Security tightened in amid intense political situation

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English.news.cn

2010-02-15

BANGKOK, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Security has been tightened in Thailand's capital Bangkok on Monday after two separate attacks at a university near the Government House and at the Supreme Court last weekend.

On Feb. 13, an unidentified gunmen fired an M-79 grenade at a state university, some 50 meters from the Government House in Bangkok around 11 p.m., leaving four parked cars, a building and a pavilion damaged, but no one got injured.

Thai anti- government protestors gather near the office of the national Election Commission (EC) in Bangkok, capital of Thailand, on Feb. 15, 2010. A group of the Thai anti- government protestors on Monday gathered near the office of the national Election Commission (EC) in Thailand's capital Bangkok. The red-shirted protestors wanted a progress report on a case against the ruling Democrat Party, charged with unlawfully receiving 258 million baht (7.77 million U.S. dollars) from TPI Polene, a listed company. (Xinhua/Shi Xianzhen)

A day later, a C-4 bomb was found in the Supreme Court compound and was demolished by police bomb squad. It is reported that the bomb was powerful enough to destroy the whole building.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Monday that he believed the incidents were unlikely to be the work of ordinary people as such the weapons are normally neither in use nor in public possession, Thai News Agency reported.

Moreover, involved securities have worried that more violent attacks will occur ahead of a court verdict on ousted former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra's asset seizure case.

The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions will pronounce the verdict for the 76 billion baht (2.29 billion U.S. dollars) asset seizure case of Thaksin on Feb. 26

Thai anti- government protestors gather near the office of the national Election Commission (EC) in Bangkok, capital of Thailand, on Feb. 15, 2010. (Xinhua/Shi Xianzhen)

Minister of Interior Chavarat Charnvirakul said national security agencies have warned of possible violence attacks ahead of the court's ruling, hence the country's political situation during the forthcoming ten days is worrying.

It is the responsibility of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and police to ensure law and order, the interior minister said.

Thailand's acting police chief Pateep Tanprasert Monday held a meeting with involved senior police officers as they discussed about the movement of the anti-government United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) group, the National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT) under the state-owned Public Relations Department reported.

The meeting discussed about readiness of police forces to deal with the anti-government rallies, which are expected to be more intense ahead of the court ruling on Feb. 26.

After the two incidents over the weekend, Metropolitan Police Division 1 commander Police Major General Wichai Sangprapai has ordered a security beef-up at eight more spots, including of those of key figures, the National News Bureau of Thailand said.

The security has been tightened, particularly at night time from 19.00 p.m., local time until 6.0 a.m., local time, according to Police Major General Wichai.

Thai anti- government protestors gather near the office of the national Election Commission (EC) in Bangkok, capital of Thailand, on Feb. 15, 2010. (Xinhua/Shi Xianzhen)

Prime Minister Abhisit changed vehicles -- from his official Mercedes-Benz car to a bullet-proof Land Rover, amid tight security,Thai News Agency reported.

Also, a joint force of police and military men, who carried M- 16 assault rifles, are at several intersections near the Thai premier's residence.

Meanwhile, security authorities have already set up 200 checkpoints in Bangkok and suburbs in a bid to prevent anti- government protestors to bring in weapons to the capital.

In a related development, Defense Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan said at this point it is still not yet necessary to impose the Internal Security Act (ISA).

Currently, involved security agencies are evaluating the overall picture of the country's political situation in order to maintain peace and security, the defence minister said.

The defence minister has also asked the public to cooperate with the government by informing security staff if they experience irregularities.

At the same time, Minister of Interior Chavarat said he is concerned about the provincial situation, hence he has instructed provincial governors to closely monitor the local anti-government movement and to maintain law and order across the country.

Thai anti- government protestors gather near the office of the national Election Commission (EC) in Bangkok, capital of Thailand, on Feb. 15, 2010. (Xinhua/Shi Xianzhen)

Related:


Thailand's red-shirted people stage anti-gov't rally

BANGKOK, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- A group of the Thai anti- government protestors on Monday gathered near the office of the national Election Commission (EC) in Thailand's capital Bangkok.

By 14.30 p.m., local time, about 700 United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) members were protesting there, a Xinhua journalist reported from the rally site.Full story

Security beefed up for Thai PM after series of threats

BANGKOK, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Security has been beefed up for Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva after two bomb incidents within two days, Thai media reported Monday.

Abhisit changed his official vehicle from a Mercedes Benz to a new bullet-proof Land Rover, the Nation online said.Full story


Editor: An

Security tightened at Thai Govt Complex

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Sun, Feb 14, 2010

The Nation/Asia News Network

The new Chaeng Wattana government complex has been partially locked down ahead of the anti-government rally there tomorrow, in the run-up to the February 26 assets-foreclosure verdict.

Potential targets like the Election Commission, Constitution Court and Administrative Court are blocking any outside people, including reporters, from gaining access to the buildings without permission.

Military, police and officials from the government offices located there met several times last week to chart contingency plans.

A commando has been assigned to Constitution Court chairman Chat Chonlaworn since last Monday, while 10 military guards have been deployed to provide extra security.

The EC now allows only its staff to enter its offices and special police forces are providing protection to ranking officials. Closed-circuit television cameras have been installed at the EC headquarters.

The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders will hand down its landmark verdict on February 26 on whether former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family's Bt76 billion in frozen assets were amassed illegally while he was prime minister.

Thepthai Senpong, spokesman for the Democrat Party leader, said that although it seems the red shirts are spearheading more demonstrations at several spots starting tomorrow, their membership has dropped because their leaders said they would resort to violence.

Pheu Thai Party member Pallop Pinmanee and Army Specialist Maj-General Khattiya Sawasdipol had earlier met Thaksin in Dubai and said they had been given the nod to set up the People's Army to fight against the Thai government.

Thepthai said Arisman Pongruangrong, another red-shirt leader, has also issued a threat against judges sitting on the case and had intimidated the 36 members of the Cabinet.

"This is unacceptable to the people because they know that the red-shirt movement is all about the Bt76 billion assets of Thaksin," he said.

Besides, support for the red shirts has plunged because Thaksin has agreed to act as an economic adviser to Cambodia, which hurt Thai feelings, he said.

Thaksin's Twitter proposal to go to the negotiating table if the government exempts him from any prosecution was unacceptable, he said.

It was not yet certain that the red shirts would choose February 26, the day scheduled for the Supreme Court ruling, as their D Day to stage a mass rally, he said.

Their leaders also want to organise a big protest during the no-confidence debate, as they want to pressure the government both inside and outside Parliament into dissolving the House, he said.

The government was confident that it could control the situation no matter what plan the red shirts had in store, he added.

Cambodia Will Have a Law to Control Battery Acid in the Future – Monday, 15.2.2010

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Posted on 15 February 2010

The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 652

“Phnom Penh: The Ministry of Interior of the Kingdom of Cambodia is discussing to find ways to establish a law to control battery acid, as many victims are suffering from having been attacked by acid, using acid as a weapon.

“According to a source from the Ministry of Interior, the Acid Control Committee of the Ministry of Interior organized a meeting on 12 February 2010, to discuss some resource documents to create a law for the control of battery acid, after many citizens had been victimized by acid, while some perpetrators have not been convicted for their offenses. This happens because acid is being sold openly without any proper control.

“This source added that the discussion was held with a Secretary of State of the Ministry of Interior, Mr. Teng Savong, in the chair. Mr. Teng Savong said during the discussion that the Ministry has just received documents from various countries to be used as a basis for the discussion how to create an explicit acid control law. Meanwhile, he called on experts on the issue of acid to join in the preparation of a draft to create a law.

“Mr. Teng Savong said that the acid control law to be created relates to the checking, the uses, the distributions at markets as well as at other places, the storing, and the import and export of acid. Based on that source, that draft law follows a law from Bangladesh as the basis for further discussions.

“The Acid Control Committee discussions do not plan to deal with violence in the planned acid control law, and it is not intended to deal with criminal legislation in this draft.

“According to officials of the Ministry of Interior, the Acid Control Committee was formed by a decision of the Ministry of Interior dated 28 January 2010 and signed by the Minister of Interior, Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng, and there are 11 members from 11 ministries in the committee.

“The initiative to form an acid control law started after it was found that acid was available freely and openly, and that it had been used as a weapon for attacks, which resulted in many victims.

“It should be noted that there had been big cases of acid attacks, like those against Ms. Tat Marina, Ms. Ya Sok Nim, Ms. In Soklida’s aunt, and a CTN presenter, Mr. Tet Polen. Besides these major cases, there are many others. Generally, the lives of the victims of acid attacks were completely ruined, as they cannot work or come out to live in public like other common people.

“In the meantime, many citizens asked the authorities to prosecute acid attackers seriously so that such cases stop.”

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.9, #2177, 14-15.2.2010

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:

Monday, 15 February 2010

Former Khmer Rouge 'First Lady' seeks release from war crimes trial

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Posted : Mon, 15 Feb 2010

By : dpa

Phnom Penh - Lawyers for Ieng Thirith, the former "First Lady" of the Khmer Rouge, called for her release from pre-trial detention at the international war crimes court Monday. Ieng Thirith, 78, appeared to struggle to recall the name of her husband and co-accused, former foreign minister Ieng Sary, when asked by the court.

"I seem to forget his name," said the former minister for social affairs, before turning to the court's security guards. "What is his name? Can you please help me?"

Her Cambodian lawyer told the court she should be released to house arrest because there was little evidence to link her to the alleged crimes. He claimed she was not a threat to witnesses, would not try to destroy evidence and was not a flight risk.

Lawyer Phouv Seang Phat also criticized court investigators for using what he described as "a default policy of detention," saying they failed to comply with international human rights standards.

"[Her continued detention] is unjustifiable and constitutes an infringement of her human rights and cannot be considered necessary," he said.

But the prosecution said Ieng Thirith remained a threat as shown by a previous outburst in court and 70 similar threatening tirades in the detention centre, where she is being held with her husband and three others.

During her court appearance in February 2009, Ieng Thirith denied the prosecution's allegation that she was aware of the killings at the notorious Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh, and claimed she had done nothing wrong.

"Don't accuse me of being a murderer or you will be cursed to the seventh circle of hell," the former Shakespeare scholar and professor of English shouted during that appearance.

Her lawyers ensured Monday that Ieng Thirith did not speak out of turn, even asking the court to muzzle the prosecution in its descriptions of her to avoid sparking a similar reaction.

"The prosecution's statements may provoke her to go against her own wish not to speak," one of her lawyers said in making the request that was rejected by the judges.

Prosecutors said the charge of genocide filed against her late last year constituted a strong reason to keep her in custody. They argued that she was a flight risk since she faces the possibility of life behind bars if convicted.

Ieng Thirith's request was the third heard by the court in as many days. Lawyers for Ieng Sary filed a similar request on February 11, as did the legal team for Khieu Samphan, the regime's former head of state. The tribunal is expected to rule on all three applications in the coming weeks.

Ieng Thirith, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and former "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea are charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, as well as crimes under Cambodian law for their alleged involvement in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians during the Khmer Rouge regime.

A final decision on whether to prosecute or dismiss charges against the four is expected in September. Should the trial go ahead, as is expected, it is likely to begin early next year.

Around one-quarter of Cambodia's population is thought to have died from execution, disease, starvation and overwork during the Khmer Rouge's rule of the country from 1975-79. Its leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998 on the Thai-Cambodian border.

Thai embassy to help Thai convicted of laying landmine in Cambodia

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Published on February 16, 2010

Thai embassy in Cambodia will offer aid to a Thai convicted of planting landmines along Thai-Cambodia border and was sentenced to 20 years in jail, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said recently.

The diplomats are looking into what assistance the government is able to provide, Kasit said.

In a hearing last week, Suphap Vong Pakna confessed to planting at least five explosive devices along the Cambodia-Thailand border, claiming Thai soldiers paid him to do so.

Pakna's lawyer says his client received a fair trial. "I think he is getting a fair judgment according to the evidence and his confession, because the court reduced the jail term from 30 to life imprisonment to 20 years in prison based on our terror law, article 75."

The 39-year-old was arrested in February of last year after he allegedly entered Cambodian territory and laid landmines.

A Thai investigation reportedly found Russian-made landmines in the area which they say were recently planted and of a type that Thai soldiers have never used.

Thai authorities said the findings suggested that Cambodia may have been guilty of breaking the 1997 Ottawa Treaty, which bans signatories from using anti-personnel mines.

Cambodia, however, dismissed the accusation, saying any landmines in the area were remnants of the three-decade war.

The group Landmine Monitor says mined border areas between Cambodia and Thailand have the highest concentration of landmines in Cambodia.

Music Review: Dengue Fever Presents Electric Cambodia

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Author: Emm

Published: Feb 15, 2010

Few people were aware that Cambodia was an incredibly modern and cultural society before the murderous Khmer Rouge* regime took over Cambodia in 1975. “Before the Khmer Rouge, it was a crazy, booming society, socially and economically – it was very progressive,” says Senon Williams, bassist of the Los Angeles rock band Dengue Fever. As American fever was sweeping through groups of young and hip teenagers, Cambodians adopted the sweeping, bass heavy Sixties rock and roll sounds and made it their own with Khmer lyrics and melodies.

Dengue Fever Presents Electric Cambodia is an exciting new retrospective collection of Cambodian rock music from the late Sixties and early seventies and it features the unearthly and haunting sounds of musicians such as Dara Chom Chan, Pan Ron and Ros Serey Sothea. It represents a golden era in Cambodian culture and music that was destroyed during the Khmer Rouge era.

All of these artists lost their lives in what has been called the Cambodian genocide but their musical legacy can continue with this wonderful collection. It is a musical legacy that was almost lost though and were it not for the older sister of Dengue Fever’s Cambodia-born lead vocalist Chhom Nimol, many of the songs would have remained unnamed and anonymous.

As it is, there is one song on the album where the artist has not been identified and another where the name of the song remains unknown. This is a testament to the destruction of war time situations and regimes such as the Khmer Rouge that in the end, people are only left with incomplete and tattered snippets of their culture.

The songs on Dengue Fever Presents Electric Cambodia are unmistakeably Cambodian and while the sounds may not appeal to everybody, lovers of world music will appreciate the ethereal vocals of Pan Ron and Ros Serey Sothea and the Cambodian interpretation of Sixties music. These are emotional and engaging songs that speak to the excitement, hope and innocence of the era in much the same way as Western songs of that time do.

Ros Serey Sothea was Cambodia’s most famous, prolific singer of the time and the albums features her songs “Flowers in the Pond” and “Shave Your Beard” among others. Pan Ron’s “Don’t Speak” is a fine example of Sixties rock and roll music and you can imagine leagues of young Cambodians doing the twist to songs like this. Her song “Snaeha” is a remake of the massive Cher hit “Bang Bang” and deserves mention too. The collection has been compiled by Los Angeles rock band Dengue Fever as a way of preserving the music and introducing their fans to the original versions of some of the songs that they had covered. Proceeds from the sales of the album will benefit Cambodian Living Arts, which is a project of the non-profit Massachusetts-based Marion Institute devoted to supporting the revival of traditional Khmer performing arts and inspiring contemporary artistic expression.

*The Khmer Rouge was a communist, Maoist party that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 under the leadership of Pol Pot. They set up a radical form of agrarian communism where city dwellers were forced to leave cities and work on farms. Their murderous regime resulted in genocide - between 850 000 and 1.5 million people died from execution, torture, forced work or starvation, representing between 20 to 25% of the total population.

Sri Lanka - Felicitations for President from around the world

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15 February 2010

State leaders from around the world; Cambodia, Iran, Guinea – Bissau, Fiji, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Pakistan and Nepal have sent messages of congratulations to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on his re-election as President of Sri Lanka.

I hope during the second term of your presidency based on the existing capacity and potential between the two countries we shall witness the opening of a chapter in the strengthening of cooperation in the political, economic and cultural spheres between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, states the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He further states, 'I pray the Almighty God for your success, good health and prosperity and grandeur for the friendly people of Sri Lanka'.

The Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen in his message of congratulations says, I am confident, that under your leadership, the good relations of friendship and cooperation between the Kingdom of Cambodia and Sri Lanka will be further strengthened for the mutual interests of our two nations.

President of the Republic of Guinea – Bissau, Malam Bacai Sanha, states, the relations of cooperation that so happily exist between Guinea- Bissau and Sri Lanka keep strengthening year after year, and my Country places much hope in your re-election so that things continue that way.

The Prime Minister of Fiji Islands, J. V. Bainimarama in his message states that he hopes Sri Lanka would continue to make substantial economic and social progress under President Rajapaksa's leadership and hopes that the relations between the two countries continue to expand in the future.

I wish you all the best of success in carrying on with your assignments to achieve progress and prosperity for your friendly people, and the relations between our two countries evermore progress and advancement, states President of Egypt, Hosny Mubarak.

The President of Israel, Shimon Peres conveys on behalf of the people of Israel and himself, warm and sincere wishes for President Rajapaksa's well-being and for the continued progress and prosperity of Sri Lanka and its people.

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General, Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud as well as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud sent messages of congratulations wishing President Mahinda Rajapaksa good health and happiness, and progress and prosperity to the friendly people of Sri Lanka.

President of the Republic of Seychelles, James A. Michel in his message, confirms the intention of his government to continue supporting the development and rehabilitation processes that lie ahead and which should translate into a better and more prosperous life to the entire Sri Lankan population.

"I also look forward to my visit to Sri Lanka later this year which will surely turn a new chapter in our already excellent programme of co-operation and friendship", he further states.

President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Sardari states in his message, I am confident that under your able leadership the traditional close relations between our two countries would be further enhanced.

The Prime Minister of Nepal, Madhav Kumar in his congratulatory message conveys his confidence in further strengthening of relations between the two countries and fondly recalls the meeting he had with President Rajapaksa during his visit to Nepal last October and in other foras.

K. Hasan Ali of the Ramanathapuram Constituency, member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu, India in his message states, "Almighty helped you to attain this victory; also our prayers answered. You have own the second war, against all odds. Please sir, this is time to win the peace".

"Your measured path must take Sri Lanka to the days of glory and all- irrespective of caste, creed, religion and language should speak in one voice – must say proudly 'we are Sri Lankans' and take forward march never to turn back", he further states.

Helping to rewrite the history books

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Cambodian educators in Lowell to learn how to teach about the Khmer Rouge

By David Perry, dperry@lowellsun.com

Updated: 02/15/2010

For years, Cambodia's schools ignored the country's deepest scar: the genocide that Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge troops imprinted from 1975 to 1979.

In the classrooms and in textbooks, the forced labor, torture, starvation, imprisonment and death of as many as 2 million Cambodians never happened.

But for the first time, Cambodian students are learning about the brutal period. And Lowell teachers are helping to tell the story.

"Before, in textbooks," says Phala Chea, community outreach specialist for Lowell's public schools, "if anything, there was a sentence about the Khmer Rouge. And that was the end of the story."

Chea survived the genocide, fleeing the country with her family in 1979. She was 7. She didn't return until 2003.

By helping write and edit a teacher's guide and working with teachers in Cambodia, Chea and Lowell High School teacher Miriam Morgenstern have had a hand in helping teachers in Cambodia teach a broader historic truth to students.

The first Cambodian textbook to explain the genocide, A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979), is being distributed to high schools by The Genocide Education Project school by school, town by town. So far, says Chea, about 300,000 copies have been given out to students. The book's author, Khamboly Dy, was to visit Lowell over the weekend.

On Friday, Sokchamroeun Ly, a 30-year-old student teacher, and Pong-Racy Pheng, 39, a part-time college instructor at Phnom Penh's University of Panhasastra, sat in Morgenstern's classroom, nearly halfway into a 10-week visit to Lowell. They work for the Documentation Center of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, which is sponsoring their trip.

Here, they are learning how to teach their own history, thanks to Morgenstern, who has been teaching for two years the details of the genocide as part of her popular LHS course, "Cambodia: Culture and Conflict."

The Cambodians are visiting other classes as well, and visiting within Lowell's Cambodian-American community, the second-largest in the U.S.

"Until the past five years, nothing was taught of the genocide in schools," Pheng says. "And we are starting now to talk, to tell parents to tell their children as well about what happened to them. Teachers now can tell about the Khmer Rouge to students."

As has been the case within some homes in Lowell, Cambodian parents did not want to tell their children of the nation's grim past.

"Many say, no, I don't tell my children," says Pheng, who collects oral histories. They say it is too painful.

Born three years before Pol Pot took control of the country, Pheng, his parents and older brother were herded by Khmer Rouge troops from Phnom Penh into the countryside to work and live communally. His brother died of malnutrition along the way. They returned to the city when Vietnamese troops liberated the country.

Pheng says he and Ly are here to explore American education methods, talk to students and teachers and explore the local Khmer community. They have already given a couple of presentations to local groups.

"I wanted to be a teacher who teaches to younger generations about the genocide," Pheng says. "I want all students to know what happened to find a way to avoid it happening again."

Ly doesn't remember the period herself, but, "I know a lot of stories and it is very important for the young generation to know them, too. There are 9 million children after the Khmer Rouge who need to know. It is important if parents don't talk about it and the schools don't teach it -- the Khmer Rouge could come back."

Most classrooms in Cambodia have "at least 45, maybe 50 or 60 students," Pheng says. "Here, students move from class to class. There, teachers do."

For Chea, who came to American after 18 months in a Thai refugee camp, the education of Cambodians about their history is a lifelong dream. If the Khmer Rouge sought to vanquish Cambodia of its history, culture and education, this is sweet revenge for survivors.

She met Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, on her first trip back in 2003 and was heartened to learn of his plans for a Genocide Education Project. When the textbook was published, she spent months developing a teacher's guide to using it in the classroom.

Morgenstern, who has a long history of teaching about the Holocaust, helped edit the guide. Both women were back in Cambodia last summer to work with 24 teachers. Eventually, the curriculum will spread to 3,000 teachers.

"I always wanted to help give back somehow, and this is a great opportunity for me to do something that is important to the whole country," Morgenstern says. "With the tribunals going on, the country is ready to talk about it.

"They certainly bring a broader context to the class," she adds, referring to Pheng and Ly. "It's very exciting that they're here."

'First Lady' threatened co-leaders

Ieng Thirith appealed for her release before she is tried for crimes against humanity and genocide for her role in the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge government. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

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Feb 15, 2010

PHNOM PENH - THE Khmer Rouge 'First Lady' has threatened her fellow former regime leaders and prison guards at least 70 times while detained at Cambodia's UN-backed genocide court, a prosecutor said on Monday.

The allegation was made as the former minister of social affairs, Ieng Thirith, 78, appealed for her release before she is tried for crimes against humanity and genocide for her role in the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge government. She is one of five top regime figures detained at the court, which was set up to try leaders of the movement which killed up to two million people through starvation, overwork, torture and execution.

'She regularly and violently, on at least 70 occasions, threatened co-detainees at the detention facility and also threatened guards at the detention facility,' prosecutor Vincent de Wilde told judges. The prosecutor argued that if Ieng Thirith was released before her trial, expected to begin next year, she could 'instil fear in victims and potential witnesses'.

In her previous appeal last year, Ieng Thirith said in a tirade that those who called her a murderer 'will be cursed to the seventh level of hell", blaming atrocities on Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea and prison chief Duch. Nuon Chea and Duch are being held with Ieng Thirith in the jail at the court along with her husband, former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary, and the regime's head of state, Khieu Samphan.

The bespectacled Ieng Thirith sat with her arms folded during most of Monday's hearing, delegating her lawyers to plead on her behalf. Her defence team said her outburst last year showed she was 'very vulnerable' and asked prosecutors 'not to make any inflammatory statements'.

Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998. Final arguments in the court's first trial, that of Duch, real name Kaing Guek Eav, ended in November and a verdict is expected after April this year. -- AFP

Students travel to Cambodia

Media Credit: Chris Jones

Fatin Badran, Doni Warwer, Bianca Zdenek, Stephanie Mantey, Danielle Dobrot, Abrar Jondy and four other nursing students are traveling to Cambodia in May 2010 to help children receive medical care. The students also plan to teach Cambodian orphans English and basic living skills.

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Chris Jones

Issue date: 2/15/10

On May 10, nursing students will be going to Cambodia to provide the children there with medical care that will consist of physicals and the treatment of malaria patients. Some of the students attending include Kevin Fitzpatrick, a senior from Swartz Creek in the college nursing program; Stephanie Mantey, a senior in Medical Technology; Fatin Badran, another nursing senior who volunteers at Oakland University for their Martial Arts for Autistic Children; and Donald Warner, who had once been a construction business owner. The reasons for going on this trip are as diverse as the students themselves.

“I just thought it’d be interesting to see the world and try and make a difference in their lives for the short time we are there,” Fitzpatrick said.

“I [have] always wanted to do a study abroad trip,” Mantey said. “For people who are into pre-med, there are not many.”

“I watched an episode of 'Oprah,' featuring doctors across the borders,” Badran, who has also participated in Kits for Kids, the Detroit Zoo Boo, and a breast cancer walk, said. “Since then, its something I have always wanted to do.”

The students also plan to teach English to Cambodian orphans and how to wash their face and brush their teeth. The trip will be around two weeks long and will cost $3,000 to $4,000, including airfare and spending money.

“Some of the trip is going to be paid by a summer project [I did] through the honors program,” Mantey said. “The rest is coming out of my own pocket.”

After this, some of the nursing students, such as Badran and Mantey hope to take additional trips into countries. Others, like Fitzpatrick, would prefer to stay and impact the community of Flint to the best of their abilities.

“The University holds trips to the Dominican Republic and I can definitely see myself doing that,” Badran said.

“I wanna see how this works out,” Mantey said. “I would love something like this in the future.”

Chris can be reached at cwijones@umflint.edu.

Lowell hopes to put ‘Little Cambodia’ on the map

Chi Kong (left) and Vong Choum said a blessing last month before a meal at Lowell’s Glory Buddhist Temple. (Erik Jacobs for The Boston Globe)

Campaign would promote ethnic quarter as tourist destination

By Sarah Schweitzer

Globe Staff / February 15, 2010

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LOWELL - In this city, long a magnet for immigrants, the Cambodian neighborhood has been just one more ethnic quarter, a place where, like the Irish and Dominicans before them, Cambodians labored to navigate the ways of American life.

But with Lowell’s Cambodians numbering more than 20,000, the second-largest Cambodian population in the United States after Long Beach, Calif., city officials have begun to wonder whether they are overlooking a cultural commodity. Working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the city is exploring ways to make the neighborhood a tourist destination, mimicking the successes of Boston’s North End and Chinatown.

“When you think of Boston’s North End, it’s known, you get that feeling of another world. You get that when you go into Chinatown,’’ said Bernie Lynch, Lowell’s city manager. “The same could be done here.’’

Authenticity would be the draw, Lynch and others say. After 30 years of Cambodian influx, the Lower Highlands neighborhood is a vital community. It is a place where the likeness of Apsara, a fabled dancing spirit bedecked in jeweled headdress, hangs on shop walls, and where the elaborate script of the Cambodian language, Khmer, is ubiquitous. Clemente Park, where Cambodians play fierce volleyball games, is now also known as Pailin Park, in refer ence to the Cambodian province where legend holds that rain washed diamonds down the mountainsides.

City officials are considering a number of ideas to boost the neighborhood’s public profile, including the building of an arched entrance, a la Boston’s Chinatown; placing signs on highways pointing visitors to the neighborhood; giving the area a name like Little Cambodia; decorating lampposts with banners showing Cambodian themes, such as the silhouetted figure of a boy flying a kite; and sponsoring additional festivals and fairs. (The city hosts an annual Southeast Asian Water Festival in August.)

City officials are concerned about dressing up the neighborhood so much that it loses the authenticity that makes it attractive.

“What I don’t want to do is create something that is created for the purpose of just being a tourist zone,’’ said George Proakis, the former city planner who spearheaded the branding move. “We don’t want to turn it into a Disney-fied version.’’

Many Cambodians, though, are enthused without reservation.

“Long Beach has one,’’ said Vanny Ngor, owner of the Red Rose restaurant, referring to the strip of Anaheim Street in Long Beach designated Cambodia Town in 2007. “We need our East Coast version of it.’’

Pailin Plaza could be a natural destination for tourists, said Sayon Soeun, executive director of Light of Cambodian Children Inc., a nonprofit that provides after-school programs.

“There are signs pointing to the Tsongas Arena, to UMass Lowell,’’ he said. “There should be a sign pointing visitors to Pailin Plaza’’ as a hub of Cambodian culture.

Cambodians began arriving in significant numbers in Lowell in the early 1980s soon after the collapse of the despotic Khmer Rouge regime. Lowell was one of dozens of American cities that received funding to resettle Cambodians, taking in about 2,000, said Martha Mayo, director of UMass Lowell’s Center for Lowell History.

Others followed, drawn by manufacturing jobs. Also important was the early opening of a Buddhist temple and ample and affordable housing in neighborhoods such as the Lower Highlands.

“You’d see women wearing sarongs and flip-flops coming out of grocery stores carrying 25-pound bags of rice,’’ said George Chigas, a political science professor at UMass Lowell who formerly headed the Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale University.

Lowell’s Cambodians have shed traditional wear but for some English remains a second language, and a visit to Pailin Plaza, a red-roofed strip mall considered the focal point of the Lower Highlands, is an experience in cultural immersion.

Popular videos at a Cambodian import store are montages of the Cambodian countryside, lush rice fields fringed by palm trees - wistful reminders of a country left behind. The last-minute pickup items banked near the grocery store’s checkout counters are not Snickers bars or Cheerios, but boiled peanuts, shrimp snacks, baby duck eggs, and sticky rice pouches wrapped in banana leaves. The breakfast and lunch of choice for many at the Red Rose is noodle soup, slurped while Cambodian karaoke plays on a flat-screen television.

Along with worrying about maintaining authenticity, city officials are also concerned about offending other ethnic groups who live in the Lower Highlands, including Thais, Dominicans, Sierra Leoneans, and Laotians, such as Dayle Khamvongsa, who operates a convenience store. Khamvongsa said that while he doesn’t oppose a Cambodian district, he would prefer a more inclusive one that also highlights the neighborhood’s other Southeast Asians.

“To designate it as only Cambodia seems a little unfair,’’ Khamvongsa said.

City officials say all ideas are up for consideration.

“If we can give this neighborhood a special identity, it will help promote the city,’’ Lynch said. “Done right, this could give the city a whole other area in our promotions.’’

Finance expert recommends gap year in Cambodia

http://www.i-to-i.com/

via CAAI News Media

Posted 15 Feb 2010

People looking to take their gap year on the road less travelled may want to head to Cambodia, where the economy is beginning to emerge.

According to Douglas Clayton, founder of frontier market fund manager Leopard Capital, the Asian country is experiencing one of the world’s fastest financial growths at the moment, making it gradually more popular for visitors.

"It’s fun to be in countries that are changing rapidly. Cambodia is where Thailand was 30 years ago and where Vietnam was 15 years ago. There is a lot going on," the expert told the Financial Times.

He added that although there is still no coherent public transport system in place in the capital city of Phnom Penh, the area has developed from a "ghost town" to a "thriving city" in a short space of time.

It was recently suggested that travellers taking a gap year or volunteering abroad in Cambodia this year may like to immerse themselves in one of the country’s most lavish celebrations – Khmer New Year – which spans three days from April 14th.

Happy New Year

Photo by: Rick Valenzuela

via CAAI News Media

Monday, 15 February 2010 15:03 Rick Valenzuela

A group of dragon dancers performs for Chinese New Year on Street 130 near Sisowath Quay on Sunday.

No syringe licence for NGO

via CAAI News Media

Monday, 15 February 2010 15:03 Irwin Loy and May Titthara

Observers warn of ‘developing’ health crisis with needle programme stalled.

A LOCAL NGO says some intravenous drug users have resorted to the dangerous practice of sharing needles since its licence to distribute clean needles ended at the beginning of the year, sparking fears that HIV transmission rates among drug users could soar if the situation is left unchecked.

Anecdotal evidence collected by Korsang, a harm-reduction NGO that works with drug users, suggests that some of its clients are again sharing needles after authorities failed to renew its needle and syringe programme (NSP) licence January 1, the organisation said.

“There has been no consistent access to sterile injection equipment since our licence was not renewed,” said Holly Bradford, the group’s founder and technical adviser.

In interviews with 20 drug users earlier this month, 17 reported that they had started sharing needles since the licence expired, Bradford said. One drug user said he had injected with a needle that six other people had used before him.

“They had access to needles and had learned not to share,” said Bradford, calling the situation a “public health crisis”.

“Blood-borne viruses are definitely being transmitted,” she said. “The only way to stop that is to get back in there and make everybody use a new syringe for each injection.”

Tension with authorities

Korsang’s needle and syringe licence expired two weeks after tension mounted over a controversial detoxification drug programme that authorities wanted to administer to drug-using clients from Korsang and Mith Samlanh, an NGO that works with street children.

Officials with the government’s anti-drugs bureau, the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD), had approached the groups looking for participants, which alarmed rights groups and UN agencies because the drug trial involved a little-known Vietnamese medication, Bong Sen. Both organisations declined, and NACD officials appeared to take offence when Korsang asked its international donors to intervene.

“They complained to [international groups], claiming that authorities were forcing them into the trial,” Neak Yuthea, the NACD’s director for legislation, education and rehabilitation, said in an interview last month.

“We did not force anyone. There is no reason for us to bring people to die or joke with people’s lives.”

Since then, Korsang has had little communication with authorities. A letter sent this month requesting a meeting with the NACD, which oversees licence approval, has gone unanswered, Bradford said.

NACD officials declined to comment when reached by the Post on Sunday, citing the Chinese New Year holiday.

In early January, NACD Secretary General Moek Dara told the Post there were no plans to stop Korsang from distributing needles. However, authorities did not issue a new licence when the old one expired on December 31.

Korsang was one of only two organisations permitted to distribute clean needles in Phnom Penh. The other, Mith Samlanh, planned to temporarily cover the gap left by Korsang’s absence.

But the problem has been compounded by a jump in near daily street sweeps that have sent many drug users into hiding, said David Harding, the international coordinator for drugs programmes with Friends International, which is affiliated with Mith Samlanh.

Now, Mith Samlanh’s outreach workers are finding it harder to reach drug users, despite a surge in the number of people they must cover.

Outreach workers used to see an average of 150 drug users each day before December, Harding said, and now they see an average of 60.

“They’re finding smaller groups of people, with people coming out of their hiding places less frequently,” said Harding, who called the situation “deeply concerning”.

“This is the first time I’ve felt that harm-reduction services for [injection drug users] have been seriously undermined,” he said. “We’ve had blips before and issues with police actions, but we’ve always had a gradual progression in the depth and the scope of services being provided.

“This is the first time I’m deeply concerned that harm reduction is not serving its population.”

Harding warned that health concerns could broaden beyond drug users. Through unprotected sex, people infected with HIV or Hepatitis C acquired from tainted needles could go on to pass the virus to husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, he said.

“I would say this is a developing health crisis,” Harding said. “What we have right now is a situation where we simply don’t know how serious this is going to get.”

Advocates say needle-distribution programmes are a valuable tool in cutting the spread of HIV among drug users.

While Cambodia has been lauded for managing to reduce its overall rate of HIV transmission among adults, figures from the World Health Organisation suggest that the HIV rate among injecting drug users in Cambodia stands at around 24 percent.

NSP programmes are “extremely important, because the transmission of the virus through sharing needles among injecting drug users is very high”, said Tea Phauly, most at-risk populations adviser with UNAIDS in Cambodia. “If people have no access to new syringes, this is a major concern for UNAIDS.”

Donor concern

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which has pledged more than US$200 million to the national health system and funds HIV-reduction initiatives, including some of Korsang’s services, has also urged the government to support NSPs.

The Global Fund “expressed our support to renewing the licence of all NSP service providers, based on concerns that reducing the distribution of clean needles in the capital city could pose a significant public health risk and possibly rapidly escalate HIV transmission among the drug using population,” the organisation said in a December e-mail.

In the meantime, Korsang held a prayer for drug users at a local pagoda Sunday.

“I came to the pagoda to pray and make a dedication to my friends who died after using drugs,” said Him Sophorn.

Thon Visoth said he knows the dangers of sharing needles, but uses them when he feels he has no other options.

“When we use drugs, we don’t care about getting diseases from our friends, because all we are thinking is that using drugs will make us feel happy,” he said.

Ministry confirms cases of cholera

Photo by: Rick Valenzuela

A doctor holds up a petri dish containing a confirmed cholera specimen at Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital last week. The Health Ministry said Friday that 128 Cambodians had contracted cholera.

via CAAI News Media

Monday, 15 February 2010 15:03 Brooke Lewis and khouth sophak Chakrya

THE Ministry of Health has reported that more than 100 Cambodians have tested positive for cholera since November, reversing its initial refusal to confirm the presence of the disease and simultaneously defending its handling of the outbreak.

Speaking at a joint press conference held with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday, Minister of Health Mam Bunheng said there had been 128 confirmed cholera cases and one death. About 65 percent of the cases involved children under the age of 15, and the single recorded fatality was an 82-year-old man from Takeo province who died after contracting cholera in January, he said.

Dr Nima Asgari, a public health official at the WHO, on Sunday noted that the nation has only four hospitals, all in Phnom Penh, with the correct laboratory facilities required to test for cholera, adding that it would be “almost impossible to estimate the actual number of cases of cholera” nationwide.

Prior to Friday, ministry officials had not released any information about cholera cases, drawing criticism from officials at Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital in Phnom Penh, who said they had been forwarding information on cases of cholera to the government since mid-November.

Though doctors at the hospital last week accused the government of not doing enough to publicise the outbreak, Mam Bunheng said his ministry had tried to balance the need to be forthcoming and the need to avoid sowing “panic”.

“We have not hidden any cases,” he said, pointing out that cholera cases had been reported in “three or four” Khmer-language newspapers. He said the ministry had refrained from making more publicising information about the cases so as to avoid encouraging people to seek unnecessary treatment and potentially overwhelm medical facilities.

“We may cause panic among people, and they will rush to hospitals to get treated,” he said.

He said the ministry had taken immediate action after the first case was confirmed, visiting provinces in which potential cases had been reported to educate residents about the importance of frequent hand-washing, covering toilets and boiling drinking water. He also said the ministry had distributed oral rehydration salts, intravenous fluids and chlorine for disinfecting water.

Mam Bunheng said an uptick in diarrhoea cases was common during the dry season.

“An increase in diarrhoea is not unusual at this time of year in Cambodia, when water levels are low and people may be tempted to use unprotected water sources,” Mam Bunheng said.

“I hope the press will inform people about preventions rather than making them panic.”

Dr Sok Touch, director of the Health Ministry’s Communicable Diseases Control Department, echoed that sentiment, saying: “This [press conference] is not to declare an emergency but to provide an update about cholera cases.”

Treatment

As they have throughout the past week, government and WHO officials argued that, when it comes to treatment, there is little difference between cholera and other forms of acute watery diarrhoea.

“We want to consider cholera as just another kind of diarrhoea,” Sok Touch said. He added that it was important for people to practice good hygiene to protect themselves from all forms of diarrhoea, not just cholera.

Asgari reiterated that most cholera cases can be treated with oral rehydration, and that only 10 to 20 percent of cases become severe enough to require hospitalisation.

He disputed the argument put forth by Kantha Bopha doctors last week that all suspected cases of cholera should be treated with antibiotics.

“Antibiotics should be used for only severe cases of acute watery diarrhea,” Asgari said, adding that indiscriminate use of antibiotics could eventually render them less effective.

Thailand to offer legal advice to man who laid land mines

Photo by: Pha Lina

Thai national Suphap Vong Pakna is led from court on Friday after being sentenced for laying mines in Oddar Meanchey province.

via CAAI News Media

AUTHORITIES in Thailand plan to offer legal advice to a Thai citizen who was convicted of planting land mines in Cambodian territory, a government spokesman said Sunday.

The military court in Phnom Penh on Friday sentenced Suphap Vong Pakna to 20 years in prison on Friday after the man confessed to planting land mines along the contested border with Thailand.

Officials with the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry have been assigned to offer aid to the convicted man, said Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn, who characterised the offer as the sort of assistance any government would give a citizen who is facing legal action in a foreign country.

“They are looking into what assistance the government is able to provide,” Panitan said.

“They can provide some legal advice, they can contact his family members, and they can help, if needed, select an attorney to help appeal the case.”

Both Cambodia and Thailand are signatories to the Ottawa Treaty, which places strict bans on the use and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines.

To date, Thailand has been unwilling to comment on the case, with Panitan only saying it should be decided through “normal legal channels”.

On Sunday, the spokesman would only reiterate that the convicted man is not currently connected to the Thai military.

“He is not a soldier,” Panitan said.

In testimony earlier this month, Suphap Vong Pakna said that he had been hired by Thai soldiers to plant at least five land mines before he was arrested by authorities in Oddar Meanchey province last February.

Suphap Vong Pakna said he was offered 2,000 baht to 3,000 baht, or roughly US$60 to $90, for each land mine he planted, his court-appointed lawyer said.

On Friday, Military Court Judge Pork Pan found the Thai national guilty on charges including attempted murder, endangering national security and entering the country illegally.

Suphap Vong Pakna, the judge said, tried to “lay mines in an attempt to kill people, create panic and affect national order and cause political instability”.

After the hearing, the man’s Cambodian defence lawyer said the verdict was satisfactory because it fell at the lower end of a range that included a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Defendant a ‘victim’

“The sentence is acceptable because it is a low punishment for such a crime,” said Sam Sokong, a lawyer with the Cambodian Defenders Project, who said he would discuss the possibility of an appeal with his client.

The lawyer had earlier argued for leniency, calling his client a “victim”.

“Due to his poverty and low education, he sacrificed his life for money without knowing that laying mines is criminal.”

China to try Uighur deportees

Photo by: AFP

Chinese paramilitary police patrol the ethnic Uighur area of Urumqi on July 9, just days after ethnic riots rocked the city, killing nearly 200 and injuring 1,700, according to Chinese government estimates.

via CAAI News Media

Monday, 15 February 2010 15:03 Sebastian Strangio and Vong Sokheng

CHINA has indicated that the 20 ethnic Uighur asylum seekers who were forcibly deported by Cambodian authorities in December are set to stand trial for committing “criminal” acts, American media have quoted a Chinese official as saying.

Ma Zhaoxu, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in a written statement to The New York Times last week that China was a country “ruled by law” and was set to implement it in the case of the Uighurs.

“The judicial authorities deal with illegal criminal issues strictly according to law,” he said in a written statement to the paper. Like previous Chinese statements, the Times report did not include any information about the nature of the charges against the Uighurs or when they are to stand trial.

The vague announcement has done little to dampen increasing concern about the fate of the 20 Uighurs – including three children – who were flown out of Cambodia on December 19 after arriving in Cambodia a month earlier to seek political asylum.

Uighur rights groups say a total of 22 Uighurs arrived in Cambodia in November after witnessing ethnic riots in China’s Xinjiang province in July.

Many observers linked the deportations to the arrival in Cambodia the following day of Vice President Xi Jinping, who signed an unprecedented US$1.2 billion in economic aid agreements with Cambodia. Two Uighurs escaped at the time and still remain unaccounted for.

In a statement issued on January 28, Human Rights Watch alleged that the deportees had disappeared into a “black hole” on their return to China.

“There is no information about their whereabouts, no notification of any legal charges against them, and there are no guarantees they are safe from torture and ill-treatment,” Sophie Richardson, the group’s Asia advocacy director, said in the statement.

The group also called on the Chinese government to “disclose the status and whereabouts” of the 20 Uighurs and allow them to meet with family members, lawyers and UN officials.

Sister Denise Coughlan, director of Jesuit Refugee Services Cambodia, which was involved with the Uighur case, said that in her interactions with the 22 asylum seekers, she had no impression that they were responsible for criminal acts.

“My experience of them is that they committed no crime other than trying to escape a country they feared was going to torture them,” she said.

She also said that the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which had previously put its trust in the Cambodian government to properly process the Uighurs’ asylum claims, should be allowed to meet with them in China.

“Because they were taken from a house that was guaranteed safe by UNHCR and the Cambodian government, the UN should be allowed access to them,” she added.

When contacted on Sunday, Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said he did not know what was happening in China with regard to the Uighurs.

“We have done our job already, which is to implement the law in Cambodia,” he said. He added that authorities were still trying to locate the two remaining Uighurs, but that so far he had heard no information about them.

On January 26, a court in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, handed down death sentences for four more Uighurs who were accused of involvement in the July riots, bringing to 26 the number of those sentenced to death in connection with the incidents.

(h1N1): Swine flu vaccine may be delayed

via CAAI News Media

Monday, 15 February 2010 15:03 Khoun Leakhana

A(h1N1):

As many as 300,000 individual doses of swine flu vaccine sourced through the World Health Organisation (WHO), that had been expected to arrive in Cambodia by the end of 2009, may be delayed once again, WHO and government officials said on Sunday. “We were hoping it would be in the February-March window, but we don’t have an exact date,” said Dr Nima Asgari, a public health specialist at the WHO in Cambodia. WHO officials said in January that the vaccine would arrive by the end of February. Asgari said that the WHO wanted to vaccinate every Cambodian, but that the limited availability of the vaccine means health officials will need to prioritise particularly vulnerable groups, which in this case include healthcare workers, pregnant women and children. Meanwhile, the Communicable Diseases Control Department at the Ministry of Health reported on Sunday that the number of A(H1N1) cases in Cambodia reached 560 this week, an increase of three over last week’s figure. A total of six Cambodians have died from the A(H1N1) virus.

KampongThom set to target rogue sand dredgers

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Monday, 15 February 2010 15:03 Khouth Sophakchakrya

AUTHORITIES in Kampong Thom say they are set to crack down on illegal sand-dredging operations in the province, after residents complained last week that one operation had caused a stretch of riverbank to collapse in Stung Sen district.

Nhek Kunthea, director of the provincial Department of Industry, Mines and Energy, said he had not provided sand-dredging licences to any companies in the past year and warned of an impending crackdown on rogue operators.

“Currently, all of the sand-dredging companies in Kampong Thom are illegal because they are using expired licences,” he said. “We will fine them or file a complaint to the courts if they do not stop their wrongdoing.”

The crackdown is to come this weekend and will also target the Tung Kimla Company, which has been blamed for the recent riverbank damage.

Nhek Kunthea said his department would not provide a sand-dredging licence without a hydrology impact study (HIS) from the provincial Department of Water Resources and Meteorology.

Cheat Sivutha, the department’s director, said an HIS would be forwarded to the Department of Industry next month. He said the riverbank destruction was probably not caused by the dredging, blaming strong currents instead, but that Tung Kimla was likely operating illegally.

On Friday, around 400 families in Por Bakkor village in Stung Sen district filed a complaint about the dredging, requesting a halt to the operations, which they say led to riverbank damage in their village. “We have just asked the authorities to pay attention to riverbank collapses caused by the sand dredging,” said Pen Bopharath, 45, a representative from Por Bakkor village.

When contacted on Sunday, Tung Kimla, owner of the Tung Kimla Company, said he had run dredging operations in the province for many years and had never disobeyed a government regulation or order.

“I have a licence from the provincial Department of Industry, Mines and Energy and from Water Resources,” he said, adding that they were obtained from authorities at the district and provincial level.

Siem Reap police focus on overloaded trucks

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Monday, 15 February 2010 15:02 Rann Reuy

Siem Reap Province

POLICE in Siem Reap province have begun halting overloaded trucks and removing “illegal” attachments sometimes used by owners to pack more goods into truck beds, officials said Sunday.

The move is part of an effort to comply with an order given by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who in a speech on December 28 called for tougher enforcement of laws and orders against overloaded vehicles. The speech was given to inaugurate stretches of National Roads 5 and 6.

Enforcement of the order was set to go into effect on February 1, but officials pushed it back by about a week, saying they had not had enough time to educate drivers about the new rules.

Officials have not identified a specific weight limit for trucks, saying instead that individual police officers would be tasked with determining which ones were overloaded and could potentially damage roads.

Sok Sunlin, director of the provincial Public Works and Transport Department, said nine “heavy” trucks had been stopped in the past week by police, who then removed some portions of the truck beds.

He added that many of the trucks transporting cement, metals and construction equipment belonged to wealthy people with government connections, and that officials routinely call him to intervene on behalf of owners whose vehicles had been stopped.

“Now, I always cut my phone off after ordering my police to cut illegal parts,” he said.

Police Blotter: 15 Feb 2010

via CAAI News Media

Monday, 15 February 2010 15:01 Chrann Chamroeun

KANDAL MAN TAKES AXe TO STEPMOTHER

A 26-year-old man was arrested Thursday after he allegedly murdered his stepmother. The suspect, from Kandal province, confessed to military police that he attacked his stepmother with an axe after becoming enraged by her attempts to sabotage his marriage. He was immediately taken to court by provincial police.

KAMPUCHEA THMEY

BULLDOZER ACCIDENT KILLS 11-YEAR-OLD

A bulldozer ran over a child in Kampot province on Wednesday, instantly killing the 11-year-old boy. A local woman who hired the bulldozer to clear a plot of land said she tried to stop children from playing near the bulldozer but was unable to do so. The driver of the bulldozer fled the scene but is being tracked down by police and the victim’s family, who have demanded compensation.

RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

POST-PARTY ASSAULT KILLS MEANCHEY MEN

Two men were stabbed to death after leaving a child’s birthday party in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Tumpun commune, Meanchey district, on Wednesday night. The pair were involved in an ongoing verbal dispute with a group of men that turned nasty when they found the men waiting for them outside a house they had rented. Five men were arrested in connection with the murder on Thursday.

RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

REJECTED CUSTOMER PUNCHES WAITRESS

A disgruntled customer, dismayed by a waitress’s refusal to sleep with him, allegedly punched the 25-year-old woman in the face at a beer garden in Dangkor district, Phnom Penh, on Thursday night. The 25-year-old victim said she usually enjoyed dancing with the assailant but became engaged in a verbal dispute with him after repeatedly refusing his advances. She said he knocked her to the ground after she dismissed him. The suspect subsequently fled the scene of the crime. Police say they have not managed to capture him.

KAMPUCHEA THMEY

DENTIST ISN’T SMILING AFTER RAPE ARREST

A dentist from Battambang province was arrested by police on Thursday for allegedly raping an 11-year-old girl who he lured into a forest behind his house. The victim told police that the 28-year-old suspect offered her money to take off her clothes, then raped her and said that he would kill her if she said a word to anyone about the crime. The suspect has denied the allegations, accusing the victim of slander, but the victim has had medical examinations to try to prove the rape took place.

DEUM AMPIL