 2003 with the understanding that the developer would build new housing on site for those displaced by the project. With few exceptions, however, the HIV-affected families thus far displaced have not even been screened for eligibility for this housing.

When living at Borei Keila, these people worked as day laborers, motorcycle taxi drivers, cleaners and seamstresses. Now, most have no prospects of work at or near Tuol Sambo. Their economic situation is worsened by the fact that a return trip to Phnom Penh to go to work or to visit hospitals costs the equivalent of about $5 — for families who earn only $1.50 to $3 a day.

The groups have called on the Cambodian government to carry out a number of steps, including to :

• Cease moving HIV-affected families to the Tuol Sambo site;

• Improve conditions at Tuol Sambo to meet minimum standards for adequate shelter, sanitation and clean water;

• Ensure full access to quality medical services, including antiretroviral treatment;

• Employ a transparent and fair screening process to determine eligibility for on-site housing at Borei Keila. For those found ineligible, authorities should provide other adequate housing.

“Living with HIV with dignity means more than just ARVs,” said Aditi Sharma of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition. “It means these families should have a healthy environment with adequate nutrition, proper sanitation and a continuum of care that addresses the social, psychological, legal and economic consequences of living with HIV.”

New York-based Human Rights Watch is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization with a worldwide presence.

Cambodia cancels landmine pageant

Sou Yeu, 35, is the candidate from the Kompong Cham region

BBC NEWS
Monday, 3 August 2009

A beauty pageant for landmine victims has been cancelled by the Cambodian government, which branded it an insult to disabled people.

Authorities said the contest, due to launch on Friday, would damage "the dignity and honour" of participants.

Twenty women were to have competed for the title of Miss Landmine and the prize of a high-tech prosthetic limb.

Norwegian organiser Morten Traavik expressed disappointment, but said the contest would go ahead on the internet.

He said the result would be announced on 31 December. The website shows photos of the contestants, with missing limbs, wearing crowns and dresses. They are aged from 18 to 48.

Between four and six million landmines are thought to have been laid in Cambodia during its three decades of civil war.

'Mockery'

Mr Traavik - who launched the first Miss Landmine pageant in Angola two years ago - said his contest was intended to raise awareness about the issue and empower those whose lives had been affected by the explosive devices.

Cambodia's landmine legacy

"I'm not looking forward to breaking the news to the 20 candidates involved, as I know they will be very disappointed in the lack of support from Cambodian authorities," he told AFP news agency.

Photographs of the participants were to have been shown in an exhibition in the capital, Phnom Penh.

But government spokesman Khieu Khanarith said the competition would "make a mockery of Cambodia's landmine victims".

"The government does not support this contest," he said.

Government and NGO teams are working to clear the country's landmines, but swathes of contaminated land remain in western border regions.

In 2007, more than 350 people were killed or injured in blasts from landmines or unexploded ordnance, Landmine Monitor said.

Cambodia's Kampot Pepper Makes a Comeback

By Ker Yann, VOA Khmer
Video Editor: Manilene Ek
03 August 2009

WATCH VIDEO, click here.

Kampot province in southern Cambodia has long been famous for the quality of its pepper. During the French colonial era, thousands of acres of the spice were grown there. But under the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s, the province's pepper plantations were uprooted to make way for rice. However, a local company is now leading an effort to revive Kampot pepper by giving it Geographical Indication (GI) protection, similar to champagne or parmesan cheese.

Famed for its strong yet delicate aroma, Kampot pepper can range from intensely spicy to mildly sweet. Its unique flavour is thanks to a combination of factors found only in Kampot, says Jerome Benezech, the Director of Farmlink Ltd - a private Cambodian company that deals the development of regional agro-business.

Jerome Benezech, Director of Farmlink Ltd: “Kampot pepper” has a distinct flavor- it has a very fresh aroma with hints of eucalyptus and it lingers in the palate. Its unique flavor is due to a combination of Kampot’s rich soil, the climate in this area which is between the mountains and the sea, as well as the experience of several generations o f pepper farmers.”

Farmlink is currently working with 125 local farmers with the aim of doubling pepper production in five years. More than 20,000 pepper vines have been planted since 2003 - still a fraction of the one million grown during the French protectorate. Many pepper farmers like Ngnoun Lay come from generations of pepper growers.

Ngnoun Lay, Pepper Farmer: “Since I was born my mother and father grew pepper and now I do the same thing. In fact, we have grown peppers in my family for the last four generations. Whether the price is high or low I still plant pepper because, apart from growing rice, it’s all I’ve ever know.”

After harvesting, the peppercorns are dried in the sun before being carefully sorted by hand. Kampot pepper is the first Cambodian product to apply for Geographical indication (GI) protection similar to Champagne or Parmesan cheese. It would mean that only pepper actually grown in Kampot could use that name. The aim of GI status is to help promote it around the world, as well as protecting its quality. Angela Vestergaard, Farmlink's marketing director, is leading the effort to secure GI status.

Angela Vestergaard, Marketing Director, Farmlink Ltd: “This idea behind the GI project is to protect the environment in this region and to make sure that Kampot pepper keeps its high quality and is not mixed with lesser quality peppers. We want the consumer to be guaranteed the highest quality and to be sure that what they are getting is authentic Kampot pepper.

Kampot pepper comes in four basic varieties - black, white, red and green - each with a unique aroma and intensity. It goes particularly well with fish dishes like this local favourite - fried snapper in Kampot pepper sauce.

Frits Mulder, a restaurant owner and food critic based in the capital Phnom Penh, says Kampot pepper is not like any ordinary pepper.

Frits Mulder, Restaurant Owner: “I think you can compare it to a good wine. If you drink ordinary wine all the time you will notice a big difference when you try a glass of something really good- the taste is better and it lingers in your mouth for longer. It’s the same with Kampot pepper. It’s ust not comparable with ordinary pepper.”

Growers are hopeful that if Kampot pepper can earn GI protection next year, the province can regain its status as one of the world's premier pepper growing regions.

Information for this report was provided by APTN.

Cambodia Stepping Backward in Rights: Monitor

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington
03 August 2009

Cambodia is taking steps backward in its pursuit of human rights and democracy, as attacks on journalists and politicians continue, a rights monitor said Thursday.

Defamation cases against Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarians Mu Sochua and Ho Vann, as well as opposition journalists were “a step backward that we are really concerned about,” Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, told “Hello VOA.”

The government has made it hard for democracy and rights activists to hold demonstrations to express their opinions or dissent, he said, allowing instead mainly social, economic or health assemblies.

“Nowadays it is really hard to organize any demonstration that the government is not happy with,” he said.

Those restrictions combined with people’s trauma from the Khmer Rouge, wars and economic hardships contributed to low turnout for demonstrations, he said.

Meanwhile, the Sam Rainsy Party has announced it will shift its strategy away from street demonstrations and court cases against the government.

“I hope that this strategy change is part of an understanding with each other, or an exchange by the opposition policy for [Cambodia’s] betterment other than what is being done by the government,” he said.

Lack of Clean Water, Sanitation Costs Millions: Group

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
03 August 2009

The lack of clean water and sanitation is costing Cambodia around half a billion dollars every year in poor health and a loss of tourists, a study has found.

In a discussion titled, “Water is Medicine,” Jaehyang So, manager of the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program, said that a study commissioned by the organization on economic impacts caused by the lack of water and sanitation shows that Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam lose around $9 billion every year.

“All of a sudden, the lack of sanitation became not a problem of the poor person that doesn’t have access to sanitation, but it became a real constraint to economic growth in the country,” she told an audience of health experts and policymakers last week in Washington.

In Cambodia, knowledge and access to sanitation and clean water are limited, while less than 30 percent of rural population has decent latrines. But advocates say their knowledge about sanitation has increased in the past year due to many campaigns to raise their awareness.

“Nowadays we focus our campaign on three points: firstly, building rural toilets; secondly, washing hands with soap after going to the toilet and eating food; and finally, drinking safe water and keeping their water at home safely,” Chea Samnang, director of the Ministry of Rural Development’s rural sanitation department, told VOA Khmer by phone Thursday.

Diarrhea is still the main disease caused by a lack of sanitation and clean water and is a leading cause of death in Cambodia and other countries around the world.

So said poor health, disease and the loss of tourists who won’t come to a country without proper sanitation cost Cambodia $488 million a year.

“With this information the government could truly understand that in addition to providing sanitation for every household and every citizen of Cambodia…they could not afford not to provide that sanitation, because without sanitation Cambodia was losing seven percent of GDP,” So told VOA Khmer.

Experts estimate that the lack of sanitation and clean water kills some 1.5 million children every year worldwide, while even small investments to counter the problem can save lives.

Rights Group Blasts Court System

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
03 August 2009

The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission on Monday heavily criticized the Cambodian judicial system as unfair and politically biased, one day ahead of an expected verdict in the defamation case against opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua.

Mu Sochua was countersued by Prime Minister Hun Sen in April, after she alleged the premier had made derogatory remarks about her in the 2008 election campaign.

The Rights Commission said Mu Sochua had not received a fair trial in July and the proceedings were aimed at ending her political career.

“Considering the flaw in the justice system and scheme to end the political activities of the opposition member of parliament, the Asian Human Rights Commission holds that Mu Sochua is denied her rights to a fair trail by an independent, competent and impartial tribunal duly established by law, as stipulated under Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Cambodia is a party,” the group said in a statement.

Any verdict against Mu Sochua would not carry the authority of a court of law, the group said.

The Rights Commission pointed to Mu Sochua’s inability to find a defense lawyer as part of the problem. Her initial lawyer quit after he was threatened with a defamation suit, and Mu Sochua was unable to find another, she said. She made a brief statement to the court instead.

The group also said almost all the prosecutors and judges in the court were affiliated with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

Mu Sochua had her parliamentary immunity suspended by the CPP-dominated National Assembly in June, paving the way for charges against her.

“There was no respect for the principle of natural justice” in her case, the Rights Commission said. “There was no impartial mechanism to examine the charge and to hear the case.”

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Monday the group’s statement was “without reason.”

“The Asian Human Rights Commission never supports the government, but it always supports the opposition,” he said. “The court has not issued its verdict yet. If the Asian Human Rights Commission is really a legal professional, the Asian Human Rights Commission must wait for the decision of the court [to say] whether the decision is fair and in conformity with the law.”

The group was “pressuring the court,” he said. “The government has done nothing with the court at all, but it took legal action to defend honor, while Mu Sochua brought a group of international organizations to write a warning against the Cambodian prime minister.”

Phnom Penh Municipal Court is expected to deliver a verdict in the case on Tuesday.

Four Soldiers Poisoned by Mushroom Soup

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
03 August 2009

Three soldiers died and one became seriously ill after eating potentially poisonous mushrooms picked near the temple of Preah Vihear, where a border dispute with Thailand continues, military officials said Monday.

The first death took place on July 27, followed by one on July 29 and one on July 30. The fourth soldier remains hospitalized in Siem Reap.

Chea Mon, commander of Division 4, said the men cooked and ate unknown mushrooms in a soup a few days prior to the deaths.

“We tried to cure them, but we couldn’t help, because they ate a lot of poisonous mushrooms,” he said.

The deceased soldiers were identified as Ros Mao, 30, So Rim, 32, and Sing Roeun, 34. Yoeun Be, 30, remains in the hospital.

The soldiers were stationed near Preah Vihear temple, where an ongoing border dispute has meant the mobilization of thousands of soldiers over the past year.

Srey Douk, commander of the armed forces in the Preah Vihear operation, said his soldiers had plenty of food to eat, thanks to donations, and he warned other soldiers against eating unknown mushrooms scavenged from the forest.

Former Child Nurse Testifies in Duch Trial

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
03 August 2009

A former child nurse at Duch’s notorious Khmer Rouge prison told a UN-backed court Monday he had been asked to treat prisoners even though he had no medical training and was in fact illiterate.

“Most of the detainees were not sick,” said Sek Dan, he was 11 years old when he was tasked as a medic at the prison, Tuol Sleng, brought in from his home province of Kampong Cham. “I cured them of all kinds of wounds caused by torture I can’t explain.”

Several hundred of Tuol Sleng’s prisoners died of illness, said Sek Dan, who was one of four child medics.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, is undergoing an atrocity crimes trial for his role as head of the prison and other Khmer Rouge facilities. Prosecutors say he is responsible for the deaths of 12,380 people.

“I never learned medicine,” Sek Dan, now 48, told the court. “I followed the elders and they told me to give medicine to this one or that one.”

Prisoners “were wounded by torture in the back, on the nails of their hands and in their legs,” he said.

Duch said he recognized that children were used as Tuol Sleng staff, but he said Sek Dan’s confession was “unclear.”

Cambodia bans ‘Miss Landmine’ pageant

David Longstreath / AP
In this photo taken Saturday, March 7, 2009, candidates in the Miss Landmine beauty pageant, Sut Ai, left and Mom Sam Un, pause to be photographed in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The Cambodian government said that it will not allow the competition to take place.

Aug. 3, 2009

The Cambodian government said Monday it will not allow a "Miss Landmine" beauty pageant to take place later this week, calling it an insult to the disabled.

"The land mine beauty contest would make a mockery of Cambodia's land mine victims," said government spokesman Khieu Khanarith. "The government does not support this contest."

The Ministry of Social Affairs sent a letter to the pageant's organizers Friday informing them of the ban and saying the contest would damage "the dignity and honor of our disabled."

The contest was scheduled to be held this Friday. The Ministry of Social Affairs was supposed to be one of the pageant's partners, along with the Ministry of Women's Affairs and other groups, according to the pageant's Web site.

The Miss Landmine site says the pageant's goal is to empower its participants and other disabled people and raise awareness about the dangers of land mines.

The Web site shows photos of the 20 Cambodian contestants, all in crowns and dresses, with missing limbs. They range in age from 18 to 48.

Organizer Morten Traavik said he was "disappointed" with the government's decision but would still hold the contest over the Internet and announce the winner on Dec. 31.

"I am extremely disappointed with the government's decision," Traavik said. "I have tried to find a solution but we cannot reach an agreement."

Traavik launched the first Miss Landmine pageant in Angola in 2007.

An estimated 4 million to 6 million land mines and other unexploded ordinance remain in Cambodia, a legacy from decades of civil war. Hundreds are killed or wounded every year.

Cambodia A/H1N1 flu cases rise to 21

2009-08-03
Xinhua English

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases have increased to 21 on Monday, a health official said here Monday.

The latest cases were two Khmers who traveled from Hong Kong, but so far, nobody died of the virus in Cambodia, Sok Touch, director of Communicable Disease Control Department of Cambodian Health Ministry, told Xinhua. The two persons are receiving treatment in hospital and in a stable condition, according to Sok Touch.

Cambodia has tightened the monitoring and tracking system at two main airports, Phnom Penh International Airport and Siem Reap International Airport, by using thermal scanners.

Last month, Cambodia Health Ministry issued a call to appeal people not to travel to neighboring Thailand if they were not in urgent need.

Prime Minister Hun Sen last week also expressed his concern on the download of country's tourism, citing the affection of A/H1N1 flu and the world economic and financial crisis. However, Hun Sen ensured the foreign tourists that Cambodia is tightening security and social orders including strictly monitoring on the new flu to provide safety for all tourists.

Cambodia's first case of influenza A/H1N1 was confirmed on June 23, 2009.

Cambodia: Possibility Of A Fair Trial?

Scoop New Zealand
http://www.scoop.co.nz

Monday, 3 August 2009

Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission

Cambodia: The Odds Are Stacked Against A Fair Trial For Opposition Parliamentarian Mu Sochua

Mu Sochua, a Member of Parliament from the opposition Sam Rainsy party, was tried on 24 July 2009. She was charged with defamation against Prime Minister Hun Sen following her announcement of her own defamation lawsuit against the latter in press conference held in April. In Cambodia, defamation is a non-custodial criminal offense punishable by a fine.

She was not able to secure the service of a defense counsel and chose to exercise the right to remain silence throughout the hearing. The verdict is expected to be announced on 4 August. Considering the political control of the judiciary and the intension to terminate her political career, the chances of Mu Sochua getting a fair trial are very remote, however strong her case might be.

Executive control of the court is an established fact and it is known that the court lacks independence. It is evident that it had been used by the powerful against the critics. The government has implicitly acknowledged this shortcoming of the judiciary and has even planned to correct it. For that part, almost all prosecutors and judges are still affiliated to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), formerly a communist party whose discipline on members is still as strict as in the communist State.

Following Mu Sochua’s announcement of her lawsuit against Hun Sen, there seems to be a scheme to get at her and terminate her political activities altogether. Based on the strength of his party, Hun Sen said that it would be easy to lift Mu Sochua’s immunity so that she could be tried. While the lifting of this immunity was pending, Hun Sen suggested to the Sam Rainsy party to prepare for the replacement of Mu Sochua in the parliament, an implied threat of the end of her political career but which was immediately dismissed by her party.

As to the actual lifting of her immunity, there was no respect for the principle of natural justice. There was no impartial mechanism to examine the charge and to hear her case.

Considering of the flaw in the justice system and the scheme to end the political activities of the opposition Member of Parliament (fumus percutionis), the Asian Human Rights Commission hold that Mu Sochua is denied her right to a fair trial by independent, competent and impartial tribunals duly established by law, as stipulated under article 14 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Cambodia is a party. Therefore, any verdict against MP Mu Sochua will not carry any authority of a court of law.

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.