Premier Lost Ally, Not Power, in Chief's Crash

The late Hok Lundy is pictured directly behind Prime Minister Hun Sen as the premier returns from a trip to Beijing in October.

By Pin Sisovann, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
17 November 2008

Khmer audio aired 16 November 2008 - Download (MP3) Khmer audio aired 16 November 2008 - Listen (MP3)

Prime Minister Hun Sen lost a strong ally within the Interior Ministry when the plane carrying late police chief Hok Lundy crashed Nov. 9, but officials say the prime minister's power will not be affected by a replacement.

Officials said last week that the loss of Hok Lundy, who led the national police since 1994, would be great to the government, but they were convinced national stability would not be affected.

"Nothing will change, stability will remain," said Em Sam An, secretary of state for the Interior Ministry, as he greeted a delegation of Vietnamese officials during funeral ceremonies for Hok Lundy last week. "We are sorry to lose the man. But our forces are in place and in good order. No problems will arrive. The situation in our country is getting better."

Hok Lundy was a powerful member of the Cambodian People's Party, appointed by Hun Sen "as part of an internal power play in the CPP" to take control of the police from CPP stalwarts Chea Sim, who is president of the Senate, and Sar Kheng, who is Minister of the Interior, said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch.

Hok Lundy's appointment came at a time of instability, following a failed coup attempt against Hun Sen and then co-prime minister Norodom Ranariddh, in 1994. His death, in a helicopter crash in Svay Rieng province, was a loss of a powerful right hand, but was not destabilizing, Adams said.

"After Hun Sen, he was probably the most feared man in Cambodia," Adams said.

Gen. Neth Savoeun, Hok Lundy's deputy and Hun Sen's nephew-in-law, has been named to replace the late police chief. Hok Lundy faced accusations of murder, extrajudicial killings and human trafficking, as well as collaboration in the 1997 grenade attack on opposition supporters that killed 16 people.

Neth Savoeun, who was the head of the criminal police section in the Phnom Penh Municipal Police, comes from the same security system, Adams said.

"Even in the 1980s, [Neth Savoeun] had a reputation for being among the most violent members of a very repressive security system," Adams said. "He too has been implicated in many serious human rights abuses and other crimes over the past two decades."

That appointment will likely not be challenged by Sar Kheng, Adams said.

Gen. Neth Savoeun declined comment.

Lt. Gen. Khieu Sopheak, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry and adviser to Sar Kheng, dismissed the allegations, saying the police were on a five-year plan to maintain stability.
Even the US had shown Hok Lundy was "clean," he said, and had offered him a visa in 2007 to visit Washington for talks with the FBI.

"We know that Brad Adams has never talked good about our country, Cambodia," Khieu Sopheak said. "The facts differ from what he says."

He denied a factional split within the CPP, citing the party's win of 90 of 123 National Assembly seats in July's elections as proof of unity.

"Brad Adams' comments bear no merit," he said. "I mean, the dog barks, and the CPP cart moves ahead to 90 seats."

Kek Galabru, founder of the rights group Licadho, declined to comment on Hok Lundy's reputation, following Cambodian tradition, but said she hoped the new police chief would better honor human rights.

"I am speaking carefully because he has died, and we should not curse the dead," she said.

"Cambodians know His Excellency Hok Lundy, so I don't need to comment more. The US government denied him a visa, so we all know there were a lot of allegations."

Her sentiments were echoed by Lt. Gen. Sok Phal, another Hok Lundy deputy, who warned reporters off strong criticism last week, asking they not "write something irrelevant which would impact the Khmers or our leaders" and should "write proper articles in his name, as the leader of the national police."

Leaders Face Another Year in Tribunal Jail

Former Khmer Rouge leaders Ieng Thirith, left, and Ieng Sary.

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
17 November 2008

Arrested Nov. 12, 2007, former Khmer Rouge minister of foreign affairs, Ieng Sary, and his wife, Ieng Thirith, will see at least another year in detention, according to investigating judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal.

Meanwhile, Khieu Samphan, the former figurehead of the regime, could face the same extension.
In a decision dated Nov. 10 and announced Monday, tribunal judges You Bunleng and Marcel Lemond explained the necessity of the detention of the leaders, who are facing atrocity crimes charges.

Releasing them could lead to the destruction of evidence, intimidation of witnesses, or the disturbance of public order, the judges said in the decision. The broad dimensions and complications of the cases and seriousness of the crimes against them led to the decision, the judges said.

Phat Touv Siang, defense for Ieng Thirith, said he planned to discuss with his international counterpart the decision.

“We will appeal, because if she remains detained, it will make trouble, physically and psychologically,” he said.

Ang Udom, defense of Ieng Sary, said he was taking an appeal “under consideration.”
“We have one month from now” to file the appeal, he said.

The extension of detention must be decided year by year, over a three-year period.

Ieng Sary, 83, and Ieng Thirith, who is around 67, were arrested together at their Phnom Penh villa and are both charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Khieu Samphan’s one-year detention anniversary is Wednesday.

“Now the court is taking his case under consideration, whether the court will extend his detention or not,” You Bunleng said.

UN Official To Arrive for Tribunal Talks

The courts are moving toward their first trial of a Khmer Rouge leader, Duch, above.

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer

Original report from Phnom Penh
17 November 2008

Khmer audio aired 14 November 2008 - Download (MP3) Khmer audio aired 14 November 2008 - Listen (MP3)

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Peter Taksoe-Jensen will meet with Council Minister Sok An in coming days over the Khmer Rouge tribunal, a UN spokeswoman said.

The meeting would "address a number of issues of common concern to the United Nations and the Cambodian authority," the spokeswoman, Choi Sung-ah, said, declining to elaborate.

The visit comes amid standing allegations of corruption and mismanagement on the Cambodian side of the courts, which led to the delay of hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor funding earlier this year.

The courts are preparing for the first trial of five jailed Khmer Rouge leaders, of prison chief Duch, which is expected to get underway early next year.

Tribunal observers said Taksoe-Jensen's visit was to review budgets and future plans, as well as management and cooperation and a meeting with donors in Phnom Penh.

Chinese Arrive for Talks on Trade, Relations

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
17 November 2008

An official Chinese delegation arrived in Phnom Penh Monday for talks on bilateral relations and trade, an official said.

The delegation, led by Communist party member Zhang Gaoli, met with Prime Minister Hun Sen late Monday.

Ieng Sophalet, an adviser to Hun Sen, called the talks and exchange between “China and Cambodia, between party and party.”

Relations “should be strengthened between people and people, civil servants and civil servants, and could come closer and make friends with each other, especially in investment. We should push investment between the two countries deeply.

Hun Sen promised to continue cooperation between the two countries.

China’s president, prime minister, foreign affairs minister, wrote individual letters to the King Norodom Sihamoni, former king Norodom Sihanouk, Hun Sen and Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong congratulating each on Cambodia’s Independence Day earlier this month.

China has emerged as a willing donor to Cambodia in recent years, providing much aid with little of the attachments found with western donors. Earlier this month, a Chinese warship docked in Sihanoukville for an exchange between military officials.

Malaria Developing Worrisome Resistance

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
17 November 2008

Khmer audio aired 17 November 2008 (682 KB) - Download (MP3)
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Cambodia’s western provinces have been developing a resistance to the only anti-malaria medication the government uses, a worried health official said Monday.

“I’m worried so much about malaria,” said Duong Socheat, director of the National Malaria Center. “Artemisinin is the No. 1 drug. Its ability is decreasing.”

The National Malaria Center had taken measures to cure malaria outbreaks, including the examination of malaria resistant to the drug. The center also provides education to villagers to use the drug properly and urges people to sleep under mosquito nets.

Cambodia began using the drug in 2000. Now it is used “100 percent” in state hospitals. Resistance to the drug began showing up around 2005, Duong Socheat said.

This year, the government used 3.6 million tablets of the drug, he said. Some of the medication was provided by the Chinese government, he said. About 70 people nationwide have died from malaria so far this year, he said.

“If malaria becomes resistant to artemisinin,” he said, “gradually, more patients of malaria will die.”

Purchase of pyrotechnics ignites debate

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by May Kunmakara
Monday, 17 November 2008

ARECENT spate of national celebrations had the government spending upwards of US$50,000 on pyrotechnics last month. But the Kingdom's fireworks makers are crying foul, saying preference was given to Chinese firms at the expense of local manufacturers.

"In previous years, I could earn a lot of money. This year I've only sold about $4,500 worth of fireworks for the Water Festival," said Cheang Kim, a fireworks maker from Kampong Speu province.

He said that the government had opted to purchase the bulk of fireworks used this year from Chinese companies.

Last week's three-day Water Festival included pyrotechnic displays on each night of the celebration.

According to Chea Kean, deputy director of the National and International Festival Committee, for this year's Water Festival, Independence Day and Coronation Day celebrations, the government spent about US$50,000 on pyrotechnics consisting of both foreign-made fireworks and local brands manufactured in Kampong Speu province.

He defended the decision to purchase foreign-made products, saying "we bought thousands of fireworks from China because they are higher quality and made to international standards".

A matter of safety

According to one government official, the decision to purchase foreign-made fireworks was guided by the need to ensure the safety of spectators at what was expected to be the largest-ever Water Festival.

Officials predicted that as many as four million people would converge on the capital. No attendance figures have been given yet.

"We don't want to buy large amounts of locally-made fireworks because they are made by hand, and we're concerned about the safety of people attending the celebration," said Ith Sarath, a major general at the Ministry of Defence.

Spending figures from last year's festival were not available.

Gunnar Bergstrom, a former Swedish leftist who sympathized with the Khmer Rouge regime, points down during his tour to S21 Toul Sleng

Gunnar Bergstrom, a former Swedish leftist who sympathized with the Khmer Rouge regime, points down during his tour to the former Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison, now known as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Nov. 17, 2008. The former Swedish sympathizer of late Cambodian dictator Pol Pot has visited the country's genocide museum during a trip to seek forgiveness for his past support of the Khmer Rouge regime.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Gunnar Bergstrom, right, a former Swedish leftist who sympathized with the Khmer Rouge regime, walks as he tours to the former Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison, now known as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Nov. 17, 2008. The former Swedish sympathizer of the late Cambodian dictator Pol Pot has visited the country's genocide museum during a trip to seek forgiveness for his past support of the Khmer Rouge regime.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Gunnar Bergstrom, a former Swedish leftist who sympathized with the Khmer Rouge regime, points to a Cambodian country map during his tour to the former Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison, now known as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Nov. 17, 2008. The former Swedish sympathizer of the late Cambodian dictator Pol Pot has visited the country's genocide museum during a trip to seek forgiveness for his past support of the Khmer Rouge regime.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Gunnar Bergstrom, right, a former Swedish leftist who sympathized with the Khmer Rouge regime, stands next to a photo of former Khmer Rouge prisoners during his tour to the former Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison, now known as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Nov. 17, 2008. The former Swedish sympathizer of late Cambodian dictator Pol Pot has visited the country's genocide museum during a trip to seek forgiveness for his past support of the Khmer Rouge regime.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Sweden signs up to cluster bomb treaty

16 Nov 08

The Local Sweden's News

Sweden has decided to sign up to the international treaty, framed in Dublin in May, to ban current designs of cluster bombs.

Activists break into Bofors weapons plants (16 Oct 08)
Pension funds divest from cluster bomb firms (15 Sep 08)
Major weapons seizure in Stockholm (15 Aug 08)

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt confirmed Sweden's intention to join the over 100 countries signing up to the treaty to Sveriges Radio's Ekot news program.

The decision signals the end of the manufacture of Bomb capsule 90, a munition included in the weapons equipping the Jas Gripen fighter aircraft.

"We need to phase it out of our weapons stock," Reinfeldt said.

111 countries negotiated the treaty in Ireland's capital Dublin in May. The British prime minister Gordon Brown described the treaty at the time as "a big step forward to make the world a safer place."

However leading arms manufacturers and stockpilers - the USA, Russia, China and Israel - declined to take part in the treaty talks and have declared their opposition to the move.

A cluster bomb consists of a bigger container which opens in mid-air spreading hundreds of smaller "bomblets" or sub-munitions over a wide area. Many of the bomblets do not explode immediately and therefore pose a danger to civilians long after a conflict has ended.

The bombs have been used in countries including Cambodia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Israel are known to have used the weapons in their assault on Lebanon in 2006.

Sweden's delay in signing up to the treaty has come in for criticism from peace campaigners.

"They have taken a long time and should have been able to take a stand much sooner. But of course we are very happy. This is a significant step forward for international work to ban cluster bombs," said Anna Ek of the peace group Svenska Freds.

Reinfeldt explained Sweden's delay in signing the treaty in that time was required to have the issued considered by the defence forces. They were also charged with the task of developing a cost analysis for an alternative weapon.

The defence forces have stated that an alternative will probably cost more that the cluster bomb.

The prime minister compared the cluster bomb treaty to Sweden's signing of the landmine treaty in 1999. The two decisions are part of Swedish disarmament ambitions, he explained.

The landmine treaty has neither been signed by Russia, the United States, Israel nor China however none of the countries have used the weapons since the treaty was negotiated in 1997. Campaigners are hoping that the resounding message sent by the signatories to the cluster bomb treaty will have the same effect.

IT forum boosts ties with Korean firms

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Hor Hab and May Kunmakara
Monday, 17 November 2008

Mobile technology centre agreed on during visit of 13 South Korean companies to Phnom Penh

SOUTH Korean investors are keen to expand information and technology ties with Cambodia, sector officials said last week following a forum that brought Korean companies together with Cambodian businesses.

"Korea is a high-tech economy, and [Korean companies] see huge opportunities in Cambodia," said Ken Chanthan, president of the Cambodian Information and Technology Association.

Thirteen Korean IT companies visited Cambodia last Friday for the Cambodia-Korea Information Communication Technology Business Forum and announced a set of memorandums of uderstanding.

The agreements include a proposed mobile technology centre to facilitate technology transfer between Korea and Cambodia.

Luos Seyha, second vice chairman of the Small and Medium Industries Association of Cambodia, said that Cambodia stands to benefit from Korea's high-tech sector.

"Cambodia is one of the most suitable markets for [technology] investors to maximize business potential at a time when Cambodia needs to integrate its markets in an era of globalisation and e-commerce," he said.

In the short term, the deals would focus on Customer Information Systems and mobile phone technology.

Luos Seyha said that the forum would lead to more integrated business, education, government, security and database operations in Cambodia.

He added that greater competition among ICT investors will drive down costs, boost production, increase innovation and boost Cambodia's low labour productivity, Luos Seyha said.

Ken Chanthan, president of the Information Communication Technology Association of Cambodia, said the economic crisis had not affected IT relations.

"The crisis is a small problem for this sector," he said.

But he added that piracy remains a major challenge in Cambodia.

"[Piracy] is a major concern for investors.... Cambodia needs stronger IT laws," he said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY GEORGE MCLEOD

Second Cambodian heart patient arrives

Ratha Pang, left, is overcome with emotion as her aunt, Lim La, holds her son, Vy Soksamnang, after they arrived Sunday at LAX so the boy can undergo heart surgery that is unavailable in Cambodia. (Jeff Gritchen/Staff Photographer)

Press-Telegram Long Beach

CHARITY: LB-based group Hearts Without Boundaries has arranged life-altering surgery for Vy Soksamnang, 11 months.

By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
11/16/2008

LOS ANGELES - Lim La leaned against the railing waiting for the first glance of her grandnephew. Nearby her son, David Kem, husband Richard and other family members also waited eagerly.

Shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday, Vy Soksamnang - accompanied by his mother, Ratha Pang, and Peter Chhun of Hearts Without Boundaries - turned the corner at the arrivals area of the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX, and the tearful family reunion was under way. Only Vy, sleeping soundly in his mother's arms, seemed unaffected by the meeting.

Vy is an 11-month-old boy from an impoverished village near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, who came to the United States for life-altering heart surgery that was not readily available in his home country.

Earlier this year, the Kem family had learned of Vy's heart ailment and was devastated. By coincidence, David Kem had earlier volunteered to help Chhun, the founder of Long Beach nonprofit Hearts Without Boundaries, which had helped a girl with the same ailment.

Vy is the second child Chhun has brought out of Cambodia for the open-heart procedure. The first, 9-year-old Davik Teng, returned to her village outside of Battambang in northwest Cambodia. Teng was also given a follow-up exam during Chhun's latest trip. Although she still has what doctors call "depressed" heart function, she is recovering well from the surgery and is living an energetic, happy life.

Vy Soksamnang sits at Sophy's Restaurant in Long Beach after arriving Sunday from Cambodia. He suffers from a hole in his heart. (Jeff Gritchen/Staff Photographer)

Like Teng, Vy was diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect, or hole in the heart. It is a condition that left untreated leads to fatigue, breathing problems and eventually causes irreversible lung damage.

The Children's Heart Center, a Las Vegas hospital, has offered its staff and facilities for the operation. Although a date has not been set, it should be sometime after Thanksgiving.

The heart procedure is routine by Western standards, but requires a heart-lung machine and expertise often not readily available in Cambodia.

Chhun and Hearts Without Boundaries is arranging transportation and lodging for the boy and his mother.

Initially, Hearts Without Boundaries, with the help of Susan Grossfeld and her San Diego cardiologist husband, Paul Grossfeld, tried to broker a deal with Rady Children's Hospital, where Paul Grossfeld works.

When the California hospital backed out, Susan Grossfeld contacted Dr. William Evans in Las Vegas, who helped persuade his hospital to help.

Earlier this month, Chhun accompanied Variety Lifeline, which offered simple heart procedures to children in Siem Reap. It was here Vy was examined and pronounced fit for the trip to the U.S.

Vy lives in poverty in a bamboo hut with no electricity or running water. His mother is unemployed. His father is a border guard stationed far from home.

At a post-trip meeting at Sophy's Restaurant, an exhausted Chhun said the trip went smoothly and he was excited to be home.

Pang, although she suffered from motion sickness both on the plane and in the car ride to Long Beach, was happy and admittedly overwhelmed by her first encounter with the United States.
"It's so clean and so advanced," she said.

But mostly she was happy her child would get a chance at a full life.

"I am so happy, I have no words to describe," she said through translation. "Thank you so much for helping give my son life."

Vy and Pang will rest and prepare for the surgery at the home of the Kem family in North Long Beach.

Hearts Without Boundaries is raising funds for Vy's journey, food and medicine in the United States. Information is available by calling Chhun at 818-640-6191 or going to

www.heartswithoutboundaries.org.

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291

Siem Reap Airways blacklisted

The Straits Times
Nov 17, 2008

PHNOM PENH - THE European Commission has added Cambodia's Siem Reap Airways to a safety blacklist that bars carriers from flying to the 27-nation bloc, a statement said on Monday.

The executive branch of the European Union issues periodic lists of airlines from around the world that it says do not meet its safety standards and cannot travel to EU countries.

'The commission has imposed an operating ban on the main air carrier from Cambodia, Siem Reap Airways International', the EC said in a statement on its website.

'The airline does not operate in compliance with the Cambodian safety regulations nor does it meet the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO),' it said.

'Significant concerns have also been expressed by ICAO with regard to the ability of the Cambodian civil aviation authorities to implement and enforce the international safety standards', said the commission.

Siem Reap Airways and Cambodian aviation officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Siem Ream Airways is a subsidiary of Bangkok Airways International.

It is licensed by the Cambodian government to operate domestic services between Phnom Penh and the tourist hub Siem Reap - gateway to the Angkor Wat temples - but does not operate directly to Europe. -- AFP

HIV Testing For Global 'One Million Tests' Campaign Begins During Cambodia's National Water Festival

Medical News Today
17 Nov 2008

As part of an ambitious global effort to test one million people for HIV in observance of the One Million Tests World AIDS Day 2008 campaign, AHF/Cambodia CARES launched its inaugural testing effort during the annual Water Festival, the largest festival in the Cambodian calendar which marks the end of the rainy season. AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest AIDS group in the US which currently provides AIDS medical care and services to more than 83,000 individuals in 22 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia, spearheaded the worldwide initiative to test one million people in conjunction with the observance of this year's World AIDS Day.

AHF Cambodia CARES, which operates 11 free AIDS treatment clinics throughout the country, has taken a leadership role in Cambodia's HIV testing efforts by donating 20,000 kits to government HIV testing programs. In addition, AHF Cambodia CARES has also committed to testing 10,000 individuals. As a result, one of the countries in the Asia Pacific region that has been hardest-hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic will test 30,000 people for HIV throughout the month of November.

"With the beginning of the Water Festival today, AHF Cambodia CARES was pleased to get an early start and launch our country's participation in the World AIDS Day 2008 One Million Tests campaign. At four sites in Phnom Penh, AHF Cambodia CARES tested 250 individuals. Of these, three people were found to be HIV-positive, and each has been counseled and linked to a clinic for follow up care and access to lifesaving antiretroviral treatment," said Chhim Sarath, M.D., AHF Country Program Coordinator for Cambodia.

Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in Asia and also has one of the most rapidly growing HIV/AIDS epidemics in the region. The HIV epidemic has spread beyond high-risk groups such as sex workers, male police officers, factory workers, mobile populations, injection drug users and men who have sex with men, to the general population.

The number of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) centers in Cambodia has increased dramatically over the last 5 years (only 12 sites in 2000 to 199 sites by the first quarter or 2008). Of the current 199 VCT centers, 180 are supported directly by the government, while 19 are supported by non-governmental organizations.

Cambodia inaugurates 1st ethanol factory to produce bio-fuel

People's Daily Online
November 17, 2008

Cambodia opened its first ethanol factory to generate bio-fuel from cassava flour on Monday.

"This is the first ethanol factory in Cambodia and it will become the market place of cassava product for local farmers," Prime Minister Hun Sen said at the opening ceremony of the pioneer venture invested by the MH Bio-energy Group of South Korea.

It will directly provide 192 job opportunities for local workers and encourage farmers to plant more cassava, he said, adding that the factory itself has made investment to grow cassava on 8,000 hectares of land in Kampong Speu province.

The project, with 40 million U.S. dollars of investment, has already opened two branches in Kampong Cham and Battambang provinces to purchase cassava from local farmers, he added.

Industry, Mines and Energy Minister Suy Sem said at the ceremony that the factory now has a designed capacity of 36,000 tons of ethanol fuel for export per year, especially to the European market.

"The factory has a plan to double its export volume during the next few years. It now needs about 100,000 tons of dry cassava flour each year," he said, adding that its ethanol fuel can replace gasoline for vehicles.

Sar Peov, head of the administration unit of the factory, told Xinhua that a ton of ethanol fuel currently sells at about 700 U.S. dollars on the international market.

"We focus on foreign market because Cambodia has a small market for ethanol products and the vehicles here use gasoline and diesel," he said.

We will focus on the Cambodian market later, he added.

Cassava is one of the most important economic crops in rural Cambodia.

According to the official figures, around 30,000 hectares of land were planted with cassava in 2005 in the kingdom, with a turnout of around 536,000 tons of flour.

Source:Xinhua

Chinese top political advisor to visit Jordan, Turkey, Laos, Cambodia

People's Daily Online
November 17, 2008

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), will pay official friendly visits to Jordan, Turkey, Laos and Cambodia from November 23 to December 6.

Jia will pay the visits at the invitations of Zaid Al Rifaee, president of Jordan's Senate, Turkish Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan, Sisavat Keobounphan, chairman of Lao Front for National Reconstruction and member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, and Cambodian Senate President Chea Sim.

Source: Xinhua

Talk of PPenh gov's dismissal rejected

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Sheang Sokha
Monday, 17 November 2008

OFFICIALS have moved to quash rumours that Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema has been removed from his post, saying the news is a hoax deliberately designed to stir up confusion.

The rumours emerged shortly after the end of the annual Water Festival, when an unidentified source close to Prime Minister Hun Sen claimed Kep Chuktema's deputy Pa Socheatvong was in line to take the seat.

But government spokesman and Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith dismissed the rumours, confirming that the government did not have any intention of removing Kep Chuktema, who has served as governor of Phnom Penh since February 2003.

"There has been no removal," he said Sunday. "He [Kep Chuktema] will remain a governor and the rumours will not affect him."

Deputy Governor Pa Socheatvong said that the recent information could cause confusion and damage the relationship between the senior municipal officials.

"This is just rumour, it is not true," he told the Post. "The rumour is not good for me and not good for the governor."

Pa Socheatvong said that if the government wanted to remove someone they would reveal it publicly, adding that the rumours must have been started by someone with a political agenda.

CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said that the information about the removal of Kep Chuktema made little sense because the party was preparing for commune council elections scheduled for May next year.

"It remains a rumour," he said. "I did not receive any information about his removal."

Kep Chuktema could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Sanitation costs: cash, lives

Photo by: CHRISTOPHER SHAY
A child stands next to an overflowing waste bin in Phnom Penh's Phsar Kap Ko last week. Improper disposal of solid waste can contaminate water supplies.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chhay Channyda
Monday, 17 November 2008

A World Bank report draws attention to the financial costs of the Kingdom's poor levels of sanitation and says up to 10,000 lives a year are needlessly lost

DIARRHOEA and other diseases related to poor sanitation kill nearly 10,000 people a year in Cambodia and cost the Kingdom US$448 million annually, said a recent report from the World Bank's water and sanitation program.

According to the report, which will be officially released on December 9, the costs translate into a per capita loss of US$32, which is equivalent to 7.2 percent of Cambodia's national income.

The report, titled "Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Cambodia 2008", said that in 2005, only 22 percent of Cambodians had access to a latrine, and there were still "more than 11 million Cambodians living with an unimproved latrine or with no latrine at all". The problem is most pronounced in rural Cambodia, where 84 percent of the population lives, but only 16 percent of those can access adequate sanitation.

It is estimated that the number of health cases related to poor sanitation and hygiene in 2005 totaled nearly 9.7 million, with about 10,000 deaths, 67 percent of which were the result of diarrhoea.

"Access to sanitation in Cambodia is lower than the region as a whole. Poor sanitation contributes to bad health, infant mortality and poverty," said Jan Willem Rosenboom, the country team leader of the World Bank's water and sanitation program.

Chea Sophara, minister of rural development, said that only 42 percent of the rural population currently has access to clean water.

" Access to sanitation in cambodia is lower than the region as a whole. "

"We want all rural people to have clean and safe water to avoid diseases," he said, "By year 2015, we believe 50 percent of rural people will have access to clean water, and by 2025, everyone in the country will have clean water," he said.

"Many people living in the countryside live without proper latrines, so we have to improve their condition," he said, adding that the government has set a goal that by 2015 "30 percent of rural villagers will have adequate latrines, and by 2025 the number will reach to 50 percent".

To solve this problem, government departments are trying to educate people about the importance of proper sanitation. Veng Thai, the director of the Phnom Penh Health Department, said that many of the sanitation problems are the result of ignorance.

"Diarrhoea results from poor sanitation," he said, "We are working step by step to educate people on good sanitation."

Solid waste problems

The report also highlighted the potential waste-management problems in urban areas, particularly at dump sites.

"The official designated dumpsites of solid waste are reaching capacity, particularly in Phnom Penh city where nearly 1,000 tonnes of waste is dumped every day.... The dumpsite may contaminate groundwater quality," the report warns.

"Waste can harm people's health.... Still, some people are not careful about throwing away solid waste," said Sao Kun Chhon, director of Phnom Penh's waste management program.

Activist's work nets German award

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Vong Sokheng
Monday, 17 November 2008

ACTIVIST Somaly Mam has won the Roland Berger Dignity Award for her work against sex trafficking. The German award comes with a one-million-euro (US$1.27 million) prize.

President Horst Kohler is scheduled to present the award to Somaly Mam on November 24 in Berlin, according to a news release from the German embassy.

"Somaly Mam bears witness to the courage and the resolution with which people around the world fight to ensure that human dignity and human rights are respected," said the press release.

Somaly Mam, 38, was herself a victim of sexual slavery and has been fighting against sex trafficking since she helped found anti-trafficking NGO Afesip in 1996.

Somaly Mam is currently the director of Afesip, which runs an outreach program, a shelter, an investigations department and a vocational training program for former sex workers.

Somaly Mam could not be reached for comment Sunday. Her assistant Lin Sylor said that she was travelling in the US promoting her recent book, The Road of Lost Innocence, a critically acclaimed memoir about her rise from the brothels.

"We are excited to hear about the big award, and we are also happy that the international community recognises the importance and value of our work," Sylor said.

In contrast to her international acclaim, within the region's anti-sex-trafficking community Somaly Mam and her organisation are much more controversial, representing to some an approach that inappropriately conflates sex work and sex slavery.

CMAC spends $1m on dogs

Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN

CMAC mine detection dogs parade through the streets during Independence Day celebrations last week.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Sam Rith
Monday, 17 November 2008

Program to teach dogs to sniff out unexploded mines and ordnance needs more recruits, CMAC officials say, but puppies and training are not cheap

BREEDING and training a new generation of specialised mine-detecting dogs is costing the Kingdom around US$1 million annually, new figures reveal.

"We spend from $860,000 to $1 million per year on mine-clearing dogs," Khem Sophoan, director general of the Cambodia Mine Action Center (CMAC), told the Post Sunday, adding that the money comes from both the Cambodian government and various donors.

According to Khem Sophoan, CMAC's total expenditure reaches somewhere between $9 million and $11 million a year.

He said a sizable chunk of this funding goes to CMAC's Mine Detection Dog program, founded in 1996, which trains dogs to sniff out mines and buried explosives.

Most of the 87 mine-detecting dogs that have been through the program are purchased ready-trained from a centre in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

One dog costs around $4,000 and once, it reaches Cambodia, training continues. However, CMAC is trying to reduce its reliance on imported dogs.

Puppies please

According to Khem Sophoan, the MDD program needs 10 imported mine-clearing dogs every year to replace the old ones. Now the MDD is making an effort not only to train dogs at the centre but breed them.

Ten puppies were born at the centre eight months ago. However, only three of this historic first litter of puppies survived infancy.

Mong Sokunthearath, director of the Kampong Chhnang CMAC center, home of the MDD program, said that there are two kinds of dogs:

Those that specialise in mine-clearing and those that unearth unexploded ordnance. The dogs start their training when they are two years old.

"They take from six to eight months to be trained," he said. "They are first trained to [obey] humans and then to sniff out explosives, such as TNT."

Experts estimate that up to six million unexploded land mines remain in Cambodia.

"They [land mines] were placed in almost every province throughout Cambodia," Khem Sophoan said. "As part of the government's strategy, we plan to clear all mines in Cambodia by 2020."

Chinese delegation arrives for trade, aid talks with ruling CPP

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON

Heng Samrin (centre) at the Water Festival last week.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Sebastian Strangio
Monday, 17 November 2008

The visit by a Chinese Communist Party delegation aims to strengthen ties with the Kingdom's Cambodian People's Party

A CHINESE Communist Party (CCP) delegation was to arrive in Phnom Penh today for investment and aid talks with members of the Cambodian People's Party, according to Cambodian and Chinese officials.

The delegation, led by Zhang Gaoli, a member of the CCP Central Committee's political bureau, arrived in Siem Reap Thursday and spent the weekend sightseeing at Angkor Wat prior to travelling to the capital where official talks were slated to begin.

Qian Hai, first secretary of the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh, said the trip was a yearly event that symbolised the close relationship between the ruling CCP and the ruling party in Cambodia.

"Between them, the CCP and CPP will visit each other every year," he said, adding that Chinese officials had played host to then-Funcinpec president Keo Puth Reasmey on a similar trip in February.

‘Goodwill' tour

Cambodia is the delegation's first stop in a regional tour designed to strengthen the friendship between the CCP and four of the region's ruling parties: the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council, and the CPP and Funcinpec in Cambodia.

Qian would not say what would be discussed during today's talks, but cited the growing economic and political links between Beijing and Cambodia.

"It is the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries," he said. "We have a long history of ties, and this week will strengthen them. China and Cambodia cooperate in many things."

CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said the talks would centre on new opportunities for Chinese aid and investment.

"We will propose to the Chinese delegation that they assist us with aid to the tourism sector, for hydropower [developments] and for investment in Cambodia," he said.

"We are talking with the Chinese delegation about strengthening the friendship, the solidarity and the cooperation between both countries."

In recent years, China has risen to be Cambodia's foremost foreign donor, pledging US$280 million for infrastructure works at the Asia-Europe summit in Beijing last month in addition to a 2006 loans-and-grants package worth $600 million.

Cheam Yeap added that a Cambodian delegation would make a return trip early in the new year.

"At the beginning of 2009, Samdech Heng Samrin will lead a Cambodian delegation to China," he said.

Rain stops important border road works

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Thet Sambath
Monday, 17 November 2008

NINE kilometres of road works from Preah Vihear's Kou village to Ta Moan Thom temple have been postponed due to flooding and rain, officials said Sunday.

"We can't build the road due to the ongoing rain. We have postponed it until the rain stops," said military engineer Kvan Siem.

Ho Vuthy, deputy commander of Border Military Unit 402, said that the current condition of the road is a big problem for soldiers travelling to Ta Moan Thom and Ta Krabey temples.

"We have trouble travelling from one place to another place along border. But it is our custom to do it this way," he told the Post on Sunday.

Lights, camera: satisfaction

Photo by: PHOTO SUPPLIED

Director Tom Som (left) is pictured with actors on the set of his first full-length feature film, Staying Single When.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Anne-Laure Porée
Monday, 17 November 2008

Award-winning director Tom Som talks about Star Wars, his love of cinema and how he hopes to direct the next Bond film

You've just won a Freddie award for the TV series Facing the Truth about HIV/Aids. Why did you want to become a director?

I just felt in love with action films when I was young. Me and my brother watched Rambo and we pretended to be him. I also watched Robocop and Star Wars. And later on, when I compared them with Cambodian films of the late 1980s and early 1990s, they looked very different, the way the films were made, the quality. So I thought I could do better in the future. I just felt that it would be easy.

How did this dream become reality?

When I graduated from school there was no film school here so I just studied photography and business, which was my second option. I started working by doing surveys for other people. Later on I saw a newspaper advertisement: Matthew Robinson was looking for a director, I applied for the job and I got it. I was so ready for it, I wanted it.

What did your family say when you told them about wanting to be a director?

They said: "You are not going to survive." Now I've proved I can survive. They watch my films and they like it. Some of their comments are good, some not so. They are a little bit older, so the way they think is different from me.

Do you still think it's easy to be a director?

Now I know it is very difficult to make a film but I love it. You have to work long hours, you have to work late. You don't just do your work in the office, you have to work at home, you have to learn, you have to research. When I got a script, I don't just read it. I have to make it into pictures, to think about how I am going to shoot it. I also have to adapt it because sometimes the way it is written does not work. At the same time, I look at other Hollywood or foreign films, which have a similar story. I'm not copying them. I look for their ideas and combine them and look for something suitable for Cambodia.

How did you learn to visualise the script?

It's instinct. When I read the script I can already imagine the picture. I know I want the actor coming from here and going there and what is going to happen next and how he is going to perform. I just have it in my mind. Sometimes it doesn't work because the first imagination is just rough.

What are the qualities of a good director?

You have to be prepared and you have to be flexible. No matter how much we plan, on a shooting day it never works the way you wanted. Sometimes when you go to some location, it's the sound, the actors, the location itself, the light, which has to change.

What do you still have to learn as a director?

A lot. I watch DVDs every day so I keep on learning from other directors because I want to become like them. Here we do not have enough talented people and we do not have new equipment, that's why I still have to learn by myself.

Do you love cinema only through action movies?

When I was young I always wanted to make action films. But later I found out that an action film is not as difficult as an emotional film. Action is just like "Bang! Bang! Bang!" For emotional films you have to be smart to talk to the actors in order to make people cry with him or laugh with him, you have to get the right script. I have never shot an action film before, although I have done a lot of dramas. I would like to do action, but in Cambodia we do not have the budgets and we lack the people who are good at doing stunts like explosions and car crashes. But my dream is to direct the next James Bond film: I want to shoot part of it in Cambodia.

Why don't you like Bollywood films?

People turning to singing and dancing, that's not reality. Magic is not real at all. But a car crash, an explosion, it could happen. When I do something, I want it as real as possible, I don't want to lie to people.

How is it possible for the Cambodian film industry to develop?

We are trying to get our company, Khmer Mekong Films, more recognition. If one company grows, the other will die if they don't try to raise their quality. So if we try to grow, I hope that the other companies will improve. Then everyone will care more about quality.

What kind of film do you think young Cambodians like to watch?

Something new and fast. For me, I don't want films about old stories or classic Cambodian culture. I think youth want to watch something about new lifestyles, something exciting, adventure with a romantic story, set in Cambodia. Because if they see the story of a Cambodian guy in America, it will be an American film for them.

Critical time in anti-malaria fight

Photo by: RICK VALENZUELA

Sy Mon sells a three-person bed net, manufactured in Cambodia with Vietnamese fabric, for US$5 at her shop in Phsar Cha. She said she sells about 20 bed nets a month.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Christopher Shay
Monday, 17 November 2008

Researchers say a rogue strain of malaria native to western Cambodia is quickly developing resistance to the only drug that is able to treat it, threatening fresh outbreaks of the disease

NEAR the Thai-Cambodian border, one fatal strain of malaria shows signs of overcoming the most potent drug designed to destroy it, say malaria researchers.

Artemisinin, a drug first isolated by Chinese scientists four decades ago but only recently adopted internationally, is seen as the front line defence against malaria, and in Cambodia is the only effective drug against the most lethal malaria strain, Plasmodium falciparum.

"Artemisinin combination therapies are ... central to global efforts to control malaria," said Shunmay Yeung, a researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

"They are safe and well tolerated ... and can be used in both uncomplicated and severe malaria."

But for five decades, western Cambodia has been a hotbed of drug-resistant malaria, and artemisinin appears to be following the same path of older antimalarials - such as chloroquine and mefloquine - which have been made obsolete by adaptive malaria strains.

Drug of last resort

"If the parasite becomes resistant to artemisinin, we don't have another drug.... Artemisinin is the only one that is strong enough to kill enough parasites," said Duong Socheat, the director of the National Centre for Malaria (NCM).

"If malaria becomes resistant to artemisinin, many in the world will die."

Amir Attaran, professor of law and population health at the University of Ottawa, echoed Duong Socheat's fears.

"If the artemisinin drugs were lost to resistance before an alternative was found - and none is on the horizon - then there's nothing else and malaria is untreatable," he said.

Every year since 2000, the NCM has run tests determining the effectiveness of artemisinin in western Cambodia, and every year the drug gradually loses its punch.

"The drug used to take 24 hours to clear the parasite. Now it can take more than 72 hours," Duong Socheat said.

A few factors conspire to make western Cambodia the epicentre for malaria drug resistance. A transient population of gem miners and itinerant workers from across Southeast Asia allow different malaria strains to mix together, increasing the likelihood of gene mutation.

" If malaria becomes resistant to artemisinin, many in the world will die. "

And almost all the pharmacies in the region are unregulated private providers who often prescribe improper treatments and dosages.

But even if patients avoid improper treatments and counterfeit drugs, monotherapy dosages of artemisinins - which rapidly increase the tolerance rate of the malaria parasite - are still widely prescribed.

As a fast-acting, potent drug, artemisinin needs to be prescribed with a slower partner drug to wipe out any residual malaria parasites that might have developed resistance.

"Artemisinin and its derivatives ... are recommended for use in combination with other groups of antimalarial drugs," said Awash Teklehaimanot, director of the malaria program at Columbia University.

Currently, the Cambodian government does emphasise combination therapy, but experts with local experience say more needs to be done.

"A ban on the import and selling of oral artemisinin monotherapies is going to be issued, but everybody agrees that this is not enough," said Yeung.

"It needs to be accompanied by enforcement, training, lots of communication and incentives to change the behaviour of providers and consumers."

The NCM, with the help of the World Health Organisation, has been working closely to educate private pharmacists about the importance of combination therapies. But with pharmaceutical distribution still relying on unlicensed distributors, the NCM faces an uphill battle.

There is also evidence that some patients avoid taking the partner drug even when combination therapy is properly prescribed. Currently, the recommended therapy is artemisinin and mefloquine blister-packaged together, allowing people to avoid taking the partner drug, mefloquine, which has more adverse side effects.

"Ideally, the drugs should be co-formulated: ie, both drugs in one tablet so they cannot be taken separately," Yeung said.

A critical period

The rising threat follows a decade of real gains that have been made against the parasite in Cambodia. Ten years ago, more than 1,000 Cambodians died each year from malaria, a figure that has been reduced to fewer than 200.

But modeling done by the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit suggests that the only way to stop a resistant malaria parasite in Cambodia is to eradicate the most fatal strain of malaria completely.

"All strategies tested reveal that the only way to get rid of the resistant phenotype is by getting rid of all falciparum malaria in western Cambodia," said Arjen Dondorp, the unit's deputy director.

Dondorp advocated a three- pronged attack, stressing the need to get artemisinin monotherapies out of the private sector, distribute treated bed nets, and repeatedly carry out mass screenings and treat the infected with combination therapy.

Although Duong Socheat is optimistic that Cambodia can eliminate malaria by 2015, the University of Ottawa's Attaran paints a darker picture.

Though reduction is possible, he said that talk of eradicating malaria is "nonsense".

Storm churns towards Vietnam

International Herald Tribune
Reuters
Published: November 17, 2008

By Ho Binh Minh

A strong tropical storm churned towards southern Vietnam on Monday, threatening a direct hit on the densely populated Mekong Delta and substantial damage to the country's coffee production.

State-run forecasters said Tropical Storm Noul, with winds of 88 kph (55 mph), would reach landfall around the tourist spots of Nha Trang and Mui Ne late on Monday and cross the coffee-growing province of Lam Dong.

Vietnam is the world's second-largest coffee producer and the third-largest producer of crude oil in Southeast Asia.

Noul's arrival coincides with the peak of the coffee harvest in the Central Highlands. Torrential rains could halt the harvest and prevent farmers from drying beans outdoors, causing delays and lowering quality.

The storm could also wreak havoc in the delta, which normally avoids the worst of the storms that roll in from the South China Sea, making people who live there relatively unprepared for disaster.

"It could cause huge damage to lives and property," Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said in an urgent telegraph to provincial authorities and state oil and gas group Petrovietnam.

All offshore oil production remained operational, an official from Petrovietnam said, although state television said Vietsovpetro, a Russian joint venture, would temporarily shut operation on four oil rigs and evacuate workers.

It did not say how much production would be affected.

In his telegraph, Hung ordered the immediate recall of all fishing boats in the area and said children should not go to school as preparations were made for mass evacuations across a 400 km (250 mile) swathe of coastline.

More than 74,000 people needed evacuation while more than 133,000 fishermen had been warned to take shelter as the storm moved to within 100 kms (65 miles) of the coast, the government said.

In neighbouring Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen cancelled a scheduled trip on Tuesday to the coastal province of Kampot, abutting Vietnam, because of the storm.

Vietnamese government reports said more than 17,000 fishing boats were operating near the Spratlys in the path of the storm.

The Mekong Delta, where the latest rice crop has been harvested, is rarely hit by storms. Typhoon Linda caught the region unawares in November 1997, killing at least 464 people. The government never revised an initial tally that listed more than 3,200 people as missing.

(Additional reporting by Nguyen Nhat Lam and Ek Madra in Phnom Penh; Editing by Ed Cropley and David Fox)

Interpol Seizes $6.65 Million in Counterfeit Drugs

By Simeon Bennett

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Interpol seized more than $6.65 million of counterfeit drugs against malaria, HIV and tuberculosis in Southeast Asia and made 27 arrests.

The haul, part of the five-month Operation Storm across Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, involved almost 200 raids, Aline Plancon, an officer involved in the action, said today by e-mail from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Global sales of fake drugs may reach $75 billion in 2010, an increase of more than 90 percent from 2005, the Geneva-based World Health Organization said on its Web site, citing the New York-based Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.

Under Operation Storm, which ran from April 15 to Sept. 15, police seized more than 16 million pills, including fake antibiotics for pneumonia and child-related illnesses, Plancon said.

Counterfeits account for as much as 30 percent of all drugs in developing nations and less than 1 percent of all drugs in developed nations such as the U.S., according to the WHO.

About 40 percent of 1,047 counterfeit drug-related arrests worldwide last year were made in Asia, according to the Washington-based Pharmaceutical Security Institute.

Transnational trade of rare birds flourishes

The cream-color shama that bird breeder Luong Cong Khanh sold for US$2,360

ThanhNien
Monday, November 17, 2008

A southern bird breeder recently sold a unique bird belonging to the black shama species for US$2,360.

Although there are millions of black shamas, the one that Luong Cong Khanh of An Giang Province’s Long Xuyen Town sold was cream-color, with red eyes, pink feet and beak rather than black ones like normal black shamas.

The customer, a Vietnamese-Cambodian, paid at once without bargaining “because the bird was so beautiful,” Khanh said.

Khanh also has a male magpie robin which is cream-color instead of black. He has been offered more than VND42 million ($2,480) for the bird but said he wants to keep it to see how it sings differently from other black shamas.

He had acquired the two special birds six months ago from a bird catcher in An Giang province named H.

H. sold the pair of birds for a measly VND8 million ($472) because he was too poor to take care of them, Khanh said.

Several years ago, Khanh had the chance to attain a one-year-old white magpie robin. The owner had asked for a new Wave motorbike worth more than VND30 million ($1,800), but another buyer beat him to the purchase. The bird was then sold to Cambodia at a price equal to three such motorbikes.

Khanh said that nowadays bird breeders from Cambodia and Taiwan are actively hunting for special birds in Vietnam.

One of his red magpie robin was sold at VND10 million ($590) to a Cambodian, who resold it for ten times the price to a Taiwanese buyer.

“If only I had more land, I would create a habitat for the birds to commingle to produce more unique species,” Khanh said.

Milton students honored for letters

Lindsay Musser,16, of Milton searches for the copy of her letter to the editor she wrote earlier this year that earned her the Thomas Paine Award for Citizen Journalism. Musser recieved her award during a banquet at the Front Street Sation in Northumberland Sunday night Nov. 16, 2008. Liz Rohde /

They earn citizen journalism award

By Rob Scott
The Daily Item

NORTHUMBERLAND -- Two Milton High School students who helped raise $35,000 for a school in Cambodia were honored for writing letters to the editor in defense of the project earlier this year.

In March, William Reish, of West Milton, wrote a letter to the editor chastising the Milton Area School District for flying a tattered and faded American flag outside the high school. In his letter, he referred the district's efforts to raise money to build a school in Cambodia, implying that the money would be of better use replacing the flag.

Students Lindsay Musser and Jehoshaphat Reich responded by writing letters of their own, criticizing Reish's insinuation that the district was somehow wrong for raising money for the school while ignoring the flag.

Lindsay and Jehoshaphat were honored Sunday, along with about a hundred other letter writers, by the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. They received the Thomas Paine Award for citizen journalism.

"I was just so mad and disgusted that someone would waste their time writing this letter," said Lindsay, 16, after she got her award.

The money raised for the Cambodian school came entirely from donations and fundraisers, she pointed out, not from the district's coffers.

Mike Conn, a teacher at the high school whose trip to southeast Asia inspired the fund drive, said the district raised $35,000 in 4 1/2 months.

"(The students) took this very personally," he said. "It touched me deeply, and it says a lot about their character and they felt so passionately about what we were doing."

Robert Shabanowitz, a Lewisburg resident who also wrote to defend the school, received an award of his own Sunday.

"The kids were doing everything the flag symbolizes," he said. "These kids were doing such a magnanimous gesture. To hear them get so much criticism for that ... broke the camel's back for me. They were putting into action what few of us do."

Jehoshaphat was looking at colleges and could not attend the awards ceremony, according to Conn.

Keeping their memories alive

Press-Telegram Long Beach
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
11/15/2008

LONG BEACH - It is a pairing that seems simultaneously incongruous and yet fitting.

Jewish World Watch might not be an organization that immediately springs to mind when talking about Cambodian issues. And yet, with their experiences as survivors of genocide, Cambodians and Jews share an elemental connection that goes beyond cultures.

It is for that reason, in part, the Jewish World Watch is presenting its second annual iWitness Award tonight to Cambodian filmmaker Socheata Poeuv.

Poeuv, who was born on New Year's Day in a Thai refugee camp, produced and directed the award-winning film "New Year Baby" to raise awareness of the horrors of the Cambodian genocide.

The movie not only recounts her family's harrowing story of survival, but talks about bridging the gap between parents, who often bury their past, and their children.

Poeuv is also the founder of Khmer Legacies, which attempts to connect Cambodian-American youth and their survivor parents through filmmaking and documentation by the children of the survival stories of their elders. Her goal is to have 10,000 children interview their parents and document their stories.

Janice Kamenir-Reznik, co-founder and president of Jewish World Watch, said it was Poeuv's dedication to keep the memories of the Cambodian genocide alive and particularly the idea of having children connect with their parents through the filmmaking process that impressed her.

And as Holocaust survivors know, and Kemenir-Reznik articulated, "you need to confront the past to face the future."

For all the Jewish and Cambodian communities might seem to share in terms of painful histories, Kamenir-Reznik said they had never really connected.

But when Sara Pol-Lim, executive director of the United Cambodian Community social service provider in Long Beach, contacted Jewish World Watch it became obvious they had much to share and teach each other.

Pol-Lim said she hopes Cambodians can use the Jewish community as a role model.

"We want to see the ways we can improve and go in the same pattern," Pol-Lim said.

The UCC leader said she is particularly interested in closing generational gaps in the Cambodian community.

"One of the barriers we learn from our youth is their parents feel shame," Pol-Lim said.

Kamenir-Reznik says learning about the Killing Fields and the Cambodian experience should be eye-opening to her community.

The iWitness Award honors representatives from communities that have been victims of genocides in the 20th century and those who play a role in documenting and educating the world about the genocide. Last year, Jewish World Watch memorialized the Armenian genocide.

Jewish World Watch is a coalition of 60 synagogues working to combat genocide and human rights violations worldwide. It chose Darfur as its first advocacy campaign and has allocated more than $2 million in direct assistance to the people in Darfur.

Kamenir-Reznik hopes her group can engage with the Cambodians in their cause.

"We want to mobilize the community to be part of the tapestry of the anti-genocide movement," she said.

The film will be shown at 5:30p.m. Tonight's other events begin at 7 p.m. at the Alpert Jewish Community Center, 3801 Willow St. and will feature Cambodian music and dancing as well as the presentation of the award.

The International Image of Cambodia - Sunday, 16 November 2008

Posted on 17 November 2008

The Mirror

Looking back at a week in the press always presents the challenge to either lift up one exceptionally interesting or important issue, or to see the links between seemingly unrelated affairs and bring them together, showing how they are positively related or in mutual contradiction.

There have been a series of celebrations during the last two weeks – celebrating the Royal Coronation of King Norodom Sihamoni, then the Royal Birthday of the King Father Norodom Sihanouk, remembering that Cambodia became independent from France 55 years ago, and finally the Water Festival.

Now it is time to wake up to the bitter realities we are facing.

The Minister of Commerce, Mr. Cham Prasidh, is quoted to have made some frightening but probably realistic statements at an international meeting: “While the world moves toward a very painful financial crisis… and the volume of exports goes down which make many people around the world to fall into poverty… only those who can adapt themselves to these changes can escape from poverty.”

But there was not much said about how this adaptation can be achieved, except that “it is crucial to make joint efforts, so that our country is rightly and surely known and supported by developed countries.”

Looking into the international press, what points catch the attention about Cambodia?

- Cambodia is among the Least Developed Countries in the ASEAN region, where 69% of the citizens live by earning less than US$2 per day.

- Cambodia has a “plan to double the expenses for the military sector” - an idea that is proposed by the government and welcomed also by the opposition party – though the Minister of Economy and Finance questions where the US$500 million will be taken from.

- There are regularly reports about alleged criminal actions by persons in, or related to public office – for example, a military officer of the Ministry of Interior is accused of grabbing land; a Poipet immigration police chief continues to demand US$5.75 each from Khmer workers coming back from Thailand - and often there is no follow up that a prosecutor started to act, that investigations were started, and that a case was brought to an end. The reputation that there is a lot of impunity in Cambodia is on-going.

- It is highlighted that, among the different unsolved points in negotiations between Cambodia and Thailand, one that created tension was Cambodian opposition to the Thai idea to put, after the (Khmer) words “Preah Vihear” also the words “Pra Viharn” (in Thai). With this kind of resistance to cooperation and understanding for the other side’s position, how will it ever be possible to comply with the UNESCO World Heritage Site condition, which is to present a Progress Report in February 2009 about the management plan which has to be “produced jointly by Cambodia and Thailand” for the 2010 session of the World Heritage Committee? The Cambodian media have hardly informed the public that the Cambodian negotiators promised to develop joint management. And we have still not seen that any media in Cambodia have published the UNESCO documents saying that “the core area has been much reduced and now only includes the temple and its immediate surrounding and not the wider promontory with its cliffs and caves.” The accompanying map was produced by the Cambodian side for the negotiations and accepted by the Thai side. The Khmer press also disregards that the final Cambodian map and documents suggested listing Preah Vihear “without at this stage a buffer zone on the northern and western areas of the Temple” - the areas where there has been military confrontation. - It is difficult to hope for a positive international response to the plea of the Minister of Commerce - “so that our country is rightly and surely known and supported” - as long as the commitments made by the representatives of the Cambodian government, such as those in the Preah Vihear case, are not acknowledged or discussed by the national press and the public. The international community may also wonder about why and how this issue became so hot, and how it has been handled. Nowadays the Preah Vihear Temple is discussed as if it had been of great concern to the country since time immemorial. However, a map of Cambodia, printed in 2000 by the official geographical agency of the government, does not even mention the Preah Vihear Temple location at the border, even though it is in a province of the same name. That the border was not of much concern until recently is also obvious from the situation found: previously, the site was well visited by tourists, peacefully, and with mutual benefit. The approach was summed up: “There Should Be 73 Khmer-Thai Border Markers - 29 Markers Are Found, 19 Are Being Checked, and 25 Are Being Sought.” Who cared in the past?

Official map of Cambodia, dated 10.10.2000

The Province of Preah Vihear with the Thai border - no reference to the Temple

- Finally, there has been a mixed reaction to an agreement between the Cambodian and Vietnamese governments that soon no visas will be required for travel between the two countries. Such an achievement might be welcome – especially given the fact that 20,000 more Cambodians went to Vietnam in 2007 than the 120,000 Vietnamese that came to Cambodia. But some see such developments – which are in line with general ASEAN goals – as a danger. This week’s press includes fears that “more Vietnamese can use passports without visas to come to live in Cambodia illegally.” Actually, an entry without visa does not give residence rights. When the press mixes these two situations they, create unnecessary confusion. Given the frequently expressed regrets about the culturally isolated situation of the Khmer speaking minority in Vietnam, one might have thought that lifting visa requirements would have been welcome, as it will facilitate mutual visits. Also, it will help the many Cambodians who travel to Vietnam for medical services. Objective observers might also welcome the current negotiations for Vietnam to sell electricity to Cambodia at a wholesale price of US$0.05; in an area in Kompong Cham, electricity costs up to US$1.25 per kilowatt/hour, and a businessman has been criticized for adding the costs of transport to the cost of fuel sold in the province of Mondolkiri.

The call by the Minister of Commerce that “it is crucial to make joint efforts, so that our country is rightly and surely known and supported by developed countries” is important not just in general, but particularly with regard to Cambodia’s neighbors. Economic development to alleviate poverty, and also other kinds of progress, depend on whether the international community sees a movement towards peaceful and friendly relations. No country can thrive in isolation.

Cambodians flock to Buddha-shaped termite nests

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Hundreds of devout Cambodians have flocked to see five unusually shaped termite nests that look like seated figures of Buddha, witnesses said Sunday.

The iconic insect homes appeared on the cement floor of 56-year-old Kuong Keo Ry's house near Phnom Penh, shortly before a traditional death festival held in October when she was mourning her late husband.

"I am happy that my house has been chosen. After other people and I pay respect to the Buddha shapes, we all feel content," the widow told AFP by telephone.

She said she first became curious about the nests in October because she would sweep them away every day -- but that the wood-munching bugs would rebuild them overnight.

Over the past month around 50 to 60 people had come to her house every day to view the Buddhas, Kuong Keo Ry said.

A journalist who went to see the termite Buddhas said he was "thrilled" by them.

"It's like a miracle to me," said Sok Samnang, who hosts a Cambodian television show.

"One night after we put jasmine ornaments around the five Buddha shapes, they became higher. Each of them is 50 centimetres (19 inches) tall and looks exactly like a seated Buddha," he said.

Cambodian Buddhist scholars have said that the Buddha shapes represent apparitions of deities.

"I've never seen anything like this before in my life. I believe the termites are trying to bring us a message from God," said devout Buddhist San Son, 60, who visits the nests regularly to pray.

Buddhism permeates all aspects of culture in Cambodia, despite attempts to eradicate it by the former Khmer Rouge regime.

ADB: Food aid well-used in Cambodia

www.chinaview.cn

2008-11-17

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has called the first phase of its 40 million U.S. dollars emergency food program a success, state media reported Monday.

"This assistance is making a very real difference in the lives of Cambodia's most vulnerable," ADB country director Arjun Goswami was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.

He added that the program had effectively reached those in need and said the Cambodian government was to be praised for its efforts.

Meanwhile, the government on Monday launched its investigation with ADB observance into complaints that the food aid was not distributed fairly.

The ADB did not release the number of complaints but described them as "relatively limited" in quantity.

Editor: Zheng E

Former Khmer Rouge sympathizer arrives in Phnom Penh

Monday, the 17th of November 2008

The Post.blog

Posted by Elena in ECCC

Gunnar Bergstrom, a Swedish communist who supported the Khmer Rouge, has returned to Cambodia for the first time since he was a guest of the regime in 1978. Bergstrom will be donating his archives from that trip to the country, promoting a photography book and speaking at several different public events -- at least one of which I will be attending.

Bergstrom was part of a Swedish Cambodian Friendship Association that undertook a 14-day "public relations" tour organized by the Khmer Rouge in 1978. The regime intended to use delegates from other countries to rally support abroad, according to a release from DC-Cam. The group saw factories, hospitals and schools, and even dined with Pol Pot and Ieng Sary and the Royal Palace.

"After the Swedes returned home, they proclaimed that Cambodia was at the early, albeit imperfect, stages of creating a model communist society," the release reads. "They said communism would save the Cambodian people. It was not until Gunnar had heard the stories of thousands of miserable refugees who poured into Thailand a year later that he realized he had made a grave misjudgment."

* Pictured: AP photo of Bergstrom being interviewed by journalists as he arrives in Phnom Penh on Sunday (above); old AP photo of Bergstrom touring Democratic Kampuchea (at left).

Asean must nudge 2 states on rights

Business Mirror
Written by Estrella Torres / Reporter
Sunday, 16 November 2008

JAKARTA—Former Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) needs to “convince” younger members, particularly Burma and Cambodia, on the importance of adopting a human-rights body as part of its charter, as he expressed pride in having his country adopt that particular provision.

Alatas is Indonesia’s representative to the Asean Eminent Persons Group (EPG) that provided policy advice on the charter.

“I’m happy that Indonesia has finally ratified the Asean charter,” said Alatas, who expressed hopes the charter “will finally be adopted” in the next Asean Summit in Chang Mai, Thailand.

Alatas was interviewed at the sidelines of the recent Asia-Pacific Regional Media Program on Journalism, Politics and Religion here, where he was the keynote speaker.

He said the human rights body has been accepted as essential by members Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei. “But we need to do more convincing of the younger members of Asean.”

He also stressed that the Asean charter is important in helping individual member-countries address the lingering conflict and terrorism, particularly in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, where there is a large presence of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jema’ah Islamiyah and pockets of rebellion and Islamic secessionism.

These lingering problems have “given Asean a bad name,” said Alatas and “it is our hope that [the Asean Charter] will help the governments of Asean address the conflicts in the region.”

Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, secretary-general of Asean, congratulated Indonesia for ratifying the charter. “I would like to thank Indonesia for their support of the Asean Charter process. Counting Indonesia, nine Asean member-states have now deposited their instruments of ratification. We are right on track to have the entry into force of the Asean Charter by the 14th Asean Summit.”

Thailand, now facing political turmoil, is the remaining member that has yet to deposit its instrument of ratification. The Asean Charter will enter into force 30 days after the 10th Asean member deposits its instrument of ratification.

Asean groups the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam.