Government Can Help in Tribunal Reconciliation: Monitor

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC
Friday, 06 August 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: by Heng Reaksmey
From left to right: Mr. Sum Rithy, civil party complainant for case #002, and Mr. Lat Ky, tribunal monitor chief of ADHOC, on 'Hello VOA".

“Because the state has an obligation to take responsibility for all kinds of people's suffering.”

Compensation for victims of the Khmer Rouge is in part a responsibility of the government, a tribunal monitor said Thursday.

“Because the state has an obligation to take responsibility for all kinds of people's suffering,” said Lat Ky, a court monitor for the rights group Adhoc, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

Many victims were disappointed with the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal's sentencing of prison chief Duch last week. He received a commuted sentence of 19 years for supervising the torture and execution of more than 12,000 people.

Victims who lost family in the infamous prison say they want a stupa erected with the names of the dead. Lat Ky said a stupa would help.

“Even if the verdict is a [court] order, how do we make the victims mentally reconcile, fix their suffering, and find justice for them?” he said. “That's more important than the complexities that the judges are thinking.”

Sum Rithy, a 57-year-old who has filed grievances in both the Duch case and the upcoming Case No. 002, said he was disappointed he saw no compensation in the Duch verdict.

“Reconciliation for me is easy,” he said. “I want all the leaders to answer for the deeds they committed.”

Thai police nab three foreign fugitives

http://news.asiaone.com/

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Fri, Aug 06, 2010

AFP

BANGKOK (AFP) - Two Britons and a Japanese man wanted on charges including murder, fraud and sex offences have been arrested in Thailand, immigration police said on Friday.

The fugitives include Stuart Scott Crawford, 44, thought to be on Britain's most wanted list as the prime suspect in the September 2008 murder of his friend Michael Ryan in his home country.

Thai police also detained John David Fletcher, 66, sought by Cambodia on child sex charges, and Ichiro Ogushi, 35, wanted by Japan for allegedly faking his own death in a 500 million yen (almost six million dollar) insurance scam.

The arrests continue a crackdown on foreign criminal suspects in Thailand as the prime holiday destination seeks to shed its image as something of a haven for those seeking to evade the law.

British police suspect Crawford of beating Ryan to death and using his credit card to withdraw 6,500 pounds (10,300 dollars) before fleeing to Thailand.

Crawford, who has lived in Thailand for two years with his Thai wife, was arrested in the seaside resort of Pattaya on Tuesday after the British embassy requested cooperation in the matter.

Thai police said Fletcher was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting children in Cambodia. He has previously served an 18-month prison sentence in Britain for raping a 16-year-old girl.

Police said he set up a charity called the Rubbish Dump Project, which claimed to provide a way for tourists to donate money for needy children in the impoverished Southeast Asian country.

Ogushi is thought to have travelled to Thailand to file a forged death registration in order to make an insurance claim after his export business in Japan failed.

He was found out when the Japanese embassy in Bangkok realised the certificate was fake, while forensic tests on the substance purporting to be his ashes, could not confirm his identity although they were human remains.

Both Britons are set to be extradited and Thai police said they were in discussions with the Japanese embassy over the Ogushi case.

Cambodia to sign cooperation deal with Iran on oil

Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong speaks during a news conference in Phnom Penh August 6, 2010. Hor, who is also the country's foreign minister, announced that Cambodia will sign cooperation deals on oil with Iranian officials during his visit to Iran next week. Credit: Reuters/Chor Sokunthea

via Khmer NZ

(Reuters) - Officials from Cambodia are to travel to Iran next week and the two countries will sign agreements covering cooperation in the oil sector, the foreign minister of the Southeast Asian state said on Friday.

Hor Namhong, who will meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the delegation's visit on Aug. 10-11, declined to give details on the agreements but he told a news conference Cambodia could benefit from Iranian know-how.

Oil companies are operating off Cambodia but the country is not expected to produce its first oil until 2012.

Koy Kuong, undersecretary of state at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, told Reuters the agreements would involve the exchange of experience and knowledge, and Iran would also provide technical support for the Cambodian oil industry.

Asked why Cambodia had chosen Iran for such agreements, he said: "We are a non-partisan country. We are friends with everyone in the world."

The United States, European Union and others have imposed sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear programme, targeting in particular investment in its oil and gas industries.

Chevron Corp(CVX.N) is operating Block A in the Gulf of Thailand and Total(TOTF.PA) also has exploration rights in the area.

Three Japanese firms -- Inpex, Marubeni Oil and Gas, which is a subsidiary of Marubeni Corp, and Mitsui Oil Exploration Co, a unit of trading house Mitsui & Co Ltd -- have also shown interest in exploring.

Thai 'Yellow Shirts' plan Bangkok protest

The Yellows mounted a siege of Bangkok's two main airports in 2008 that stranded hundreds of thousands of tourists

BANGKOK — Thailand's royalist "Yellow Shirts" said Friday they would join a weekend rally in Bangkok to accuse the government of ceding territory to Cambodia, in a show of strength for the nationalistic movement.

At least 2,000 people are expected to attend the protest outside Government House on Saturday in defiance of an emergency decree in the capital, organisers said.

Thai authorities warned the protesters to stay away and said they would deploy the police and military to manage the situation if necessary.

"We will not allow any protest in the area under the emergency decree," said Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd, spokesman for the government unit overseeing security in the capital.

"We also have officers to take care of the situation," he said, adding that the Yellows' view would be taken into account and they "don't have to come in large numbers".

The Yellows, formally called the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), have previously allied themselves with the current Thai political leadership but the spat is the latest sign that relations have soured.

Key PAD figure Sondhi Limthongkul on Friday accused Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of "lying to the entire Thai nation" about the territorial issue.

The PAD has criticised the governing Democrat party of signing up to a deal with Thailand's neighbour in 2000 that the Yellows believe paved the way for recognition of a Cambodian land claim.

The group has demanded that Thailand tear up the memorandum of understanding, eject Cambodian citizens from the disputed 4.6 square kilometre (1.8 square mile) area and try to regain control of the Preah Vihear temple.

Relations between the neighbouring countries, which have previously been strained because of Cambodia's refusal to deport fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, have been further tested by the dispute.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Friday dismissed a Thai compromise proposal for the temple as "a dream".

The Yellow Shirts, who are backed by the Bangkok-based elite, are a force to be reckoned with in Thailand's colour-coded political landscape.

The group's rallies in 2006 helped trigger the coup that unseated Thaksin, the hero of the mostly poor and working class "Red Shirts", who were behind violent protests in Bangkok in April and May.

The Yellows also mounted a siege of Bangkok's two main airports in 2008 that stranded hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists and helped to topple a government allied to Thaksin.

Many Red Shirt leaders are in jail for their roles in the Bangkok protests and the movement has complained that the lack of charges filed against the Yellows showed a double standard of justice.

This week prosecutors again postponed a decision over whether to indict individual Yellow Shirts over the airport siege.

Under a state of emergency imposed in Bangkok in April in response to the Red Shirt protest, political gatherings of more than five people are currently banned in the capital.

Red supporters plan a small demonstration of their own in Bangkok on Sunday to protest at the May crackdown on their rally, during which about 90 people died and nearly 1,900 were injured in clashes between troops and protesters.

Enemies of the People: The Khmer Rouge, Close-Up

via Khmer NZ

By Brendan Brady / Phnom Penh
Friday, Aug. 06, 2010

Nuon Chea, Pol Pot's right-hand man from the Khmer Rouge, sits in the dock during his second public appearance at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, Feb. 7, 2008. Chor Sokunthea / Reuters

After three years of paying social visits, Cambodian journalist Thet Sambath finally gets what he wants from his secretive companion: a sign that the old man will discuss his past as second-in-command of the Khmer Rouge. "Finally, he told me one day, 'Sambath, I believe you, I trust you,'" Thet tells the camera. The candid conversations that follow between Thet and Nuon Chea, now 84, form the core of Enemies of the People, an award-winning documentary about the ultra-Maoist revolution that left nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population dead. Having earned Nuon Chea's trust, Thet coaxes out a first-of-its-kind public admission: top-level Khmer Rouge leaders ordered purges. It was "the correct solution," says the regime's former Brother No. 2, to have traitors "killed and destroyed."

Nuon Chea is unlikely to speak so openly to the war-crimes court that now is holding him. Created to address Khmer Rouge crimes, the court concluded its first trial last month, convicting a former prison warden known as Duch to 19 more years in prison. In that instance, prosecutors benefited from a cooperative defendant and a lengthy paper trail incriminating him. Nuon Chea's trial, scheduled to begin next year, will prove more difficult. He and three others are expected to remain mum about their real roles in the regime. Anticipating their silence, investigating judges fought for an advance copy of Enemies. Thet and fellow producer Rob Lemkin, of Britain, rejected the subpoena, citing agreements with the interviewees. It is still unclear whether the footage will be used in court.

Whatever the precise legal ramifications of the film, the content is certain to stir audiences. Enemies offers a chilling on-the-ground account of how orders to kill were passed down from the top, to district level leaders, then to cadres who did the dirty work. The emotional turmoil experienced by two such executioners, Soun and Khoun, figures prominently in the film. Soun, a Buddhist, later asks how many reincarnations he will have to spend in hell before he can be reborn as a human living under the sun. Now, he simply wants his former bosses to admit that they ordered people like him to carry out executions, the methods of which he demonstrates in the film: "You hold them like this," he says, grabbing an observer by the neck, "so they cannot scream."

Khoun estimates that on many days, he killed 10 to 20 people — and hundreds over the course of the regime's rule from 1975 to 1979. This astonishing number is still just a fraction of the 1.7 million people executed or forced onto collective farms where they died from starvation, exhaustion and medical neglect.

This level of suffering isn't betrayed in Nuon Chea's cold and largely unapologetic account in the documentary. "Ours was a clean regime. A clear-sighted regime. A peaceful regime," he said. The revolution failed only "because the enemies' spies attacked and sabotaged us from the start." Using euphemistic Maoist language, he says the purges were necessary to "resolve" — exterminate — insidious elements planted by Western countries and neighboring Vietnam scheming to occupy Cambodia. This account clashes with the view of most historians, who say such fears were a product of the leadership's paranoia and were used as a pretense to maintain power by cultivating a climate of fear through the arbitrary murder of hundreds of thousands.

Thet — who lost his parents, a brother and dozens of other relatives to the regime — believes Nuon Chea's account is more credible than historians believe. "I read many books [about the Khmer Rouge], especially books by foreigners, and they are good but not the whole truth," he tells me in his house in Phnom Penh. (We were once colleagues at the English-language Phnom Penh Post, where he still works as a reporter). His contact with ex-cadres has led him to believe that the Khmer Rouge leadership faced real danger from would-be traitors and occupiers. He is quick to add, though, that such threats didn't justify the purges. In the film's most climactic moment, Thet reveals to Nuon Chea how his family suffered under the Khmer Rouge. The former ideologue appears moved but is unable, of course, to recant his belief in the revolution because of one man's loss.

Thet's relentless legwork over a decade has left him desiring a more tranquil existence. It's been a long road for the investigative journalist, from the muddy rice fields of Cambodia's northwest to the international film circuit, which has handed Enemies of the People 16 awards, including a Sundance Jury Prize. Now he wants to give research a rest and farm the land he recently purchased in Pailin, home to former cadres whose trust as an honest broker he earned.

Convicted K.Rouge jailer hires new lawyer

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, sacked his French lawyer Francois Roux in early July for "lack of confidence"

via Khmer NZ

PHNOM PENH — Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch has hired a Cambodian lawyer to replace his international attorney, the tribunal said Friday, as he prepares to appeal his conviction for crimes against humanity.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, sacked his French lawyer Francois Roux in early July for "lack of confidence" but retained his Cambodian defence lawyer Kar Savuth at the UN-backed war crimes tribunal.

Duch has chosen a second local attorney, Kang Ritheary, to represent him because "we cannot find international lawyers that met his criteria," said Lars Olsen, a spokesman for the court.

Kar Savuth told local media last month that his client wanted a Chinese lawyer with knowledge of communism to represent him at the tribunal, where there had been discord between his international and local lawyers.

Duch was jailed for 30 years last month for war crimes and crimes against humanity over his role in overseeing the mass murder of 15,000 men, women and children at the Tuol Sleng prison.

Duch, 67, was the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face an international tribunal.

He was initially handed 35 years but the court reduced the jail sentence on the grounds that he had been detained illegally for years before the UN-backed tribunal was established. Kar Savuth has said he plans to appeal.

Many survivors and relatives of victims were dismayed by the sentence, which also took into account the years Duch has served since his arrest in 1999, meaning that he could walk free in about 19 years.

Cambodia Airport Operator entrusts THAI Technical Department

via Khmer NZ

Thai Airways
06/08/2010

Thai Airways International Public Company Limited’s (THAI) Technical Department and Societe Concessionaire De L’Aeroport (SCA), the airport operator of Cambodia, signed a four-year extension contract for aircraft maintenance services at Phnom Penh International Airport and Siem Reap International Airport.

This four-year contract is an extension of the previous agreement made in 2004 for handling such airlines as Asiana Airlines, China Airlines, Korean Airlines, and Silk Air.

At the signing ceremony in Phnom Penh, , Captain Montree Jumrieng, Managing Director of THAI Technical Department, announced, “THAI’s Technical Department was honored to have been awarded the contract extension for Technical Handling Services of airlines operating at these two airports. The SCA and THAI’s Technical Department have enjoyed a long standing cooperation. THAI’s Technical Department is determined to maintain the good reputation it has built with proven reliability, by following the IATA Standard Ground Handling Agreement.”

“This agreement,” said Mr. Nicolas Deviller, CEO of SCA, “will enhance our airports’ services for carriers serving medium range destinations and, in the future, the prospected companies with long haul flights. Aircraft maintenance, which requires high level of expertise, is a major driving force for the development of the Kingdon’s international airports and partnering with Thai Airways International, a reputable airline, is definitely a plus.”

Seen in picture: Captain Montree Jumrieng (forth from right), THAI Managing Director of Technical Department, Mr. Nicolas Deviller (fourth from left), CEO of SCA, Mr. Chalermpon Intarawong (third from right), THAI Vice President, A/C Maintenance Center, Bangkok Base Department, Mr. Sean Wong (third from left), Chief Financial Officer of SCA, H.E. Chea Aun (second from left), Director General of Secretarial of State Civil Aviation and Mr. So Nasoth (second from right), Phnom Penh International Airport Director.

DAP News. Breaking News by Soy Sopheap

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Thailand is “no Goodwill to Deal Border Issues with Cambodia”: Cambodia FM

Friday, 06 August 2010 10:53 DAP-NEWS / Vibol

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, AUGUST 6, 2010-Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong on Friday said that Thailand does not have good will to deal border issues with Cambodia.

The Thai government has always spoken unbelievably on border deal with Cambodia,” Hor told reporters in a new conference in ministry. Now Thailand has tried to oppose the management plan of Preah Vihear temple, and plan to jointly list the Preah Vihear temple as world heritage site with Cambodia.

Hor called “Thai action is out of date,”.“Thailand does not dream of jointly listing Preah Vihear with Cambodia because the temple is Khmer,” he noted.

We met with Thai side for three times for foreign ministry on border issues and three times for border committee and the last time in June 2009, we agreed to go to measure the land near Preah Vihear temple but Thailand did not go. “Thai government is tricky for border deal with Cambodia,” Hor added.

However, Cambodian government’s stance wants to see peaceful border deal and restraint for dealing issues. Even yellow shirt in Bangkok and the Thai government are very flexible for dealing border issues. “We have self defense for protection of the sovereignty,” he added.

Preah Vihear temple awarded to Cambodia in 15 June 1962 through verdict of international court of justice in Hague, Netherlands. In July 15 2008, Thailand sent troops to occupy the soil near Preah Vihear by using won map which drawn by Thai military unit in 1976 and it was just a week after Cambodia successfully listed Preah Vihear temple as world heritage site. The armed clashes led several soldiers from both sides since July 2008.

WB Gives $23 million for Strengthening Higher Education in Cambodia

Friday, 06 August 2010 10:51 DAP-NEWS / Vibol

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, AUGUST 6, 2010-The World Bank Group on August 6 approved US$23 million in grant and credit to help strengthen higher education institutions in Cambodia. The Higher Education Quality and Capacity Improvement Project aims to improve the quality of teaching, management and research capacity, and provide scholarships to disadvantaged students.

“Investing in human capital for Cambodia’s sustainable development and poverty reduction is a key component of our Country Assistance Strategy,” said World Bank Country Manager, Qimiao Fan. “I hope that this new project will help the country, particularly the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, to strengthen its quality standards for education, as well as build the skills needed for the public and private sectors.” Fan said in the statement from World Bank.

The International Development Association – the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries – is providing a grant and interest-free loan for the project, each valued at US$11.5 million.

This five-year project will focus on four main components such as strengthening the capacity of Cambodia’s higher education system by improving the overall development, management and governance of the higher education institutions. This involves strengthening the capacity of the Department of Higher Education, Department of Scientific Research, the Accreditation Committee and Higher Education Institutes.

"Providing Competitive Development and Innovation Grants that could help improve teaching and management, as well as provide practical solutions for existing development problems in the country. providing Scholarships to Disadvantaged Students based on pro-poor targeting and educational criteria. Project Management and Monitoring and Evaluation," the statement added.

UNESCO to Mark 1st Anniversary of Tuol Sleng Genocide Inscription

Friday, 06 August 2010 09:15 DAP-NEWS/Soy Sophea

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, AUGUST 6, 2010- The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the UNESCO Office in Cambodia will jointly organize the 1st anniversary ceremony of the inscription of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Archives in the Memory of the World International Register on 9 August, 2010, according to UNESCO office in Phnom Penh.

UNESCO Office in Cambodia in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts is organizing the 1st anniversary ceremony of the inscription of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Archives in the Memory of the World International Register. The event will feature speeches by the Minister of Culture and Fine Arts and Representative of UNESCO, and will conclude with art performances.

“The Memory of the World is the documented, collective memory of the peoples of the world. It is the legacy of the past to the world community of the present and the future.” The UNESCO Memory of the World Programme recognizes documentary heritage of international, regional and national significance, maintains registers of it, and facilitates preservation and access without discrimination. It campaigns to raise awareness of the documentary heritage and to alert governments, the general public, and businesses to preservation needs.

“This ceremony will foster reflections on collective memory and raise awareness and bring attention to the importance of preserving and protecting our documentary heritage that memorializes our past.” The ceremony will gather participants from the MoCFA and other concerned ministries, development partners and NGOs, and will be held in the morning of Monday, 9 August, 2010 at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

During the three day meeting of the International Advisory Committee (IAC) of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme, which was held on July 31, 2009 in Bridgetown, Barbados, Director General of UNESCO announced the inscription of documentary heritage on the recommendation of experts of the IAC of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme. The historical photographs and documents from the site of the S-21 prison and interrogation center of the Pol Pot regime, currently held at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, were listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register on 31 July, 2009. The museum archive holds 4,186 prisoner “confessions”, 6,226 biographies of prisoners and 6,147 photographic prints.

Cambodian FM Hor Nam Hong to Visit Iran Next Week

Friday, 06 August 2010 06:15 DAP-NEWS / Vibol

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, AUGUST 6, 2010-Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Nam Hong will visit Iran next week to strengthen bilateral cooperation and sign MOU of oil and gas,” Cambodian and Iranian officials said on Friday.

"During the trip, the Cambodian foreign minister will meet and talk with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki as well as other high-ranking Iranian officials," Iranian Ambassador to Phnom Penh Seyed Javad Qavam Shahidi said previously. DPM Hor also will pay the courtesy call on Iranian president.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong will also ink MOU of oil and gas with Iranian side,” Koy Khoung, spokesman for Cambodian Foreign Ministry told media.

Iran and Cambodia have recently expanded their parliamentary relations and exchange’s visit of lawmakers. In May, Cambodia 's Parliament Speaker Heng Samrin called for the development of all ties between Tehran and Phnom Penh .

Boy comes a cropper dodging a copper

Photo by: Sovan Philong

via khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:00 Uong Ratana

Emergency medical workers tend to Seous Theara, 17, who was injured after he lost control of his motorbike while swerving to avoid traffic police on Street 217 in Tuol Kork district yesterday. Seous Theara was driving without a helmet and side mirrors when police signalled for him to stop.

Global honour for The Post

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:00 Dan Riley

Nick Sells’ prize-winning photo shows two black krama Bokator fighters demonstrating moves at the Cambodia Bokator Academy in Phnom Penh on September 23, 2009. The photo won a silver award in the best in photojournalism/sports photography category at the 2010 WAN-IFRA Asia Media Awards. WORDS BY DAN RILEY, PHOTO BY NICK SELLS

Skate expectations

Photo by: AFP

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:03 AFP

What is this structure unfolding as sunlight from a balmy day beams through? Go ahead, have a guess. Sorry, time’s up. It’s the early stages of the Grand Ice Hockey Arena for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Krasnodar Krai, Russia.

Man About Town 06-08-2010

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 14:00 Peter Olszewski

Crab festival

Following up on its recent innovative Durian Festival, Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor will host the Cambodian Crab Festival from August 16 to 22.

The hotel has created an interesting menu with about 25 different items featuring crab meat in its many forms. The “Crab Cheese Cake”, for example, sounds intriguing, as does the notion of “Crabmeat Grain Bread”.

The highlight of the menu is “Steamed Crab by the Bucket”.

On the Thursday before the Crab Festival starts, hotel staff and management will descend on the Siem Reap River – but not to catch crabs. Instead, it is part of the hotel’s Clean River Campaign to “preserve the environment in the community where we live”.

CNN hero

Siem Reap’s high profile deminer, Aki Ra, leader of the non-profit Cambodian Self Help Demining Team, has been nominated as a CNN Hero.

In June, CNN staffers were busily phoning people around town checking Akira Ra’s credentials, and it seems they found what they were looking for.

A promotion that “honours individuals who make extraordinary contributions to helping others”, November will see the CNN Hero winner “receive a large sum of money to continue his/her work”. Good luck to Aki Ra.

Amateur Open tees off

The Angkor Amateur Open will tee off today at the Angkor Golf Resort.

The resort’s manager, Adam Robertson, reports that 45 golfers have signed up including 21 players who teed off in last year’s inaugural Open.

The three division winners from last year have also returned to the contest.

Robertson is particularly pleased with the Cambodian contingent that’s set to play, including luminaries such as His Excellency Sou Phirin, Governor of Siem Reap province; Kouson Sareuth, Secretary General of the Ministry of Tourism; Okhna Seng Chhay Our; and Okhna Suong Heng. The Open will come to a conclusion on Sunday.

Boutique hotel opening

Another upscale boutique hotel has opened in Siem Reap with a launch dinner held last Saturday night.

The über-stylish hotel, Karavansara Retreat and Residences, is an extension of The Butterfly Apartments, located across the road from the new development. And, like the apartment complex, the new hotel is owned by the Frangipani Property Group based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Partner Simon Barstow oversaw the compelling design, and Luon Thea has been installed as general manager. He was formerly with La Residence d’Angkor.

Billion-dollar business push

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:03 Chun Sophal

VIETNAM will invest an additional US$1.3 billion in Cambodia over the next two years. Speaking at a business forum in Phnom Penh yesterday, the director general of Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, Phan The Hao, said the investment would begin to flow late this year or by early 2011.

“We hope the investment will be fully supported by the Cambodian government,” he said, during a speech to representatives from 131 Cambodian and Vietnamese companies.

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Vietnam sees future in Cambodia

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“The two countries have cooperated for a long time.” The investment, he said, would be aimed at seven projects in sectors including oil and gas, electricity, minerals exploration, rubber and agriculture.

Vietnam was eager to make the move, as relations were strong between the two nations, Phan The Hao said, and the countries were linked by a similar culture and lifestyle, as well as a long border.

“We have already got the projects ready to go. Whether we can start quickly depends on Cambodia,” he said.

Cambodian Investment Board chairman Suon Sithy said yesterday that the government welcomed “all investment” to the Kingdom.

In recent years, Vietnamese firms have increased their presence in Cambodia.

Viettel, for example, owned by the Vietnamese military, launched its mobile-phone service domestically in February 2009, and has grown to become the second-largest by subscriber numbers.

Agribank, Vietnam’s largest bank by total assets, opened its first Cambodian branch in June.

Statistics from Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade showed the Kingdom’s eastern neighbour invested $400 million in seven Cambodian projects from July 2009 to July 2010.

The investment came in the banking, tourism, power, telecommunication and rubber sectors.

Vietnamese investments given the green light by the Cambodian Investment Board totalled $120 million during the first six months of the year, Suon Sithy said.

“We hope that Vietnam will remain one of the top sources of investment in Cambodia, just like last year,”he said.

Vietnam ranked as the third-largest investor in Cambodia last year, sinking a total of $352 million into the Kingdom.

In May, Prime Minister Hun Sen reiterated a joint aim to see bilateral trade reach $2 billion during 2010, a figure that looks accurate.

Marble trade loses its lustre

Marble trade loses its lustre

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:03 May Titthara and James O’Toole

Pursat province

THE road to Pursat province’s Phnom Kravanh town is dotted with examples of the ornate stonework on which many area residents base their livelihoods. Religious statues and water jugs with detailed patterns etched in relief stand in the front yards of the stilt homes that sit off the asphalt; underneath the stilts, polished stone glasses and bowls rest on tables or in piles on the ground.

The abundant deposits of marble in the Cardamom Mountains near Phnom Kravanh have supported many locals who mine the raw material or carve it into crafts for consumers. But as a mining company granted a licence to explore in the area has cornered the local marble trade, villagers say they are increasingly being squeezed out.

Phorn Bunthear, 24, said he had worked as a marble carver since he was 12 years old, gathering the stone himself to be carved at his home.

Since 2008, however, he said officials from Float Asia Friendly Mation Co – which watchdog group Global Witness has linked to Om Yentieng, the newly appointed head of the government’s Anticorruption Unit – had prevented him and other villagers from transporting marble themselves, forcing artisans to buy the stone at inflated prices.

“If we dare to bring the marble from the mountains to our homes, they will fine us and confiscate our marble,” Phorn Bunthear said.

Prior to Float Asia’s arrival in the area, villagers who gathered the marble sold it to carvers for 1,000 riels (US$0.24) per kilogram, said 31-year-old Hean Sophan, who runs a carving business out of her home in Phnom Kravanh district’s Prangil commune. But by forcing villagers to sell any marble gathered in the area, Float Asia has since been able to set its own price and drive many locals out of the business, she said.

“They pay only 400-500 riels per kilogram to buy marble from local people, but for people who want to buy from them, they sell it for 1,500-2,000 riels per kilogram,” Hean Sophan said. Many former miners and carvers from the area have moved on to seek work in Phnom Penh or concentrate on farming, she said.

Huy Sahong, Float Asia’s company representative at its marble depot in Phnom Kravanh, denied that the firm had been fixing prices or forcing villagers to sell their marble.

“We do not force them to sell to us – they can sell anywhere they want,” Huy Sahong said. “We sell marble for just 700 to 1,200 riels [per kilogramme], and all the people who buy from us buy on credit.”

Huy Sahong said that Phnom Kravanh residents engaged in the marble trade stood to benefit from Float Asia’s presence in the area, and that the company was in the process of linking the mountain marble quarries by road to the district town.

Sok Bunny, chief of the mine resource department in Pursat’s provincial Department of Industry, Mines and Energy, said Float Asia obtained a licence to explore for marble in Phnom Kravanh district’s Rokat commune in May of 2006, and commenced operations in December 2007.

Ministry of Commerce registration documents identify Float Asia’s owner as “Ching Kimnguon”, though Global Witness alleged last year that the company was controlled by Om Yentieng, the Anticorruption Unit head.

“Who said that I am involved?” Om Yentieng said yesterday when asked about Float Asia, rejecting any association with the comapny. Huy Sahong said he was unsure of who controlled Float Asia.

In its report Country for Sale, Global Witness accused Float Asia representatives of enlisting Cambodian soldiers to confront Ministry of Environment rangers who, in March of 2008, had confiscated some of the company’s equipment, saying Float Asia was operating in the area illegally.

In a submission to the Pursat provincial court describing the incident, the Ministry of Environment said that the soldiers had threatened to shoot the rangers, but the case was never investigated, Global Witness said.

Yim Bunly, chief of Phnom Kravanh’s Prangil village, described an incident in which company representatives had burned a truck owned by local residents attempting to transport marble without Float Asia’s permission. Yim Bunly estimated that 60 percent of residents in his village were involved in the marble trade, but said the incident was part of a pattern of disputes that have forced many to find alternative

employment.

“Villagers have had big problems with the company,” he said.

Mam Sambath, chairman of the NGO Cambodians for Resource Revenue Transparency, said the government needed to balance the interests of larger exploration firms like Float Asia with those of local communities that depend on small-scale extractive activity.

“We should support [local miners], because they could make the money to support their homes and function,” Mam Sambath said. “We’re supporting communities to hopefully have long-term economic activity.”

Police enforce ban on pigs along border

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:03 Tep Nimol and Chhay Channyda

BORDER authorities yesterday said they had begun enforcing a ban on the importation of pigs from Vietnam and Thailand immediately after it was ordered by Prime Minister Hun Sen, with an official at one checkpoint reporting that hundreds of kilogrammes of pork had already been confiscated and burned.

Speaking during a graduation ceremony on Wednesday, Hun Sen ordered provincial authorities to suspend the importation of pigs from Vietnam and Thailand in response to an outbreak of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, also known as blue-ear, which he said had spread to Cambodia in May and could threaten industry and public health.

Heng Bunhor, director of the Banteay Meanchey provincial Agriculture Department, said yesterday that officials had confiscated 750 kilogrammes of Thai pork that importers had attempted to smuggle through a checkpoint on Wednesday night.

“We did not check if the pork had diseases, but we just followed the prime minister’s order, so we must burn it,” he said.

He added that the importers had been informed of the ban and warned that they would be fined if they attempted any further violations.

He said the government had given no indication of when the ban would be lifted.

Khun Bophann, police chief at the Bavet international border checkpoint in Svay Rieng province, said yesterday that he had not yet received official government notification of the ban, but that he had held an “urgent meeting” to discuss its implementation immediately after seeing a television broadcast of Hun Sen’s speech on Wednesday.

He said that increased night patrols by police and other local officials had been introduced along the province’s border with Vietnam.

“We will deploy five or six mixed forces [stationed] every 200 metres,” he said.

Oum Sinath, the governor of Kampong Trach district in Kampot province, said he had asked five animal health officials to be stationed at strategic points along the province’s border with Vietnam.

He said authorities had also deployed “navy forces” to prevent pigs from being shipped in from Vietnam.

Kao Phal, director of the Animal Health and Production Department at the Ministry of Agriculture, said he was too busy to comment yesterday.

Thai and Vietnamese agriculture officials could not be reached for comment.

Tribunal to distribute Duch verdict

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Khmer Rouge tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath displays the newly printed summary of the verdict against former Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, at a printing house in Tuol Kork district.

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:03 Vong Sokheng

THE Khmer Rouge tribunal yesterday announced plans to distribute thousands of copies of its verdict against former Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch.

Speaking to reporters at a printing house in Tuol Kork district yesterday, court spokesman Reach Sambath said that 17,000 copies of a 36-page summary of the court’s historic verdict would be printed, along with 5,000 copies of the full 450-page verdict.

“It is very important for Cambodian people and students to learn and to understand about the reason that the court sentenced Duch to 35 years in prison,” he said.

The printing will be finished in the next two weeks, he said, at which point the court will distribute copies to every commune in the country.

The court rendered its 30-year sentence against Duch on July 26, a term that had been reduced by five years due to his illegal detention by the military beginning in 1999. Taking into account time served, the 68-year-old will spend 19 years in prison, an outcome that some observers have criticised as too light.

Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, said the publication of the verdict would be important in increasing awareness of the reasoning behind the sentence.

“It’s important for people to define the crimes committed against them and to define their future,” he said. “The verdict is the final judgment, and the people may decide if they are happy with it or not.”

PCCS union leader warns of more strikes

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:02 Kim Yuthana and Cameron Wells

A UNION representative at a factory owned by PCCS Garments Ltd threatened yesterday to organise more strikes unless management dropped a court complaint accusing her of faking thumbprints in order to collect the wages of other workers.

Around 3,000 workers from the factory held a 10-day strike following the dismissal of union organiser Morn Channa, who was fired last month after telling management that workers did not need a doctor’s note in order to apply for sick leave.

She was reinstated following mediation between the two parties at the Ministry of Labour’s Arbitration Council, and workers returned to work on Wednesday.

But Morn Channa appeared at Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday to answer questions related to a complaint filed by the factory owners on July 22 – a day after her dismissal – accusing her of faking thumbprints so she could cash workers’ wages.

“Being a representative of the workers, I have been asked by them to collect their thumbprints to cash their wages for them, because about 10 workers were sick and asked me to do so,” she said. “The factory allowed this process.”

She said that she would order further strikes if the complaint by the factory was not immediately dropped.

Eric Mah, administration and human resources manager at PCCS, said the company could not withdraw the complaint because it was in the hands of the courts.

He said that the threat of further strikes was an attempt by Morn Channa to use the workers as a “weapon”.

“She thumbprinted to get the money for the people, but the people didn’t know about it,” he said. “In this country, if a criminal breaks the law, can they threaten to use workers to get them free? They cannot.”

On July 27, around 50 riot police descended on the factory and tried to force the estimated 3,000 employees back to work. A handful of workers were injured during the fracas, and some demonstrators pelted policemen with plastic chairs and water bottles.

Thai man sentenced for killing girlfriend

Photo by: Pha Lina
Sarisi Boon Sry is led into Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday. The Thai national was found guilty of killing his girlfriend and given an 11-year prison term.

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:02 Chrann Chamroeun

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court yesterday convicted a Thai man of killing his girlfriend last year at a guesthouse in Daun Penh district, sentencing him to 11 years in jail and ordering him to pay 30 million riels (US$7,109) in compensation to the victim’s family.

Sarisi Boon Sry, 37, was arrested on October 12 from a construction site after being accused of strangling a Cambodian woman, 22-year-old Voeun Srey Mao, a day earlier at the Ly Hour Guesthouse. According to a police note, the victim’s father, Ho Voeu, requested that the accused be prosecuted and asked for $25,000 in compensation.

Deputy prosecutor Koeur Bunnara said yesterday that the verdict was acceptable.

“The sentence of 11 years for the Thai man really gives justice to the victim,” he said.

But after the verdict was handed down, defence lawyer Touch Chhay described the sentence as “an injustice” for his client.

“There was a lack of evidence, and it was only based on a doctoral examination of the killing,” he said.

“I raised this in the last hearing. If the victim was killed by strangling, there must have been fighting and other rooms in the guesthouse must have heard the struggle.”

During a hearing on July 19, Sarisi Boon Sry denied killing Voeun Srey Mao, but he did admit to having sex with her.

“I walked her to rent a room at the guesthouse around 8pm on October 10, and I had sex with her just once until I left the guesthouse at 6am,” he said during the earlier hearing.

But according to a medical report prepared for the court by referral doctor Iv Kiri in April and read aloud during the July hearing, the victim was killed between the hours of 2am and 3am on October 11.

Koeur Bunnara said at the time that the exam report was enough to prove Sarisi Boon Sry’s guilt.

“You and the victim were together, and it has been proved by the Phnom Penh’s Municipal Court’s referral examination that the victim was killed before you left the guesthouse,” he said.

Touch Chhay said that the court had given him 30 days in which to lodge an appeal, and that he would discuss with his client whether or not to do so. Sarisi Boon Sry faced a maximum of 15 years in prison under the Law on Aggravating Circumstances for Felonies.

Three children drown in hole, spurring safety policy review

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:02 Sen David and Khuon Leakhana

THREE children in Kampong Chhnang province drowned this week after falling into a large unmarked hole that filled with rainwater after being abandoned by a local clay merchant, officials said.

The deaths, discovered late Wednesday, prompted officials from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction to review safety standards in areas where such holes are frequently abandoned after clay and dirt are extracted.

Nun Theary, a spokeswoman for the ministry, said yesterday that the ministry would launch an investigation into the matter.

“The ministry will explain to all land-digging businesses that they must put up a gate and signs to notify people about these holes in order to avoid accidents,” she said.

“It is a dangerous place for children to play, so it was a mistake for the owner not to put up some kind of notice.”

Sok Bunthon, director of the technical department of police in Rolea B’ier district, where the deaths occurred, said yesterday that police had briefly detained and questioned the clay merchant involved in Wednesday’s incident, 30-year-old Prosh Nov.

He identified the three victims as 10-year-old Keo Pich Chakriya, 11-year-old Vem Vatana and 13-year-old Vem Sovati.

“We are very concerned because accidents like this have happened in our village before,” he said, citing the example of two children who drowned in similar incidents in 2009.

“People in my village are careless. After they dig up land to sell, they do not put up gates or signs to warn people,” he said.

Sam Chankea, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said the deaths could have been avoided. “Too many children have already died in these holes,” he said.

Chan Soveth, a senior monitor for Adhoc, said that his organisation had also received complaints about unmarked holes in Phnom Penh and in Kandal province.

He called on local authorities to be more vigilant in guarding against such accidents.

Choeung Ek to be refurbished

Photo by: Sovan Philong
The memorial stupa at the Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre, as seen on Wednesday. Officials have approved a plan to restore and clean the stupa, which was inaugurated in 1989.

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:02 Cheang Sokha

OFFICIALS have approved a plan for restoring the memorial stupa at the Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre that focuses largely on minor aesthetic improvements.

At a meeting Wednesday, officials from the centre, City Hall and the municipal Department of Culture and Fine Arts discussed steps that should be taken to improve the stupa, namely repairing the roof and clearing out dust and spider webs, said Ros Sophearavy, the centre’s deputy director.

Ros Sophearavy emphasised that no dramatic alterations to the stupa were included in the plan.

“We will preserve the original style, and we will not change it,” she said.

She said that the restoration process would begin “very soon”, but could not say how long it would last or how much it would cost. She said that visits from tourists would not be disrupted.

Located in Dangkor district, Choeung Ek is the site at which thousands of inmates from Tuol Sleng, the most notorious Khmer Rouge detention facility, were executed, often with a blow to the back of the head with an oxcart axle.

Construction of the memorial stupa began in 1988, and it was inaugurated in 1989 to mark the 10-year anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge to Vietnamese-backed forces.

The stupa contains 8,985 skulls.

In 2005, City Hall signed a 30-year contract handing over management of the site to JC Royal Co, a Japanese firm.

The contract is set to be reevaluated next May, Chour Sukty, the museum’s director, said yesterday.

Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, yesterday reiterated his position that the arrangement with JC Royal should be terminated so that Cambodia could manage the site.

“I think the government should take it back,” he said.

“Based on the experience from the past, I think Cambodians want to preserve their own memory.

“If there is a chance to get it back, City Hall should take it back.”

But Chour Sokty said that cooperation between the museum and JC Royal was smooth, and that he believed the arrangement would remain in place until the 30-year contract expired.

“We use the name of the company, but we manage it ourselves,” Chour Sokty said. “We never have any problem, so we will just go on and on.”

Two queried on jail drug deal

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:02 May Titthara

KRATIE provincial court yesterday questioned two people accused of attempting to smuggle crystal methamphetamine into the provincial prison, officials said.

Seang Nara, the deputy chief of the provincial anti-drug trafficking bureau, said 27-year-old motorbike-taxi driver Men Puthy was arrested on Monday in connection with the case, while Sea Sina, a 20-year-old beer garden server, was arrested the next day.

He accused Sea Sina of trying to smuggle two small packages of crystal methamphetamine, also known as ice, to her boyfriend, 31-year-old Hak Seth, who is serving a prison sentence for a drug-trafficking conviction.

On July 29, Sea Sina gave the drugs to Men Puthy in a 1-kilogramme package of sugar, Seang Nara said. Men Puthy then took the package inside the prison, and the drugs were later discovered by prison officials, Seang Nara added.

“It is the first time for this type of case,” Seang Nara said. “Never before have we seen a relative bring drugs for someone serving time in the prison.”

Choung Seang Hak, the provincial police chief, said that Men Puthy had protested his innocence, but that the police had arrested him anyway because he had long been a drug trafficking suspect.

“Even though Men Puthy told us that he didn’t know there were drugs inside, and he is just a moto-taxi driver, we still accuse him of drug trafficking because he is our old suspect,” Choung Seang Hak said.

He said both suspects were members of a group that had threatened authorities when Hak Seth was arrested last month.

“They threatened our police officers, saying that when he is released from prison they will send us to Preah Puth pagoda,” he said. “So it means that they will kill our officers and bring us to be cremated at the pagoda.”

Suon Ravuth, the chief clerk at the provincial court, said the suspects faced between six months and two years in prison if charged and convicted.

Layman’s rape trial winds up

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:02 Chrann Chamroeun

CLOSED-DOOR hearings ended yesterday at Phnom Penh Municipal Court in the case against a Buddhist layman and his assistant, both of whom have been charged with multiple counts of rape. Presiding Judge Duch Kimsorn did not announce a verdict date.

Ros Sarin, a layman at Sovan Thormareach pagoda in Kandal province’s Ponhea Leu district, and his assistant, Hang Samoeun, were both arrested by military police last year. They are charged with the repeated rape of a 37-year-old woman in attacks dating back to 1994, as well as purchasing child prostitution from an underage girl in the woman’s care.

“I hope the court will bring justice for my two clients, because they were truly victimised,” said Te Chamnan, the 37-year-old woman’s lawyer. “The one girl was raped since she was 14 years old in 2007, and [the 37-year-old] was raped for more than 10 years beginning in 1994. During that time, she was not allowed to leave the pagoda.”

But Ros Sarin’s lawyer, Chan Vichet, said that both Ros Sarin and Hang Samoeun had repeatedly denied the charges in court, and said that the 37-year-old was romantically involved with Ros Sarin during the period in question.

“They were in love for more than 10 years, and hung out together both locally and overseas,” he said.

Botched abortion: Case against midwife prepared

via Khmer NZ

Friday, 06 August 2010 15:02 Mom Kunthear

Botched abortion

A MAN who appeared at Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday in connection with his complaint accusing a midwife of botching an abortion procedure that killed his wife said he had enough evidence to prove the woman’s guilt.

Hiv Leng has accused the midwife of performing the procedure in her home in late June, despite being untrained and unregistered. He said his wife, 40-year-old Khem Tha, became ill shortly after the abortion and visited a string of doctors who had said it was “too late to help her ”. She died on July 20.

Yesterday, Hiv Leng said he would call upon the doctors to give evidence.

“I already have evidence and witnesses, like the doctors from the clinics that I sent my wife to for treatment after she fell seriously sick,” he said, and added that he could also produce health reports and call on neighbours as witnesses.

Heng Rami, a municipal court clerk, said yesterday that the midwife was expected to appear in court for questioning on Monday. “I cannot say whether the suspect will be arrested at the time or not,” he said.