Cambodian learns Americancustoms during MCC exchange

Courtesy photo
Kidron Bethel Village Chaplain Amanda Rempel, left, and exchange program participant Sokhom Yann of Cambodia

By Susan Almond
Newton Kansan
Posted Jun 30, 2008

NORTH NEWTON — Sokhom Yann of North Newton loves baked goat, American hamburgers and eggs served sunny-side up.

Yann, 25, arrived in the United States in August from his home in Kompongthom, Cambodia, for a yearlong stint with the Mennonite Central Committee international volunteer exchange program, a Christian service opportunity for ages 18 through 30. Many of its participants are placed with social service agencies.

Yann is a chaplain’s assistant for Kidron Bethel Village in North Newton. He also worked in the activities department at Bethel Health Care Centre in the Kidron community.

A product from north east province of Cambodia

Nem in Kratie Province

PR-inside.com
2008-06-30

Buying Cambodian products is the best way to help promote and enhance Cambodian living standard!

If you want to discover the best of Cambodia, nature and wildlife of the Mekong River will be appreciatory and why do not go to Kratie province. It's located in northeastern Cambodia. It may take about 6 hours to travel by car from Phnom Penh to Kratie town (315km) crossing the National Road 6, 7 and 13. The Mekong River is extremely beneficial to crop and rice cultivation of the province. Furthermore, tourists could travel by boat or speedboat to view the nature and living along the Mekong River Bank. More importantly, Irrawaddy dolphins, mainly known as PHSAUT in Khmer, can be viewed at Kampi pool in Kampi Village, Sambok commune, Sambok district 15km north of Kratie City.

While arriving at Kratie, you would not miss to buy the tasteful Nem, roll made of hashed fish meat wrapped and cooked in banana leaves, for your families, friends, or colleagues. NEM can be eaten as a snack or with rice according to one's interest. Some people who prefer eating NEM said NEM in Kratie is tastier than that in Battambang. Thus, let's see how NEM is made in Kratie province.

In Kroko Village, 3km north of Kratie town (www.tourismindochina.com/kratie-attractionsite.htm), Aunty MEX told us about how to make NEM. She produced NEM for sale as a family business with the help of her daughter and two sons whenever they are free from their study. She said she could make NEM with an average 500 per day and it costs 100 Riel per NEM. However, she could make more than that depending on the customers' demand. First, we have to ensure that all ingredients are ready to be used for making NEM.

The main element of NEM is fish meat; kind of fish depends on the fish availability and one's interest. The other ingredients are toasted rice, ginger, star gooseberry leaves, banana leaves, chilies, sugar, salt and seasoning.

The fish meat is shredded or crushed, and mixed with toasted rice, ginger, sugar, salt and seasoning. Hashed fish meat is rolled into small ones with chili slice and star gooseberry leaves. At last, they are wrapped in banana leaves and tied with wire. One day later, NEM is ready for eating.

By Khmer Product Promotion Team

Khmer official on trial for genocide protests detention

UNFAIR JAIL TIME? : The former Khmer Rouge foreign minister disagrees that he should be held in detention ahead of his UN-assisted genocide trial

Taipei Times
AP, PHNOM PENH
Monday, Jun 30, 2008

“[The Khmer Rouge was] characterized by murder, extermination, imprisonment, persecution on political grounds and other inhuman acts.”
Investigating judges, UN genocide tribunal

The former foreign minister of the now-defunct Khmer Rouge movement plans to appeal to Cambodia’s genocide tribunal against his pretrial detention, a court spokesman said yesterday.

The UN-assisted tribunal has charged Ieng Sary, 82, with crimes against humanity and war crimes. He is due to appear today to press for his release, tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said.

Ieng Sary is one of five defendants being held by the tribunal, which plans to begin its first trial later this year. His wife, 76-year-old Ieng Thirith, who served as the Khmer Rouge’s social affairs minister, is also being held on charges of crimes against humanity.

The tribunal, jointly run by Cambodian and international personnel, attempts to establish accountability for the atrocities committed by the communist group when it ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.

The group’s radical policies resulted in the deaths of about 1.7 million people, who were executed or died of starvation, disease or hard labor.

In their detention order in November, the investigating judges said Ieng Sary is being prosecuted for supporting Khmer Rouge policies that were “characterized by murder, extermination, imprisonment, persecution on political grounds and other inhuman acts such as forcible transfers of the population, enslavement and forced labor.”

Ieng Sary has dismissed the charges against him as “unacceptable” and demanded evidence to support them, a copy of his detention order said.

He and his wife belonged to the inner circle of the Khmer Rouge and were in-laws to the movement’s late leader Pol Pot, who was married to Khieu Ponnary, Ieng Thirith’s sister.

Ieng Thirith took her husband’s surname after they got married.In 1996, Ieng Sary received a royal pardon from former King Norodom Sihanouk as a reward for leading his followers to join the government.

The mutiny foreshadowed the Khmer Rouge collapse three years later in 1999.

Former Khmer Rouge appeals detention

Former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary looks on during a hearing Monday, June 30, 2008, at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ieng Sary appeared before Cambodia's genocide tribunal Monday to press for his release from pretrial detention. (AP Photo/Prin Samnang, POOL)

Former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, center, is helped by security guards as he stands up in the dock while judges come into the courtroom for a hearing Monday, June 30, 2008, at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ieng Sary appeared before Cambodia's genocide tribunal Monday to press for his release from pretrial detention. (AP Photo/Prin Samnang, POOL)

By KER MUNTHIT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Lawyers for the former foreign minister of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge argued Monday that he should be freed from pre-trial detention by the country's genocide tribunal because of ill health.

The United Nations-assisted court has charged Ieng Sary, 82, with crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The hearing on his appeal was adjourned early at the request of the defendant, who said he did not feel well enough to continue. It was set to continue Tuesday.

Ieng Sary is one of five defendants being held by the tribunal, which plans to hold its first trial later this year. His wife, 76-year-old Ieng Thirith, who served as the Khmer Rouge's social affairs minister, is among those being held on charges of crimes against humanity.

The tribunal, jointly run by Cambodian and international personnel, is attempting to establish accountability for atrocities committed by the communist group when it ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.

The group's radical policies resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution.

Dressed in a light-blue, long-sleeved shirt, the 82-year-old Ieng Sary was visibly infirm. Guards had to help him sit and stand up in his first courtroom appearance since his arrest last year.

Ieng Sary's defense team demanded that he be placed under either house arrest or protective hospitalization and undergo proper psychiatric examination to determine whether he is fit to stand trial.

Ieng Sary's "weak physical and mental capacity" makes him unable to fully assist his lawyers, Michael Karnavas, an American lawyer from Alaska, told the court.

"That's one of our primary issues here — the ability to follow proceedings. We cannot go forward on this very critical issue" relating to Ieng Sary's right to a fair trial, Karnavas said.

"A more robust individual could exercise all of his rights whereas someone who is not as robust, be it physical or mental, will have less," he said.

In their detention order in November, the new tribunal's investigating judges said Ieng Sary is being prosecuted for supporting Khmer Rouge policies that were "characterized by murder, extermination, imprisonment, persecution on political grounds and other inhuman acts such as forcible transfers of the population, enslavement and forced labor."

Ieng Sary has dismissed the charges as "unacceptable" and demanded evidence to support them, according to court documents.

Ieng Sary and his wife belonged to the inner circle of the Khmer Rouge and were in-laws of the movement's late leader.

When the hearing resumes Tuesday, the court will also consider whether its proceedings constitute double jeopardy, said Judge Prak Kimsan.

In many legal systems — including French law, upon which Cambodian law is based — you cannot prosecute a person a second time for a crime for which a judgment of guilt or innocence has already been rendered.

Ieng Sary was condemned to death in absentia by a communist government tribunal that was installed by Vietnamese troops after they toppled the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. The tribunal lacked credibility because it was conducted as a classic Soviet-style show trial, with no real effort to present a defense.

In 1996, Ieng Sary received a royal pardon from the sentence from former King Norodom Sihanouk as a reward for breaking away from the Khmer Rouge and leading his followers to join the government. The mutiny foreshadowed the group's three years later in 1999.

The pardon has not yet been tested in court.

It was mentioned on the agenda for Ieng Sary's appeal, but the question of double jeopardy was raised for the first time Monday by Karnavas. Whether the issue has any standing under the tribunal's rules and whether there is any merit has not yet been determined.

In addition to Ieng Sary and his wife, the three other suspects in custody awaiting trial are Khieu Samphan, the former head of state, Nuon Chea, the former chief ideologist, and Kaing Guek Eav — also known as Duch — who headed the Khmer Rouge's S-21 torture center.

The tribunal has said it plans to start Duch's trial in September.

Cambodia war crimes suspect too weak to await trial in jail: lawyers

A Cambodian woman looks at the human skulls on display at a genocide museum near Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Heng Sinith/Associated Press)

Elderly former Khmer Rouge member charged in deaths of millions in 1970s

June 30, 2008
CBC News

Lawyers representing a former Cambodian communist leader accused of complicity in the deaths of millions of his fellow citizens argued Monday that the 82-year-old should not be in jail as he awaits his war crimes trial in Phnom Penh.

Ieng Sary was foreign minister in Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime, which maintained brutal policies of repression and social engineering and oversaw the deaths of as many as 3 million people between 1974 and 79.

Ieng Sary is one of five surviving officials of the communist movement awaiting war crimes trials at a joint Cambodian-United Nations-run tribunal in Phnom Penh.

His American lawyer, Michael Karnavas, told judges Monday that his client's "weak physical and mental capacity" made him unfit for the pre-trial jail custody that the tribunal insisted upon.

Karnavas said Ieng Sary was too weak to take part in preparing his own defence, and should either be placed under house arrest or sent to a secure hospital where his lawyers would have more access to him.

"A more robust individual could exercise all of his rights, whereas someone who is not as robust, be it physical or mental, will have less," Karnavas argued before the court.

Calls charges 'unacceptable'

Proceedings had to be stopped because Ieng Sary said he wasn't feeling well enough to proceed and will resume on Tuesday, UN officials said.

Ieng Sary has said the charges against him are "unacceptable" and demanded to see the evidence behind them, but no plea has been entered.

The first war crimes trial under the Cambodia Tribunal process is set to begin later this year when Ieng Sary's co-defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, answers charges of running a Khmer Rouge jail and torture centre where 16,000 Cambodians are said to have died gruesome deaths.

The other accused include Ieng Sary's wife, Ieng Thirith, former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan and ideology chief Nuon Chea.

The movement's notorious leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998, reportedly from a heart attack but no reliable autopsy or investigation was ever conducted.

The tribunal process has been delayed for years by procedural wrangling over the rules of evidence and the trial process.

Cambodian judges and lawyers work side-by-side with international jurists and legal experts in the tribunal process.

The lead co-prosecutor is Robert Petit of Montreal, who has also worked on legal issues in Kosovo, East Timor and Rwanda.

Appeal will test genocide court

Sought bail … Ieng Sary at the court yesterday.Photo: AP

The Sunday Morning Herald

smh.com.au
July 1, 2008

PHNOM PENH: The former Khmer Rouge foreign minister appeared before the United Nations-backed Cambodian genocide court yesterday to appeal against his detention, in a case that poses the first big test for the tribunal.

Ieng Sary, 82, is one of five top regime cadres detained for crimes allegedly committed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975 to 1979 rule over Cambodia.

The aged and sickly former leader, who has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, walked into court with a cane and needed the help of guards to sit in the dock. When judges asked his occupation, he said: "I am retired."

The hearing was attended by about 300 Cambodians. Heng Sruy, 57, travelled from the south-western province of Kampot and said he hoped the court would continue Ieng Sary's detention. "I want to hear Ieng Sary speak the truth," Mr Heng Sruy said. "I lost many relatives under the Khmer Rouge regime. I can't remember how many, but a lot."

At yesterday's hearing, Ieng Sary's lawyers planned to seek his release on bail. Later in the week, they are expected to argue that the charges should be dropped because Ieng Sary had received a royal pardon in 1996 in return for surrendering to the government.

"The court will have to decide whether the amnesty is valid or not. Maybe they will have a conflict between Cambodia's constitution and international norms," the head of the Cambodian Defenders Project, Sok Samoueun, said.

Deciding whether nationally granted amnesties apply to international trials is a significant area of contention that has been raised in the Sierra Leone war crimes trial and the International Criminal Court, the head of the Khmer Rouge tribunal's defence office, Rupert Skillbeck, said.

Ieng Sary was one of the biggest public supporters of the regime's mass purges, researchers say.

Agence France-Presse

Historical baggage a burden on thai-cambodian relations

By Kavi Chongkittavorn
The Nation
Published on July 1, 2008

The never-ending row over Preah Vihear Temple has to do with the complete lack of trust between Thailand and Cambodia, both at the governmental and citizen level.

In addition, the flames of nationalism have been fanned by politicians of all stripes on both sides. Years of historical baggage hang like a persistent cloud over their relations.

Ever since Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej took over, a convergence of numerous incidents, comments and hidden agendas have come together and raised suspicions in the minds of Thai stakeholders over territorial integrity. In this case, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama's own idiosyncrasies and diplomatic gaffes have damaged the country's handling of the temple case.

Add all of these elements together plus an overdose of invective against Cambodia and one can predict how bilateral relations will end up in the future.

It's unfortunate that the two countries have to experience such turbulence at a time that is trying for both. Cambodia will hold a general election on July 27, while in Thailand the Samak government is trying to stay alive as a surrogate of deposed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The scare from the torching of the Thai embassy at the end of January, 2003 is still fresh in the minds of Thais. But the flames of the pair's love-hate relations date back to the 13th century and the founding of the Sukhothai Kingdom.

Visitors to the ruins of the 11th Angkor Wat complex in Siem Reap (which literally means "flattened Siam") can easily see how the Siamese invaders were portrayed in the carvings on the stone walls. Their faces are ugly and cruel. To Cambodians, Thais are villains who invaded their country and destroyed the Angkor civilisation. They are also arrogant and often look down on their neighbours.

When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975, millions of Cambodians sought refuge overseas, nearly a half a million of them crossing the border into Aranyaprathet. Some of them stayed for over a decade before they were settled into third countries. Indeed, very few of these refugees, if any, decided to remain in Thailand.

Truth be told, these refugees, who have since grown up to receive good educations and become affluent, do not have any fond memories of their rough childhood years spent at Khao-I-Dang camp. Some of these same people are now in power and are directing Cambodia's foreign policy.

Former Khmer Rouge resistance fighters who used to live in Thailand and were under the care of the Thai Army often recall bitter experiences and the ways they were patronised, albeit while mentioning some of the good deeds committed by the Thais.

Back in 1996 and 1997, senior Thai officials were also involved in an unpublicised and aborted coup in Cambodia stemming from disputes over telecommunications deals. Thailand's involvement in its domestic politics also deepened Cambodian suspicions that if the opportunity arose, Thailand's power-wielders would destabilise the country. That explains why instances of joint-development cooperation are hard to come by. Thailand and Malaysia entered into their first joint-development cooperation effort in the Gulf of Thailand back in 1979 and the cooperation continues with profits shared between the two countries. The Thai-Malay effort could serve as a model for a joint gas development effort between Thailand and Cambodia in the disputed area in the gulf.

After peace came to Cambodia in 1993, Thailand's economic and cultural presence in the country started to increase rapidly. Eager Thai investors were seen as cowboys coming into the country to turn a fast profit, while exploiting the resource-rich country. Anti-Thai sentiment and hatred went on the rise. Meanwhile, local markets were filled with Thai consumer products; on TV, Thai soap operas were dubbed in broken Khmer. At one point, the Hun Sen government even banned Thai dramas. During the UN-sanctioned political transition in Cambodia during the 1990s, Thai pop culture and language were popular among Cambodians. The Thai government did not realise this potential and failed to nurture these good feelings.

But it has not all been one-sided. Thais who are old enough might recall the Cambodian horror film Puos Keng Kang ("The Snake King's Child") made by Dy Saveth, a Cambodian actress who was hugely popular in Thailand. Indeed, the Khmer cultural influence in Thailand is far greater than the Thais are willing to admit. Historians concur quite readily that Khmer cultural contributions over the past several centuries have enriched Thai culture in its present form.

Indeed, Cambodia is different from Burma, a country perceived as an eternal enemy by the Thais. Indeed, the Cambodians are as close to the Thais as the Lao. Both Thailand and Cambodia share similar customs and traditions, as well as Buddhism. Without Khmer words, the Thai language would not be as rich.

Fast-forward to the present, and it took Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong's comments about Surakiart Sathirathai for the UN's top job to galvanise the Thaksin government to go full steam ahead on the Preah Vihear issue. The versatile foreign minister will again serve in the days and weeks to come in the effort to resolve the Preah Vihear issue.

Thailand should learn and adjust its relations with Cambodia. It needs to prevent an anti-Thai sentiment from arising as it did in 2003. Since joining Asean in 1999, the country has joined the ranks of democratic countries, albeit one with many imperfections. It has a vibrant economy and able technocrats and diplomats. With potential gas and oil deposits, Cambodia's future is going to be a strong one.

The trouble is, Thailand has never dealt with stronger neighbours in an equal manner before.

Going it alone

AFP; Cambodia has vowed to go ahead with its UNESCO application despite Thai objections.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Sambath Teth
Monday, 30 June 2008

Cambodia has vowed to press ahead with its bid for a UNESCO World Heritage listing for Preah Vihear temple despite a Thai court ruling that Bangkok cannot support the nomination for the ancient Hindu site.

"It's their internal problem," Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan told the Post in a phone interview on June 30.

"[Preah Vihear] is our temple and we want it to receive world heritage listing," Siphan said.

"Preah Vihear belongs to us so we are not interested in this," he added, referring to an injunction issued by Thailand's Administrative Court on June 28.

The injunction temporarily blocked the Thai government from supporting Cambodia's nomination to seek world heritage status for Preah Vihear at a UNESCO meeting in Quebec starting July 2.

The injunction follows a joint communiqué endorsing the nomination that was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama on June 18.

The injunction had been sought by a coalition of activist groups in Thailand, the People's Alliance for Democracy, which has been leading weeks of street protests in Bangkok against the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.

Opposition parties criticized Samak over the communiqué during a no-confidence debate in the Thai parliament last week after the Preah Vihear issue had been raised at the street protests in Bangkok.

Siphan expressed frustration at the role played by Thai opposition parties.

"The Cambodian government is working with the Thai government; we are not working with the Thai opposition," he said.

Siphan downplayed the possibility of unrest in Cambodia over the stand taken by some Thai groups.

"Thai restaurants are full of Cambodian people," he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong also expressed regret that some Thai parties and politicians were exploiting the Preah Vihear issue as part of their campaign against the Samak government.

"I am very sorry they are using Preah Vihear for their internal political purposes; this can affect the friendship and cooperation between our two countries," Namhong told a news conference on June 27.

On June 22, the Cambodian government closed the border checkpoint at Preah Vihear, citing security concerns after a group of Thai activists gathered at a market near the main entrance to the temple, which is most easily accessed from the Thai side of the border.

In response to the border closure, a ceremony was held at Preah Vihear on June 30 to offer food to the small Cambodian community living at the temple site and to pray for peace.

The ceremony was sponsored by the Khmer Civilization Foundation, which on June 15 hosted a celebration in Phnom Penh to mark the 46th anniversary of the ruling by the International Court of Justice granting ownership of Preah Vihear to Cambodia.

Foundation president Moeung Sonn said the donated food, including four tons of rice and 330 bottles of fish sauce, as well as soy sauce, salt and packaged noodles, had cost $4,000, including $1,000 of his own money.

Sonn said he planned to take doctors with him on a return trip to Preah Vihear because some of the Cambodians there were ill and had requested medicine and medical treatment.

Hearing Postponed for Weakened Ieng Sary

Jailed Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary attends a pre-trial release hearing Monday, before he had to be examined by tribunal doctors.

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
30 June 2008

Khmer audio aired 30 June 2008 (821 KB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired 30 June 2008 (821 KB) - Listen (MP3)

Khmer Rouge tribunal judges postponed a hearing for Ieng Sary Monday, after the ailing former leader became dizzy and weak and doctors said his life could be in jeopardy.

Ieng Sary, 82, was able to answer simple questions from pre-trial chamber head Judge Prak Kimsan early Monday. But after lunch, defense lawyer Ang Udom said he wished for doctors to examine his client before continuing the pre-trial release hearing.

Ieng Sary had not eaten much lunch and was overcome with dizziness, Ang Udom said.

Tribunal doctors examined Ieng Sary and determined his oxygen count was low, his pulse was weak and his heart was beating with irregularity. A continued hearing could put his life in immediate jeopardy and deteriorate his overall condition, doctors told the court.

After a 10-minute deliberation, judges postponed the hearing, but did not give a date for its resumption.

Ieng Sary is also scheduled for a hearing Tuesday, on whether a 1979 court that found him guilty of war crimes can be considered legitimate, and whether the former foreign minister is being tried for the same crime twice.

Critics of a slow tribunal process have repeatedly voiced fears that aging Khmer Rouge leaders could die before they see trial.

Kampot Candidate Scuffles With CPP

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
30 June 2008

Khmer audio aired 30 June 2008 (884 KB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired 30 June 2008 (884 KB) - Listen (MP3)

Mu Sochua, the opposition candidate for Kampot province, has had two brushes with ruling party activists in three days.

The Sam Rainsy Party secretary-general and former Funcinpec minister of women's affairs said she was nearly run over by a truck on Monday and dodged a motorcycle Saturday.

On Saturday, Mu Sochua claims, she argued with a ruling Cambodian People's Party commune chief who was wearing a CPP hat--a violation of election regulations. She filed a complaint with police claiming the driver tried to hit her with his motorcycle.

And on Monday, she said, she was nearly knocked over by a truck after she tried to pull a CPP sign off the door of the vehicle, which was a government vehicle. Mu Sochua said her shirt had been torn open and her left arm twisted in an ensuing scuffle.

"I will complain to the [provincial election committee] on violations of the election law and complain to the courts of attempted murder and assault," Mu Sochua said Monday. "This is a very serious problem."

Local election officials failed to mediate the disputes Monday, and CPP officials have complained to provincial officials over Mu Sochua's removal of a sign from the vehicle without authority.

If she saw lawful wrongdoing, she should complain to local election officials, said San Sman, a senior district CPP official, whose truck was at the center of Monday's altercation.

Provincial Election Committee Chairman Te Chinnarith said he is investigating all complaints and will hold an open hearing in the next three days, in accordance with election regulations.

Former King Calls for Peace Among Parties

By Seng Ratana, VOA Khmer

Original report from Phnom Penh
30 June 2008


Khmer audio aired 30 June 2008 (718 KB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired 30 June 2008 (718 KB) - Listen (MP3)

Speaking to a group of human rights activists Monday, former king Nordom Sihanouk called on political parties to cooperate in an atmosphere of peace as general elections approach.

Sihanouk met with the activists from eight groups under the Committee of Strict Enforcement of Human Rights in Cambodia, Monday morning.

National Election Committee Secretary-General Tep Nitha called the former king's presence in Cambodia created a warm feeling for voters and politicians, in the election run-up.

No Court Action on Kidnap Suit: Officials

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
30 June 2008

Khmer audio aired 30 June 2008 (794 KB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired 30 June 2008 (794 KB) - Listen (MP3)

A court suit alleging the detention for ransom of villagers by local officials from the Ministry of Environment has seen little progress in the past week, officials said Monday.

Villagers claim Kratie provincial court officials have taken no action in a lawsuit they filed earlier this month, but the fault lies with the villagers and defendants alike, a court official said.

The court has summoned the villagers who filed the suit, as well as the defendants, but none has appeared, said court prosecutor Mork Phany.

Representatives of 54 families filed a lawsuit on June 20, alleging the kidnapping of six people and the destruction of nine houses. Villagers allege they paid between $200 to $500 per person to secure the release of the detainees, according to court documents.

Representatives of the 17 accused officials have denied the claims of kidnapping, saying the villagers live on protected forest land.

Villagers said Monday the Environment officials were still detaining people and demanding ransom.

Few Violations in Campaign Launch: Monitors

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
30 June 2008

Election officials and observers said Friday they were pleased with the launch of election campaigning, which saw fewer violence than in past election periods.

National Election Committee Secretary-General Tep Nitha said the national agency had consistently strengthened its work at the local level to help parties and authorities ensure a smoother process.

The first two days were free from incident, save for a few traffic accidents, he said.

Mar Sophal, an investigator for the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said Firday the first two days had gone well.

National Democratic Institute official Ly Sothearayuth noted no violence.

Observers say this election period has seen less violence than others, though before the campaign several incidents of violence were reported.

Cambodian Farmers in Fresno Find Success

By Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
30 June 2008

During the early 1980s, Cambodian refugees that arrived in America settled down in many major cities in the United States: Long Beach, San Jose and San Francisco, Calif., Lowell, Mass., Chicago, Ill., St. Paul, Min., and other metropolitan areas. Their professions were in various positions in government organizations, hospitals, schools and businesses. However, some Cambodians in Fresno County located in the middle of the California state-owned farms.

For the past 20 years, refugees from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Burma have farmed on American soil, growing foods from their homelands to feed their families and their ethnic communities. Takeo province natives Kao Soeun, in his 60s, and his wife, Heng Meng, in her 50s, pay $350 a year for two acres of land in Fresno, on which they cultivate Asian vegetables. Prior to farming, Kao Soeun was a doughnut baker and a boat builder.

"As more Asians settle in the area of Fresno, I tend to grow vegetables that I remember from my homeland," Kao Soeun said in an interview. "I try a little bit here and there. I grow a couple of rows and if it goes well, I end up saving the seeds and eventually plant a couple of acres."

Some of the produce that Kao Soeun and Heng Meng grew included eggplants, Chinese long beans, taro, herbs, bitter melons, snake gourd, fuzzy gourd, lemongrass, hot pepper, and Chinese broccoli. They also have a green house for medicinal herbs, mixes of mints and basils, water spinach and water cress.

Though Asian families have grown vegetables for generations in their country, they still need to learn the fundamentals of farming in America, such as the process of using safe chemicals and fertilizer and how to drive a tractor straight.

"I have finally stopped having nightmares about the Khmer Rouge genocide," Kao Soeun said. "I am working now on being happy with the things I have, for my family, my community and my job."

The produce of Kao Soeun and Heng Meng will be distributed at Asian stores, and much of it will be sold at farmers markets up and down the state. Fresno farmers will travel as far as San Diego and San Francisco, driving as much as six hours each day to sell their crops.

Former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary attends his pre-trial hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)

Former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary attends his pre-trial hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)REUTERS/Print Samrang/Pool

Former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Leng Sary attends his pre-trial hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)REUTERS/Print Samrang/Pool

Former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary attends his pre-trial hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)REUTERS/Nguyen Tan Kei/Pool

Former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Leng Sary is assisted during his pre-trial hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)REUTERS/Print Samrang/Pool

Former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Leng Sary is assisted during his pre-trial hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)REUTERS/Print Samrang/Pool

Former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Leng Sary is assisted during his pre-trial hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)REUTERS/Print Samrang/Pool

Former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Leng Sary is assisted during his pre-trial hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)REUTERS/Print Samrang/Pool

Cambodians register for a hearing of Ieng Sary, a former Khmer foreign minister, Monday, June 30, 2008, at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ieng Sary appeared before Cambodia's genocide tribunal Monday to press for his release from pretrial detention.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

People gather for the first public hearing against the detention of former Khmer Rouge deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs Ieng Sary at the Extraodinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) in Phnom Penh on June 30.(AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

People are seen lining up outside the first public hearing against the detention of former Khmer Rouge deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs Ieng Sary at the Extraodinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) in Phnom Penh on June 30. Ieng Sary appeared before the court to appeal his detention, in a case that poses the first big test for the tribunal.(AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

Cambodians line up as they wait for a hearing of Ieng Sary, a former Khmer foreign minister, Monday, June 30, 2008, at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ieng Sary appeared before Cambodia's genocide tribunal Monday to press for his release from pretrial detention.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Foreigners register their name before the attend for a hearing of Ieng Sary, a former Khmer foreign minister, Monday, June 30, 2008, at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ieng Sary appeared before Cambodia's genocide tribunal Monday to press for his release from pretrial detention.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Thai court blocks support for temple bid

Asiaone Travel
Mon, Jun 30, 2008

The Nation, ANN

BANGKOK, THAILAND - A Thai court has temporarily blocked the government from supporting Cambodia's bid to have an 11th century temple near the Thai border declared a world landmark.

The Administrative Court issued an injunction early yesterday at the request of the People's Alliance for Democracy, a Thai group opposed to the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.

The judges voted nine to three to order the government to temporarily suspend "until the court rules otherwise" a Cabinet resolution backing Cambodia's application to Unesco for the Preah Vihear temple to be designated a World Heritage Site, a statement from the court said.

A small amount of territory adjacent to the temple remains in dispute and critics claim cooperation with Cambodia over the heritage site application would jeopardise Thai claims to it.

The court's action is a political embarrassment for the government, which is fighting accusations by opponents that it ceded Thai territory to Cambodia.

The ruling applies to a Cabinet resolution which endorsed a Cambodian map of Preah Vihear temple, as well as a joint communique signed on June 18 in which Thailand said it supported Cambodia's bid.

The communique specifically said the application had no bearing on territorial claims by the countries.

But in its ruling, the Administrative Court said the communique "might undermine Thailand's future standing on the territorial dispute".

Cambodia has an internationally recognised claim over Preah Vihear temple and does not need Thai support for its application.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia, a decision that still rankles Thais even though the temple is culturally Cambodian, sharing the Hindu-influenced aspects of the more famous Angkor Wat in north-western Cambodia.

On Friday, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong accused Thai opposition politicians of exploiting the cross-border dispute to advance their own domestic political agenda and warned that they might endanger bilateral relations.

"I very much regret that some politicians in Thailand are using Preah Vihear as an issue for their own domestic battle," he told reporters.

"(It) could affect the very good friendship and cooperation our two countries have had so far."

Democrats petition UNESCO against Preah Vihear statement

BANGKOK, June 30 (TNA) – Thai opposition Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday petitioned the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) against accepting a joint statement from Thailand and Cambodia regarding the disputed Preah Vihear temple.

Mr. Abhisit said he had already submitted his party's written objection to the two government's joint communique issued for UNESCO and affirmed he would call for the reconsideration of the Thai cabinet resolution on the matter after the Administrative Court's injunction on the case.

The court on Saturday issued an injunction temporarily blocking the government from supporting Cambodia's unilateral move to have the 11th century temple registered as a World Heritage site.

Meanwhile, a group of 77 senators led by Bangkok Senator Rosana Tositrakul presented a petition to Senate Speaker Prasobsuk Boondech asking that it be forwarded to the Constitution Court for deliberation. The petition asked the court to consider whether the June 17 Cabinet decision endorsing the Thai-Cambodian Joint Communique supporting Cambodia's unilateral move to apply on Preah Vihear temple was unconstitutional or not.

Meanwhile, Supreme Commander Gen. Boonsang Niempradit said the military was ready to evacuate Thai nationals from Cambodia if there was an untoward confrontation.

He said some people in the northeastern province of Si Sa Ket bordering Cambodia continued protesting and demanding the expulsion of Cambodians out of the overlapping areas of the temple compound.

But military units stationed there had managed to create proper understanding among the people, Gen. Boonsang said.

He said neither the Thai nor the Cambodian sides want to see any clashes between the peoples of the two neighbouring countries.

Rainsy's immunity assured until after election

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Vong Sokheng and Cheang Sokha
Friday, 27 June 2008

Cambodian lawmakers will wait until after the July 27 general election to debate whether to strip opposition leader Sam Rainsy of his parliamentary immunity, in a bid to ease political tensions ahead of the polls, European Union elections observers said.

Rainsy faces investigation and possible arrest over defamation claims made by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong if he loses his legislative protection.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued a request on June 16 that the National Assembly “temporarily suspend the immunity of Sam Rainsy,” adding that the court had collected enough evidence to warrant further investigation into the accusations made against him by Namhong.

Namhong alleges he was defamed when Rainsy said during a speech on April 17 that under the Khmer Rouge regime he was the director of Boeng Trabek prison, a detention center for intellectuals and members of the royal family.

Namhong has repeatedly said that he was an ordinary prisoner at Boeng Trabek, denying that he worked for the regime, whose 1975-79 rule over Cambodia resulted in 1.7 million deaths in one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century.

But the EU’s chief election observer, Martin Callanan, told reporter’s on June 20 that Namhong had assured poll monitors that no move would be made against Rainsy until after the election.

“Hor Namhong ... assured [EU] election observers that parliamentary immunity of the opposition leader Sam Rainsy would not be stripped before the July national elections,” Callanan said.

Election monitors said they welcomed the decision, saying Rainsy’s participation in the vote would help ensure a stabile political atmosphere.

“It’s a good that Rainsy can join the campaign because it will make the election go smoothly,” said Mar Sophal of the election monitor Comfrel.

Rainsy last lost his parliamentary immunity in 1995 while he was in self-imposed exile in France, shortly before he was convicted of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen in a case that drew heavy international criticism.

Although he was later pardoned and returned to Cambodia, Rainsy says the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, of which Hun Sen is a member, is still trying to shut him down and earlier dismissed the July polls as “meaningless” in the face of the CPP’s political maneuvering.

In the weeks leading up to the campaign season Hun Sen ordered an investigation into the Sam Rainsy Party, claiming that defectors had implicated the opposition in a number of violent plots, including the 1998 rocket attack against the prime minister and a 2000 attack in the capital by the Cambodian Freedom Fighters, a band of self-proclaimed coup makers led by a Cambodian-American.

In a letter to the CPP on June 18, the opposition called on Hun Sen to stop intimidating Sam Rainsy followers with threats of prosecution over phantom plots.

“The accusations that the SRP is involved in violence is unacceptable.... The SRP has no culture of violence,” the party’s statement said.

Two jailed for fleecing Vietnamese Montagnards in Cambodia

The Earth Times

Mon, 30 Jun 2008
Author : DPA

Phnom Penh - Two people were jailed for four months each by a Cambodian court for harbouring Vietnamese Montagnards for a fee after they entered the country illegally and then cheating them, local media reported Monday. Khmer-language Rasmei Kampuchea daily reported that Phann Savang, 55, and her colleague Leir Yainghay, 37, had taken in three Montagnards with the promise they could take them safely to a United Nations refugee facility in return for 70 dollars from each.

However, the pair failed to make good on their promise and were arrested in March and accused of taking money under false pretences, Rasmei reported Phnom Penh Municipal Court was told.

Montagnards are a primitive, mostly Christian minority from the Vietnamese highlands who have sometimes claimed refugee status in Cambodia, alleging persecution in Vietnam, and sought repatriation from there to a third country such as the US.

They claim their religion and the fact that they fought with the US against the Vietnamese communists makes them targets of discrimination - charges Vietnam denies.

The fate of the cheated Montagnards was unclear.

Khmer Rouge appeal case to test limits of international law

The UN-backed Cambodian genocide court faces a test when a former Khmer Rouge chief, Ieng Sary, launches an appeal

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — The first big test of the UN-backed Cambodian genocide court begins on Monday when a former Khmer Rouge foreign minister is scheduled to appear in court to appeal against his detention.

Ieng Sary, 82, is one of five top regime cadres currently detained for crimes allegedly committed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule over Cambodia.

He has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity and is expected to face trial within the next year.

But his lawyers say that Ieng Sary was absolved of any crimes after he surrendered to the government in 1996, when he received a royal pardon for an earlier genocide conviction.

That conviction was handed down in a 1979 trial in absentia conducted by the government installed after Vietnam occupied the country and ended the Khmer Rouge's bloody reign.

"The court will have to decide whether the amnesty is valid or not. Maybe they will have a conflict between Cambodia's constitution and international norms," said Sok Samoueun, head of the Cambodian Defenders Project (CDP).

Deciding whether nationally granted amnesties apply to international trials is a significant area of contention that has been raised in the Sierra Leone war crimes trial and the International Criminal Court, said Rupert Skillbeck, head of the Khmer Rouge tribunal's defence office.

"Amnesty is one of the areas of international criminal law where law and politics collide. But the (Khmer Rouge trial) judges will have to judge it as a legal question to be decided," Skillbeck said.

"It's one of the most significant legal questions for this tribunal to answer and an important question in international criminal law in general," he added.

At Monday's hearing, Ieng Sary's lawyers will seek to have him freed on bail, and are expected to argue later in the week that the charges should be dropped because his amnesty still holds.

As the top Khmer Rouge diplomat, Ieng Sary was frequently the only point of contact between Cambodia's secretive communist rulers and the outside world.

He was also one of the biggest public supporters of the regime's mass purges, researchers say.

"He came as close as any senior (Khmer Rouge) official in power ever did to describing publicly... the policy of executing", said Stephen Heder and Brian Tittemore in their book "Seven Candidates for Prosecution: Accountability for the Crimes of the Khmer Rouge."

Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed, as the Khmer Rouge set about dismantling modern Cambodia after seizing control of the country.

But as much as he was an advocate for the regime during its 1975-79 rule, Ieng Sary's later defection to the government proved a fatal blow to the then-disintegrating movement.

His departure came two years before Pol Pot's death in 1998. The two had met as schoolboys in the capital Phnom Penh and later became eager supporters of the communist movement at university in Paris.

His wife Thirith, who also became a minister in the Khmer Rouge regime, was arrested with him in November.

Ieng Sary has suffered from deteriorating health since his arrest, according to his lawyer, highlighting the fragile condition of the tribunal's likely defendants, who are mostly in their 70s and 80s.

Commentary: Body blow

By Veera Prateepchaikul

The blows fell one, two, three on the ruling People Power party and de facto leader Thaksin Shinawatra last week. But mortal danger lurks in Cambodia, and the government is accountable.

Veera Prateepchaikul is Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Post Publishing Co Ltd.

It was really a bad week for the People Power party and its de facto leader, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

In just one week, they were dealt three crippling blows, including one which landed squarely across Mr Thaksin's face. It appeared as if Lady Luck suddenly deserted the party, leaving it to twist alone in the winds of fate.

The first blow came on Tuesday when the opposition Democrats grilled Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and, particularly, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama over their alleged mishandling of the 10th-century Preah Vihear temple dispute which could place Thailand at a disadvantage in future border negotiations with Cambodia.

The damning evidence presented during the censure debate by Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva prompted the prime minister to order a rephrasing of a cabinet resolution adopted a week earlier which endorsed the Cambodian map around the temple and pledged Thailand's support for Cambodia's unilateral bid to list the temple as a Unesco World Heritage site.

The word "map" in the resolution was changed to "chart" to avoid future complications.

While the censure debate was in progress, a second blow was unleashed by the Administrative Court. The court ordered the reinstatement of Government Pharmaceutical Organisation board chairman Dr Vichai Chokewiwat and five other board members who were earlier sacked by Public Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsab, a PPP MP from Nakhon Pathom.

The third blow came on Wednesday when the Supreme Court sent Mr Thaksin's three lawyers to jail for six months for contempt of court in connection with the snack box that was stuffed with two million baht in cash. The three lawyers are also facing bribery charges which carry a maximum five years' imprisonment.

Moreover, they may have their law licences revoked for five years by the Law Council of Thailand.

Mr Thaksin's personal secretary, Pongthep Thepkanchana, said his boss has denied any involvement with the snack box scandal and is willing to testify if required. He said Mr Thaksin would not benefit by giving money to court officials.

It's possible Mr Thaksin knew nothing about the alleged bribery attempt. But since the three suspects were his lawyers, he was inevitably linked to the scandal. Hence, his reputation is bruised.

Although the censure debate was over and Mr Samak and his seven ministers survived it thanks to the united support shown by PPP legislators and the coalition parties, the wounds inflicted upon the government by scathing opposition attacks will not be healed unless there is surgery in cabinet. So some heads must roll, including Mr Noppadon's and Mr Mingkwan's.

But the government's difficulty is not yet over even if certain ministers are axed. The Preah Vihear temple controversy is very much in the air. The Administrative Court has issued an injunction in response to a petition filed by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) asking the court to freeze the Thai-Cambodian joint communique and the cabinet resolution pledging Thailand's support for Phnom Penh's bid to list the temple as a World Heritage site.

The court ruling may well deal a devastating blow to the government and, in particular, the prime minister and Mr Noppadon. It will provide PAD with deadly ammunition to press for Mr Samak's resignation.

But what is of greater concern are the implications of the court decision toward politics in Cambodia where an election is scheduled on July 27. Although the decision has no binding effect on Cambodia, it may be exploited by unscrupulous Cambodian media or politicians to whip up anti-Thai sentiments. It would be similar to an ugly incident some years ago when Cambodian media fuelled an anti-Thai frenzy over a statement about Angkor Wat by a famous Thai actress which eventually led to the burning of the Thai embassy and other Thai properties in Phnom Penh.

Hopefully, the tragedy will not be repeated. Otherwise, the Samak government will be held accountable.

Cambodia Votes 2008

Campaigning is under way for the 2008 Cambodia election, with a colourful launch through the streets of Phnom Penh. [Radio Australia]

Radio Australia
30 June 2008

Cambodian political parties have begun month-long campaigning for a general election that Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party is expected to dominate.

Connect Asia in Cambodia

Radio Australia]

Radio Australia's Connect Asia program journeys to Cambodia for the start of the 2008 elections, and coverage of the challenges of the country's past, and the issues facing its future leaders.

Connect Asia presenter Sen Lam and producer Bill Bainbridge are joined by Chhieng Yuth from Radio Australia's Khmer Language Service.For the latest coverage:

Connect Asia
Radio Australia's Khmer Service

Khmer Rouge tribunal hears pre-trial appeal

Produced by Radio Australia and Australia Network

Cambodia's Khmer Rouge Tribunal is hearing a pre-trial appeal by Ieng Sary, the third most powerful official during the regime's rule, known as the "Killing Fields".

He has appealed for release from pre-trial detention in what's being seen as the first test for the UN-backed tribunal.

Sary, third-in-command of the Khmer Rouge during its reign between 1975 and 1979, faces charges of committing crimes against humanity.

But he denies that he was responsible for the execution of expatriate Cambodians who were deceived into returning home after the regime seized power.

The United Nations-established tribunal, known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, will begin its first proper public trial in September.

Radio Australia's Sen Lam reports from Phnom Penh that over two years since the UN-backed tribunal first opened, the special court says it is ready to hold the trial.

Made up of both local and international judges, the tribunal will try the first of five former senior Khmer Rouge officials.

Kaing Khek Ieu, also known as Duch, is accused of torturing to death some 17,000 Cambodians, including women and children, at Tuol Sleng - the high school which was turned into an interrogation prison by the Khmer Rouge.

Yuma native to teach in Cambodia

PHOTO BY JARED DORT/THE SUN
ADAM FLYNN, a 2004 graduate of Yuma High who received his bachelor's degree from Princeton in June, will teach English at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in Cambodia

YumaSun.com
June 29, 2008

BY STEPHANIE SANCHEZ, SUN STAFF WRITER

Many students dream of snagging a high-paying job right after college. But not Yuma native Adam Flynn.

Instead, Flynn is joining the call to public service even if it seems old fashioned. That's why he's equipped with his brown leather journal, laptop and U.S. passport and is set to travel to Cambodia to teach English for a year.

The 21-year-old, who graduated from Princeton last month with a bachelor's degree in history and played football there for four years, will teach English as a second language at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in Cambodia as part of a fellowship program sponsored by Princeton-in-Asia.

"I'm really happy to be going because it's like an amazing combination of travel experience that can broaden your mind. It's work where you can help people and really make an impact," Flynn said. "And it's fun because I'm going to be living in a completely foreign culture for a year."

He said he realizes that Cambodia is a very young country and it has problems with a division between the rich and the poor. But for him, teaching English in Cambodia will make him happy that he can make a difference.

"You will have a lot of people who want to learn, and for them learning English will significantly better their lives because they have the tourism and they have the businesses. There if you know a scrap of English you have a step up on so many other people," he said.

Another goal of his is to leave a positive impression of America for the people of Cambodia.

"I'm going to be sort of this big, walking, hard-to-miss representative of America," said Flynn who is blond, blue-eyed and is 6 feet 6 inches tall.

There he hopes to learn more about himself and says the only way to do it is to take a step right out of your comfort zone.

"When traveling you place yourself in all these sort of strange situations, you learn things about yourself that you wouldn't normally learn otherwise. If you sort of spend your time entirely in your comfort zone, then it's hard to grow."

At first Flynn was nervous that he wouldn't make the cut for the Princeton-in-Asia program because he noticed that many other applicants had very strong background compared to him. But he believes that it was his versatility and resilience that got Flynn chosen.

"One thing I learned that in a lot of situations, it's always a plus to be a sort of a good-humoured, adventurous and friendly."

Bid to delay Unesco decision

By The Nation
Published on June 30, 2008

Thai World Heritage panel chief expects positive response to plea

Thailand will ask Unesco to delay a decision on Cambodia's proposal to list Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site, said Pongpol Adireksarn, head of Thailand's World Heritage Committee.

His statement followed the Central Administrative Court injunction on Saturday against the Thai government supporting Cambodia's bid.

The court said the position taken by the government "might undermine Thailand's future standing on the territorial dispute". The government communique gave Cambodia's bid "active support", the ruling said.

The Unesco World Heritage Committee is meeting from Wednesday till July 10 in Quebec, Canada.

Pongpol cited Unesco's Article 11, Item 3, which states that listing of World Heritage sites that straddle two countries' territories cannot be done without endorsement from both sides.

He expected the committee would respond positively to the appeal.

Pongpol said the proposal to Unesco to list Preah Vihear should be submitted jointly by both countries, which is similar to the position Thailand took on the issue last year. He said he would seek Cambodia's cooperation at the Quebec meeting.

"This temple should unite instead of divide us. This is why we are suggesting a joint application," Pongpol said.

Pongpol said the temple should be a major tourist attraction for both countries. "If there is conflict, no tourists will come to visit because they fear danger," he added. "We can both take care of the temples and of the tourists."

Separately, Foreign Ministry permanent secretary Veerasak Futrakul dismissed growing fears that the court injunction would send Thai-Cambodian ties into a tailspin.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Cambodian Ambassador to Thailand Ung Sean, he said bilateral ties had not been affected by the court's order and Phnom Penh considered the ruling, as well the raising of the issue during last week's no-confidence debate in Parliament, as Thailand's domestic matter.

Embattled Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama remained tight-lipped over the ministry's next move, saying more time was needed to assess the situation in light of the injunction.

The director-general of the ministry's Legal Affairs Department, Krit Kraijitti, did not rule out appealing the injection.

Suwat Apaipak, a member of the legal team that succeeded in getting the court to overturn a June 17 Cabinet decision, urged Noppadon to inform Cambodia and the UN cultural body that Thailand could no longer support the listing bid.

The injunction has proved to be a major political embarrassment for the government. A clearer response should be revealed on Tuesday following the weekly Cabinet meeting, where the issue is expected to be high on the agenda.

Despite the government's insistence that the joint communique calling for the listing of Preah Vihear had no bearing on territorial claims by the two countries, Pongpol said the next move would have to come from the Cabinet.

His predecessor on the committee, Adul Wichiancharoen, said the earlier call for Thailand and Cambodia to jointly apply for the Unesco status was a way to depoliticise the thorny issues of territorial dispute and sovereignty.

Pipob Thongchai, a member of the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy, said Noppadon should show responsibility by resigning from his Cabinet post.

Pakistani among three arrested in Cambodia

Daily Times
Monday, June 30, 2008

PHNOM PENH: A Briton, a Pakistani and a Taiwanese-American, have been arrested in Cambodia for trying to smuggle 750 grammes of drugs out of the country, police said on Sunday.

Steven Bushel, Sha Hihan and Victor Chhan were arrested on Friday in a hotel room where they were discovered with 450 grammes of crystal amphetamines known as “ice” and 300 grammes of a white powder used to produce the drug, anti-drug police investigator Chea Leng told AFP.

“We had been monitoring them for almost three months and we knew that they were trying to smuggle the drug out of Cambodia,” he said.

Police were still trying to learn where the suspects were smuggling the drugs, he said.

The three men were being held at the Interior Ministry’s anti-drug unit to await trial, he added.

afp

Top Khmer Rouge diplomat in court

Both Ieng Sary and his wife will be tried by the genocide court

BBC News
Monday, 30 June 2008

Former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary has appeared before Cambodia's genocide tribunal to appeal against his detention.

The 82-year-old has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Maoist regime's four-year rule in the late 1970s.

He is one of five former leaders of the Khmer Rouge being detained by the UN-backed tribunal.
Some 1.7 million people are thought to have died under the brutal regime.

Hundreds of thousands starved as the Khmer Rouge tried to create an agrarian society. Many others perceived as educated were tortured and executed.

Trials are expected to begin later in the year.

Royal pardon

About 300 people attended the hearing at the court in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

Ieng Sary is the most prominent surviving Khmer Rouge leader - and is still viewed as an influential and respected figure in parts of Cambodia, reports the BBC's Guy Delauney from Phnom Penh.

He received a royal pardon 12 years ago after reaching a deal with the government that resulted in the eventual surrender of the Khmer Rouge.

His lawyers say this is why he should not be facing charges now. They will also argue that a trial would amount to double jeopardy.

The Vietnamese-backed forces which ousted the Khmer Rouge in 1979 tried Ieng Sary in absentia and found him guilty of genocide. That verdict was overturned by the pardon.

But Cambodians who survived Khmer Rouge prison camps feel particularly strongly about the former foreign minister, our correspondent adds.

Many of them were well-educated people who returned to the country after personal appeals from Ieng Sary to help rebuild Cambodia.

They were arrested on arrival, and thrown into brutal detention centres.

Ieng Sary's wife, former social welfare minister Ieng Thirith, has also been charged by the genocide court.

Cambodian gov't appeals for loans to farmers

June 30, 2008

Cambodia's agricultural sector has the potential to compete regionally if commercial banks loan the money needed to modernize, local media reported Monday, citing senior government figures.

Commercial banks are being encouraged to assist farmers through loans, Sun Kunthor, a government advisor and general director of the Rural Development Bank of Cambodia (RDBC), was quoted as saying in the Mekong Times newspaper.

"We needed commercial banks' participation in providing loans to the sector and we are urging them to cooperate," he said.

Nearly all of the RDBC's loans last year went to the agricultural sector, Sun Kunthor said, but even the bank's 20 million U.S. dollars of working capital would bring little improvement alone.

Bu Ros, chief of Canadia Bank's loan department, said his bank also strongly supports loans to the agricultural sector and will provide as many as possible.

"We were advised by the president of the bank to focus mainly on offering loans to the agricultural sector and we are prepared to give 10 percent of the total loan which is 430 million U.S. dollars for the year 2008," he said, adding that around 6 percent of Canadia's loans were to farmers last year.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has recently urged the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the National Bank of Cambodia to consult with commercial banks to provide the credit needed to modernize Cambodian agriculture.

Source:Xinhua

Former Khmer Rouge foreign minister seeks release from pretrial detention

The Associated Press
Published: June 30, 2008

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: The former Khmer Rouge foreign minister appeared before Cambodia's genocide tribunal Monday to press for his release from pretrial detention.

The United Nations-assisted tribunal has charged Ieng Sary, 82, with crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Ieng Sary is one of five defendants being held by the tribunal, which plans to begin its first trial later this year. His wife, 76-year-old Ieng Thirith, who served as the Khmer Rouge's social affairs minister, is also being held on charges of crimes against humanity.

The tribunal, jointly run by Cambodian and international personnel, is attempting to establish accountability for atrocities committed by the communist group when it ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.

The group's radical policies resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution.

In their detention order in November, the investigating judges said Ieng Sary is being prosecuted for supporting Khmer Rouge policies that were "characterized by murder, extermination, imprisonment, persecution on political grounds and other inhuman acts such as forcible transfers of the population, enslavement and forced labor."

Ieng Sary has dismissed the charges as "unacceptable" and demanded evidence to support them, according to a copy of his detention order.

On Monday, the defense demanded that Ieng Sary be placed under either house arrest or protective hospitalization and undergo proper psychiatric examination to determine whether he is fit to stand trial.

Ieng Sary's "weak physical and mental capacity" makes him unable to fully assist his lawyers, Michael Karnavas, an American lawyer from Alaska, told the court.

"That's one of our primary issues here — the ability to follow proceedings. We cannot go forward on this very critical issue" relating to Ieng Sary's right to a fair trial, Karnavas said.

"If nothing else, it is a violation of equal protection in a sense that a more robust individual could exercise all of his rights whereas someone who is not as robust, be it physical or mental, will have less," he said.

"I don't believe that these are the so-called international standards that our friends, the prosecution, are advocating," he said.

Ieng Sary and his wife belonged to the inner circle of the Khmer Rouge and were in-laws of the movement's late leader, Pol Pot, who was married to Khieu Ponnary, Ieng Thirith's sister. Ieng Thirith took her husband's surname after they got married.

In 1996, Ieng Sary received a royal pardon from former King Norodom Sihanouk as a reward for breaking away from Pol Pot and leading his followers to join the government. The mutiny foreshadowed the Khmer Rouge's collapse three years later in 1999.

But the pardon had no bearing on the Cambodia-U.N. tribunal pact. Similar appeals by other defendants have failed.

The three other suspects in custody awaiting trial are Khieu Samphan, the former head of state, Nuon Chea, the former chief ideologist, and Kaing Guek Eav — also known as Duch — who headed the Khmer Rouge's S-21 torture center.

The tribunal has said it plans to start Duch's trial in September.

NagaCorp Mulls Casino Rights Sale in Cambodia Capital (Update1)

By Netty Ismail

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- NagaCorp Ltd., the monopoly casino operator in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, said it may sell a license to foreign companies, giving them the right to develop a new gaming property in the city.

``NagaCorp may consider any subconcession proposal when the timing is right,'' Chief Executive Officer Chen Lip Keong, 60, said in an interview on June 27.

The company has a monopoly to operate casinos within a 200- kilometer (125-mile) radius of the capital until 2035, and isn't subject to any legal restriction on selling secondary licenses.

Cambodia's only publicly traded company is betting on growing wealth at home and in the neighboring countries of Thailand and Vietnam to increase its revenue base beyond gamblers from China, Malaysia and Singapore. Macau overtook the Las Vegas Strip as the world's biggest casino market after the city ended Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho's monopoly in 2002, spurring at least $25 billion of investment in the city by foreign operators including Las Vegas Sands Corp.

``As bigger regional players focus on the higher end, we expect NagaCorp will maintain its niche in the mass-end VIP segment,'' said Gavin Ho, a Hong Kong-based analyst at CLSA Ltd.

Singapore awarded bids for two casino resorts in 2006, cutting taxes on gaming revenue to the world's lowest for so- called high-rollers. Japan and Taiwan are also considering allowing casinos in an effort to boost tourism.

Shares Rise

Kuala Lumpur-based Genting Bhd., which will operate one of the two Singapore resorts, plans to build Southeast Asia's first Universal Studios theme-park at its property in the city. Genting is Asia's biggest publicly traded gaming operator.

NagaCorp rose 1 percent to HK$2.12 at 11:57 a.m. in Hong Kong trading, the first gain in three days. The shares have fallen 18 percent this year, less than the 21 percent decline in the benchmark Hang Seng Index and a 31 percent drop in Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., a Hong Kong-listed Macau casino operator. Genting fell 29 percent.

NagaCorp is catering to ``regional mid-sized'' gamblers taken to its casino by junket operators, who provided about 45 percent of its gaming revenue last year, Chen said.

About 52 percent of revenue comes from the public casino floor. The operator's revenue rose 69 percent to $144 million in 2007.

``We are not competing head on with those high rollers in Macau,'' Chen, a Malaysian, said in Phnom Penh, where the company is based.

`Poor Man's VIP'

Citigroup Inc.'s Hong Kong-based analyst Anil Daswani, in a Feb. 18 report, said NagaCorp was part of the ``poor man's VIP'' market.

NagaCorp operated its casino on a barge moored along the banks of the Bassac River in Phnom Penh for eight years, before relocating in October 2003 to a permanent hotel and entertainment complex, NagaWorld, a few hundred meters away.

The company is expanding the complex to 700 hotel rooms and 300 gaming tables by next year. It had 508 hotel rooms and 176 gaming tables in June.

``They have done a good job attracting customers,'' said Billy Ng, a gaming analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Hong Kong. ``There will be more competition but I don't think we need to be concerned about it now.''

`Strong Perception Issue'

Visitors to Cambodia have risen to about 2 million from 118,183 in 1993, when Southeast Asia's second-poorest nation emerged from a two-decade civil war.

Chen owns 62 percent of NagaCorp after selling a 5 percent stake in the company in May for ``a small premium'' to Chicago- based Columbia Wanger Asset Management LP, he said.

The Cambodian operator is trading at 8 times its forecast earnings per share for 2009, compared with an average of 21 times for its regional peers, Ho at CLSA said in a report dated June 26.

Ho initiated coverage of the stock with a ``buy'' recommendation, setting a 12-month price target of HK$3.31. NagaCorp's profit is set to grow 37 percent to $77 million in 2009, according to the CLSA report.

``I am situated in a country like Cambodia, I have a strong perception issue,'' Chen said. ``If I don't produce earnings, I am invisible, nobody will notice me.''

Sacravatoons : " Siem Fire-Game "

Courtesy of Sacravatoon at http://sacrava.blogspot.com/