.

Saturday, 24 July 2010

The Khmer Rouge tribunal is set to deliver its first verdict Monday in the case of former torture chief Duch. It may also be the last verdict at a court beset by allegations of corruption and political interference

Cambodian visitors listen to a guide as they tour the former Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison now known as the Tuol Sleng genocide museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday. The UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal is scheduled to deliver its verdict on Monday, July 26, against Kaing Guek Eav, better know as 'Duch,' the Khmer Rouge prison chief accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture.
Heng Sinith/AP

via Khmer NZ

By Jared Ferrie, Correspondent / July 23, 2010

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

In a widely hailed victory for international justice, a war crimes tribunal in Cambodia is set to deliver its first verdict Monday in the case of a former Khmer Rouge torture chief. But some observers fear he may end up being the only regime leader to face justice in a cash-strapped court beset by allegations of political interference and corruption.

Kaing Guek Eav, known by his Khmer Rouge alias “Duch,” oversaw the torture and killing of about 15,000 prisoners during the regime’s 1975-1979 rule. His trial has played an important role in a nationwide “healing process” that is helping Cambodians come to terms with a regime that killed as many as 2 million people, says Reach Sambath, a spokesman for the United Nations-backed court.

Officials say almost 31,000 Cambodians visited the tribunal during the 77-day trial, and millions more watched proceedings on television or listened to radio broadcasts.

Duch alone has admitted responsibility for his role in the killings. But Duch was not a member of the ruling clique, unlike the four additional defendants still to be tried.

Government pressure

Some observers warn that current government officials who were once Khmer Rouge cadres could step up efforts to prevent damaging information from being revealed during in the next trial. David Chandler, a historian and former US diplomat to Cambodia, told the Monitor in November that he would not be surprised if Duch was the only suspect to face justice.

Already the government has shown reluctance to participate in investigations. Cambodian officials said it is unnecessary for government members to comply with court requests to be questioned as witnesses. Prime Minister Hun Sen said he would prefer to see the court fall apart than allow charges to come against a handful of additional suspects, as the prosecution intends.

Those statements, and other less obvious tactics, put extreme pressure on Cambodian court officials who must consider their employment prospects once the tribunal wraps up.

“In the end, the ability of individual Cambodian actors to resist interference by senior political figures and still maintain a position within the Cambodian legal system is limited,” the Open Society Justice Institute (OSJI) warned in a report this month. While OSJI said “political interference was not an important factor in the conduct of the Duch trial,” the watchdog indicated that pressure from government officials could undermine future trials, which promise to be far more politically charged.

Donors hesitant over interference, corruption

Such controversies do not strengthen the confidence of donors, upon whom the court depends for its survival. The tribunal, which has already cost about $100 million, is chronically short of cash. It was bailed out most recently by Japan, which announced early this month that it would provide $2.3 million to pay salaries of national staff.

The hybrid court places Cambodian staff alongside international staff, the latter of whom are directly employed by the United Nations and have not faced payroll troubles.

The tribunal is also blighted by unresolved allegations that Cambodian court employees were forced to pay kickbacks in order to obtain and keep their jobs.

Aging defendants

A further worry is that the painfully slow pace of justice may prevent further trials. No date has been set for the trial of top-level Khmer Rouge officials Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith, and Nuon Chea. All four suspects are elderly and have health problems. There are concerns that they may not live to face trial, particularly if Cambodian politicians engage in delay tactics.

The case against them became even more complicated in December when the court laid charges of genocide, which stemmed from the slaughter of ethnic Vietnamese and Cham Muslims. Both Mr. Chandler and Philip Short, who wrote the definitive biography of deceased Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, say the charges were dubious and would only serve to delay proceedings.

Short argues that the minority ethnic communities were targeted for political reasons, as was much of the majority ethnic Khmer population. In an e-mail interview, Mr. Short called the charges “misconceived and unhelpful.” He argues that the suspects already faced charges of crimes against humanity, which would be much easier to prove.

The court’s former lead prosecutor, Robert Petit, has also expressed worry that the remaining suspects may escape justice.

“That’s one of the things that keeps me awake at night,” he says.

PAD urges boycott of World Heritage meet

Preah Vihear proposal 'could lead to land loss'

via Khmer NZ

Published: 24/07/2010

The yellow shirt People's Alliance for Democracy is calling on the government to boycott attending a World Heritage Committee meeting.

Key People’s Alliance for Democracy figures, from left, Piphob Dhongchai, Sondhi Limthongkul, Panthep Puapongpan and Maj Gen Chamlong Srimuang urge the government to drop a plan to attend the Unesco World Heritage Committee meeting in Brazil. APICHART JINAKUL

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti has taken a Thai delegation to attend the 34th session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) World Heritage Committee, starting tomorrow in Brazil.

As Thailand is among the WHC's 21 commissioners, its absence from the meeting would result in a postponement of the committee's consideration of a controversial Cambodian item on the Preah Vihear temple, said key PAD figure Sondhi Limthongkul.

Cambodia is expected to propose a management plan for the Preah Vihear temple and its buffer zone.

Ask Lonely Planet: Getting a taste of real life in Cambodia

via Khmer NZ

Saturday Jul 24, 2010

Banteay Srei near Siem Reap. Photo / Jim Eagles

My fiancee and I are heading to Siem Reap next month for our honeymoon. While the temples are an obvious attraction, we'd like some advice about getting out and about in everyday Cambodian villages to see real life. More specifically, we'd like to spend some time investigating the impact of land mines on people in the area. We don't want to turn people's suffering into some selfish tourist attraction but, if there is some place we could go and see the continuing efforts to clear away this plague and return some semblance of safety to the countryside, we'd be very interested.
- Matt Hollinshead

Tashi Wheeler, a former commissioning editor with Lonely Planet, writes:

Siem Reap is a gorgeous town to spend time in, but sight-wise it really is all about Angkor Wat. Heading out in a boat to some of the further-flung temples such as Banteay Srei and the river of a thousand lingas at Kbal Spean will take you out of Siem Reap. Although there isn't much in the way of village life around there.

You can't exactly watch land mine clearing in action but, if you are interested in the impact of land mines, you should definitely check out the Cambodian Land Mine Museum. It was established by a former Khmer Rouge child soldier turned DIY de-miner, Aki Ra.

It has informative displays on the curse of land mines in Cambodia and includes an extensive collection of mines, mortars, guns and weaponry used during the civil war in Cambodia.

Not only a weapon of war, land mines are a weapon against peace and proceeds from the museum are ploughed into mine awareness campaigns and support an onsite orphanage, rehabilitation centre and training facility.

Visiting the floating village of Chong Kneas, which is a bit of a tourist trap but still very scenic, can be a nice escape from Siem Reap and a good break from the temples.

Further afield, about two hours from Siem Reap, and more memorable than Chong Kneas, is the village of Kompng Phhluk. It's an other-worldly place built on soaring stilts. The village is a friendly place, where most of the houses are built on stilts of about 6m or 7m high, almost like bamboo skyscrapers. Check out the Lonely Planet Cambodia guidebook for more information on the villages and how to get to them.

The winning question this week is from Matt Hollinshead, who receives a copy of Lonely Planet China ($69.99).

Travelling by rail

I'm planning a backpacking tour with a friend of mine around Europe for six weeks, visiting Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Marseilles or Nice, Munich, Rome, Naples (for Pompeii), Pisa, Venice, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow, Berlin, Hamburg, Amsterdam, possibly Rotterdam, London and back to Paris. We are wanting to travel by rail, but are a little stumped by the multitude of rail passes available and what would be best for this. We are both 22 and are planning on travelling using 2nd class youth tickets. What would be the best rail pass(es) to buy to suit this trip?
- Mathieu Wilson

Former Lonely Planet commissioning editor Tashi Wheeler writes:

Think carefully about purchasing a rail pass. In particular, prices for the multitude of Eurail passes have been going up much faster than inflation. They are pricey. Spend a little time online on the national railways sites and determine what it would cost to do your trip by buying the tickets separately. More often than not, you'll find that you spend less than if you buy a Eurail pass.

You have a lot of destinations, about 17, you want to get to and not that much time with only six weeks to spend doing it. This gives you about 2.5 days per destination and this isn't taking into account travel time on the trains or anything else that happens along the way.

Most of the Eurail passes only allow 10 to 15 days of travel within a one- to three-month period and Eurail doesn't cover the UK.

Out of all the Eurail passes, I would recommend the Eurail Youth Flexi pass. It's for those under 26 and for 2nd-class travel only: 10/15 days travel in two months for about $720-$940. Two to five people travelling together can get a saver version of Eurail passes, cutting about 15 per cent off.

Win a Lonely Planet guide book

Get the information you need to make your big trip a success. Email your travel questions to travel.info@lonelyplanet.com and they'll be answered by Lonely Planet's experts. In addition the best question each week will earn a Lonely Planet guide book. To give yourself a chance to win, add your postal address and the guide book you'd like to receive. You can find out about Lonely Planet books at LonelyPlanet.com. Not all questions are necessarily answered and Lonely Planet cannot correspond directly with readers, or give advice outside the column.

Japanese Textile Artist Drawn to Silk Mystery

Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC
Friday, 23 July 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: by Pin Sisovann
Louise Allison Cort, a ceramic curator at the Freer and Sackler galleries, is seen admiring these beautiful silk.

“I am interested in the mysterious story of yellow raw silk of Cambodia as material relating to Cambodian textiles.”

While the Freer and Sackler galleries showcase rare Khmer bronzes in an ongoing exhibition, traditional Khmer silks are also on display.

The silks are a bit of a mystery, at least to Kikuo Morimoto, the founder of the Institute for Khmer Traditional Textiles, who was invited by the Smithsonian to explain Khmer silk dyeing and weaving.

Morimoto brought with him examples of hand-woven textiles that include an important twill pattern, called “hol.”

“I am interested in the mysterious story of yellow raw silk of Cambodia as material relating to Cambodian textiles,” he said, in addition to finding the source of the unique weaving technique.

An artist from Kyoto, Japan, Morimoto said he started his project to restore silkworm cultivation in Cambodian villages and to preserve a culture of weaving that is similar to that in Japan. He especially worked with weavers in Takeo province.

“I met an old woman, she is still keeping the old-day [hol],” he said. “This is the same in Japan also.”

He moved his institute to Siem Reap in 2000, after establishing it in Phnom Penh in 1996, and he hopes to find a way to teach the old methods to younger generations. He now has five hectares of land north of the temples of Angkor, a region that was the heart of the Khmer empire from the 9th to 14th centuries.

His work earned him a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2004 and an audience with King Norodom Sihamoni in 2007. The king praised the institute for providing employment opportunities to impoverished Cambodian women and maintaining the old tradition.

Louise Allison Cort, a ceramic curator at the Freer and Sackler galleries, said she admired Morimoto for working to preserve the environment as well as the methods.

“When I wear this piece, I know that it was made completely by hand,” she said. “Somebody grew the mulberry trees to raise the silkworm; someone sponged the silk from the silk cocoons; someone used the natural dye to make the colors; someone weaved on the loom; and all of these people enjoyed their work and felt that it contributed to the whole finished result. And when I wear this I feel like I am participating in that project as well.”

The products of the silk weavers' labours are already being sold at a shop above the Siem Reap workshops. They are also available at the Freer and Arthur galleries withing the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.

Peeping-Tom Pagoda Reopens After Scandal

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
Friday, 23 July 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: AP
The images were allegedly secretly taken by Neth Kai, a 35-year-old monk at Srah Chak pagoda.

“All of Cambodian Buddhists should bury what happened at Sras Chak pagoda, and they need to think about Buddhism.”

A pagoda that was at the center of a peeping-tom scandal has reopened in Phnom Penh, but it has seen few worshippers.

Sras Chak pagoda, where a monk allegedly convinced women they could be blessed by showering there and then secretly videotaped them, will now have to work to recover its reputation.

The video images have spread throughout Cambodia, passed phone to phone via Bluetooth technology or USB drives, despite a national call from the government to cease their disbursement.

Now defrocked, Net Khai has been charged with shooting video of more than 100 women since 2008. He is also charged with distributing pornography, a crime under the anti-trafficking law. He faces up to 15 years in prison.

The former head of the pagoda, Meas Kong, stepped down as a result of the scandal. The new chief monk, Chhoeng Bunchhea, told VOA Khmer he was preparing internal regulations and rules of Buddhism to restore the reputation of the pagoda.

“Monks are not allowed to bless in hidden rooms,” he said. “We allow the monks to bless people in public spaces.”

He appealed to Cambodians to stop the spread of the footage and destroy copies as an act of good merit.

“All of Cambodian Buddhists should bury what happened at Sras Chak pagoda, and they need to think about Buddhism,” he said.

The pagoda, which is home to 55 monks and 108 students, is now quieter than before and still controlled by investigating police.

The pagoda had previously seen up to 30 or 40 visitors per day, but now very few visit, according to a layman at the pagoda who asked not to be named. The shower room where victims were videotaped has now been destroyed, he said.

“I didn't think Net Khai could commit this video shooting, because he was a gentle man and talked little with ordinary people,” said a monk living near the suspect's quarters.

Chea Vannath, the former head of the Center for Social Development, said the scandal will hurt the reputation of monks as well as the victims.

Police are now investigating whether more suspects were involved in the video shooting.

NZ Man in Cambodia for Khmer Rouge Verdict

AssociatedPress | July 22, 2010

The brother of a New Zealander killed by the Khmer Rouge has returned to Cambodia to hear the verdict in the war crimes trial of a notorious prison commander. (July 22)

AP Photo/Charles Krupa : Massachusetts program turns refugees into farmers

Immigrant farmer Visoth Kim, who is originally from Cambodia, waters his vegetables on a two acre parcel at Ogonowski Farm in Dracut, Mass., shortly after sunrise, Wednesday July 7, 2010. A 10-year-old program continues to quietly train refugee farmers on modern farming techniques as a way of integrating them into American life while also providing locally-grown foods for area farmers markets and ethnic stores. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Immigrant farmer Visoth Kim, who is originally from Cambodia, waters his vegetables on a two acre parcel at Ogonowski Farm uin Dracut, Mass., shortly after sunrise, Wednesday July 7, 2010. A 10-year-old program continues to quietly train refugee farmers on modern farming techniques as a way of integrating them into American life while also providing locally-grown foods for area farmers markets and ethnic stores. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Ly Try Yeiy, who is originally from Cambodia, picks green onions as his brother-in-law Visoth Kim, at rear, waters his vegetables on a two acre parcel at Ogonowski Farm in Dracut, Mass., Wednesday July 7, 2010. A 10-year-old program continues to quietly train refugee farmers on modern farming techniques as a way of integrating them into American life while also providing locally-grown foods for area farmers markets and ethnic stores. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Ly Try Yeiy, who is originally from Cambodia, stacks green onions while picking vegetables on a two acre parcel at Ogonowski Farm in Dracut, Mass., Wednesday July 7, 2010. A 10-year-old program continues to quietly train refugee farmers on modern farming techniques as a way of integrating them into American life while also providing locally-grown foods for area farmers markets and ethnic stores. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Immigrant farmer Visoth Kim, who is originally from Cambodia, poses at the vegetable sorting table, with his portrait painted on the side of a storage trailer at a farm stand in Dracut, Mass., Thursday July 1, 2010. A 10-year-old program continues to quietly train refugee farmers on modern farming techniques as a way of integrating them into American life while also providing locally-grown foods for area farmers markets and ethnic stores. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Immigrant farmer Rechhat Proum, who is originally from Cambodia, invoices the vegetables he delivers to the farm stand in Dracut, Mass., Thursday July 1, 2010. A 10-year-old program continues to quietly train refugee farmers on modern farming techniques as a way of integrating them into American life while also providing locally-grown foods for area farmers markets and ethnic stores. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

AP Photo/Heng Sinith : Overview of bamboo bridge at Koh Soten island

Cambodian farmer use a cart to cross a bamboo bridge over the Mekong River at Koh Soten island of Kampong Cham province, about 120 kilometers (74 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 23, 2010. The bamboo bridge will soon to be replaced by a ferry upon the rising of Mekong River water. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

An overview of a bamboo bridge on the Mekong River at Koh Soten island of Kampong Cham province, about 120 kilometers (74 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 23, 2010. The bamboo bridge will soon to be replaced by ferry upon the rising of Mekong river water. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian farmer uses a cart to cross a bamboo bridge over the Mekong River at Koh Soten island of Kampong Cham province, about 120 kilometers (74 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 23, 2010. The bamboo bridge will soon to be replaced by a ferry upon the rising of Mekong River water. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodians Seek Justice In "Killing Fields" Verdict

via Khmer NZ

Published: Jul 23, 2010

by Martin Petty

The first U.N.-backed trial of a top member of the murderous Khmer Rouge "Killing Fields" regime will deliver a verdict next week that could bring some closure in one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century.

The Khmer Rouge's chief torturer and jailer, 67-year-old Kaing Guek Eav, is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing the deaths of 14,000 people as commander of Phnom Penh's notorious Tuol Sleng prison.

Better known as "Duch," he is widely expected to receive the maximum sentence on Monday of life imprisonment by a joint U.N.-Cambodian court set up to prosecute the ultra-Maoist regime blamed for 1.7 million deaths that wiped out almost a quarter of Cambodia's population from 1975 to 1979.

Any lesser sentence, analysts say, could trigger public outrage and further dent the credibility of a snail-paced and financially draining tribunal that has already been tainted by allegations of corruption and political interference.

"Cambodians will lose confidence in this court if Duch doesn't get the maximum sentence," said Pou Sothirak, a former Cambodian diplomat who is now a senior research fellow at Singapore's Institute of South East Asian Studies.

"This is a hugely important and historic day for Cambodia. If people don't believe justice has been served, they can't move toward any healing or closure," he said.

Chum Mey, one of only a few survivors of Duch's S-21 torture center and a key witness in the trial, said a lighter sentence would only prolong painful memories in a country where most families suffered losses at the hands of the regime.

"If he is not sentenced to life, there won't be any justice," Chum Mey, 79, told Reuters. "We have been waiting for more than 30 years. It's a really long time."

PEASANT UTOPIA

Duch, a former maths teacher and now a born-again Christian, insists he was following orders to avoid death at the behest of the late Pol Pot, a French-educated engineer who led the regime and sought to return Cambodia to a year-zero peasant utopia.

Duch asked for forgiveness and wept during his 17-month trial but said nothing of the Khmer Rouge's motives and why so many people were allowed to die of starvation, exhaustion and disease, or by horrific methods of torture and execution.

"I'm still angry, my relatives are all gone," said villager Som Rorn, who lost 12 family members to the Khmer Rouge, eight by execution and four by starvation.

Duch is the first of five of Pol Pot's former cadres indicted by the court. Facing genocide charges are former President Khieu Samphan, "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, ex-Foreign Minister Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, a former Shakespeare scholar known as the "Khmer Rouge First Lady."

Regardless of Monday's verdict, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) will probably face more criticism for its bureaucracy, big spending and lack of progress.

Since its establishment in 2005, the ECCC has spent $78.4 million of foreign donations without making a ruling and was last year granted a further $92.3 million for 2010-2011.

Many Cambodians fear that the ailing defendants could die before they see a courtroom and say the cases are so complex and politicized they may not even go to trial, which has fed allegations of high-level interference.

Mark Turner, an expert on Cambodia from the University of Canberra, said the composition and purpose of the tribunal was often in question and the government, which includes some former Khmer Rogue members, was in no hurry to speed up the hearings.

"One would suspect some people in government aren't too anxious to rake up the past," he said. "They might also be implicated. That's why this court has never been their priority."

(Additional reporting by Prak Chan Thul in Phnom Penh; Editing by Jason Szep and Sugita Katyal)

Al Jazeera talks to Aids activist Annie Lennox

AlJazeeraEnglish | July 23, 2010

Researchers in South Africa have found that a vaginal gel containing a prescription drug could dramatically cut the prevalence of HIV in woman.

Results of a study in the country showed that the microbicide gel reduced the HIV infection rate by 39 per cent over two and a half years.

Renowned singer Annie Lennox, who is also an AIDS activist, has told Al jazeera that the results of the gel trial is good news, but much more work still has to be done.

Cambodia Power Report Q3 2010 - New Market Report Published

via Khmer NZ

New report provides detailed analysis of the Energy and Utilities market

Published on July 23, 2010

by Press Office

(Companiesandmarkets.com and OfficialWire)

LONDON, ENGLAND

The new Cambodia Power Report from we forecast that the country will account for just 0.04% of Asia Pacific regional power generation by 2014, with a slight theoretical supply surplus that may eventually provide the basis for exports to neighbouring countries. BMI's Asia Pacific power generation assumption for 2009 is 7,308 terawatt hours (TWh), representing an increase of 2.6% over the previous year. We are forecasting an increase in regional generation to 9,725TWh by 2014, representing a rise of 26.2% in 2010-2014.

Asia Pacific thermal power generation in 2009 totalled an estimated 5,849TWh, accounting for 80.0% of the total electricity supplied in the region. Our forecast for 2014 is 7,600TWh, implying a 23.7% growth that reduces the market share of thermal generation to 78.1%. This is thanks largely to environmental concerns promoting renewable sources, hydro-electricity and nuclear generation. Cambodia's thermal generation in 2009 was an estimated 1.8TWh, or 0.03% of the regional total. By 2014, the country is expected to account for 0.04% of thermal generation in the region.

For Cambodia, direct burning of wood and other organic fuels accounts for an estimated 73% of primary energy demand (PED), followed by oil at 26%. Hydro makes a very small contribution, while coal and gas do not yet feature in the energy mix. Regional energy demand is forecast to reach 5,334mn toe by 2014, representing 24.6% growth from the estimated 2009 level. Cambodia's estimated 2009 market share of 0.15% is set to rise to 0.18% by 2014. Cambodia's hydro-electric demand is forecast to reach 0.9TWh by 2014, with its share of the Asia Pacific hydro market rising to 0.07% over the period. Cambodia is 16th and last, behind even Taiwan, in the expanded and updated Power Business Environment Ratings, due largely to the growth potential of power consumption and energy demand, offset by low scores in several other categories. It has the long-term potential to overtake Taiwan and even Singapore, however.

We forecast Cambodian real GDP growth averaging 6.1% a year in 2010-2014, with the 2010 assumption being an increase of 4.8%. The population is expected to expand from 14.2mn to 15.1mn by 2014, with per capita GDP and electricity consumption set to increase 67% and 69% respectively. Electricity consumption is expected to increase from an estimated 1.7TWh in 2009 to 3.0TWh in 2014, providing a slight theoretical supply surplus if generation grows at no less than our assumed average annual rate of 17.0%. There is, however, a risk of electricity shortages if the power industry cannot deliver adequate new capacity as demand soars.

In 2010-2019 we are forecasting an increase in Cambodian electricity generation of 414.2%, which is top of the range for the Asia Pacific region. This equates to 159.2% in 2014-2019, up from 98.4% in 2010- 2014. PED growth in 2014-2019 is set to rise from the expected 2010-2014 level of 41.2%, reaching 53.9% and representing 117.2% for the entire forecast period. Hydro consumption is expected to rise by 3,550% through 2010-2019 (from a very low base), with thermal power generation forecast to increase by 116% over the same period. More detailed long-term power forecasts can be found later in this report.

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Q+A - Cambodia's Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal

via Khmer NZ

Fri Jul 23, 2010 3:35pm IST

(Reuters) - A war crimes tribunal will deliver its verdict on Monday in the trial of Pol Pot's chief torturer, the first for a top Khmer Rouge cadre 31 years after the fall of a brutal regime blamed for 1.7 million deaths in Cambodia.

Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity while chief of the S-21 torture centre, where more than 14,000 died during the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge era.

Below are some questions and answers about the tribunal:

WHY HAS THE PROCESS TAKEN SO LONG?

The United Nations and the international community set up a tribunal more than a decade ago, but the government sought to retain control of the court and the plan languished for years.

The U.N. gave the go-ahead for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), as the tribunal is known, in 2005.

The trial, originally expected to cost around $20 million a year over three years, was delayed by bail hearings, appeals and pre-trial machinations. The ECCC has spent $78.4 million of foreign donations so far and was granted a further $92.3 million last year for 2010-2011.

The whole process is extremely bureaucratic and painstakingly slow. Khmer Rouge victims have right to a lawyer, to call witnesses and to ask questions and some lawyers have tied up proceedings with repetitive or irrelevant questions.

The Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which collects evidence of Khmer Rouge crimes and estimates about five million survivors of the regime are still alive, accuses the tribunal of failing to invest enough time and resources. The tribunal hopes to streamline victim participation for its next four cases.

HOW POLITICISED ARE THE CASES?

Many Cambodians have expressed frustration over the slow pace of bringing Khmer Rouge leaders to justice and fear the complex nature and politicisation of the cases will mean many will never go to trial.

Many former Khmer Rouge members have been reintegrated into Cambodian society and work in businesses, the civil service and top levels of government.

Allegations of political interference in the court have been made and Cambodia's government has been in no hurry to speed up the hearings. The United Nations has appointed a special expert it hopes can address issues of political meddling and corruption.

Long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla who says he defected to the Khmer Rouge's eventual conqueror, Vietnam, has warned of a potential civil war if the court indicts more suspects.

WHO HAS BEEN CHARGED SO FAR?

Duch is among five ageing and infirm senior cadres facing various charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. They include ex-president Khieu Samphan, former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary and his wife Ieng Thirith, a former Shakespeare scholar, and "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, Pol Pot's right hand man.

All four received additional charges of genocide in December, prompting concerns among experts that the court could become even more bogged down. "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, the French-educated architect of the ultra-Maoist movement, died in 1998 and there are fears his surviving allies will die of old age before they face trial.

HOW DOES THE JOINT TRIBUNAL WORK?

Conducted under a modified form of Cambodia's French-based judicial system, Cambodian and foreign judges and prosecutors work together and try to reach unanimous decisions. If they cannot all agree, then a decision requires a "super-majority".

The Trial Chamber of three Cambodian and two foreign judges requires four to agree on a verdict. The seven-judge Supreme Court Chamber -- comprising four Cambodians and three foreigners handling appeals -- must have five judges in agreement.

Sentences can range from a minimum five years to a maximum of life in prison. There is no death penalty in Cambodia. The court can also seize money or property acquired unlawfully.

WILL ANYONE ELSE BE INVESTIGATED?

Cambodia's prosecutor opposed a bid by her foreign counterpart to go after six more suspects, citing the need for national reconciliation. Critics saw a political move to stop the court from digging too deep and avoid implicating senior figures in Cambodia's business and political circles.

More broadly, some critics say the role of the United States and China in supporting Pol Pot's regime should also be probed. The court says it can only try individuals for crimes committed in Cambodia between April 17, 1975 and Jan. 6, 1979, and cannot try countries or organisations.

(Compiled by Martin Petty; Editing by Jason Szep and Sugita Katyal)

Massachusetts program turns refugees into farmers

Charles Krupa

via Khmer NZ

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS (AP)

DRACUT, Mass. — The bullet wounds show on Rechhat Proum's back when he bends down to pull lemon grass or water spinach on his farm in peaceful northern Massachusetts. When the 56-year-old Cambodian refugee lifts a pumpkin, the movement of his shirt reveals deep stab wounds on his stomach.

Nearby, Bessie and Samuel Tsimba tend African maize. The Zimbabwean immigrants deflect questions about the country's violence and instead direct attention to the freshness of their cucumbers. "They'll taste better than what you'll get at most supermarkets," promises Bessie, 43.

Proum and the Tsimbas got their start through a program that has quietly trained about 150 refugees of war, famine and genocide in modern farming to help them integrate into American life. On farms along the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border, the refugees have slowly replaced aging farmers and put back into use land that has been idle for years, the program's organizers said.

They supply the region's farmers markets and ethnic stores with beets, cabbage, egg plant, Asian spices and other produce.

"Some were farmers. Some come from a family of farmers," said Jennifer Hashley, project director of the 12-year-old New Entry Sustainable Farming Project. "What we do is provide them with the means to return to agriculture by figuring out financial resources and developing a production plan."

The program was launched in 1998 largely with the help of John Ogonowski, the pilot on American Airlines flight 11 to Los Angeles that crashed into the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Ogonowski served as the program's first mentor farmer and let Cambodian and Hmong refugees use his land to get started.

Proum credited Ogonowski for introducing him to modern irrigation techniques and said Ogonowski wouldn't accept money from him, only fresh vegetables.

After Sept. 11, Ogonowski's widow, Peggy, helped create a farm trust as a memorial to her husband. Meanwhile, Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science's Center for Agriculture, Food and Environment secured $500,000 in grants to expand the program and train more farmers, Hashley said.

Under the program, refugees take a six-week course at Tufts on agriculture and commercial farming. Would-be farmers then enter a three-year transition program in which they farm small plots, typically earning $5,000 to $10,000 a year to help supplement their non-farm incomes.

Bessie Tsimba, of Tyngsboro, a second-year trainee with her husband, said working her plot has introduced her to the basics of farming and allowed her to pick up techniques from other refugees. "You hear all sorts of languages when you're out here," said Tsimba, while cutting weeds with a machete. "We pick up new ideas from each other."

The apprentice farmers also work to find steady, new markets to sell their produce.

"People call me up for orders and I can barely keep up," said Tsimba, who sells to African churches in northern Massachusetts.

After three years, graduates lease a new plot from the trust set up by Peggy Ogonowski or New Entry helps them find other land.

Visoth Kim, 64, of Lawrence, one of the program's original farmers, has built a steady business on a couple of acres he leases. A former teacher and survivor of the Khmer Rouge, a regime that slaughtered more 20 percent of the Cambodian population in the 1970s, Kim sells sweet potatoes, redroot pigweed and tomatoes to Boston-based Tropical Foods and stores in Maine.

"I wake up at 4 every morning and pay close attention to everything I grow," Kim said. "They like what I give them."

Lori Deliso, marketing manager for the Lexington Farmers Market in Lexington, Mass., said refugee farmers have introduced new foods to her market that proved popular, even if customers were a little apprehensive at first about buying "exotic" vegetables.

"They've been great to work with and they always bring different kinds of ethnic foods," Deliso said. "They offer wonderful suggestions on recipes and are quick to show us how good everything tastes."

The program has developed a reputation for teaching about locally grown food and is now attracting American-born would-be farmers, Hashley said. In three years, it has grown from 15 trainees a year to 30 — with more than half American-born.

Amanda Munsie, 34, of Wilmington, said she came from a family of Ohio farmers and wanted to get involved in the locally grown food movement. African and Asian refugees in the New Entry program introduced her to new foods.

"They farm so differently than the way we did back in Ohio," said Munsie, a trainee who farms next to the Tsimbas. "Now, I want to grow some of (their) vegetables because they looked so colorful and tasty to eat."

Proum, who recently lost his full-time job at a technology company, said farming his 3-acre lot gives him solace and keeps him busy. If he is idle, his mind drifts to painful memories of the Cambodian-Vietnamese war or losing his friend Ogonowski on Sept. 11, he said.

"I don't like to think about all of that," Proum said while looking over his Chinese long beans. "I want to think about these."

Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia boost energy cooperation

via Khmer NZ

07/23/2010

The signing of an agreement on energy cooperation topped the agenda of the Vietnam – Laos – Cambodia Energy Ministers’ Meeting that took place on July 22 in the highland city of Da Lat, Lam Dong province.

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang, Cambodian Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy Suy Sen and Lao Minister of Energy and Mines Soulivong Daravong along with energy senior officials attended the event.

The agreement was set up after the meeting reviewed the cooperation in energy between the three countries and drew up a cooperative programme in the future.

It focused on important issues regarding energy such as further enhancing cooperation in projects that connect the power networks of the three countries, especially the 230 Kv and 500 Kv projects; exploring the hydroelectric potential of the Mekong river in line with protecting the environment and ecosystem; as well as developing human resources in the power industry.

The agreement is seen as an important foundation for the three countries to continue cooperating for the benefit of sustainable, stable and clean energy development.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, the cooperation between the three countries has achieved good results with a large number of Vietnam’s hydroelectric projects being carried out in Laos and Cambodia, helping improve people’s quality of life.

VNA/VOVNews

DAP News. Breaking News in Cambodia

via khmer NZ

Cambodia Successfully Achieves Multi-National Military Exercise of Command Post

Friday, 23 July 2010 10:34 DAP-NEWS / Tep Piseth

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, JULY 23, 2010-Cambodia on Friday successfully achieved the multi -national military exercise of command post from July 12-23, with support from the United States.

We have successfully achieved the exercise with concerts and objectives of command post exercise training as scheduled and this one of the great achievements of the GPOI-10 training exercise –Angkor sentinel 2010,”said Nhem Sowath, chief of political relation of defense ministry said

He added the members of participated countries and forces have changed a little bit compared to the organized plan which included sixteen countries, five observing countries and two international organizations due to the two countries were sent. However, the number of participated military increased from 137 to 167 since the number of observers has been increased and some of them became as official participants.

He highlighted that the exercise learned from the international laws, and shared experience, and disarmament, demobilization and affected and vulnerable populations and other roles of peacekeeping experience lecturing.

We do not forget the great contribute from our partners and the USPACOM and teachincal equipments, materials, fiancé, human resources and provided professional and skillful experiences for making this event happened.

US side admired the effort for Cambodia that organized this event. You will have responsibility when you meet the situation from exercise.

Statement of the Cambodian Council of Ministers

Friday, 23 July 2010 06:57 DAP-NEWS

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A Cambodian Woman Died, Other Five Injured Seriously From lighting Strike in Cambodia

Thursday, 22 July 2010 13:33 DAP-NEWS / Tep Piseth

CAMBODIA, BATTAM BONG, JULY 22, 2010-A woman died and other five people seriously injured from the lighting strike during heavy rain in O’pong Mon village, Takream commune, Banon district of Battambang province, western part of Cambodia, a police officer said on Thursday.

The lighting strike hit the tree where the victims were sheltering during the rain and it occurred about 3PM on Wednesday. A woman names Yoeun Yon, 40, died of lighting strike immediately at the scene and other five injured seriously,” But Sambo, police chief of Banon district said by phone.

Sambo continued that five injured people lost conscience at that time and they were taken to hospital and now they recovered. Last year, about 140 people were killed by lightning in Cambodia. The Cambodian authorities have always appealed repeatedly to local people about the danger of lighting strike after it showed cruelly. The authorities tell people to avoid holding iron, talking on phone and sheltering under the rain.

Countdown to justice

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 23 July 2010 15:03 James O’Toole and Cheang Sokha

Democratic Kampuchea represented one of the worst human tragedies of the 20th century. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians – or a fifth of the population at the time – lost their lives through starvation, torture, disease, exhaustion from overwork or execution.

Hundreds of thousands more fled their homeland, becoming refugees. Those left behind still struggle with the trauma caused by their experiences under the regime – the constant fear, deprivation and loss of family – as Khmer Rouge leaders sought to completely dismantle modern

Cambodian society, returning the country to “year zero” in one of the most radical and misguided social-engineering experiments in history.

More than three decades after the Khmer Rouge were driven from power, Cambodia is on the verge of passing judgment on the first of the five regime leaders detained by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the United Nations-backed tribunal convened to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the atrocities perpetrated during Democratic Kampuchea.

Kaing Guek Eav, more commonly known by his revolutionary name, Duch, has been tried for crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role as commandant of Phnom Penh’s Tuol Sleng prison, the regime’s most secretive detention and interrogation centre, where at least 12,000 men, women and children – and perhaps as many as 16,000 – were brutalised and eventually exterminated.

On Monday, all eyes will be on Cambodia as judges at the ECCC are expected to announce Duch’s guilt for the crimes with which he has been accused; crimes that carry a prison sentence of between five and life.

This landmark verdict, and those that are expected to follow as the tribunal continues its work, carries with it the hopes of so many who suffered so much.

Visit www.phnompenhpost.com for the definitive breaking and multimedia coverage of this historic moment, updated as events unfold.

Long road to day of reckoning

Photo by: NIC DUNLOP
In 1999, photojournalist Nic Dunlop discovered Duch living in Battambang province under an assumed name. He was arrested later that year and brought to Phnom Penh, where he was held by a military court pending trial until his handover to the ECCC in 2007.

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 23 July 2010 15:03 James O'Toole and Cheang Sokha

On Monday morning, hundreds of journalists, diplomats, government officials and Khmer Rouge-era survivors will descend on Cambodia’s war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh for the historic verdict in its first case, that of Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch.

United Nations court spokesman Lars Olsen said all major TV and radio stations in Cambodia would be broadcasting the event live, with more than 300 media representatives from around the world scheduled to attend. So what is it listeners and viewers can expect when they tune in?

Proceedings at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia are scheduled to begin at 10am, and Olsen said the session was not expected to extend “beyond lunchtime”. Trial Chamber President Nil Nonn is scheduled to read out a summary of the judgment, and Olsen said it was “not foreseen that the format of the hearing will allow various parties to speak”.

This means that unless judges grant Duch a special request to speak, he will not be heard before the Trial Chamber on Monday.

Anne Heindel, a legal adviser with the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, said that after presenting an analysis of the case and of the charges Duch faces under domestic and international law, Nil Nonn would then likely devote “some significant time explaining how they arrived at the sentence” before finally announcing the sentence itself.

In the event of a guilty verdict – which appears inevitable – Duch “would eventually be handed over to the Cambodian authorities”, Olsen said.

“If he is convicted, he will stay at the ECCC detention centre until there has been a finalised agreement between the ECCC, represented by the prosecutors, and the Cambodian authorities,” Olsen said. The detention centre itself, he added, was under the control of the Ministry of Interior, with the ECCC covering only the cost of food.

Parties to the case have 30 days from Monday’s verdict to give notice if they wish to file appeals to the tribunal’s Supreme Court Chamber. If they choose to do this, they will be granted an additional 60 days to file the appeals.

Civil parties can appeal against a ruling on reparations only if the prosecution chooses to challenge the judgment. A decision on reparations may accompany a guilty verdict, though it is not yet clear what forms such reparations might take.

Because there is no death penalty under Cambodian law, Duch faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. During closing arguments, prosecutors requested a 40-year sentence, citing as mitigating factors the five years of unlawful detention Duch spent in a military court following his arrest in 1999, and his “general cooperation, limited acceptance of responsibility, his conditional remorse and the possible effect it may have on national reconciliation”.

Their request, however, was delivered before Duch’s surprise bid for an acquittal during closing arguments. The stunning turnabout, a departure from the defence team’s strategy throughout the trial, “should aggravate his sentence”, international co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley said in May.

Chum Mey, 78, and Bou Meng, 69, both Tuol Sleng survivors who testified tearfully before the court in June, said that although they understood the court would be considering mitigating circumstances, they hoped to see Duch receive life imprisonment nonetheless.

“The international prosecutor requested that the chamber give Duch a 40-year sentence,” Chum Mey said. “This is the law, and the court even has the right to punish Duch for only five or 10 years, but our hope is to see Duch face life imprisonment.”

Under the Cambodia-UN agreement, suspects at the ECCC may be liable both for offences in the 1956 Cambodian penal code and those that existed under international law at the time under investigation. The court’s prosecutors, judges and defence teams comprise both international and Cambodian lawyers.

ECCC/POOL

In March, after procedural hearings, the court convened for opening statements and the first days of “substantive” hearings. Duch apologised when given the chance to speak, saying he was “responsible for the crimes committed” and felt “deep regret and heartfelt sorrow”.

AFP

Some of the few survivors of Tuol Sleng, including Bou Meng, Vann Nath and Chum Mey (left), delivered wrenching testimony about their experiences at the prison. Family members of those killed at Tuol Sleng also appeared, demanding answers from Duch about the fate of their loved ones.

HENG CHIVOAN

Surviving Tuol Sleng staff members, including guard Him Huy and chief interrogator Mam Nai (right), also testified, describing the inner workings of Duch’s prison. In total, 55 people testified before the Trial Chamber: 17 fact witnesses, 9 expert witnesses, 7 character witnesses and 22 civil parties.

HENG CHIVOAN

On July 9, the court announced that Duch had dismissed his international co-lawyer, Francois Roux (left). Observers said the dismissal, which followed Duch and Kar Savuth’s dramatic split from Roux during closing arguments, suggested a plan to appeal in the event of a guilty verdict.

AFP

During closing arguments in November, Duch and his Cambodian co-lawyer, Kar Savuth, broke from the defence team’s established strategy of emphasising Duch’s contrition and cooperation in pushing for a mitigated sentence; instead, they called for his acquittal and release. The split shocked observers, and led many to question the honesty of Duch’s earlier claims of remorse.

ECCC/POOL