Excellent jump start for Thai-Cambodian relations

By The Nation
Published on January 28, 2009

After a year of border tension and political frustration, Cambodia has a new sense of confidence in Thailand

It is difficult to describe the current relationship between Thailand and Cambodia without taking into consideration the positive body language of representatives of the two countries, as well as other nitty-gritty details, on display during the two-day visit to Phnom Penh by Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya over the weekend.

The trip was successful because Foreign Minister Kasit managed to restore confidence among the Cambodian leadership, especially Prime Minister Hun Sen, in Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his government. Over the past year, the lack of political stability in Thailand and the frequent changes of foreign minister and government have worried our Cambodian friends. But it seems now that the Cambodians are confident the new Thai administration is a partner they can deal with.

Hun Sen was also pleased with Abhisit's letter to him citing his statement in Oddar Meanchey that any bilateral problems between the two countries should be solved through peaceful means, negotiation and the non-use of force. Both Abhisit and Hun Sen see eye to eye on this. The Thai leader has reaffirmed that the border issues will be resolved through the existing bilateral mechanisms.

"As we are immediate neighbours and share a common border, traditions and cultures, my government is committed to bringing better security and more prosperity to the livelihood of our two peoples and countries," Abhisit said in part of his letter, and it was that kind of spirit that was displayed throughout the visit. Preparations are now underway for Abhisit to visit Cambodia.

Back in 1989, Kasit was part of the Thai delegation at the Paris Peace Conference, which Hun Sen also participated in. At their meeting over the weekend, the two vowed to work together again like they did twenty years ago to bring peace to Cambodia. But this time the stakes are higher because both countries are Asean members and they have an obligation to work for the benefit of the regional grouping. Thailand is ready to do that. In the near future, the country is planning to release a grant of Bt1.8 billion for a highway construction project in Cambodia.

From 1986-2008, Thailand provided grants of Bt1.2 billion and soft loans totalling Bt2.2 billion to Cambodia for infrastructure development projects. Other assistance included technical cooperation and training in various fields. Despite the tension of the past year caused by border demarcation disputes at the Preah Vihear temple and other historic monuments, trade between the two countries amounted to US$1.8 billion (Bt63 billion) last year, up from US$1.4 billion in 2007.

In the near future, additional cultural and personal exchanges will increase, including between the two countries' legislators. For the first time, the Democrat Party will establish ties, and cooperate with, the ruling Cambodian People's Party.

Thai-Cambodian relations are now on firmer ground and the two sides are ready to move on. However, the Thai opposition parties and ill-intentioned individuals continue to use vitriol to undermine the friendship. So much so that Hun Sen has told the Thais that both sides have to avoid falling victim to misunderstanding and misinterpretation coming from sources such as unconfirmed reports from media or non-governmental organisations. Both countries have suffered recently from such rumour-mongering and even mud-slinging.

The recent calls from Singapore and Burma to boycott the upcoming Asean Summit in Thailand were a bit silly. The postponement of the Asean summit from last December has already damaged Thailand's international reputation and the grouping's interest. But at this point, all Asean members have confirmed their participation. They want to see a successful summit chaired by Thailand. They know that a strong and successful Asean that has agreed on economic and financial cooperative frameworks will be of benefit to all members, especially during this time of global economic crisis.

But make no mistake, Thai-Cambodian relations are pivotal within the Asean context. Hun Sen was right when he said the state of ties between the two countries could affect Asean as a whole. Cambodia is an active member in Asean initiatives, especially most recently in the drafting of the Asean charter and the terms of reference for the new Asean human rights body.

The border tensions last year even led to brief exchanges of gunfire between Thai and Cambodian troops, and naturally this caused great concern among the Asean members. After all, no member countries have ever gone to war with each other before. And this is a record and legacy the grouping wants to maintain. The Abhisit government knows that relations and mutual trust with Cambodia must be improved and solidified before the countries can go beyond the bilateral framework. At the same time, Thailand has emerged from a political abyss and is now moving towards a more stable political condition. However, time is still needed before this situation can be consolidated further.

Cambodia tribunal dispute runs deeper

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

By Seth Mydans
Published: January 27, 2009

PHNOM PENH: At first glance it seems to be simply a numbers game: whether to try 5, 10 or more defendants for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people at the hands of the Khmer Rouge three decades ago.

But as a United Nations-backed tribunal prepares to hold its first trial session next month, it is embroiled in a wrangle over numbers that goes to the heart of longstanding concerns about the tribunal's fairness and independence.

The Cambodian government, critics say, is attempting to limit the scope of the trials for its own political reasons, a limit that the critics say would compromise justice and could discredit the entire process.

"To me, it's the credibility of the tribunal which is at stake, its integrity and therefore its credibility," said Christophe Peschoux, who heads the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia.

The first defendant is the man with perhaps the most horrifying record: Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, the commander of the Tuol Sleng torture house in Phnom Penh, where at least 14,000 people were sent to their deaths. His trial is to open with a procedural hearing, set for Feb. 17, at which more substantive sessions, involving witnesses and evidence, are expected to be scheduled.

Four other defendants, all of whom were members of the Khmer Rouge Central Committee, are also in custody, waiting their turns to face charges in crimes that occurred while they were at the top of the chain of command from 1975 to 1979. As much as one-fourth of the population died from disease, hunger, overwork or execution under the Khmer Rouge's brutal Communist rule.
Those five defendants are enough, Cambodian officials say.

But foreign legal experts counter that within reasonable limits, the judicial process should not be arbitrarily limited.

After a decade of difficult and not always friendly negotiations between the United Nations and the Cambodians, a hybrid tribunal is in place, with Cambodian and foreign co-prosecutors and panels of co-judges in an awkward political and legal balancing act. Now, even before Duch's trial gets under way, that balance is being tested.

Last month the foreign co-prosecutor, a Canadian named Robert Petit, submitted six more names to the court for investigation, saying that he had gathered enough evidence to support possible charges. Petit's Cambodian counterpart, Chea Leang, objected - not on legal grounds, but for reasons that appear to reflect the government's position on the trials.

Additional indictments, the Cambodian prosecutor said, could be destabilizing and would cost too much and take too long and would violate the spirit of the tribunal, which she said envisioned "only a small number of trials."

Prime Minister Hun Sen, who bargained hard with the United Nations over the shape and scope of the tribunal, has said that trying "four or five people" would be enough, although there is no formal limit on the number.

Indeed, Peter Maguire, author of "Facing Death in Cambodia," suggests that Hun Sen's plan might be to try only Duch - "a garden-variety war criminal" - and hope the political defendants die before they can be tried and judged.

The additional names submitted by Petit have not been made public. But people close to the court say that none of them holds a significant position in Cambodia's current government.

Both Hun Sen and several senior members of his government were Khmer Rouge cadre, but experts say they do not fall under the scope of the tribunal and are not at risk of prosecution.
The mandate of the court is to try the top leadership of the Khmer Rouge and "those most responsible" for the crimes - that is, people like Duch, who oversaw the torture and killing of thousands of people.

In Cambodia, though, courts do not head off in their own directions without tight control from Hun Sen or the people around him. Some advocates of the tribunal - the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia, or ECCC - see it as offering Cambodia a model for a more independent judiciary.

"Some in Phnom Penh are apparently frightened that the ECCC might actually succeed - that it might serve as an example of accountability that could be applied more widely," said James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative.

"With the Feb. 17 start of the first trial fast approaching, now is the moment to show that the court is not a tool of the Cambodian government," he said. "The court's credibility is on the line."

Most Cambodians are eager to see Khmer Rouge leaders brought to trial, according to an extensive survey published last week by the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley.

But the study found that about one-third of people answering the survey had doubts about the tribunal's neutrality and independence, perhaps because of their experience with their own corrupt and politically controlled judiciary.

Confidence in the tribunal has also been eroded by allegations of kickbacks that are familiar in the Cambodian court system.

The allegations have left the United Nations with the awkward choice of taking action or being seen as condoning corruption.

Now, with the dispute between the two co-prosecutors in the open, the checks and balances of the hybrid court will meet their first major test.

The dispute over the number of defendants must now go to a pre-trial chamber whose makeup reflects the supermajority structure of the tribunal, which is made up of three Cambodian judges and two foreigners. One of the foreign judges must join the Cambodians, in a four-vote majority, for a decision to prevail.

If the panel is deadlocked three to two, according to court rules, the prosecution must proceed.
But court watchers said it remained to be seen how cooperative the Cambodian staff would be if the government did not want those cases to move forward.

There is nothing so far to suggest that this process will not work as it should, said David Scheffer, a law professor at Northwestern University School of Law who took part in negotiations to create the tribunal.

The real test, he said in a recent article in The Phnom Penh Post newspaper, will be whether the judges in the pre-trial chamber "step up to the plate and do their duty with the highest degree of judicial integrity."

"We can all assess that when their decision is rendered," he said.

Cold&Callous - the naked truth according to Karl Bille

licadhocanada

Karl Bille reunites with friends in Dey Krahorm to release his Love & Eviction CD. Cold&Callous is the first video off the album, produced by Platapus Produktion in support of the upcoming Sounds of Solidarity concerts. SOS concert tour support threatened and evicted communities across Cambodia. Support now! www.licadhocanada.com

Thomas Fuller/International Herald Tribune
Malaria patients in the intensive care ward of the provincial hospital in Battambang, Cambodia.

Thomas Fuller/International Herald Tribune

Chet Chen, 18, lying listless with malaria in Tasanh, Cambodia.

The New York Times

By THOMAS FULLER
Published: January 26, 2009

TASANH, Cambodia — The afflictions of this impoverished nation are on full display in its western corner: the girls for hire outside restaurants, the badly rutted dirt roads and the ubiquitous signs that warn “Danger Mines!”

But what eludes the naked eye is a potentially graver problem, especially for the outside world. The parasite that causes the deadliest form of malaria is showing the first signs of resistance to the best new drug against it.

Combination treatments using artemisinin, an antimalaria drug extracted from a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine, have been hailed in recent years as the biggest hope for eradicating malaria from Africa, where more than 2,000 children die from the disease each day.

Now a series of studies, including one recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine and one due out soon, have cemented a consensus among researchers that artemisinin is losing its potency here and that increased efforts are needed to prevent the drug-resistant malaria from leaving here and spreading across the globe.

“This is something we can’t just slide under the carpet,” said R. Timothy Ziemer, a retired admiral in the United States Navy who heads the President’s Malaria Initiative, the $1.2 billion program started by the Bush administration three years ago to cut malaria deaths in half in the countries affected worst.

Admiral Ziemer met with Thai and Cambodian officials last month to assess the resistance problem, which affects the same drugs used by the malaria initiative in Africa.

“We feel that we not only have to beat the drum but shake the cage: guys, this is significant,” he said.

Though the studies show relatively early signs of resistance to artemisinin, the drugs were judged to have failed in only two patients in the recently published study. Even they were eventually cured.

But malaria experts note that several times in the past, this same area around the Thai-Cambodian border appears to have been a starting point for drug-resistant strains of malaria, starting in the 1950s with the drug chloroquine.

Introduced immediately after World War II, chloroquine was considered a miracle cure against falciparum malaria, the deadliest type. But the parasite evolved, the resistant strains spread, and chloroquine is now considered virtually useless against falciparum malaria in many parts of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa.

It took decades for this resistance to spread across the world, so by the same token artemisinin-based drugs are almost sure to be useful for many years to come.

To protect against artemisinin resistance, the global health authorities are trying to assure that it is sold only as a combination pill with other antimalaria medicines that linger longer in the blood, mopping up any artemisinin-resistant parasites.

The two most recent tests showing artemisinin resistance were done with pills that had no combination drug. But if resistance spreads, there are no new drugs to take the place of artemisinin-based combinations and no immediate prospects under development.

“This could spread in any direction; we have to make sure it doesn’t,” said Pascal Ringwald, malaria coordinator at the World Health Organization, who three years ago led a study of drug resistance in Cambodia and is co-author of a coming study on the subject. “We know it’s not yet in Bangladesh,” he said. “It’s not yet in India.”

Scientists have documented how malarial parasites that were resistant to chloroquine in the 1950s spread across Thailand, Burma, India and over to Africa, where a vast majority of the nearly one million annual malaria-related deaths occur.

To prevent a recurrence with artemisinin therapies, the United States has put aside political considerations and approved a malaria monitoring center in military-run Myanmar, formerly Burma. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest donors to malaria research, is giving $14 million to the Thai and Cambodian governments to help pay for a containment program.

That program includes efforts to supply the area with mosquito nets, a screening program for everyone living in affected areas and follow-up visits by health workers to assess the effectiveness of the drugs, said Dr. Duong Socheat, director of Cambodia’s National Malaria Center. On the Thai side of the border, the government has “motorcycle microscopists” who take blood samples from villagers and migrant workers, analyze them on the spot and distribute antimalaria drugs.

But some experts would like to see an even more aggressive approach.

“Many of us think this should be treated on the same order as SARS,” said Col. Alan J. Magill, a researcher at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Maryland. “This should be a global emergency that is addressed in a global fashion.” SARS, the respiratory disease that spread rapidly through Asia and beyond in 2003, killed more than 700 people.

The falciparum parasite is one of four types of malaria and by far the most virulent. It enters the bloodstream through a mosquito bite, and after incubating about two weeks, it multiplies and takes over red blood cells. There it causes fever, chills, headaches and nausea, among other symptoms. If untreated, the infected cells can block blood vessels and fatally cut off blood supply to vital organs.

The recent studies show that artemisinin-based drugs are becoming less effective in removing the parasite from the bloodstream. While a few years ago it took the drugs 48 hours to clear the bloodstream of parasites, it now can take 120 hours.

“What our study demonstrates is that therapy for some patients fails — the malaria goes away and comes back,” said Lt. Col. Mark M. Fukuda, a United States Army doctor whose study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine in December.

Different regions rely on different artemisinin combinations. The Cambodian government recommends that artemisinin be combined with mefloquine, which was developed by the American military and is known commercially as Lariam. Artemether, a derivative of artemisinin, is often combined with another antimalarial drug, lumefantrine. This was recently judged to be the most effective combination in a study of children in Papua New Guinea.
The same combination is also expected to be approved for sale in the United States soon, marketed by Novartis and mainly intended for people traveling overseas or for those who arrive in the United States with malaria.

The mosquito responsible for transmission of malaria is still endemic in the United States. But modern housing, better access to health care and the use of insecticides have virtually eradicated the disease in wealthier countries.

Here in Tasanh, a village 20 miles east of the Thai border, Dr. Fukuda and a team of researchers work in what is euphemistically called a more challenging environment. Tasanh is served by a dirt road and has no running water and no public supply of electricity.

In a small, spartan clinic, Chet Chen, an 18-year-old malaria patient, lies listlessly on an old metal-framed bed next to a sample of his urine in a used water bottle. The male nurse who examines blood samples is out helping to fix the weed whacker, which has broken.

In a small but newer annex to the clinic, Dr. Fukuda and his researchers work in a trilingual environment — Khmer (Cambodian), Thai and English — that sometimes sows confusion.
Americans in the clinic recently chuckled when a Thai researcher described a patient as having a “hot body” — a literal translation of “fever” in Thai, but one that evoked nightclub images.

Dr. Fukuda calls this region of Cambodia the “canary in the coal mine” for drug resistance.
In the past, migrant workers in plantations and gem mines are believed to have helped spread drug-resistant strains westward. A history of civil unrest, counterfeit drugs and a weak and underfinanced government has made it difficult to control malaria. In the case of chloroquine, preventive use of the drug — including putting it in table salt to protect a wide swath of the population — might have actually encouraged resistance to the drug, Dr. Fukuda and others say.
It was not until the 1990s that mefloquine, the American army drug, was combined with artemisinin, made from a Chinese herb.

Artemisinin-based combinations turned out to be fast-acting and seemed to slow transmission of the disease, said Dr. John MacArthur, an infectious disease expert with the United States Agency for International Development in Bangkok.

Dr. MacArthur and others say resistance to malaria drugs is a natural consequence of widespread use of the drug. “In the case of malaria, it’s the Darwinism of the parasite,” he said. “It likes to survive.”

Still, some researchers remain concerned about sending the wrong message to the public about the efficacy of artemisinin-based drugs.

“This is not the death knell of artemisinin,” said Dr. Nicholas White, a malaria expert who is chairman of a joint research program between Oxford University and Mahidol University in Thailand. “The drug still works in Cambodia, maybe not as well as before.”

But given the history of drug failures here, there appears to be a consensus on the solution.
“Get rid of all malaria from Cambodia,” Dr. White said. “Eradicate it. Eliminate it.”

Cambodia: Hundreds left homeless after forced eviction

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA

PRESS RELEASE
January, 26 2009

The Cambodian authorities must stop denying people the right to housing and ensure adequate compensation and restitution for over 150 poor urban families who were forcibly evicted from central Phnom Penh at the weekend, Amnesty International said today.

Cambodian security forces and demolition workers forcibly evicted 152 families from Dey Kraham community in the early hours of 24 January 2009, leaving the vast majority of them homeless. At around 3 am, an estimated 250 police, military police and workers hired by the company claiming to own the land blocked access to the community before dispersing the population with tear gas and threats of violence. At 6 am excavators moved in and levelled the village. Some of the families were not able to retrieve belongings from their homes before the demolition. Officials from Phnom Penh municipality were present during the destruction.

“The most urgent task now is for the government to immediately address the humanitarian needs of these people, who have lost their homes and face imminent food and water shortages,” said Brittis Edman, Cambodia researcher. “They will also need assistance for a long time to come.”

Cambodia is a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and has an obligation to protect the population against forced evictions. Saturday’s events show all too clearly how little respect Cambodian authorities have for these requirements.

The Phnom Penh municipality has provided less than 30 of the 152 families with shelter at a designated resettlement site at Cham Chao commune in Dangkor district, some 16 kilometres from the city centre. Most of the other structures at the site are still under construction and lack roofs. There is no clean water, no electricity, sewage or basic services. Earlier, most of the affected community rejected being resettled there because it was too far from Phnom Penh, where they work, mostly as street vendors.

Since the forced eviction, the Dey Kraham community has been told that the company, which has allegedly purchased the land, has withdrawn earlier offers of compensation, leaving families who have been living in uncertainty and insecurity for more than two years, now faced with rebuilding their lives with nothing.

Local authority representatives sold the land to the company, 7NG, in 2005 without the knowledge, participation or consultation with the affected community. Some 300 families were coerced into moving amid threats, harassment and intimidation, while 152 families continued to dispute the validity of the sale and refused to give up the land without compensation.

Just over a week before the forced eviction, the affected community told the authorities and the company that they were willing to move if they received adequate compensation for the land, where many of them have lived, uncontested, for decades and to which they have strong claims under the 2001 Land Law. The company then increased the offer of compensation, but the two sides had not yet reached an agreement.

“It is an outrage that the Cambodian authorities went ahead with the forced eviction, when progress was being made towards a mutual settlement. Now hundreds of children, women and men are left homeless”, said Edman.

BackgroundForced evictions are one of the most widespread human rights violations in Cambodia, and those affected are almost exclusively marginalised people living in poverty, in both urban and rural areas. In 2008, at least 27 forced evictions affecting over 20,000 people were reported in the media and by local organisations.

Hundreds of land activists are facing spurious charges, and dozens have been imprisoned, as the rich and powerful are increasingly abusing the criminal justice system to acquire land and evict those living there. At least nine community representatives from Dey Kraham have been charged for criminal offences as a result of their peaceful defence of their right to housing.

As a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Cambodia is obliged to ensure, before any planned evictions, that all alternatives are explored in consultation with those affected by the eviction. Evictions may only occur in accordance with the law and in conformity with international standards, including genuine consultation with those affected; adequate notice and information on the proposed eviction; and provisions of legal remedies for those affected. Evictions may only occur if they do not render individuals homeless or vulnerable to the violation of other human rights.

In May 2009, the Committee Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will consider Cambodia’s first and considerably delayed report on its compliance with the treaty.

Process to Randomly Select Respondents in a Survey - Monday, 26.1.2009

Posted on 27 January 2009

The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 597

“In September 2008, the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, began a survey called So we will never forget - A Population-based survey on attitudes about social reconstruction - and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia [Researchers/authors: Mychelle Balthazard, Sokhom Hean, Phuong Pham, Eric Stover, Patrick Vinck]. The results of this survey were released to the [Cambodian] public on 21 January 2009 at the Sunway Hotel, in a meeting organized by the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee – CHRAC. the methodology was a systematic random sampling , made according to general technical standard systems to survey people. In the survey, researchers randomly selected 125 communes out of the existing 1,621. This selection was done proportionately to population size at the communes. After that, the researchers randomly selected 250 villages countrywide from these communes. There were four randomly selected families in each village and one member of each family was randomly selected. As a result, the researches had 1,000 selected respondents from all places around Cambodia. Data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences.

“Each survey in Cambodia encounteres many obstacles. A major obstacle that should be considered is that it is most difficult to solve what is a clear selection of respondents, to ensure that there is no partiality and that results of the survey reflect the actual reality in the society. There are many factors in the survey of the above Human Rights Center that needed to be solved. The first aspect is that Cambodia has a patriarchal social structure, and there are many big differences between the various groups of people. There are big gaps between the rich and the poor, the highly-educated people and those who are illiterate, between the city residents and the people in rural areas (the differences between these pairs of groups have many consequences, such as the understanding of society, different living standards, differences in education, population density, and different ways of life …). As a result, it is very difficult to clearly conclude how the researchers defined who is a ‘general Khmer citizens,’ because in Cambodia there are many differences between different communities, and there are many ethnic groups. The survey aimed to study the opinions of all Cambodian people, but to explain who all the Cambodian people are is difficult. Nevertheless, the methodology to select respondents by the Human Rights Center was thoroughly conducted by studying previous surveys of the Khmer Institute for Democracy, and it included scientific research methodology. However, we have to suggest that we have to conduct surveys for each group separately rather than for the whole Cambodian people. Doing so allows us to know well to what extent each group of people knows about the Khmer Rouge regime and the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. If we would get such information, we would find it easy to create outreach programs for the villages to educate the people there further.

“The second point relates to the population density in each province. If we conduct surveys by randomly selecting villages and communes without thinking about population density, we will get partial towards provinces with a small density. The above survey of the Human Right Center uses a selection of villages and communes which is proportionate to the population size of the different provinces. This factor is important to note in the above survey.

“The third point is that a survey has to consider the theory of the environment of the people [related to a center] which states that when people live farther away from populated areas, their knowledge regarding the social situation drops. According to this theory, the population density is divided into three main sections: the core section, the middle section, and the outer section. In general, people living in the core section are highly educated, rich, and knowledgeable in many social skills, and they influence people living in the middle and the outer sections. There are many reasons for these results. The first reason is infrastructure: where generally people in the outer sections find it hard to connect to the core sections, because of many reasons, such as damaged roads and lack of travel facilities. The second reason is communication, which affects the mentality of people living in the outer section, because they do not of have access to television, newspapers, and radio. However, at present, the Cambodian economy is growing and people in the core, middle, and outer sections get closer to one another little by little, narrowing the gap of the mentality of the three sections of people.

“The fourth point relates to the selection of respondents so that those chosen obviously represent Cambodian people. Respondents of the survey of the Human Rights Center of the University of California were at the age of 39.8 on average, and the number of men and women were equal. 69% of the respondents lived under the Khmer Rouge regime and the rest of 31% said that they were born after the Khmer Rouge regime. But according to statistic of the National Statistical Institute, 68% of Khmer citizens are 29 or under. Therefore, the other 32% have spent part of their life under the Khmer Rouge regime. This different handling of the statistics might be partial towards those who spent part of their life under the Khmer Rouge regime. This partiality might affect different responses quite a lot, especially related to the status of being a victim, the understanding of the Khmer Rouge regime, and of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, reconciliation, and compensation.

“Fifth, the Human Rights Center of the University of California recognized that one shortage of this survey is the problem of not meeting respondents that had already been selected through the random selection methodology. The report of the survey said that 147 families were identified and replaced by other families, because nobody was at home (76%), families refused to give responses (5%), and other reasons (19%). Moreover, more than 297 respondents were selected and then exchanged because they were not at home when the researchers went to interview them (85%). Those replacements strongly affected the random selection. One reason is that those who stayed back could not express their interests, social class, and knowledge. Those who went to work outside might be members of families with more strenuous labor and knowledge than members of families staying home. Therefore, researchers could have received the information that Khmer citizens are not much interested in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal or do not know this court.

“The above points are major points of that the Human Rights Center of the University of California studied, and what different organizations that intend to conduct surveys should consider. Furthermore, other obstacles, such as the interpretation of questions from English to Khmer, and different views between researchers and respondents regarding important ideas such as reconciliation, remembrance, what is a victim, who is a perpetrator, what is the understanding of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and regime. The last point that all researchers should also be aware of, is that people’s opinions are influenced by different events at villages and by outside happenings. This is a reason which creates gaps between previous and future results.

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #4804, 25-26.1.2009
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:

Monday, 26 January 2009

Oknha Mong Reththy: introducing Cambodian pork meat in Cambodia

Phnom Penh (Cambodia).12/01/2009. Mong Reththy, businessman, at his office.

© Vandy Rattana

Ka-set

By Ros Dina
26-01-2009

The small scale of pig farms, high pig-food prices, the often steep fees charged by slaughterhouses, smuggling of pigs from Vietnam undermining competition or the prices of pork meat, volatile and unpredictable as a consequence. Reasons for the weakness in the Cambodian pig industry are aplenty, as the country currently has to import the majority of pigs intended for domestic consumption. Mong Reththy, the Cambodian food industry tycoon, also a Senator affiliated to the prime Minister's CPP, aims at shifting the balance. For this process, he initiated an ambitious pig breeding project, the first specimen of which come straight from England.

A large-scale farm

The first requirement was to build a vast farming complex, which oknha Mong Reththy presents as modern and in accordance with international standards (we were not allowed to visit it for health and safety reasons), established on a 30ha piece of land he owns on the provincial border between Preah Sihanouk and Koh Kong, next to his palm oil plantation. The second thing was to gradually fill the premises with quality breeding pigs, which he found in England following the settling of a deal with an English commercial partner, the ACMC company. At the end of December 2008, 150 animals arrived in Cambodia. This first shipment will be followed by another at the end of January (300 pigs), and a final one with 150 animals a month later.

With this 600-head porcine livestock, the businessman, also vice-president of the Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce, did the maths and gave his predictions – by the end of the company's second year of activity, there will be a total of 6,200 pigs on the farm, and by the end of the third one, it should host 18,000... And in eight years' time, a million animals, i.e. the limit set by Mong Reththy, a limit which should be maintained and, according to the businessman, will satisfy 50% of domestic demand. For the first year of exploitation, investments amount to USD5 million, and should reach USD130 million in the tenth year.

“Some wonder: 'Why import pigs for this farm?' This is because there are not enough of them in farms in the country. Satisfying the needs of the country requires 2.4 million animals per year. Phnom Penh alone almost consumes 2,000 pigs every day!”, Mong Reththy explains, stressing that local farming is faced with higher costs than those found in neighbouring countries. “Pork sells at 1.80 to 2 dollars per kilo, when it's only 1.3 dollar per kilo in Thailand. Therefore, sellers prefer importing!”

For his breeding pigs imported from Yorkshire, Mong Reththy spend USD3,000 per sow and USD4,000 per boar - and this is without transportation expenses - when a pig imported from Thailand costs USD300. This is down to a difference in size, he points out. Sows from Thailand only give birth once, whereas the breed he chose to import can reproduce 4 years in a row.

Jobs for farmers

His huge farm in south Cambodia will only employ some fifty people, but in fact, will give a job to many more, according to Mong Reththy, who heads an important company named after him. First, he will meet farmers to buy products needed to feed pigs, as feeding represent ¾ of all expenses in pig breeding. Regarding this issue, he digressed on the nonsense of exporting unhusked rice: In Cambodia, if growers sold husked rice, in addition to the value-added they would give to their product, they could also make business with rice-bran, which is part of pigs' diet.

Then, pigs will be sold to local farmers, either professional or inexperienced, provided they accept to attend a short training session on pig breeding at his farm (the techniques used were introduced by the ACMC company) and sell adult pigs to his slaughterhouse. Already, he makes the promise that pork meat prices coming from his slaughterhouse will be brought into line with prices charged in Thailand, in order to reduce the volume of import.

Putting an end to importations in the long run

Mong Reththy boasts about his being the only one daring to embark on such enterprises, seen as risky. “Banks do not lend money to the farming sector in Cambodia, it is seen as high-risk. But look, we thought that the property sector was more viable, and today it is experiencing crisis! In the end, I had to use my own personal funds.”

The importation of pigs is currently split between five companies in Cambodia. Two months ago, Mong Reththy obtained the assurance that the imported pigs would be examined by his own veterinaries on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, so as to prevent the potential introduction of contagious diseases such as the foot and mouth disease, and make sure that importation papers are in order. But do these companies show worry in front of the arrival on the market of this massive entrepreneur? Mong Reththy says he contacted their representatives via the Ministry of Agriculture to explain his project. Since then, the market has been regulated and each company was granted a maximum quota of imported pigs, with an overall limit coming altogether to an equivalent of 800 animals per day.

“I do not want any misunderstanding here. I am doing this to relieve them, not to make their companies die...” And when his entrepreneurial approach sparks off discontent , the head of Mong Reththy Group reminds that the renovation of road 271 by his company, which surrounds the south-west area of Phnom Penh, generated much opposition. Back then, roadworks had forced inhabitants to cut part of their houses and even to move house, and disturbed road traffic. “Today, we have a nice road and residents understood the interest of the works, and they thank me...”

In the long run, Mong Reththy's goal is to export Cambodian pork meat, which would require the opening of another large-scale breeding farm in the country. Would Mong Reththy be ready to invest in a second farm? “We will see, it all depends on financial matters. But if a bank comes to back me up, then why not?”. He noted that Maybank showed a certain interest in his project. The investor would like to see this support turned into subventions for his company.

Regulation of the market

The pig import company Tho Kim Sreang have worked with Thailand since 2003. Its representative, Yuok Rothmony, chose that activity after noticing the failure of pig industry in Cambodia, burdened by excessive pig food prices. “The day Cambodia stops importing pigs, if local demand is fully satisfied, then it will not be a problem for me. It is the open-market policy”, the representative says, content with his situation.

Yuok Rothmony confirms the enforcement of a quota policy a few months ago by the Ministry of Agriculture. His company was granted the right to import 203 animals per day, when the average was 250 before the policy was enforced. However, not unpleased with the quotas, he claims he is rather happy that the market is now regulated and that pig import companies are not subject to illegal competition any more.

The fifth and latest pig import company to date, Oud Cambodia, benefited from a quota of 150 heads per day and claims not to be aware of Mong Reththy's project.

Turning pig industry into a more professional sector

Yang Saing Koma, president of the CEDAC (The Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture) acknowledges that techniques and mindsets in the agricultural sector need a revolutionary change. “If Cambodia imports that many farming products, it is because firstly, there is a problem with local competences, they are insufficient. The majority of farmers practise family agriculture intended for their own subsistence and do not think about marketing their produce. Little by little, often with some stimulus initiated by NGOs involved in agricultural and development issues, some realise that there are a few seizable opportunities. Then, the problem of final products adds up: their cost price is higher than that of imported products. And yet another issue: the fact that farmers are faced with a lack of finances. They do not have a basic capital and generally cannot get any help for investment.”

As for Mong Reththy's project, he sees in it “a good investment, which will bring income to the state”. However, he warns against the risk that English pigs might not stand the tropical climate and local food. But this breed of pigs, reportedly genetically-advanced, should be looked after in the best possible way, Mong Reththy says.

Cambodia: Night raid leaves hundred homeless after forced evictions

amnesty.co.uk
27 January 2009

Military and police demolish homes of 150 families in three hours

Amnesty International today reacted angrily to news that over 150 poor urban families have been forcibly evicted from central Phnom Penh in night time raids at the weekend leaving a vast majority of them with nowhere to go and no adequate compensation.

Cambodian security forces and demolition workers forcibly evicted 152 families from the Dey Kraham community in the early hours of 24 January 2009.

At around 3am, an estimated 250 police, military police and workers hired by 7NG, the company claiming to own the land, blocked access to the community before dispersing the population with tear gas and threats of violence.

At 6am excavators moved in and levelled the village, while officials from Phnom Penh municipality looked on. Some of the families were not able to retrieve belongings from their homes before the demolition.

Brittis Edman, Amnesty International's Cambodia researcher, said:

'The most urgent task now is for the government to immediately address the humanitarian needs of these people, who have lost their homes and face imminent food and water shortages. They will also need assistance for a long time to come.'

The Phnom Penh municipality has provided less than 30 of the 152 families with shelter at a designated resettlement site at Cham Chao commune in Dangkor district, some 16 kilometres from the city centre. Most of the other structures at the site are still under construction and lack roofs. There is no clean water, no electricity, sewage or basic services.

The villagers had earlier rejected being resettled there because it was too far from Phnom Penh, where they work, mostly as street vendors. Since the forced eviction, the Dey Kraham community has been told that 7NG had withdrawn earlier offers of compensation, leaving the families who have been living in uncertainty and insecurity for more than two years, now faced with rebuilding their lives with nothing.

Just over a week before the forced eviction, the affected community told the authorities and the company that they were willing to move if they received adequate compensation for the land, where many of them have lived, uncontested, for decades and to which they have strong claims under the 2001 Land Law. The company then increased the offer of compensation, but the two sides had not yet reached an agreement.

Brittis Edman added:

'It is an outrage that the Cambodian authorities went ahead with the forced eviction, when progress was being made towards a mutual settlement. Now hundreds of children, women and men are left homeless.'

Background Local authority representatives sold the land to 7NG in 2005 without the knowledge, participation of, or consultation with the affected community. Some 300 families were coerced into moving amid threats, harassment and intimidation, while 152 families continued to dispute the validity of the sale and refused to give up the land without compensation.

Forced evictions are one of the most widespread human rights violations in Cambodia, and those affected are almost exclusively marginalised people living in poverty, in both urban and rural areas. In 2008, at least 27 forced evictions affecting over 20,000 people were reported in the media and by local organisations.

Hundreds of land activists are facing spurious charges, and dozens have been imprisoned, as the rich and powerful are increasingly abusing the criminal justice system to acquire land and evict those living there. At least nine community representatives from Dey Kraham have been charged for criminal offences as a result of their peaceful defence of their right to housing.

As a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Cambodia is obliged to ensure, before any planned evictions, that all alternatives are explored in consultation with those affected by the eviction. Evictions may only occur in accordance with the law and in conformity with international standards, including genuine consultation with those affected; adequate notice and information on the proposed eviction; and provisions of legal remedies for those affected. Evictions may only occur if they do not render individuals homeless or vulnerable to the violation of other human rights.

In May 2009, the Committee Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will consider Cambodia's first and considerably delayed report on its compliance with the treaty.

Newest fibre-optic cable is set to set get Cambodia connected

Photo by: Sovann Philong

Surfing the web in Phnom Penh. A new high-speed, fibre-optic cable promises to boost internet service and cut prices, which analysts say will play an important role in increasing the Kingdom’s business competitiveness.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Hor Hab and Chun Sophal
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Hopes high $18 million infrastructure project will bring cheaper, faster internet to Cambodia

CAMBODIA is expected to complete the latest stage of its telecoms infrastructure development in April - a fibre-optic cable to Laos that will connect to China's Yunnan Province, telecommunications officials said Monday.

Cambodia and Laos signed a memorandum of understanding on January 12 in Champassak province, Laos, to finalise the arrangement.

Cambodia Telecom has implemented the project on the Cambodian side with construction already complete, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications So Khun told the Post Monday.

The US$18 million project - built with a loan from China - would, he added, "improve the quality of internet, telecommunications and televisions system transfer".

It is part of information and communication technology [ICT] in Cambodia, he said, adding that the new infrastructure would offer greater opportunities for connectivity in Cambodia.

The project will also improve the speed of internet connections and reduce the cost of telecommunication services, said Sao Valak, CEO of internet service provider Campura System Corp.

" This connection ... can integrate economic and political cooperation. "

"With this cable link, Cambodia is no longer isolated from the rest of the world," he added.

Integrating with the region

The new cable has been constructed in two phases, the first a 113-kilometre section from Poipet on the Thai border up to Siem Reap province. This section is then connected to a longer 700-kilometre fibre optic cable that runs north of Siem Reap province across the Lao border at Nong Nonkhien.

In turn, the Laotian connection extends the cable network already in place in China's Yunnan province.

Another fibre-optic cable crosses Cambodia east to west between Thailand and Vietnam - a project implemented with money from Germany - meaning the new cable to China will further develop Cambodia's telecommunications system as part of the greater Mekong subregion.

"This connection is very important because it can integrate economic and political cooperation with the region and the world," said Ken Chanthan, president of the ICT Association of Cambodia.

Still, many challenges remain, he added. Cambodia still suffers from a lack of IT human resources and very low internet connectivity in rural areas.

"We can create job opportunities for our people if we can develop ICT to a certain level, because ICT services are still limited. We always hire overseas consultants," he said.

Sao Volak called on Cambodian people - and particularly students - to take full advantage of improved infrastructure by becoming better trained in information technology.

Govt aims to attract intl film production

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chhay Channyda
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

THE government last week urged the Ministry of Culture to do more to promote the Kingdom as a destination for international film crews as the ministry hopes to welcome growing numbers of foreign film productions.

Culture Minister Him Chhem said the focus of ministry efforts was to make Cambodia a better choice for international film productions looking for new location options.

"We are currently looking into the legal aspects of these issues," Him Chhem said Thursday at the closing of a seminar during National Culture Week.

He said the ministry has set 2009 as a target year for promoting cultural diffusion throughout the Kingdom and more cultural events to highlight the nation's cultural identity.

Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said that attracting more foreign film productions would require seeking greater investment in the sector.

"If [foreign crews] want to film in Cambodia, they must know how to proceed. So, the Ministry of Culture should submit a letter to [Prime Minister] Hun Sen to outline what services we will provide to them when they film in our country," Sok An said.

"Cambodia must make it easy for film companies to shoot their films [here]," he said, adding that the country currently falls well behind regional neighbours in the sector's ability to meet international standards.

Sok An said the potential benefits of drawing large productions could be seen in the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, portions of which were filmed on location at Angkor Wat.

Bringing large international crews to the country could produce millions of dollars in revenue, he said.

Real estate sector applauds lifting of 15pc loan cap

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON

A view of a construction site from the Canadia Bank tower in Phnom Penh. Developers hope that relaxed lending rules will bring much-needed cash into the ailing industry.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Nguon Sovan
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Property developers hope for fresh capital injection, but banks may not be willing to extend credit to sector so battered by economic slowdown

RECOVERY may be on the horizon for the cash-starved real estate market with the lifting of the 15 percent loan cap, say brokers.

The restriction was introduced in September in part to rein in what was then a soaring property market. But the global economic crisis drove prices down more than 50 percent, leading the government to ease monetary rules last Friday.

The new rule is set to take effect February 1.

Real estate brokers and developers applauded the move, saying it could bring much-needed capital and spell the beginnings of a turnaround.

"We are happy to hear the 15 percent ceiling has been repealed," said Chhean Dara, project manager of the US$50 million Young's Commercials and Resorts.

"Since the restriction was imposed, our development has progressed slowly and there have been few customers making purchases. We hope real estate will go back to normal."

Sung Bonna, president and CEO of Bonna Realty Group, said Monday the announcement is good news for the sector.

"It will stimulate developers and speculators and improve confidence soon," he said.

" We are hoping for a modest recovery ... we do not expect a sharp rise in prices. "

He said that the global financial crisis and the 15 percent rule have been death blows to the industry. "There is no confidence in the sector. Real estate transactions have dropped to just one or two percent of what they were," he said.

"For the time being, we are hoping for a modest recovery of activity," he said. "We do not expect a sharp rise in prices like before the crisis and the restriction," he added.

He also applauded the decision to cut the reserve rate from 16 percent to 12 percent, saying the liberalised rule could boost liquidity.

A wait-and-see approach

But even with the scrapping of the 15 percent rule, banks say they are not keen to lend to the battered property market.

Pung Kheav Se, president of Canadia Bank, told the Post Monday that the development is good for the property sector, but that his bank is not looking to extend credit to real estate.

"Repealing the 15 percent loans cap means some real estate developers that were running out of cash can borrow money and resume their activities," he said.

He said that Canadia Bank allocated 15 percent or $60 million of its portfolio to the real estate sector in 2008.

"For this year, the bank has set aside $70 million for the [real estate] sector. That does not mean that we will necessarily lend the money. But deposits in our bank have increased, so we have been able to increase loans."

"Our loans for 2009 are targeted mainly at agriculture and small- and medium-sized enterprises," he said.

In Channy, president and CEO of ACLEDA Bank, said that a dependence on local deposits makes local banks unwilling to extend loans to long-term real estate projects.

"Bankers are using local capital like deposits. Normally, deposits are for the short term - just one year - while loans for houses are as long as 10 years.

When we do not have foreign capital sources, we cannot offer loans to real estate because it will cause an imbalance between assets and liabilities," he said.

"If the banks can find long-term capital sources from overseas, they will lend to the sector," he said.

"Even with the repeal of the ceiling on loans, banks will be wary of lending to the sector."

He said that the ACLEDA Bank lent a total of $643 million in 2008 with only 12 percent, or $55.5 million, going to real estate.

"For this year, the bank plans $700 million - it is still the maximum 12 percent of the amount that goes to real estate."

Chan Sophal, president of the Cambodia Economic Association, said Monday the new rules were a welcome boost to the sector and the economy in general.

"I believe the real estate sector will be recovered soon after the revoking of the loan restriction, but the growth will not be as fast as that in the past," he said.

Bassac residents fear further relocations

Photo by: SEBASTIAN STRANGIO

Residents of the Bassac apartment block go about their business on Monday. But Saturday’s forced eviction of the neighbouring Dey Krahorm community has cast a shadow over the community, with many now fearful their homes will be next to go.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Sam Rith and Sebastian Strangio
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

As bulldozers made short work of Dey Krahorm, its neighbours worry their iconic apartment block could be poised for a similar fate.

FMs agree to scale back troops

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Cheang Sokha
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Demarcation of Thai-Cambodian border to begin early next month

CAMBODIA and Thailand agreed Monday to scale back the remaining troops stationed at Preah Vihear temple and to allow a joint team to demarcate the contested area in early February, senior officials said.

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said he and his Thai counterpart, Kasit Piromya, agreed during a meeting Monday that the Joint Border Commission (JBC) will begin to demarcate the area near Preah Vihear temple at some point between February 2 and February 4. The foreign ministers will meet again February 6 to discuss withdrawing troops from the area.

"Thailand is willing to solve the border issue ... land and also the sea border," Hor Namhong told reporters at a Monday press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Hor Namhong said a joint technical working group charged with demarcating the sea border between the two countries will be established in March or earlier, depending on when the Thai Cabinet approves the head of its side of the working group.

The meeting on Monday was part of a two-day official visit by Kasit Piromya to Cambodia, during which he was to meet with King Norodom Sihamoni, Senate President Chea Sim, National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Prime Minister Hun Sen and Hor Namhong.

"The discussion between Kasit and me was good," Prime Minster Hun Sen told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after his meeting Monday, adding that he had received a letter from Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva supporting his suggestion they use the forthcoming summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, scheduled to be held from February 27 to March 1 in Hua Hin, Thailand, to have bilateral discussions on the border issue.

Fears mount for future of iconic Bassac apartments

Photo by: SOVANN PHILONG

Former Dey Krahorm residents gather Monday outside the National Assembly building where they thumb-printed documents protesting their forced eviction Saturday.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Sam Rith and Sebastian Strangio
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Bassac apartment residents say Dey Krahorm eviction has raised fresh concerns about prospects for their community

A QUESTION mark hangs over the future of Phnom Penh's iconic Bassac apartmentsfollowing the forced eviction and demolition of the Dey Krahorm community Saturday morning.

The grime-streaked apartment blocks directly overlook Dey Krahorm - now a vacant lot filled with rubbish and twisted metal - and residents say they are worried their community will soon face a similar fate.

"The people at Dey Krahorm were cruelly evicted," said Ly Vannak, 45, who lives in Village 2 at the south end of the building.

"I am worried because I see Dey Krahorm as an example. Phnom Penh municipality and [developer] 7NG might take this building just as they took Dey Krahorm."

Am Sophy, 43, who has been living in the apartments since 1985, said rumours of the building's sale had died down since the 1990s, but that the Dey Krahorm eviction had again raised concerns in the community.

"I am concerned, especially seeing the people at Dey Krahorm evicted. I am concerned that we might be offered such a low price that we could not buy a new house," she said.

Iconic building

Designed in the early 1960s by former municipal town planning director Lu Ban Hap as part of a low-cost social housing project, the 300-metre-long apartment complex is now home to a diverse community of around 2,500 people, many of whom have lived there since settling in the abandoned building as refugees in the 1980s.

But housing rights advocates are also worried that after Saturday's eviction, which brought an end to the long standoff between residents and 7NG, the Bassac residents will be the next to go.

"I'm feeling that after all the forced evictions, many other places are vulnerable," said Yang Virak, executive director of the Community Legal Education Centre.

"My analysis is that in line with the repeated statements of the municipality about the beautification of the city ... they will evict [more] people. That has been their justification to date, so I am worried for these people."

David Pred, country director of rights group Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia, could not comment on the status of the building, but said that even if an eviction were to be attempted, residents would enjoy protection under the Land Law.

"People have lived and owned those apartments for decades ... and they have land rights like everyone else," he said.

Srey Sothea, the 7NG chairman, said the company had plans to build a "modern commercial centre including hotels and supermarkets" at Dey Krahorm, and had its eye on acquiring the Bassac apartments as a precursor to the development of the now-vacant land. But he added that no plans had yet been set in motion.

"We are also interested in the Bassac apartments, but we have not yet started researching whether the people there are interested in moving to live in another proper place or not," he said.

However, the success of any bid for the buildings will hinge on the legal status of the residents and the land that they occupy. No sources contacted by the Post could confirm whether the building sits on private, state private or state public land, but local authorities are confident the occupation of the buildings is legal.

"[Bassac residents] have no land titles, but they have family books to identify where they legally live," said Village 2 chief Nhem Sovann.

"They live in a legal building, not anarchic buildings like at Dey Krahorm."

Khat Narith, Tonle Bassac commune chief, said that land titles were never issued because the people live in a "community building", and said all residents would have to be paid a fair price for their homes.

"They are not like Dey Krahorm's residents," he said.

"If any company would like to buy [the buildings], that company has to offer people market prices."

Evictees, city official meet after relocation

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chhay Channyda and Brendan Brady
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Dey Krahorm’s last holdouts petition Hun Sen, protest at National Assembly for payment

SCORES of families who were evicted Saturday from Dey Krahorm and entitled to compensation have refused to accept homes in Damnak Trayoeng village and are demanding private developer 7NG reinstate its previous offer of US$20,000, community representative Chan Vichet told the Post Monday.

"They won't take a house outside the city. We want the municipality to discuss the issue with the company so they will give us $20,000," he said after meeting with Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun and families seeking cash compensation.

The City Hall talks coincided with a protest outside the National Assembly by about 100 of the evictees petitioning the prime minister to intervene and pressure the developer to reinstate a previous offer of $20,000 in compensation.

But Mann Chhoeun insisted cash payouts were off the table.

"If they do not agree to houses, we will find a middle ground to reach a solution," he added, although he would not specify what it would be.

He also blamed rights workers who, he said, led residents astray by encouraging them to hold out for more money.

"We pity the residents. They now say they should have accepted $20,000," Mann Chhoeun said.

Although he wouldn't name it, he said one "international group", in particular, "incited the residents not to cooperate with authorities".

Having held out when the developer upped its cash compensation offer to $20,000 from $15,000, some evictees say they are now reflecting sorely on their choice, as their leverage to demand fair compensation has been severely weakened as their main bargaining tool - their possession of the land - was demolished along with their homes and possessions in a blitz Saturday morning.

A couple nights at the relocation site without being assigned a home was enough to have 22-year-old Cheng Srey Vann reconsider her insistence on $50,000.

" We've stopped demanding [$50,000]because we are now living on the street. "

"We've stopped demanding that because we are now living on the street," she said. "We just need the previous offer, but we cannot accept a house," she said, saying a move to Damnak Trayoeung would force her to find new work and cut her off entirely from the life she knew in the city.

Divide and Conquer

Chan Vichet accused the city of cherry-picking the few recognised evictees with special offers to avoid giving fodder to critics. The names of several known artists who had lived in Dey Krahorm were marked by the city on a distinct list, he said.

David Pred, director of Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia, on Sunday described the tactics as the same being used by the city in offering special compensations deals to chapei masters Kong Nai and Neth Pe. Forcibly evicting them "would have been a public relations disaster...so it is understandable that they were offered much higher compensation to entice them to leave voluntarily prior to Saturday's forced eviction," he said.

Meanwhile, local rights groups in Phnom Penh met Monday to review food and medical relief needs of residents living in the relocation site, which they have described as woefully ill-prepared to absorb the hundreds trucked there Saturday by 7NG.

Thais may return antiquities

Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, right, and his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya after their meeting Monday.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Vong Sokheng and Cheang Sokha
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Deal between Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers could see return of 43 ancient Khmer artefacts confiscated by Thai customs guards in 1999

CAMBODIAN artefacts confiscated by Thai authorities are set to return to the Kingdom pending the approval of the Bangkok Cabinet, following an agreement Monday between Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya in Phnom Penh.

"Regarding the Khmer artefacts confiscated in Thailand, Kasit will ask the Thai Minister of Culture to request an approval from the Thai Cabinet to allow them to be sent back to Cambodia," Hor Namhong told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In 1999, Thai customs agents seized 43 antique Khmer sculptures weighing more than eight tonnes at a port owned by a Thai shipping company.

The antiques were being smuggled from Cambodia to Singapore via Thailand and were destined for markets in Europe and the United States. The sculptures are believed to have been stripped from ancient Khmer temples and monuments inside Cambodia.

Khim Sarith, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, told the Post that negotiations with Thailand on the return of the artefacts began a few years ago but that the Cambodian government was still awaiting an approval from the Thai government.

"I think that the bilateral meeting between the Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers will help to push forward the process of returning the Khmer artefacts," Khim Sarith said.

He added that prior to Monday's meeting, Thailand has recognised 18 of the 43 artefacts as belonging to Cambodia, but was hopeful the new agreement would see the return of all 43 pieces, which would be the second time the two countries have cooperated on the repatriation of Khmer antiquities.

In November 1999, the Thai government returned more than 100 carved stone blocks that had been smuggled into the country earlier in the year after being hacked from the walls of the temple of Banteay Chhmar in northwestern Cambodia.

"We are waiting to hear good news," said Khim Sarith.

"If the Thai government agrees to return our artefacts, we will go to take them immediately, but so far not a single artefact has been returned."

Koh Puos chairman gives date for bridge

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Cheang Sokha and chun sophal
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

THE chairman of the Koh Puos Investment Group told Prime Minister Hun Sen Monday that construction of the bridge to the island will be completed within the next 14 months, according to a spokesman for Hun Sen.

Alexander Kiryushin asked Hun Sen to set up a commission to speed up the development project and asked him to change the name of the project from Koh Puos to Koh Morokot, said the spokesman, Eang Sophalleth. In response, Hun Sen appointed Sok Chenda, secretary general of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, to head the commission. He advised the company to prepare water pipes to bring water to the island.

Heng Pov's third trial delayed over lack of defence lawyer

Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN

Heng Pov, shown here in a file photo, is serving a sentence of 58 years in prison.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chrann Chamroeun
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Convicted ex-cop was set to be tried on new charges, but court says co-defendant’s refusal to accept legal counsel forces postponement

A TRIAL of already-incarcerated former Phnom Penh police chief Heng Pov on charges of illegal detention and interrogation has been suspended, with the court and Heng Pov's defence lawyer citing conflicting reasons for the delay.

Heng Pov, who while in power was much-feared in his role, is currently serving a total of 58 years in prison for a battery of charges including murder, counterfeiting, extortion and kidnapping.

Choun Sunleng, deputy president of the Municipal Court of Appeal, said following Monday's hearing that Ly Rasy, the former chairman of Phnom Penh's Criminal Bureau, who is accused of aiding and abetting Heng Pov, has refused legal assistance, which is counter to court rules.

"It's a criminal case, so both of them are required to have lawyers. I requested that Ly Rasy accept Kao Soupha [Heng Pov's lawyer], but he refused it," Choun Sunleng said Monday after Heng Pov and Ly Rasy were returned from the court to Prey Sar prison.

He expected that the matter would be resolved soon so that the trial could commence next month. Lawyer Kao Sopha denied the court's explanation and told the Post Monday that the hearing was suspended because the court forgot to inform Ly Rasy's lawyer that the hearing would be held Monday.

In addition to the case due to have been addressed Monday, Heng Pov faces outstanding charges carrying sentences of up to 30 years for the attempted murder of National Military Police head Sao Sokha and Koh Santepheap publisher Thong Uy Pang.

Still popular with some

Long Phoeun, an official at the Appeal Court, said more than 60 residents from Kampong Speu waited Monday outside the Ministry of Justice, where the hearing took place, to call for the release of the former police chief. In 1996, Heng Pov presided over a police crackdown on armed robbery in the province, ingratiating himself with local residents.

The former municipal police chief, who was arrested in Malaysia in 2006 after a six-month bid for political asylum, blames late National Police Commissioner Hok Lundy for the crimes that he has been charged and convicted over so far.

Heng Pov has also pleaded with authorities to unfreeze his assets - including a house in Chroy Changvar and nearly US$1 million - confiscated by authorities after his arrest in 2006, arguing that his children are living in poverty.

Danish 'drug dealer' blames self

AFP

Johanne Vinther Axelsen, who has been sentenced to 15 years for drug trafficking, outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on January 16.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Camilla Bjerrekear
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Sentenced to 15 years in prison for mailing codeine and Valium out of the country, Johanne Vinther Axelsen says her son told her the shipments were legal – but doesn’t blame him

BEHIND the green bars of the visiting area in Prey Sar prison sits its only female Western inmate, 55-year-old Johanne Vinther Axelsen from Denmark. She says she came to Cambodia to visit her son and planned to stay for one year. On January 16, however, she was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined US$7,500 for trying to mail about 10,000 codeine and Valium tablets from Cambodia to the United States and the United Kingdom.

In prison, Axelsen shares a five-by-15-metre cell with 40 other inmates. The toilet is a squatter in the corner, and the only water in the cell comes from a trough. All the women sleep on plastic mats on the concrete floor. Each prisoner is given a private space 50 centimetres wide and two meters long for herself, her mosquito net and her belongings.

Back home in Denmark, Axelsen received government aid because she was unable to hold down a job because of a personality disorder and social phobia, she said. Now, her mental problems are causing her grief in prison.

"It is not easy because sometimes I raise my voice too much and the other inmates threathen to beat me," she said. "I just have to go sit in my mosquito net and read a book to get away from all the people."

She pays a fellow inmate $70 a month to cook food that other inmates bring from outside the prison.

"There is no proper food and no clean water. So if you do not have any money in here, you can't survive because you will fall ill," she said.

Her son, Niels Eikeland, 28, received the same sentence, though he was not present in court. He has been absent from court proceedings since a hearing on January 8. Axelsen's version of events suggests Eikeland is more culpable than his mother.

Wayward son

In 2003, Eikeland was convicted in Denmark of stealing art from a museum and was sentenced to one year in prison. He moved to Cambodia after his release to pursue a career in kick boxing. He also began dealing drugs.

Posts made in a discussion forum of the website www.drugbuyers.com for people looking to buy hard-to-get substances assert that Eikeland was behind a website for an online pharmacy advertising morphine, codeine and Valium sent from Cambodia. Customers, however, were not always happy with his business style, calling him a "scammer" because he rarely delivered the promised goods. When he did, they said, the medicine arrived packed in toys and spraycans. The website was taken down in 2007 "due to security reasons", but Eikeland apparently did not quit selling drugs.

Shortly after his mother arrived in the country, Niels Eikeland asked her to help pack pills for shipment. Axelsen claimed that she knew nothing about her son's business prior to coming to Cambodia, adding that she suspected no foul play when her son asked her to help.

" IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY MONEY IN HERE, YOU CAN’T SURVIVE BECAUSE YOU WILL FALL ILL. "

"Of course I asked him what kind of pills it was and whether it was legal," she said. "I did not want to get in trouble when I had travelled all this way to see him and have a good time."

She said she believed her son when he told her that Valium and codeine were over-the-counter drugs in Cambodia and that it would not be illegal to mail them out of the country.

In addition to packing them, Axelsen also took the pills to the post office to mail them out of the country. She was arrested outside Wat Phnom post office on April 11, 2008, after post office staff intercepted some of the packages and turned them over to police.

"I was very surprised," Axelsen said. "I think now that I have been naive. I had never imagined being arrested and sent to prison. I did it to help my son because I thought he had finally found his right track in life, but I guess I was wrong."

A corrupt court?

To cover for her son, she told police at the time of her arrest that she was working for a Swede, but later in court she told the truth.

In an interview at the time of her sentencing, Axelsen said a private Cambodian lawyer had told her that she would be released if she paid US$20,000.

"But I refuse to pay any money to the corrupt court officials, who will use the money to buy a luxury house and car," she said.

She denounced the trial as "unfair", adding that she had "decided not to pay even one dollar" to the court.

"I am not a drug smuggler, just a medicine seller," she said.

Tom Barthel Hansen, head of the Representative Office of Denmark in Cambodia, expressed surprise at the terms of the sentence and said his office was exploring possibilities for an appeal.

"We expected a much smaller sentence based on a talk with her lawyer," he said.

Axelsen said she had heard very little from her son since she was arrested but added that she accepted responsibility for what happened.

"I don't blame him for anything," she said. "I was naive. Blood is thicker than water. Now, all I can do is hope he is well and that we both can get out of this mess."

Axelsen said she wants to appeal the court ruling. In the meantime, she remains hopeful. "I'm a very optimistic person. I keep my spirits high," she said. "Without hope, there can be no future."

Police release fishermen, detain employers in raid on illegal nets

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Thet Sambath
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Fishing-boat managers remain in custody as officials maintain crackdown on use of fine-mesh nets that violate national regulations

MORE than 200 fishermen arrested last week as part of a crackdown on illegal netting were released Saturday, while 13 managers remained in custody, Pao Vuthy, chief of Kampong Chhnang prison, told the Post Monday.

The raid last Wedneday took place in a part of Tonle Sap Lake that falls within Pursat, Kampong Chhnang and Kampong Thom provinces and involved police from all three areas along with Ministry of Interior officials.

Pao Vuthy said the fishermen were released because they were merely following the orders of their employers. Those still in custody, he said, are accused of using between 1,000 and 1,500 metres of very fine netting that traps small fish in addition to larger ones that fishermen are allowed to catch.

Widespread problem

Chim Bunthoeun, chief of the Kampong Chhnang province crime office, said the use of illegal netting was widespread on Tonle Sap Lake and alleged that some officials in the Department of Fisheries had accepted bribes from fishermen.

He said the Ministry of Interior got involved because provincial police forces did not have enough money in their budgets to carry out the crackdown.

Nao Thuok, director of the Department of Fisheries, said he should have been consulted before the raid was conducted. He could not be reached Monday for comment.

Sam Chan Kea, Kampong Chhnang provincial coordinator for the NGO Adhoc, reiterated Monday his support for the crackdown.

"It's a surprise crackdown on illegal fishing," he said. "Before, legal fishermen were hopeless and did not believe the crackdown would occur. We hope officials will continue to crack down because there are still more illegal fishing nets in this lake."

Ex-PM mourned

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Post Staff
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

More than 1,000 members of the royal family and other dignitaries from the National Assembly, Senate and Constitutional Council attended Monday the cremation of Chau Sen Kosal Chhum. Mourners paid heartfelt tributes to the 104-year-old former prime minister. After a religious ceremony including 150 monks, Kong Sam Ol, deputy prime minister and minister of the royal palace, lit the funeral pyre at 9am.

Strike lifted, overtime cut in Kandal

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by May Titthara
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Workers secure $50 bonuses, but see large cuts in overtime

THOUSANDS of garment workers from the Yong Wa garment factory in Kandal province's Takhmao district have returned to work following a four-day strike demanding a US$50 end-of-year bonus, garment workers said Monday.

Chamroeun Chan, 40, a Yong Wa garment worker who was beaten Thursday during a confrontation with police, said that workers did not want to go back to work, but that the factory owner had threatened to close the factory if workers did not call off the strike.

"After we held our strike in front of the factory, they agreed to pay us $50, but not all at once. On February 6, they will pay $30, and then in April they will pay $20 more," she said.

At least four garment workers were injured in clashes with provincial and district police during Thursday's strike.

Workers' representative Kouch Dara, a member of the Shikado Union, said that it took three days of negotiations with factory management before the workers' yearly bonus was reinstated.

" They are the owners, so they can put pressure on us in other ways. "

But worker Sokhum Molina said that many workers did not wish to return to work because the factory owners had abolished overtime following the labour unrest.

"The factory owner will only allow us to work from 6:30am to 3pm, so we don't have enough money to support ourselves," she said.

"We need to save some money to send to our family in the home province [and] if we work overtime from 3pm to 6pm, we can get around $90 per month."

She said the factory owners had also deducted $5 from this month's salary for all workers involved in the strike. She vowed the workers would stop work again if the owner continued to withhold the money.

But Mean Srey Ly, 28, another worker at the factory, said that no matter how many strikes were held, the factory management always seemed to win.

"They are the owners, so they can put pressure on us in other ways. They agreed to pay our yearly bonus, but now they have stopped us working overtime," she said.

"I think if they keep doing this for another two months, our workers will stop working because we don't have enough money to live on. Going back home is better then working."

According to the Ministry of Commerce, garment exports dropped two percent in 2008 on figures from the previous year.

The global economic downtown is held responsible, representing the latest in a series of hits to what is one of Cambodia's largest industries.

French court to rule on defamation case

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Brendan Brady
Tuesday, 27 January 2009

A FRENCH court is scheduled to deliver a verdict today on a case filed by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong accusing opposition leader Sam Rainsy of defamation and disinformation.

In his autobiography, Rooted in Stone, published in France in May, Sam Rainsy accuses Hor Namhong of heading the Khmer Rouge's Boeung Trabek "re-education" camp, where former diplomats and government officials from the Lon Nol and Sihanouk regimes were held, some on their way to death at the notorious Tuol Sleng prison.

Hor Namhong enlisted as a legal precedent a 1991 defamation ruling by a French court against former King Norodom Sihanouk. The minister insists he himself is a victim of the regime, having lost family members under its rule.

According to officials in his party, Sam Rainsy has distinguished his comments from those of the former King and argued that the legal precedent, therefore, does not apply.

Hor Namhong first filed the lawsuit in April at a Phnom Penh court after the opposition leader alluded to the minister's involvement in the regime in a speech at the Choeung Ek "killing fields". In May, a Phnom Penh court summoned Sam Rainsy but later shelved the case, awaiting a verdict from the French court, which revolves around more explicit comments Sam Rainsy made in his book.

Hor Namhong told reporters in June that he filed the case in France, where Sam Rainsy holds a passport, because: "Some people claim the Cambodian courts are not independent, so I am taking legal action in France".