You’ve been punked!

At Robiep in all their punk-rock glory.

via CAAI

Friday, 26 November 2010 15:41 Nicky McGavin

The Reap’s recently buzzing music scene is about to get a peculiar French twist this weekend, with three gigs by the delightful, and occasionally demented, band At Robiep.

The trio from Sihanoukville will perform at Abacus tonight at 9pm, at Aqua bar on Saturday at 8pm, and at 9pm at X-Bar on Monday, November 29.

Bob Passion is the lead singer and songwriter and he’s as ebullient as his name suggests. He’s accompanied by Tonton Ian on bass and a certain Mr Robot on drums.

The band will be playing songs from their album, Peur de Rien, which was recorded in Phnom Penh last year by Kanlat Rik Rié, the forebear of At Robiep.

“I don’t know why/ I was always twisted,”

is one of the refrains from “Tête-Brulée”, the wonderfully melodic lament about a waster. The song is written by Passion, who says while it is not autobiographical (mostly), it is a good start for describing his music.

What the band plays is good twisted. “We do it the French way,” says Passion. “The thing is we don’t take it too seriously; different from the English way. We are more like the clowns who make music.”

Clowns aren’t often this musically talented, though a wicked sense of humour is definitely a strong feature of the band.

The aforementioned “Tête-Brulée” is one of the band’s few quiet songs. Most of their musical repertoire consists of songs that are high energy, highly quirky and punk-rock influenced, and there certainly seems to be an Adam and the Ants fan lurking in the mix there somewhere.

As well as their own music, the band also does covers of The Ramones, Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, The Buzzcocks, and Lords Of The High Church, who Passion cites as an influence on their music. “But we always do it our way,” says Passion. “We are not just copiers. We always try to keep a smile on what we’re doing. Nothing is that important.”

The band’s version of “I Will Survive” is rendered in Polish, which oddly adds a deeper edge to the vengeful tone of the song. And that’s just one of the languages the band features. Songs are also sung in English, French, Portuguese, Italian and Khmer. Passion even composes in Khmer, “but not with the Khmer alphabet,” he laughs, as though that detracts from the feat. “It’s important to show to my students though that it can be done,” he says in relation to Bob’s House of Rock, an NGO in Sihanoukville of which he is the founder and that merged with M’lop Tapang. The organisation focuses on education, vocational training and shelter with a strong emphasis on the creative arts as a means for building children’s development and confidence.

Bronze slips through Chov Sotheara’s grasp

Photo by: AFP
Gold medallist So Sim-Hyang of North Korea poses on the podium of the women’s freestyle 48kg wrestling final.

via CAAI

Friday, 26 November 2010 15:00 H S Manjunath

Cambodia’s 27-year-old wrestler Chov Sotheara fell foul to the guiles of South Korea’s Kim Hyungjoo in their women’s 48kg freestyle bronze medal playoff at the Guangzhou Asian Games yesterday.

The pair produced a tense grip and grime contest before Sotheara began to feel the pinch under her Korean rival’s superior technique.

A technical points score of 5-0 in favour of Kim saw her opponent become the second Cambodian contender to be denied a medal when victory would’ve guaranteed bronze. Sorn Davin was shut out in her women’s taekwondo quarterfinal last Saturday.

In her first bout yesterday at the Guangdong Gymnasium, Chov Sotheara had been in sparkling form when she crossed paths with Jambora Maribel of the Philippines. After snatching a four-technical points lead in the first two periods, it was evident Sotheara had done enough to advance.

In the quarterfinals, she came a cropper against Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Lua, but gained another shot at the bronze medal after winning her repechage match 3-1 over Thailand’s Tho-Kaew Sriprapa.

The women’s 48kg freestyle event was won by So Sim Hyang of North Korea, who beat Nguyen Thi Lua in the final yesterday.

Cambodia’s last chance of a wrestling success in Guangzhou now lies in the hands of Try Sothavy who faces Mio Nishimaki of Japan in a women’s 63kg freestyle last 16 bout scheduled for this morning.

Also in action today is Hem Bunting, who will attempt to grab a medal in the men’s 10,000m race. The popular Cambodian distance runner is also slated to compete in tomorrow’s marathon event on the last day of the Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Past students showcase their worldwide views

via CAAI

Friday, 26 November 2010 15:00 Craig Miles

ORGANISERS of the Angkor Photo Festival say tomorrow’s final night will be the most important highlights because work from past and current students from the festival workshops will be shown.

Festival coordinator Camille Plante said organisers were excited to see the work that the 30 young Asian photographers at the workshop had completed, which will be shown at the FCC Angkor, Siem Reap.

“All the students and teachers will be there and it will be an interesting moment,” she said.

A camera and a video camera from Canon will be given away to the best story produced during the workshop. The winning work will be featured in The Phnom Penh Post.

Judges include Françoise Callier, festival coordinator; Sylvie Grumbach, director of press agency 2e Bureau; photographer and Sub Editor Will Baxter from The Phnom Penh Post; Vincent Wong from IQlick; and Matthieu Rytz, founder and director of Anthropographia.

Plante said another festival first was to show work from previous annual workshops. “There will be 12 photographers’ work shown from previous years, dating back from the festival beginning in 2005.”

She also said many of the previous photographers involved with the workshop had excelled in the photographic industry, especially Munem Wasif from Bangladesh who had won numerous awards.

Among those featured are Sohrab Hura showing a series on the children of Pati, and Kosuke Okahara, with brutal images of life in Medellin.

Plante said the night would end with a “big, big party’ to relax and celebrate”. DJ Illest and DJ Marco will entertain the crowd. The night begins at 8pm.

Quake aftermath in focus

via CAAI

Friday, 26 November 2010 15:00 Craig Miles

LAST night’s slideshow at the Angkor Photo Festival in Siem Reap presented photos by Jehsong Baak at the FCC Angkor Hotel.

A South Korean who moved to the United States and then to Paris, Baak only photographs at night and says the most interesting aspect of his work is the small amount of light that comes through in his pictures.

“There is a great deal of black in my work,” he says. “I take snapshots from daily life. I try and take ordinary situations and places and transform them into something enigmatic and magical if possible.”

Photos from Baak’s book titled Là ou Ailleurs, (Here or Elsewhere) were shown at the slideshow. Baak says the photos show aspects of his personal life and family background.

Also shown were photos from his new book, which is tentatively named Night After Night, of his stay in Paris since he moved there 12 years ago.

Curator of the slideshows Françoise Callier said Baak’s work was very “arty and beautiful”.

Other photos on show include scenes from the aftermath of the Haiti earthquakes.

The Haiti earthquake on January 12, 2010, caused nearly 250,000 deaths and a huge amount of homelessness. Four different photographers were showcased, all documenting at different stages of the aftermath.

Liu Lung covered the aftermath for homeless people in the weeks following it, while Riccardo Venturi is working on a long-term project, revisiting the island occasionally.

Andrew Berends spent time with 3,000 refugees made homeless in the capital who travelled by ship to Jeremie, along the beautiful Grand Anse River, to start a new life. Benjamin Lowy was in Haiti days after the earthquake to document the immediate aftermath.

Also on display at the slideshow were shots by Luca Zanetti from Switzerland, who documented the Colombian government’s forensic anthropology team looking for more than 25,000 people missing after the nation’s 45-year-old civil war.

Photos by American photographer Paula Bronstein rounded out the evening, documenting Mongolia’s worst winter in over 30 years. More than two million head of livestock perished, with many people resorting to live in sewers due to a lack of homeless shelters, to survive outside temperatures of -25C.

PM overcome by grief

via CAAI

Thursday, 25 November 2010 21:52 POST STAFF

Cambodians across the country observed a day of mourning yesterday for the victims of Monday’s Diamond Island stampede, as questions remained about the ultimate cause of and responsibility for the disaster.

Government officials said on Wednesday that the death toll had reached 456, though that number was revised downward yesterday to 347.

Senior Minister Om Yentieng, the deputy chairman of the government commission investigating the incident, said yesterday that the toll provided a day earlier by the investigatory sub-commission had double-counted some victims who were brought to local hospitals before being returned to their home provinces.

Government officials gathered yesterday morning at the site of the tragedy, where Prime Minister Hun Sen shed tears as he knelt to pay respect to the souls of the deceased.

“The loss of such a huge number of lives in just a fraction of time and at a single location is unprecedented in years of history of our celebration of national and international festivities,” the government said in an official statement issued at the mourning ceremony. “This tragic, untimely and unexpected loss of many lives will remain a bitter and painful memory for Cambodia.”

Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema, whose resignation opposition leaders have called for in the wake of Monday’s incident, told reporters at the mourning ceremony yesterday that the tragedy was “a huge lesson for me and other authorities in preparing for such large events in the future”.

“This is an incident that no one wanted to happen – it happened unpredictably,” he said.

Om Yentieng said the full investigation of the incident had not yet concluded, but preliminary findings indicated that the crush had ensued after the estimated 10,000 people on the 50 by 5 metre walkway leading to Diamond Island, or Koh Pich, panicked due to the swaying of the bridge.

The inquiry has been based “on the examination of corpses, injured people, witness statements and direct inspection of the site”, Om Yentieng said, adding that the probe is expected to be concluded next week.

Survivors have claimed that those trapped on the bridge received electric shocks from wiring on the structure, but Om Yentieng said this had yet to be substantiated. “The corpses and injured people did not show any sign of electrocution. The electric wires on the bridge were not broken and the lamps were still working.”

“Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen at the helm of the Royal Government of Cambodia has, with great compassion and shrewdness, ordered every competent authority to make all-out efforts to manage the situation and save lives,” the statement said.

Pung Khiav Se, director general of Canadia Bank and head of the firm developing the Koh Pich complex, told staff members on the island yesterday afternoon that the company should learn from Monday’s tragedy, though he denied responsibility for it. Government officials including Information Minister Khieu Kanharith have said the firm was responsible for security on the island and the bridges that service it, though company officials have blamed the government.

“Our Koh Pich is famous all over the world – not famous in a positive way, but famous in a negative way, even though it was not our mistake,” Pung Khiav Se said. On the suggestion of Kep Chuktema, he said, future traffic on the bridge would be one-way.

“If it had only been one way from the beginning, there would be no such incident,” Pung Khiav Se said. “We could not predict that there would be so many people like that.”

Peter Li, the country director of emergency response NGO Side by Side International, who was on the scene 45 minutes after Monday’s incident, said yesterday’s revised body count was likely more accurate than Wednesday’s reported total, as all bodies were taken immediately to the major hospitals in Phnom Penh.

Li said the mass panic explanation allowed for a diffusion of responsibility. “The simple fact is that whoever is in charge screwed up in crowd control,” Li said.

Beer gardens, nightclubs and other places of entertainment were ordered to close yesterday by the Ministry of Tourism.

Uncertainty over compensation

via CAAI

Thursday, 25 November 2010 22:23 James O’Toole and Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

AS the Kingdom observed a national day of mourning yesterday and funerals for victims of the Diamond Island stampede took place throughout the country, questions remained about how victims of Monday’s tragedy would be compensated for their suffering.

While the government has released preliminary findings of its investigation into the causes of the incident, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said yesterday that the full inquiry, expected next week, could include further details about the liability for Monday’s disaster.

“We set up an investigative committee. We have to check everything first about the main cause, and who will be responsible,” Khieu Kanharith said. “You have technical studies and legal studies.”

The issue of legal liability is one for which precedent is thin in Cambodian jurisprudence, said Ray Leos, a lawyer and dean of the media and communications department at Pannasastra University.

“The issue of tort law here is very, very much in its infancy,” Leos said. “Tort claims are really very rare here.”

In instances where potential liability exists in criminal or civil cases, Leos noted, disputes are typically settled with out-of-court cash payments.

The government has offered families of victims charitable payments of 5 million riels (US$1,227), while the Royal Family has offered donations of $400 to families of the dead and $200 for the injured. Diamond Island developer Overseas Cambodian Investment Corporation has offered $1,000 to families of victims and $200 to the injured, payments that Diamond Island spokesman Charles Vann was quick to emphasise did not represent an admission of responsibility.

“We are not compensating,” Vann said. “We are just trying to help the community.”

Government officials have been offering payments to victims at City Hall and at local hospitals, where Diamond Island officials were also distributing donations.

Some families of victims, however, reported difficulty in securing the promised sums.

“I watched TV and saw that there were people giving money to the Diamond Island victims, but so far, my brother did not receive any money at all,” said Takeo province resident Seng Ung, whose brother was among those injured on Monday. “I don’t know how to get this money and I wonder where I can go to get it.”

Ung Samkhan, another Takeo resident whose brother was treated at Calmette Hospital following the stampede, said his family too had yet to receive any money.

“I am now waiting to see what the company will do about my brother’s injury and what other victims are going to do,” Ung Samkhan said. “I think I will sue this company for compensation if there are other people who agree to do this.”

A draft version of the Kingdom’s pending Civil Code, the law for the implementation of which was approved by the Council of Ministers earlier this month, includes provisions relating to negligence claims against both private and public officials. A 1988 decree on contracts and liabilities touches on the issue more briefly, stating that individuals or institutions shall be “liable in compensation… even where the damage is caused by involuntary acts such as carelessness or negligence”.

Sok Sam Oeun, director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, said it was possible that the developers of Diamond Island, or Koh Pich, could be held liable for Monday’s tragedy due to their “implied contract” with those patronising the site.

“Diamond Island, it is like a place for trade – they can get benefits from people going inside… so it is like a contact too,” Sok Sam Oeun said. “Koh Pich has responsibility to pay any compensation for any incident that happens by their negligence, if [a court] finds that they were negligent.”

Touch Samnang, project manager for the Diamond Island development, said his firm had lawyers and insurance in the event that it was faced with lawsuits from victims, though he called this an unlikely scenario.

“I think this was not our fault, and I do not expect that there will be any lawsuits against our company because we have paid money to the victims’ families,” he said.

The government said yesterday that 347 people had been killed in the stampede on Monday, with 395 injured. Khieu Kanharith and other officials have claimed that security and crowd control for the island were the responsibility of the developer, though Diamond Island project director Susi Tan said such responsibility fell to the government.

Sok Sam Oeun said his organisation was willing to offer assistance for victims hoping to pursue claims in relation to the incident, but added that it was unlikely that many such claims would be pursued successfully against either the firm or the government.

“I think that maybe they will [just] accept the money. I don’t think the people think they have a right to complain,” he said. “I think maybe not only the people, but the judge too – they will think that people must be responsible for themselves.”

Unions push garment factories to pay the deceased

via CAAI

Thursday, 25 November 2010 19:38 Mom Kunthear

The Cambodian Confederation of Unions sent a letter to the Garment Manufacturing Association of Cambodia on Wednesday to help ensure that the families of the workers who were killed in Diamond Island stampede would be compensated for outstanding wages.

“We are worried about the factory owners not giving the last wages to the workers who died, and the CCU will keep watching and pay attention to these cases,” said Union President Rong Chhun.

Cheat Khemara, a senior officer at GMAC, said his association has reminded factories to pay the remaining wages, though he said that factories have their own policies for dealing with such situations.

“We know by ourselves how to help the workers, and don’t need unions to alert us about this case,” said Cheat Khemara. “All the factories will keep the wages for the workers who died in the catastrophe, and they will take their wages to their homes, or the family members can collect the wages at the factories.”

Cheat Khemara said that 26 deceased, 60 injured, and 2 missing workers had been reported to GMAC as of Wednesday.

Various unions and businesses across the Kingdom have said that compensation has started to roll out to the victims’ families.

Chhun Sina, a representative of the United Apparel Cambodia factory, said one of the company’s workers had died, and that 2 million riel (about US$490) was given to the victim’s family two days ago.

“Our company knew by ourselves to give the worker’s wages to the family, so we don’t need the unionists to tell us,” she said.

Meanwhile, unions across Cambodia are continuing to tally the number of workers lost on Monday night.

The Cambodian Confederation of Trade Union said 20 members died, 32 were injured and another 15 workers were missing. The Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union said that 35 members had died Monday, and 33 were injured.

Othsman Hassan, secretary of state of the Labour Ministry, said yesterday the number of deceased union workers was unknown.

Convicted rapist speaks out

Photo by: Pha Lina
Graham Cleghorn, serving a 20-year sentence for rape, arrives at Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday to face disinformation charges.

via CAAI

Thursday, 25 November 2010 15:18 Cameron Wells

Graham Cleghorn says he fully expects to be found guilty in the defamation case against him on Friday.

“I’m going to stand up there and they’re going to say ‘you’re guilty, here’s the sentence’,” he said, before adding: “Find me a case where a foreigner has been found innocent in Cambodia.”

New Zealander Cleghorn, 62, was sentenced by Siem Reap provincial court in 2004 to 20 years in prison for the rape of five girls aged between 14 and 19. He is due to attend a verdict hearing today in the defamation case bought against him by the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Centre.

Following the 2004 conviction, he was accused by the CWCC of claiming through various media outlets that the NGO offered to pay each victim US$10,000 each to testify against him. In a hearing last Monday, Mea Sophea, the lawyer representing the CWCC in Siem Reap, requested that the court demand Cleghorn pay US$5,000 in compensation.

But in an interview with the Post at Prey Sar prison this week, Cleghorn, defending himself in the complaint, repeated previous statements that the case should never have made it to court.

“Apparently I’m not allowed to tell you that those people [the CWCC] are thieves and liars and set me up, because that’s defamation now,” he says. “Any information I gave to the court [in prior hearings] is privileged information and can’t be used against me in a defamation case.”

CWCC denies claims

In an email last month, CWCC representative Say Vathany called the bribery claims “groundless”.

“CWCC wishes to express deep disappointment in Mr Graham Cleghorn’s groundless accusation against CWCC. These attacks prompted CWCC to file a defamation case against Mr Cleghorn,” she said.

“His defamation against CWCC is intended to discredit CWCC in a desperate attempt to influence a more favourable verdict for his case in the Supreme Court.”

During the hearing last week, Siem Reap-based CWCC manager Ket Noeun said the defamation complaint stemmed from Cleghorn’s repeated statements through the press.

“He hadn’t stopped his activities and still defamed the CWCC through the world media,” she told the court. “It was more than 10 papers [and] included the Bangkok Post and radio, and we have evidence from email and websites of his quotes accusing our organisation of persuading the five victims with a promise of $10,000 each.”

Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of the legal aid NGO Cambodian Defenders Project, said any claims made in hearings cannot be used in a defamation complaint, unless the accused spoke to the press independently and out of court.

“If [the media] publish a statement made in court, it is not defamation,” he said. “Otherwise, no-one would testify.”

Cleghorn has never denied making the claims in court, but denies making the claims in interviews to the press.

He said his comments regarding the CWCC “are the basis of my defence” and cannot be used in a defamation suit against him.

Moreover, he claims the case is “sub judice”, or now under consideration by a court, as he prepares for an appeal on his conviction with the Supreme Court.

“You can’t hear a case in a minor court that’s subject to a decision in a higher court,” he said, claiming that any comments he has made about the CWCC have not been proved false by the Supreme Court. Until they are proven to be false, he says, the comments are factual.

Money and Land

Cleghorn said the CWCC has been out to “persecute” him since day one, and for two reasons: money and land.

He said one of the judges he claimed was involved in his conviction, Ten Senarong, is “the most corrupt judge Siem Reap has ever seen” and conspired with the CWCC to imprison him.

“Ten Senarong was after my land,” he said. “I had a lot of land [in Siem Reap] on various titles … and the land was in my wife’s name. About two years ago, I gave [the land] up.”

He says he does not know who now owns the land. But he maintains that Ten Senarong and the CWCC were behind his conviction in an effort to gain his land and foreign donor money.

“[Ten Senarong’s] made money, but not as much money as he wanted to make because I’ve told everyone what a lying, thieving … dog he is.”

But Ten Senarong, now an investigating judge with the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, denied being involved in the case.

“He is probably confused and made wrong accusations against me as the most corrupted judge,” he said.

“At that time I had already moved to be a judge at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, in November 2002. There is a royal decree as evidence.”

Looking forward

Cleghorn faces an extra two years in prison for each victim that he refuses to pay $2,000 in compensation to in relation to his rape conviction. He said the money will go unpaid.

“I don’t give a f… what they do,” he said. “I am what I am, and I am not going to pay these girls for lying. At least I can look in the mirror every morning and like what I see.”

When asked if he would pay any compensation if he is found guilty of defamation today, he grinned and said: “What do you think?”

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHRANN CHAMROEUN AND BROOKE LEWIS

Hello’s goodwill cut by $15m

Photo by: Rick Valenzuela
Seng Lam, 25 from Daun Penh district, talks on a mobile phone on the banks of the Tonle Sap river yesterday.

---------------------------------------------------------Performance [at Hello] continued to be affected by a highly competitive environment
---------------------------------------------------------
via CAAI

Thursday, 25 November 2010 19:07 Jeremy Mullins

The owner of Cambodian mobile provider Hello has cut the value of “goodwill” towards its operations by 49 million ringgit (US$15.7 million) in its third quarter results.

“During the financial period to date, the company recorded an impairment on goodwill of Hello Axiata Company Limited of RM49 million,” a report from Malaysia-based Axiata Group stated.

Goodwill, generally defined as the value of a firm beyond its tangible assets, could include factors such as the value of a brand name or the company’s reputation.

Axiata is the latest telco to consider the value of its Cambodian assets. Last month, TeliaSonera said it had “no goodwill” towards its Star-Cell brand and wrote down the worth of its operations by more than $100 million.

Officials from Hello declined to comment directly on its goodwill yesterday, but said that its third quarter results illustrated a recent promotional drive.

The firm claimed 800,000 subscribers at the end of the third quarter, a 63 percent increase on the end of the second quarter, according to Axiata.

However, revenues dropped 14 percent during the same period - partly due to costs of the firm’s strategy, officials said.

“They are related. We’ve been conducting more aggressive promotion,” said Hello’s chief executive officer Simon Perkins yesterday.

In a presentation accompanying the results, Axiata stated: “[Hello’s] performance continued to be affected by a highly competitive environment.”

However, the results have some positives for the firm in Cambodia’s crowded market.

The 800,000 subscribers, recorded in the recent quarter, push it ahead of Mfone, which claimed 569,472 subscribers at the end of the third quarter in its most recent report.

In June, Mfone climbed ahead of Hello to become the third largest telecoms company in Cambodia, according to Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications statistics.

One industry insider, who requested anonymity, said there would likely be three mobile providers left standing in the Kingdom within five years, given the competitive nature of the market.

The companies would be “Mobitel, Viettel and one other. It is that last spot where the attention will be focused,” the insider said.

Recently, Hello launched a promotional campaign worth US$1 million at the end of the third quarter, in a bid to target “quality” subscribers, according to chief marketing officer Eric Chong.

Axiata Group Bhd saw its global third quarter profits increase by 27 percent from a year earlier.

The group – which has been the second strongest performer on the benchmark Malaysian index this year – saw net income rise to 639.1 million ringgit ($204 million), in the three months ended September 30, from 503.7 million ringgit a year ago.

Its Cambodia operations make up around one percent of its overall business, according to its results.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BLOOMBERG

We never forget the stampede in Cambodia 2010

Cambodian Foreign Affair & Foreign Displomats Pay Respect To The Victims of Koh Pich Stampede

Mourning For The Victims Of Koh Pich Stamped

Cambodia mourns fatal stampede

Sobbing PM mourns victims

At Deadly Bridge, Prayers for Souls To Rest Easy

Chun Sakada, VOA Kkhmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 25 November 2010
 
via CAAI

Photo: by Heng Reaksmey

The Diamond bridge had nearly 10,000 people on it, on the night of the stampede, according to an official.

“I’ve come to light incense in respect of my son’s soul, and all of those dead, to rest in peace and be reincarnated and not to be a wandering soul here.”

Thousands of mourners gathered along the banks of the Tonle Bassac river on Thursday, as the impact of the Diamond Bridge tragedy continued to reverberate throughout the country.

Families of the deceased were joined by everyday Cambodians and senior officials alike, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, the governor of Phnom Penh and opposition lawmakers.

Three hundred and forty-seven people perished on the bridge late Monday, trammeled in a panicked stampede following Water Festival revelry, in what Hun Sen called the worst disaster to hit the country since the Khmer Rouge.

Mourners placed flowers at the foot of the bridge and along the bank Thursday, lighting candles and incense and weeping. Hun Sen appeared to sob before a shrine near the bridge, as his wife, Bun Rany, dabbed a tissue at her eyes.

Family of the dead brought flowers, bananas and other fruit to the river, setting them among photographs of lost loved ones and burning joss sticks. They prayed for the souls of the dead to find peace and that they not haunt the bridge.

“I’ve come to light incense in respect of my son’s soul, and all of those dead, to rest in peace and be reincarnated and not to be a wandering soul here,” said Sum Sopheap, a 47-year-old mother from Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district.

Distraught families were joined by other Cambodians grappling with the scale of the tragedy.

“I’ve come to join in the mourning and condolences, in a horrific event I’ve never met before,” said Im Saravy, 43, from the capital’s Prampi Makara district. “I feel shock and fear.”

For some, the bridge had become an icon of fear to be avoided.

“This bridge is a path that people cannot walk on or travel through because so many people died,” said In Sak, 33, who carried apples and a photograph of her dead cousin. “I hate it and feel nauseated by this bridge, and I do not want to step on this bridge.”

As Cambodia mourned, more calls came to find those responsible for Monday night’s death toll. A government committee has said only that the panic was caused by a crush of people who feared the swaying bridge would collapse.

Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party, told reporters near the site the government needed to make a “thorough investigation” of the tragedy.

No one has been held accountable, he said, including “responsible persons in charge of preparing the national ceremony and security affairs issues.”

Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema called the tragedy “a major lesson for me and my authorities” for holding large celebrations in the future.

“This was an accident we did not want,” he said.

Om Yentieng, a senior government advisor and a member of the bridge disaster investigating committee, said the probe was continuing, with an official response expected next week.

“A small bridge had nearly 10,000 people standing on it,” he said. “It was too overwhelming.”

Minorities Gather to Discuss Tribunal Genocide Charges

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 25 November 2010

via CAAI

Photo: AP

Khmer Islam men pointing at photos of former Khmer Rouge leaders, in Tuol Sleng museum.

“Our minority was forced to eat what we cannot, forced to abandoned our religion.”

More than 300 victims of the Khmer Rouge, many of them Cham Muslim, gathered at the Documentation Center of Cambodia on Wednesday to learn more about genocide charges for the upcoming trial of four regime leaders.

Chams suffered to a great degree under the Khmer Rouge, and their plight in part makes up the charges of genocide against the four leaders.

Those leaders, Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith, will face charges they contributed to the targeted killings of Chams, Vietnamese and the Khmer Krom, the Khmer ethnic minority in today’s southern Vietnam.

Other groups represented at Wednesday’s meeting were those from the Kuoy, Phnong and Mil ethnic groups, as well as Cham and Khmer Krom. They came from as far as Banteay Meanchey province in the north and Takeo in the south.

“We want them to understand widely what genocide is,” said Vannthan Peou Dara, deputy director of the Documentation Center. A better understanding of genocidal acts of the Khmer Rouge could help prevent such acts in the future, he said.

As many as half a million Chams died under the Khmer Rouge, which is thought to have killed up to 2 million Cambodians altogether. Hundreds of Vietnamese were killed while the regime was in power, along with thousands of Khmer Krom.

Cham Muslims were especially targeted, forbidden to undertake their religious practices and forced to eat pork, among other violations.

“Our minority was forced to eat what we cannot, forced to abandoned our religion,” said Ron Sem, a 62-year-old Cham from Takeo province. “They wanted us to die quietly.”

The Chams participated in several revolts against the rule of the Khmer Rouge, which led to massacres, execution of religious leaders and the destruction of mosques and religious schools.

How the treatments of the Chams and other groups will play out in the upcoming case remains to be seen.

“We want to know what is going on with the trial,” said Thin Theam, a ethnic minority Mil from Kratie province.

As Funds Roll In for Tragedy, Answers Sought

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Thursday, 25 November 2010

via CAAI

Photo: by Heng Reaksmey

The official death figure now at 347 dead, and more than 300 injured.

"We have to make sure that such a ‘killing field’ does not happen again.”

While some groups continued to raise funds for the families of those who died in the Diamond Bridge tragedy Monday, calls were raised for the cause and responsibility of the disaster.

With the official figure now at 347 dead, Mu Sochua, a lawmaker for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said the cause of the disaster must be uncovered and dealt with.

“We have to make sure that such a ‘killing field’ does not happen again,” Mu Sochua told VOA Khmer.

As with other groups from across Cambodia, Mu Sochua has sought to raise funds for the families of victims, who claimed the bodies of their loved ones from Phnom Penh hospitals on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Among those dead were at least 29 garment factory workers under the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, the president, Ath Thun, said. Another 20 from the union were wounded.

“This is not the final figure, as some workers have not returned from their home break,” he said. “We share our condolences to our members’ families and countrymen.”

At the same time orders have been issued to mark religious ceremony for the dead.

“The Ministry of Cults and Religion has issued our appeal to all our provincial departments and head monks of all the temples to organize religious ceremonies on the 7th day to dedicate all the merits to the dead," Minister of Cults and Religion Min Khin told VOA on the phone on Tuesday.

Cambodia Expresses "Collective Grief" For Stampede Victims

http://www.rttnews.com/

via CAAI

11/25/2010

(RTTNews) - Cambodia on Thursday observed a national day of mourning for victims of Monday's stampede, which killed as many as 350 people, it is learnt.

A sombre-looking Prime Minister Hun Sen led the nation in paying tributes to the memory of those crushed to death in the second worst incident of its kind in recent history.

As part of the remembrance, a religious ceremony was held at the footbridge near the capital, Phnom Penh, where the catastrophe occurred. Hun lit incense sticks and laid a floral wreath near the bridge while a military band played in the background. Cabinet Ministers and senior government officials were among those who paid their respects.

Hun Sen also promised that the government would build a memorial "to commemorate the souls of the people who lost their lives in the incident... and to remember the serious tragedy for the nation and the Cambodian people."

The incident occurred as several thousand Cambodians converged on Diamond Island near Phnom Penh on the last day of the "Water Festival," a major event in the Southeast Asian nation's social calendar.

Panic set in after a music concert on the Island which was preceded by a boat race on Tonle Sap river.

Survivors and relatives of victims though blamed authorities for causing the commotion by blocking a second entry point and for the slack response.

A preliminary probe into the stampede found that a swaying suspension bridge caused revelers to panic. Local media had reported that the inquiry panel, consisting of cabinet ministers and senior officials, concluded that many of those on the suspension bridge were rural folks and did not know that bridges like these swayed in the wind when used by large crowds.

Furthermore the committee found that the mounting death toll was also due to several of the revelers getting asphyxiated.

The Cambodian government had initially put the toll at 456 killed but this has since been revised.

According to Hun, the stampede was the biggest human tragedy witnessed in the country since the cold-blooded mass killings carried out by the Pol Pot led Khmer Rouge regime in the seventies.

It has been dwarfed only by the 2005 stampede in Iraqi capital, Baghdad, which claimed the lives of over 1000 Muslim Shias.

by RTT Staff Writer

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Cambodia Remembers Victims of Bridge Stampede That Killed Hundreds

Robert Carmichael
Phnom Penh 25 November 2010

via CAAI

Photo: VOA - R. Carmichael

The bridge where the crush happened, cleared of shoes, clothing and water bottles, stands ready for Thursday morning's ceremony to pray for those who died

Thousands have gathered in Cambodia to pray for those who died earlier this week when a festival crowd was trapped on a bridge at the end of the annual Water Festival.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen began the memorial service at the Diamond Island bridge in Phnom Penh early Thursday.

He was followed by dozens of lawmakers and politicians, as well as hundreds of ordinary Cambodians and expatriates.

Flags were at half-staff across the capital as people placed wreaths and flowers, and lit incense sticks at the makeshift memorial for the 347 people who died on the bridge late Monday.

The government says 395 were injured.

Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema says the bridge was carrying too many people - as many as 8,000 according to investigators.

"You can see the bridge is not for carrying thousands and thousands of people. And that's why this happened, this disaster - it is the very worst. And on behalf, on my position as the governor of Phnom Penh I am very sorry to our people and (their) families," said Kep Chuktema.

The government says most suffocated or died from internal bleeding in the panic. The investigators' interim report says the stampede was sparked when the bridge started to sway.

While people remembered the dead, scores of survivors lay on rattan mats in the corridors of Calmette Hospital on the other side of Phnom Penh.

Kuth Vy is in his early 20s and works in a garment factory. He was with four female colleagues that evening - they were trying to get on to the island, which is a popular entertainment center.

But by the time they reached the middle of the 100-meter-long bridge, so many people were coming from the other side that they became stuck.

He says he has no idea what happened to his friends. The five of them had clasped hands as they crossed to try to stay together. But it was too crowded and they were separated.

Kuth Vy fainted, and woke up in hospital.

It was a similar tale from another garment worker, 17-year-old Hy Sophan, who was attending her first Water Festival.

She says she was trying to leave the island, but got stuck halfway across the bridge. She began to faint, but people helped her back.

Hy Sophan was so desperate that she leaped into the river even though she cannot swim. Many drowned, but she was lucky - others saved her.

Some people have called for the bridge to be demolished. Others have sworn never to go back to Diamond Island, since the spirits of the dead now roam there.

For its part, the government says it will build a memorial at the bridge.

Governor Kep Chuktema says the tragedy is a terrible lesson for the city. Next year, he promises, the authorities will be much better prepared.

Cambodia Mourns Victims of Deadly Stampede

http://english.ntdtv.com/

via CAAI

2010-11-25

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen weeps openly at a ceremony to pay tribute to the hundreds who were killed in a stampede on Monday.

At least 456 people were killed on the last day of a water festival in the capital Phnom Penh, when thousands panicked as they tried to cross a suspension bridge.

The Prime Minister's advisor said the accident was triggered when the bridge started to sway.

[Om Yentieng, Prime Minister’s Advisor]:

"According to the investigation we have, the victims told us that there were people pushing first. When it became chaos, the bridge started shaking. Some people shouted 'don't panic' otherwise the bridge might collapse. The bridge shaking did not happen before the chaos. This is what we heard from witnesses and victims."

Hundreds were also injured in the stampede.

One woman described how her grandson ended up in hospital.

[Toun Sokhun, Survivor’s Grandmother]:

"Those who fell down tried to grab his neck. He is lucky that his uncle pulled him out. So he survived and his uncle tried to save his wife, but she died as soon as her body was pulled out."

While critics have pointed fingers at developers who built the bridge, and city authorities organizing the festival, they say the government is ultimately responsible.

However, analysts say the disaster is unlikely to damage Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power for the last quarter of a century.

Kiwi 'expects guilty verdict' in Cambodia

Graham Cleghorn. Photo / Supplied

via CAAI

Friday Nov 26, 2010

New Zealander Graham Cleghorn - serving a 20-year prison sentence in Cambodia for rape - says he expects to be found guilty in the defamation case against him today.

"I'm going to stand up there and they're going to say `you're guilty, here's the sentence'," he told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper.

"Find me a case where a foreigner has been found innocent in Cambodia."

Cleghorn, 62, was sentenced by Siem Reap provincial court in 2004 to 20 years' prison for the rape of five girls aged between 14 and 19.

He is due to attend a verdict hearing late today (NZT) in the defamation case bought against him by the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre (CWCC), which accused him of telling media outlets that the non-government organisation offered to pay each victim US$10,000 ($13,160) each to testify against him.

In a hearing last Monday, Mea Sophea, the lawyer representing the CWCC in Siem Reap, requested that the court demand Cleghorn pay US$5000 in compensation.

But in an interview with the Post at Prey Sar prison this week, Cleghorn, repeated previous statements that the case should never have made it to court.

"Apparently I'm not allowed to tell you that those people [the CWCC] are thieves and liars and set me up, because that's defamation now," he says.

"Any information I gave to the court [in prior hearings] is privileged information and can't be used against me in a defamation case."

But CWCC representative Say Vathany called the bribery claims "groundless".

"His defamation against CWCC is intended to discredit CWCC in a desperate attempt to influence a more favourable verdict for his case in the Supreme Court."

During the hearing last week, Siem Reap-based CWCC manager Ket Noeun said the defamation complaint stemmed from Cleghorn's repeated statements through the press.

Cleghorn has never denied making the claims in court, but denies making the claims in interviews to the press.

Cleghorn faces an extra two years in prison for each victim that he refuses to pay US$2000 in compensation to in relation to his rape conviction. He has said the money will go unpaid.

"I don't give a f... what they do," he said.

"I am what I am, and I am not going to pay these girls for lying. At least I can look in the mirror every morning and like what I see."

When asked if he would pay any compensation if he was found guilty of defamation, he grinned and said: "What do you think?"

- NZPA

Stampede Accident not to Affect Tourism

2010-11-25    

Xinhua     

Web Editor: Guo Jing

via CAAI

The Cambodian government said Thursday that the large casualties in human lives resulted from a stampede accident during water festival will not affect the country's tourism industry.

Phay Siphan, spokesman of the Office of the Council of Ministers, said tourism industry will not be affected by this accident.

He said it was just an accident and that had nothing related to terrorism, security or safety of foreign tourists.

Phay Siphan said foreign tourists are safe to travel to Cambodia at all time and they can enjoy cultural, and eco-tourism in the country, especially the visit to Angkor Wat temples complex, one of the world's attractive destinations.

He added that Cambodia is a peaceful country without having had any natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanoes, or tsunami.

In the stampede accident occurred on Monday night, the last day of the three-day water festival held in Phnom Penh, 347 Cambodians died and 395 others were injured.

The stampede occurred at a small bridge linking to Koh Pich Island, and thousands of people were on this bridge when the accident took place.

Cambodia is promoting tourism industry because it is one of the largest income earners for the nation.

Cambodia is proud to see her tourism industry has gradually improved from year to year and this sector contributes "10 percent to GDP".

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced that his government has set tourism as one of the priority sectors for his country's rectangular strategy for development, saying it is considered as "green gold" which is helping alleviate the good living standard of the people, especially, those who are living in the tourism sites.

Statistic provided by Ministry of Tourism said in seven months this year, 1.4 million foreign tourists visited the country.

The number showed a significant increase of 13.85 percent compared to the same period in 2009.

It is expected that Cambodia will receive around 2.4 million tourist arrivals in 2010, an increase of approximately 12 percent.

VOV raises fund to help Cambodian victims

via CAAI

11/25/2010

Radio the Voice of Vietnam, the Vietnamese Embassy, the Vietnam News Agency and the Overseas Vietnamese in Cambodia donated nearly US$3,000 to support Cambodian victims on November 25.

The amount of money was sent to the related organisation to help the families of the victims to recover after the disaster in Koh Pich amusement park on November 22.

Earlier, many other Vietnamese companies including the Vietnam Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (AGRIBANK), the Saigon Commercial Bank (SACOMBANK) and the Viettel Corporation in Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh City raised thousands of dollars and gathered medicine to assist the victims.

Cambodia marks day of mourning for stampede dead

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The Injured victims of Stampede stayed at hospitals

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