Biofuel plant closed over pollution scare

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Lam Young Try, 65, dries fish that died in the Tonle Sap at Prek Phnov for sale in the market Monday. The fish are believed to have died from chemical poisoning from a nearby factory.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 01 September 2009
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Nguon Sovan

Officials at MH Bio-Energy deny that a broken water treatment system was the cause of a mass die-off of fish; villagers say livelihoods are under threat

THE Ministry of Industry issued a letter Monday ordering a South Korean ethanol plant in Kandal province's Duong village to suspend operations following complaints by local villagers that toxic waste discharged from the facility was polluting the environment and killing tens of thousands of fish in nearby waterways.

Ith Praing, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, signed the letter forcing the temporary closure of MH Bio-Energy Group pending further investigation.

"The plant will be temporarily closed and production halted because it is producing bad-smelling liquid and gas waste that has caused harm to the health of local residents and has affected the natural environment," the letter stated.

The ministry was prepared to allow the plant to resume operations once an investigation proved the facility posed no threat to villagers or the environment, the letter added, but threatened permanent closure if the government determined that MH Bio-Energy had indeed contaminated the surrounding area.

Chao Bun Thong, chief of Duong village, said the suspension followed complaints by 29 families that the plant was leaking toxic fluids into Lake Samrong, killing tens of thousands of fish that villagers rely on for their livelihoods.

"Tonnes of fish have died since Saturday due to waste fluids from the plant," Chao Bun Thong said.

Seng Thim, head of the Bassac fisheries office in the province, confirmed Monday that fish totalling about 32 tonnes have died.

"Our initial conclusion is that the fish died from toxic pollutants in the lake that likely derive from the plant," Seng Thim said.

"When we evacuated the remaining fish from the lake, they did not die," he said.

"Now we are collecting water samples to test for contaminants," Seng Thim said.

Lam Yiang Try, 65, a fish farmer in Duong village, said he lost half his stock of fish.

"About 500 kilograms of my fish have been lost since Saturday. I have lost about US$2,000 in earnings," he said.

Lee Dong Jun, director of the MH Bio-Energy plant, declined to comment Monday.

But Sar Peov, head of the company's administration office, said that a malfunction in the plant's water treatment system had produced a discharge of untreated liquid waste.

Unlikely cause
"One of our water treatment systems broke down on Sunday, and untreated water escaped," he said.

Sar Peov added that the biofuel plant normally discharges only treated water into the Tonle Sap river, never untreated water.

"We are repairing the system and hope that it will be operational within a week," he said.

Despite acknowledging the leak, Sar Peov dismissed the possibility that wastewater from the plant had any harmful effect on fish.

"It is too early to conclude that the fish died because of wastewater from the plant," Sar Peov said.
"We will wait to see the results of the ministry's water tests in order to determine how they died," he added.

MH Bio-Energy said in June that it had completed Cambodia's first export of ethanol and characterised it as a major step forward for local biofuel production.

The company, founded in 2007 with a $30 million Korean investment, uses cassava and tapioca to produce ethanol for export, primarily to markets in Europe.

Ros Sopharith, a senior manager with the company, told the Post in June that MH Bio-Energy would also seek local distribution rights.

"I am prepared to ask government permission to sell ethanol locally because it can protect our environment," he said at the time.

"In the near future, we plan to double production capacity to meet global market demand," he added.

Previous problems
But complaints of pollution dogged the company in the months after its opening, when residents and district and village officials said leakage from a poorly designed waste pond of the company was responsible for poisoning and killing tonnes of fish in Lake Samrong.

Company officials at the time dismissed the complaints and suggested that residents with duck businesses might be to blame for releasing animal waste into the lake.

Factory closed after faintings by workers

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 01 September 2009
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Mom Kunthear

A GARMENT factory has been temporarily closed after dozens of garment workers fainted there in the past few days for reasons that remain unexplained.

Chhrun Synat, the director of administration at Maurea Garment Corp in Russey Keo district's Svay Pak commune, said Monday that factory officials had decided to let their employees relax at home for a few days after around 60 workers fainted during their shift on Saturday, and about 70 more fainted on Monday morning.

"During this period we will clean the air by adding more fans in the factory," she said.

Hou Samon, the chief of Svay Pak commune, said Sunday that the mass faintings were caused by both factory conditions and workers fasting for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. Workers at the factory, however, said it was purely the conditions that were to blame.

"I think that the other workers and I fainted from all the air pollution in this factory," said 21-year-old Sar Sareth after recovering from her spell at Calmette Hospital on Monday morning.

Government campaign to boost lightning awareness

Photo by: Tracey Shelton
An electrical storm rages over Phnom Penh. The death toll from lightning strike has risen this year.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 01 September 2009
Sam Rith

Banners warning the public of lightning strikes to be posted throughout the Kingdom as deaths this year reach 135, a 42pc rise over 2008's total

A PUBLIC information campaign aimed at warning people over the dangers of lightning is about to begin, government officials said Monday as the number of reported deaths from strikes so far this year climbed to 135.

That number compares with a total of 95 lightning deaths reported last year, said Keo Vy, a communications officer with the National Committee for Disaster Management.

In addition, some 151 people this year have been severely hurt by lightning, which has also killed 36 domestic cattle throughout the country.

"Now we are organising banners to educate people throughout the country in order for them to know how to protect themselves against lightning," Keo Vy said.

"We cannot stop lightning," he said, adding that the banners will be distributed in districts throughout the country.

Seth Vannareth, deputy general inspector and director of Department of Meteorology, said that lightning strikes occur mostly between May and October.

But she said that the number of reported lightning strikes did not appear to be increasing.

Seth Vannareth attributed the apparent rise in deaths to better reporting from provincial and district officials and the rising use of electrical appliances.

"Nowadays, Cambodian people are using more appliances like telephones, televisions, radios and so on, without taking care of lightning," she said.

"People lack the knowledge to protect themselves from lightning.... Do not use the phone or turn on the radio in the middle of a rice field during a rain storm," she added.

"Do not stand under trees during a rain storm, or hold onto metal objects."

Surge protection
Earlier this year a private company began importing products to protect people and property from lightning strikes after recent wet seasons saw electrical storms increase, a shift that experts attribute to climate change.

Officials with the company Dynamic E-Group Limited (DEG) said a reported increase in lightning deaths had prompted them to begin importing lightning-protection devices.

They said DEG's Voltage and Surge Protection Systems, imported from Spain, were designed to be installed in buildings to prevent lightning strikes within a radius of about 120 metres.

The new devices, however, do not come cheaply. Prach Meanith, product manager at DEG, said the price would depend on the size of the building in question but noted that a unit for a three-storey building measuring 6 metres by 12 metres would cost around US$2,000.

Cambodian deminers train, awaiting Sudan's dry season

RCAF Company 405 soldiers receive training in Sudan at the beginning of their mission. Photo Supplied

Life is good for RetuRned deminers

As the soldiers of Company 405 were packing their bags for Sudan, troops from RCAF Company 315 were preparing to come home after serving as UN deminers in Sudan for one year. Mey Sophea, the commander of Company 315, said that thanks to their generous pay, most of the men in his company came home to better lives than they had before they left. After enjoying a month of vacation time following their return, the soldiers returned to their military duties in Cambodia in mid-July. Khun Sophal, one of 139 members of Company 315, said that going to Sudan had made a significant difference in his life at home.“I used the money I earned during my mission to Sudan to repair my house and buy a new motorbike,” he said. “My family has been living much better since I returned.”

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 01 September 2009
Sam Rith

For the past three years, Cambodian soldiers have worked as deminers on the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan. Sam Rith looks at one company of deminers three months into their tour of duty.

It has been almost three months since the troops of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) company 405 left for a one-year United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan, but company members say that homesickness and rough conditions are not enough to deter them from their humanitarian effort.

Speaking by phone from southern Sudan, near the Nile River, Company 405 Commander Taing Bunkry told the Post last week that his troops were doing well and had been making progress on their mission.

"We are all safe and healthy here, and have succeeded in some of our work," he said.

Since 2006, the Kingdom has sent 468 peacekeepers to Sudan. With so many unexploded mines still lurking in Cambodia, RCAF troops have over the years developed internationally sought-after demining expertise.

After arriving in Sudan, the troops received six weeks of demining training from the UN before taking an exam to secure their demining licences. So far, Taing Bunkry said, the company has focused on unexploded ordnance, clearing about 10 to date, as well as on educating the local population about the demining process. They will begin demining in earnest in October, after the east African rainy season ends.

The main area that the deminers will focus on during the dry season lies about 200 kilometres from their barracks, so they have yet to visit it.

"We have been studying the mined area only by flying over it in helicopters - we can't travel there by land because there are no roads and the area is covered in foliage during the rainy season," Taing Bunkry said.

During the rainy season, evening temperatures in Sudan average around 18 degrees centigrade, with daytime temperatures between 42 and 45 degrees; during the dry season, midday temperatures can hit 50 degrees.

Despite the inhospitable climate, the RCAF soldiers say they are happy to fulfill their mission.

"When I first came, I got a cold due to the weather, but now I'm fine," said 28-year-old Im Srim, a member of the 52-soldier contingent. "I'm very proud because [we] are representing the whole Cambodian nation as we fulfill our peacekeeping mission."

Although conditions were challenging at first, Im Srim said, he was thrilled to have the opportunity to work in Sudan.

"I really value my work, and this is the first time I've ever participated in an overseas mission," he said, adding that he was very pleased with his monthly salary of US$1,020.

Seang Kunthea, 31, another deminer from company 405, said that when he first arrived in Sudan, he and his fellow soldiers felt homesick for Cambodia, but that they now feel more comfortable because they have been contacting their families frequently by phone.

"We've gotten used to being far away from our families, and we will see them again when we complete our work," he said, adding that he has a wife and a 5-year-old son at home in Cambodia.

Seang Kunthea's wife, 26-year-old San Socheata of Phnom Penh, said that she and her son were patiently awaiting her husband's return.

"I wish my husband was at home, but it is his obligation to support the family and serve his country," she said.

Deepwater port in VN boosts traffic through Phnom Penh

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
The Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, as seen from a vantage point on the Japanese Bridge. Exports through the port increased almost a quarter in August, port figures show.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 01 September 2009
Chun Sophal

Exports through Phnom Penh Autonomous Port rose by nearly a quarter in August as traders turned to new shipping facility

The Phnom Penh Autonomous Port is starting to see the benefits from the launch of the Cai Mep deepwater port in southern Vietnam, with outbound cargo increasing 22.65 percent in August compared with the same month a year earlier.

The gain follows a 0.84 percent increase in exports through the port in July, which in turn followed declining trade volumes across the first six months of the year.

Port General Director Eang Veng Sun said the improved fortunes were due to the new deepwater port in southern Vietnam's Ba Ria Vung Tau province.

Shipping goods down the Mekong River from Phnom Penh and then out through the port to the US - a key export market for Cambodia - was much faster than through Sihanoukville International Port on Cambodia's south coast, he said.

Because Sihanoukville lacked a deepwater port, goods had to be transferred to Singapore, Taiwan or Hong Kong in smaller vessels before being loaded into a larger container ship for the journey across the Pacific.

Comparative advantage
"I think that traders are seeking to gain whatever advantages they can due to the global financial crisis," Eang Veng Sum said. "That is why they turn to our port."

The port was also less than an hour from most factories in Phnom Penh, compared with the six- to seven-hour road trip to Sihanoukville, he said.
"I believe that exports through this port will continue to increase because most exported goods are made in Phnom Penh."

Port figures show exports for the first eight months of the year fell 15 percent compared with a year earlier as only 27,493 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) passed through. In August, 5,063 TEUs were shipped down the Mekong, compared with just 4,128 TEUs a year earlier. July exports were up 0.84 percent year-on-year to 4,191 TEUs.

Bun Sovanna, a sales manager at Mitsui OSK Lines, said the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port was cheaper and two to three days faster than going through Sihanoukville.

"The time savings and the reduced expenses are the two main factors encouraging more and more traders to turn to the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port," he said.

The shipping company started using the port in mid-June to ship around 100 TEUs per month, Bun Sovanna added. Most of the goods transported were garments, 60 percent of which were for clothing label Gap.

The new deepwater port in Vietnam did not have the same effect on imports as on exports through the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, figures show.

Imports handled at the port were down 23.81 percent year on year in August to 1,696 TEUs. Just 11,114 TEUs were handled across the first eight months of the year, down 32 percent from 16,442 TEUs a year earlier.

Eang Veng Sun said agricultural products and garments accounted for the bulk of exports through the port, whereas raw materials for the garment sector, construction materials and electronic items accounted for most imports.

Sihanoukville International Port General Director Lou Kimchhun said throughput decreased 22 percent over the first 8 months of 2009 but denied that the Phnom Penh rival was a factor. "I think that the decrease in shipping activity at our port is caused only by the global and regional economic crisis," he said.

Tourist port in Kep seeks approval for expansion

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 01 September 2009
May Kunmakara

The company behind a proposed $4 million tourist port in Kep province has applied for approval to boost its investment to $20 million and build a conference centre on site, a company representative said Monday.

The woman, who declined to be named, said Rotong Development Group had asked for a land concession on more than 100 hectares along the beach for the project.

Approval had been granted by provincial authorities, but a decision was still pending from the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) and the Ministry for the Environment, she said. "We cannot do anything on the proposed site until we get approval from the two institutions," she said.

Kep Governor Has Sareth said he had already approved the expanded plan. "I don't know when a final decision will be made. It is now under the consideration of the relevant ministries and institutions to determine the environment impact of the development," he said.

Neither the CDC nor the Environment Ministry could be reached for comment Monday.

Kep province tourism chief Chhay Khoeun said Monday the port would link the province to Vietnam's Phu Quoc island via two ferries, each capable of holding 220 passengers. The province would attempt to encourage tourists visiting the island to take the 90-minute journey to Kep, he said.

Tourism Minister Thong Khon told the Post in May that Phu Quoc has become a popular destination for tourists in the region and could draw around 3 million tourists per year by 2012.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SOEUN SAY

Operator pledges to grandfather in users of low-cost call plan

Photo by: Sovan Philong
A mobile-phone vendor sells Beeline top-up cards Monday in Phnom Penh.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 01 September 2009
Steve Finch and Ith Sothoeuth

But Beeline says new customers will now face revised tariffs to appease sector giant Mobitel

MOBILE phone operator Beeline said Monday it would stop taking new users on a tariff that provoked price-dumping accusations by Mobitel and accused the market leader of blocking its network.

Gael Campan, Beeline's general director in Cambodia, said existing users would remain on the company's US$0.05-a-minute any-network "Boom" tariff, a point it reiterated to users in a text message Friday. However, from today no new users would be taken on the plan, he added.

The announcement follows discussions involving Beeline, Mobitel, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and Telecom Cambodia in a bid to solve a dispute in which Mobitel claimed Beeline offered its users below-cost calls to rival networks. Beeline in turn accused the market leader of blocking its users' calls.

Campan said Mobitel began blocking its network from its launch in May, pointing to tests done by Telecom Cambodia, as well as its own tests, that he said showed interconnectivity with Mobitel was, on average, about 25 percent two weeks ago.

"They [Mobitel] acknowledged they were blocking us intentionally," Campan said of discussions during the meetings.

An industry insider who declined to be named said Monday that it was common knowledge that Mobitel had been blocking Beeline "for some time".

In response Monday, Mark Hanna, chief financial officer at the Royal Group, which recently agreed to buy the controlling stake in Mobitel from Millicom International, denied the accusation.

"The technical interconnection tests and setups between the two networks were not completed," said Hanna. "Our engineers are ready to continue and complete all the technical tests with Beeline as soon as possible."

After the last meeting August 14, Posts and Telecommnucations Minister So Khun sent a letter to Mobitel on August 17 requesting it "open sufficient Trunk Network so as to allow high efficiency of ... traffic between Mobitel and Beeline". The letter also said that Beeline had "decided to increase the tariff across networks from 5 to 6 cents/minute".

Campan would not disclose details of Beeline's new pricing structure, saying it would be announced at a press conference on Monday.

Mobitel said Monday that all of Cambodia's mobile operators had raised the issue of Beeline's pricing with the ministry, a point backed by Hello's CEO Simon Perkins on Monday.

Another operator, Smart Mobile, said Monday in a statement issued to the Post: "In general we support the idea that calls across networks should not be retail priced below the regulated interconnection charges."

Mobitel has argued to the ministry that charges across networks cost all providers the same - 5.95 US cents per minute, which includes taxes and a surcharge to Telecom Cambodia - and that therefore Beeline is price dumping by offering calls at 5 cents per minute.

"Beeline will have to sell at 6.7 cents [per minute] to break even," Hanna said.

Campan said he responded to the accusation directly to the ministry last month, saying that it could maintain profitability through other products, including text messaging.

He added that costs incurred by the provider were charged per second while revenues were rounded up to the nearest minute meaning that a 40-second call would incur a cost of two-thirds of 6.7 cents, while the revenue from the user would still be charged at one minute, or 5 cents.

Ministry Undersecretary of State Touch Heng said Cambodia was a free market, and that pricing was up to the individual operators. The ministry would mediate in disputes, but would not order operators to adjust rates. "All operators have rights," he said.

With Beeline moving to discontinue its controversial tariff, it remains to be seen whether a resolution will be reached on interconnectivity.

"There was a slight progress in the past few weeks," said Campan.

Additional reporting by Nathan Green

Police Blotter: 01 September 2009

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 01 September 2009
Lim Phalla

Nephew takes machete to uncle
Pich Vantha, 55, was hacked 30 times with a machete by his nephew, 35-year-old Kam Sao, and died instantly on the scene in front of his house in Traing district of Takeo province on Friday night. The victim attempted to take refuge inside his house when he saw his deranged nephew coming, but instead, the suspect staged his deadly assault and then escaped safely. According the victim's daughter, the suspect had also attacked the victim during an argument two years ago.
KAMPUCHEA THMEY

Crash kills two in meanchey district
Two men died instantly at the scene of an accident when they rode a motorbike into a van in Prek Pra commune, in Phnom Penh's Meanchey district, on Friday night. The dead men were identified as Pov Dara, 38, and Phuong Chan, 31, both of Meanchey. The driver of the van fled the scene after the crash.
RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

Faulty Machine generates murder
Dieum Sophan, 31, was stabbed to death by his younger brother in a conflict over a broken generator. The incident occurred while the two were drinking together in Battambang province's Srey Meanchey commune, Sampov Loun district, on Friday night. The suspect, 24-year-old Dieum Phat, was immediately arrested by police.
RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

Creditor to pay debt to society
Yous Sothea, 37, was cut twice with a knife and severely wounded by her drunken creditor on Thursday evening in Banteay Meanchey province's Poipet town. The victim owed suspect Him Sokneng 900 Thai baht (US$26.50), and whenever Him Sokneng got drunk, she insulted Yous Sothea over the debt. Earlier in the day, Yous Sothea had called Him Sokneng to tell her that she planned to repay the debt and did not want to be insulted anymore. Following the incident, the victim was taken to the hospital by her neighbours and the suspect was arrested.
KOH SANTEPHEAP

Betrayed Husband Drinks Pesticide
Long Soklim, 23, a resident of Pongro commune in Kampong Thom province's Baray district, died after drinking pesticide on Friday evening. According his parents, the victim had been severely depressed since March, when his wife ran away with another man three days after their marriage.
KOH SANTEPHEAP

Traditional form gives shape to journey through society

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Chapei-playing legend Kong Nai performs traditional music on the two-stringed instrument alongside two actors in the performance piece Panchapor at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

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Cambodian culture is so rich, but Sometimes youths don't know all its aspects.
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The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 01 September 2009
Roth Meas

Using elements from classical dance and narrative – plus chapei music and contemporary hip-hop – Panchapor symbolises the importance of tradition

AS the curtains draw open and the lights come up, the sound of an argument breaks out on the stage. But the audience sits quietly attentive to the scene playing out before them.

Two grandsons, Chok and Chem, are fighting over money - until their grandfather intervenes.

It is the opening scene of Panchapor, a tale exploring issues of modernity confronting Cambodia, its rich traditional heritage and its identity.

Panchapor means five colours in Khmer, or spectrum - but the young director says it also represents bringing different colours, knowledge and backgrounds of people together.

With her soybean Cambodian complexion, Panchapor director Chey Chankethya is a young classical art teacher at the Royal University of Fine Art.

Smiling after the show, she said she was happy that the scenes had made people in the hall laugh and applaud.

Reflecting further, she said she had integrated the diverse art forms with the idea of providing a space where young people and families could collaborate in Cambodia's rich artistic heritage.

The concert featured Cambodian classical dance and narrative, yike, folk dance and music, martial arts, circus, modern hip-hop dance and the chapei - a long-necked two-stringed guitar. It was performed the weekend before last at the Cambodia-Japan Cooperation Centre at the Institute of Foreign Languages at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

Chey Chankethya said she began writing the script and working to develop its characters in late February.

But it was not until she found a helpful partner with Sealnet (the Southeast Asian Service Leadership Network) that she had the chance to tell her story through the concert.

She said Sealnet was seeking a young leader to direct an art performance for Cambodian youths. "Their purpose is the same as for us, to show arts to young people, so we cooperated together," she said.

While hip-hop is not a traditional dance, Chey Chankethya says she accepts it is a universal art. Sealnet project leader, 22-year-old Zoe Ng, also noted that Cambodian hip-hop culture was not central to the show's message.

"Cambodian culture is so rich, but sometimes youths don't know all its aspects," Ng said.

She said she hoped they would benefit from the performance of classical, pop and contemporary art.

In the tale, Cambodian youths were represented as argumentative and less than studious and having low self-discipline.

But it dealt with these problems with a clear educational message. Several institutions were involved in the performance pieces, including the Royal University of Fine Arts (classical and circus), Tiny Toones (breakdancing), Trey Visay (contemporary art), Cambodian Living Arts (classical folk) and Kong Nai (chapei).

Before the performance, Sealnet ran a workshop at Bak Touk High School, bringing college students from the England, Malaysia, the Philippines, US and Vietnam to train 20 Cambodian students in leadership skills.

"Students can integrate what they have learned from the workshop to host the exhibition and presentation," Ng said.

This year the shows received up to a thousand people for both days.

Bokator gaining in popularity to invoke some national pride

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Bokator fighters Pin Samnang (left, blue shorts) and Lim Korn (right, red shorts) fight during their National Championship match at the indoor hall of Olympic Stadium Sunday.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 01 September 2009
Tha Piseth

Cambodia's ancient martial art of Bokator attracted its largest field to date over the weekend for the 3rd Annual National Championships at Olympic Stadium

PARTICIPATION in the Annual Bokator National Championships increased significantly this year, and will continue to do so, according to Hok Chheankim, general secretary of the Cambodia Bokator Federation. Now in its third edition, the competition attracted 36 additional fighters from last year's numbers, with four new clubs also submitting entries. Competitors this year also featured 32 females competing in the noncombative kata discipline.

Hok Chheankim also estimated that the number of competitors would double for next year's event, noting that many this year were already trained in the Bokator fighting style, but did not enter. Bokator has received official approval as a traditional Cambodian sport from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, with the federation sending coaches to the provinces to help train students.

The federation is adamant not to let the ancient martial art, which is depicted in bas-relief stone carvings on Angkorian temple walls, to die out after barely surviving the Khmer Rouge regime, which completely outlawed its practice. "The Federation would like [many] Cambodian people to participate in the traditional sport [of Bokator]," Hok Chheankim said, adding that it promotes a good, healthy lifestyle.

"We want to show Cambodian culture to the world," added the Secretary.

"I think we Cambodians should learn the traditional fighting art [of Bokator]," agreed 20-year-old Yum Mono. "We have to know Cambodian culture.... We should not forget it." Yum Mono was one of the competitors hailing from PSE organisation, a French nonprofit providing general education and training in a variety of skills to impoverished children from Phnom Penh's suburbs.

Photo by: Tha Piseth
65-kilogram Bokator champion Say Tevine poses for a photograph after his finals victory Monday at Olympic Stadium

Bokator received international recognition in 2008 from the World Martial Arts Union, an organisation related to UNESCO. Hok Chheankim revealed that there are currently people from 10 different countries studying Bokator in Cambodia. "A lot of foreigners especially Americans, and French come to study Bokator in our country," he said. "They know it through our Web site" www.khmerboxkatorempire.com.

The four-day National Championships concluded with individual combat finals Monday at a packed Olympic Stadium. Twenty-one-year-old Say Tevine of Siem Reap's Mohanokor Club triumphed in the 65-kilogram division, beating An Sina in the final.

Say Tevine was clearly delighted to attain first place, and expressing his desire to see the sport continue to gain popularity. "I think we have to protect one of our cultures, Bokator, because it is what our ancestors left for us," he said. "Bokator is a powerful martial art."

Meanwhile, Kampong Speu Club's Seng Sokchan took gold at 60kg, Savin Vichet won the 56kg final for Angkor Reach Club, and Chut Chunly claimed first for Tmor Keo Club in the 52kg division. Eleven other champions were decided on previous days in the Kata artistic discipline, which features fighters showing off Bokator movements and styles including the use of weapons such as swords and knives.

Van Chanvey destroys Naem Chenda with quick TKO

Photo by: Robert Starkweather
Van Chanvey decimated a wildly overmatched Naem Chenda at CTN boxing arena Sunday without breaking a sweat.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 01 September 2009
Robert Starkweather

VAN Chanvey scored three knockdowns within two minutes to earn a devastating first-round TKO over Naem Chenda Sunday at the CTN boxing arena.

The match came as part of an eight-man round-robin tournament to determine a challenger for the lightweight title. Although Van Chanvey remains unlikely to win the tournament, his mauling of Naem Chenda Sunday cements his status as the most destructive fighter in the pack.

With seven weeks gone of the 14-week schedule, Van Chanvey counts as many knockouts as all other fighters combined. In four bouts, the 23-year-old Battambang native is 3-1 with three knockouts, while no other fighter in the contest has registered more than a single TKO.

Not only effective, Van Chanvey has also proven brutally efficient. In three victories, no opponent has lasted more than two-and-a-half rounds with him. Bheut Bunthoeun threw in the towel early in the third; Vung Noy went early in the second; Naem Chenda never made it past the first.

Warming up behind the bleachers ahead of Sunday's bout, with grey storm clouds settling in overhead, Naem Chenda knew he faced near-impossible odds.

"I've got no hope of beating him," he said. "He's very strong, and he's got very good knees."

A native of Kampong Cham, 20-year-old Naem Chenda entered the ring Sunday with a 2-1 tournament record. The loss went to top-ranked contender Long Sophy, who scored an early knockdown en route to a fourth-round TKO.

"Long Sophy got me in the second round with knees," Naem Chenda said, referring to the first knockdown of the fight. "I am not sure how I will hold up against Van Chanvey."

Not very well, it turned out.

Naem Chenda downed early
Van Chanvey scored the first eight-count with just over a minute gone, barely two kicks into the fight. With Naem Chenda against the ropes, Van Chanvey landed a hard left to the body followed by a right hook to the chin.

It didn't appear a particularly devastating combination, and a cheerless crowd watched as Naem Chenda blinked hard and turned away, catching everyone, including Van Chanvey and referee Meas Sokry, by surprise.

Naem Chenda walked in circles and shot a desperate glance to his corner as Meas Sokry counted to eight.

Thirty seconds later, with Naem Chenda back against the ropes, Van Chanvey faked with a right knee then stepped in with a left knee to the body to score the second knockdown. Naem Chenda doubled over, his eyes bulging with pain as he clutched at his ribs, and tumbled down the ropes into the neutral corner.

The crowd roared to life. Naem Chenda struggled back to his feet. But he didn't stay there for long.
Seconds later, another knee put him back on the canvas, triggering the three-knockdown rule and forcing Meas Sokry to wave the fight over.

In two minutes of work, Van Chanvey never broke a sweat.

Long Sophy wins by decision
In the second of two lightweight tournament fights Sunday, Long Sophy outpointed Bheut Bunthoeun to take the tournament lead with four wins and no losses.

Abandoning his typically patient style, Long Sophy came out strong in the first two rounds, searching for an early stoppage. But Bheut Bunthouen, who has been knocked out in all three of his previous tournament fights, withstood the onslaught.

Kao Roomchang, the only other undefeated fighter in the tournament, has fought only three times. He is scheduled to face Nuon Mony, 0-4, on September 6. A knockout would move Kao Roomchang into the lead with four wins and two knockouts.

Long Sophy and Kao Roomchang meet on the final Sunday of the round-robin competition on October 18.

The Phnom Penh Post in KHMER language

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Woman gets nearly 3 years in fake marriage case

SEATTLE — A 35-year-old Seattle-area woman who ran a visa fraud scheme involving sham marriages to Cambodians faces two years and nine months in prison.

Vuthy Sim was sentenced Monday for three counts each of visa fraud and money laundering, conspiracy to commit those offenses and concealing an illegal alien.

U.S. District Judge James L. Robart said foreign nationals were denied visas because of spots that were taken in the fraud.

Sim was convicted on Jan. 23 after witnesses testified that she paid U.S. citizens $20,000 to pose as being engaged to Cambodian nationals, while the Cambodian men and women paid her $35,000.

Investigators found Sim made more than $160,000 from a dozen Cambodian men and women who engaged in sham weddings to get U.S. green cards

Chea Sim Asks for Understanding during the Traffic Law Implementation – Monday, 31.8.2009

Posted on 31 August 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 628
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

“The president of the Cambodian People’s Party and of the Senate of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and also the head of a Phnom Penh municipal coalition working team, Samdech Akak Thoma Pothisal Chea Sim, reminded commune, district, and municipal governors and councilors to ensure more trust towards citizens who are voters, and to understand them while implementing the traffic law.

“Samdech Akak Thoma Pothisal Chea Sim said so when he presided over a ceremony in the morning of 29 August 2009 at the headquarters of the Cambodian People’s Party, to announce the names of leaders of the coalition working team to assist districts, and to introduce a plan of instructions to strengthen village leaders in Phnom Penh. On that occasion, Samdech Chea Sim said, ‘Our Cambodian People’s Party has a long-term strategic goal – it is to rule the country hundreds of years more. But whether this is possible or not depends on the citizens and on us, the leaders, and if all citizens lose faith in us, it will be difficult to attract their votes.’ He went on to say that in October, the election registrations will start. However, he saw recently that there had been demonstrations to demand a reduction of some taxes at some provinces, but there were no such cases yet in Phnom Penh, and he hoped that there will be proper solutions.

“Another thing is related to the Boeng Kak issue in Phnom Penh. Samdech Chea Sim has agreed with the development of Phnom Penh, but what is important is that proper solutions are offered to the residents, otherwise it will affect members of our party, accusing them of disregarding the difficulties of the citizens. Sometimes, the poor people have little money to afford to buy a motorbike to work as moto-taxi drivers, and sometimes, even our civil servants encounter difficulties and take their free time to work as moto-taxi drivers, to find additional income to support their family’s living. They face another difficulty when their motorbikes are confiscated to pay taxes.

“Samdech Chea Sim said that he understands the need to implement the traffic law, but also, there has to be a practical understanding for our people and for our fellow civil servants who face difficulties in their livelihood.”

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.8, #2036, 30-31.8.2009
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Monday, 31 August 2009

Southeast Asia Makes a Comeback

http://www.joc.com/node/413172

Peter T. Leach
The Journal of Commerce Magazine

Led by Vietnam, the region is attracting manufacturing, and transshipment cargo is growing

Goh Teik Poh has been traveling throughout Southeast Asia during the last six weeks, visiting customers and forwarders in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh. They have told him things are changing.

“They are seeing a notable change in the traditional sourcing pattern,” said Goh, president for South Asia at APL, the world’s fifth-largest container line by capacity. “Thailand, for example, no longer has any garment or footwear exports. Nike and others have migrated over to Vietnam. As a result of that, Vietnam is building up fairly rapidly.”

Indonesia and the Philippines have lost manufacturing to Vietnam, and Goh said he hears Taiwan has as well. China, however, has not. Many companies with manufacturing facilities in China have decided to open similar facilities in Vietnam.

“There’s a need to broaden their sourcing or manufacturing sites, not to be totally reliant on China,” Goh said.

Indeed, it was China’s emergence as the low-cost production capital of the world that lured manufacturing away from Southeast Asia earlier this decade, leading to China’s port and infrastructure boom that continues today. In an interesting twist, Southeast Asia — and Vietnam, in particular — is making a comeback, not at China’s expense, but because companies increasingly see the risk in becoming too reliant on a single market.

Exports from China have declined because “the (overseas) buying has gone down and because of the increased cost of production in China,” Goh said. “But I don’t think anything can replace China. India is a distant second, but Vietnam is the place to watch.”

The shift in sourcing patterns has not spared the region from the trade slump that has hit the rest of the world, but it has helped Vietnam escape much of the pain as its economy continues to grow. Other countries have been hit hard.

“Thailand is a disaster, but Vietnam is hot,” said Martin Christiansen, Shanghai-based CEO of the Asia Pacific region for APM Terminals, the world’s third-largest terminal operator by throughput.

Though the global recession has hit Vietnam’s trade volume, its economy is growing as the country benefits from inclusion in the World Trade Organization in 2006 and in the ASEAN Free Trade Area in 2005. Vietnam also has benefited from the growth of trade with China, which has become one of its biggest trading partners.

Despite the growth of apparel, footwear and furniture manufacturing in Vietnam, Christiansen doesn’t see any importers in the U.S. shifting production out of China. “It’s simply too big. It’s the only place they get the scale they need. They are adding Vietnam because of its low costs,” he said.

The risk for Vietnam is whether it is growing too much, too soon. “One of the biggest policy challenges confronting the government (of Vietnam) is how fast to grow the economy,” said Richard Martin, managing director of IMA Asia, a Sydney-based economic research and forecasting firm.

“There’s a strong high-growth camp in the government, but Hanoi has proved a poor judge of when the wheels are about to come off and how foreign trends, particularly the current global recession, will affect the local economy,” he said in IMA Asia’s August Asia Pacific Economic Brief.
Martin said Vietnam’s export-driven economy should benefit from any gains in global growth over the next 12 months. In line with regional trends, the country’s second-quarter growth rate increased 4.4 percent over the second quarter of 2008, and was up from the first-quarter rate of 3.1 percent.

“While we’ve stuck with our previous GDP forecasts (see box), they have upside potential if global demand firms over the second half of 2008,” he said.

APL and APM Terminals have jumped on the Vietnam trade bandwagon. APL had plans for some time to start a direct service to the U.S. East Coast from Vietnam, but had to wait until the harbor at Cai Mep, the Port of Ho Chi Minh City, was dredged deep enough to accommodate deep-sea vessels.

APL’s PS1 service started calling at Cai Mep in early June, soon after the dredging reached a depth of 29.5 feet. The service, which carries cargo to Seattle and Los Angeles, also handles 53-foot containers, which have 60 percent more capacity than standard 40-foot containers.

“We’re loading the first 53-footers outside of China in Cai Mep in response to our customers who need a really big ocean box that would give them lower unit costs,” Goh said.

Together with two local partners, APM Terminals is building the new 1.1 million-TEU Cai Mep International Terminal, in which it holds a 49 percent stake. The terminal will be able to handle 6,000-TEU vessels when it opens in the fourth quarter of 2010.

“That fits pretty well with the development of the supporting infrastructure,” Christiansen said.

The terminal is timed to open as Vietnam completes expansion of the highway network and bridges leading into the Cai Mep area.

“In the past, we didn’t have enough port capacity to put in new service, but with the new port capacity, shippers can get both the low labor costs and a good reliable direct service to the U.S.,” Christiansen said.

Cai Mep eventually will have six new container terminals.

Goh said APL’s volumes have increased since early July at the Southeast Asian ports it serves. As a result, APL has reintroduced some services it had suspended during the winter downturn and increased the size of its ships calling at Southeast Asia ports for other services to the U.S. and Europe.

One of those services is the weekly SAX (Southeast Asia Express) service from Singapore to the West Coast. The increased trade is coming to Singapore on feeder vessels from Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and transshipping to the SAX service.

With the upturn in volume, APL has increased rates on services to Europe and the U.S., and Goh said the rate hikes are sticking. “All this is a sign that we’ve bottomed out and are on the road to recovery,” he said.

Volume is also rising at APM’s Southeast Asian terminals in Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia, and Laem Chabang, Thailand. “This year, compared to overall market decline, Tanjung Pelepas has held up well,” Christiansen said.

Volume at the Malaysian port is growing faster than last year because it is handling more transshipment cargo as carriers reduce direct calls at other regional ports. Instead, they are using feeder ships to carry cargo to Tanjung Pelepas, where it is transshipped primarily to Europe.

At Laem Chabang, intra-Asian cargo is picking up. “It’s one of the stronger markets in Thailand,” Christiansen said.

Thailand’s trade with Europe and Asia has been hit hard, in contrast with growth in the intra-Asian trade.

APM Terminals will open two new berths at Tanjung Pelepas later this year. At Laem Chabang, APM Terminals just added two ship-to-shore cranes that can handle ships with up to 18 boxes across.

APL is preparing for growth of trade with Cambodia, where garment manufacturing is on the rise. It currently handles that trade with a feeder service from Cambodia’s main port at Pnom Penh on the Mekong River to Singapore, where it is transshipped to direct services to Europe and the United States. It is trying to set up a regular service between Vietnam and Pnom Penh.

“We are trying to cut down our transit time by finding ways to move from Pnom Penh to Cai Mep, to connect with the mainline ship that calls directly to the West Coast,” Goh said. “But that is slow going due to customs regulations and the formalities in both countries that haven’t taken off as well, but we are still working on it.”

Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com.

U.S. to Charge Americans for Child Sex Exploitation Abroad

The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com

By Ashley Surdin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 31, 2009

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 31 -- Three Americans accused of traveling to Cambodia to have sex with children are expected to be charged in federal court here, officials said Monday, marking the first prosecutions under a new international initiative intended to combat child sex tourism.

The initiative, Operation "Twisted Traveler," targets Americans who exploit children for sex in Cambodia, which experts describe as a top destination for child predators. U.S. and Cambodian authorities, as well as non-governmental organizations, were involved in the effort.

"This level of cooperation is unprecedented," said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, which coordinated the initiative with the Justice Department.

Before arriving in Los Angeles on Monday, the suspects -- Ronald Boyajian, 49, Erik Peeters, 41, and Jack Sporich, 75 -- were arrested by Cambodian authorities on charges related to child sexual exploitation. They are expected to make their initial appearances in federal court Tuesday afternoon.

The three men are current or former California residents, and all are registered sex offenders, authorities said. An attorney for Boyajian did not respond to a call for comment. The other two men do not yet have attorneys.

Child sex tourism -- whereby minors are sold for sex through brothels or solicited off the street -- has long been part of the landscape in Cambodia. Like most countries where the crime occurs, such as Thailand and Mexico, Cambodia is a very poor nation, with a $600 annual per capita income, according to the World Bank. In desperation to pay for food or health care, some families sell their children to foreign pedophiles or sex houses.

It is difficult to know how pervasive child sex tourism is in Cambodia, or in any other country, because of the illicit nature of the crime. Undercover investigators working with human rights activists continue to find many brothel owners and traffickers selling minors for sex in Cambodia. There are increasing reports of men traveling there to have sex with underage girls for as much as $4,000, according to the State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report of 2009. The report designated the Southeast Asian country as among those that should receive special scrutiny because it has not made enough progress to eliminate the problem.

Still, Cambodia has made some efforts. Over the past year, after enacting laws with anti-trafficking provisions, the government convicted a dozen offenders and prosecuted nearly 70. U.S. legislation, including the PROTECT Act of 2003, has also helped combat the problem. The legislation bolstered federal laws targeting predatory crimes against children outside the United States by expanding crimes and increasing penalties.

Officials say Twisted Traveler, launched in October, will help with the enforcement of existing laws. Under the initiative, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and ICE jointly trained the Cambodian National Police and local police in Phnom Penh, the nation's capital.

"Some part of what we're trying to do here is change attitudes and change acceptance of child sex tourism as something that's always been around or can't be changed," Carol Rodley, the U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, said in a telephone interview. "And I think that's very much true of the Cambodian police -- that their attitudes about the issue have changed in part because of the collaboration."

Authorities in both countries relied on information provided by Action Pour Les Enfants, a nonprofit group, and the International Justice Mission, a human rights agency. Their involvement, Rodley said, marked a breakthrough for Cambodia, which historically has had an uneasy relationship with such organizations because of their criticism of the government.


In a statement announcing the latest allegations, officials said Boyajian, of Menlo Park, is accused of having sex with a 10-year-old Vietnamese girl. Peeters, of Norwalk, is accused of engaging in sexual activity with at least three underage Cambodian boys, paying them between $5 and $10. And Sporich, of Sedona, Ariz., is accused of sexually abusing at least one Cambodian boy, and allegedly driving through city streets on his motorbike dropping money as a way to attract children.

If convicted, the men face sentences of up to 30 years for each victim.

Officials said they hope the arrests would dissuade would-be sex tourists. Over the past six years, ICE has arrested more than 70 suspects nationwide on child sex tourism charges.

"The appeal of a place like this is that it's very far away and pedophiles feel like they can come here and be anonymous, and be outside the reach of U.S. law enforcement," Rodley said. "I hope the message that it sends is one of deterrence."

3 men arrested in Cambodia on sex tourism charges

By AMY TAXIN, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES – Three men expelled from Cambodia will face federal charges as part of an initiative targeting Americans who travel there to have sex with children.

Authorities said Ronald Boyajian, Erik Peeters and Jack Sporich would arrive in Los Angeles later Monday after being expelled from Cambodia where they were each arrested in February. Seperate criminal complaints have been filed against the men.

At a news conference Monday, authorities said the U.S. citizens are the first to be charged under "Operation Twisted Traveler," which seeks to prosecute people who go to Cambodia for so-called child sex tourism.

All three men have been previously convicted of sex offenses in the United States.

Kennedy Remembered as Champion for Immigrants

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
31 August 2009

In Lowell, Mass., one of the largest enclaves of Cambodians in the US, residents said the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy last week meant the loss of an outstanding American who championed health care and immigration rights.

“This is such a big loss for all Americans,” Kong Sengly, a prominent Cambodian community activist in Lowell, told VOA Khmer last week. “Especially it is a big loss for minorities, as well as Cambodian minorities, and other nationalities.”

Kennedy, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, died after struggling with brain cancer on Aug. 25, at age 77. He was a powerful politician from a powerful political family and an advocate for American social affairs. He had worked hard on health care and immigration reform and actively urged citizenship or green cards to immigrants.

Kong Sengly called Kennedy a great champion who could make the health care system in Massachusetts broader.

“I think he was the one who created a broad health care system in Massachusetts,” Kong Sengly said. “No matter whether you are poor, rich, employed or jobless, anyone should have a health authorization card.”

Working for nearly half a century, Kennedy left behind a legacy that Americans will not be able to forget. He created more than 2,000 bills, 300 of which were drafted into law.

The Cambodian consul in Lowell, Ou Sovann, said he was sorry for the loss of Kennedy, who had a reputation for protecting immigrants and refugees.

“He was the one who strongly helped and supported our Cambodian people who fled to America during the war,” Ou Sovann said. “He took so much care in preparing settlements for our Cambodian people to live in the new land in Lowell, Mass.”

Kennedy argued that a 1965 bill should replace the immigration act of 1924, which he said favored immigrants from northern and western Europe and Canada. Proponents of the 1965 bill argued that immigration laws should not discriminate against people based on nationality.

Millions of immigrants, including Cambodian, live in the US illegally. Kennedy urged appropriate legal statuses and citizenship for them, so that they could come out of hiding.

Another well-known Cambodian community activist in Lowell, Noun Veasna, said the loss of Kennedy was the loss of an outstanding advocate for immigrants and health care.

Congress could do him proud by finding a way to pass health care rights and reform immigration, he said. “When he was alive, he tried so hard for so many years to make these laws happen.”

More Chances Seen in Improved US Relations

By Poch Reasey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
31 August 2009

Relations between the United States and Cambodia have gradually improved in recent years. And while civil society and human rights groups welcomed the trend, they are also concerned that the Cambodian government has used the stronger relationship as a political tool to crack down on freedom and democracy.

When US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attended the Asean ministerial meeting in Phuket, Thailand, in July, she met seperately with the foreign ministers of the lower Mekong nations, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, to discuss a number of issues, particulary environment, health, education and infrastructure development.

US and Cambodian officials are now working to arrange a meeting between Clinton and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, in New York or Washington in September, according to a State Department official. Such a meeting would follow the August visit of Sen. Jim Webb, chairman of the Foreign Relation Committee’s subcomittee for East Asia nd Pacific Affairs.

The State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Bureau and Ambassador for Asean Affairs Scot Marciel told VOA Khmer in an exclusive interview at his office in Washington that the US has been working “to have good relations with Southeast Asia and good engagement with Asean.”

“But what we are seeing is greater intensity, more engagement and trying to build stronger partnerships,” he said. “Secretary Clinton made it clear both in Jakarta in February and in Thailand in July that we are going to be intensively in Southeast Asia and with Asean.”

In Cambodia, relations have been improving since at least 2007, when direct US aid was resumed after a decade-long suspension. The following year, the US established a legal attaché at the Phnom Penh embassy to combat terrorism and international crime. And over the past few years, a steady number of US navy ships have docked in Preah Sihanouk province to help train Cambodian mariners.

Members of rights groups and other civic organizations welcomed the trend, but they warn the Cambodian government might use the thawed relations to conduct business as usual, ignoring reform and freedom of speech.

“The people and civil society should be able to benefit from this cooperation, especially in terms of more freedom and more respect for human rights and democracy,” said Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, a monitoring group.

Marciel said that good relations with the United States do not necessarily mean the US agrees with everything that is going on in a country.

“The fact that we have good and improving relations with Cambodia does not, in any way, get in the way of us having honest dialogue with Cambodian officials and expressing concerns when we have them and offering suggestions,” he said. “We have recently for example expressed some concerns about some court cases against political opposition figures. Again we don’t want to interfere with Cambodian internal affairs, but we do highlight when we see a country that is getting stronger and moving in a positive direction, when we see steps that might hurt that country or reduce the political space, we do mention it.”

Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, told VOA Khmer in a telephone interview from London that it’s good for the US to speak clearly to the Cambodian government about reforms of the key institutions, such as the court, the military and the police. But occasional statements aren’t enough.

“It’s very important that it’s not just statements in emergencies, when people are arrested or on trial, but that there will be strong consistent diplomacy,” he said. “And I would like the US to lead other countries, to bring them together to pass the same message to the Cambodian government about what they would accept as big donors to Cambodia, and also to remind Cambodia they have obligations under the Cambodian constitution and under the treaties they signed.”

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Kuoy Kong credited the Cambodian government for promoting human rights and democracy, though he acknowledged that there is more work to be done.

“It does not mean that democracy and the respect of human rights have reached a level that there is no more room for improvement,” he said. “The government continues to move forwards with various reforms on democracy and human rights.”

The director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, Ou Virak, told VOA Khmer that he believes human rights in Cambodia have worsened this year, with the closing of an opposition newspaper and various lawsuits brought against members of the opposition party.

The warming relations between the United States and Cambodia won’t influence the human rights situation in Cambodia if the US provides aid without benchmarks.

“If it’s military aid or aid for other sectors where there are no benchmarks, where there are no conditions, it could affect the political and human rights situation in Cambodia,” he said.

Land Policy in East Needs Reassessed: Expert

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
31 August 2009

The government should conduct a thorough evaluation of its privatization policy for land purchases in eastern Cambodia, considering the amount of "anarchy" the policy has caused for indigenous residents, Yin Sopheap, a UNDP expert on the region, told "Hello VOA" Thursday.

"If they evaluate the impact properly and legally, all concessions may not be possible to implement," he said. "But so far, the quality of the evaluation has been limited, so the concession plan has had tremendous effects, not only to [people's] livings, but to cultures and customs."

In the northeast, many hilltribes have found themselves displaced by concessions and complain they are being cut off from forests that have religious signifiance and well as providing for their livelihoods.

Concessions are rarey viewed as beneficial for the people, rather only for companies, he said.

Meanwhile, people may now have TVs, roads, schools, radios and motorcycles as a result, "but that seems not a sustainable development," he said. "The indigenous rights should be more respected, as they are a minority."

Duch Mentally Stable Before Revolution: Doctor

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
31 August 2009

A Cambodian psychologist told Khmer Rouge tribunal judges on Monday that the defendant, Duch, did not have “mental problems” enough to lead him into the revolution and his eventual role as chief of the regime’s killing machine, Tuol Sleng prison.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, had testified that the loss of a girlfriend and a bicycle, combined with arrests of friends under the Lon Nol regime, had lad him to the Khmer Rouge.

Dr. Ka Sun Bunnath, a professor at the University of Science and Health, in Phnom Penh, told the court Duch had managed as a successful math teacher before joining the guerrillas, and so did not have insurmountable mental problems.

His view was supported by another expert, Francoise Sironi-Guilbaud, a French psychologist.

Meanwhile, 28 civil parties boycotted Monday’s hearing, following a decision by the court last week that they would not be allowed to question Duch regarding his personal character.

Children of Trauma Face Their Own Struggles

By Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
31 August 2009

According to studies, children of holocaust survivors have reported feeling lonely, confused and burdened by their parent’s trauma, due to communication that is often avoided in lieu of reliving horrific events. Studies also indicate that children of survivor families are more likely to develop depression, anxiety and low self-esteem.

Kara Uy is a domestic violence counselor at the Asian Woman’s Home, in Santa Clara county, California. She said recently that more than half of school-aged children in domestic violence shelters show clinical levels of anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Without treatment, these children are at significant risk for delinquency, substance abuse, school drop-out, and difficulties in their own relationships,” the Cambodian American social worker told VOA Khmer at her office in San Jose.

As a family counselor at a residential domestic violence shelter and an active volunteer in the community, Kara Uy has worked with many families from all walks of life, under many circumstances.

“The pattern that I see most prevalent among these families is the cycle of domestic violence that stems from psychological and environmental factors,’’ she said. “I think almost all survivors that I’ve worked with have expressed that their mother or primary guardian raised them in an environment where abuse was tolerated. And many have also conveyed the deep-rooted affects of impaired self-esteem, anxiety and also depression. With domestic violence victims that I work with, many have mentioned that they’ve noticed unhealthy patterns of behaviors in their own children.”

While many sons were emulating abusive behaviors of their fathers, daughters began to relate to them with alarming ease, she said. Studies show that 50 percent of boys raised in abusive homes become abusive themselves, but 60 percent of girls become victims themselves.

“Children may exhibit a wide range of reactions to exposure to violence in their home,” said Vinita Kylin, Cambodian liaison for Franklin McKinley School District in Santa Clara. “Younger children do not understand the meaning of the abuse they observe and tend to believe that they must have done something wrong.”

Self-blame can precipitate feelings of guilt, worry and anxiety. Children, especially younger children, typically do not have the ability to adequately express their feelings verbally. Consequently, the manifestation of their emotions is often behavioral. Children may become withdrawn and non-verbal and exhibit regressed behaviors, such as clinging and whining. Eating and sleeping difficulty, concentration problems, generalized anxiety, and physical complaints such as headaches are all common.

“The pre-adolescent child typically has a greater ability to externalize negative emotions,” Reaksmie Om, a case manager for domestic violence programs in Long Beach, Calif., said. “In addition to symptoms commonly seen with childhood anxiety, sleep problems, eating disturbances and nightmares, victims within this age group may show a loss of interest in social activities, low self-concept, rebelliousness and oppositional-defiant behavior in the school settings.”

It is also common to observe bad temper, irritability, frequent fighting at school or between siblings, lashing out at objects, threatening of siblings with violence, and attempts to gain attention through hitting and kicking.

Incidentally, girls are more likely to exhibit withdrawal and, unfortunately, run the risk of being missed as a child in need of support.

“Adolescents are at risk of academic failure, school drop-out, delinquency, and substance abuse,” said Sony Pream, a domestic violence program coordinator in Long Beach. “Some investigators have suggested that a history of family violence or abuse is the most significant difference between delinquent and non-delinquent youth.”

For some children questions about home life may be difficult to answer, especially if the individual has been warned or threatened by a family member to refrain from talking to teachers about events that have taken place in the family when there is suggestion of domestic violence with a student, consider involving the school psychologist, social worker, guidance counselor and/or a school administrator.

“Although the circumstances surrounding each case may vary, suspicion of child abuse is required to be reported to the local child protection agency by teachers and other school personnel,” Vinita added. “In some cases, a contact with the local police department may also be necessary. When in doubt, consult with school team members.”

Children exposed to domestic violence often suffer psychological and behavioral difficulties that if left untreated can severely impact their lives and may ultimately result in the perpetuating of an intergenerational cycle of violence. With help, many children can be saved from a downward spiral. Community leaders, particularly police chiefs and mental health service directors, must help.

Kara Uy said working with diverse groups and helping people rebuild lives free of violence has prepared her to be adaptive and versatile. And she said such appalling statistics have really stirred her interests in a possible doctoral dissertation focusing on disorders in children raised in unstable environments and in families with a history of trauma, which is very common in Cambodian community because many suffered from the Khmer Rouge period and the war.

Accused child molester extradited from Cambodia back to U.S.

Bee file
Jack Louis Sporich, a convicted sex offender, has been extradited back to California.

http://www.sacbee.com/

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Aug. 31, 2009

Notorious child molester Jack Louis Sporich is in federal custody and being returned by plane from a Cambodian jail to face charges in the United States.

Sporich, who is believed to have molested more than 500 young boys since the 1960s, faces a criminal complaint of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places and is being returned to this country under the auspices of "Operation Twisted Traveler," an international law enforcement effort aimed at pedophiles who travel as "sex tourists."

Thom Mrozek, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien in Los Angeles, said Sporich's arrest would be announced at an 11 a.m. press conference today.

Sporich, 75, is a wealthy former engineer who prosecutors have said has been molesting children since he lived in Illinois in the 1960s. He was convicted in Ventura County of seven counts of molestation and spent nine years in prison before being sent to the Atascadero State Hospital as a "sexually violent predator."

Sporich, who was the focus of a 2006 Bee series on the failings of California's efforts to treat such predators, refused treatment at the hospital and won release in May 2004 after two juries were unable to agree on whether he might reoffend.

He settled into retirement in an upscale Sedona, Ariz., condo until 2006, when he was visited by Bee reporters and insisted in an interview that he was not a threat to anyone. He left Arizona after that and moved to Cambodia, where federal court documents state he spent $1.2 million building a home near the tourist destination of Siem Reap. He also became engaged to a 22-year-old Cambodian woman

Sporich was arrested Feb. 2 after an investigation by a local agency -- Action Pour Les Enfants-Cambodia -- alleged that he had lured three Cambodian boys aged 9 to 12 to his home with toys and candies. Court documents state that he also attracted them by dropping Cambodian currency in the street as he rode along the streets on a motor bike.

Sporich, who likely would have faced a sentence of one to three years under Cambodian law, remained in custody in Cambodia while authorities worked to bring him back to this country.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles in April detailed Sporich's years of travel to Asia. He had boasted of his trips and his photo hobby in the interview with The Bee, and in his living room he had a photo he had taken of a young boy with his pants down urinating into a river from a bridge.

Law enforcement interviews with the alleged victims of Sporich indicated the boys referred to him as "Dad" and that he performed sex acts on them and bathed with them, federal documents indicate.

Sporich claimed in an interview with authorities that Cambodian police were "corrupt" and that the accusations against him were lies made up by the boys, documents indicate.

Sporich "stated he had done nothing wrong" but said he had taken showers with at least one boy, documents state.

The documents added that after talking with authorities in Cambodia, "Jack Sporich voluntarily uttered that he knows his life is over, that with this arrest he is a two-time loser, and that if the (Cambodian National Police) does not hang him, then Arizona will," court documents state.

The documents indicate Sporich paid the parents of his fiancée $1,000 to $2,000 to become engaged to her, when she was 18, and that he also purchased them a motor bike.

Sporich and the woman began adopting boys, the documents state, and he mused about someday turning his home near a golf course into a bed and breakfast.

Since Sporich's arrest, one nephew of his has said he was molested by him as a boy and his sister, who also lives in Cambodia, has waged an international media campaign to ensure that he remains in custody.

"I don't want him out anymore," June Caine, Sporich's older sister, told The Bee in May. "I think he's sick, and he's never going to get well. I don't want this to go on."

Sporich is expected to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport this afternoon along with two other suspects from California: Ronald Gerard Boyajian, 49, of Menlo Park, and Erik Leonardus Peeters, 41, of Norwalk. Both were arrested in February on child sex charges.

Federal officials said the three are charged under a law that went into effect six years ago "and substantially strengthened the federal laws related to predatory crimes involving children outside the United States." Each faces up to 30 years in prison.

"The men charged in this investigation apparently thought they could pursue their abhorrent desires by leaving the United States to prey on children in another country, but they were sadly mistaken," O'Brien, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, said in a statement. "We are now working closer than ever with officials in other nations and concerned private parties to take every effort we can to identify and prosecute sex tourists, as well as to provide every protection we can to the world's children."

Federal Way woman sentenced for arranging sham marriages

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com

A Federal Way woman was sentenced this morning to 33 months in federal prison for setting up several "sham marriages" to help herself and others immigrate to the U.S. from Cambodia.

By Ian Ith
Seattle Times staff reporter

A Federal Way woman was sentenced this morning to 33 months in federal prison for setting up several "sham marriages" to help herself and others immigrate to the U.S. from Cambodia.

A jury in U.S. District Court in January found Vuthy Sim, 35, guilty of several charges of visa fraud, money laundering and concealing an illegal alien. .

According to court documents, Sim made more than $160,000 by charging Cambodian immigrants a large fee to set up the marriages with American citizens. She would then pay the citizens about $20,000 each to travel to Cambodia, participate in wedding ceremonies with the immigrant, and then pose as their spouses when they arrived in the U.S. The immigrants would then be able to get visas to stay in the U.S. and work.

Several others who participated in the scheme were also prosecuted, but Sim was identified as the mastermind.

Federal prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Judge James Robart to give Sim nearly four years in prison, arguing that she "showed a complete disregard for the immigration laws of the United States," and had deprived other would-be immigrants of the chance to come to the U.S. by following the rules.

Sim's lawyer argued for a one-year term, saying Sim, a nursing assistant, is a survivor of Cambodia's genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s who has learned her lesson and has three young children to support. Sim also has forfeited her Federal Way home because of the conviction.

In opting for the 33-month term, Robart agreed with prosecutors that Sim had hurt honest immigrants, and he called Sim's crimes "troublesome and serious."

Ian Ith: 206-464-2109 or iith@seattletimes.com

Khmer Rouge victims boycott tribunal in Cambodia

By SOPHENG CHEANG, Associated Press Writer

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Lawyers representing victims of Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime boycotted a tribunal trying its leaders after being barred Monday from questioning a defendant about his personality and state of mind.

The move by the victims' attorneys — who were granted courtroom rights similar to those held by the defense and prosecution — came after judges overseeing the U.N.-assisted tribunal said they could not question former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav about his character.

Kaing Guek Eav — better known as Duch — headed the Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison, where up to 16,000 people were tortured and later taken away to be killed. Duch is charged with crimes against humanity and other offenses.

The tribunal is seeking justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died in Cambodia from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition as a result of the communist regime's radical policies while in power from 1975-79.

In court Monday, French psychologist Francoise Sironi-Guilbaud testified that Duch was not suffering any mental problems.

Victims' lawyers were later barred from questioning Duch about his mental health. It was unclear why the judges made the decision.

Chhum Mey, one of a handful of survivors of S-21 prison, said he was disappointed with the ban.

"As long as the tribunal is not allowing me or my lawyer to have the right to ask Duch about his personality and character, I will not attend the court," the 79-year-old told reporters, crying as he spoke. "Can we get full justice from this court?"

The tribunal is the first of its kind to integrate victims into legal proceedings. While introducing a human element, the inclusion of the "civil parties" has also complicated and slowed the trial.

Duch (pronounced DOIK), 66, is the first of five senior Khmer Rouge figures to face trial, and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. Duch faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Cambodia has no death penalty.

Also Monday, Australian William Smith was appointed acting international co-prosecutor of the tribunal. His appointment was an interim measure pending a decision on a permanent replacement for international prosecutor Robert Petit, whose resignation takes effect Tuesday. Smith had been a deputy co-prosecutor.

Petit announced his resignation in June, citing family reasons

U.S. Pedophiles Nabbed in Cambodia Sex-Tourist Sting

Sex workers at Kilo 11, a haven of child brothels 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Sex workers at Kilo 11, a haven of child brothels 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Signs in Kilo 11, a haven of child brothels 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia.



http://www.foxnews.com/

Monday, August 31, 2009
By William Lajeunesse

LOS ANGELES — EXCLUSIVE: Three Americans "tourists" are on their way home from Cambodia Monday after being arrested in an on-going federal sex tourism investigation.

The arrests are part of “Operation Twisted Traveler,” an effort by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identify and prosecute sex tourists to Cambodia.

The suspects — whose names will be released by ICE officials at an L.A. news conference Monday — are allconvicted child sex offenders who served time in U.S. prisons. After their release investigators say they all headed to the most destitute neighborhoods in Cambodia, one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia, where it is believed that they once again sexually assaulted young boys and girls.

FOX News was given exclusive access to the suspects and video of their arrest.

Click here to see video.

One of the men allegedly bought a 13-year-old Cambodian boy for $2 and a bag of rice, and raped him five times.

As one of the thousands of Western pedophiles, this 41-year-old California sex offender thought he could get away with the crime by escaping to Cambodia, the capital of the billion-dollar sex tourism trade in Southeast Asia.

But local police and U.S. investigators had the American under surveillance.

Now, he and two other California pedophiles are on aboard a jet landing Monday morning in Los Angeles from Tokyo.

Another of the men on board is a 74-year-old police call the ‘Pied Piper of Pedophiles.” He spent nine years in a California prison for molesting as many as 500 boys.

After his release from Atascadero State Hospital, where he refused treatment, records show he traveled to Southeast Asia at least eight times, where sources say he rode his motor scooter through the poorest neighborhoods of Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, dropping a trail of U.S. dollar bills, to lure young boys back to his home where they were allegedly sexually assaulted.

The third man, a 59 year-old convicted of 18 counts of sexual intercourse with minors in 1995 in Menlo Park, was caught molesting a 10 year-old Vietnamese girl in an area called Kilo 11, a haven of child brothels 11 kilometers outside Phnom Penh.

“Cambodia in particular has been known for some time as a pedophile haven because there’s been a broken justice, no rule of law, and actually no laws on the books that would have been enforceable against these types of activities until recently,” said Jeff Blom, an investigator with International Justice Mission.

“We need to change the fear equation, make pedophiles fear going to jail.”

Cambodian police say other victims were believed to be given $5 or $10 after each sexual act and the children were photographed naked. Mothers of two of the abused boys lived on the street and sold their boys for $100 because, they said, “they needed the money.”

Investigators say all three sex offenders lived in or just outside the capital city of Phnom Penh while on their multiple trips to the Asian region in the last few years.

In the U.S. the men face charges under the Protect Act – a 2003 law that provides life terms for child sex offenders with prior convictions, a much longer sentence than offender would get abroad.

Investigators say the men are part of a thriving billion-dollar sex tourism business. After a crackdown in Thailand on child sex, the industry has moved primarily to Cambodia where pedophiles molest Vietnamese girls and Cambodian boys with little risk of being caught.

ICE hopes the arrest, done in conjunction with federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, Cambodian Police and two anti-child trafficking organizations, International Justice Mission and the human rights organization Action Por Les Enfants, will send a message that police are watching. Since 2003, ICE has arrested 70 international sex offenders under the Child Protect Act.