850,000 migrants register in Thailand: ministry

Migrant workers from Myanmar work in a shrimp factory in Mahachai, on the outskirts of Bangkok

Migrant workers from Myanmar bath outside their home in a minority settlement in Mahachai

A migrant worker from Myanmar drying his clothes in a minority settlement in Mahachai

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By Claire Truscott (AFP)

BANGKOK — Around 850,000 migrant workers in Thailand have met a deadline to start a registration process, the labour ministry said Thursday, as rights groups made renewed calls for a halt to the policy.

Thailand had ordered 1.3 million eligible citizens from neighbouring Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos to begin the process of registering and verifying their nationality by Sunday or risk deportation.

To enter the process migrants must pay registration and medical fees of 3,800 baht (116 dollars) -- a large sum for people who mostly have low-paid jobs in the manufacturing, agricultural and domestic sectors.

The full registration process takes two years to complete and will eventually entitle the migrants to claim temporary work permits.

"Some 850,000 migrant workers met the deadline" said Supat Gukun, a labour ministry official.

The 1.3 million are eligible because they registered for different one-year work permits last year.

Thai authorities estimate there are up to another 1.2 million unregistered migrants in the country who will not be eligible for the new process.

Human Rights Watch said the registration system left migrants open to abuse.

Unscrupulous officials and employers will now be able to threaten unregistered migrants with deportation in order to extort money, said the group's Thailand expert Phil Robertson.

"The abuses against migrant workers will more than likely increase as a result of more migrant workers becoming undocumented and therefore vulnerable," Robertson said.

The New York-based rights group released a report last week that documented a pattern of systemic abuse against migrant workers, from extrajudicial killings to torture, arbitrary arrest and extortion.

Myanmar citizens are particularly fearful, rights activists said, as a deal between Thailand and its military-ruled neighbour means they must return home to register, where the workers say they could face persecution.

Thailand's government said a task force would be dispatched to deport unregistered workers but has not yet announced any firm plans to do so.

"Immigration police and labour officials will check at every factory, and if they hire migrant workers without a permit then those people must be repatriated," said another labour ministry official, Thanich Numnoi.

Thailand's economy relies on migrant workers from its poorer neighbours, but in recent months the country has become tougher on immigration at its borders.

"This process doesn't acknowledge the benefit or importance of these people for the economy," said Andy Hall, a rights activist with the Bangkok-based Human Rights and Development Foundation.

"They need these people but they are not willing to give them their rights."

Thailand, which is seeking a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, has been heavily criticised in recent months for its crackdowns on migrants from neighbouring Laos and Myanmar.

In December Bangkok sparked outrage when it defied global criticism and used troops to repatriate about 4,500 ethnic Hmong from camps on the border with communist Laos, including 158 recognised as refugees by the United Nations.

Earlier last year hundreds of ethnic Rohingya migrants from Myanmar were rescued in Indian and Indonesian waters after being pushed out to sea in rickety boats by the Thai military.

Draft anti-corruption law reaches parliament after 15 years

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Mar 5, 2010

Phnom Penh - A much-delayed draft law to tackle Cambodia's pervasive corruption has been handed to legislators more than 15 years after it was initially proposed, national media reported Friday.

The 25-page document was approved by the cabinet in December, the Cambodia Daily newspaper reported, and could be voted on as soon as next week.

Veteran opposition parliamentarian Son Chhay, an outspoken critic of corruption, said Cambodians wanted action taken to combat the scourge.

But he expressed concern that the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) might force through the law without giving parliamentarians enough time to scrutinize its provisions.

'If these rumours are true (of a vote next week), why has the government only allowed us four days to talk about their laws before we start debating?' he told the newspaper.

The draft law proposes the creation of two independent bodies, with an anti-corruption council overseeing an anti-corruption agency. The agency's remit would be to investigate graft, while the council would report directly to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The draft law states that the government would appoint most of the senior members of the two bodies, with the two leading council members proposed by Hun Sen.

If passed in its current form - which is likely since the CPP holds more than two-thirds of parliamentary seats - the law would require politicians, military personnel, police, judges and civil servants to disclose their wealth, as well as the heads of civil society organisations.

Cambodia is regarded as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. The international corruption watchdog Transparency International placed Cambodia in 166th place last year, below Angola and on a par with Zimbabwe and Turkmenistan. Just 10 nations were ranked as more corrupt.

Last year the US ambassador to Phnom Penh outraged the government when she cited a number of studies showing that corruption was costing the country up to 500 million US dollars annually.

UN Set to Boost ICT Capacity of Cambodia

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Launch of the Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders in Cambodia Opening Session at the Intercontinental Hotel, Phnom Penh, Tuesday 9 March, 2010

Cambodian human resource capacity in the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for socio-economic development is set to make a great stride with the launch of a United Nations ICT capacity building programme. High-level officials are to attend the inaugural National Workshop of the “Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders” (Academy), a core ICT for development curriculum developed by the United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (UN-APCICT/ESCAP), at the Intercontinental Hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 9 to 12 March. The event is co-organized by APCICT and the National Information Communications Technology Development Authority (NiDA) of Cambodia.

H.E. Leewood Phu, Secretary General of NiDA, and Dr. Hyeun-Suk Rhee, Director of APCICT will preside over the signing ceremony. Over fifty participants are expected to attend, including senior government officials responsible for ICT and or e-Government projects, officials from over twenty government ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Rural Development, and the Ministry of Women, as well as academics from numerous universities, and representatives from international development agencies based in Phnom Penh.

In identifying ICT for development as a national objective, Cambodian officials have targeted ICT human resource capacity building as a key priority. Equipping policymakers and project managers with the necessary ICT skills and knowledge to develop and deliver effective public services is the primary objective of the Academy. The Academy includes a comprehensive curriculum on ICT for development, currently with eight standalone but interlinked modules. The Academy has been adopted and institutionalized into national ICT human capacity building frameworks in a dozen countries in Asia and the Pacific since its official launch at the OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy in June, 2008. More partners are working with APCICT to roll out the Academy at the national level throughout Asia and the Pacific.

The launch event in Phnom Penh will be immediately followed by a four-day Academy training workshop. Three Academy modules will be delivered throughout the workshop: Module 1 – The Linkage between ICT Applications and Meaningful Development; Module 2 – ICT for Development Policy, Process and Governance; and Module 3 – e-Government Applications.

The workshop comes at a time when Cambodia’s recently established e-government system, the Provincial Administration Information System (PAIS) has grown to serve 10 out of the country’s 24 provinces. In coordination with ACPICT, NiDA will continue to implement and disseminate the comprehensive Academy training curriculum in order to increase ICT human resource capacity at various levels of the Cambodian government, secure sustainable funding for future training and ICT related projects and programmes and enhance e-governance capabilities.

Two Cambodian Cultural Preservation Projects Received US Funding in 2006

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The Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation has announced awards totaling nearly $55,000 for two Cambodian cultural preservation projects: "Heritage Management at Prasat Han Chey" to be implemented by...

PR Log (Press Release) – Mar 04, 2010 – The Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation has announced awards totaling nearly $55,000 for two Cambodian cultural preservation projects: "Heritage Management at Prasat Han Chey" to be implemented by the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and "Cheung Ek Circular Earthwork Archaeological and Cultural Resource Management Investigations" to be implemented by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

The fund selects preservation projects based on urgency, impact and quality of the proposal. As its name indicates, the proposals come from U.S. ambassadors throughout the world. In 2006 ECA’s Cultural Heritage Center, which administers the program, received 164 proposals and awarded grants to 87 projects in 76 countries, making Cambodia one of only a few select countries to receive funding for two projects.

The signing ceremony for the two grants was held at Prasat Han Chey in Kompong Cham province. Ambassador Mussomeli signed both grants on behalf of the U.S. government. His Highness Prince Sisowath Panara Sirivuth, Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, signed the agreement on behalf of the Ministry of Culture for the Prasat Han Chey project, while Phon Kaseka, Project Director for the Cheung Ek program, signed on behalf of the Royal Academy of Cambodia.

In his remarks Ambassador Mussomeli said, "The importance of the past is sometimes forgotten in the rush of everyday life. But the past is crucial to our future….The U.S. is committed to the protection of Cambodia’s heritage, and these two grants represent just one aspect of my country's assistance to Cambodia in this endeavor."

The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, with $45,015 in support from the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, will initiate the Heritage Management Project to save Prasat Han Chey temple. The project has three aspects: maintenance, restoration, and raising public awareness. The Heritage Management Project at Prasat Han Chey will be the first collaboration between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh.

Prasat Han Chey, a group of temples made of brick, sandstone, and basalt, is located approximately 20 kilometers north of Kampong Cham town. The temples (Prasat is the Khmer word for "temple") were built near the end of the 6th century A.D. and are some of the earliest know surviving temples in Cambodia. The Prasat Han Chey temple group is dedicated to the Hindu gods. In a global and academic context, this group is significant because it is a rare example of temple construction from the early Chenla Period (6th century A.D.). Very few examples of construction remain from this time period, so Prasat Han Chay affords researchers important insights into art, culture and life during this crucial period in the development of the great Angkorian Empire.

With $9,553 in support from the Ambassador's Fund, the Royal Academy of Cambodia will undertake research concerning the potential destruction of circular earthwork formations and other archaeological sites at Cheung Ek, Cambodia. Recently, a large circular earthwork site has been recognized in the Cheung Ek site, five kilometers south of Phnom Penh. Cheung Ek is more popularly known as the "killing fields" site, although the archaeological evidence clearly demonstrates that is was an important habitation, commercial and production area in historic and prehistoric times. To date, however, this site has not been professionally surveyed and recorded in detail. This proposal includes academic research, training, public education and cultural resource management (CRM). This is a scientifically and culturally important site, unique in Southeast Asia. The site is in imminent danger of destruction and is therefore in need of immediate attention.

The U.S. Congress established the Ambassador's Fund in 2001, directing the State Department to set aside $1 million to assist countries in preserving their cultural heritage. The funding level has increased each year and is now at $3 million. Since its inception, the program has awarded 379 preservation grants in 108 countries.

At Sophy's Thai and Cambodian, Choose the Latter

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Sure, you could order the pad Thai, but why would you?

By EDWIN GOEI Thursday, Mar 4 2010

Long Beach’s Anaheim Street is to Cambodians what OC’s Bolsa Avenue is to Vietnamese. And for close to eight years, one of the most successful and beloved restaurants there was Sophy’s Thai and Cambodian. But in late 2008—a year after the largest community of Khmers outside Southeast Asia finally got city officials to designate them as the country’s first Cambodia Town—Sophy’s was forced to move out. Its landlord refused to renew the lease.

But luck and pluck have always characterized owner Sophy Khut and her crew. About the same time they were serving the last meal at the original location, she’d already gotten a new place ready to pick up where the old one had left off. Yes, it was seven blocks removed from her old hood, but in this building, recently vacated by a Chinese buffet, there would be four times the space. More important, it had its own parking lot. There would be no more tow-truck threats for those who couldn’t snag one of four designated spots at the old locale.

Sophy Khut brings Cambodia Town wherever she goes

Of course, that doesn’t mean parking is now plentiful. The new lot is usually packed on weekend nights with the cars of the regulars who followed Sophy’s from Anaheim Street, as well as some newcomers.

This location is more accessible for those who might have been intimidated by the depths of Anaheim Street. Also there’s the “Thai” part in the restaurant’s name; it serves as a jumping-off point, simultaneously a license to explore and also insurance that should things get too weird and exotic, you can always order pad Thai.

It’s not much of a stretch. Thailand does share a border with Cambodia, and the cuisines naturally have some commonalities. But make no mistake: Sophy’s roots are Khmer. It is arguably more faithful to its food culture than other Cambodia Town restaurants, which mostly mix in Chinese dishes for the purpose of hosting wedding banquets.

I would be lying, however, if I didn’t say I used its Thai designation to sell it to friends who wouldn’t have otherwise schlepped to Long Beach for a cuisine they knew nothing about. Only when we arrived did I add, “Oh, yeah, it’s Thai and Cambodian.”

My plan was to ease them into the Khmer dishes so gradually that by the second trip, I would get them to try the wince-inducing sadao plant, a quintessentially, notoriously Khmer ingredient.

But that first night, I threw them softballs. We started with the minced chicken larb, a faithful rendition of the Thai dish you already know, perky from lime juice and fenced in by raw cabbage wedges. Next, there was an eggplant, ground pork and pepper stir-fry that married its purple, brown and red colors as well as it did its flavors. Banh cheo—a turmeric-yellow crepe made from beaten egg folded over sautéed bean sprouts—impressed, but only if you haven’t had the crispier Vietnamese version at Brodard in Garden Grove.

On the second trip, I convinced them it was the crabmeat-flecked chan pu they wanted, not the pad Thai. The first strand of noodle we slurped zapped our tongues with electricity. The dish is very pale yet very hot—kind of like Anne Hathaway.

By the time they tore up Sophy’s Cambodian beef jerky into ragged strips, they’d forgotten all about the Thai. These peppery, crispy, deep-fried logs of meat—twisty and thick enough to rig a sailboat—have always been one of Sophy’s most popular dishes. The Chinese broccoli with crispy pork should also be a big seller, if it’s not already. The trick, though, is to eat all the fried-to-crunchy pork-belly pieces immediately; wait too long, and their soak in the gravy turns them into inedible leather.

It was a soup called somlaw machu kreoung that finally sold my tablemates on Khmer food. “This is better than tom kha gai,” one proclaimed, his mouth crammed with a heaping spoonful of its tender beef, Chinese watercress and tiny Thai eggplants. And it certainly is—at the very least, it’s more complex. This is the differential calculus to tom kha gai’s algebra. Most of its depth is due to the spice paste from which it takes its name. Kreoung is the distinctly Khmer formula consisting mainly of ground lemongrass, galangal and turmeric. The latter gives the liquid its yellow, curry-like hue, while the rest contributes to its lemony zest. Every sip is almost too intense by half and as nourishing as the Tonlé Sap.

And when we finally arrived at the sadao plant—which was meant to offset the bottom-dwelling muddiness of the baked catfish—they were already game. Without added encouragement, one plucked a small bud and placed it in his mouth. Almost instantly, his face imploded into a pucker. The plant looked as demure as baby’s breath, but it packed a knee-buckling quinine astringency that he said, “tasted like evil.”

“That’s okay,” I said with a chuckle. “I still can’t quite palate that stuff myself.”

Sophy’s Thai and Cambodian, 3240 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach, (562) 494-1763. Open daily, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Entrées, $7.95-$13.95. Beer and wine.

Why some Cambodians speak Russian

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After the Khmer Rouge wiped out Cambodia's education system, Russia stepped in with a scholarship program. Since 1982, more than 8,000 Cambodians have received their degrees in Russia and other former Soviet republics.

Cambodian Saing Soenthrith shows photos of friends from his Russian university days . He still speaks Russian, which he learned in the 1980's while on a scholarship from the Soviet government.  Julie Masis

By Julie Masis Correspondent

March 4, 2010

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

A visitor to this small country might be surprised to hear some locals speaking Russian.

This is because the former USSR established a scholarship program in 1982 to send Cambodian students to study in Soviet universities free of charge. Since then, more than 8,000 Cambodians received their degrees in Russia and in the republics of the Soviet Union, according to the Russian Embassy in Cambodia.

Free college education is no longer available to all Russians, but the Russian government still provides funds to send a group of Cambodians to Russian universities every year. It covers full tuition, health insurance, and a stipend for living expenses. There are currently 110 Cambodians studying in Russian post-secondary schools, according to the embassy, a decline from the 1980s, when as many as 500 Cambodians attended Soviet colleges annually, says Sergei Kolesov, the director of the Russian Center of Science and Culture in Cambodia’s capital.

The center, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in February, caters to Russian-speaking Cambodians with a collection of Russian books and movies. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, many such centers closed – particularly the centers in Africa, Mr. Kolesov says – but the center in Cambodia still operates in the same building.

One of the people who benefited from an education in the USSR is Saing Soenthrith, an associate editor at a newspaper in Phnom Penh. Had it not been for a Russian scholarship he received in 1983, he never would have gone to university, he says.

Mr. Soenthrith, who still speaks Russian, says his parents were killed during the “Khmer Rouge times” and as a child he found shelter in a Buddhist monastery. After returning to Cambodia from Russia, however, Soenthrith became a teacher and later an editor.

“Sweet memories,” he says, as he looks through heaps of black-and-white photographs, naming his Russian friends and teachers. “I always remember.”

DAP News ; Breaking News by Soy Sopheap

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Cambodian Army Exercise Declared a Success

Friday, 05 March 2010 03:01 DAP-NEWS

A Cambodian army exercise in Kampong Chhnang Province on Thursday that fired some 200 rockets from truck-mounted launchers was declared a success.

Et Sarat, the officer in charge, said that the four bursts of firing were carefully orchestrated, with comprehensive monitoring. “Of all the 200 rockets, no rockets were in the wrong direction.”

Defence Minister Tea Banh said that the test is to strengthen the armies’ capac- ity. The Minister confirmed that all soldiers are committed to protecting the nation.

According to Et Sarat, the BM 21 rockets are around 40 years old and come from the former Soviet Union, and have been in storage.

Cambodian defence ministry spoke-sman Chhum Socheat said that display was “not about flexing our muscles” against Thailand.

“The drill is not a threat or a show of force against neigboring countries or foreign countries,” Chhum Socheat said before the rockets were fired in front of assembled media and top brass.

Muffled thumps could be heard as salvos of rockets landed far from the launch site.

“It is about the strengthening of the abilities of our forces in order to fulfil the duties of national defence against invaders,” Chhum Socheat added.

Prime Minister Hun Sen declared again on Thursday in a speech that the exercise is not to show power to neighbouring countries instead of training the army.

The premier called on provincial citizens not to venture into firing areas.

Cambodia and Thailand have been locked in nationalist tensions and a tense military standoff at their disputed border since July 2008, when Cambodia’s 11th century Preah Vihear temple was granted UNESCO World Heritage status.

Four soldiers were killed in clashes in the temple area in 2008 and three more in a gunbattle last April. Smaller flare-ups continue to be reported between troops in the area.

The Thai-Cambodia border has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia, which ended in 1998.

The World Court ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia.

Relations plunged further in November after the premier Hun Sen appointed ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as his economic adviser and then refused to extradite him to Thailand, at which point he fled to avoid a jail term for corruption.

Thailand’s government downplayed the Cambodian rocket drill and said there had been no troop reinforcements on the disputed border.

“I don’t think Cambodia wants to intimidate us, as we have sent them a clear signal that we don’t want the dispute to go out of control and affect people in both countries,” deputy Thai prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban was quoted as saying by the Bangkok Post on Thursday.

Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the drill was “nothing to do with us, they are not firing into our territory.”

PM Orders Gambling, Brothel, Karaoke Crackdown

Friday, 05 March 2010 02:59 DAP-NEWS

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday ordered all levels of authority crack down all illegal brothels, gambling establishments and Karaoke joints, saying these enterprises lead to trafficking of women and children.

The premier also warned he would remove from their posts any police commissioners and armed forces commanders who do not comply.

Speaking at an International Women’s Day ceremony at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), the premier urged the courts to convict all wrongdoers, including his sons, daughters and relatives.

PM also said he admired the US for their cooperation with Cambodian autho- rities to such illegalities.

Following the premier’s warning, Sok Sam Bat, Daun Penh District’s Governor led his subordinates to crack down some Karaoke palours in Phsa III, Daun Penh District, at Phsa Tapang market. Some 20 youths, both girls and boys, were detained. Karaoke equipment such as TV, Disc Players was confiscated, and the business owners were sent to the district office.

KOICA Has New Siem Reap Waste Project

Friday, 05 March 2010 02:58 DAP-NEWS

The Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Environment to provide USD $ 250,000 for a Sanitary Waste Landfill (SWL) in Siem Reap province, a press release said on Thursday.

KOICA Representative for Cambodia Dr. Lohn Heal, Director General of the General Directorate of Technical Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Sang Riha, Siem Reap Deputy Governor, a KOICA delegation ad other government officials attended.

Korean agency KOICA recently promised US$9.2 million to renovate Angkor’s roads.

The aim of the new project is to improve the living conditions of the poor, contribute to mitigation of the environmental pollution of waste by constructing a sanitary waste landfill.

Project goals include an inventory survey on the sources, volume of generation, collection or treatment of household waste for the region, and completing a feasibility study for reach target implementation for waste.

The six-month project will begin in 2010 in Rom Chek commune, in the Banteay Srey district of Siem Reap.

Jewelry Robbery in Kandal

Friday, 05 March 2010 02:57 DAP-NEWS

After a lull following a police crackdown, a new jewelry robbery was committed in Kandal province, a local authority said on Wednesday.

Thoung Vutha, 37, a jewelry vendor in the Lavea Em district of Kandal prov- ince called the police after robbers left with about 15 ounces of gold, around 20 ounces of platinum, CR 6 million, US$ 800 and other property.

Local police quoted the victim as saying that four men came to his house with an AK47 assault rifle and destroyed a cabinet to loot money and gold.

Safeguard Culture, PM Appeals

Friday, 05 March 2010 02:56 DAP-NEWS

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday said that the culture of the country is under threat from foreign influence during the current era of globalization and modernization.

Cambodia must promote its culture and fine arts, especially traditional visual arts and arts performances on TV, he said at the Chaktomuk theatre hall on National Culture Day.

“Local people will know our culture and the promotion of the traditional visual arts on TV will help job creation for the artisans in country, and moreover, it helps contribute to culture research; our culture is alive—if not, our culture will die, especially old traditional songs, dramas, and performing arts,” he added.

He urged the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts to promote more cultural events under the theme of “Cambodia, Kingdom of Culture”.

Cambodia is rich in ancient temples that help to attract foreign visitors, helping to sustain economic growth.

Hun Sen once again remarked that Cambodia still needs Ajhar “priests” or traditional spiritual teachers, for the countless traditional ceremonies across Cambodia.

He thanked some local TV stations that have been committed to helping the promotion of Khmer culture on their channels. After blasting TV for not broadcasting enough about the armed forces and events at the border last week, Hun Sen praised the station for its subsequent rapid change in schedule.

Gov’t Plans to Cut Smoking Toll

Friday, 05 March 2010 02:55 DAP-NEWS

The Cambodian government is trying to cut the death toll from tobacco usage, the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.

Dr. Oeung Phirun, Secretary of State of the MoH, said the government will urge cooperation against tobacco usage and tobacco trafficking. Propsed measure include no smoking areas, increased tax, a stop to tobacco advertising and warnings on cigarette packages.

Medicam Organization Executive Director Dr. Sin Somony many Cambo-dians underestimate the harmfulness of tobacco. Blood pressure, heart attack and cancer are all caused by tobacco, he added.

WHO councilor for Cambodia Sousean Mekado said, tobacco has at least 4,000 kinds of chemicals.

Court Subpoenas Rainsy

Friday, 05 March 2010 02:55 DAP-NEWS

Phnom Penh Municipal Court summoned Cambodian opposition party leader Sam Rainsy for March 9, 2010 over two more complaints filed by the government related to border matters.

“Sam Rainsy will decline to appear at the court on the day, but the party will send his lawyer, Choung Chugni, to appear before the court,” Kim Sourphea rin, Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) acting spokesman, told DAP News Cambodia on Wednesday.

Choung Chugni could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Two charges against Sam Rainsy were filed Friday morning at Phnom Penh Municipal Court by the government’s lawyer, Ky Tech.

Ky Tech told reporters that Sam Rainsy had falsified public documentation and had spread disinformation, still a criminal charge under Cambodian law.

Cambodia Needs US$800 M for Power Grid

Friday, 05 March 2010 02:54 DAP-NEWS

Cambodia needs US$800 million to establish an electricity grid, Secretary of State of Ministry for the Industry, Mines and Energy said on Wednesday.

Sat Samey said that Cambodia has reduced tax from 15 percent to zero on energy-relared items.

International investors from Japan, Korea, Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore have invested in electricity in Cambodia, he added.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Keat Chhorn suggested generating power from natural sources or importing power to lower the price of power for the poor.

Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy Suy Sem said at least 70 percent of the population will be connected to the grid by 2020 to 2030.

Suy Sem said the government is investigating solar power and hydro-power.

Preah Vihear UN Security Council Documents Ready: PM

Friday, 05 March 2010 02:53 DAP-NEWS

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday stated that draft documents relating to the dispute over land around Cambodia’s Preah Vihear temple has been prepared ready to send to the UN Security Council.

The premier said bilateral negotiations have yielded no improvement to the standoff. He called the current Thai government “a robber government” for their claim over an area of 4.6 square kilometers belonging to Cambodia.

“If it is still like this, we will send to UN Security Council as many documents were ready to send, but then we postponed, waiting for bilateral negotiation,” the premier said at Chaktomuk theatre hall.

The premier suggested the analogy of two women claiming to be the mother of a child. The real mother does not want to struggle as she is afraid of her child’s suffering, while liar struggles without caring.

The premier then referred to a firefight on April 3, 2009 when Thai gunfire and shrapnel damaged the ancient Khmer temple. “The temple does not belong to them so that they are not afraid of shooting at the temple.

But for us, we are so afraid of destroying the temple, including the trees surrounding it, as they belong to us.”

Abhisit downplays Cambodian rocket test

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Prime Minster Abhisit Vejjajiva Thursday downplayed Cambodian rocket test saying Thailand has no problem with the exercise as it is a domestic affairs although diplomatic relations between the two countries remain sour.

"I have already talked with our military commanders before the Cambodian rocket test and they know the situation very well," Abhisit told reporters.

"Military exercise is a normal practice. We also have our own drill recently."

Some 200 rounds from the Soviet-made, BM21 rocket launcher were fired in the mountains of remote Kampong Chhnang province, some 80 kilometres north of the capital Phnom Penh.

Cambodian rocket test firing is Cambodian internal affair: Thai PM

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BANGKOK, March 4 (TNA, Agencies) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Thursday said the test of a multiple-military rocket launcher in Cambodia an internal concern of the government in Phnom Penh and that Thailand has no problem with the test.

The Cambodian defence minister said some 200 projectiles from the Russian-made BM-21 rocket launcher were fired in the mountains of remote Kampong Chhnang province, some 50 miles (80 km) north of the capital Phnom Penh.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was quoted by international media as saying that the exercise was "not about showing any military muscle", even though he is at loggerheads with the Thai government, but said it was to prepare for the defence of his country.

Mr Abhisit said the planned exercise was notified in advance and he has discussed the matter with Thailand's top military brass.

"I don't believe the test is intended to threaten the Thai military as I understand that it is a normal military exercise," Mr Abhisit said, stating that the Cambodian military drill was unrelated to the current political situation in Thailand.

Relations between Thailand and Cambodia have worsened since the Cambodian prime minister appointed Thailand's ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic adviser last year and refused to extradite him to Thailand to serve his two-year jail term for violating the law on

conflict of interest.

The anti-government "Red Shirts" led by the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) announced a planned mass rally in Bangkok on March 14 to protest what they accused of a double standard in Thailand's judiciary.

Thailand's Supreme Court ruled last Friday that Mr Thaksin had illegally concealed his ownership of stock in Shin Corp, the family's telecommunications empire, and abused his authority during his two terms in office, from 2001-2006, to benefit Shin Corp businesses.

The Court also ordered the seizure of Bt46.373 billion (US$1.4 billion) out of Bt76.6 billion ($2.29 billion) in frozen assets of the Shinawatra family. (TNA, Agencies)

Cambodia tests rockets to guard against 'invaders'

Cambodia tests rockets to guard against 'invaders'

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KAMPONG CHHNANG, Cambodia (AFP) - – Cambodia mounted Thursday a rare public test of rockets to protect against "invaders", amid a lingering military standoff over disputed territory with neighbouring Thailand.

In the first such public drill since the country's civil war ended more than a decade ago, troops fired some 200 rockets from truck-mounted launchers at an airfield 180 kilometres (about 110 miles) from the Thai border.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said the exercise was "not about showing any military muscles", even though he is at loggerheads with the Thai government, but said it was to prepare for the defence of his country.

"This is a normal drill and preparation to defend the nation in case there is an invasion," Hun Sen said during a separate ceremony in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh shortly after the rockets were fired.

Hun Sen has recently made a number of fiery speeches railing against Thai "invaders" and "thieves" in disputed territory around an 11th century temple on their border, where there have been deadly clashes in the past two years.

Shortly before the weapons were fired in front of assembled media and top brass at Kampong Chhnang, some 100 kilometres from Phnom Penh, defence ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat also said the drill was not meant as a show of force.

"It is about the strengthening of the abilities of our forces in order to fulfil the duties of national defence against invaders," Chhum Socheat added.

Muffled thumps could be heard as salvos of rockets landed.

Hun Sen declared that the test was a success, saying targets 20, 30 and 40 kilometres away from the launch site were hit.

"(We) have had these kinds of weapons since the 1980s, but we have stored them in warehouses for too long. So now the weapons needed to be taken out to test fire to see whether they exploded or not," Hun Sen said.

Cambodia and Thailand have been locked in nationalist tensions and a troop standoff at their disputed border since July 2008, when Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was granted UNESCO World Heritage status.

Four soldiers were killed in clashes in the temple area in 2008 and three more in a gunbattle last April. Smaller flare-ups continue to be reported between troops in the area.

The Thai-Cambodia border has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia, which ended in 1998.

The World Court ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia, although its main entrance lies in Thailand. The exact boundary through the surrounding grounds remains in dispute.

Relations plunged further in November after Hun Sen appointed ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as his economic adviser and then refused to extradite him to Thailand, which he fled to avoid a jail term for corruption.

Thailand's government downplayed the Cambodian rocket drill and said there had been no troop reinforcements on the disputed border.

"I don't think Cambodia wants to intimidate us, as we have sent them a clear signal that we don't want the dispute to go out of control and affect people in both countries," deputy Thai prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban said.

Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the drill was "nothing to do with us, they are not firing into our territory."

Bangkok has no problem with Cambodia's military exercise : PM

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/

via CAAI News Media

By The Nation, Agencies

Prime Minster Abhisit Vejjajiva downplayed on Thursday the Cambodian rocket test, saying Thailand has no problem with the exercise as it was a domestic affairs.

"I have already talked to our military commanders before the Cambodian rocket test. They know the situation very well," Abhisit told reporters.

"Military exercise is a normal practice. We also have our own drill recently."

Some 200 rounds from the Soviet-made, BM21 rocket launcher were fired in the mountains of remote Kampong Chhnang province, some 80 kilometres north of the capital Phnom Penh, on Thursday.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said the exercise was "not about showing any military muscles", even though he is at loggerheads with the Thai government.

He said the drill was aimed at preparing for the defence of his country.

"This is a normal drill and preparation to defend the nation in case there is an invasion," Hun Sen said during a separate ceremony in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh shortly after the rockets were fired.

Thailand and Cambodia are in loggerhead over the disputed areas adjacent to the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear as well as Hun Sen's appointment of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as his advisor.

Hun Sen often launched verbal attacks to Thai leaders to show his disappointment over the issue of Preah Vihear.

Shortly before the weapons were fired in front of assembled media and top brass at Kampong Chhnang, defence ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat also said the drill was not meant as a show of force.

"It is about the strengthening of the abilities of our forces in order to fulfil the duties of national defence against invaders," Chhum Socheat added.

Muffled thumps could be heard as salvos of rockets landed.

Hun Sen declared that the test was a success, saying targets 20, 30 and 40 kilometres away from the launch site were hit.

"(We) have had these kinds of weapons since the 1980s, but we have stored them in warehouses for too long. So now the weapons needed to be taken out to test fire to see whether they exploded or not," Hun Sen said.

Cambodia tests old rocket launchers amid tensions

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By SOPHENG CHEANG,Associated Press Writer

Friday, March 5

PONGROR, Cambodia – Cambodia showed off the firepower of its Soviet-made multiple rocket launchers Thursday, the country's defense minister said, in an exercise that comes amid simmering tensions with its neighbor Thailand.

Some 200 rounds from the truck-mounted BM-21 rocket launchers were fired in the mountains of Kampong Chhnang province, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of the capital Phnom Penh. The rockets put out a fearsome flash and large amount of smoke when fired, and have a range of at least 12 miles (20 kilometers).

Cambodian officials denied the exercise was a show of strength meant to threaten Thailand, its opponent in several small armed clashes recently in a volatile and emotional dispute over some small patches of disputed border territory.

Defense Minister Tea Banh said the launch of the 122-mm rockets was part of ongoing efforts to protect Cambodia's territory.

"The firing was not to prepare for war with any neighboring country, rather we want to see the quality and the efficiency of those rockets," Tea Banh said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen also described the exercise as a routine one, but did mention the possibility that they could be used against enemies.

"The testing is not to show off our military muscle, but a normal military drill in order to be ready for defending our nation in case there is a foreign invasion," Hun Sen said.

He said Cambodia obtained the BM-21 vehicles in the early 1980s and used them several times while fighting against Khmer Rouge guerrillas, but had warehoused them since the insurgency ended in 1988.

"We wanted to see whether these rockets are still in good condition," Hun Sen said, denying that the tests had anything to do with the border disputes with Thailand, whose military is much larger and better trained and equipped.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the exercise was Cambodia's own domestic affair, and that Thailand had recently carried out similar activities. He said Thailand's military commanders didn't express any concern about the matter.

Relations between Cambodia and Thailand have been strained over the status of land around a historic temple along their border. The International Court of Justice in 1962 recognized the Preah Vihear temple as belonging to Cambodia, a decision only grudgingly accepted by Thailand and still challenged by Thai ultra-nationalists.

Thailand also was angered last year when Cambodia named fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an adviser on economic affairs. The subsequent visit by Thaksin, and Cambodia's rejection of a formal request from Bangkok to extradite him, drew a negative reaction from Bangkok.

In Cambodia, brush back against street sweeps

Human Rights Watch condemns Cambodia's campaign to clear the capital of its poor and homeless.

By Brendan Brady — Special to GlobalPost

Published: March 4, 2010

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — At night in Cambodia’s capital, parks once populated by sex workers fell silent. Streets and abandoned lots in the center of Phnom Penh where drug addicts and homeless slept lay empty. The city’s underbelly had been washed away.

This government-run rehabilitation center just outside Cambodia's capital city, Phnom Penh, was used to detain people rounded up from the street. It was closed in 2008 after rights groups and the U.N. raised concerns about the legality of holding people there and the quality of the facilities. (Licadho)

Then reports of abuse emerged. Sex workers said police had detained them for weeks, taking the cash they had on hand and raping them — even those who protested by saying they had HIV. There were accounts of government facilities where drug users, street kids and the mentally ill were beaten and starved. Rights workers reported a security crisis for the groups they served, and a facility was shut down after they and the U.N. raised concerns.

That was more than a year ago and the uproar has since eased. Now, a new report has put the government’s street sweep campaign front and center again.

In a report released Jan. 25, Human Rights Watch describes a climate of “sadistic violence” in the government’s drug rehabilitation centers. Drug users face beatings and arduous forced labor, while being deprived of effective treatment for their addiction, the watchdog group says.

“He had three kinds of cable … he would ask you which one you prefer. On each whip the skin would come off and stick to the cable,” the report quotes a 16-year-old identified as M’noh as saying.

In its own study, the World Health Organization found a nearly 100 percent relapse rate in people coming out of the government’s drug rehabilitation facilities. “This is a common approach globally,” says Graham Shaw, a technical adviser for the World Health Organization in Cambodia. “It’s cheap and easy and it allows the government to show the public that it’s responding to drug dependence problems amongst the population, but it doesn’t provide a solution.”

The facilities are presided over by a mix of authorities, including local government offices, the Social Affairs Ministry as well as civilian and military police. Human Rights Watch says officials running the rehabilitation centers profited by renting out detainees as laborers and by selling blood they forced detainees to donate. More than 2,000 people were detained in 11 of these facilities throughout the country in 2008, the vast majority involuntarily, according to the group.

“The real motivations for Cambodia’s drug detention centers appear to be a combination of social control, punishment for perceived moral failure of drug use and profit,” says the report.

The report sheds light on the government’s controversial use of holding centers for drug users, homeless people, sex workers and beggars — who are often rounded up before national holidays and visits by foreign dignitaries, when the capital is on display. Rights groups have long called for the closure of such facilities, citing frequent allegations of violence and forced detention, and questioned the effectiveness of the treatment programs they supposedly offer.

The issue came into the spotlight in 2008, after the government launched a contentious law that outlawed prostitution. In the months following the law's implementation, police carried out a series of raids on brothels and street-based prostitution that rights groups said gave police free rein to rape and rob sex workers they detained. They say the law has done little more than drive prostitution deeper underground, making sex workers more vulnerable to trafficking and pushing them further away from the public health groups that have been instrumental in curbing the country's HIV/AIDS rates.

“This sort of ‘cleaning’ the streets of undesirable people has been happening for a long time, but there’s been more attention towards it recently,” said Mathieu Pellerin, who works with the local rights group Licadho.

According to Pellerin, when a Licadho outreach team was able to gain access to one of the government’s main poorhouses in 2008, they found an elderly women in her dying moments being left untreated and a young mother nine months pregnant who would have given birth in her cell without any assistance had they not been able to convince the facility to release her.

The government has denied reports of violence and mistreatment in its facilities. “There’s no violence, rape, nothing like that” in the drug centers, said Neak Yuthea, who is head of the government’s rehabilitation program. “Drug addiction is a new problem in Cambodia. This is good for them. … Maybe Human Rights Watch wants to see the drug users living on the street.”

The government says most drug users are interned at the request of their families and that many homeless volunteer to live temporarily in the centers because they are given food, a roof over their heads, and, in some cases, basic vocational training. It has also cited a lack of resources in some cases to explain substandard facilities.

Licadho’s director, Naly Pilorge, says, however, it isn’t simply a matter of underperforming social welfare. “You have people who have done nothing wrong who are detained like criminals,” she said. “It could be a construction worker who doesn’t look like he belongs on the street where he is … or a poor-looking kid who is just walking along the street.”

Skyscrapers and condos are fast rising in Phnom Penh but rights groups here say real development will remain illusory as long as the government sweeps the country’s social problems under the rug.

Vietnam’s political events for 2010 introduced in Cambodia

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03/04/2010

Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Ngo Anh Dung has presented Vietnam’s schedule of major political events for 2010 to other ambassadors to Cambodia and representatives from Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Events previewed at a reception given on March 3 are the 1,000th anniversary of Hanoi, the 65th National Day celebration, the 35th anniversary of Liberation Day, and Vietnam’s ASEAN chairmanship.

Mr. Dung said Vietnam, as the ASEAN chair, will closely cooperate with other members to promote solidarity among ASEAN countries in order to establish a united community and deal with global challenges.

The Ambassador invited the other embassies and international organizations to a regional tourism seminar to be hosted by his embassy in May.

Doubts over UNHCR's role and impact in Cambodia

http://www.abc.net.au/

via CAAI News Media

Conor Duffy reported this story on Thursday, March 4, 2010

ELEANOR HALL: The Jesuit scholar and refugee advocate, Father Frank Brennan, is accusing the UN body responsible for processing refugee applications in Cambodia of failing in its duty of care to 20 Uighur asylum seekers.

The Jesuit Refugee Service repeatedly asked the UNHCR (united Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) to speed up the Uighur applications warning that there was a risk the applicants could be forcibly deported.

The 20 asylum seekers have now been deported to China, as Conor Duffy reports from Bangkok.

CONOR DUFFY: Father Frank Brennan's article sets out the frantic warnings issued by the Jesuit Refugee Service in December last year.

China's Vice President was about to visit and JRS's legal officer Taya Hunt was increasingly concerned deportation to China was a real risk.

At the time UNHCR and the Cambodian Government were jointly processing refugee applications in a system UNHCR hoped would become a model for the region.

Father Frank Brennan says it clearly hasn't worked.

FRANK BRENNAN: UNHCR has always had a very difficult role to play in Cambodia because it's had the responsibility over the many years of assisting with the processing of refugees, particularly when there have been politically unpalatable groups such as the Montagnards fleeing regularly from Vietnam.

This has meant that UNHCR has had to make the political assessment each time as to how much it will allow itself to be compromised in dealing with the Cambodian Government in the hope that simply by being inside the tent they might have some prospects of improving the appeal procedures for these asylum seekers.

I think what we've seen with the Montagnards and clearly now with these Uighurs is that there is no dividend at all for the asylum seekers.

CONOR DUFFY: He says the case of the Uighurs and other refugees from Vietnam shows asylum seeker outcomes are worse and UNHCR's good name has suffered.

FRANK BRENNAN: I think UNHCR has been greatly compromised by this, as they have previously many times in relation to the Montagnards.

CONOR DUFFY: UNHCR insists all the blame for the deportations lies with the Cambodian Government.

A number of human rights groups are now trying to get access to the Uighurs in China. Their fate is unknown but it's believed some were involved in riots in Xinjiang province last year.

According to Chinese state media 22 Uighurs have been sentenced to death over their involvement in the riots.

Information supplied by the Chinese Embassy in Canberra suggests some of the Cambodian detainees are likely to face trial.

A press officer at the Chinese Embassy directed AM to a comment from the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman on the 20 Uighurs, which reads:

"As far as I know, some of those are criminal suspects, suspected of involvement in such crimes as arson and illegal manufacture of explosives. China's judicial authorities will deal with them in accordance with the law. And their lawful rights and interests will be guaranteed."

Father Frank Brennan says he is also concerned about the growing influence China has over countries like Cambodia, saying it will undo years of work by Australian agencies.

FRANK BRENNAN: Australia is seen as one of the countries which has invested heavily in Cambodia in terms of the development of the rule of law but unfortunately it would seem the situation has now been reached in Cambodia where China, now in a situation not only to contribute significantly but also in a situation of negotiating major business deals, is able to trample on those developments.

CONOR DUFFY: Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith is in India and was unable to provide a response to Father Brennan's comments or on the criticisms of the UNHCR.

ELEANOR HALL: Conor Duffy.

Military Makes Mighty Show of Rockets

via CAAI News Media

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer

Original report from Kampong Chhnang

04 March 2010

It was as though lightning leapt from the rocket barrels. Fifteen trucks firing multiple rockets each, nearly 200 all, in a military exercise in Kampong Chhnang province early Thursday morning that officials insisted was not a show of force.

Rows of trucks were parked at the province’s giant, dusty airstrip, launching 122-mm rockets over the rice fields and palm trees and across the plains. The shots came first in a trickle, as single rockets were fired for aim, and then in a roaring flood, as armed crews behind embankments fired for effect.

Formations of soldiers, military police and other forces applauded and distant booms drifted in from impact zones up to 40 kilometers away.

“They hit the target,” a jovial Defense Minister Tea Banh reported after the exercise, addressing a crowd of reporters from the shade of camouflage netting. The rockets all landed within a 1.6 square kilometer area, he said.

The military exercise was the first of its kind since the end of Cambodia’s wars more than a decade ago and came as Cambodian and Thai troops are engaged in a tense standoff along the border near Preah Vihear temple.

Tea Banh said the exercise had nothing to do with Thailand, a statement echoed by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was not present at the airport Thursday.

“I have to confirm that this is not to show off military muscle,” Hun Sen told a ceremony in Phnom Penh. “This is a normal military exercise, and this is us preparing ourselves to defend the nation in case of invasion.”

Cambodia has used the BM-21 multi-barreled rocket launchers, also known as Stalin’s Organs, since it began purchasing them from Russia in the 1980s.

Hun Sen said Thursday that military experts would evaluate the rockets’ ability to “hit and destroy” their targets.

Would-Be Critics Quiet on Telecom Rates

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By Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer

Original report from Phnom Penh

04 March 2010

Financial experts here say Cambodia’s political environment has prevented them from investigating the impact of a price floor on telecoms, one of the country’s most lucrative sectors.

By Sunday, all nine mobile phone companies had raised their per-minute rates to meet a standard cost mandated by the ministries of Finance and of Telecommunications, which they said was necessary to prevent a price war.

Costs for Cambodian consumers is now $0.05 to $0.06 per minute, a jump from some of the promotional offers of newer phone companies, some as low as nothing.

Analysts say the ministerial directive is contrary to the investment law and the policies of a free economy, but they are not willing to push further to learn how it might impact consumers and the market.

“If you speak against something, you will be considered as an attacker from an opposition party,” said Chan Sophal, head of the Cambodian Economic Association, an organization of 60 economists. “The bad environment makes these intellectuals not brave enough express themselves.”

Some 500 Cambodian economists can be find working at government institutions, in civil society and for international finance agencies. But few ever seek to intervene in government economic policies, unlike economists in neighboring countries like Thailand and Vietnam.

Chan Sophal said the government is not open to comments on its economic policies. The telecom price floor, for example, was implemented silently, and only by ministry officials, without public debate, he said.

“As independent economists, we want to provice recommendations,” said Chheng Kimlong, an economics professor at the University of Cambodia. “But we can only talk and our suggestions will not be considered.”

“Especially, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications was known to be careless of other suggestions, but they will issue any directive without accepting any recommendations,” he said.

Government officials reject such accusations.

Telecom Minister So Khun said his ministry had consulted with “many” experts before issuing the directive, though he would not elaborate or name them.

“We welcome all [suggestions], but we can’t answer whether the suggestions can be considered positive or negative,” he said. “My team will check and tell them what to do.”

Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc, said the government remains prickly in the face of criticism from independent organizations—a disservice to economic development.

Ros Khemara, another member with the Cambodian Economic Association, said that in order to be professional, economists should make sure they extensively research. This is hard to do, he said, if they know their results will be ignored by the government.

Business lawyers, too, can find the environment challenging, said Ly Tay Seng, president of HBS Law Firm and Consultants.

“There are not many lawyers who want to express their opinion against the government, because they are worried it will impact their business,” he said.

$85 Million Tribunal Budget Confirmed

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By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer

Original report from Washington

04 March 2010

Donors have approved an $85 million budget for Khmer Rouge tribunal operations over the next two years, a court official confirmed, but actual pledges are still under consideration.

Donors in New York approved $42 million for this year and $43 for 2011, said Lars Olsen, a spokesman for the tribunal.

“What remains is then to see the donations from the different countries,” he said.

The budget request includes the possibility of trying five additional Khmer Rouge suspects for atrocity crimes, as well as administration, outreach and a Victims Unit to spur participation by everyday Cambodians.

Without specific donor pledges, it remains unclear whether the tribunal will be fully funded for its budget, but countries have said they are willing to put money forward for justice at international standards.

“In Sweden’s view, for the sake of justice and reconciliation, it is important that those ‘most responsible for the crimes and serious violations’ according to law are held accountable,” Hilding Lundkvist, first secretary of Sweden’s UN mission, said in an e-mail.