Cambodia corruption plan flawed, say campaigners

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New Cambodian anti-corruption plan will not stop high-level offenders

Cambodia’s new anti-corruption strategy is a welcome step forward but there are some serious flaws in its design that mean it will fail to tackle corruption at the top of the political elite, warned Global Witness today. The lack of separation between the new Anti-Corruption Unit and the executive is a major weakness that makes prosecution of senior political figures extremely unlikely.

“The need for a credible anti-corruption initiative is clear but as it stands this strategy will not succeed in catching the real villains”, said Global Witness campaigner George Boden. “Cambodia’s donors should not be fooled: this does not represent a break from the well-documented and entrenched patterns of corruption at the highest levels of Cambodia’s government, and it should not be welcomed as such.”

Global Witness has repeatedly documented how senior Cambodian government officials have sold off the rights to the country’s natural resources in dubious deals, against the interests of ordinary Cambodians and the environment. Senior figures close to the Prime Minister have personally benefitted from this wholesale stripping of the country’s assets, and yet very little action has been taken to address this situation.

The new anti-corruption strategy offered an opportunity to form a genuinely independent oversight mechanism. Instead the government has established a body which risks being undermined by undue executive influence. The threat of defamation against whistleblowers is also likely to deter many from coming forward.

The head of the new Anti-Corruption Unit is a close associate of Prime Minister Hun Sen and has links to mining interests. The concentration of the unit’s decision making powers in this man’s hands seriously undermines the chances of there being any real challenge to the behaviour of the prime minister’s corrupt cabal of family members, senior businesspeople and government officials and politicians.

In spite of the obvious flaws, Cambodia’s international aid donors have said the strategy will ‘play a major role in improving public sector governance’ and ‘improve Cambodia's international competitiveness’.

“The Cambodia government has a track record of pacifying its international aid donors with reformist rhetoric and commitments to transparency, while in fact doing little to change their actual behaviour. This anti-corruption strategy looks like the latest example of this tactic,” said Boden. “Donors need to get serious about promoting transparency as a central plank of their engagement with the country.”

Dance illuminates bullying at Bryn Mawr College

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Published: Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Khmer Arts Ensemble's "The Lives of Giants" at McPherson Auditorium, Goodhart Hall, Bryn Mawr College 101 N. Merion Ave., Bryn Mawr, Friday, Oct 22 at 8 p.m. Tickets: $20, general admission; $18, seniors; $10 for students; $5, children 12 and under; Free for Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore students. Info: 610-526-5210 or www.brynmawr.edu/arts

By Tara Lynn Johnson

Dance is universal and so are some topics the art form can bring to life. In a time when bullying is in the news in the U.S., a Cambodian dance troupe explores violence and the effects it can have on culture in a world premiere titled “The Lives of Giants.” The Khmer Arts Ensemble, an internationally-acclaimed classical dance and music troupe, takes the stage at Bryn Mawr College for one night only, Oct. 22.

“The Lives of Giants,” created by co-founder and artistic director Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, tells the story of Akheang Khamaso, a much-mistreated giant in Shiva’s heavenly temple who seeks a weapon to protect himself from the taunts of mischievous angels. But when Shiva grants him a magic finger that can make anyone disappear, he can’t help dishing out abuse in return.

Once Vishnu finds out about the chaos raging through heaven, he transforms himself into a beautiful dancer and seduces Akheang Khamaso, tricking the giant into turning his magic finger on himself. Then Akheang Khamaso vows to be reborn with even more power in order to continue the cycle of abuse and violence that is his fate in this life and the next.

As Akheang Khamaso’s demonic nature surges, Cheam Shapiro’s depiction of heaven devolves. Layers of elaborate traditional costuming and the formal vocabulary of the classical Cambodian dance form are stripped away to reveal the sadness and frustration of a bully and a resonant message about the tragic effects of violence on a culture.

Thirty dancers and musicians tell the tale created by Cheam Shapiro, a choreographer, dancer, vocalist and educator of classical Cambodian dance. Raised in Phnom Penh, she studied dance at the University of Fine Arts there and became a teacher in 1981. She moved to California in 1991 and studied dance ethnology at UCLA from 1997 to 1999.

According to a press release, Cheam Shapiro maintains the core of traditional Cambodian dance while adding contemporary content, such as the role of women in traditional cultures and working with contemporary composers.

Cheam Shapiro feels that Cambodians have not yet come to terms with the extraordinary cruelty and suffering of their recent history and would rather avert their eyes. In her works exploring morality and identity, giants (an archetypal figure in Cambodian dance) are a vital and complex resource for addressing the issues that resonate within her life and culture.

Like many of her fellow Cambodians, Cheam Shapiro loves folklore and mythology.

“Myths and stories have the capacity to draw us into another world that allows us to reflect on our own,” she said.

To her, dance is a way to transcend poverty, hopelessness and loss. She learned to dance in the aftermath of genocide and amid civil war. As an adult, she’s used dance as a way to understand the root causes of failed societies and to explore alternative paths.

In the grander scheme of things, dance (and art in general) is important to the world because it helps people transcend the mundane and reflect on their world from different points of view, she said.

In Cambodia, there are many forms of dance — it can be for celebration, courtship, ritual or stage performance, she said. Cheam Shapiro works in classical dance, which has been associated with spirituality and authority. In recent times, it has served as a symbol of cultural rebirth.

“I hope through my work, dance is becoming a way for the culture to explore the future while keeping a close eye on its past,” she said.

Cheam Shapiro hopes that audiences will be “seduced by the fantastic story, movements, sets and costumes, which inhabit a highly stylized and unfamiliar depiction of heaven, and, at the same time, become more acutely aware of the very real issues the story explores — specifically self-perpetuating cycles of bullying, violence and abuse that exacerbate human suffering and destroy the sublime.”

She hopes dance will bring people together and make them think. She knows the power it can have, even in the most unlikely circumstances.

When Cheam Shapiro was a teenager, she performed with a troupe of students in a remote Cambodian province during a civil war. The morning after one performance, a noodle seller in the market told them that Khmer Rouge guerillas had come to the performance armed with rocket launchers intending to kill them. The noodle seller told them that the guerillas liked the dancing so much they stayed until the end, clapped and went back to their jungle base.

“It’s not every day that art will save your life,” she said, “but if dance can bring out the humanity in the most hardened warriors, it can do almost anything.”

Ties with Cambodia strained over reds

cia CAAI

By The Nation
Published on October 13, 2010

P Penh denies Bangkok claim red warriors got weapons training in Siem Reap; NSC backs up DSI findings

Thailand and Cambodia have found their newly restored relations at another highly delicate juncture after a Thai police investigation revealed militant red shirts were allegedly trained in Siem Reap.

The Cambodian government yesterday denied that red militants had been trained on its soil to carry out acts of terror in Thailand, while in Bangkok the government tried to cushion the impact on bilateral ties by saying Phnom Penh leaders had no policy of supporting such alleged training.

The bombshell allegations were made by the Department of Special Investigation on Monday and backed up by the National Security Council (NSC) yesterday.

Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said his country would receive no benefit from either sheltering or training red militants, while the spokesman's office for the Cambodian government said the report was a fabrication, and that giving weapons training to foreigners was against its constitution.

A statement released yesterday by the spokesman's office claimed the allegation was a Thai government plan to undermine the red-shirt movement for political gain. "It's a nonsense that Cambodia would want to have problems with anyone for no reason," the statement said.

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) cited interviews with 11 men accused of seeking weapons training, who were arrested recently at a Chiang Mai resort. And it released details of similar weapons training for another 24 men in Cambodia.

DSI director-general Tharit Phengdit said yesterday details about Cambodia's training of some 39 red militants needed further verification.

Media reports cited different numbers of red militants becoming active after completion of weapons courses they attended, either in Thailand or elsewhere. The total number mentioned is 64 overall, with four allegedly assigned as bodyguards for wanted militant Arisman Pongruengrong.

Details from interviews with the 11 men, who have sought protection with the DSI and given much more information, will forwarded to the government's Centre for Resolution for the Emergency Situation (CRES). It will then decide how to deal with the issue, with advice from the Foreign Ministry.

Spokesman Panitan Wattanaya-gorn said Cambodia's denial about weapons training was being verified, but the issue would be discussed between Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his counterpart Hun Sen at the 17th Asean meeting in Vietnam on October 28-30. He said Hun Sen had pledged to look into the matter to determine "how credible it could have been" after he met with Abhisit at the Asia Europe Meeting in Brussels on October 4 and 5.

Panitan said the Brussels meeting had a good atmosphere and both leaders made an unofficial pledge to exchange intelligence tip-offs about criminals from one country fleeing to the other.

He said the weapons training courses included bomb-making, demolition, use of firearms and grenade launchers, and given only to successful candidates.

The CRES was keeping a close watch on hard-core red-shirt groups. "Security officials will keep pressuring them to prevent them from being fully active," he added.

NSC secretary-general Thawit Pliansri had confirmed the DSI's

intelligence report about the red

militants receiving weapons training in Cambodia.

Justice Minister Pirapan Sali-rathavibhaga said more details were being gathered to verify that Arisman had been linked to the weapons training before Thailand decides whether to ask Cambodia to extradite him to face indictments here.

Old Cambodian landmines 'kill dozens in 2010'

Cambodia's civil war ended in 1998, but millions of mines still litter the country

VIDEO: Former Khmer Rouge soldier has created a museum about landmines. Originally filed: 030809. Duration: 02:05

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PHNOM PENH — Landmines left over from decades of civil war in Cambodia are still killing people on a weekly basis, new figures showed on Tuesday.

In the first eight months of 2010, 45 people died because of landmines or other ordnance, according to CMVIS, a data collection body set up by the Cambodian Red Cross and Handicap International.

Another 162 people were injured between January and August of this year, 37 of whom had to have limbs amputated.

The figures are slightly higher compared with the same period in 2009, when 186 casualties were recorded overall.

"Cambodia still has a big problem with ERW (explosive remnants of war)," said CMVIS project manager Chhiv Lim.

Nearly three decades of civil war and a secret US bombing campaign during the Vietnam War have left the impoverished southeast Asian nation as one of the world's most heavily mined countries.

The countryside is still littered with unexploded ordnance, which explains why most of the victims are farmers, Chhiv Lim said.

"They farm near a mine without knowing it, and when the family tries to extend their farm field, then they have a problem," he told AFP.

The total number of mine/ERW casualties recorded between 1979 and August 2010 stands at 63,727, according to CMVIS.

CAMBODIA 'FACES CHALLENGES IN TACKLING MATERNAL MORTALITY'

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12/10/2010

There are several challenges ahead for Cambodia in its efforts to reduce maternal mortality rates, according to one expert.

Shin Young-Soo, director of the western Pacific region for the World Health Organization (WHO), said at a recent meeting in Kuala Lumpur that it is "shameful" women are still dying in childbirth, particularly as most deaths are preventable.

He highlighted Cambodia along with Laos and Papua New Guinea as facing particular challenges in this respect, AFP reports.

Currently, there are 300 deaths for every 100,000 live births in Cambodia, compared with between 35 and 74 deaths for every 100,000 births across the entire western Pacific region.

Despite this, Mr Shin praised a scheme in the country that encourages villages to report maternal deaths to a special national centre that can then aid health officials in identifying specific areas to target for help.

"Health systems should be strengthened to ensure women have universal access to high-quality reproductive health services," he commented.

WHO's figures suggest that 1,500 women die from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications every day.

WHO urges action on 'shameful' deaths in childbirth

On average between 35 to 74 women die in childbirth for every 100,000 live births in the region

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KUALA LUMPUR — The World Health Organisation Monday urged action to stem the "shameful" number of deaths in childbirth in Asia Pacific, where less than half of women have skilled help when they deliver.

Shin Young-Soo, WHO director of the Western Pacific region which stretches from Mongolia in the north down to island nations in the south, said that maternal mortality was a black spot on its performance.

"Overall we are on track to meet, or even exceed, the health-related goals (for the United Nations Millennium Development Goals) but with one very noticeable exception, maternal mortality," he said.

"I find it shameful that women are still dying in childbirth," Shin told the UN health body's regional meeting in the Malaysian capital. "As we all know, most of these deaths are preventable."

WHO figures show that on average across the region, between 35 to 74 women die in childbirth for every 100,000 live births, with a total 13,000 maternal deaths in 2008.

Shin said that Cambodia, Laos and Papua New Guinea face "particular challenges" in combating maternal deaths, with Cambodia experiencing 300 deaths per 100,000 live births, Laos with 500 and Papua New Guinea 250.

But he praised a Cambodian program to establish a system for villages to report maternal deaths to a national centre, so that health officials can target which areas to help.

He also said that Laos was taking the initiative to provide basic hygiene kits to women who deliver at home.

A discussion document presented at the meeting urged governments to give women's health a higher priority and ensure that no woman dies during pregnancy and childbirth because of inadequate resources.

"Health systems should be strengthened to ensure women have universal access to high-quality reproductive health services... with a focus on providing quality skilled care for women during pregnancy and after childbirth, including emergency obstetric care, comprehensive family planning services and sage abortion services, where legal," it said.

"Despite their greater need, the cost of health care can be unaffordable for women from poor households, especially because out-of-pocket payments comprise an unacceptably high share of health spending in the region."

A lack of privacy or confidentiality and "the biased or unsympathetic attitudes of providers" may also deter women -- particularly those from poor or marginalised groups -- from seeking care, the document added.

Officials said that global figures show a total of 260 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births with 358,000 maternal deaths in 2008.

Residents Claim Flooding From Developer's Lake Fill

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer

Phnom Penh Tuesday, 12 October 2010

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Photo: AP

A Cambodian amputee beggar is given money by a passerby while wading in the street flood in Phnom Penh.

“I've never seen flooding like this after heavy rains.”

Heavy rains on Monday flooded the homes of at least 1,000 people in the Boeung Kak lake area of Phnom Penh, where residents say the pumping of sand and mud into the lake by a city developer has diminished a natural drainage system.

Most have now temporarily evacuated their flooded homes.

More than 50 people gathered in front of City Hall Tuesday to protest against the development, which has met with continued criticism.

The protesters delivered a complaint to city officials claiming their homes were filled with up to a half a meter of water after heavy rains. Some staid behind to yell their dismay, saying the development of areas of Phnom Penh were not good for its people.

Residents said Tuesday such flooding did not happen before Shukaku, Inc., began filling the lake as a development site.

Officials for Shukaku, which began filling the lake for a $79 million development in 2008, were not available for comment. The company is at odds with thousands of residents who say they have been offered a buy-out that is too small.

Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Pa Socheatevong said Tuesday the flooding was not caused by the pumping. Many areas of the capital had flooded as a result of heavy rains and a lack of drainage citywide, he said.

“Last night, I didn't sleep well, because of flooding in my house,” Laom Eang, a 38-year-old noodle vendor at Village 24 in the Srah Chok commune of Daun Penh district, said. She sat at her home, where she cooks for customers, and where floodwater 30 centimeters deep covered the floor. “I've never seen flooding like this after heavy rains,” she said, blaming the fill development, which seeks to cover about 120 hectares of lake.

Nearby, Kong Sokha, 44, who rents out a mobile gas stove from house to house, said he could no longer live in the area.

“I'm afraid the flood level will become higher and higher,” he said. “I've rented this house for nearly two months, but I've never seen it flood like this. The flood pollution has given me a little headache. My wife and I have decided to move to another place where there is no flood, to avoid danger.”

Sam Rainsy Holds Congress, Vows Pursuit of Hun Sen

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer

Washington, DC Tuesday, 12 October 2010
 
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Photo: AP

A Phnom Penh resident is treated for wounds at Calmette Hospital he received during a mortar attack in the capital in the late afternoon on Saturday July 5,1997. Fighting broke out between troops loyal to the rival prime ministers and shellfire hit downtown areas.

“No need to wait until 2013 ... the sooner the better.”

The exiled leader of Cambodia's main opposition met with supporters in a party congress in Canada over the weekend, saying he would not back down on complaints against the ruling prime minister for crimes against humanity.

Sam Rainsy, whose party holds 26 of 123 National Assembly seats, said he will seek the arrest of Prime Minister Hun Sen for crimes committed during Cambodia's period of civil war, among others.

“We must file complaints to all the courts for the arrest of Hun Sen,” he told some 350 party supporters at the congress in Montreal.

“No need to wait until 2013,” he added, a reference to the date of the next national election. “The sooner the better. And this time I will not back off, brothers and sisters, because I am determined that this time will not be a protest in exchange for my return to Cambodia. I do not want to go back to Cambodia as long as Hun Sen is still destroying the nation and still serving the Vietnamese.”

Sam Rainsy is facing a total 12 years in jail on charges related to continued allegations, including a map on his party website, that the Vietnamese have encroached on Cambodian land. The issues of border encroachment and the government's relationship with Hanoi remain hot-button items for some Cambodians.

Sam Rainsy said he has filed complaints to the courts of the US, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands, alleging Hun Sen's collusion in a number of violent incidents in Cambodia's recent history.

Sam Rainsy has charged that Hun Sen was involved in the 1997 grenade attack on an opposition rally; extrajudicial killings in the 1997 coup over coalition partner Funcinpec; the killings of non-violent demonstrators and monks in 1998; and atrocities against civilians along the border during the civil war in the 1980s.

Officials have denied the premier's involvement in the alleged crimes.

The latter policy “caused hundreds of thousands of Cambodians to die,” Sam Rainsy told the party congress. “That's why we've taken action against Hun Sen, to arrest Hun Sen and convict him by law.”

He likened Hun Sen to Manuel Noriaga, a Panamanian dictator, and Charles Taylor, the ex-president of Liberia who is on international trial for alleged war crimes.

“I believe Hun Sen cannot avoid a fate like that of Noriega and Charles Taylor,” he said to applause.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan said Tuesday Sam Rainsy's charges had no legitimacy and that it was “impossible” for Cambodia to have a dictator. Hun Sen was duly elected, he said.

Sam Rainsy, who has already filed a complaint in New York for the 1997 grenade attack, will travel to the European Union, where he hopes to collect signatures from parliamentarians to reactive the Paris Peace Agreement, thereby calling on its signatories to push harder for human rights, an independent court and other democratic institutions.

“All those countries with obligations vowed in the Paris agreement to ensure Cambodia's independent sovereignty,” he said. “Now where is the independence? Sovereignty? And freedom, where is freedom?”

Ruling party lawmaker Cheam Yiep said the Cambodian People's Party “completely” rejects accusations the country has not followed the peace agreement, citing the National Assembly, institutions of law and order, and democracy.

Chea Vichea Murder Hurt Labor Movement: Experts

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer

Washington, DC Tuesday, 12 October 2010

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Photo: AP

An estimated 30,000 workers went on strike last week, demanding more negotiations over salaries they say are too high for the increased cost of living.

“The killing of Chea Vichea has weakened the labor movement greatly.”

Although the documentary “Who Killed Chea Vichea?” does not answer its own question, and although that question is invariably asked by viewers, the producers say one thing is certain: the murder of Cambodia's top labor leader in 2004 hurt the country's labor movement.

The film, which examines the murder of Chea Vichea, who was then the president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, was shown at the Washington headquarters of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations—the largest federation of unions in the US—last week.

Producer Rich Garella said no improvements in workers rights have come about since Chea Vichea was killed by unknown assailants in 2004.

“The killing of Chea Vichea has weakened the labor movement greatly,” Rich Garella told the audience after the screening. “And it goes to show that a movement is made up of many individual people, but when you have a charismatic leader like that, it counts for a lot.”

A leader like Chea Vichea was able to strengthen the negotiations of workers, he said, while at the same time helping factories boost sales.

Cambodia's workers say they have come under increased pressure from a rising cost of living. Last month, thousands of workers went on a four-day general strike to demand negotiations for better pay.

Timonthy Ryan, program director of the Solidarity Center, said Cambodia has a good labor law compared to other Southeast Asian countries, but it is now under threat.

“The real issue that is happening now is there are attempts to change the labor law and to weaken those workers’ rights provisions, and that's the concern not only of the Cambodian unions, but it’s a concern of the international labor movement,” Ryan told VOA Khmer.

While labor leaders do not face the threats of violence they once did, they still face legal threats, he said.

Hundreds of labor leaders are now out of work following September's strike, as the courts consider legal suits brought by companies.

“The emphasis should be, for workers advocates, not only on the companies, but on the brands who ultimately are buying the products,” Ryun said. Big brands—like Levi Strauss, Adidas, Target, Sears, and others—can ensure owners comply with labor laws, he added.

ទឹក​លិច​នៅ​ក្រុង​សៀមរាប

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ដោយ ហង្ស សាវយុត

2010-10-12

មន្ត្រី​សាលា​ខេត្ត​សៀមរាប បាន​ឲ្យ​ដឹង​ថា ឥទ្ធិពល​អាកាស​ធាតុ​​សម្ពាធ​ទាប​ដែល​បាន​គ្រប​​ដណ្តប់​មក​លើ​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា យ៉ាង​ហោច​ណាស់​បាន​បំផ្លាញ​លំនៅ​ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ​ចំនួន ១៥​ខ្នង និង​មនុស្ស​ចំនួន ៤​នាក់​​រង​របួស ដោយសារ​ផ្ទះ​រលំ​សង្កត់ នៅ​ឯ​ឃុំ​មួយ ក្នុង​ស្រុក​ពួក ចម្ងាយ​ជាង ២០​គីឡូម៉ែត្រ ភាគ​ខាង​លិច​ទី​រួម​ខេត្ត​សៀមរាប។

Trio stops in Houston on charitable trek

http://www.houstonherald.com/

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Mon Oct 11, 2010.
By Doug Davison, Houston Herald

The Bike for Cambodia trio pauses before heading out for another day on the road. From left, Hakan Nilsson, Fredrik Olsson and Ola Nilsson

In hopes of raising enough money to build a school in Cambodia, three men from Sweden are on a cross-country bicycling mission.

The trio, riders Ola Nilsson and Hakan Nilsson (no relation) and support man Fredrik Olsson began their 4,700-mile trek Sept. 13 in New York City. If all goes as planned, the trip should end Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, in San Francisco.

The project, called Bike 4 Cambodia, had its beginning when Ola was working and teaching as a volunteer in Thailand. On a visit to neighboring Cambodia, he became keenly aware of the level of poverty there and wanted to help.

He pondered ways to raise money for a school and decided something big was in order.

"If I ran a marathon, I might only raise enough money for a couple of chairs," Ola said. "It had to be something big enough to get into the media - big enough to get enough money together to build a school."

The Bike 4 Cambodia group has for the most part received free lodging as they travel across the continent. While Ola (who lives in London and works with a music festival organizer) and Hakan (a manager at an aluminum factory in Sweden) ride, Olsson drives ahead in a vehicle loaded with the three men's gear and makes arrangements for the riders' arrival.

The two riders pedal for as many as 10 consecutive days before taking a much-needed day off. Before a day off in Marshfield, the group stayed the night at Houston's Lazy L Motel on Oct. 10.

Houston happens to be on the Trans-American Trail, a well-known route used by cyclists on cross-country treks that goes from Virginia to Oregon. The Bike 4 Cambodia bunch will follow that route to Pueblo, Colo., before continuing in a more westerly direction toward the Bay Area in California.

With the exception of a few nervous moments at the docks in New York City at night, they have felt welcome and enjoyed meeting people as they travel the America's highways and byways.

"We have been treated fantastically well by everyone we meet," Ola said.

Before long, the group will face the challenge of crossing the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada Mountains. Fall weather in those areas can vary widely.

"We're not so much scared about the hills anymore after going across the Appalachian Mountains," Ola said. "If we have any problems, it will be more because of weather."

For more information about the project and its participants, to get updates on their progress during the trip or to make a donation to the cause, log onto www.bike4cambodia.com.

EU, Cambodia concludes joint meeting to strengthen cooperation

via CAAI

October 12, 2010

The European Union and the Royal Government of Cambodia have concluded successfully their sixth Joint Committee meeting in Brussels, Belgium, according to a statement released by the EU office in Cambodia on Tuesday.

The EU-Cambodia Joint Committee is the highest-level policy dialogue platform between the two partners.

According to the statement, the meeting was held on Oct. 8, and was co-chaired by Ouch Borith, secretary of state of Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Mr. James Moran, director for Asia in the Commission's Directorate- General for External Relations.

During the meeting, subjects on EU-Cambodia cooperation, trade, economy, governance and human rights and others were discussed.

Special emphasis was put on subjects like the support to Cambodian economic growth, the challenge of decentralization, the impact of economic land concessions on people's land rights and the need for an open and constructive political dialogue in Cambodia.

"Every year Cambodia and the European Union meet in this high- level forum to exchange views on issues of mutual concern in a frank and constructive way", said Director James Moran.

"We are proud of the quality of dialogue we have developed over the years and we believe these talks serve the purpose of strengthening our partnership - in supporting trade and in promoting human rights, in development cooperation and in democratization."

Giving similar remarks, Ouch Borith also highlighted the importance of the meeting.

"This significant meeting takes place at a crucial juncture when every country in the world is making economic recovery which is far from complete and remains a daunting task especially for the developing countries," said Ouch Borith.

"The EU is a key partner for Cambodia. Through this very constructive meeting, we can not only assess the progress and review our reform programs during past year, but more importantly, we can exchange views with the EU on key aspects to support Cambodia's development and further strengthen our cooperation," added Borith.

As usual, the Joint Committee included three thematic Sub Groups. Dialogue in the sub group on Institution Building, Administrative Reform, Legal Reform, Governance and Human Rights focused, inter alia, on the progress made by Cambodia.

The Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the Kingdom of Cambodia, signed in 1999, provides the legal basis for the Joint Committee.

Joint Committees take place every year, alternately in Phnom Penh and Brussels, and they provides an important platform for the European Union and Cambodia to review their cooperation, and entertaining policy dialogue, in the different areas covered by the Agreement.

Source: Xinhua

Indochine attracts insto investors

http://news.smh.com.au/

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October 12, 2010

AAP

Indochine Mining Ltd says several European, Asian and Australian institutional investors have piled into its initial public offer (IPO), seeking exposure to Cambodian gold and copper resources.

Indochine seeks to raise up to $25 million from its IPO.

Its prospectus invites applications for 60 million shares at 20 cents per share to raise $12 million, with a provision to accept subscriptions for a further 65 million shares to raise an additional $13 million.

Advertisement: Story continues below "Current indications are that the company will have received applications at the higher end of the 60 (million) to 135 million (shares) range by the time the offer closes," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Indochine said it had the largest landholding of any mining company in Cambodia at 4,000 sq km and had developed several prospective targets after commencing exploration activities there in 2007.

"While world class gold and copper deposits have been developed in surrounding countries, Cambodia has undergone little systematic exploration - a situation that Indochine intends to change," it said.

Indochine also on Tuesday said it had appointed Stephen Promnitz as its chief executive.

Mr Promnitz is currently manager of corporate development for Thailand-focused gold miner Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd and is a former Rio Tinto Ltd staffer.

"His experience, particularly in South-East Asia, will be of great value as we progress our projects in Cambodia," Indochine chairman Ian Ross said.

Chiang Mai 11 'claim' Siem Reap training

Cambodia denies DSI story of guerrilla camp

Published: 12/10/2010

via CAAI

Eleven people arrested in a raid on a resort in Chiang Mai and suspected of planning acts of terror claim they and 28 other individuals underwent weapons training in Siem Reap, the Department of Special Investigation says.

The group were arrested on Oct 2 at Doi Ku Fah resort in Mae On subdistrict.

DSI investigator Phayao Thongsen said a plot to assassinate high-profile figures, including former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban, was among the group's alleged missions.

Pol Lt Col Phayao said investigators had evidence of phone calls made between the group in Chiang Mai and red shirt community radio operators in Cambodia.

The Cambodian government yesterday denied the group had received arms training from its soldiers.

"Our constitution does not allow anyone to do that sort of thing [on Cambodian soil]. Nobody is allowed to do any such stupid thing in Cambodia," said Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan.

"So I think this accusation is a made-up story to blame Cambodia, and is also [part of the] campaign against the red shirts, using Cambodia as a springboard for Thai local politics."

Pol Lt Col Phayao said the 11 suspects had provided investigators with useful information. They were being held without charge under the witness protection programme.

He alleged the group had confessed they joined the red shirt protests led by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) and had witnessed clashes between protesters and government forces.

The investigator also alleged they were persuaded after the Bangkok protests by a group called Rak Chiang Mai 51, led by Kanyaphak Maneechak or "DJ Orm", to join a faction planning to undergo arms training in Cambodia.

The 39 people were sent to Cambodia via several routes, bypassing all immigration checkpoints.

The 11 suspects in custody claimed they had met several red shirt leaders in Siem Reap, Pol Lt Col Phayao said.

Training took three weeks, he said. They were shown anti-monarchy videos during the first week, the second week involved lessons in general weapons knowledge, while the final week involved actual hands-on use of weapons, the investigator said.

They reportedly received 20,000 baht in cash upon completing the training, after which 35 of them returned to Thailand through Surin on Aug 16. Four others remained in Cambodia to act as bodyguards for red shirt leader Arisman Pongruangrong, he said.

The group of 11 presently in custody were summoned to the Chiang Mai resort to prepare for their missions. They were at the resort for more than a month prior to their arrest.

One of the 11 suspects, Kittichai Chansawat, reportedly could not stand the tough regimen at the resort and ran away, asking local people to bring him to the police, which led to the arrest of the other 10 suspects at the resort, Pol Lt Col Phayao said. Police reported earlier that a village headman had thought Mr Kittichai was acting strangely when he asked for directions and so he had called the police.

Investigators said they had seized detailed maps of planned routes to the homes of important people, including Mr Suthep.

The other members of the group alleged to have trained in Cambodia are suspected to have spread out to several provinces including Lop Buri, Bangkok, Chon Buri and Saraburi.

PM to query Hun Sen about weapons training

Published: 12/10/2010 at 02:58 PM

via CAAI

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will ask Cambodian leader Hun Sen about reports that hard-core red-shirt supporters were trained on Cambodian soil when they meet at a regional summit later this month, acting government spokesman Panithan Wattanayagorn said on Tuesday.

"The prime minister will seek clarification on the matter when he attends the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Vietnam at the end of this month," he said.

Mr Panithan spoke shortly after National Security Council secretary-general Thawil Pliensri confirmed information from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) that 11 men arrested in a raid on a resort in Chiang Mai and suspected of planning acts of terror claimed that they and 28 others underwent weapons training in Cambodia.

DSI investigator Phayao Thongsen said on Monday that the arrested men and 28 other individuals underwent weapons training at Siem Reap.

According to Pol Lt Col Phayao, the 11 suspects said the training took three weeks.

They were shown anti-monarchy videos during the first week, the second week involved lessons in general weapons knowledge, while the final week involved actual hands-on use of weapons.

"The information released by the DSI about the 11 detained red-shirts confessing that they took part in arms training in the neighbouring country is true," Mr Thawil said. "But we are not making any accusation against Cambodia."

The 11 suspects, who supported the anti-government movement led by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), were arrested in Chiang Mai on Oct 2 and are being held without charge under the witness protection programme.

Cambodia has denied claims that it provided a training camp for red-shirt supporters planning assassinations in Thailand.

Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith has quoted by AP news wire, saying: "Why would we need to do this? Cambodia would receive absolutely no benefit from training these people."

"Cambodia strongly rejects these allegations," he said on Tuesday.

NSC: Reds did train in Cambodia

Published: 12/10/2010

via CAAI

The National Security Council has confirmed that a group of red-shirts did train in Cambodia to assassinate high-profile politicians.

"The information released by the Department of Special Investigation about the 11 detained red-shirts confessing that they took part in arms training in the neighbouring country is true," NSC secretary-general Thawil Pliensri said on Tuesday. "But we are not making any accusation against Cambodia."

The 11 suspects, who supported the anti-government movement led by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), were arrested in Chiang Mai on Oct 2 and are being held without charge under the witness protection programme.

Mr Thawil also the police had transferred to the DSI the case involving the deadly explosion in an apartment in Nonthaburi last Tuesday. Four people died in the acciderntal blast, including the suspected bombmaker,

"There's a possibility the explosion could be politically motivated but we'll have to wait for the DSI to finish the investigation first," he said.

On the Thai-Burma border closure, he said there were many problems at the border and Burma was working on its internal trade regulations and establishing an industrial zone.

"I don't think the construction of an embankment [on the river] is the main reason Burma closed the border," he said.

Cambodia denies training claims

Published: 12/10/2010

via CAAI

Cambodia has again denied claims that it provided a training camp for red-shirt supporters planning assassinations in Thailand.

Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith has quoted by AP news wire, saying: "Why would we need to do this? Cambodia would receive absolutely no benefit from training these people."

"Cambodia strongly rejects these allegations," he said on Tuesday.

His response came after an investigator of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Phayao Thongsen said on Monday 11 people arrested in a raid on a resort in Chiang Mai on Oct 2 claimed they and 28 other individuals underwent weapons training at Siem Reap.

Pol Lt Col Phayao said a plot to assassinate high-profile figures, including former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban, was among the group's alleged missions.

According to Pol Lt Col Phayao, the 11 suspects said the training took three weekes.

They were shown anti-monarchy videos during the first week, the second week involved lessons in general weapons knowledge, while the final week involved actual hands-on use of weapons.

Advertisement | ad info

via CAAI

updated 10/12/2010

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodian aviation authorites issued a vague apology Tuesday for confusion over flight disruptions, saying weather conditions did not force the closure of its two international airports as stated a day earlier.

"No flight disruption or weather-related delays (have) occurred. Any information stating differently is groundless," the civil aviation authority and the airports' operator said in a joint statement.

On Monday, a high-ranking civil aviation official, Him Sarun, announced that all flights were suspended at the airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap from 10 a.m. onward due to heavy rain and strong winds. He said pilots could not see the runways and the closures were enforced "for the sake of travelers' safety."

However, the airports never shut down Monday and flights took off and arrived mostly as scheduled.

It is unclear what prompted the confusion.

"The international airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap (were) operating as usual yesterday despite challenging weather conditions," the statement said.

It added that Cambodia's international airports are equipped with navigation and landing aid systems that comply with international standards and allow flights to operate safely in adverse weather conditions.

All-day rain flooded parts of capital Phnom Penh on Monday with up to 3.3 feet of water (1 meter).

The Ministry of Water Resource and Meteorology says the poor weather conditions started Sunday and would last until at least Wednesday.

Cambodia denies Thai assassination plot allegation

Women members of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), or Red Shirt, place roses at the gate of a prison during a rally in Bangkok, Thailand Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010. About 100 UDD members took part in the rally by laying roses outside prisons throughout the country calling for the release of their leaders and colleagues who were arrested during a violent protest against the government in May. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

via CAAI

By GRANT PECK
The Associated Press

updated 10/12/2010

BANGKOK — Cambodia on Tuesday strongly denied allegations in Thailand that members of the anti-government Red Shirt movement were trained in Cambodian territory to assassinate top Thai leaders, including the prime minister.

A senior Thai security official alleged Monday that 11 men who were arrested last week in the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai were among 39 given ideological and combat training in a "neighboring country."

Lt. Col. Payao Thongsen, a senior investigator for the Department of Special Investigation, did not name the country when he made the allegation at a news conference. But he described the routes the men allegedly took to their training ground, which led to Cambodian border crossings.

Cambodia denied the accusation.

"Why would we need to do this? Cambodia would receive absolutely no benefit from training these people," government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Tuesday. "Cambodia strongly rejects these allegations."

Cambodia's relations with Thailand have been contentious for years, with the focus mostly on a border dispute.

The Thai allegations also raise the stakes domestically in an increasingly convoluted political battle that began in 2006, when elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted by a military coup for alleged corruption and disrespect toward Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The coup, which was touted as a way to restore stability after months of anti-Thaksin demonstrations that had all but paralyzed his administration, instead polarized the country, with Thaksin's opponents and supporters both protesting in the streets ever since.

The Red Shirts include many Thaksin supporters as well as activists opposed to military interference in politics.

Two months of protests earlier this year by the Red Shirts — formally called the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, or UDD — demanding early elections degenerated into violence. About 90 people were killed in clashes before the army cleared the streets of demonstrators on May 19. Most top Red Shirt leaders have been detained on terrorism charges.

Dozens of bombings widely thought to be linked to the political strife have also plagued Bangkok this year.

Payao said the 39 alleged trainees were part of a conspiracy to topple Thailand's monarchy, an allegation that his agency — the equivalent of the FBI in the United States — has made in the past against Red Shirts and their sympathizers.

"During the training, they were taught by the Thai UDD members who were in the neighboring country about political beliefs and more importantly about hatred toward the institution," he said in an interview with the government-owned MCOT television network.

"The institution" is a common euphemism for the monarchy, which until recent years has been held in almost universal high regard. However, some Red Shirts and social critics perceive that some palace circles were involved in the coup.

A report on MCOT's Web site said that Payao asserted that the alleged terrorists' three weeks of training "was held in a Cambodian army camp and they were trained by Cambodian soldiers." The website of several Thai newspapers cited him making the same assertion.

Payao said the men were "trained to know almost every kind of weapon," including assault rifles and grenade launchers, and were also shown the use of C4 plastic explosive.

He did not explain why Cambodia would be involved in such a conspiracy.

The two nations have had small, sometimes deadly, skirmishes over the demarcation of their border near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple. Relations worsened last year, with both countries withdrawing ambassadors, after Cambodian leader Hun Sen made Thaksin an official adviser and hosted him like a VIP. Thaksin recently resigned that position, and both countries restored their ambassadors.

MCOT reported that Payao said the alleged assassination targets included Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, recently resigned Deputy Prime Minster Suthep Thaugsuban, influential politician Newin Chidchob and a senior police officer.

Payao displayed what he said was evidence of the plot, including maps and photos. None of the 11 men arrested in Chiang Mai have been produced for the press to give their side of the story.

MCOT reported that Jatuporn Prompan, a Red Shirt leader and member of Parliament, denied that his movement was part of any assassination plot.

Cambodia denies Thai assassination plot charges

via CAAI

Tue Oct 12, 2010

By Prak Chan Thul

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia denied on Tuesday accusations from neighbouring Thailand that a Cambodian military base was used to train Thais linked to a plot to assassinate Thailand's leaders.

Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) said on Monday 11 Thai men arrested in northern Thailand last week were among 39 "red-shirt" protesters who trained in Cambodia after fleeing Thailand following military clamp-down on anti-government protests in May.

"The Thais always put the blame on Cambodia when they cannot solve their internal problems," said Koy Kuong, a spokesman at Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The accusations threaten to rekindle tensions between the Southeast Asian neighbours whose relations have deteriorated over border disputes and Cambodia's ties to former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whose 2006 ouster triggered Thailand's four-year-old political crisis.

This comes as Thailand stepped up security following a series of mysterious bomb blasts in the capital last week. A blast that killed four people on October 6 in a suburban Bangkok flat had raised fears of a possible radicalisation of some anti-government protesters in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.

"These 11 red fighters were fed misinformation and brainwashed through videos and CDs which were anti-monarchy," Lieutenant Colonel Payao Thongsen, a DSI senior investigator, told a news conference in Bangkok. Thailand's strict les majeste laws prohibit discussion of the Thai monarchy.

He said the men were trained to use weapons and explosives at a military base in Cambodia's Siem Reap province, near the Thai border. Thongsen based his accusations on the detainees' confessions and confiscated maps of the homes of Thai leaders.

Diplomatic ties between the two countries were severed last November after Cambodia appointed Thaksin as economic advisor. He is believed to be a source of funds for the "red shirt" anti-government protesters who clashed with Thai troops in April and May.

Relations were normalised when Thaksin resigned from the position in August, although Thai officials continued to express concerns about links between the Cambodian government and the "red shirts."

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has not commented on the accusations by the DSI, who has been criticised frequently by the opposition as a political tool for the government.

(Additional reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak; Writing by Ambika Ahuja; Editing by Jason Szep and Tomasz Janowski)

DSI Reveals Assassination Squads Trained in Cambodia

via CAAI

Published : October 12, 2010

Thailand’s Department of Special Investigations (DSI) on Monday revealed that investigations have uncovered a group of Thai nationals having received unofficial military training in Cambodia. The group have subsequently been linked to previous reports of planned assassination attempts on the nation’s key political figures including Prime Minster Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Bangkok, the 11th of October 2010: Police Lieutenant Colonel Payao Thongen, chief of the DSI investigative panel probing terrorism related activities, held a press conference on Monday pertaining to information regarding previous reports of assassination attempts on the nations key political figures.

Information received by Thai intelligence agencies, largely from 11 suspects detained in relation to planned assassinations on the nations key political and public figures last week, suggested that a group of some 39 Thai nationals had received extensive military training in Cambodia over the past few months.

Following the 11 arrests in Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Mai last week, reports have surfaced of a much larger ‘terrorist’ operation believed to be organised under the guidance of fugitive, radical Red Shirt leader Arisman Pongruangrong, believed to be hiding in Cambodia. He has several arrest warrants pending against him in Thailand, considered one of the most wanted men by Thai authorities.

Arisman Pongruangrong was part of a core group of Red Shirt leaders involved with the Bangkok protests earlier this year. Despite government-run media reports to the contrary, Pongruangrong is considered a radical component of the movement by many of his fellow leaders, most of which are currently remanded in custody over their participation in the aforementioned Red Shirt occupation of Bangkok.

According to Thai intelligence reports, a group of some 39 Thai nationals, inclusive of the 11 currently detained men, received specific military training in the fields of weapons usage, espionage tactics and explosives, while in Cambodia. It is believed that the instructors are components from within the Cambodian army and the radical Red Shirt movement themselves.

In addition to the group of 39, it is believed that another group, approximately the same size, received similar training beforehand. This initial group is thought to have included Samai Wongsuwan, the man believed to have developed the explosive device, which exploded in Nonthaburi province last week, killing four people including himself.

The 11 detained offenders are currently in witness protection and are believed to have fully confessed to being members of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD). They were allegedly recruited by radical Red Shirt leaders while attending the mass protests in Bangkok between March-May of this year.

Along with their military style training the group were in the midst of planning several high-profile assassinations on figures such as Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, recently resigned Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, de facto leader of the coalition Bhumjaithai Party Newin Chidchob and Acting Police Inspector-General Lieutenant-General Somkid Boonthanom.

Reports of an anti-monarchist sentiment running through the group were confirmed by the arrested men, who informed police that part of the training and recruitment process including acts of harbouring hate towards Thailand’s revered royal family.

Lt. Col. Payao revealed that the arrest of the 11 men was instigated after one of their party, Kittichai Chansawas, escaped the group, unwilling to participate in the radical operation. According to reports, Kittichai initially sort refuge from local resident of the area before contacting authorities in fear of his life.

Investigations into the identity and whereabouts of the remaining men involved with the group are continuing, while the DSI is thought to be in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cambodian Authorities over the matters.